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Jan 30 2007 - 04:49 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Verizon Wireless' innovative Chaperone service has been launched for new handsets. The child-tracking program was previously only available on the LG Migo. Chaperone is now available on the following handsets: LG 3450L, LG VX8300, LG Chocolate and the Motorola KRZR...
Apple rumor site ThinkSecret is reporting that the iPhone may begin shipping prior to June. At its MacWorld introduction earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted that the unusually (for Apple) distant launch date was because Apple wanted to...
The Wall Street Journal has an article about Research In Motion's fastest growing customer, consumers. The company previously courted business users almost exclusively, but the BlackBerry Pearl has helped open up a new market for the company. According to the...
Jan 10 2007 - 07:05 PM ET | Backpage
Wirefly has released a list of their top selling phones for the year of 2006. Unsurprisingly the Motorola RAZR topped the list. However there are some surprises: Cingular RAZR by Motorola (in various colors) T-Mobile RAZR (in various colors) Verizon...
Jan 08 2007 - 06:07 PM ET | Backpage, CES
CES 2007 -- SanDisk has announced a 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2 card, the largest in the industry. The new format is being used by several Sony Ericsson music phones but not much else. The company will also sell 1GB...
CES 2007 -- Sprint Nextel has announced officially supported Mac OS X compatibility with one of its EV-DO Rev A cards. Previously the easiest way to get EV-DO on a Mac was to go with Verizon (Mac OS X offers...
Dec 12 2006 - 03:52 PM ET | Backpage, Palm
Palm has cut a deal with Access for a perpetual Palm OS Garnet license. Back in September of 2005 Access bought out PalmSource, the company that makes PalmOS. Palm paid Access $44 million for the license, which is a steal...
Dec 12 2006 - 03:05 PM ET | Backpage
Cameron Marlow, a researcher at Yahoo!, has put up a simple tool to calculate the number of key presses it takes to enter in data via multi-tap. His goal was to see how long different URLs would take to key...
Nov 30 2006 - 06:28 PM ET | Backpage
Free 411 (1-800-FREE411) has surpassed the 100 million use milestone. The relatively new service has still only captured a small percentage of the US directory assistance market, but is rapidly gaining ground. According to the company this means US callers...
Nov 30 2006 - 03:09 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Opera Software has announced the availability of Opera Mini 3.0, the second major update to the package this year. The free application is a web browser designed to work on the vast majority of mobile phones sold. This differs from...
Nov 28 2006 - 03:55 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
The Nokia 2626 is a colorful new feature phone designed for emerging markets. The handset comes in several color schemes in addition to the pink shown at right. The feature list is shorter than the other handsets Nokia introduced today,...
Nov 21 2006 - 06:00 PM ET | 3G, Backpage, Data
A new report from Strategy Analytics says that the global market for mobile broadband will reach 500 million users by 2010. Next generation technologies like WiMAX and UMTS TDD will help fuel the growth but not dominate it. The report...
Nov 17 2006 - 04:59 PM ET | Backpage
Symbian Limited announced yesterday that the company has shipped over 100m Symbian powered smartphones. The phones are in use on over 250 carriers and have been on sale since the Ericsson R380 launched in 2000. Sales have picked up recently...
Nov 15 2006 - 01:00 AM ET | Backpage
New York City's ban of cell phones in schools is not going over well with parents. The ban has actually been in effect for years, but has only been loosely enforced (more of a don't act don't tell policy). When...
Verizon Wireless has launched the Motorola V325i, a slightly updated version of the V325. The V325i is identical to the V325 with the addition of Bluetooth. The handset remains at the low-end of the Verizon lineup. Features of the V325i...
Nov 14 2006 - 02:57 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Qualcomm's president is not optimistic [WSJ, subscription req.] that his company can come to terms with Nokia before their existing agreement lapses in April. If a deal cannot be made in time, both companies will have to stop selling components...
