SUNNYVALE, Calif.—Following Google Inc.’s lead, Yahoo Inc. said it expanded its sponsored-search offering to wireless phones in the United States and United Kingdom. The Internet giant announced the beta launch of a service that returns sponsored, clickable links with search results. Advertisers can develop...
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—Customer spending on wireless services continues to increase, according to the latest survey by J.D. Power and Associates—and consumers’ expectations of their wireless carriers will continue to rise along with their spending. The firm’s latest customer satisfaction survey showed that non-voice services...
SAN DIEGO—A squabble over documents in the heated legal battle between chipmakers Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Corp. serves to highlight the contentious nature of the companies’ fight, as both players took completely different stances over a relatively minor courtroom event. Earlier this week, Broadcom...
NAPLES, Fla.—Neighborhood America is looking to take its success building online communities to wireless. The company announced the acquisition of Movo Mobile, a fellow Florida-based developer that provides mobile marketing technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.While Neighborhood America may not be a...
BOSTON—Wireless enterprise data services in North America will generate more than $10 billion each year by 2010, according to a new study from research firm Strategy Analytics Inc. The company said the market will serve more than 41 million users in North America by...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Mobile search startup JumpTap Inc. snared $22 million in a financing round as it welcomed new investor Valhalla Partners. Valhalla led the round, and existing investors General Catalyst Partners, BCE Capital and Redpoint Ventures also participated. JumpTap, which offers a white-label mobile search...
HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia Corp. introduced a new short-range radio technology called Wibree that the company said transfers data at speeds of 10 megabits per second and uses only a fraction of the power needed for Bluetooth. Nokia is touting Wibree as an alternative to Bluetooth—which...
KANATA, Ontario—Wireless broadband service provider BelAir Networks hopes to build on its municipal Wi-Fi business after scoring $21.4 million in a Series D financing round. Ventures West Management Inc. led the round; other investors included Trilogy Equity Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital, T-Mobile Venture Fund,...
LONDON—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. is the latest handset manufacturer to move onto the retail playground, announcing plans to build a branded store in London’s upscale Kensington High Street district. The store, which is slated for a late November opening, will showcase new handsets...
BURBANK, Calif.—It will cost The Walt Disney Co. about $30 million to shut down its Mobile ESPN MVNO, but the company remains positive on the prospects for its Disney Mobile service, according to Disney’s chief financial officer. Thomas Staggs, senior executive vice president and...
SAN DIEGO—A U.S. District Court judge ruled yesterday that Broadcom Corp. can develop and sell third-generation chipsets. Rival Qualcomm Inc. had pushed for a preliminary injunction to stop Broadcom from making the chipsets, accusing Broadcom of misappropriating trade secrets. Broadcom denies those charges. The...
CHICAGO—About two years after its acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Cingular Wireless L.L.C. announced it has finished the work of integrating AWS’ GSM network. Cingular has invested heavily in its network in recent years. The company put $7.5 billion into capital expenditures last...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. announced it will soon begin selling three of Motorola Inc.’s popular slim phones, a move those in the industry had long expected. The announcement boosts Motorola’s position in the United States and gives Sprint Nextel a potential shot in...
PORTLAND, Ore.—Digital commerce software developer Vesta Corp. acquired Beijing-based mobile top-up company Unimobile in an effort to tap the Chinese prepaid wireless market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Unimobile, which was founded in 2000, distributes "recharge cards" for China Mobile prepaid users through...
WASHINGTON—As Congress broke for midterm elections, the wireless industry won a few battles, but for the most part failed to get legislation it supported passed. It’s not clear how industry felt about anti-pretexting legislation. The bills got bogged down in turf battles notwithstanding two...
WOBURN, Mass.—Wireless semiconductor manufacturer Skyworks Solutions Inc. said it is ceasing its baseband operations and will lay off 425 employees. Skyworks’ baseband business developed reference designs, including digital signal processors and software functionality, for third-tier handset suppliers. The company said the addressable market for...
SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. launched its Cricket wireless service in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The company said customers in the Kansas City region will have a calling area covering 1,407 square miles in parts of Missouri and Kansas. The service will be...
WASHINGTON—Motient Corp. named a new management team, continuing moves to separate two affiliated mobile satellite service companies into two independent publicly traded entities and possibly to better position the Lincolnshire, Ill. firm to be acquired. Robert Brumley was named president and chief executive officer...
WASHINGTON—Alltel Corp. received approval from the Federal Communications Commission for its $1 billion purchase of Midwest Wireless Holdings L.L.C. As part of the deal, Alltel must sell off operations in several Minnesota regions. Midwest served about 400,000 customers in southern Minnesota, northern and eastern...
WASHINGTON-A federal appeals court has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to require wireless carriers and tower owners to abide by the National Historic Preservation Act, including accepting the definition of eligible properties. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission told Congress that there is effective competition in the wireless industry, noting a penetration rate of 71 percent and that nearly everyone between the ages of 20 to 49 has a mobile phone. Nevertheless, one commissioner signing off on the...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-With the quiet addition of its new t719 flip phone, which offers BlackBerry Connect service and an e-mail-friendly keypad, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. now supplies just over one-third of T-Mobile USA Inc.'s handset portfolio. The t719 uses the same SureType keypad-a QWERTY alternative...
One of the worst-kept secrets in the wireless industry today is T-Mobile USA Inc.'s much-discussed-by everyone but them, that is-plan to launch services that allow subscribers with dual-mode handsets to move seamlessly between cellular and Wi-Fi networks. U.S. trials of the technology by T-Mobile...
Xero Mobile Inc. found a buyer, inking a deal to sell "substantially all of its assets and liabilities" to little-known Advanced Mobile Communications Inc.The mobile virtual network operator?which has yet to launch service?said it will receive an undisclosed amount of newly issued shares of...
