CTIA 08 Headlines

Sprint Nextel Corp. said nothing substantial about its WiMAX plans yesterday and instead fell back on a new touchscreen device as the biggest news to share with a room packed full of invited press and analysts.There’s no doubt the company …

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said he opposes Skype Ltd.’s petition to impose open access throughout the cellphone industry, prompting cheers from cellular carriers and criticism from others. “In light of the industry’s embrace of this more open approach, …

The “old hippie” is headin’ to Mars. Or, perhaps more accurately, Richard Branson – fearless leader of the ubiquitous Virgin brand – is hatching a plan with Google Inc.’s founders to send volunteers to the Red Planet to establish a …

AT&T Mobility has seen the signs — or at least, followed the voice prompts — and launched a branded GPS navigation service for consumers. Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. already offer similar branded services to their respective subscribers. AT&T …

Like a series of dominos, several of the largest regional carriers fell to consolidation pressures within the past year. The announcements came within a few months of one another: AT&T Inc. would buy Dobson Communications Corp., Verizon Wireless snapped up …

One academic says stop the debate already. He argues a wireless Carterfone rule is long overdue. “This [FCC] reticence to act has generated regulatory uncertainty and has frustrated numerous business ventures wanting to offer new and innovative services that consumers …

Remember the “soccer mom”? First, she was avidly courted as a voter, later as a consumer. If you believe the handset marketers — admittedly, a leap of faith — the soccer mom even helped create a new breed of enterprise …

Forget the careful process of considering business cases, IT policies and other nit-picky consideration. Apple Inc.’s iPhone is the new must-have device — even though the buzz du jour is whether to delay purchasing one because a 3G version is …

Marco Boerries is the executive VP of Yahoo Inc.’s Connected Life Division, which encompasses the company’s mobile, digital home, PC client and broadband teams around the world, including Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 and Yahoo oneSearch products for mobile. Q: …

Patricia Russo is chief executive officer of Alcatel-Lucent. Before helping to spearhead Alcatel’s tie-up with Lucent, Russo was chairman and CEO of Lucent. She helped launch Lucent in 1996. Q: It seems the wireless infrastructure market has experienced some turbulence …

Perry LaForge is the founder, executive director and chairman of the CDMA Development Group (CDG). The CDG is a trade association comprised of more than 120 of the world’s leading wireless operators and manufacturers. At the CDG, Perry is responsible …

Jim Orr is a principal network architect in the wireless market development group at Fujitsu Network Communications. Q: It seems the infrastructure market has experienced some turbulence over the past several years. How do you view the strength of the …

Arun Bhikshesvaran is VP of Strategy and CTO for Ericsson North America. He has been with Ericsson since 1995 and has more than 15 years experience in the wireless communications industry. Q: It seems the infrastructure market has experienced some …

Daniel Moloney is executive VP of Motorola Inc. and president of the company’s Home & Networks Mobility business, which provides digital video set-tops and infrastructure, cable modems and consumer gateways, cellular infrastructure, and emerging wireless broadband technologies. A 20-year Motorola …

Perhaps no other player has invested as much in the speech-recognition market as Nuance Communications Inc. The Burlington, Mass.-based company has spent more than $1 billion in the past two years as it acquired competing firms and broadened its portfolio. …

A new, pro-market advocacy group has formed to focus on business, technological and social aspects of mobile communications.The Mobile Future Coalition debuted yesterday at CTIA Wireless 2008. “American consumers have been well-served by the robust competition in the wireless market,” …

If you can get Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., to extoll the virtues of your jointly developed handset during the opening day’s keynote address, you’re well-positioned to make hay.Thus the new Samsung Instinct – which looked similar to …

Mobile gaming continues to languish, plagued by a lack of innovation, overpriced titles and the constraints of tiny screens and 12-key pads. But game makers are hoping that Apple Inc.’s iPhone changes all that. Perhaps no other space in mobile …

The wireless industry faces major challenges in designing networks capable of carrying bandwidth-consuming multimedia content and reliably delivering to consumers in the future, according to company executives. Industry experts said wireless infrastructure buildout has become more complex than it has …

NBC Universal’s digital team has big plans this summer for its coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing — a colossal event and content-filled waterfall — that it hopes might increase awareness and whet the appetite for mobile television, …

The nation’s biggest wireless show kicks into high gear, as Sprint Nextel announces its handset plans. Dan Hesse, Sprint’s CEO, releases the carrier’s iPhone response, designed by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Samsung’s new sleek, black Instinct device features a touchscreen, …

Gambling continues to be a vice mostly pushed to the sidelines. It pops up with a vengeance in places like Las Vegas and on Indian reservations, but there are plenty of outlets waiting with open arms for those who want …

Change has never been easy for the cell-phone industry. And it’s perfectly understandable. With the kind of wild success and wealth creation during its first three decades, cellular chieftains who collectively service more than 250 million subscribers have a history …

As the wireless industry gears up for the nation’s biggest wireless show, CTIA’s John Walls discusses the trade group’s objectives for this year and beyond. Walls, VP of public affairs for CTIA, said a major topic this year will be …

AT&T Mobility and MediaFLO USA Inc. announced they will launch their long-awaited mobile TV service in May, but the details of the offering still remain somewhat unclear.Neither company pointed to a specific date for launch, nor what content would be …