Sprint Nextel's wholly owned MVNO subsidiary Boost Mobile has launched the Motorola i835. Boost is one of the fastest growing mobile virtual network operators and is the biggest growth space inside Sprint. The i835 has been reintroduced with two new...
Briefly-- Research In Motion has announced that the SEC made an informal inquiry into RIM's stock-option grants and practices. Several high-profile tech companies have recently been subject to increased scrutiny over option practices. The list includes Silicon Valley juggernaut Apple....
Briefly--Motorola may be interested in acquiring French mobile phone maker Sagem. Ron Garriques, President of Motorola's mobile devices division, went on record stating that Sagem was "an option". Sagem is currently losing money for its parent Safran....
Motorola has been sued for allegedly knowing its Bluetooth headsets could cause significant hearing loss and not warnings its customers of the potential damage. The lawsuit was filed in Chicago and seeks class action status. Motorola had “actual and constructive...
Oct 17 2006 - 04:52 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia has released a WYSIWYG theme creator for S60 phones called Carbide.ui Theme Edition. The updated product aims to greatly simplify the theme creation process and open it up to more creative professionals. Carbide.ui Theme Edition supports drag-and-drop functionality and...
Oct 16 2006 - 02:23 PM ET | Backpage
Qualcomm has secured approval for its MediaFLO mobile TV standard which is a major milestone to getting the tech to market. Most importantly was a decision about compatibility with the digital TV transition. The ruling was in Qualcomm's favor which...
Oct 04 2006 - 03:44 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Yahoo has launched advertising in its mobile search site. The search engine results pages (SERPs) were previously free of sponsored results. Users can click on the ads to view more information, including the ability to call the advertiser. MobileTracker couldn't...
Oct 02 2006 - 04:17 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Xero Mobile has sold itself to newly minted corporation Advanced Mobile Communications. Xero is a pre-launch mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that wants to give away mobile service in exchange for showing users advertisements. MobileTracker has covered Xero several times...
Sep 28 2006 - 02:19 PM ET | Backpage
The only mobilized version of MySpace currently in existence is limited to the very few customers of Helio. That exclusivity will end soon, perhaps before the end of the year. MySpace is developing a mobile application in house, rumored to...
Sep 28 2006 - 02:00 PM ET | Backpage
Mobile phone manufacturer BenQ Mobile may be headed into bankruptcy. The company bought out Seimens' money-losing handset division last year. BenQ said the company isn't going to support its BenQ Mobile division any longer, which may spell bankruptcy for the...
Sep 27 2006 - 10:29 AM ET | Apple, Backpage
ThinkSecret, a popular and historically accurate Apple rumor site has posted an article stating that the widely expected mobile phone from Apple will be a Cingular exclusive at launch. This comes at no surprise to analysts because Cingular is the...
Sep 25 2006 - 05:36 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Upstart MVNO Amp'd Mobile has inked a distribution deal with Circuit City. Over 600 Circuit City stores will begin selling pre-paid Amp'd Mobile phones starting October 1st. Amp'd is already being sold in Best Buy stores and the company sees...
Sony Ericsson has teamed up with Sony Music to promote upcoming music acts. Since launching its Walkman series of handsets, Sony Ericsson has been ramping up its music savvy. M-BUZZ will tie into its PlayNow mobile application and allow users...
CTIA IT 2006 --Verizon Wireless has named Motorola as its network infrastructure provider for the upcoming EV-DO Rev A upgrade. Sprint has taken the lead with Rev A as of late so Verizon is stuck playing catch up. Compared to...
Sep 11 2006 - 11:30 AM ET | Backpage
An unclaimed BlackBerry left aboard a San Francisco bound United Airlines jet caused an emergency diversion to Dallas. While authorities fully believed it was just a forgotten phone, an abundance of caution was used because of an increased threat level...
Sep 07 2006 - 06:02 PM ET | Backpage
The New York Times has launched an updated mobile site that offers users access to the full content of NYTimes.com. Accessible at http://mobile.nytimes.com, the site should be compatible with most handsets that have an HTML capable browser. To speed up...
