BROWSING: Google
Mobile gaming still alive: Hype around iPhone bolstering market
SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Cottle is pimping his ride with eye-catching rims, fancy hood art and those cool hydraulic things that can bounce a car like a basketball at red lights. And he's doing it all with one finger.The SVP and GM of EA...
Yahoo details Blueprint development platform, oneConnect
SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. once again took advantage of the trade-show spotlight, using CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2008 to plug an iPhone version of its oneConnect offering and an expansion of its Blueprint development platform.OneConnect, which was introduced at the Mobile World...
Sprint Nextel spins out devices, customer-service enhancements
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sprint Nextel Corp. prepped for the holiday shopping rush with a lineup of new devices, and a few customer incentives.The carrier presented five new handsets based on popular trends. Two of the phones will be text-message savvy -- the Samsung Electronics...
WiMAX hype set expectations too high, Seybold tells audience
SAN FRANCISCO -- Don't believe the hype. That was Andrew Seybold's message about WiMAX as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. plan to roll out the new technology in select cities this fall.Officials from the CDMA Development Group and 3G Americas also said WiMAX...
Litvack hire fuels speculation of Google-Yahoo scrutiny
The Justice Department's hiring of prominent lawyer Sandy Litvack to reportedly assist its probe of the advertising tie-up between search-engine giants Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. is fueling speculation that the transaction could be challenged by the Bush administration. The Google-Yahoo...
Sprint Nextel set to roll out WiMAX: U.S. adoption rate remains to be seen
As Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. gear up for an initial market launch of its mobile WiMAX network this month, the duo is under pressure to deliver on the fledgling technology. Continuous delays in rolling out the technology have haunted Sprint Nextel. John...
The (new) American handset market: Fall brings debut launches, large displays, hot competition
American consumers may well be treated to "a moveable feast" this fall. Unlike the sketches of 1920s Paris by Ernest Hemingway by the same name, however, this one is more akin to a mobile smorgasbord for buyers: more choice, cutting-edge models, attractive prices and...
Carriers, retailers woo developers as they court customers
The carrier deck is still the most valuable real estate in mobile content, but the future of downloadable wireless goodies may just lie in third-party storefronts. And for now, at least, developers are the key to success.Apple Inc. stole headlines two months ago with...
Mix and match strategies
Remember the good old days of wireless regulations? The analog sunset date was February 2008. E911 rules initially required carriers to supply public safety answering points with a call-back number and cell site location, and Phase II rules demanded more precise information. Granted, lawsuits...
Action heats up in white-spaces debate: Mobile players urge licensed approach to contested airwaves
Just as the Federal Communications Commission appears ready to settle the great white-spaces debate - one predominantly framed to date by a powerful broadcast lobby fearing costly disruption to digital signals from unlicensed devices and by equally muscular high-tech titans anxious to exploit prime...
Google outlines Android answer to Apple App Store: Search engine giant boasts of ‘open and unobstructed environment’
Google Inc. unveiled its answer to Apple Inc.'s App Store, outlining a distribution system for applications built on its Android platform.Android Market will serve as an unrestricted storefront where registered developers can offer their wares simply by uploading their applications and posting descriptions. Google...
Wireless, the DNC and all the news that’s fit to distribute
As you may know, this week's Democratic National Convention - right here in RCRWireless.com's beautiful, mile-high backyard - is very much a wireless affair.Barack Obama's campaign set a high bar for mobile with a much-publicized effort to notify supporters via text message of Sen....
Themes from the ‘OS wars’
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace. It feels like every day we are seeing articles about the "operating system wars" and who...
Google launches mobile election site
Google Inc. launched a mobile microsite dedicated to following the race for the White House.The destination, m.google.com/elections, offers links to election-related news; mobile YouTube channels from both Barack Obama and John McCain; information about the sites read by the candidates and political journalists; and...
YouTube serves up ads to ‘millions’ of mobile users
Google Inc. is toying with display ads on its popular YouTube mobile site.The dominant online player said is has begun placing marketing messages on "select pages" of YouTube's mobile site in the United States and Japan."This is our first step in testing mobile advertising...
PCS Mail scheduled for deletion at Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corp. is quietly pulling the plug on its PCS Mail service.A longtime service that never seemed to find an audience, PCS Mail offers a carrier-branded e-mail address (@sprintpcs.com) for users looking to exchange messages from computers or Sprint phones. The carrier informed...
Internet players’ move to mobile is new frontier for all
Google Inc.'s Internet dominance has grown in recent years as the competition - well, what passes for competition - continues to plod along. But for the long list of Web-based players moving to the new platform, wireless is the wild, wild West.The Mountain View,...
Linux group adds more members, embedded handsets hit markets
The LiMo Foundation announced nine new members today and said that more handsets with its operating system are launching in North America and Japan. The organization is a leading proponent of an open-source, Linux OS for handsets, and said that its latest members represented...
Worst of the Week: All hail Google
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 RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
Sprint Nextel updates mobile Web home page
Sprint Nextel Corp. overhauled its mobile Web service in an effort to deliver customized Internet content to subscribers.Sprint Web offers an adaptive home page that uses technology from ChangingWorlds to deliver content based on previous usage - a subscriber who constantly checks baseball scores,...
Critics assail Sprint Nextel-Clearwire WiMAX alliance: Competitors cite spectrum holdings, roaming issues
SPRINT NEXTEL CORP. AND CLEARWIRE CORP.'S CAMPAIGN to win government approval of a their national WiMAX plan is drawing static from AT&T Inc. and rural cellular operators on key unsettled wireless policy issues, but the deal has picked up backing from many educational and...
Worst of the Week: Open up to openness
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 RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
Will developers leave Google’s Android high and dry?
Apple suffered a case of the hiccups last week with the launch of the iPhone 3G and MobileMe, but Google is struggling with a serious developers' revolt months ahead of Android's scheduled launch.Android developers began getting antsy a few weeks ago due to the...
Forecast: partly cloudy
The iPhone App Store stole headlines last week, but it's the ever-growing cloud above that ultimately will be more important to developers of mobile consumer applications.Cloud computing - applications "in the sky" accessed through the Internet, as opposed to native applications - is not...