2007

It appears wireless Web surfers are more interested in accessing news and mobile content than finding the nearest pizza parlor.AOL last week unveiled the most common searches from its wireless portal, revealing some surprisingly popular search terms. While MySpace (No. …

Separate mobile Linux efforts have been cited by competitors as likely to lead to fragmentation.That’s an ongoing debate, to be sure. But one Linux camp and an analyst said last week that “fragmentation” definitely means fragmenting the pool of application …

Wireless tracking of vehicles and people will generate about $4.9 billion in revenues in Western Europe by 2012, according to a new report from Juniper Research.The firm said the growth will be driven by the need to improve business efficiency …

The debate whether to unleash a potentially huge amount of vacant broadcast spectrum-called white spaces-for Wi-Fi and other low-power wireless applications has reached a critical juncture, with federal regulators set to conduct another round of testing on a new group …

As ringtone revenues descend and full-track mobile music services spin their tires, ringback tones are quietly gaining steam. But they may not be quiet much longer.Ringbacks-audio content that a caller hears instead of a traditional ring before the person being …

That sucking sound you hear is the wireless industry on the mat, gasping for air.Enter the dragon, Steve Jobs, RCR Wireless News’ Person of the Year.In the United States alone, in six months, Apple Inc. sold more than 1.4 million …

A new report from ABI Research says carriers need to keep long-term considerations in mind when formulating their femtocell strategies, because femtocell solutions probably won’t generate profits until three or more years after services are launched.“Our studies found that the …

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-There’s always a first shot at everything; first to the moon, first to summit Mount Everest, first to end homelessness. It may not be as altruistic as the latter, but Universal Music Group International and Nokia Corp. now …

Leap Wireless International Inc. added fewer than 40,000 net new subscribers during the third quarter and its churn rate soared, while the flat-rate carrier’s financial losses for the quarter expanded to more than $43 million.Leap had warned investors that its …

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-Nokia Corp.’s strategy hasn’t wavered much in the past few years and the message for 2008 is essentially more of the same. While at one end of the spectrum, the Finnish company is eyeing more feature-rich devices and …

Clearwire Corp.’s stock jumped nearly 12% in early afternoon trading based on speculation that the company is on the verge of announcing it will be acquired. According to a research note by Raymond James & Associates analyst Ric Prentiss, Clearwire’s …

Google Inc. just keeps making things better for Apple Inc. iPhone users who want their Google fix. The search juggernaut has launched a new Web-based iPhone interface optimized for Google’s Picasa photo service.iPhone users who go to the Picasa Web …

T-Mobile USA Inc. is suing Canadian operator Telus Mobility over the northern neighbor’s use of a familiar promotion: my Faves. T-Mobile USA introduced its “myFaves” plans in late 2006, offering customers the ability to make unlimited calls to five self-selected …

Alltel Corp. introduced a free mobile shopping service for Research In Motion Ltd. Blackberry users through a partnership with mobile commerce provider Digby. The service gives Blackberry users access to products from a range of retailers including Barnes & Noble, …

Zumobi launched a beta version of its widget-based Web-browsing application.The offering, which can be downloaded free here, uses a matrix of up to 36 tiles to give users one-touch access to content from partners including Amazon.com, MTV Networks, The Associated …

Alcatel-Lucent has partnered with mobile operator 3 Italia and Italian public broadcaster RAI for a mobile TV trial based on the DVB-SH standard. The technology, which is an evolution of DVB-H, uses satellites to broadcast directly to mobile devices and …

Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News runs through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks, months and years. Check …

More than a dozen small- and medium-sized cellphone carriers raised concerns with key Senate lawmakers about a federal-state panel’s recommendation on federal subsidies. The suggestions, made last month, were to temporarily cap federal subsidies for rural wireless deployment as part …

Hello!And welcome to a special edition of our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. As 2007 draws to a close, I’m going to see if the year unfolded like we thought it would. Look below to see how accurate our …

Palm Inc., which employs about 1,250 people, yesterday made job cuts of undisclosed magnitude, the company said.“Palm is working to sharpen its focus and better align resources behind core initiatives that will make the greatest impact to our business,” the …

Both Nokia Corp.’s and Qualcomm Inc.’s stocks were down a few percent each on news that the United States International Trade Commission had rebuffed Qualcomm on its complaint that Nokia infringed on three Qualcomm patents regarding GSM technology.The two parties …

Digital Chocolate Inc. is the latest mobile-game maker to distribute its games for free.The publisher said it will make five of its games available through Greystripe, a San Francisco-based distributor of free mobile games. The titles will come wrapped in …

Sprint Nextel Corp. announced a deal with Fox Interactive Media that will give the carrier’s subscribers free access to MySpace Mobile from the carrier’s portal.Beginning early next year, Sprint Nextel will become the first carrier to allow users to link …

Evite launched a free application that allows users to plan last-minute get-togethers from their phones or PCs.Party planners can send invitations simultaneously with QuickVite via text message and e-mail, and recipients’ responses can be viewed via a computer on the …

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to turn on three WiMAX test markets within the next two weeks, meeting its self-imposed deadline to roll out the technology by the end of this year.Sprint Nextel spokesman John Polivka confirmed that “several hundred” company …