BROWSING: Daily Update

This week, I took a closer look at SpinVox, a service that transcribes voicemails into text messages, word for word. Well, most of the time anyway. // By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove...

House telecom subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) reportedly plans to craft a wireless consumer protection bill this year, an effort likely to reignite a debate over the role of states in a new national regulatory framework. At the same time, the Government Accounting Office...

Regional wireless provider iPCS Inc. posted $9.8 million in losses for 2008, but the company remains optimistic it will continue to add customers and reduce churn.In regard to subscribers, the Sprint Nextel Corp. affiliate said it added 61,200 net customers for 2008, short of...

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said about 30,000 LG Electronics Co. Ltd. handsets are being recalled because of 911-calling-related problems."The recalled phones can have difficulty sustaining a connection or have poor voice quality on calls to emergency 911," the CPSC stated in a...

Like cartoon coyotes that draw themselves to full height before an exaggerated pounce on prey, handset vendors have offered little this year - but portended much - before an expected lunge at the market.Major vendors, particularly smartphone purveyors, have largely passed up the first...

Mobile banking is beginning to get legs in emerging markets, but it's not just the noble goals of empowering individuals and helping the downtrodden that is driving the space.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shone a spotlight on the space recently, announcing a $12.5...

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--China: Nokia Siemens Networks won frame agreements with China Mobile...

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.Collecting a soggy newspaper from the end of the driveway in one's pajamas is familiar to many...

Cricket Communications Inc. has deployed its 3G network in Chicago by partnering with wireless infrastructure vendor Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., the companies announced today.The launch in Chicago follows a successful deployment in nearby Milwaukee last fall. The Huawei network includes the Chinese company's Dual...

Verizon Wireless customers can once again directly access services from mobile content retailer Myxer. The nation's No. 1 wireless provider pulled its support of Myxer last summer, claiming the service was distributing porn and had failed to get proper licenses for other material.Verizon Wireless...

The $789 billion economic stimulus bill nearing final congressional passage designates $7.2 billion for broadband grants, but the measure lacks tax credits for wireless carriers and other service providers.Crafting rules for broadband grants could become highly controversial, since guidelines governing eligibility, data speeds, nondiscrimination...

Ahead of next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced two new innovations the company hopes will set it apart from the inevitable trade-show noise. Specifically, the company unveiled its "Blue Earth" touchscreen phone, which features a rechargeable solar...

Nokia Corp. begged for forgiveness from consumers after its new cloud-based service broke down.The Finnish manufacturer - which is striving to evolve into a mobile Internet services company - said its Contacts for Ovi offering shut down after a cooler failed, causing a server...

Boost Mobile's decision to refocus its efforts on parent company Sprint Nextel Corp.'s iDEN network may be just what the doctor ordered - or a way to make the iDEN network a more attractive acquisition target.After launching a trial of an unlimited offering on...

The world's top cellphone maker Nokia will unveil its new application store next week, hoping to follow the runaway success of Apple's App Store, two industry sources told Reuters on Friday.

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced plans to open its own stores despite the economic downturn that has left many retailers struggling.

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.--Pontis: Norwest Venture Partners led a $19.65 million round of financing into software developer Pontis Ltd. Current backers Sequoia...

Sprint Nextel Corp. has pitched to the Obama transition team a $2 billion plan to provide first responders with emergency interoperable wireless communications anywhere in the country within four hours, a model based on the use of fleets of trucks equipped with cellular gear...

The $825 billion economic stimulus package unveiled by congressional Democrats will include $6 billion in grants for broadband and wireless services in underserved areas, a funding level that is lower than anticipated and that could come with controversial strings attached.In a press release, the...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin today announced his resignation, marking an ending to a turbulent tenure in which he often found himself at odds with the mobile-phone industry and the Democratic-controlled Congress. Martin, chairman since March 2005, said the agency under his leadership...

The Chinese government has approved plans to issue licenses for 3G-based wireless services, a decision that will result in billions of dollars spent there on infrastructure during the next two years. The move stands as a massive opportunity for network and handset vendors hoping...

Not to belabor the obvious, but 2008 was a brutal year for the stock market. And while the wireless industry seemed to be withstanding the current economic downturn better than most segments, there was still blood to be let. The RCR Wireless Stock Watch,...

In separate actions, both Research in Motion Ltd. and Nuance Communications Inc. extended their efforts to consummate anticipated acquisitions. For BlackBerry maker RIM, that means extending to Jan. 27 its $52.6 million offer to purchase encryption firm Certicom Corp., and for Nuance it means...