mobile entertainment

If you haven't been to the App Store lately, you may be surprised to see that an application named iFart Mobile has populated the Top Paid Apps slot for the last week.

Google Inc. is helping giddy kids keep on eye on Santa with its mobile mapping application.The Internet giant has integrated Google Maps for mobile with the annual Santa-tracking offering from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), allowing users to launch …

THERE SEEM TO BE DOZENS OF STARTUPS aiming to build a business with voice and messaging services that leave carriers out of the revenue chain. But nobody seems to be a real threat to wireless network operators. Yet.Talkster is the …

It’s no secret that numerous companies have joined the Open Handset Alliance, which promotes Google’s Android handset platform.Specifics are harder to come by. But it appeared this week, from various media reports, that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Garmin are …

USA Today launched a free downloadable offering for the iPhone that delivers headlines and news stories, sports information, weather and images.The offering, which is available through Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch users, also features support for mobile …

Handango Inc. expanded its portfolio with two deals with mobile game makers Digital Chocolate and I-play.The distributor of smartphone applications added Digital Chocolate titles such as 3D Brick Breaker Revolution, Mini Golf 99 Holes and Shopping Madness; I-play’s offerings include …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t. If you wish to …

JumpTap Inc. said it will use technology from Skweezer Inc. to optimize Web content for mobile phones.One of the first players in the optimization space, Skweezer offers a direct-to-consumer content mobilization solution as well as Skweezer Private Label, a white-label …

Boston-based go2Media is expanding beyond local listings with a new portal for local, personalized entertainment information.; go2Music; Boston-based go2Media is expanding beyond local listings with a new portal for local, personalized entertainment information // By use of this code snippet, …

It might not be the legendary “Zune phone,” but you can bet on the convergence in the near future.

My e-mail inbox is teeming with pitches offering self-serving “predictions” for 2009 that read more like best-case scenarios for those hoping to cash in on mobile. But here’s a forecast of my own: 2009 will be the year record labels …

The volume of paid mobile game downloads has stagnated across North America and Western Europe, despite a positive response from mobile games publishers and developers to Apple Inc.’s iPhone device, according to research from Juniper Research.The value of the global …

There’s a very long list of companies with billing platforms that leave carriers out of the revenue stream. But even as operators grudgingly open up their networks, nobody seems to be making a lot of progress. Billing Revolution is the …

This may come as a shock, but it appears that the established mobile-gaming community has been going about this thing all wrong.Take a quick stroll through the games department on any carrier deck. (I’ll wait here until you get the …

Staying up to date with your favorite band, the latest news and online friends should be easier as an Oklahoma company is set to launch a social enterprise platform for mobile users next year.Onesite Inc. is planning to offer its …

Telenovela watchers who are also Sprint Nextel Corp. cellphone subscribers will get to decide this month what the star of Telemundo’s racy hit novela should do next as she struggles with drug gangs, sexual exploitation and breast implants. NBC Universal-owned …

Glu Mobile Inc.’s woes continued as the wireless-game maker said it will slash an unspecified number of jobs as part of an effort to trim operating expenses by $13 million.Company executives declined to disclose the number of positions being eliminated; …

Casino operator Harrah’s Operating Company Inc. is testing a new mobile-based loyalty program from bCode.

To lure customers, Blockbuster is offering the player at no charge for people who rent 25 online Blockbuster movies in advance for $99.

The new TiVo Mobile site provides programming searches and TiVo settings access from any Web-enabled smartphone.

Mobile gambling could grow to $27.5 million in wagers by 2013, driven by on-portal betting, according to a Juniper Research forecast.Several trends are encouraging the market, including changing operator attitudes toward mobile gambling services, improved handset user interfaces and introduction …

This year may well mark “a turning point in the mobile gaming industry,” as Gameloft insisted last week. But for most wireless-game makers, there will be plenty more storm before the calm.The Paris-based publisher made the claim last week as …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Yay or Nay. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t. If you wish to …

There continues to be a fair amount of optimism among mobile game makers. Whether the rose-colored lenses are warranted, though, is more uncertain than ever.Gameloft last week offered a surprisingly upbeat outlook for wireless gaming as it posted $34.1 million …