With the content-centered, postpaid mobile virtual network operator market in decline, analysts have already begun talking about the next evolution of the MVNO model. Apple Inc.'s iPhone is one example. So is recently launched Sonopia.Juha Christensen, CEO of Sonopia, compares his company to credit...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
The Federal Communications Commission said it will conduct further testing on the viability of Wi-Fi and other low-power wireless applications in unoccupied TV broadcast spectrum known as white spaces.The agency's action appears to benefit high-tech companies that urged additional testing after the FCC found...
Editor's Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what's hot in wireless.Seattle-based Car Toys operates stores in four states, selling mobile devices and service from three of the four national...
The uproar over Apple Inc.'s and AT&T Mobility's travails with hackers could help Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. gain visibility, tout the virtues of their own unlocked devices and, naturally, steal a march on their crafty competitor.Nokia denies any coincidence between its "unlock" ad...
The term "win-win" rightly makes sober people sick, but it might be applied to AT&T Mobility's news that it will carry HTC Americas' Tilt device, beginning Friday, at $300 with a two-year contract. AT&T Mobility gets an enterprise-grade smartphone supporting its UMTS/HSDPA network with...
Taking a page from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, copy writers for Samsung Telecommunications America wrote today that the vendor had delivered the "most wanted" features in a flip phone for customer T-Mobile USA. The Beat, aka the SGH-t539, will sell for $100 with...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday 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 Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, iGR's Iain...
IF 2006 WAS THE YEAR OF THE LAUNCH for mobile virtual network operators, then 2007 has so far been the Year of the Crash.The last few months have brought a screeching halt to the MVNO hype that dominated 2005 and most of 2006, when...
Motorola Inc. introduced its first handset to support Verizon Wireless' Vcast Mobile TV offering.The manufacturer showcased the Motorizr Z6tv, a GPS-enabled slider phone with a 2.0 megapixel camera and video capture and playback. The handset is targeted directly at mobile TV fans, featuring a...
Nokia Corp.'s N95-the Finnish company's flagship "multimedia computing device"-will soon be available in the United States with HSDPA, assisted GPS, and increased screen size, memory and battery life. The device will now offer up to 8 GB of memory, a number that may sound...
"The horse is out of the stable, it's running around the track and there isn't another one in sight," Barry West, president of Xohm and CTO of Sprint Nextel Corp., said in his Wednesday morning keynote at WiMAX World USA. "There is really only...
Intel Corp. has a vision for portable, personal broadband that will ensure the company transitions from "Intel Inside" to "Intel on the Internet."Mobile WiMAX plays a big role in chip vendor's vision, according to Intel's Ron Peck. Intel is prepared to turn out WiMAX...
T-Mobile USA Inc. is offering a BlackBerry Curve equipped with Wi-Fi for prosumers-yes, Virginia, that's a real word-who sign up to take advantage of the carrier's HotSpot@Home service, launched in June. The device, known as the Curve 8320, is Research In Motion Ltd.'s second...
If you're wondering what shape WiMAX-enabled devices will take, you can hop a plane to South Korea and see Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s two models in action on SK Telecom's WiBro network. Samsung's M8100 is the world's first WiMAX-equipped PDA-style smartphone, a slider model...
Thick as a brick. That's how dumb you'd have to be to fiddle with your iPhone, according to Apple Inc. Indeed, the company warned that fiddling may well turn the high-end gadget into a brick.The iPhone maker yesterday attempted to sow the seeds of...
Following its distribution and financing deal with Brightstar Corp., online retailer InPhonic Inc. announced Andy Zeinfeld will step into the CEO position, replacing the company's current CEO and founder David Steinberg.Steinberg will continue as InPhonic's chairman, and will assist the company with "strategy and...
Following up on its July announcement, AT&T Mobility this morning said it would bring Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry 8820 to market at $300 with a two-year contract. The carrier said that the Wi-Fi-enabled device could roam on 10,000 hotspots in the United States-for...
MetroPCS Communications Inc. rolled out service in the Los Angeles market today, pitching its flat-rate, unlimited plans to Angelinos.Roger Linquist, chairman and CEO of MetroPCS, said that the company's initial network coverage includes 11 million potential customers. Metro said it has 400 L.A.-area authorized...
Nokia Corp. announced with little fanfare the impending launch of its E51 smartphone at BT, an operator in the United Kingdom and rival to O2 UK. But the Finnish company's timing spoke volumes. Nokia touted the E51's no-nonsense e-mail solutions in an apparent attempt...
Verizon Wireless said today that in the 12 months since it launched the LG Chocolate in the United States it has sold more than 3.4 million units-an obvious comparison to the one million units-per-quarter performance of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which sells at rival carrier...
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., held forth from London this morning to orchestrate consumer frenzy over the iPhone's arrival in the United Kingdom, the first in as many as three European markets to announce this week.One can only imagine the spectacle of a...
Editor's Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what's hot in wireless.Search for "wireless phones" on Google, and Letstalk.com is one of the first sites that pops up. The online...
YOU CAN'T HAVE A HOLIDAY PARTY without a potent punch bowl for all comers.The news from last week: Some of the latest models of 3G handsets will indeed appear in the United States in time for the retail party just getting under way.Specifically, the...