BROWSING: Loudeye

Nokia Corp. stepped up its spending spree last week, agreeing to acquire digital mapping company Navteq in a blockbuster, $8.1 billion deal.The Finnish firm-which in the last year or so has out-shopped Paris Hilton-plans to spend $78 per share for Navteq, a 22-year-old, Chicago-based...

Nokia Corp. is hoping to build a doorway directly to mobile consumers. Again.But whether carriers will tolerate the move is far from clear.The manufacturer-cum-mobile-media company last week outlined a surprisingly broad cross-platform play, introducing Ovi-which means "door" in the Finnish company's native tongue-at its...

Nokia Corp. outlined a surprisingly aggressive direct-to-consumer strategy comprising music, games, maps and social-networking offerings across both PCs and mobile phones.The manufacturer introduced Ovi-which means "door" in the Finnish company's native tongue-at its Nokia Go Play event in London this morning. The portal will...

The nightmarish world of mobile digital rights management may have taken a small step toward sanity.Microsoft Corp. scored a big win last week, agreeing to license its PlayReady anti-software piracy to Nokia Corp. The world's largest handset manufacturer plans to embed the technology on...

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...

Nokia Corp. continued to expand beyond mobile into the broader Internet market with the acquisition of Twango Inc., a Redmond, Wash.-based social-networking startup.Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Nokia reportedly paid nearly $100 million for the 10-employee company.Twango-which is not to be...

L.M. Ericsson's courtship of Turner Broadcasting System International continues to roll on; CNN International, of which Turner is the parent, plans to air six, 60-minute films exploring technology in the future that will be sponsored by the infrastructure powerhouse.The "Just Imagine" series is set...

ONCE UPON A TIME, in the deep past-about six months ago, say-the global handset business started looking fairly predictable. Nokia Corp. had steadily amassed dominant market share while maintaining relatively steady if sometimes unspectacular revenue and profits. Motorola Inc. made giddy strides in pursuit...

INFRASTRUCTURE POWERHOUSE L.M. ERICSSON became the latest network maker to try its hand in the content arena. Ericsson, the world's largest equipment manufacturer, announced a partnership with Turner Broadcasting System International to develop and deliver Turner's suite of news and entertainment content to the...

LONDON—Groove Mobile is hoping to take its wireless, full-track download service directly to European consumers. The mobile music technology developer said it will step up marketing and business development efforts in England, tapping Jason Binks as its new director of off-portal marketing. Binks’ resume...

Nokia Corp. announced five new GSM phones-the company insists the devices are "multimedia computers"-for the United States, but did not announce any accompanying carrier deals. Three of the devices-the N70, N73 and N91-are optimized for music. The devices include enhanced memory with 1 GB,...

LONDON-Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. bolstered its mobile music strategy with the launch of a new promotional area for new and developing artists. The company's M-BUZZ initiative allows users to access full-track music, videos, biographies, concert schedules and other content from up-and-coming musicians. The...

LONDON—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. bolstered its mobile music strategy with the launch of a new promotional area for new and developing artists. The company’s M-BUZZ initiative allows users to access full-track music, videos, biographies, concert schedules and other content from up-and-coming musicians. The...

Nokia Corp. is buying its way onto the mobile music playground, agreeing to acquire distributor Loudeye Corp. for $60 million. But the key to success in mobile music still lies in the devices. The world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones said last week it...

ESPOO, Finland—Nokia Corp. is buying its way onto the mobile music playground, agreeing to acquire distributor Loudeye Corp. for about $60 million. The handset manufacturer said it will pay $4.50 per share in cash to shareholders of Loudeye, which operates 60 digital music services...

SEATTLE—Loudeye Corp. said it has sold its U.S.-based digital music business to New York-based Muze Inc. for $11 million. Muze, which is owned by Enterprise Partner Venture Capital, will take over Loudeye’s Web and mobile digital music technology including its encoding services. Loudeye said...

SEATTLE-The mobile music space continues to heat up across the Atlantic as two European carriers roll out new services. 02 Germany unveiled a wireless and Internet storefront that allows users to browse, search and download full-track songs directly to their handsets and PCs.The offering...

SEATTLE-The mobile music space continued to heat up across the Atlantic this week as two European carriers rolled out new services.02 Germany unveiled a wireless and Internet storefront that allows users to browse, search and download full-track songs directly to their handsets and PCs....

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to launch a full-track music download service by the holidays, an executive from the newly merged carrier said last week. The operator looks to be the first U.S. carrier to deploy full-track offerings, which have gained steady traction among wireless...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. is partnering with Shazam Entertainment Ltd. and Rocket Mobile Inc. on a mobile music identification offering.The carrier launched SongIDentity, which delivers information, including artist, title and album, when a user plays a song into a handset. The application is available...

While the wireless industry haggles over the price of anti-piracy software supported by the Open Mobile Alliance, Microsoft Corp. is quietly gaining traction in the mobile world with its proprietary digital rights management technology. The standoff continues between industry groups such as the GSM...

MusiKube broke an almost year-long silence last week, resurfacing to launch a mobile music identification application that allows users to purchase ringtones directly over their handsets. With the service, called SongLink'd, a mobile user can play a tune directly into a phone and receive...

MusiKube re-appeared on the radar screen Tuesday, announcing the launch of a text-message mobile music identification application that allows users to purchase ringtones directly over their handsets. With the service, dubbed SongLink'd, mobile users can identify songs by playing tunes into the phone, and...

Mforma Group Inc. is branching out from the wireless gaming arena and waltzing onto the crowded dance floor of mobile music. The Bellevue, Wash.-based entertainment publisher this week is expected to unveil a licensing deal with music-industry magazine Billboard to provide news, artist information...