Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.As the end of the year approaches, the question many people are asking is whether 2010 will...
The carrier-led Joint Innovation Lab project announced that four handset manufacturers have agreed to support its widget specification in devices beginning next year.The device manufacturers include LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Research In Motion Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sharp Corp. The JIL founding...
SAN JOSE, Calif. – JIL, the Joint Innovation Lab, is an effort by four of the world's largest wireless operators to put carriers back into the revenue-sharing equation as consumers move from voice-based applications to content. Speaking at The Telecom Council's TC3 meeting late...
After months of speculations, Apple iPhone 3G S is about to make its “official” entry in the Chinese market, following China Unicom's announcement of a three-year deal with Apple to sell the watershed device in China in 4Q. Through this deal, and while Apple...
In North America, the swift growth of mobile broadband has been instrumental in shoring up ARPU (average revenue per user) numbers, which were threatened by the commoditization of voice. With new applications and ideas coupled with improvements in key mobile-phone technologies, there is no...
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the fourth quarter.
This list comprises the amounts that were invested into wireless companies, as well as the companies that led the investment.
RCR Wireless News collects venture-financing deals in the wireless...
Research indicates that 2010 will be the year that femtocell technology will boom, and the major carriers are positioning themselves to take advantage by selling a product that boosts wireless signals in homes and offices that have spotty coverage.Sprint Nextel Corp. was the first...
A new forecast of the near-field communications market predicts 700 million mobile subscribers worldwide will have phones with NFC contactless technology by 2013.The report, from Juniper Research, said there is a significant opportunity for NFC mobile payment services, chips, phones and supporting services as...
As analysts and pundits scoured the tea leaves in the wake of Apple Inc.'s 3G iPhone launch, a few issues emerged.Who, besides Apple, will get a boost from iPhone mania? Who gets hurt? Will a rising iPhone-tide lift all boats in the second half...
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.Cellular--Bulgaria: Bulgarian Telecommunications Co. chose Alcatel-Lucent to provide GSM/EDGE solutions...
Vodafone Group plc will say goodbye to its fearless leader. After five years as CEO, Arun Sarin announced last week that he is retiring as head of one of the wireless industry's largest operators, and minority-interest holder in Verizon Wireless, at the end of...
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--Ad Infuse: Softbank Capital led a $12 million round of funding into mobile advertising company Ad Infuse. Existing investors...
Ringing insultThe King of Spain's recent tongue-lashing of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has become a popular ringtone in Spain. King Juan Carlos asked Chavez, "Why don't you just shut up?" at a summit earlier this month. The comment was turned into a ringtone that...
After shutting down two mobile virtual network operations in the United States, Walt Disney Co. is hoping the third time is the charm; the company is restarting its "Disney Mobile" offering, this time in Japan.The company said it will work with Japanese mobile operator...
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--BiTMICRO: Woodside Investments L.P. led a $9.3 million Series F funding round into BiTMICRO Networks. The company said it...
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--KickApps: SoftBank Capital led an $11 million Series B funding round into KickApps Corp., a hosted social media platform...
Femtocells, or access point base stations, are making some big waves in the wireless industry this month. Shortly after ABI Research released a positive report on the outlook for femtocells, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks each announced new partnerships and detailed plans for their...
Wireless e-mail company Visto Corp. announced it raised another $35 million in venture-capital funding, this time scoring money from Altitude Capital Partners L.L.C. The news means that Visto has now raised close to $300 million in VC financing over the course of its nine-year...
Two newly publicized health studies on cellphone and base-station radiation have produced mixed results, likely keeping alive the long-running scientific debate over whether handsets and cell-site transmissions can cause cancer and other illnesses. Japanese mobile-phone operators NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Mobile...
Two newly publicized health studies on mobile phone and base station radiation have produced mixed results, likely keeping alive the long-running scientific debate over whether handsets and cell site transmissions can cause cancer and other illnesses. Japanese mobile-phone operators NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp....
The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. Cellular Japan: L.M. Ericsson and Softbank Mobile Corp. signed...
Financiers continue to flood the white-hot-and increasingly litigious-mobile e-mail space. Specifically, white-label wireless e-mail provider Seven Networks Inc. snared $42 million in an oversubscribed round of funding. The company said undisclosed new investors joined existing backers, which include Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd., Greyloack, Ignition...
For mobile content players, these are either the best of times or the worst of times. Or, in some cases, both. Investment money continues to flow into wireless content and marketing. Thumbplay Inc., a direct-to-consumer aggregator, hauled in $10 million in a third round...
NEW YORK—Mobile content retailer Thumbplay Inc. added to its bank account with a new funding round and line of credit. The distributor of ringtones and other content hauled in $10 million in a third round of financing round led by Bain Capital Ventures and...