Sep 07 2006 - 03:45 PM ET | Backpage, Palm
Palm has cautioned investors that it will likely come in short on revenue targets for the current quarter. The company originally forecasted revenue between $380 and $385 million, but has issued a new projection of $354 to $356 million. Shares...
Qualcomm CFO William Keitel noted Wednesday in a webcast call to investors that he doesn't plan on seeing any significant revenue from MediaFLO until after 2007. Verizon Wireless is planning on launching MediaFLO powered services early next year. "Financially I...
Sony Ericsson may be working on its own music download service to compliment its Walkman line of phones. Company spokesman Aldo Liguri noted that Sony Ericsson is, "Developing the PlayNow service further. It is part of our bigger music strategy."...
Aug 30 2006 - 12:07 PM ET | Backpage
Yahoo! has released a Windows Mobile version of its Go For Mobile application. The application first debuted for S60 smartphones at CES earlier this year. It offers a direct connection to many popular Yahoo web services: Mail Search (local, web...
Aug 23 2006 - 04:05 PM ET | Backpage
Bidding in the Advanced Wireless Services auction has started to slow down, but the total has reached nearly $13 billion. Original estimates for the auction put the high estimate at $15 billion. Overall bidding has slowed, but there is still...
Sprint Nextel has announced that COO Len Lauer has left the company effective immediately. His responsibilities will be assumed by CEO Gary Forsee. Sprint will not be hiring a new COO. "Len has been an important part of the Sprint...
Aug 10 2006 - 03:32 PM ET | Backpage
Alltel has announced a content deal with XM Satellite Radio. The carrier will stream 20 popular commercial free XM music channels to subscribers for $7.99 per month. The application was developed by MobiTV. XM provides more than 170 digital quality...
Aug 09 2006 - 03:56 PM ET | Backpage
Internet phone dealer WireFly has listed the hottest selling music capable cell phones. While this only applies to online sales (which can vary from retail), it's still an interesting look. Sony Ericsson Z525a Motorola ROKR Samsung t809/d807 Samsung A900 Cingular...
Virgin Mobile USA has announced a short story named Ghost Town that will be delivered exclusively through text messages. Two messages will be sent per day over a five week period. The first messages will be sent out on August...
Aug 09 2006 - 01:48 PM ET | Backpage
Alltel has partnered with Melodeo to become the first US wireless carrier to provide a podcast service. Alltel subscribers will now be able to follow thousands of podcasts on their handset without the need of a computer. Axcess Mobilcast is...
Motorola and Burton have announced the second-generation Audex Jacket Series. The new line sports A2DP stereo Bluetooth to connect with a mobile handset and stereo speakers. There are also wires to hook in the iPod via its dock connector. Other...
Starting today content from The World Series of Poker will be featured on Verizon Wireless V CAST. The content will be from the 2006 World Series of Poker No-Limit Hold'em World Championship and will exclusive to Verizon (in the mobile...
Jul 31 2006 - 09:43 AM ET | Backpage
SanDisk has started shipping a 2GB microSD card. Both 1 and 2GB versions were announced earlier this year at CES. microSD (formally known as TransFlash) has become one of the leading formats for mobile phones. Almost a third of phones...
Verizon Wireless gave a sneak peek to its second quarter results today. By adding 1.8 million net new customers, Verizon continued to close in on Cingular for the title of largest carrier. Verizon now has 54.8m customers compared to Cingular's...
Motorola announced that it is ahead of schedule with its existing share repurchase plan. The plan was announced last year and is aproximately two years ahead of schedule. The board of directores has authorized another buyback program, up to $4.5...
Verizon Wireless pushed some updates to its customer website this week. The update has expanded the My Account section and now allows customers improved access to messaging statistics. Information includes number of messages sent and received, including date and time...
Sprint Nextel has launched Recently Sold Homes, another new location based service (LBS) application. The app uses data provided by Smarter Agent to find sales information for homes near your current location. It's targeted at both consumers (looking for a...
