Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

Verizon Wireless confirmed it will sell PalmOne Inc.’s Treo 650. Many in the industry had expected such a move, although neither Verizon nor PalmOne had officially announced the device for Verizon’s network. Sprint PCS and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. already offer …

The nation’s big five operators are not about to slow down. Following a record-setting year in which the wireless industry added more than 22 million customers and surpassed 60-percent penetration, analysts expect the industry’s largest operators to post more than …

With the overwhelming array of wireless content and applications on the market, even the nation’s biggest carriers are struggling with what to offer and how to present it to the consumer. It may be no surprise, then, that smaller carriers …

Regional wireless operator Centennial Communications Corp. said it lost 500 domestic wireless customers during its third fiscal quarter of 2005 ending Feb. 28-compared with a gain of 700 subscribers the previous year-finishing the quarter with 544,900 total domestic wireless subscribers. …

Wireless appears to be busting at the seams. Carriers have been signing on record numbers of subscribers, handset makers have enjoyed double-digit growth and the industry’s general malaise seems to be lifting. Thus, such successes make the numbers from research …

Wireless e-mail company Seven Networks Inc. today announced it acquired Helsinki, Finland-based rival vendor Smartner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. “It’s much more of a global marketplace,” explained Bill Nguyen, Seven’s founder, chairman and co-chief executive officer. “We …

WASHINGTON-The voluntary negotiation period for fixed-microwave licensees to leave the PCS band ended April 4-10 years after it began. When the Federal Communications Commission allowed PCS service as a competitor to cellular, some of the spectrum that it wanted to …

WASHINGTON-VoIP providers claim customers are informed that when they dial 911 using a Voice over Internet Protocol service, it is different than calling 911 from traditional landline or wireless phones. “You can’t call it 911 because 911 means something special,” …

Gaming is the fastest-growing category of mobile data services, with more than 6 million wireless users downloading a game in February, according to a new report from Seattle-based consumer usage measuring firm M:Metrics. The number of downloaded games increased 8 …

PARIS-French wireless operator Orange S.A. said it will launch EDGE services geared toward business customers beginning April 18 with plans for a consumer launch scheduled for this summer. The carrier noted that the service would provide network speeds of up …

PARIS-Medialive SA snared $4.2 million in Series A funding from Nextel Communications Inc. and Sophia Euro Lab, the French content protection provider announced Friday. Medialive partners with broadband and wireless service providers to protect multimedia content using an open software …

In the April 4 story about complaints from wireless users (on page 11), the score from U.S. Cellular Corp. was not mentioned. Among nationwide carriers, Verizon Wireless scored best with 76 complaints per 1 million subscribers. However, the best overall …

Clearinghouse vendor NeuStar Inc. filed plans for a $690 million initial public offering last week, a further sign that the financial drought of the past few years is slowly washing away. Indeed, companies across the economic spectrum are seeing the …

Once satisfied to quietly grab some shelf space for their titles on a carrier’s deck of wireless offerings, mobile game publishers are now trying to make a little more noise. While they may be big in the world of wireless …

HOUSTON-Although they recorded increased revenues, two tower operators suffered net losses in their financial results for the fourth quarter of 2004 compared with the previous year. For the full year, American Tower Corp. and Crown Castle had better results. The …

MINNEAPOLIS-Internet technology company Conk! launched a network of local online communities designed specifically for mobile-phone users, the company announced. The Conk! Network launched in 22 major U.S. markets, featuring 60 categories of updated news, local weather, classified ad listings and …

REDMOND, Wash.-Microsoft Corp. will provide daily downloadable video content including news, sports and entertainment programming for Windows Mobile-based devices, the company announced. MSN Video Downloads will deliver a subscription-based mobile TV service featuring content from channels including FOX Sports, MTV …

NEW YORK-Nearly half of the nation’s 10- to 18-year-olds own mobile phones and a vast majority are interested in handsets that double as music players or cameras, according to a study from NOP World Technology. According to the survey-the fifth …

SHANGHAI, China-Linktone Ltd., which provides interactive entertainment services to Chinese consumers, said it is sponsoring a nationwide contest to find original mobile content. Linktone said the goal of the contest, among other things, is to acquire creative new content for …

LUBBOCK, Texas-The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Alamosa Holdings Inc., the Sprint PCS affiliate announced. The shareholder lawsuit, which was filed in November 2003, sought damages against Alamosa and several …

Around the world, people are quietly using high-tech to stay in touch with a higher power. While cutting-edge applications like mobile TV make headlines, simpler, religious-based offerings are gaining ground. Jewish users are sending text messages with prayers or requests …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission late Friday said it was rejecting a request that it relax the enhanced 911 Phase II rules for small wireless carriers, but it is giving Tier III carriers using a handset-based solution more time beyond the …

WASHINGTON-The Association of Public-safety Communications Officials last month broke with other public-safety advocates and the telecommunications industry, refusing to support a report to the FCC’s Network Reliability & Interoperability Council. “While NRIC VII work group 1A was chartered to minimize …

IBM Corp. said it built a wireless data network in Fresno, Calif., for the police department that will allow officers to transmit text, images and videos via in-vehicle computers and personal digital assistants. The microwave transmission network works in the …

Taking advantage of new technologies, peer-to-peer companies, otherwise known as dotcoms, are porting services to wireless subscribers without operator consent. Through handsets, personal digital assistants, laptops and other mobile devices, end users can enjoy services such as music downloads and …