OK, Mark Twain's "mysterious stranger" was actually Satan's nephew, and we're certainly not deriding the devilish Steve Jobs or his wonderful company - but the theme of unwanted intrusion is apt.That is, if you consider the perspective of incumbent handset vendors and all network...
Motorola Inc. is cutting 2,600 jobs as part of an effort to trim $500 million in annual costs to cope with declining revenue. Many of the job cuts already have been announced, including 700 positions in Singapore, 355 in Plantation, Fla., and 60 in...
The notion that an ambitious Chinese handset vendor will make a bid for Motorola Inc. has received some press in the United States, perhaps aided by a touch of nationalistic horror.The Chinese government and Chinese banks already finance a big chunk of the American...
Microsoft Corp. kick-started its effort to grab a piece of the hot, youth-oriented messaging and social networking market by acquiring Danger Inc., the software driver behind the popular Sidekick devices at T-Mobile USA Inc. The purchase price was not disclosed. Microsoft's stock declined nearly...
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...
Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. will sell its ailing handset business -- and wireless infrastructure assets -- to Kyocera Corp. for about $375 million, the two companies announced.Sanyo's handset unit had been among the top ten original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the world and a...
The calendar says 2008, but a wireless directory controversy that's been resurrected in Congress makes it seem like 2004 all over again.Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced a bill designed to protect cellphone subscribers from being listed without...
Full data on how various handsets and carriers fared during the holiday shopping season awaits collection and analysis. Various firms will report their definitive views in late January, early February.Based on Compete Inc.'s measure of online shopping in November, as the quarter revved up,...
Danger Inc., the "software-as-service" company that enables data and Internet services to T-Mobile USA Inc.'s Sidekick devices, will pursue an initial public offering to pay down $7.2 million in debt and raise working capital, the company said. Danger did not disclose how much money...
T-Mobile USA Inc. suspended sales of its Sidekick Slide on Friday after manufacturer Motorola Inc. informed the carrier that some of the devices power off when the sliding door on the device is opened or closed. The device went on sale earlier this month...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is said to be pushing universal service fund changes that would reduce government subsidies for mobile phone carriers serving rural areas, likely setting up a showdown with the agency's Democratic members, cellular operators and key lawmakers from states...
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...
Patent reform is often billed as a battle between high-tech and pharmaceutical heavyweights, but in reality sharp divisions exist such that Motorola Inc., Qualcomm Inc., InterDigital Communications Corp., Texas Instruments Inc. and others are fighting largely Democratic-crafted legislation backed by Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp....
Annual consumer spending on mobile broadcast TV services is expected to surpass $6.6 billion worldwide by 2012, according to a new report from Jupiter Research.The service is expected to be in the hands of more than 120 million users in at least 40 countries...
If businesses had Ten Commandments, No. 1 would probably be "Know Thy Customer."Easier said than done.Customer information plays a crucial role in customer relationship management, from determining the type of offers and incentives that are made to customers to impacting growth and retention. The...
NII Holdings Inc., formerly Nextel International, has found success in Mexico and South America and recently passed the 4 million subscriber mark across four countries. The international company is based in Reston, Va., but offers service in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Peru, and recently...
Broadcom Corp. plans to acquire GPS know-how, products and software by purchasing Global Locate Inc., a privately held firm that currently supplies GPS solutions to handset vendors, the two companies announced.Broadcom will pay $146 million in cash, with up to another $80 million possible...
Broadcom Corp. plans to acquire GPS know-how, products and software by purchasing Global Locate Inc., a privately held firm that currently supplies GPS solutions to handset vendors, the two companies announced.Broadcom will pay $146 million in cash, with up to another $80 million possible...
Everyone loves a horse race, and in the first quarter global competition in the handset industry has tightened, infusing the high-stakes race with a sense that the future is in play. While first-quarter earnings reports and market analysis found no change in overall tier-one...
The turbulent world of mobile content was highlighted once again last week as one well-known firm filled its coffers and another continued to fight for its life.CellFish Media raked in another $10 million in venture funding, topping off a first round that saw the...
A group that tracks political money found that while the previous Congress didn't pass much major legislation-such as telecom reform-last year, companies in high-tech and other sectors were spending big time on lobbying official Washington. Sound counter-intuitive? Not really. Lobbying is as much about...
As carriers urge customers to adopt an ever-expanding list of data services, the bandwidth-intensive applications are driving a higher demand for backhaul capacity. Insufficient backhaul leads to service degradation such as blocked, dropped or painfully slow services-not situations that carriers want when they're trying...
Cellular SouthCellular South announced it promoted four of its vice presidents to senior vice president positions. Suzy Hays was promoted to senior vice president of customer operations, where she will oversee overall marketing, branding, advertising and public-relations strategies. She has been with the company...
Online mobile phone retailer Wirefly, a site operated by InPhonic Inc., released a report on the sharp growth in smartphone sales of late. The company said smartphone sales have increased 70 percent in less than six months from the third quarter of 2006 to...
