2008

The handset market has been unseasonably chilly this fall.Where the third quarter typically reflects a ramp-up for the holiday spending orgy, it appeared from the metrics that the togas may remain in the closet this quarter. Media coverage that typically …

Well-informed consumers looking for a new handset typically turn to online research first, using search capabilities and often searching for a specific handset, according to a new study of online shopping behavior. The online shopper is a high-value subscriber who …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier–Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on BT Group PLC, a subsidiary of British Telecommunications, to negative from stable following the …

The Federal Communications Commission today conditionally approved the Verizon Wireless-Alltel Communications L.L.C. and the Sprint Nextel-Clearwire Corp. mergers, while also voting to allow unlicensed devices to operate in vacant broadcast spectrum known as white spaces.The three major wireless decisions, which …

You know that dusty smell you experience when you open a book that hasn’t been picked up in decades? That’s the feeling I get lately when I think of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.Smartphones – and the applications that run on them …

Despite some financial hiccups, Alltel Communications L.L.C. managed to acquire more than 1 million gross customer additions during the third quarter, a 28% increase from a year ago. The carrier recorded 335,152 net customer adds, with 255,299 of those signing …

Editor’s Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what’s hot in wireless.Alltel Communications L.L.C stepped on the scene in the early 1990s and quickly established itself …

NEWS LAST WEEK THAT MOTOROLA INC. HAD SETTLED ON Windows Mobile and Android as handset platforms in an effort to simplify, focus on innovation and manage costs underscored the unknowns involved in such choices. Because leading OSs come with “patrons …

Nokia Corp. said today that it would cut as many as 615 jobs in an ongoing corporate reorganization.The bulk, 450 jobs, will be eliminated in the global handset leader’s markets unit to “strengthen the customer interface” and “ensure that resources …

The “OS wars,” as some would have it, are alive and well – at least in the data on the various contenders’ shifting market share.“Symbian is still by far the most popular operating system for smartphones, with about 50% global …

Gameloft offered a surprisingly upbeat outlook for mobile gaming as it posted $34.1 million in third-quarter revenues.The Paris-based game maker reported an 8% increase from last year’s revenues during the same period, and generated $99.6 million during the first nine …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t. If you wish to …

ICO Global Communications said a Los Angeles Superior Court jury verdict could force Boeing Co. to pay up to $707 million in damages in a lawsuit brought by the mobile satellite service company.“We appreciate the sacrifices made by the jury …

A class-action lawsuit asserts T-Mobile USA Inc. charged consumers for wireless content they did not ask for, another in a long line of legal challenges against the wireless industry that raise questions about the relationship between cellular operators and third-party …

The Wi-Fi Alliance said 5,000 consumer and enterprise products have now been Wi-Fi certified since the testing program started in 2000.The group said more than 1,000 of those certifications have been issued since September, 2007. Growth is being driven by …

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–Italy: Telecom Italia has chosen Nokia …

Don Reisinger thinks it’s time to say goodbye to Circuit City. And with 155 stores being shuttered across the U.S., he thinks its days are numbered.

Fujitsu has rolled out the LifeBook U820 mini-notebook with Garmin’s Mobile PC navigation software, a pivoting touchscreen, and a fingerprint sensor.

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace. Having just returned from the Rutberg Wireless Influencers conference this past week, …

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has scratched a planned Nov. 4 vote on reforming the universal service fund and intercarrier compensation regimes. The move is a temporary reprieve for small- and mid-size mobile-phone operators that oppose a plan to …

LG Electronics Co. said today it will work more closely with Microsoft Corp. on converged devices, likely smartphones the Korean vendor is pursuing. The two parties announced the signing of a “memo of understanding” for “strategic collaboration in mobile convergence” …

Sprint Nextel Corp. has been hit with a $1 billion federal class-action lawsuit over early-termination fees, the complaint filed by the same lawyers pursuing relief for consumers in a California state court and just days before the No. 3 wireless …

German giant Deutsche Telekom AG’s $30 billion purchase of what is now T-Mobile USA Inc. is not at issue in the Federal Communications Commission’s re-examination of a narrow foreign-ownership issue involving a small wireless carrier jointly owned by the No. …

A mobile device management software company has filed a lawsuit against Research in Motion Ltd. alleging infringement of two patents.Mformation Technologies Inc. filed the lawsuit against the Canadian maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphones in U.S. District Court for the …

This year’s presidential election is significant in more ways than one: It marks the year that text messaging and the mobile Web became political battlegrounds, and serves as a benchmark in the amount of money spent on wireless efforts.Not surprisingly, …