Near Field Communication technology is expected to be available on more than 20 percent of handsets shipped by 2012, according to ABI Research.The firm predicts about 292 million phones will ship with the technology in five years."NFC in mobile phones promises a quicker and...
The market for mobile marketing and advertising is expected to be worth $3 billion by the end of the year and top $19 billion by 2011, surpassing text messaging as a source of mobile marketing spending, according to a report from ABI Research. The...
LAS VEGAS-New technologies and trends are trickling down to impact the businesses of rural carriers, bringing with them a host of new opportunities and challenges. The common theme among sessions at the Rural Cellular Assocation annual convention in Las Vegas last week was how...
Mobile may not be the final frontier, but it sure is the latest frontier for media companies looking to expand their reach. As more and more people consume media on their mobile devices, the demand for rich mobile content is increasing. And in a...
Even in the confusing, clinical world of mobile software terms, the term "speech-recognition technology" draws yawns. Lately, though, it's also drawing a flood of investment money.Speech-recognition developers for years were the Eli Mannings of the wireless world, failing to live up to loads of...
Businesses in the United States are wasting in excess of $2 billion each year by not paying their mobile employees' wireless bills, according to research from In-Stat.These findings should lead carriers to convince their business customers to apply more enlightened policies, increase productivity and...
Hedge*hog*ing v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.You gotta love Nokia. Here is a company that is handily the largest cellphone maker in the world, yet it still has the nerve to bring the...
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S DECISION TO PRESS TRADE COMPLAINTS AGAINST CHINA COULD COMPLICATE ALREADY-FRAGILE U.S.-SINO BILATERAL RELATIONS ON KEY TELECOM ISSUES, INCLUDING THE ASIAN GIANT'S PURSUIT OF ITS HOMEGROWN TD-SCDMA TECHNOLOGY, EVEN AS BEIJING SAYS IT IS COMMITTED TO TECHNOLOGY NEUTRALITY IN THE ROLLOUT OF...
Editor's note: This column by Keith Crain, chairman of Crain Communications Inc., which owns RCR Wireless News, first appeared in Automotive News, a Crain publication that covers the automotive industry.A couple of weeks ago, I was in Orlando, Fla., for the annual CTIA Wireless...
Here's an admittedly cynical take on the elevation of the Mexican telecom magnate who Forbes magazine said narrowly surpassed Warren Buffet to become the world's second wealthiest man, just a notch behind Bill Gates and his $56 billion value-added bank account. Carlos Slim...
The Federal Trade Commission asked lawmakers for authority to assess civil penalties against individuals and firms that obtain consumer phone records under false pretenses, a practice known as pretexting that policymakers would like to see wireless carriers do more to prevent. "Civil penalties are...
Boston Communications Group Inc.'s woes continued last week as the company said it will slash its workforce by 21 percent. The company also said it received a notice of noncompliance with listing standards from the Nasdaq Stock Market.BCGI, which develops billing and payment software...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. says it is close to reaching the 200,000 subscriber mark after a strong first quarter, numbers that indicate the mobile virtual network operator is rapidly gaining customers. Amp'd reported in January that it ended 2006 with more than 100,000 customers, and...
Wireless technology is aiding various industries in serving their customers better by gaining efficiencies as they mobilize their workforces and enable a higher level of customer service-and increasingly, businesses are demanding wireless as part of their overall customer relationship management strategy. According to Richard...
It's 9 p.m. last Wednesday, and Evan Williams has just received an e-mail from a reporter. So, naturally, the co-founder of Obvious Corp. lets his friends know."Answering yet another journalist's urgent queries about Twitter," Williams posted on the site for the trendy new service....
"Off the beaten path I reign. Rover. Wanderer. Nomad. Vagabond. Call me what you will," so go Metallica's lyrics to "Wherever I may roam," circa 1991. Spring forward 16 years and we find that mantra being lived by millions of workers who freely roam...
Greedo shot first?Forget about those wimpy cellphone belt clips. The latest and greatest cell-phone-toting accessory is the "Gadget Hip Holster" available from Thinkgeek.com. Touted as an item Hans Solo would wish for, the holster can hold items such as cell phones, iPods, memory sticks,...
Both companies' stock has been bid up, though for opposite reasons, and both companies seek to expand their traditional markets by intruding on the others' turf. They both make smartphones for a dedicated cadre of end users in North America, and they're expanding to...
NextWave Wireless Inc. announced it will purchase TD-CDMA supplier IPWireless Inc. for $25 million in cash and $75 million in stock. The ultimate purchase price could increase to $235 million by 2010 if IPWireless manages to achieve "certain revenue milestones," although NextWave did not...
With two technologies already jockeying for play on the nation's digital television airwaves, it was only a matter of time before the TV industry moved to adopt a standard for digital mobile television.Earlier this week, the Advanced Television Systems Committee moved to begin the...
Sun Microsystems Inc. announced it acquired SavaJe Technologies, which sold a Java-based operating system for cellphones. Sun provided no information on the deal, including the purchase price, and instead said that "additional information regarding the acquisition of these assets will be unveiled at the...
A new report finds location-based wireless emergency service is not always reliable, one of several structural problems with the nation's 911 regime that lawmakers and public-safety officials said needs to be overhauled to accommodate new communications technologies and increased emergency calls.
"There is a clear...
Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. both insisted last week that they continue to talk, seeking only fair and reasonable terms in a new cross-licensing agreement potentially critical to both parties' future. Their 2001 cross-licensing agreement expired at midnight on April 9.Nokia, the world's largest...
The guilds representing the creative talent that captivates wireless audiences as they enjoy mobile films, television and music are focused on securing fair compensation for their artists in future contracts and licenses. The Screen Actors Guild has its sights on contract negotiations scheduled for...
