Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

Pssst … if you’re looking for that elusive quarry-mobile handset consumers-you’ll find them in abundance online. They’re not only researching purchases in cyberspace, but increasingly making them over the Internet as well. Carriers take note: your brick-and-mortar stores may serve …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission will not act on the $79 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. until after the Nov. 7 midterm elections, scrapping a Nov. 3 scheduled vote on the deal due to Chairman Kevin Martin’s failure …

In these early days of mobile data, the wireless industry is scrambling for timely, accurate data about consumer behavior. But it’s finding that such information can be difficult to come by. Mobile content measurement firm Telephia last week clarified a …

WASHINGTON-Council Tree Communications Inc. and other parties challenging changes to small-business bidding rules again hammered away at the Federal Communications Commission, telling the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that procedural irregularities in crafting new guidelines and the dismal showing …

WASHINGTON-A U.S. appeals court in St. Louis last week reaffirmed federal telecom rules governing how mobile-phone and rural telephone carriers are paid for carrying each other’s traffic, a favorable wireless ruling on an aspect of highly convoluted and antiquated inter-carrier …

Silica is a chemical that, in its manufactured, crystalline form, is ideally suited for use as a semiconductor. A semiconductor, a device made of silica, partly conducts and partly insulates-thus its name-and is ideal for conveying electronic signals in a …

A mobile phone runs on the chips inside it, if an over-generalization may be permitted for simplicity’s sake. And the basic functions of a basic phone rely on four types of chips: the power amplifier, the RF transceiver, the analog …

TORONTO-Rogers announced it launched Canada’s first HSDPA network in the greater Toronto area and laid out plans to expand the network to the country’s top 20 markets throughout next year. Along with voice services, the HSDPA network offers subscribers the …

Verizon Wireless continued its domination of the postpaid wireless market and outpaced larger rival Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in net customer additions during the third quarter. Verizon Wireless said it brought in 1.9 million net subscribers for the quarter, compared with …

Ordinary people like Luke Johnson sit at the intersection of social networking and the cell phone. Searching for something new that he could do involving video-sharing site YouTube.com, Johnson woke up one night with an idea: Why not post his …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Embarq Corp. plans to offer its wireless customers push-to-talk services and parental controls on a Sanyo Corp. 2400 mobile phone. Embarq, which has a mobile virtual network operator relationship with Sprint Nextel Corp. after being spun off from …

WARREN, N.J.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. announced two new services that incorporate audio and messaging. “Txt Tones” will allow users to link musical tones to text messages instead of rings. The three- to five-second sound clips can be used as an …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Google Inc. is offering a download that is designed to make mobile access to its free Gmail service faster, and Sprint Nextel Corp. is making the download available from its mobile Web home page. The download is free, …

SAN FRANCISCO-Sprint Nextel Corp. and mobile application developer AirPlay are targeting football fans with an interactive offering that allows users to predict plays during NFL games. The carrier launched an NFL-licensed, downloadable application, dubbed AirPlay Live, that asks users to …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission said Continental Airlines Inc. can offer free Wi-Fi access at Boston-Logan International Airport, ruling the Massachusetts Port Authority’s attempt to shut down the airline’s wireless Internet service is pre-empted by federal regulations governing over-the-air reception devices …

InfoSpace Inc. reported a net loss for the third quarter and announced plans to halt investment in its direct-to-consumer content business, including its recently launched Moviso storefront. Instead, executives said, InfoSpace will refocus on bringing its success in online search …

Boost Mobile L.L.C. is bringing its pay-as-you-go service to rural areas, after traditionally concentrating on urban strongholds. Boost, which is a division of Sprint Nextel Corp. and runs on the carrier’s iDEN network, will begin to offer service in areas …

Digital networking company Plaxo Inc. stepped onto the wireless playground last week, inking a deal to allow Verizon Wireless subscribers to update contact information on their handsets over the air. The software developer unveiled Plaxo Mobile Plus, a service that …

A California man is suing Motorola Inc., alleging the cellular phone maker knew its wireless Bluetooth headsets could cause “serious hearing loss” and failed to warn customer of the potential dangers. The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed earlier …

A German driver last week followed his navigation system’s command to “Turn right now” and veered into a roadside bathroom 30 yards shy of his intended intersection. Consider it a metaphor for the wireless location-based services industry. In the wonderfully …

Comcast Corp. will unveil a new multi-screen platform that will allow content to be distributed via TV, online and through wireless devices. The new platform will initially provide Halloween-related content such as horror movies when it is launched on Tuesday, …

The development of firmware-over-the-air, or FOTA, lies at the intersection of several related trends in mobile devices and their management. The sector is growing and, already, several players claim market leadership. As handsets are packed with features, they are packed …

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. is making its fabless approach to its semiconductor business leaner and meaner by signing on with the chip fabrication alliance of IBM Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., also known as the Common …

Motorola Inc. is moving and shaking with ambition and two news items this week point to a growth strategy that includes European markets for handsets and networks. In public statements, Greg Brown, president of Motorola’s network and enterprise division, said …

While the big dogs in the tower industry have national footprints, there are still places they don’t or can’t cover. And often, hard-to-cover areas mean hard-to-gain-access-to land. But a few companies are finding clever ways to zero in on what …