TOKYO—KDDI Corp. is reportedly working with Toshiba Corp., Sanyo Electric Co. and Qualcomm Inc. to develop a common operating system for mobile phones to cut the cost of developing new handsets, according to a Reuters report. The four companies will also work on software...
ARLINGTON, Va.—Nearly two years after a public roundtable on electronics waste policy, the U.S. Technology Administration has issued a report on e-waste policy issues. The Information Technology Association of America immediately touted the report’s role in illuminating the challenges to establishing a national recycling...
SEOUL, South Korea— LG Electronics Co. Ltd. reported a net loss of $10.1 million on static sales of $6.1 billion in the second quarter on lackluster handset shipments and poor performance in its liquid crystal display joint venture with Philips Electronics. The net loss...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission fined LocateCell.com $97,500 for repeatedly failing to respond to subpoenas to provide information in connection with the agency’s investigation of data brokers that deceptively gain access to consumers’ cell phone records from mobile phone carriers. It is the FCC’s first...
WASHINGTON—The Association of Public Television Stations and the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency said they completed the second phase of a pilot program to design a national digital platform to distribute emergency alerts to cell phones, personal computers and other devices....
LOS ANGELES—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has teamed with HBO to offer made-for-mobile episodes of the cable operator’s hit show "Entourage." The 4-minute episodes are designed to complement the TV series and will center on "Entourage" character Johnny Drama. The wireless clips will feature the same...
WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein said the government should prohibit Wall Street money manager Mario Gabelli from participating in the Aug. 9 advanced wireless services auction as part of a fraud settlement with the Justice Department. "I think the Justice Department as part...
SAN FRANCISCO—Wireless game-maker Hands-On Mobile Inc. has created a new division in an effort to tap the booming mobile marketing space. The publisher, formerly known as Mforma, is joining a field that seems to get more crowded by the day. Wireless storefront operators and...
WASHINGTON—The mobile phone industry has teamed up with other telecom players to lobby for universal service reform. The new USF by the Numbers Coalition backs a numbers-based plan that the group said is a fairer and more equitable contribution methodology than the current revenue-based...
The deadline for compliance with the European Union's laws on hazardous substances in consumer goods came and went on July 1 without much fanfare and little news on whether major handset vendors struggled to meet the requirements. Two tidbits surfaced, however, that shed some...
WASHINGTON-A pair of newly published studies link mobile-phone use to biological changes in the brain, but the research does not conclude low-level radio frequency radiation from wireless handsets is necessarily harmful to consumers. Italian researchers wrote in the Annals of Neurology that GSM mobile...
In the modern age of mobile TV and wireless porn, a simple caller-ID application may not get your pulse racing. Unless you're Rick Hennessey. The chief executive officer of Seattle-based startup Cequint Inc., Hennessey thinks he has a winner in City ID. In addition...
WASHINGTON—Class-action consumer lawsuits have been filed against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Verizon Wireless, litigation that comes as the mobile phone industry lobbies Congress and federal regulators for protection against such legal challenges through broader federal pre-emption. A nationwide lawsuit filed against Cingular yesterday alleges...
SAN FRANCISCO—Directions and map services are proving to be popular among wireless users who download mobile applications, according to a new study from Telephia. The report found MapQuest Mobile was the top revenue-generating downloadable mobile application during the first quarter with 21.9 percent of...
SEOUL—Texas Instruments Inc. and Broadcom Corp. filed a complaint in South Korea alleging that Qualcomm Inc. is engaged in unfair business practices, according to news reports. Neither company offered information on the complaint on their Web sites by Wednesday. Qualcomm has yet to respond....
NEW YORK—Mobile software developer Juice Wireless Inc. snared a $1 million investment from telecommunications service provider Citizens Communications Co. Juice, which is hoping to gain traction on the crowded playground of mobile user-generated content, said it will use the capital to market existing applications...
The big issue for some players in the wireless community regarding Java ME revolves around its owner, Sun Microsystems Inc., which announced at its May JavaOne conference that it was mulling how to go open source with the industry's dominant programming language. This move...
In a move that said much about Nokia Corp.'s new leadership as well as the fragmented global market for CDMA handsets, the global leader in mobile phones said it would dissolve its joint venture with Sanyo Electronics Co. Ltd. and instead pursue CDMA in...
WASHINGTON-A bill outlawing deceptive tactics by data brokers to acquire and sell cell phone records may soon get a vote on the House floor, after mysteriously being pulled from a scheduled vote in early May. The possible breakthrough follows a meeting last week between...
WASHINGTON-AT&T Inc. Chairman Edward Whitacre last week told the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee he would not oppose conditions on special access lines as part of any regulatory approval of the company's proposed $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. Whitacre told the Senate panel he...
LOS ANGELES-Paramount Pictures is using mobile phones to try to lure subscribers to its new film "Nacho Libre." The studio is teaming with digital marketing company Cellfish Media L.L.C. to market the new Jack Black comedy through a mobile search service from go2. Go2...
WASHINGTON-A California state appeals court upheld a record $12 million fine levied by the California Public Utilities Commission against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004, rejecting the mobile phone carrier's contention that the agency's action was pre-empted by federal law. "While the commission is preempted...
WASHINGTON-A trio of designated entities claim the Federal Communications Commission grossly mischaracterized to a federal appeals court the regulatory process leading to controversial changes to spectrum auction rules designed to prevent large mobile phone carriers from gaining benefits meant for small business bidders, but...
Hats off to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for finally making telecom reform legislation truly meaningful, even if it is potentially at the expense of the bill itself. That is a real possibility and the paramount paradox in Stevens' atavistic attempt to...