Jul 18 2006 - 05:54 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Thanks to a software release from the Gizmo Project, it's now possible to make telephone calls with the Nokia 770 through Voice Over IP. As a WiFi only device (with open source software to boot), the 770 is a unique...
Jul 18 2006 - 05:33 PM ET | Backpage, Unique
Whirlpool and a handful of technology partners are currently testing a washer/dryer set that ties in with computers and cell phones. The "smart" appliances are now in use at three homes in Atlanta. Partners on the project include Microsoft and...
Jul 14 2006 - 05:42 PM ET | Backpage, DoCoMo
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo is working on a fuel cell to power mobile phones in the near future. The company has teamed up with Aquafairy to create a micro polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The end product is less than 25%...
Cingular and HBO extended their partnership with the introduction of more video clips. Available exclusively to Cingular's 3G customers, the new content includes some mobile-only episodes of the show Entourage. In another first, Cingular Video subscribers can also enjoy full-length...
Jul 12 2006 - 09:14 AM ET | Backpage, Data
Mobile TV startup MobiTV has inked a $70 million series C venture capital investment led by Oak Investment Partners. MobiTV is the current market leader in mobile TV and has over a million subscribers spread over 20 carriers globally. MobiTV...
Verizion Wireless is promoting its V Cast service by launching V Cast Performances, a showcase of live concerts. Over 50 performances will be shown, from artists such as Live and Cheyenne Kimball. All of the concerts are available to V...
Jul 06 2006 - 11:14 AM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Amp'd Mobile has signed a deal with Inphonic that will get Amp'd Mobile service and handsets sold through Inphonic's channels. Inphonic is the leading online sales agent for mobile phones and controls popular websites such as WireFly.com. Despite an influx...
As expected, Cingular has activated its UMTS/HSDPA 3G network in the New York City metro area. Coverage is limited but should expand in September. The Samsung ZX10 is the only 3G handset being offered in the market. Cingular should continue...
Jun 30 2006 - 10:03 AM ET | Backpage, Danger
MobiTV has announced a version of its software for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. MobiTV allows subscribers to view live television on mobile handsets via the phone's regular data connection (not over a specific mobile TV standard such as DVB-H). Channels...
Jun 30 2006 - 09:57 AM ET | Backpage, Nokia
There is no shortage of copycat and counterfeit consumer electronics and Nokia is taking a stand. The Finnish company has filed suit againt two Chinese companies that it accuses of copying the Nokia 7260 design. The lawsuit reflects the increasing...
Jun 29 2006 - 01:42 PM ET | Backpage
Marvell has agreed to buy Intel's mobile chip business. The $600 million deal was announced this week. There were rumors of a sell-off in the works for Intel's mobile chip business earlier this month. Despite being the leader in desktop...
Jun 27 2006 - 03:06 PM ET | Backpage, Rumor
Korean handset maker VK is reportedly amid a major cash crunch. If a loan is not paid back by tomorrow the company will be forced to go into bankruptcy proceedings. VK recently restructered and reduced its workforce. The company is...
One year after its start, Sprint Nextel has announced metrics for its 800MHz reconfiguration. Sprint is swapping out spectrum to aid emergency response workers that were complaining of interference with their equipment. The FCC gave Sprint three years to complete...
Jun 27 2006 - 02:49 PM ET | Backpage, Data
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 as a candidate recommendation. The document is based on work from 30 organizations, including Nokia, Vodafone, Opera Software and NTT DoCoMo. It offers up "best practices" for...
Motorola may be second to Nokia in handset volume, but it has the top slot for Bluetooth headsets. The Chicago based company controls 28.2% of the quickly growing vertical. The next big growth segment should be stereo Bluetooth headsets, which...
Mobile phones might increase the severity of injuries sustained while being struck by lightning and doctors have advised patients to not use them outside during thunderstorms. Since it's advisable to not be outside (regardless of being on the phone or...
Jun 21 2006 - 12:17 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia has announced a podcast application for its N91 music phone. The free (in beta) app lets you find and download both audio and video podcasts, even without the need of a computer. Since the N91 sports WiFi it can...
