2007

After more than two years, a plan to blanket San Francisco with seamless wireless Internet access at no cost to consumers is back where it started. All that stands in the wake of the failed citywide Wi-Fi effort now is …

Virgin Mobile USA Inc. is offering its subscribers the chance to create their own wallpapers and ringtones-and reap the benefits if someone else downloads their handiwork. The new service, called Studio V, allows customers to upload and edit graphics content …

Apple Inc.’s iTunes dominates the digital music dance floor. But following Apple’s lead may not be a wise move for mobile music services.An astounding 89% of teens go to iTunes for their legal music downloads, according to a recent report …

With ringtone revenues in decline and full-track downloads struggling to find an audience, carriers and third-party vendors are working furiously to breathe life into a withering mobile music industry.Ringtones for years have been the most popular type of content on …

The grandiose vision of ubiquitous WiMAX connectivity for everything under the sun is intoxicating, at least to Sprint Nextel Corp. and its partners.And when the world’s top three mobile handset vendors, which also produce WiMAX infrastructure, pledge to support Sprint …

WiMAX could be the technology that fuels the fusion of all sorts of mobile applications, integrating video, location-based services and a host of other offerings.And analysts generally agree that speedy access to the wireless Web will be the key.“When I …

In the past, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has managed now and then to wrestle away the spotlight (albeit temporarily) on major telecom-tech issues of the day from the Federal Communications Commission. NTIA, a Commerce Department unit that serves …

End2End, which provides managed services for mobile data, said it has acquired connected-gaming provider Terraplay. The company said that the deal will allow End2End to offer operators products in connected and multiplayer gaming and a fully managed mobile gaming offering …

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) introduced legislation directing government scientists to pursue a wireless solution enabling underground miners to communicate with workers above ground during an emergency, like the one in the lawmaker’s home state in August in which nine lives …

Looking for a few good books for your smartphone? Motricity might be able to help. The content company said that its eBook customers will be able to purchase and receive eBooks over-the-air directly to their smartphones, and that its eReader …

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.–Melodeo: Ignition Partners and Voyager Capital led a $7.9 million preferred funding round into mobile …

Verizon Wireless has agreed to settle a lawsuit from the New York attorney general’s office claiming the carrier’s advertisements for its unlimited data service were deceptive. As part of the settlement, Verizon Wireless will pay a total of $1 million …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier–Credit Suisse First Boston raised its rating on Sprint Nextel to outperform from neutral and bumped its price target to $21 …

You’re hearing a dizzying stream of promises and jargon aimed at convincing businesses to “go mobile.”But you’d like to hear unvarnished advice from folks who have done the heavy lifting. Case studies, from the horse’s mouth. Ya shoulda been at …

The direct-to-consumer mobile content space is being shackled by inadequate billing systems and an overall lack of traffic, content providers and mobile software developers said Monday.The market for off-deck mobile content was once seen as a kind of equalizer for …

Upper echelons of the wireless industry have been having the same dream for years: an unassuming wireless subscriber is walking past a coffee shop and up pops a mobile coupon on their device for that specific location. “If I hear …

With more than 15% of wireless carriers’ revenue coming from data services, operators are eyeing the next leap in usage. Executives from the big-five carriers were all on hand yesterday for a panel discussion on the state of mobile content, …

The Mad Ballmer remained out of sight for Tuesday’s keynote address before a standing-room-only crowd.Instead, a calm, determined Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp.’s CEO, offered a new, enterprise-friendly, mobile-device-management suite, touched device maker HTC Corp. with his magic wand and just …

For Verizon Wireless and its recently installed chief, Lowell McAdam, life seems great. Customer growth remains near the top, customer churn remains nearly invisible and the carrier recently unveiled new devices targeting fast-growing demographics as well as a certain “fruity” …

Facts are facts. Large companies are the main drivers for the wireless industry. If MicrosoftNokiaVerizonWirelessRIM want to push innovation, they have the clout, power and money to make something happen.But following a quick stroll along the show floor, I think …

Nokia Corp. is preparing to add a new feature to its mobile sharing site, MOSH, that will allow users to request specific content from the growing number of members and developers that frequent the site.SEEK will allow the MOSH community …

What’s plaguing the mobile gaming market? Pretty much the same headaches that have been there for years.Mobile gaming continues to struggle to move beyond what publishers have dubbed the “golden nickel”-the 5% or so of mobile users who pay to …

AT&T Inc. reported a strong quarter, adding 2 million net new wireless subscribers to bring its subscriber base to 65.7 million. Of its net additions, 1.2 million were retail postpaid customers, up more than 30% from retail postpaid gains during …

Sprint Nextel Corp. is expanding the reach of its Boost Mobile L.L.C. unlimited calling offer to an additional 10 states. The carrier said that, based on the offer’s success in trial markets in California and Texas, Unlimited by Boost will …

Cisco Systems said it has agreed to purchase mobile WiMAX vendor Navini Networks for about $330 million in cash and assumed options. Navini’s specialty involves the integration of “smart beamforming” technologies with multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antennas to improve performance and …