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 RCR to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
WASHINGTON—Wireless industry trade association CTIA is hoping to spur direct-to-consumer revenues by expanding the industry’s short code program. The industry group, along with short-code administrator NeuStar Inc., announced open registration for six-digit short codes, which allow mobile users to access content or services by...
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.-Advertising agency PinPoint Interactive Media has launched a suite of mobile marketing solutions, including SMS marketing and mobile Web site development, appropriately dubbed PinPoint Mobile. The company said its new division will offer a single outlet for a range of mobile marketing...
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—Advertising agency PinPoint Interactive Media has launched a suite of mobile marketing solutions, including SMS marketing and mobile Web site development, appropriately dubbed PinPoint Mobile. The company said its new division will offer a single outlet for a range of mobile marketing...
It's no secret that short codes have failed to gain traction among mass-market wireless subscribers in the United States. Tim Jemison thinks he knows why-and how to cash in. Jemison is the chief executive officer behind Zoove Corp., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup expected...
It's safe to say U.S. wireless subscribers have caught up with much of the rest of the world in terms of data consumption. But it appears American carriers still have their work cut out for them when it comes to cashing in. The United...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-VeriSign Inc.'s direct-to-consumer mobile content business continues to erode. The company reported $77 million in revenues from its Jamba and Jamster businesses during the first quarter, down 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005. While the decline in revenue was expected-the...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—VeriSign Inc.’s direct-to-consumer mobile content business continues to erode. The company reported $77 million in revenues from its Jamba and Jamster businesses during the first quarter, down 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005. While the decline in revenue was expected—the...
LAS VEGAS-Evangelize the opportunity in mobile marketing-why the dearth of advertisements on your handset as you checked the scores in the NCAA finals? But when you take the plunge, adhere to established codes of conduct. The brave new world is opt-in only.These were the...
RFSRadio Frequency Systems said it plans to demonstrate a fast bit-rate remote radio head unit that permits fiber connectivity direct to the towertop at CTIA Wireless 2006. The RHH system permits base transmitter station to antenna separation distances of up to 10 miles, which...
The global war on terrorism and natural disasters here and abroad are forcing policymakers to rethink-and redesign-public warning systems that take advantage of wireless and other technologies used by billions of people around the world today. The undertaking involves a mix of technological, legal...
British wireless subscribers can send and receive text messages at bargain-basement rates thanks to an IP-based messaging service released last week. But-unlike Voice over IP-analysts say the new offering poses little threat to mobile operators in the United States. Hotxt, which describes its service...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Operators struggling with decreasing profits from basic services may want to look to mobile music, according to two new studies. The worldwide market for full-track mobile music downloads increased 2,000 percent from 2004 to last year, according to new figures from ABI...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.—Operators struggling with decreasing profits from basic services may want to look to mobile music, according to two new studies. The worldwide market for full-track mobile music downloads increased 2,000 percent from 2004 to last year, according to new figures from ABI...
BRISTOL, Conn.-ESPN announced an international push for its ESPN-branded mobile content. The company said the new initiatives target wireless customers in Canada, Europe and Latin America and covers a variety of content including sports news and information, video, ringtones, wallpaper, wireless Internet sites and...
BRISTOL, Conn.—ESPN announced an international push for its ESPN-branded mobile content. The company said the new initiatives target wireless customers in Canada, Europe and Latin America and covers a variety of content including sports news and information, video, ringtones, wallpaper, wireless Internet sites and...
NEW YORK-Comverse Technology Inc. hopes to boost text messaging with a series of new personalized services.The services include an offering that allows members to insert a predetermined signature at the end of messages, and a "private network" wherein members use shortened four-digit codes instead...
WASHINGTON-U.S. tech firms, bedazzled by Internet, wireless and other business opportunities in China's massively underserved market, find themselves facing intensive scrutiny and criticism from Congress, human-rights groups and others for adhering to the communist government's censorship policies. Chinese censorship, a growing controversy that complicates...
Opera Software unveiled what it called a "WAP killer" last week, going global with its Web browser for Java-enabled mobile phones. Opera Mini uses a proxy server to format traditional Internet content for small screens-thereby bypassing the need for WAP technology and allowing users...
Big brands and high-powered advertising agencies are stampeding to wireless in an effort to snuggle up next to consumers. But they're finding that effective mobile marketing usually means more than just placing their company name on the display. Recent weeks have seen a flurry...
WASHINGTON-Morgan O'Brien, the industry pioneer who built Nextel Communications Inc. into a multibillion-dollar national wireless force, is joining a start-up firm seeking to leverage a patented geographic location-based technology for targeted emergency alerts and commercial mobile marketing. O'Brien will be chairman of the advisory...
As the wireless industry expands its array of data applications for the mass market, it might consider borrowing a few tricks from the gaming world. Indeed, gaming companies seem to have successfully navigated the non-interoperable wars. Wireless should sit at the feet of these...
TEL AVIV, Israel-Ki-Bi Mobile Technologies Ltd. announced a deal to deliver Valentine's Day-themed mobile content through U.K. wireless retailer Carphone Warehouse. Carphone Warehouse said it plans to offer two specially created Ki-Bi card types: one that allows users to send anonymous text messages to...
LOS ANGELES-Supporters of a death-row inmate in California are using text messaging to urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute his death sentence. Stanley "Tookie" Williams is scheduled to be executed Dec. 13. He has been on death row for nearly 25 years after being...
