retail

Motricity continued to streamline its business, spinning off its retail electronic book business to eBook seller Fictionwise Inc. for an undisclosed amount.The eReader business was a division of PowerByHand, a Tennessee startup that merged with North Carolina’s PinPoint Networks four …

An informal survey of four analysts on the mobile devices on display at the International Consumer Electronics show this week in Las Vegas quickly took different directions with a common theme. Mobile, handheld devices on offer were “evolutionary,” not “revolutionary” …

Verizon Wireless unveiled a converged business device, packing the sexily named SMT5800 with features that make advertising copy a nuanced task.“Part compact phone, part messaging device” begins the carrier’s description, before the list of features makes categories difficult — standard …

Those looking for Motorola Inc. to unleash a post-Razr platform to fuel the company’s turnaround are still searching at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. The company itself had raised expectations by promoting its launch event prior …

It looks as though most U.S. retailers won’t be getting the merry green holiday they’d hoped for.Despite a last-minute sales bump last weekend, the overall holiday retail scene continued its overall plodding underperformance compared with last year, with only a …

Palm Inc. almost looks like two companies these days, depending on which way the light strikes.Palm is focused on keeping the productivity-based Treo line from slipping into irrelevance, while it experiments with form factors and features for a future in …

AT&T Mobility is spreading the holiday spirit by opening its stores earlier and keeping them open later on the days before and after Christmas. The company said that shoppers should check with local stores, but that most of its 1,800 …

Brightpoint Inc. announced it extended its distribution agreement as an authorized distributor for Nokia Corp. gadgets in the United States through next year. Brightpoint North America L.P., the subsidiary responsible for the company’s domestic distribution, sells wireless devices to operators, …

ZTE USA, the American face of the Chinese handset and network vendor, will begin supplying co-branded CDMA handsets to MetroPCS Communications Corp., which offers service to 3.7 million subscribers in major metro areas. The deal is ZTE’s second to provide …

The latest casualty in the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space is XE Mobile, which targeted college-age youth and marketed itself as a hip, provocative alternative to traditional carriers with an affinity program and cheap long-distance calling.According to a message …

The day before Palm Inc. delivers its latest quarterly results-for the fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 30-a “key product” it missed delivering earlier in the holiday spending season has arrived at Verizon Wireless.The Treo 755p, priced at $300 online, with …

Editor’s Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what’s hot in wireless. Verizon Wireless’ new Evolution stores emphasize interactivity and give customers a chance to test …

RULES THAT WOULD MAKE IT EASIER for small businesses to bid for the D-Block license in the upcoming January auction are under attack from the three companies that have entangled the Federal Communications Commission in auctionrelated litigation since last year.Council …

Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News runs through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks, months and years. Check …

For Apple Inc., it’s all about control and making money. Factor that into your reading of the tea leaves on the news that Apple has quietly raised the limit on iPhone purchases from two back to five.The blogosphere has cogitated …

The Federal Communications Commission’s relaxation of the small-business bidding rule for the commercial-public safety D-Block license in the upcoming 700 MHz auction has come under another attack, this time by the same parties that have entangled the agency in auction-related …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the …

CompUSA, a leading consumer electronics retailer and purveyor of unlocked mobile phones, is going out of business, the company announced. The announcement did not cite a reason for CompUSA’s sale. But the electronics retailer, founded in 1984 in Dallas, had …

T-Mobile USA Inc. continues to expand its lineup of handsets serving the carrier’s HotSpot @ Home service, with the new Katalyst from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The quad-band, EDGE slider handset is priced at $80 with a mail-in rebate and …

AT&T Mobility isn’t wasting any time promoting its products and services in the former Dobson Communications Corp. territories it just acquired. The carrier said that the first phase of its integration of Dobson-a $2.8 billion purchase that closed in mid-November-will …

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs …

Better late than never.Handsets that didn’t arrive by “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday”-the ultimate days for in-store and online shopping, respectively-may still make an impression on harried shoppers.Nokia Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced that Nokia’s 6263 will be available …

A German court has given T-Mobile the go-ahead to lock its German iPhones and require purchasers to buy a two-year contract, nixing a court challenge from rival Vodafone Group plc, according to media reports.In a public relations gesture, T-Mobile said …

Remember the disposable phone? If you answer yes, you’re showing your age-they popped up and seemed to disappear a decade ago. But Hop-On Inc., “best known as the inventor of the disposable mobile phone,” as the company reminds readers its …

It was no coincidence that Verizon Wireless chose to make two major announcements last week-each one laid out a separate step toward a 4G future driven by connectivity for consumer-electronics devices.Dick Lynch, Verizon Wireless’ CTO, said that the two announcements …