Mobile and Wireless Industry Reports

The buzzword du jour: presence. “Presence” is getting a lot of play, from the focus of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s opening keynote address on Tuesday to a panel discussion Wednesday. But what the heck does it mean? Like most buzzwords, …

So this is what they mean by “One show, two personalities.” Wednesday’s keynote coupled the buttoned-down executive style of Research In Motion Ltd. with the hip, edgy verve of Facebook. Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded the popular social networking site, unveiled …

Thumbplay said it signed an exclusive deal for ringtones and other mobile content across the AOL network. AOL is integrating Thumbplay’s content through AOL Music, AOL Games, the AIM instant-messaging service, Winamp and Spinner. Thumbplay said its content also is …

RCR Wireless News met with PacketVideo’s VP of Marketing Gretchen Griswold for five minutes on the show floor to see where the multimedia software company is tapping into the wireless industry and what it sees coming down the pipeline. Q: …

John Wang momentarily wears a distant look on his face. How to convey a sense of the process at HTC Corp.’s MAGIC Labs that resulted in the Touch device and its innovations? (The Touch launched globally this past summer and …

Groove Mobile is going directly to consumers with a new track from indie hip-hop artist Aceyalone. Users can send a message to a short code to receive a link enabling them to access the tune via the wireless Web. The …

Consider WiMAX a bit schizophrenic. The technology is taking two divergent paths as different countries and different companies explore how best to put it to use in their respective markets.Dr. Mohammad Shakouri, board member and VP of marketing for the …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to a special CTIA I.T. Show Daily edition of our weekly online feature, Analyst Angle. Every Monday at www.RCRNews.com you can find columns from the industry’s leading analysts, including Current Analysis’ Avi Greengart, iGR’s Iain Gillott and …

After more than two years, a plan to blanket San Francisco with seamless wireless Internet access at no cost to consumers is back where it started. All that stands in the wake of the failed citywide Wi-Fi effort now is …

Virgin Mobile USA Inc. is offering its subscribers the chance to create their own wallpapers and ringtones-and reap the benefits if someone else downloads their handiwork. The new service, called Studio V, allows customers to upload and edit graphics content …

Apple Inc.’s iTunes dominates the digital music dance floor. But following Apple’s lead may not be a wise move for mobile music services.An astounding 89% of teens go to iTunes for their legal music downloads, according to a recent report …

With ringtone revenues in decline and full-track downloads struggling to find an audience, carriers and third-party vendors are working furiously to breathe life into a withering mobile music industry.Ringtones for years have been the most popular type of content on …

The grandiose vision of ubiquitous WiMAX connectivity for everything under the sun is intoxicating, at least to Sprint Nextel Corp. and its partners.And when the world’s top three mobile handset vendors, which also produce WiMAX infrastructure, pledge to support Sprint …

WiMAX could be the technology that fuels the fusion of all sorts of mobile applications, integrating video, location-based services and a host of other offerings.And analysts generally agree that speedy access to the wireless Web will be the key.“When I …

In the past, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has managed now and then to wrestle away the spotlight (albeit temporarily) on major telecom-tech issues of the day from the Federal Communications Commission. NTIA, a Commerce Department unit that serves …

End2End, which provides managed services for mobile data, said it has acquired connected-gaming provider Terraplay. The company said that the deal will allow End2End to offer operators products in connected and multiplayer gaming and a fully managed mobile gaming offering …

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) introduced legislation directing government scientists to pursue a wireless solution enabling underground miners to communicate with workers above ground during an emergency, like the one in the lawmaker’s home state in August in which nine lives …

Looking for a few good books for your smartphone? Motricity might be able to help. The content company said that its eBook customers will be able to purchase and receive eBooks over-the-air directly to their smartphones, and that its eReader …

The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.–Melodeo: Ignition Partners and Voyager Capital led a $7.9 million preferred funding round into mobile …

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier–Credit Suisse First Boston raised its rating on Sprint Nextel to outperform from neutral and bumped its price target to $21 …

Verizon Wireless has agreed to settle a lawsuit from the New York attorney general’s office claiming the carrier’s advertisements for its unlimited data service were deceptive. As part of the settlement, Verizon Wireless will pay a total of $1 million …

You’re hearing a dizzying stream of promises and jargon aimed at convincing businesses to “go mobile.”But you’d like to hear unvarnished advice from folks who have done the heavy lifting. Case studies, from the horse’s mouth. Ya shoulda been at …

The direct-to-consumer mobile content space is being shackled by inadequate billing systems and an overall lack of traffic, content providers and mobile software developers said Monday.The market for off-deck mobile content was once seen as a kind of equalizer for …

Upper echelons of the wireless industry have been having the same dream for years: an unassuming wireless subscriber is walking past a coffee shop and up pops a mobile coupon on their device for that specific location. “If I hear …

With more than 15% of wireless carriers’ revenue coming from data services, operators are eyeing the next leap in usage. Executives from the big-five carriers were all on hand yesterday for a panel discussion on the state of mobile content, …