Jun 14 2006 - 01:21 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Amp'd Mobile has signed a distribution deal with BestBuy that will have the upstart carrier's products in BestBuy stores sometime this summer. Amp'd is a content-centric mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that launched late last year. Despite hundreds of millions...
Jun 08 2006 - 12:41 PM ET | Backpage
India passed the 100 million subscriber milestone last month. That's enough to make it the fifth largest mobile subscriber market in the world. By population India is the world's second largest country, with 1.1 billion people. China is the largest...
Jun 07 2006 - 04:11 PM ET | Backpage
Intel is considering selling off its mobile chips business unit as part of a company wide overhaul. Despite being the leader for PC chips, Intel has had only limited success with chips for mobile devices. Its XScale line is used...
Jun 07 2006 - 01:40 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia has enabled a way for N-Gage owners to legally download games, instead of having to purchase them on individual MMC cards. The games are downloaded to a PC and then transfered to a memory card with the aid of...
Jun 05 2006 - 03:10 PM ET | Backpage
Windows Mobile handset maker High Tech Computer (HTC) is set to buy a controlling stake in Dopod. Dopod is a growing handset vendor in Asia and uses HTC exclusively to make its products. Dopod accounts for about 5% of HTC's...
Motorola confirmed an earlier report that the company is launching a temporary store in Chicago. The store will be located at 666 North Michigan Avenue and will open on June 8th. Officially called Destination Q, the store will focus on...
May 22 2006 - 06:18 PM ET | Backpage, DoCoMo
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has announced plans to put GSM technology into all future handsets. While the company uses 3G networks exclusively at home, building in GSM support will allow enhanced roaming support. Currently users are limited to roaming in...
May 22 2006 - 06:14 PM ET | Backpage
Google expanded its mobile offerings this week as it launched an enhanced version of Google Reader that supports mobile browsers. The full version of Google Reader is heavily reliant on AJAX technology, much like Gmail, and is incompatible with phones....
May 18 2006 - 02:07 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Google has been hosting meetings with Google Mobile to try and secure a leading position for Chinese mobile search. The Chinese mobile market is the largest in the world and since there are many more phones than computers, mobile search...
Symbian announced that 11.7 million mobile phones shipped with its OS during the first quarter. That's a 73% increase in year-over-year comparison. Some other interesting figures were announced: 70.5m total Symbian powered devices 10 licensees are currently shipping 66 different...
Motorola launched an open source website this morning. Hosted by leading open source community Source Forge, opensource.motorola.com houses several projects. The available code ranges from drivers for the company's Linux powered handsets to the new MIDP 3.0 Java engine....
May 15 2006 - 02:03 AM ET | Backpage, Nokia
The Nokia N93 has been approved by the FCC (ID # QVVRM-55). Announced last month, the N93 is a very advanced handset that Nokia is marketing more as a mobile computer than cell phone. It's the successor to the N90,...
Motorola saw another increase in its US mobile phone handset marketshare as numbers for Q1 were released. Total market share was up 2%, hitting 29% which was the highest of any company. Worldwide Nokia is the leader, with Motorola...
May 04 2006 - 03:56 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Voce, a niche luxury mobile virtual network operator, has begun offering its service in L.A. The soft launch was invite only and participation was capped at around 500 people. Voce is targeting affluent users that are looking only for...
Apr 29 2006 - 02:14 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Disney Mobile hasn't officially launched in the US yet, but the company is already planning an expansion into the UK. Disney teamed up with O2 to provide network coverage in the UK, Sprint Nextel provides the coverage for Disney...
Sprint Nextel has set May 17th as the date for its wireline business spinoff. The new company will be called Embarq. Sprint is exiting the wireline business to concentrate on its wireless efforts. Embarq will trade on the New...
Apr 25 2006 - 12:14 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia today announced the N72, a handset quite similar to the N70 but designed for GSM/EDGE networks. Taking a page out of Motorola's play book, the N72 comes in two color schemes, black or pink. Features of the Nokia N72:...
