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 put its Bob Marley content back online after a spokesman for the late reggae star's estate blasted the carrier publicly.Marley's family last month said it would sue the carrier and Universal Music Group for using Marley's likeness and name without permission. The...
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...
It's getting a little embarrassing. See, Apple is essentially trouncing the wireless industry with a long and growing list of new, user-friendly innovations. These innovations stretch from the hardware side of the equation (the iPhone's accelerometer) to the software side (the iPhone's visual voicemail).And...
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...
The family of late reggae star Bob Marley said they will sue Verizon Wireless and Universal Music Group in response to an exclusive ringtone deal announced earlier this week.Verizon Wireless on Tuesday trumpeted an exclusive pact to offer ringtones and ringback tones from more...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
Personalization refers to the way consumers use mobile content as kind of a bumper sticker, telling others who they are and what they think. It won't be long, though, before users will be placing those bumper stickers on your phone-not theirs.Ringback tones were the...
Has it really only been two months that the iPhone burst on wireless scene? For all the hype leading up to the launch of device, some of which we admit we aided, the wireless industry not all that different some 60 days later. Oh...
Hip-hop celebrity DJ Envy is teaming with Cellfish Media to offer a weekly mix tape for mobile users.The New York-based host of the Hot 97 radio show and Sirius Satellite Radio's Hip-Hop Nation, DJ Envy will compile collections of seven new singles that will...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
TIER-ONE CARRIERS IN THE FALL OF 2004 committed that they would be fully MMS-interoperable, enabling U.S. consumers to send photos, video clips and other goodies to users on any other nationwide network.We're still waiting.U.S. network operators generally claim to be fully interoperable with their...
GreatCall Inc. finally found some well-heeled backers for its Jitterbug service.The Del Mar, Calif.-based startup said it pocketed $36.6 million in funding from Charles River Ventures, Nauta Partners and Steelpointe Capital Partners. Jitterbug, a mobile virtual network operator using Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network, targets...
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....
Just a little over budgetA Polish bus driver was fired for using his company cellphone to try to win a contest, according to an Associated Press report. Leszek Wojcik sent 38,000 text messages-1,200 a day-at a cost of about 86 cents per message. He...
My 11-year-old daughter has become quite expensive this summer-and I think she is the typical "tween" consumer. She's taken a break from music lessons, but added tennis, diving and a week at camp to her list of summer activities. But what specifically has surprised...
A&E Television Networks has struck its first carriage deal for its made-for-mobile channels A&E Mobile and the History Channel Mobile with MobiTV."We believe our audiences are skewing younger, and we want to have our programming available to consumers in different platforms," said Paul Jelinek,...
Mobile television and video subscription revenues grew 198% year-over-year to $146 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to data from Telephia Inc. Approximately 8.4 million wireless customers now subscribe to some form of mobile video, representing nearly 4% of all U.S. mobile...
More than three years after the wireless industry launched an effort to establish a ratings system for mobile content, carriers are finally beginning to restrict access to the edgy stuff. Whether such efforts will help fuel data revenues, though, remains to be seen.CTIA in...
Buongiorno S.p.A. stepped up its spending spree, agreeing to acquire U.K.-based content provider iTouch plc for $192 million.The Italian mobile content and advertising behemoth said it will pay $176 million to iTouch shareholders and absorb $16 million of the company's net debt. The combined...
Mobile television and video subscription revenues grew 198% year-over-year to $146 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to the latest data from Telephia Inc. Approximately 8.4 million wireless customers now subscribe to some form of mobile video, representing nearly 4% of all...
For a few seasons, it looked like TV producers had tapped into the mobile mint of premium text messaging as they encouraged viewers to win money by voting for their least favorite Donald Trump wannabe or enter other contests via cellphone. But those kinds...
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's campaign said it launched a new text messaging initiative to expand its grassroots network and organize volunteers for events. "This campaign is about the people across the country who are taking organizing into their own hands...
