2006

LOS ANGELES—Xero Mobile isn’t expected to launch service until January, but the mobile virtual network operator is already looking for a buyer. Xero, which hopes to lure college-age users with advertising-supported wireless offerings, said it is negotiating to be acquired …

NEW YORK—Demand is strong at T-Mobile USA Inc. retail stores for the recently launched Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry Pearl, according to a national channel check by UBS analyst Maynard Um. The device, announced Sept. 7, combines productivity functions with …

LONDON—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. bolstered its mobile music strategy with the launch of a new promotional area for new and developing artists. The company’s M-BUZZ initiative allows users to access full-track music, videos, biographies, concert schedules and other content …

ARLINGTON, Va.—The Washington Post Co. is the latest old-school news company to go mobile, unveiling wireless Internet sites for three of its high-profile products. The company launched wireless versions of its online offerings from The Washington Post newspaper, Newsweek magazine …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new offering for business customers, promising them end-to-end mobile security that can support devices from multiple carriers running multiple operating systems. The Sprint Mobile Security service allows customers to choose from three different …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—The Inc. is laying down the ink—and nearly $4 billion in cash—to bulk up for the enterprise. Motorola Inc. and Symbol Technologies announced that the former would buy the latter for nearly $4 billion, a move deepening Motorola’s position …

DALLAS—Titan Global Holdings Inc. said its board of directors has approved the formation of a wholly owned subsidiary to operate the wireless portions of its Bravo Cellular and Oblio Telecom Inc. units. The new subsidiary will operate under the Titan …

BOSTON—Shares of American Tower Corp. slid after the tower vendor said it will have to restate earnings due to inconsistencies regarding past stock-option grants. The company plans to file an amended annual report for 2005 that will “reflect the restatement …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. will add two more handsets to its portfolio—both Walkman music phones—from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. in the next couple of weeks, the carrier acknowledged. The first to be released will be Sony Ericsson’s W300i, which will …

WASHINGTON–Freescale Semiconductor Inc. confirmed last week it is talking with parties relating to a possible transaction characterized by a New York Times story as a bidding war between two private equity firms to acquire the chipmaker for $16 billion. The …

LOS ANGELES–A quick tour of last week’s CTIA I.T. Wireless & Entertainment event showed there’s no shortage of hype regarding the future of wireless data. But there’s also plenty of uncertainty. News Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Chernin …

Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is adding a Razr-esque smart phone to its device lineup, targeting business and consumer users who want access to e-mail and entertainment content, but are willing to forego a full Qwerty keyboard. ? The Cingular 3125 is …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–Sage Software acquired Corum Mobile, a division of Corum Corp., to solidify Sage’s offering of Corum’s mobile customer record management services, Sage announced. Corum is privately held and based in Concord, Ontario. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. …

LOS ANGELES–Motorola Inc. is putting the pedal to the metal on getting ideas more rapidly transformed into services with its “Fast Track” program, part of its MotoDev effort to spur innovative services–and, of course, take over the world. “We want …

SAN DIEGO–Qualcomm Inc. announced that chipmaker Newport Media Inc. signed a royalty-free agreement to design, manufacture and market Qualcomm’s MediaFlo multicast mobile TV technology. The move is somewhat surprising since Qualcomm has a history of collecting what many in the …

LOS ANGELES–Wireless carriers toasted their high-speed mobile broadband networks with a number of 3G-related announcements during last week’s CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment event. Verizon Wireless declared that it chose Motorola Inc. to upgrade its CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision 0 …

LOS ANGELES–In the heart of the world’s entertainment capital, Paul Reddick told content providers it was time to show him the money. The vice president of business development and product innovation at Sprint Nextel Corp. took to the stage at …

Here’s what got the edit staff fired up this week: Did you see RCR Reporter Colin Gibbs’ story about Sprint Nextel selling ad space on its mobile Web service? Like it promised, Sprint Nextel is transforming itself from a wireless …

LOS ANGELES–Mobile content and applications company Handango said it has experienced a significant increase in the number of repeat buyers of smart-phone applications through its In Hand on-device access service. The company said repeat users trended toward applications that include …

LONDON—PayPal Inc. expanded its “Text 2 Buy” program with an offering that allows users in the United Kingdom to purchase magazine subscriptions and consumer electronics over their phones. Dutch software developer Mowave Inc. is powering the service, which offers a …

During the long flight from Los Angeles back to Denver, I realized that the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show turned out completely different than I had expected. When I first arrived in Los Angeles last Tuesday, I had fully …

LONDON—By 2012, W-CDMA technology will rake in the highest capital-expenditure investment by mobile operators—more than $150 billion—according to a new report from ABI Research. Mobile operators’ attitudes towards capex have changed over the past two or three years,” said mobile …

LOS ANGELES–Two forces are creating a market for speaker-independent voice services on the handset, according to one player that believes it is poised to dominate that market. The convergence of voice, multimedia and Web browsing on handsets has brought renewed …

LOS ANGELES–Nokia Corp. knows how to get the buzz going. On the first day of CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment event last week the handset manufacturer launched a new productivity and multimedia device?the E62 smart phone?at Cingular Wireless L.L.C., at …

LOS ANGELES–The CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show’s final keynote of the week featured “old guy socks,” “rollover minute” double-entendres and a visit by Paris Hilton, as three industry panelists debated how mobile social networking will change the world and …