Apr 24 2006 - 04:11 PM ET | Backpage
Fox Broadcasting has inked a sponsorship deal with Toyota that will have the car maker being the primary advertiser for episodes of Prison Break set to air on mobile phones. While full length episodes of Prison Break will not be...
Apr 21 2006 - 01:29 PM ET | Backpage
Tomorrow is Earth Day and several firms have sent out announcements to encourage consumers to recycle an old mobile phone. There are various ways to recycle phones, the easiest of which is to drop them off with a participating carrier....
Amazon.com will transition its mobile phone sales to go through Inphonic, the largest online dealer of mobile phones. This is a rare move for Amazon, a company that is more used to having other companies outsource their web store...
Samsung announced the world's largest MMCmicro card this morning. At an impressive 2GB, the fingernail sized chip is designed expressly for mobile phones. MMCmicro is a competitor to microSD, but lags somewhat behind--a 2GB microSD chip has already been...
As part of its sponsorship of the NFL, Sprint Nextel will broadcast the 2006 NFL draft to Sprint TV subscribers. This is the first time that the draft has been broadcast live to mobile phones. It takes place April...
Spint Nextel has launched Nick Mobile on its Sprint TV service. The kid-themed channel will feature content from several popular Nickelodeon programs, including SpongeBob SquarePants, The Backyardigans, Unfabulous and Dora the Explorer. Like other on demand Sprint TV content, the...
Apr 13 2006 - 02:12 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Youth-centric MVNO Amp'd Mobile has closed a $150 million C-round of venture capital financing. This brings the total amount invested in Amp'd to over $250 million. Not only is the sum substantial for a mobile virtual network operator, but this...
Apr 11 2006 - 04:29 PM ET | Backpage
Mobile content now has an Emmy. The academy added a category for, "Outstanding original programming for computers, cellphones and other hand-held devices, including the video iPod." The winner will be announced on April 22. Among the nominees is Fox...
Apr 11 2006 - 01:45 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia beat both internal and analyst estimates for the average handset price in Q1. The average selling price (ASP) per handset was $124.80 while estimates topped out at $122.25. It's the highest average price over the past three quarters....
Apr 10 2006 - 02:23 PM ET | Backpage
The Nepalese government shut down its mobile phone network in order to curb pro-democracy protests. Mobile phones are the primary mode of communication in the country and are the preferred way to organize protests. In addition to shutting down...
Apr 07 2006 - 12:18 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, Rumor
Texas Instruments, NEC and Matsushita are in discussions to merge 3G operations to cut costs. Reuters reports: A source close to the talks said the five companies are aiming to set up a joint venture to develop microchips and software...
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola is showing off its Follow Me TV technology that allows users of Motorola set top boxes to shift around their recorded TV content. TV programs can be transfered to mobile handsets, such as the RAZR V3x....
Apr 06 2006 - 01:06 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Opera Software revealed some of the usage behind its new Opera Mini browser today. Because the software works through a proxy server run by Opera Software, it's possibly to accurately assess usage. Opera Mini uses are generating between 38-76...
Apr 06 2006 - 12:41 PM ET | Backpage
Wiki hosting provider Socialtext announced a new mobile wiki product dubbed Miki. While there is nothing inherently unmobile about normal wikis, Miki provides a streamlined XHTML interface that makes it easier for the limited browsers most mobile devices have....
CTIA 2006 -- Sprint Nextel announced this morning that the Sprint Music Store has now reached 2 million downloads. The service launched in late October and reached one million downloads in February. But Sprint hasn't announced how many of...
CTIA 2006 -- Verizon Wireless today announced a barrage of new content for its V Cast service. The content comes from several new partners and will be available to existing and new subscribers for no additional cost. The O.C...
CTIA 2006 -- Mobile ESPN is about to get a big boost, the company just announced an agreement with Sprint that will give the MVNO space in 500 bricks-and-mortar Sprint stores. Mobile ESPN uses the Sprint network, but until...
