SINGAPORE—Motorola Inc. has decided to turn up the volume—the volume of handsets it sells, that is—by releasing five new, entry-level handsets in pursuit of the proverbial "next billion" subscribers in emerging markets. The American handset maker made the announcement today at the opening day...
SINGAPORE—Lucent Technologies Inc., L.M. Ericsson, Motorola Inc. and other wireless vendors announced a range of contract wins at the CommunicAsia trade show taking place this week in Singapore. First up, Lucent announced a new $10 million deal with Telecom New Zealand to upgrade the...
WASHINGTON—The independent panel reviewing the communications disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina told the Federal Communications Commission it should encourage, not require, various changes to help prevent a similar communications disaster in the future. In a report filed with the FCC last week,...
SEATTLE—M:Metrics unveiled its on-device media measurement technology just days after competitor Telephia Inc. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit targeting the software. The Seattle-based market research firm said it has deployed the technology, dubbed the M:Meter, on 1,000 smart phones in the United States and United...
WASHINGTON—Motient Corp.’s largest shareholder filed a new lawsuit against the wireless company, alleging in a Texas court that a recent transaction involving mobile satellite service ownership changes violates federal securities law. "Highland is certainly willing to consider strategic transactions that directly benefit shareholders, but...
OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Communications Corp. is hoping to spur wireless Web usage with a new mobile home page for its Cellular One-branded service. The redesigned site includes five new buttons that give one-click access to content including ringtones, wallpapers, games, applications and mobile Web pages....
ATLANTA—Numerex Corp. said it won a contract to supply regional wireless operator U.S. Cellular Corp. with fixed and mobile wireless machine-to-machine gear designed to help the carrier transition legacy analog customers to its digital network. Numerex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stratton Nicolaides stated...
NEW YORK—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. scored a split decision in its fight with Sprint Nextel Corp. over advertising claims. The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. said Cingular was able to support its advertising claims of having the "fastest national...
SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. and bidding partner Alaska Native Broadband 1 License L.L.C. continued their post-Auction 58 expansion by launching Leap’s Cricket service in Cincinnati. The service is available to approximately 1.8 million potential customers in the area and expands Leap’s Cricket service...
SINGAPORE—Nokia Corp. introduced five new handsets that will hit the market later this year, including two Nokia-made devices for the United States market. The phones feature the company’s traditional candy-bar form factor. Nokia’s new CDMA models the 6275 and 2875 are interesting because they...
TAMPA, Fla.—Syniverse Technologies Inc. purchased Hong Kong-based Interactive Technology Holdings Ltd. for $45 million, the company announced. ITHL sells prepaid, messaging, video and number portability services to carriers in the Asia Pacific region and has nine regional offices in locations such as Singapore, Malaysia...
LOS ANGELES—Paramount Pictures is using mobile phones to try to lure subscribers to its new film "Nacho Libre." The studio is teaming with digital marketing company Cellfish Media L.L.C. to market the new Jack Black comedy through a mobile search service from go2. Go2...
SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. closed on $1.1 billion in loans that the company said would help finance the operator’s bids in the upcoming Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction scheduled for August. Leap detailed its plans for the money in a filing with the...
LOS ANGELES—For Helio L.L.C. users who have multiple electronic devices sitting in drawers at home, the mobile virtual network operator is offering a one-time shot to trade in those devices for cash. Helio’s Trade Up program started today, and new Helio customers have 30...
WASHINGTON-The 800 MHz Transition Administrator released details and a new electronic worksheet about its Planning Funding Fast Track Option, announced last month. Public-safety agencies' requests must meet specific criteria to take advantage of the new process. The agencies' requests must equal less than $55...
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. continues to make strides on the mobile retail front, expanding its agreement with Verizon Wireless to include postpaid plans and high-end multimedia phones. The chain, which not long ago stocked only prepaid offerings, will offer two Vcast music phones as well...
For more than a few mobile startups, MySpace has become MyObsession. The most popular of a throng of new Web sites featuring user-generated content, MySpace.com has an estimated 55 million users and reportedly accounts for 12 percent of online advertising. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp....
The news late last month that Qualcomm Inc. had initiated another lawsuit against Nokia Corp.-this time over GSM-related patents and before the United States' International Trade Commission-produced mutual salvos and plenty of noise and smoke in the wireless industry. Both companies, after initial broadsides...
TOKYO-PacketVideo Corp. said it will work with NTT DoCoMo Inc. to bring mobile music to the Japanese market using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile Media technology. The companies are introducing Windows Media capabilities-including Microsoft's digital rights management offering-into NTT DoCoMo handsets through Universal pvPlayer, PacketVideo's...
SAN MATEO, Calif. -Mobilitec Inc. is giving teens homework assignments. The company, which provides a platform for selling mobile content, has created a focus group of 11 teenage wireless users around the world. Mobilitec gives the kids monthly assignments and asks them to provide...
Cities across the United States are negotiating with wireless broadband companies to blanket themselves in Wi-Fi. How much consumers will have to pay for the service, though, is unclear. Wireless broadband provider MobilePro Corp. drew headlines last week after it dropped out of a...
CONSHOSHOCKEN, Pa.-An independent U.S. proxy advisory firm has recommended that shareholders of Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. vote in favor of the company's proposed acquisition by Sprint Nextel. The recommendation was made by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. UbiquiTel shareholders are scheduled to...
NEW YORK-Nielsen Media Research reiterated its intentions to move into mobile, outlining plans to track usage of multimedia services on wireless phones. The longtime television and Internet usage monitoring firm said it plans to integrate its efforts across platforms including TVs, PCs and portable...
Touting brand and pursuing differentiation is in vogue with nearly every original equipment manufacturer now chasing Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. over the rainbow, looking for the proverbial pot of gold. LG Electronics Co. Ltd. is no exception and its newly released Fusic phone...
