NEW YORK—Comverse Inc. said it will pay $19 million in cash for privately held Netonomy, a developer of customer self-service, bill analysis and point of sale software for wireless communications. Comverse said Netonomy’s self-service application suite enables subscribers, including consumers, enterprise and retailers, to...
TOKYO—KDDI Corp. said it will invest $1.73 billion over the next three years to upgrade its network to CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A technology. Japan’s second-largest carrier said the new network will boost network speeds roughly tenfold, allowing downloads up to 3.6 megabits per...
The advent of contactless payment technology in mobile handsets ushers in big possibilities for credit-card companies, network operators, and handset and chip vendors-if all parties can agree on an equitable business model. For consumers, new technologies such as near field communication, or NFC, offer...
SAN FRANCISCO—European carrier Orange plc said it approved the Access Linux Platform (ALP) to run on its network, potentially giving much-needed support to Japanese firm Access Co. Ltd., which has sought operator partners for its new mobile-phone operating system. The companies made their announcement...
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. Click here for additional infrastructure awards from RCR Wireless...
Polar opposite pictures of the second quarter emerged last week from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. as the industry's No. 2 and No. 3 operators reported financial results. Verizon Wireless' parent company, Verizon Communications Inc., encountered what its executives called a "pivot point"...
The Symbian operating system, championed by Nokia Corp. in its smart phones, currently has a majority of OS market share, a state of affairs likely to continue for the foreseeable future, according to projections from market research firm IDC. This is likely despite the...
TOKYO—Japanese wireless carrier SoftBank announced it will study the feasibility of using Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFlo technology to offer mobile TV services. Qualcomm said SoftBank joins a growing list of carriers looking into its MediaFlo offering, a list that includes KDDI Corp. in Japan, BSkyB...
NEW YORK—Vodafone Group plc plans to keep its 45-percent stake in Verizon Wireless for the foreseeable future, Verizon Communications Inc. chief executive officer Ivan Seidenberg told analysts in a conference call Tuesday. Seidenberg said he met last week with Arun Sarin, Vodafone’s CEO, to...
MILTON KEYNES, U.K.- Mobile TV provider ROK Entertainment scored a major win last week, outperforming two carrier-affiliated services in a study from Strategy Analytics. The market research firm said Vodafone Live was the wireless video service of choice in a benchmark survey of wireless...
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Verizon Wireless reeled in 1.8 million net new customers last quarter, all of which the company says were retail customers—and the second-largest national carrier now claims that "based on publicly available information, that it has the most retail customers of any wireless...
BRUSSELS-The European Union has announced plans to cap the international roaming rates that carrier charge one another, which could end up cutting those prices by as much as 70 percent. "The commission wants to ensure that prices paid by consumers for roaming services within...
SUNNYVALE, Calif.—In a move apparently designed to assuage investors’ concerns, Palm Inc. announced that it would bring its Treo smart phone sporting Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile operating system to Vodafone Group plc by the end of the year. Palm currently offers its Windows-powered Treo...
ALBRIGHTON, United Kingdom—Mobile software developer ROK Media Ltd. said it has acquired U.K.-based content developer Fonedream. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.ROK’s offerings include a "place-shifting" device that allows users to watch their home TV broadcasts over mobile devices. The company said it...
BRUSSELS—The European Union has announced plans to cap the international roaming rates that carriers charge one another, which could end up cutting those prices by as much as 70 percent. "The commission wants to ensure that prices paid by consumers for roaming services within...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has become a member of the Open Mobile Terminal Platform, which makes recommendations to the handset industry on security, hardware, operating systems and browsers. Existing network operator members of OMTP include Vodafone Group plc, Orange SA, Hutchison 3G, KPN Mobile, SK...
ANYANG, South Korea-South Korean handset vendor VK Mobile has gone under, according to news reports. The company, which entered business as a battery maker in 1997, had set its sights on becoming a global brand and had cut deals to supply handsets to mobile...
As wireless carriers begin exploring data roaming, several are not simply limiting their sights to domestic roaming but are seeking to provide a more seamless mobile data experience around the world. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. introduced international data roaming not long after it launched its...
ANYANG, South Korea—South Korean handset vendor VK Mobile has gone under, according to news reports. The company, which entered business as a battery maker in 1997, had set its sights on becoming a global brand and had cut deals to supply handsets to...
LONDON—Market research firm Ovum plc said it will pay $1.2 million to acquire Boston-based counterpart Summit Strategies Inc. Ovum, which staged an initial public offering in March, offers research and analysis to customers including Alcatel Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone...
CYPRESS, Calif.—Bandai America Inc. announced plans to release a mobile-phone version of its popular Tamagotchi virtual-pet game. Tamagotchi, first introduced 10 years ago as a handheld game, requires users to care for a virtual pet by feeding it, playing with it and performing other...
LONDON—Yahoo Inc. scored a major wireless win with an agreement to provide mobile Internet services for Hutchison’s 3 Group carriers in Europe and Asia. The 3 Group tapped Yahoo to deliver mobile search, instant messaging and e-mail services as well as to provide the...
CYPRESS, Calif.—Bandai America Inc. announced plans to release a mobile-phone version of its popular Tamagotchi virtual-pet game. Tamagotchi, first introduced 10 years ago as a handheld game, requires users to care for a virtual pet by feeding it, playing with it and performing other...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Google Inc., Nokia Corp., Vodafone Group plc and others are hoping to spur uptake of the wireless Web with a set of development guidelines for Internet publishers. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) unveiled the initial draft of instructions for developers "on how...
