Some high-profile investors are wagering on Emotive Communications Inc. and its "Push Ringer."The Encino, Calif.-based company last week said it pocketed $7.7 million in a funding round from Warner Music Group, Bertelsmann Digital Investments, the D.E. Shaw Group and undisclosed angel investors. Emotive said...
Sprint Nextel Corp. recently introduced a new series of segmented data packages, offering various options at similar or equal price points in order to appeal to different categories of customers. The carrier is offering six different CDMA-based consumer data packages, dubbed Vision Packs. They...
The global handset market grew 12 percent in the first quarter over the year-ago quarter to 252 million units, the first time in two years that growth in this segment fell below 20 percent, according to Strategy Analytics. The bright spots for the quarter...
LG Electronics Co.'s handset volume growth is slow, but the company posted improved sales figures and operating margins in the first quarter. Handset revenue at the Korean industrial giant was reported to be $2.5 billion, up nearly 25 percent from the year-ago quarter, and...
Iraq has scrapped its long-delayed cellular auction and instead decided to license the three national mobile phone carriers in June under an arrangement calling for revenue-sharing and an upfront cash payment of at least $250 million from each operator, according to Iraqi government and...
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. CellularAruba: Alcatel-Lucent said it completed the deployment of an...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier Lehman Bros. raised its price target on Leap Wireless International to $85 from $50, saying it believes the company can sustain strong subscriber and...
Sony Ericsson continued its strong momentum in the first quarter of the year, posting big gains in revenue and profit. The vendor's growth in those two metrics far outstrips all the other, top-tier players. Unit shipments of its handsets, while way up on the...
Convergence networking technology company Mavenir Systems Inc. said it snared $20.5 million in a second round of funding.New investor Alloy Ventures led the round, and existing backers Austin Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners also participated. Mavenir, which emerged from stealth mode last year,...
AT&T Inc. said its customers can now use their cell phones to control their home digital video recorders through the company's U-verse TV service.The San Antonio-based firm launched a service that allows mobile users with any compatible AT&T handset using WAP 2.0 to search...
Marc LeFar, who shepherded the $1 billion-plus marketing budget of the former Cingular Wireless L.L.C. for the past four years, has resigned from AT&T Inc., the wireless provider's new parent. An AT&T spokesman said LeFar "wanted to do something else" and declined further comment....
Clearwire Corp. unveiled a handful of operating results for the first quarter, claiming "record subscriber growth" of more than 25 percent from its year-end 2006 customer levels. Clearwire said that it ended 2006 with around 206,000 wireless broadband users and had about 258,000 users...
Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. is discontinuing its hybrid WiFi/cellular data plan as of May 8, according to the company's Web site. The Helio Hybrid plan was introduced last October and was the first time an MVNO had ventured into convergence territory. Helio...
Nokia Corp. is behaving like a market leader with a thoughtful, winning strategy. The Finnish handset vendor is carefully undercutting competitors in emerging markets for volume gains-enduring a short-term lag in revenue and profit growth-and is pushing hard to position its profitable smartphones for...
Some high-profile investors are wagering on Emotive Communications Inc. and its "Push Ringer."The Encino, Calif.-based company said it pocketed $7.7 million in a funding round from Warner Music Group, Bertelsmann Digital Investments, the D.E. Shaw group and undisclosed angel investors. Emotive said it will...
The emergence of new mobile applications and advanced networks is creating an increasing need for backhaul, according to a new report from Visant Strategies."Data services, including multimedia downloads, and network upgrades to W-CDMA/HSDPA and EV-DO have led to a surge in backhaul use by...
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 RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong...
Cyphermint Inc. announced a deal to provide mobile payment services for Texas-based financial services provider Fidelity Express.The Marlborough, Mass.-based startup said registered Fidelity Express customers will be able to initiate payments from their cellphones or schedule mobile alerts allowing them to process payments with...
T-Mobile USA Inc. continued to dominate the J.D. Power and Associates regional survey of wireless customer satisfaction, receiving the highest ranking in all six regions of the U.S. for the fifth consecutive time-although it tied with other carriers in three of those regions. Verizon...
InterDigital Communications Corp. updated its first-quarter guidance to reflect additional royalties identified during a routine audit conducted by the company.The company said it expects revenues to range from $67 million to $68 million, including between $57 million and $58 million of recurring patent licensing...
LAS VEGAS-Modeo L.L.C., which recently wrapped up a trial of its broadcast mobile TV service, said the 138 participants in the trial mostly gave positive reviews, according to the company's presentation at the National Association of Broadcasters 2007 convention in Las Vegas.The six-week trial...
AT&T Inc. is taking another step along the path of convergence as it rolls out integrated business service plans that include wireless along with the rest of its suite of services. The company said that it is now offering its "full range of wireline...
Alltel Corp. has expanded the reach of its plans to include toll-free calls to and from Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The coverage extends to major Canadian cities and substantial areas of southern Canada. In Mexico, the majority of the coverage...
Flycell Inc. is targeting 14- to 25-year-olds with revamped wireless and computer Web sites hawking ringtones, games, on-demand video and other mobile goodies.The New York-based subsidiary of Italy's Acotel Group added several community-based offerings to its portal, including a dating/chat service, a blog about...
