NTP Inc. is at it again.The Virginia-based patent-holding company last week filed patent-infringement lawsuits against all four tier-one U.S. carriers, claiming the operators are violating eight patents for mobile e-mail services. Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. declined to comment last week; AT&T Mobility...
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News will run through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks. Check below for news about carriers, handset...
Mobile social networking site itsmy.com added a music offering to its service, enabling users to personalize their pages with polyphonic ringtone-like tracks from more than 2,000 sound clips.Gofresh, which operates the popular site, introduced a library of tunes produced by international DJs designed to...
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed into law legislation banning teen drivers from using all electronic devices-including cellphones, pagers, personal digital assistants and laptop computers-while behind the wheel."The simple fact is that teenage drivers are more easily distracted. They are young, inexperienced and have...
Verizon Wireless put its Bob Marley content back online after a spokesman for the late reggae star's estate blasted the carrier publicly.Marley's family last month said it would sue the carrier and Universal Music Group for using Marley's likeness and name without permission. The...
Global Tower Partners acquired 549 communications towers from AT&T Inc., the company announced. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.The sale includes towers in 27 states."The acquisition of these AT&T towers marks another major milestone in the growth of our company," said Marc...
Verizon Wireless launched the LG VX8350, the heir apparent to the VX8300, the second-hottest selling handset in the United States, according to Strategy Analytics data.The phone trailed only Motorola Inc.'s Razr in terms of popularity. In keeping with LG Electronics Co. Ltd.'s stated strategy...
Verizon Wireless challenged in federal appeals court the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rules, the opening salvo in what could evolve into a messy legal battle. The move puts a cloud of uncertainty over the upcoming auction of more than a thousand wireless...
M2Z Networks Inc. made good on its threat to take the Federal Communications Commission to court, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn the agency's dismissal of its nationwide wireless broadband plan.M2Z, a Silicon Valley-backed startup co-founded...
San Francisco has formally walked away from a deal to build a Wi-Fi network throughout the city. The effort was already largely considered dead late last month when EarthLink Inc. rescinded its proposal-which included a teaming with Google Inc.-to cover the estimated $14 million...
Qualcomm Inc. can exhale now, and so can a number of its key customers. Holiday sales of imported 3G phones that had been banned by a federal agency can proceed. A ban on the importation of new 3G handsets containing Qualcomm chips will be...
Alcatel-Lucent shares tumbled almost 9% after the company announced a revised financial outlook for the remainder of 2007, marking its third warning to investors since the beginning of the year. The company now expects its full-year 2007 revenue growth to be "flat to slightly...
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...
Sprint Nextel Corp. launched a new mobile shopping service that allows users to compare and purchase real-world items using their cellphones. The Mobile Shopper WAP site can be accessed by the carrier's data subscribers at no additional charge, according to Sprint Nextel. The service...
Gracenote expanded on its offerings with the acquisition of interactive voice response technology from Musicphone Inc.The Emeryville, Calif.-based firm said the platform allows music fans to dial a short code and play a snippet of music into the handset to receive information about the...
Vantrix Corp., a provider of technology that delivers content to cellphones, announced it raised $12 million in venture money.The Manhattan-based company will use the money to expand globally and improve its technology as well as for research and development. Media companies and wireless carriers...
House telecom subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) repeated his call for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate widespread allegations of telecom privacy law violations by intelligence agencies that received cooperation from telecom carriers in anti-terrorist surveillance efforts. "More than a year ago, I asked...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin again suggested the agency may decide to address in a broader context the mobile phone industry practice of assessing hefty early termination fees levied on subscribers who break service contracts. The FCC has yet to act on a...
Sprint Nextel Corp. rejected a Federal Communications Commission finding that the No. 3 mobile phone carrier failed to meet a key deadline for clearing certain spectrum as part of an 800 MHz rebanding process. The process is intended to remedy public-safety interference problems, and...
T-Mobile USA Inc. has introduced an entry-level BlackBerry plan for $10 per month that includes unlimited e-mail access. The limited-time offer, which requires a Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry Pearl and a T-Mobile USA voice plan, does not include texting or Web browsing, and...
In a digital netherworld in which Internet-based blog sites begin to look like the most legitimate aspect of the terrain, word has spread that two iPhone unlocking procedures are making the rounds. The first-iPhoneSimFree-is "proprietary" and costs a curious $99 at iPhone "resellers." The...
Motorola Inc. is hoping to build consumer relationships with a new site showcasing applications from its developer community and other third-party vendors. The handset manufacturer debuted its Comprehensive Solutions Catalog, a consumer-facing site with screen shots and descriptions of a range of applications for...
The Federal Communications Commission took dramatic steps to improve the location accuracy of wireless 911 service, but the mobile-phone industry and some telecom regulators complained the agency was taking action before the completion of FCC studies on emergency calling.The agency clarified that cellular carriers...
Nokia Corp.'s 6555, a clamshell model with dedicated keys to access content, launched at AT&T Mobility for $50 after a $50 rebate, with two-year contract. The device supports the carrier's W-CDMA network.The 6555 appears to be the third 6000-series flip phone from the Finnish...
