BROWSING: Verizon

FORT WORTH, Texas-Shares of RadioShack Corp. slid after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter sales and confirmed it will fall short of projected 2005 earnings-due largely to lagging wireless sales. The electronics retailer reported total sales during the quarter of $1.67 billion, a 5-percent increase...

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission set a May 10 date for the auction of 800 MHz air-to-ground licenses. The FCC is auctioning the four megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz ATG band because it decided that the current ATG spectrum was being underutilized.The agency...

SAN ANTONIO-Nighthawk Systems Inc.'s telemetry devices will be able to access Verizon Wireless' network, according to an agreement between the two companies. Nighthawk provides wireless power control and emergency notification products. The agreement allows it to bundle and sell products with Verizon Wireless service.

GLEN BURNIE, Md.-American Financial Holdings Inc. finalized its merger with Pelican Mobile Computers Inc., which provides rugged mobile hardware and software for law enforcement agencies and emergency workers. The combined companies said they plan to adopt the name Tactical Solution Partners Inc., and plan...

BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless made headlines last week at the Consumer Electronics Show when it unveiled a new full-track mobile music download service. But the carrier is busy this week defending the offering's lack of support for MP3 music files. Verizon Wireless' Vcast Music offers...

LOS ANGELES-Mobile content provider UrbanWorld Wireless launched its first mobile game and added the voices of National Football League running backs Warrick Dunn and Deuce McAllister to ringtone offerings. UrbanWorld unveiled Hip Hop 101, a trivia game about the urban music industry that rewards...

As in past years, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was ground zero for a series of entertaining handset battles, with vendors firing off warning shots against each other and carriers blustering over new phone offerings for consumers. Perhaps the most interesting display...

With the first few mobile virtual network operators out of the starting gate and more marching to the post, 2006 looks to be the year of the launch. After 2005, during which several MVNOs spent gearing up for and touting their upcoming launches, the...

TEWKSBURY, Mass.-Network gateway vendor Starent Networks Corp. announced it scored an investment from T-Mobile Venture Fund. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.Starent said the investment will help the company expand into the W-CDMA market. Starent has made its mark to date in...

Online sales are skyrocketing-and wireless carriers are keeping pace as consumers increasingly look to the Web as a venue to shop and buy. Online sales (excluding travel) raked in $30.1 billion during the holiday shopping season, and sales of consumer electronics such as cellular...

LAS VEGAS-The much-hyped "year of mobile music" started off with a bang here at last week's 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show. But whether wireless consumers will sign on-and where mobile operators will fit in the value chain-is still very much in question. Verizon Wireless...

Just when you thought your new Wi-Fi-enabled laptop was nifty, along comes a bevy of new laptops embedded with PC cards and chips that support wireless broadband Internet access via third-generation carrier networks. Several announcements touted the latest collaborations between carriers and computer manufacturers...

A new year is a perfect time to set priorities-and clean off the pile of papers oozing beyond the allotted boundaries on one's desk. (OK-my desk.) One of my first priorities this year is to study the trends that likely will affect the wireless...

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.CarriersFitch Ratings affirmed its A+ issuer default rating on Verizon Communications Inc. and removed it from Rating Watch Negative, where it was placed nearly a...

LAS VEGAS-As the Consumer Electronic Show winds down in Las Vegas, content players are front and center launching new products. Handmark Inc. and Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. are offering TV Guide listings for the Palm Treo 700w smart phone from Verizon Wireless. Through monthly...

LAS VEGAS-Verizon Wireless has unveiled its new music service, Vcast Music, which will offer consumers the ability to download full-length digital songs and transfer them between their handset and a Windows XP personal computer. The service is a collaboration between Verizon Wireless and Microsoft...

LAS VEGAS-Verizon Wireless is offering Palm Inc.'s Treo 700w smart phone running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile operating system for use on its EV-DO network.Verizon, Palm and Microsoft last year announced plans for a Windows-based Treo exclusively on Verizon's network. Previously Palm built all of...

ATLANTA-ThinkPad notebook computers will have built-in support for Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s BroadbandConnect network, according to plans from Cingular and computer manufacturer Lenovo. The preconfigured notebooks are expected to be available starting in the second quarter. Lenovo will integrate Cingular's wireless wide area network technology...

SEOUL, South Korea-Qualcomm Inc. is firming up its plans for mobile TV with news that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Electronics Co. Ltd. will build phones to support its MediaFlo mobile TV technology. Samsung's upcoming MediaFlo phone features a clamshell design and a...

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. will team with KDDI Corp. to explore broadcasting wireless video programming to subscribers of the Japanese operator. The companies will establish MediaFlo Japan Planning Inc., a joint venture to examine licensing spectrum necessary to build a MediaFlo network in Japan. Japan's...

WASHINGTON-The California Public Utilities Commission is set to vote this month on a measure that would create a first-in-the-nation Telecommunications Consumer Fraud Unit. The fraud unit proposal is part of the new version of the controversial Consumer Bill of Rights. Also in the new...

WASHINGTON-At the stroke of midnight Saturday, all the wireless carriers that selected a handset solution for E-911 Phase II rules failed to meet the FCC's requirements, and as RCR Wireless News went to press it was unclear if any of the carriers would receive...

While most of the country was busy with last-minute shopping trips, President Bush was retaliating against the latest attack on his presidency-reports of a secret program to spy on Americans.After a day of cloudy "no comments," Bush owned up to the program, which was...

I have fond memories of getting a beautiful red record player for Christmas one year when I was in elementary school. It wasn't the cool one that only played the record when you closed the lid (my Mom and Dad never were into the...