Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Patrick Maurer is no techie. "I can barely work my toaster," says the lanky 29-year-old sales rep...
Public-safety groups, which last year successively persuaded federal regulators to adopt a strict enhanced 911 location accuracy standard over the objections of wireless providers, now say the rule is unworkable and should be replaced with a more lenient one. They also told the Federal...
Hands-On Mobile Inc. launched a new version of the hit Guitar Hero franchise.The San Francisco-based publisher unveiled Guitar Hero II: Backstage Pass, a mobile title that places gamers in the role of rock stars who must promote their band, create demo tapes, sign record...
Consumers are shelling out big money for high-end phones with hi-resolution screens and eye-popping features. But mobile gaming is still all about casual.More than 7 million smartphones were sold in North America in the first quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, doubling the number...
An association of rural wireless providers petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to re-impose a spectrum cap in light of the growing market presence of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless in the mobile phone industry."In the absence of a spectrum cap, Verizon and AT&T will...
The crackdown on mobile in Europe continued this week as the European Union said it will continue to investigate hundreds of content storefronts for breaching consumer rules.The organization said an investigation into more than 500 mobile content Web sites found that 80% of the...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Mobile penetration in Latin America was around 66% in early 2008, well above the world average of...
The blueprints for the much-hyped IP Multimedia Subsystems architecture have been drawn, plans have been made, dreams have hatched; nearly everything needed to be done has been done; everything but the implementation. This seems odd, especially when a few years ago, carriers spent a...
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Bush administration in federal court to obtain records on allegedly unchecked cellphone tracking by the government."This is a critical opportunity to shed much-needed light on possibly unconstitutional government surveillance techniques," said Catherine...
Verizon Wireless' latest effort in the full-track download space is a step in the right direction for mobile music. But it's a very small step.In case you missed it, the carrier earlier this week launched a $15-per-month service that provides unlimited access to more...
While cellphone sales may be on the decline in the United States, retailers may be able to bridge the gap with accessory sales, according to a new report from consumer market research firm NPD Group.The firm said mobile handset purchases declined 20% year-over-year in...
The Federal Communications Commission agreed not to hold Sprint Nextel Corp. and public-safety agencies to the June 26 deadline regarding portions of spectrum involved in an 800 MHz rebanding effort designed to remedy public-safety interference caused by the No. 3 mobile phone carrier's push-to-talk...
Apple Inc.'s iconic iPhone could become more prevalent in official Washington - especially among subway commuters - owing to House passage of an Amtrak funding bill with a provision designed to give rail customers a greater choice of mobile-phone service providers.Verizon Wireless has a...
Delta Air Lines is the latest air carrier to get on board with mobile, allowing travelers at New York's LaGuardia to use their phones as a boarding pass.Domestic flyers departing from LaGuardia's main Delta terminal can download their boarding pass to a mobile...
A new class-action lawsuit alleges T-Mobile USA Inc. forces subscribers to use text message-enabled handsets and then charges them for unsolicited content, business practices that plaintiffs said are not adequately disclosed to customers.The complaint, filed in federal court in Seattle, also asserts T-Mobile refuses...
Verizon Wireless unveiled what it said is the first mobile phone with a built-in detachable Bluetooth headset.The Decoy, from LG Electronics Co. Ltd., features a docking port on the back that houses the small headset, which can be released by pressing a button on...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis' Peter Jarich, NPD Group's...
Bank of America said it has topped the 1 million mark for its unique active mobile banking customers after one year of service.The company introduced its mobile banking service nationwide in May 2007. The service allows customers to check balances, pay bills, transfer funds,...
Consumers are increasingly using their mobile phones to access banking services and products, and about 816 million consumers are expected to do so by 2011, according to a new study from Juniper Research.The reported noted financial institutions are beginning to offer a wider variety...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis' Peter Jarich, IDC's Shiv...
We reported on the seizure of nearly 20,000 mobile phones deemed to be outright counterfeits by federal officials. In the suspected bogus category, there also were 2,000 headsets, 462 boxes of accessories and a wad of cash totaling $210,990. Many of the big names...
A dispute has erupted over whether a federal appeals court should delay ruling on the wireless industry's challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's backup power rule until Bush administration budget officials complete their review of controversial guidelines designed to respond to communications failures from...
Two separate developments on the counterfeiting front together point to a festering problem for the wireless industry. First, federal authorities in New York sued to condemn almost 20,000 allegedly counterfeit mobile phones bearing names of leading handset manufacturers, and separately Underwriters Laboratories issued a...
The rash of class action lawsuits against cellphone carriers over unauthorized third-party content charges on consumers' bill may entering a new phase: settlements.Plaintiffs' lawyers pressing such a suit against AT&T Mobility said the first national settlement of its kind has been reached with the...
