Nearly lost in all post-mortems following the death of Mowser last week was this little tidbit: 80% of the traffic to the site was mobile users looking for adult content, according to founder Russell Beattie.Think about that. Four out of every five actions on...
The adult mobile content market will nearly triple over the next several years, reaching $4.6 billion by 2012, according to a recent forecast from Juniper Research. But don't expect much of that money to come from North American consumers anytime soon.Juniper predicted video chat...
Canadian operator Telus Mobility said it will become the first North American operator to offer Zi Corp.'s mobile search service.The service, dubbed Qix, is designed to allow wireless uses "to access the full range of features on their device simply and intuitively," the carrier...
Not that we spend too much time surfing Canadian carrier Web sites, but a quick glance of the Telus Mobility site shows some interesting coverage challenges for the Great White North. The carrier's coverage map shows extensive availability of high-speed EV-DO Rev. A service...
T-Mobile USA Inc. is suing Canadian operator Telus Mobility over the northern neighbor's use of a familiar promotion: my Faves. T-Mobile USA introduced its "myFaves" plans in late 2006, offering customers the ability to make unlimited calls to five self-selected phone numbers regardless of...
Microsoft Inc. announced it has acquired the right to buy Musiwave SA from Openwave Systems Inc., which has struggled with management changes in light of stock-option backdating woes and proxy battles with shareholders. No terms of the proposed deal were disclosed.The acquisition of Musiwave...
Alltel Corp. announced that it will be using QuickPlay Media Inc.'s OpenVideo platform to provide new streaming video channels on the No. 5 carrier's Celltop information-on-demand service.Through the partnership, Alltel will offer new video "cells" including the latest entertainment, horoscopes, extreme sports and wellness...
Travel planning and roadside assistance organization AAA unveiled a downloadable application that offers drivers access to turn-by-turn directions and AAA services via mobile phone. Jeff Green, managing director of location-based technology for AAA, said that about 50% of the 29 million calls received by...
The ZTE D90 handset-a "multimedia powerhouse" in the vendor's words-will be available from Canadian carrier Telus Mobility, priced at $218 without a contract and $76 with a three-year contract. The D90, a flip phone, supports the carrier's CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network speeds, sports a...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. went dark last week, after filing for bankruptcy and being unable to raise sufficient funds to carry it through reorganization.The company joins Mobile ESPN in the annals of failed mobile virtual network operators, and its customers were stuck with shiny paperweights...
Despite the widely recognized success of Amp'd Mobile Inc.'s large portfolio of original content, a source at the company has told RCR Wireless News that less than 1% of the company's nearly $400 million total budget was spent on such endeavors.This revelation, which came...
Canadian telecom provider Telus Corp. reported Q2revenues were up 4% year-over-year due to growth in wireless and data, but that its earnings for the second quarter were impacted by the advent of wireless number portability in Canada as well as the bankruptcy of Amp'd...
hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.Canadian operator Telus Mobility recently added Samsung's m620 handset to its portfolio. The device has been available from U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel for several months, but, adhering...
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 Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong...
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...
Madison Dearborn Partners L.L.C. is among a group of investors engineering the $48.5 billion purchase of BCE Inc., Canada's biggest phone company, in the largest buyout ever. Madison Dearborn Partners will get a 9% stake, valued at about $4.4 billion, as it chalks up...
Telus Corp. has decided not to go through with a bid for Canadian competitor BCE Inc. "The inadequacies of BCE's bid process did not make it possible for Telus to submit an offer," the company said in a statement.BCE had announced a strategic review...
The two largest telecom carriers in Canada are in discussions over a possible tie-up, although no official deal has been announced. Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. said they are pursuing "non-exclusive discussions" about a possible "business combination" that Telus' chief executive said would create...
The two largest telecom carriers in Canada are in discussions over a possible tie-up, although no official deal has been announced. Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. said they are pursuing "non-exclusive discussions" about a possible "business combination" that Telus' chief executive said would create...
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Amp'd Mobile Inc. may not necessarily signal the death knell for the business model, but is certain to make investors and partners wary and put additional pressure on other fledgling mobile virtual network operators to review their own...
Aepona, a global provider of telecom software and services, plans to merge with Appium, which focuses on application servers and service creation environments, the two companies announced. The new entity will retain the Aepona identity and will be headquartered in Belfast, current headquarters of...
Device management company Mformation Technologies Inc. announced $20 million in new venture funding. QuestMark Partners led the company's funding round, which included investments from Wasatch Cross Creek Capital and Mformation's existing investors."Mformation is right at the heart of a very attractive market," said Ben...
Mobile banking company Clairmail Inc. made public its first deal with a bank last week, announcing that California-based Bank of Stockton will use the company's platform. Clairmail's system relies on text messaging to make mobile banking transactions available to the broadest possible swath of...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. says it is close to reaching the 200,000 subscriber mark after a strong first quarter, numbers that indicate the mobile virtual network operator is rapidly gaining customers. Amp'd reported in January that it ended 2006 with more than 100,000 customers, and...
