Mobile and Wireless Industry Reports

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 RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs …

The National Emergency Number Association named Brian Fontes as its chief executive officer, a newly created position in the organization.“Brian is known and respected throughout our industry,” said NENA President Jason Barbour. “His varied and unique skill sets make him …

AT&T Mobility announced that it will launch AT&T Mobile TV with FLO this Sunday. As previously announced, the service will include a pair of exclusive channels — CNN and PIX, a channel of full-length movies programmed by Sony Pictures Television …

NEW YORK CITY — The tears, deafening screams and all-around giddiness were nonstop last night as Madonna played a six-song set at the Roseland Ballroom for a select group of wireless subscribers, promotion winners and hardcore fans.The “Material Girl” took …

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin’s troubles on Capitol Hill could be taking a turn for the worse. House Commerce Committee investigators have recommended to Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) that hearings on FCC management practices be held in June, citing …

Sierra Wireless Inc. said yesterday that its revenue and profits exceeded its guidance for the first quarter and forecast sequential growth, in the wake of a chastened outlook from competitor Novatel Wireless.Sierra Wireless’ stock was down more than 4% this …

Alcatel-Lucent’s first-quarter financials held few surprises, but the company’s new outlook — “flat” instead of the previous “flat to slightly up” — appeared to spook investors, who sent the company’s shares down around 4% to $6.74 per share on the …

UrbanWorld Wireless added new distribution partners for both its on-deck and off-deck offerings. The Los Angeles-based content provider inked a deal to offer its UDub!MNews from the deck of Boost Mobile, a division of Sprint Nextel Corp. The offering, which …

AdMob joined the mobile analytics field, unveiling a free tool that allows advertisers and publishers to track traffic and measure the effectiveness of wireless ad campaigns.The San Mateo, Calif.-based startup said the offering delivers site-performance metrics such as unique visitors, …

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced plans to offer a new technology to bridge the Adobe Flash Lite and Java ME development platforms.Project Capuchin, as the effort is dubbed, allows developers to leverage the best attributes of both software stacks to …

T-Mobile USA Inc. took the wraps off a new prepaid calling plan the carrier hopes will counteract growing competition in the prepaid sector.T-Mobile USA’s new Pay By The Day option costs $1 per day and allows users to place calls …

The Associated Press has signed a deal with mobile video vendor Transpera to power the mobile content distribution of the AP’s Mobile News Network. Mobile News Network, scheduled to launch later this quarter, is the first product of the AP’s …

AT&T Mobility plans to subsidize the price for the 3G version of Apple Inc.’s iPhone by as much as $200, according to a report from Fortune. The wireless service provider believes it can attract more customers away from nationwide competitors …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier–RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage on Leap Wireless with a sector perform rating and a $55 price target.–Lehman Brothers lowered its …

While mobile TV cellphones are ten-a-penny in the Far East, the West is pretty much virgin territory for them. Samsung’s P960, however, may have got the ball rolling, a mobile TV phone aimed at European consumers. A sleek gray slider, …

At US$200–just $50 more than many single-band gigabit routers–and with USB drive sharing as a bonus, this router can support 2.4-GHz legacy devices and 5-GHz clients simultaneously.

Rogers Communications Inc., the largest carrier in Canada with 7.3 million subscribers, said today it will offer Apple Inc.’s iPhone to its customers later this year. Rogers has about 37% of Canada’s approximately 20 million wireless subscribers and just reported …

Leap Wireless International Inc. said it is deploying GenBand Inc.’s G9 Converged Media Gateway to deliver enhanced voice quality and IP services on its network.The G9 product complements Genband’s Media Gateway and C3 platform, which already are operating on Leap’s …

Federal Communications Commission member Robert McDowell said he supports imposing an interim cap on high-cost universal service funds primarily benefitting wireless carriers serving rural areas, paving the way for agency approval of a policy that the mobile industry and some …

Texas Instruments Inc. said it is offering a single-chip, dual-slot hot swap manager for Advanced Mezzanine Cards to address power management in wireless networks, including Advanced TCA (ATCA) and MicroTCA systems. The ATCA standard is gaining traction in the marketplace …

Digital entertainment firm CinemaNow Inc. is teaming with uVuMobile to allow consumers to use their phones to order full-length films for viewing on other platforms.Movie fans with Web-enabled phones can visit CinemaNow’s mobile site to preview trailers from the company’s …

Mobile transaction provider mBlox is partnering with Anderson Software L.L.C. to allow citizens to send anonymous tips via text message.The companies unveiled TipSoft SMS, an extension of Anderson Software’s WebTip reporting system in the United States and Canada. The offering …

AT&T Mobility’s MediaFLO-based mobile TV service has not yet officially launched; after a couple of false starts, the carrier appears set to launch the service, along with a pair of devices, in the coming weeks.However, RCR Wireless News obtained an …

Memo to all you network operators: the race to zero is heating up.That’s the takeaway from a recent (but little-noticed) survey of 2,000 mobile users from comScore Inc. The market research firm found that 22% of consumers cited better coverage …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the …