SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Motorola Inc. said it will shell out $192 million to acquire TTP Communications Plc, a U.K.-based mobile software developer and chipmaker. TTPCom is a 575-employee holding company with substantial stakes in a handset certification business, and also sells software for GSM and GPRS...
CHICAGO—U.S. Cellular Corp. and its parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., have further delayed their year-end regulatory filings, as well as filings for the first quarter of 2006. TDS and U.S. Cellular said that the delay was due to a review of financial...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. finally joined the ringback tone bandwagon, launching ringback music and voice clips from Warner Music Group artists. The carrier unveiled a catalog of 20-second ringback tones that can be used in place of the traditional "ring" a caller hears while waiting...
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 to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.—Yuvee Inc. introduced a new cell phone keypad interface called NeoKeys that it says simplifies commands and text and number entry and eliminates use of the upper screen for navigation. The keypad eliminates hard labeling on the keys and provides dynamic displays...
LOS ANGELES—The Independent Film & Television Alliance released a revised wireless guide in advance of the 2006 Cannes Film Market to keep its membership educated about evolving digital rights management issues. The group said the guide provides direction on business, financial, legal and technological...
MONTREAL—OZ Communications Inc.’s Mobile Email Solution is now available to Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. customers who have Kyocera Wireless Corp. Switch Back and Slider Sonic handsets, according to the companies. The solution allows customers to access AOL L.L.C.’s e-mail and instant messaging accounts on...
WASHINGTON—Wireless industry trade association CTIA is hoping to spur direct-to-consumer revenues by expanding the industry’s short code program. The industry group, along with short-code administrator NeuStar Inc., announced open registration for six-digit short codes, which allow mobile users to access content or services by...
NEW DELHI, India—India’s Gemini Communications Ltd. acquired PointRed Technologies Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Santa Clara, Calif.-based PointRed provides pay-as-you-grow infrastructure for wireless broadband buildouts. The company was founded in 2000 and is backed by AsiaTech Management and Acer Technology Vendors.PointRed’s non-line-of-sight...
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. will offer the Pantech Group’s "Slim Series" of phones, beginning with the tiny C300 for its prepaid GoPhone customers, giving the South Korean handset maker another prominent place in the coveted U.S. handset market. The Pantech C300 is a small flip...
By Lorene Yue CHICAGO—Mayor Richard M. Daley announced Tuesday that the city will begin taking requests for proposals in turning Chicago into a wireless community.The mayor is seeking submissions from private-sector firms that would provide Internet access throughout the city, including free wireless service...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.—Verizon Wireless had a brief service outage on Tuesday evening that affected customers in southern New Jersey, after equipment at a switching center shut down due to overheating. Verizon Wireless spokesperson Sheldon Jones said that a heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) unit at...
IRVINE, Calif.—Boost Mobile L.L.C., a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corp., said its prepaid wireless phones and service will be available at Fred Meyer stores. The company’s products are currently available at Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy locations.Boost said it is offering three Motorola Inc....
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Phone junkies have been speculating for months about i-mate’s forthcoming slim Smartflip handset ever since photos of the device were posted on the Internet earlier this year. Now the company has offered a more concrete glimpse of the handset in its...
MINNEAPOLIS—Wireline connectivity equipment leader ADC Telecommunications Inc. announced it’s willing to pay $2 billion in stocks to acquire Andrew Corp., a move that would give ADC a major boost in the wireless gear arena.Indeed, a combined Andrew and ADC will reap almost half of...
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Amp’d Mobile Inc. has begun offering a prepaid service that charges 10 cents per minute for voice calling, $1 per day for unlimited push-to-talk service, plus access to a variety of the content services that are at the heart of the mobile...
SKOKIE, Ill.—Rand McNally and Motorola Inc. are teaming up in an effort to get drivers to rely on their cell phones for navigation instead of in-car GPS systems or those old-fashioned, hard-to-fold road maps. The two companies said that they will work together to...
ESPOO, Finland—A U.S. district judge has found Suplimet Corp., a Florida-based supplier of mobile phone accessories, in contempt of a prior injunction that prevented the firm from trafficking in counterfeit Nokia Corp. products. In the civil proceeding, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez of the...
LOS ANGELES—Amp’d Mobile Inc. plans to launch a pay-as-you go service Wednesday, according to the mobile virtual network operator’s Web site. Pricing information was not immediately available from the MVNO.Amp’d Mobile is touting its prepaid offering as "the first pay-as-you-go 3G wireless phone service"...
TOKYO—NEC Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Texas Instruments Inc. are in talks to cooperate in a mobile handset venture, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. If the three parties agree to work together, it would represent yet another handset alliance...
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—InterDigital Communications Corp. gave second-quarter financial guidance anticipating revenue of $291million to $293 million, without forecasting net profit. The company’s revenue forecast includes a massive payment of $228 million from Nokia Corp. related to the resolution of a prior patent license...
LONDON—Vodafone Group plc posted a massive $41.1 billion loss for 2005, mainly from impairment charges over assets it acquired during the telecom boom days, but promised its investors an even larger than expected payout, which sent its stock up slightly in early trading in...
BOSTON—American Tower Corp. says it intends to "vigorously defend" its stock-option granting practices in the face of two lawsuits filed just days after the company received a subpoena from a New York district attorney. AMT said a securities class action lawsuit was filed against...
OXNARD, Calif.—Wireless equipment and engineering services company CalAmp Corp. said it acquired TechnoCom Corp.’s Mobile Resource Management product line. CalAmp said the acquisition strengthens its position in the machine-to-machine communications business for enterprise asset tracking and fleet management applications. CalAmp said it will operate...
