Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Another CTIA show has come and gone. There was plenty of talk of new applications...
Think Google Inc. has the mobile search space all sewn up? Think again.ChaCha - heard of 'em? - claims to have delivered search results to 1 million users since its launch earlier this year, answering more than 27 million queries via text message. And...
SAN FRANCISCO -- The world of off-deck content may be moving away from premium SMS and onto the wireless Web.Bango this week said it has seen its WAP transactions in the United States increase fourfold in the last three months as carriers increasingly look...
Even as Apple Inc.'s 3G iPhone ventures into the enterprise market, Research In Motion Ltd. is expected to continue its dominance in the business sector with the upcoming release of the 3G BlackBerry Bold, according to a report by Pacific Crest Securities.The new BlackBerry...
Carriers are beginning to use carrot-and-stick strategies to bring their third-party content partners to heel. And both the carrot and the stick are made of cash.Sprint Nextel Corp. earlier this year became the first U.S. carrier to formally tie revenue shares to business practices,...
AOL L.L.C.'s Platform-A debuted a mobile platform and network specifically for serving ads to Apple Inc.'s iPhone.The new offering, which is available through AOL's Third Screen Media subsidiary, delivers targeted, iPhone-optimized ads through sites within Third Screen's mobile network, Advertising.com's online network or any...
Virgin Mobile USA Inc. has tapped buzzd to power an ad-supported, location-based entertainment offering from its home deck.A New York-based startup, buzzd couples location-sensitive city guides with social-networking features allowing users to broadcast and share content from their phones. The Web-based service features content...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.There is a ride in Disneyland called "Fantasy Land." The ride consists of park guests...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Why is the mobile user experience important?For many mobile service providers in developed markets, what...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn't. If you wish to submit your application or...
NEW YORK - Here's something you probably haven't heard before: this is not the year of mobile advertising. And next year may not be either.Executives at the Mobile Marketing Forum last week dispensed with the usual talk of hockey-stick projections and tipping points, opting...
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 RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
As its BREW developer conference kicks into high gear today, Qualcomm Inc. announced a handful of efforts designed to entice a broader array of players into the mobile content field.--Qualcomm took the wraps off its new "Plaza" effort, which the company said is a...
Virgin Mobile USA has tapped AOL's Platform-A to handle its WAP banner inventory.Platform-A will serve as the "exclusive display advertising and sales partner" for the mobile virtual network operator's mobile Web inventory, delivering banner ads across Virgin's deck. "Working with Virgin Mobile USA, we...
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Like many other forms of entertainment, watching mobile TV wastes time - at least to some. For the executives running mobile entertainment companies that routinely talk about the medium as such, there's an apparent sense of pride or ease that comes...
Quietly, Professional Bull Riders has begun targeting rodeo fans - yes, rodeo fans - through their phones.The Pueblo, Colo.-based association several weeks ago launched a comprehensive wireless Web site, allowing fans to access news, standings, and rider profiles and blogs from their handsets. Visitors...
Can you smell me now?Multimedia messaging could soon become multi-sensory. A German syndicate including a sensory analysis and marketing consultancy and an interactive value-added services specialist have filed for a patent for technology that allows users to send scents with their MMS messages to...
Digital entertainment firm CinemaNow Inc. is teaming with uVuMobile to allow consumers to use their phones to order full-length films for viewing on other platforms.Movie fans with Web-enabled phones can visit CinemaNow's mobile site to preview trailers from the company's library of 10,000 films,...
Does the world really need a wireless Web?It's a question that has come up repeatedly in the years following the introduction of WAP, the standard used to display Internet content on mobile phones. At the turn of the century, a number of companies invested...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and...
What about the shoe phone?Echoflex Solutions Inc. introduced a self-powered wireless key switch, which the company said can reduce the cost of powering unoccupied hotel rooms. The switch is activated by hotel key cards and generates its own power each time the card is...
Pepsi-Cola has tapped Hong Kong's MyClick Media to handle the mobile extension of a cross-platform marketing campaign targeting young consumers in China. The contest encourages users to upload photos as well as personal information such as name and mobile number to one of six...
Mobile entertainment community Limbo inked a year-long deal with Virgin Mobile USA Inc. to offer mobile promotions to customers.Limbo, a 2-year-old startup headed by founders of the mobile marketing firm Enpocket, will stage monthly and quarterly promotions through text-message blasts and on the VirginXL...
Gambling continues to be a vice mostly pushed to the sidelines. It pops up with a vengeance in places like Las Vegas and on Indian reservations, but there are plenty of outlets waiting with open arms for those who want more.Gambling surged lock-in-step with...
