Mobile News – RCR Wireless News

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Mobile marketing company American IDC Corp. and advertising firm Smart Entertainment are teaming on a text message-based offering for poker fans. The service allows card aficionados to communicate with poker celebrities, exchanging tournament information, news, tips, and chats based …

Nokia Corp. is in advanced discussions to purchase CDMA EV-DO phones from the phone-making subsidiary of Korean CDMA carrier SK Telecom, according to a report from Reuters. A Nokia spokesman said the company has made no such announcement and is …

LONDON-The backlash against proposed rates to license digital rights management technology continued this week, with a powerful group of wireless carriers threatening to abandon the open-standard system. The GSM Association blasted royalties for the technology proposed earlier this year by …

NEW YORK-Leap Wireless has delayed the release of its annual report due to accounting changes, and announced a bonus plan for employees, according to a pair of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Leap said it is unable to file its …

WASHINGTON-In arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, justices seemed skeptical the government could designate something an information service if it has elements of telecommunications. “What I am still waiting to hear is how you get that out of the definitions?” …

LONDON-U.K. wireless subscribers with camera phones can submit a picture of their hands for a palm reading, a British psychic television channel said Thursday. Your Destiny TV is behind the service, which reads photos of users’ palms and delivers text …

WASHINGTON-T-Mobile USA Inc. told the Federal Communications that since it is actively trying to compete with wireline carriers, it should be able to receive access to unbundled network elements at regulated rates instead of having to pay special access for …

WASHINGTON-In a report to Congress obtained by RCR Wireless News, the Federal Communications Commission told lawmakers last week that it had granted 32 whole or partial waivers for rural wireless carrier enhanced 911 Phase II obligations. The FCC denied or …

WASHINGTON-In a stunning 9-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court told Mark Abrams he is not entitled to attorney’s fees and other damages even if he wins a tower-siting case. “Liability for attorney’s fees would have a particularly severe impact in …

Video-game behemoth Electronic Arts signaled its long-awaited-and perhaps long-feared-entry onto the mobile gaming playground earlier this month at GDC Mobile in San Francisco, unveiling plans to release as many as 20 titles for mobile phones this year. The world’s biggest …

As a tower operator, Crown Castle International Inc. is venturing into a less familiar environment as an enabler of what may grow into a major application in the wireless industry: mobile television. By a stroke of good fortune, the company …

SANTA MONICA, Calif.-Data storage company Xdrive Inc. added a wireless component to its Internet-based storage offering and is looking to team up with wireless carriers or other industry players to promote the service. “We’re always open to partnerships,” said Steve …

WASHINGTON-A nasty legal fight has broken out over control of the U.S.-based roaming group that assigns codes enabling foreign travelers to use their mobile phones in the United States. The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions has sued Edward Hall and …

WASHINGTON-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), an outspoken wireless consumer advocate in Congress, is pushing legislation that would require mobile-phone carriers to give subscribers the ability to make 911 emergency calls in underground subways. While wireless carriers have opposed Wiener’s cell-phone consumer …

LONDON-In what appears to be a first for the mobile music market, U.K. subscribers can choose which part of a new single from hip-hop star Fabolous to use as their ringtones. The CD single “Baby” from Warner Music’s Atlantic Records …

An association of mobile carriers and content firms joined the fight last week against a group of technology companies it said is looking to overcharge for anti-piracy software. The Mobile Entertainment Forum blasted a proposal by MPEG LA, the licensing …

TelASIC Communications Inc. raised $26 million in a series D round of financing. The company, which develops analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits and sub-systems for the third-generation wireless infrastructure market, said ComVentures led the round. “ComVentures believes wireless base station …

When it comes to mobile phones, Sprint PCS has long been in a class of its own. Since the carrier’s beginnings, Sprint has traveled its own path in the handset market. Instead of relying on stock phones, Sprint has carved …

BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. said it signed an agreement with Wireless Services Corp. to provide WAP 2.0 access to more than 1.3 million Cellular One customers in 19 states and in a separate announcement announced the availability of the CDM-8930 …

NEW YORK-The next 18 months are crucial for the increasingly crowded field of mobile virtual network operators, according to consulting firm Global Advertising Strategies. According to a new study from the research firm, MVNOs need to strengthen relationships with their …

MILAN, Italy-Telecom Italia Mobile said it completed a deal with T-Mobile Global Holding for the sale of TIM’s 7.16-percent of the share capital of Cmobil, a Dutch holding company that owns 60.8 percent of T-Mobile CZ. This participation corresponds to …

OTTAWA-Mitec Telecom Inc. said it has signed a letter of intent to provide a North American equipment vendor with $41 million of base station gear. Deliveries will commence in October, according to Mitec. “We are now poised to roll out …

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 …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. announced it expanded its push-to-talk service to include additional coverage and features, new rate plans and new handsets. “Customers are finding Touch2Talk ideal for short bursts of conversation, be it during family activities or communicating with …

WASHINGTON-Come Friday, the Industrial Telecommunications Association is set to become the Enterprise Wireless Alliance as it expands its focus and merges with the American Mobile Telecommunications Association. “New and innovative technologies that promote enterprise business productivity, the ability to compete …