February 2008

Once-beleaguered RadioShack Corp. – which sells wireless devices and services for AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel Corp., as well as a handful of prepaid providers – saw its stock soar more than 22% today after reporting a rise in net …

Mobile and fixed-line network company Tellabs Inc. has tapped Robert Pullen to step in as CEO.Pullen will replace Krish Prabhu, who announced his resignation in November following a plunge in quarterly revenue. That report was followed by last month’s news …

Action slowed further as the Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz spectrum auction staggered toward the $20 billion mark.Round 114 drew only 26 new bids across the A, B and E Blocks, with B-Block licenses alone accounting for 14 bids. The …

Raise your hand if you were shocked by those reports of big layoffs at Motricity.Yeah, me neither. Sadly.The heavily funded Durham, N.C.-based mobile content company is said to be slashing nearly a third of its 650-employee workforce in the wake …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the …

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 –Egypt: Etisalat Misr signed …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In …

The number of new bids per round has dropped to around 30 in the Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing 700 MHz spectrum auction, showing declining interest from a handful of the event’s remaining bidders. The 34 new bids in round 108 …

The New York Times Co. announced the beta launch of an application designed to help move content between computers and mobile phones.ShifD updates information to users’ accounts using any Web browser, via text message or with an Adobe AIR-based application. …

Don’t get too excited. That’s the basic message from Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. – yes, one thing they can agree on – which have famously been jousting to defend the honor of their business models, patent portfolios and the …

LinkedIn unveiled a Web-based mobile application that allows mobile members to search user profiles, research mutual contacts and receive updates about connections. LinkedIn is an online networking site designed for businesspeople.The beta site, m.linkedin.com, is available to LinkedIn’s 19 million …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We’ve collected a group of the industry’s leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis’ …

Video chat services will help fuel mobile adult content revenues as the worldwide market for the steamy stuff reaches $1.5 billion by 2012, according to new figures from Juniper Research.Interactive video accounts for just 8% of all adult mobile services …

A small collection of E-Block licenses continued to generate interest among the few remaining active bidders in the Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz spectrum auction. Over the past several days, it appears that bidders have been bickering over the unpaired …

Alltel Wireless unveiled a location-based roaming feature that allows subscribers to use GPS applications outside their home network area.The move allows subscribers to use location-based applications in more than 45 major metropolitan areas thanks to new “network enhancements.” Alltel used …

Motorola Inc. has named a new chief financial officer from outside the company. Paul Liska, a former Sears, Roebuck and Co. CFO, will take over March 1 for Tom Meredith, a Motorola board member who was named interim CFO last …

The number of new bids in the Federal Communication Commission’s ongoing 700 MHz spectrum auction held steady at around 50 during each of this morning’s rounds, showing continued interest in a small number of A-, B- and E-Block licenses.Bidders grabbed …

Make room for one more on the dance floor. U.S. Cellular joined the army of national carriers that this week opened the floodgates on minutes by introducing unlimited calling plans for $100.Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA Inc. all …

Local search provider go2 Media launched a mobile Web site centered on Sunday’s Academy Awards.The site, http://oscars.go2.com, targets 18- to 34-year-old consumers with photos and art from nominated films, mobile polls for nominees in major categories and a promise of …

Mobile entertainment firm Thumbplay Inc. will bulk up its content portfolio thanks to a new pact with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.The New York-based, direct-to-consumer aggregator said it will add 7,000 goodies including ringtones, music videos, voice clips and mobile games …

A deep chasm emerged at a meeting of state regulators over whether federal preemption should be expanded in a new national wireless policy framework that would encompass consumer safeguards and a system of best practices for mobile-phone carriers.The board of …

T-Mobile USA Inc. announced a $10-a-month unlimited calling plan for its growing fixed-line effort.The operator launched Talk Forever Home Phone, an Internet service with unlimited local and domestic long distance calls. The offering is available in Dallas and Seattle to …

Research In Motion Ltd. said today that its subscriber growth will be stronger than previously forecast for its fiscal quarter ending March 1. But the BlackBerry maker did not raise its financial projections for the same period. RIM in December …

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs …