AT&T Mobility and MediaFLO USA Inc. announced they will launch their long-awaited mobile TV service in May, but the details of the offering still remain somewhat unclear.Neither company pointed to a specific date for launch, nor what content would be featured on two channels...
NMS Communications Corp. subsidiary LiveWire Mobile is hoping to gain traction in a very slippery space: full-track mobile downloads.LiveWire, which was rolled out as a separate division in December, last week acquired Groove Mobile for $14.5 million - less than half the investment capital...
Mobile television is all over the place, yet going nowhere fast all at the same time. Consumer choice for TV and video on cellphones is pretty robust, but that's only if users know it exists.Sure, mobile TV and video usage is growing month over...
Like L'Oreal, Sony and Toyota before it, T-Mobile USA Inc. is back for second helpings of user-generated ad spots from the contributors at Current.com.The mobile-network operator posted its program Jan. 7 on Current.com to help promote its two Sidekick handset products, the LX and...
Zumobi launched a beta version of its widget-based Web-browsing application.The offering, which can be downloaded free here, uses a matrix of up to 36 tiles to give users one-touch access to content from partners including Amazon.com, MTV Networks, The Associated Press and Traffic.com. Zumobi,...
Editor's Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.--MTV Networks announced...
One week into a walkout, and plenty in the entertainment business are already feeling the pinch. Late night TV writers are being warned they'll be laid off next week, a slew of sitcoms-new and old-are quickly going dark and those who work outside the...
Just days after the smoke cleared from last week's devastating fires, Los Angeles began bracing for another firestorm-this time from the entertainment industry.The union representing the 12,000 film and TV writers who make the world laugh, cry and sing is going on strike for...
Apple Inc.'s iTunes dominates the digital music dance floor. But following Apple's lead may not be a wise move for mobile music services.An astounding 89% of teens go to iTunes for their legal music downloads, according to a recent report from investment bank Piper...
With ringtone revenues in decline and full-track downloads struggling to find an audience, carriers and third-party vendors are working furiously to breathe life into a withering mobile music industry.Ringtones for years have been the most popular type of content on (or off) carrier decks,...
The worldwide mobile music market will more than double in the next few years, exploding from $13.7 billion this year to more than $32 billion by 2010, according to Gartner Inc.But splitting up all that cash won't be easy.While boilerplate agreements don't exist in...
Editor's Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.--Once a...
In-Stat last week touted a new study with the observation that "Competition in mobile video could threaten mobile operators."Duh.But the fact that In-Stat's conclusion is self-evident doesn't minimize the risk mobile network operators increasingly face in the broader digital entertainment arena. Carriers are on...
Apple Inc. slashed the price of its 8GB iPhone by one-third and, separately, the company launched a Wi-Fi storefront hawking full-track tunes and albums for the device.The company said it lowered the price of the 8 GB iPhone from $600 to $400, and discontinued...
Nokia Corp. is hoping to build a doorway directly to mobile consumers. Again.But whether carriers will tolerate the move is far from clear.The manufacturer-cum-mobile-media company last week outlined a surprisingly broad cross-platform play, introducing Ovi-which means "door" in the Finnish company's native tongue-at its...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier --Standard & Poor's assigned it's A rating to AT&T Inc.'s $2 billion of global notes due 2037 and affirmed the company's other ratings, including...
Like a first-year student struggling with the violin, carriers have hit a lot of wrong notes with their music offerings.But that may finally be changing.Verizon Wireless last week garnered headlines by teaming with MTV Networks and RealNetworks on a new, cross-platform mobile music service....
Battling for brand recognition, or more particularly, connecting a brand with a certain image, is more than apropos in the wireless industry-it very often defines the success of each company's marketing scheme.Ever since the entertainment and sports worlds opened their arms to brand sponsors-in...
Verizon Wireless is hoping it can make better music as part of a trio than it did singing solo.The carrier last week announced a partnership with MTV Networks and RealNetworks Inc. to challenge Apple Inc.'s dominant iTunes service. MTV will shutter its Urge music...
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News will run through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks. Check below for news about carriers, handset...
Verizon Wireless is teaming with MTV Networks and RealNetworks Inc. to take on Apple Inc.'s iTunes service.MTV is shuttering its Urge music download service and will integrate components of the offering with RealNetworks' Rhapsody, an online music subscription service. Verizon Wireless will serve as...
User-generated content is finding an audience in mobile. But it appears the early successes in the space may have more to do with connecting with others and less to do with the content itself.MySpace and Facebook are leveraging valuable deck space to extend their...
So who exactly are the innovators leading the pack in wireless entertainment?It depends who you ask.Few agreed to be identified as they talked about their experiences with carriers, for fear of upsetting their bedfellows, but the bulk of feedback RCR Wireless News gathered does...
Nokia Corp. said it will team with online casual gaming destination Shockwave to offer Flash Lite-enabled "mini games" on its handsets in Europe and Asia.Shockwave, a property of MTV Networks, offers about three dozen no-frills, inexpensive titles under the brand Shockwave Minis. Nokia said...
