2008

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.—Send Word Now: Palisade Concentrated Equity Partnership led a $14 million Series D funding round …

CHICAGO – Two companies have succeeded in utilizing pre-WiMAX technology to build successful businesses that target different customers in the United States. TowerStream and DigitalBridge Communications have carved out their own markets by being fixed pre-WiMAX service providers. TowerStream has …

Progressive Group of Insurance Companies is using a cellular device to help responsible drivers reduce their insurance premiums.Progressive’s innovative MyRate program may not be for drivers with a lead foot and motorists who heavily use their vehicle during peak times. …

Nokia launches its new flagship mobile handset, the N96, today, and as well as impressive photo, gaming and video functionality, users can also run the BBC’s iPlayer through an embedded application.

Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has launched an iPhone application that enables supporters to communicate with each other and consume breaking news, reports The New York Times.

After months of hinting at the device, the world’s largest handset maker unveiled its answer to Apple Inc.’s iPhone with the inspiringly named 5800 XpressMusic. The Nokia Corp. gadget features a touchscreen and, starting next year, will ship with the …

CHICAGO – Day two of WiMAX World 2008 brought Atish Gude, senior VP of mobile broadband operations for Sprint Nextel Corp.’s Xohm effort, to the stage to discuss the business of WiMAX. And for Xohm, freshly launched in Baltimore this …

Federal courts on opposite sides of the country came to different conclusions in billing litigation against Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, while the number of antitrust class-action texting lawsuits against the nation’s top mobile-phone operators has skyrocketed to more than …

Wireless competition may soon be coming to the throngs of subway riders who comprise official Washington. A bill passed by Congress and en route to President Bush will allow any licensed mobile-phone carrier to provide service on subways serving the …

Leap Wireless International Inc. juggled its offerings with the launch of its new PayGo prepaid service, which will replace its previously offered Jump prepaid plans. The PayGo service is a daily, pay-as-you-go option that customers only pay for on the …

More Americans are continuing to pull the plug on their landline telephone service in favor of using cellular phones, according to a recent report by J.D. Power and Associates.In its 2008 Wireless Contract Customer Satisfaction survey, the company also reports …

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 RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs …

CHICAGO – Clearwire Corp. CEO Ben Wolff stepped onto the WiMAX World stage in front of a packed house Wednesday morning. As audience members squeezed to find chairs or stood along the back walls, Wolff made the business case for …

CHICAGO – “We live in a visual world.” The comment, from Dan Moloney at Motorola, quickly summarizes how WiMAX services can change the world. He backed it up with a bunch of stats from a Moto survey of millennials (young …

ReVerb Networks, a smart antenna and network optimization company, introduced its VirtualRAN family of products at WiMAX World this week. The products address the demand for cost-effective capacity solutions for WiMAX, LTE and UMTS/HSPA networks, said the company. “The perfect …

Motorola Inc. launched its WiMAX interoperability testing (IOT) program, which is available at its facilities in Arlington Heights, Ill., and at its new lab in Taiwan. The company said its Asian testing location, operated in conjunction with MSkylink, helps it …

Motorola Inc. filed a lawsuit accusing five ex-employees and a small IP-based wireless software firm of conspiring to steal trade secrets and smuggle them to China. The allegations come amid growing fears about the United States surrendering its technological leadership …

Nitronex, which makes gallium nitride on silicon RF power transistors for the wireless industry, said it expanded the performance data of its 28V, 5W class high electronmobility transistor to include frequencies between 5.1-5.2 GHz and 5.7-5.8 GHz. The product, designated …

Juniper Networks announced a contract win with Divona Telecom, a satellite and WiMAX operator in Africa. The carrier will use Juniper Networks’ MXseries Ethernet Services Routers for Ethernet-based WiMAX backhaul. The deployment is designed to increase network capacity, reduce operational …

CHICAGO – WiMAX vendors, chipmakers and operators are all ready to take on the wireless market at a time when economic hardship has shocked Wall Street, pushing the United States to the brink of a recession. The financial downturn the …

Vecima announced its VistaMAX series has been expanded to include the 3.65 and 5.8 GHz frequency bands. The VistaMAX family includes WiMAX-compliant outdoor subscriber stations, indoor customer premises equipment, base-station transceiver and a network management system. The company said it …

Alvarion Ltd. said it won a contract in Macedona with wireless Internet service provider Neotel that calls for it to supply its 4Motion solution for the carrier’s 3.5 GHz network. Neotal plans to launch the network this month and complete …

Connor-Winfield announced a new compact GPS timing receiver designed specifically for WiMAX applications. The TiMax Wi125 is part of the company’s TiMax Global Timing product family. The company is showcasing the product at WiMAX World 2008. The product is a …

PMC-Sierra Inc. added four new multiband devices to its WiZIRD family ofWiMAX RF IC solutions targeted at broadband wireless subscriber equipment. The new devices allow WiMAX system designers to use a single radio design to provide customer premises equipment and …

DesignArt Networks, a fabless semiconductor company, announced its DAN2400 WiMAX System on a Chip platform. The company said a family of single-chip base and relay station reference designs is available. The platform allows vendors to build a complete radio access …