Mobile network operators have been supporting machine-to-machine traffic for years, and as the internet of things grows, the cellular industry wants to play a central role. Verizon Wireless and AT&T have upgraded their networks to support the latest generation of LTE for IoT, and...
Sony’s Altair Semiconductor will supply modem chips for AT&T’s $7.50 Category M1 LTE modules, which the carrier announced late last week. Altair was also AT&T’s modem vendor for its Category 1 LTE modules, which were priced at $14.99.
Connecting everything: news bytes for Nov. 16
1. Japan's largest telecom operator, NTT DoCoMo, is demonstrating two low-power LTE chipsets at its annual open house in Yokosuka. Sequans is set to demonstrate its LTE Category M1 Monarch chipset in live communication with a Rohde &...
Mobile network operators will do almost anything to keep their customers, as evidenced by the ongoing price wars and promotions that consumers enjoy. But what will happen as more of those customers become "things" instead of people? Most machines will not be able to...
Sony and Tepco could start bringing smart home services to millions of Japanese households as soon as next year.
Sony Mobile Communications and power company Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings (Tepco) said both companies are looking into offering joint smart home services starting next year....
Carriers race against dedicated low-power networks
BARCELONA, Spain – Mobile World Congress is all about the newest wireless technologies, but this year the end of an old technology is driving conversations around the "Internet of Things." Second-generation networks are being decommissioned to make room for...
5 things to know today ...
1. Smartphone apps that will let you draw cash out of your bank at an ATM are coming this year, according to Bank of America. The nation's second-largest bank says it will test the technology with its own...
Sony jump starts IoT strategy with LTE-only chipmaker purchase
LTE has an important role to play in the "Internet of Things," according to Sony. The Japanese conglomerate said it's buying LTE-only chipmaker Altair Semiconductor for $212 million as it expects more "things" to be connected...
Multi-year agreement includes development of original content, music for Verizon Go90 platform
Verizon Wireless signed a multi-year deal with Sony Music to distribute original video content from Sony Music through the telecom operator’s recently launched Go90 mobile video service. The deal is set to include...
Sony lithium-ion battery might not be commercially available until 2020
According to reports, Sony has developed a new lithium-ion battery that, although potentially not available to consumers for a few more years, offers a 40% gain in battery life as compared to what's on the...
The UK operator also plans to launch VoLTE in the short term
U.K. telecom operator EE plans to start offering 4G LTE services through spectrum in the 800 MHz band by the end of this year, according to reports.
The telco acquired 2×5 megahertz of paired...
Foxconn is best known as the manufacturer of Apple's iPhones and iPads, and the human costs of its efficient fabrication processes are well documented. Less well known are the Taiwanese company's global aspirations. Foxconn, which trades under the name Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.,...
T-Mobile US has been harvesting BlackBerries with an aggressive trade-in program that ended this week. The agile "un-carrier" offered customers $200 to trade in an old BlackBerry for a new device, and $250 if they wanted to trade it in for a BlackBerry Z10...
Smartphone prices range from $40 to $4,000, but the cost of building a device usually falls somewhere between those extremes. The bill of materials for a high-end smartphone like the iPhone 5S is much less than the off-contract retail price.
"You might be a...
Becoming part of Microsoft apparently will not stop Nokia from creating an Android smartphone. Codenamed Normandy, perhaps to symbolize a turning point, Nokia's Android smartphone is reportedly slated for release next year.
The lower end of the smartphone market is particularly important to Nokia. The...
Welcome to our weekly wrap-up of everything in the world of telecom software. After last week's focus on looking back, this week seems to be all about the new: new high-profile lawsuit; new version of Android with new security and headaches for Verizon Wireless;...
New Nexus
Google is expected to launch its new Nexus smartphone today. Pictures and videos have started to leak, and the rumor mill has dubbed the new device the Nexus 5. The smartphone is expected to debut Google's newest version of Android, Android 4.4 (KitKat)....
Apple has filed an application to trademark the "iWatch" name in Japan, the first known patent application for the name in any country. The application was filed early last month but was not announced until last week. It has not yet been approved.
The patent...
Sony's entertainment business is outperforming its electronics business. Today the company trimmed its smartphone sales forecast and said it would consider a shareholder proposal to sell part of its entertainment business.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKVRHEaCIQw
Scroll down for more top stories.
Today's Mobile Minute:
Sony says it will consider a...
The most stunning smartphones at Mobile World Congress were not even announced at the show; both Sony and HTC unveiled their new flagship phones before the week began in Barcelona, Spain. Once the show got underway, their handsets were joined by the latest from...
With a 10.1-inch screen, Sony's new Xperia Z tablet is certainly not the smallest tablet to debut at Mobile World Congress, but Sony says it is the thinnest and lightest tablet on the market. The company demonstrated the tablet for RCR last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLltYRYzmiI
HTC was not shy about using words like "reinvent" and "new standard" when introducing its new HTC One smartphone. "Although smartphones are one of the main ways we stay in touch with the people and information we care about, conventional designs have failed to...
Near field communications has been around for a while, but at this year's Consumer Electronics Show it was clear that the technology has made it out of the technical journals and into the products that consumers are buying. From smart TVs to mobile devices...
