February 2009

Mobile marketing types like to talk about cool features like click-to-video, 2-D barcodes and interactive wireless scavenger hunts. But as the economy slows to a trickle and advertisers tighten their belts, 2009 is poised to become the year of SMS …

A Frost and Sullivan workshop in Frankfurt on 5 February discussed the future outlook for wireless solutions in industrial automation.Summary is a short abstract of the article.

FOR YEARS, THE TOP FIVE HANDSET VENDORS in the world took an ever-increasing slice of global market share. But something happened on their way to global hegemony. Between 2007 and 2008, that trend reversed itself and the “other” category – …

The Mobile World Congress was a font of environmental innovation , recycling, and sustainable technology, from solar-powered cell phones, energy-efficient handset displays, to earth-friendly mobile applications.

If you’ve ever used a GPS device for directions, you might already be acquainted with Karen Jacobsen. As the voice of “Australian-English Karen” in Garmin GPS products, she calmly instructs harried drivers to turn left, go 1.8 miles or “recalculate” …

With relatively little fanfare, wireless carriers, mobile content vendors and some plaintiffs’ attorneys are quietly settling massive litigation involving claims that charges for ringtones, games, graphics and other mobile content were charged to subscribers’ monthly bills without their authorization. But …

The nation’s eighth-largest carrier has an unorthodox objective: to bite the hand that feeds it. The Verizon Alltel Management Trust, a 2,500-employee business, is a subsidy of Verizon Wireless that came into being when the industry’s new No. 1 player …

Although Sprint Nextel Corp.’s fourth-quarter earnings came with significant bad news, two analysts think better times are ahead for the nation’s No. 3 wireless provider. Sprint Nextel churned more than 1 million customers during the quarter – 1.1 million postpaid …

AT&T Mobility will offer Pantech Wireless’ Matrix Pro – a smart version of last fall’s dual-sliding messaging phone – on Feb. 24 for $180, with a service contract and a $50 mail-in rebate good only for AT&T service.The handset runs …

Verizon Wireless launched a new Web site capability that allows its customers to access the Web from their mobile phones using its Mobile Web service and get the same sites they would get using their personal computers.The Optimized View for …

Cox Communications Inc. is moving forward with its wireless plans by appointing a few more positions. Stephen Bye, Cox’s VP of wireless, announced the appointments of Raj Beri to VP of wireless product operations and Dane Dickie to executive director …

Google Inc. launched a version of its mobile search application for Windows Mobile devices.Google Mobile App allows users to search without separately opening a browser and offers a search history and suggestions in an effort to reduce keystrokes. The offering …

The song seems to be skipping, or at least stuck on repeat for Sprint Nextel Corp. The carrier released its 2008 fourth-quarter earnings today, only to reveal yet another huge loss in both customers and money. Sprint Nextel churned more …

BARCELONA, Spain — 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 …

A friend of mine has been longing for a smartphone for years, but he’s continued to hold off on the hopes that when he does eventually get one, it will do absolutely everything from making phone calls to preparing grilled …

As Alcatel-Lucent struggles to regain its financial footing, the company is focusing on its new strategy that will combine its capabilities of the network environment with creative services of the Web.An example of how the company plans to make the …

Dell’Oro Group Inc. analyst Ben Kwan forecast in December that various factors will drive growth in the wireless local are network (WLAN) market for enterprise this year.“While a slowdown in the growth of new WLAN deployments and the lengthening of …

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced its new Wireless Data Analytics solution for 3G networks.The solution allows wireless operators to automatically receive a variety of analytics on customer behavior and experiences, mobile services and handset and network performance. The company said the …

A Frost and Sullivan workshop in Frankfurt on 5 February discussed the future outlook for wireless solutions in industrial automation.

For the second time in as many weeks, Aruba Networks Inc. has received a favorable ruling by the government in a patent infringement case with Motorola Inc. and two of its subsidiaries.Aruba announced today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark …

Comcast Corp. blames the economy and even Clearwire Corp. for some of its struggles in 2008. According to a report from CNNMoney.com, Comcast said fourth-quarter profit fell 32% because of decreased value of its investment in the Clearwire WiMAX service. …

MobiTV Inc. has reached its latest milestone, surpassing 6 million customers on its managed mobile media service. Indeed the company is moving quite quickly; MobiTV reached the 4 million customer mark in August, meaning 2 million more users signed on …

T-Mobile International announced it will pair up with Nokia Corp. to offer integrated marketplace content. The carrier said that together, the two will provide widgets, applications and other content through the web’n’walk widget platform, which allows customers to download from …

Two large conglomerates have created new business units geared toward helping different segments of the wireless industry.During this week at GSMA World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Hewlett-Packard Co. announced its plans for HP Communications and Media Solutions, and Accenture has …