Yahoo! teamed up with Research In Motion to bring several of Yahoo's mobile products to the millions of BlackBerry users. Those products specifically include Yahoo! Go for Mobile, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger. BlackBerry owners can activate the...
CTIA 2006 -- Rocket Mobile's Song IDentity application has been upgraded to version 2.0. The app should be available to Verizon Wireless subscribers soon. Song IDentity allows customers to identify songs playing from any music source (such as a...
CTIA 2006 -- Verizon Wireless today announced that its V Cast music download service now totals over 1 million songs, up from about 500,000 a few months ago. According to the company that makes it the largest mobile music...
CTIA 2006 -- MediaFLO parent Qualcomm today announced that it has city-wide coverage of Las Vegas for its mobile TV network. Because of the live network around the city, live demos will be possible at CTIA. Devices will be...
Motorola has teamed up with leading online mobile phone dealer Inphonic to create a Motorola branded "Online store-in-store." The expanded collection of Motorola products should reach 20 million online visitors monthly. These new online stores will allow Motorola to...
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola continued its trend of releasing already existing handsets in new color schemes with the launch of three new colored RAZR V3i models. Features stay the same as the original, but the outside now comes in dark...
UK based cable operator NTL has agreed to acquire Virgin Mobile UK for $1.68 billion. Rumors of a deal between the two companies have been making the rounds for months, with Virgin initially rejecting the idea of a buyout....
Apr 03 2006 - 10:12 AM ET | Backpage, Data
Traffic.com announced new mobile versions of its real-time traffic information service. Traffic teamed up with Air2Web to create WAP and SMS versions of its update service: Using push and pull messaging, drivers can receive traffic summaries and alerts of...
Apr 03 2006 - 12:37 AM ET | Backpage
LivePlanet announced a multiplayer game called PhoneTag that will be launched exclusively on Amp'd Mobile. PhoneTag will incorporate location based mapping and messaging: Players must "capture" an assigned target by getting within a predetermined range of it, while avoiding...
Mar 31 2006 - 10:12 AM ET | Backpage
Another day and another study, this time one that decides mobile phones can cause brain tumors. Researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life have concluded there is a link: Kjell Mild, who led the study, said the...
Mar 31 2006 - 10:06 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, Data
Nortel and Qualcomm together completed an industry leading 7.2 Mbps data call over HSDPA. HSDPA is the 3G technology that Cingular Wireless is currently upgrading its network to. The companies completed the initial series of pre-commercial category 8 HSDPA...
Indie rock band Parlour Boys won the Calling All Bands contest hosted by Verizon Wireless and MySpace to get their music promoted on V Cast Music. Parlour Boys isn't signed to a record label and beat out 4,000 other...
Mar 28 2006 - 10:39 AM ET | Backpage
MicroSD is the leading removable memory format in cell phones according to a new report from research group Strategy Analytics. The report notes that almost 75% of phones sold in 2010 are expected to come with a memory card...
Cingular Wireless furthered its integration with hit Fox show American Idol by offering several ring tones created from recordings of contestants on the show. The real music ring tones feature the actual recordings made on the show and will...
Verizon Wireless announced immediate availability of The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Connected Edition for the company's Get It Now customers. The Sims series is one of the most popular games ever and the mobile version attempts to...
Cingular Wireless will shut off its analog TDMA cellular network in 2008 according to CEO Stan Sigman's keynote speech at TelecomNext. Even though the aging network still has two years of life, over 95% of Cingular voice traffic is...
Phlash today announced what it's calling, "The world's first universal cameraphone flash." The $29.99 product is a portable LED flash that can either stick onto a handset or be held separately. The company says Phlash is 12 times brighter...
Mar 18 2006 - 04:02 PM ET | Backpage, SMS
Google updated its SMS search tool to include live sports scores. Competing SMS search service 4INFO has supported this feature for quite some time. To get a sports score via Google SMS, compose a new text message and put...
LG Electronics yesterday announced a deal to purchase KTFT. KTFT is the fifth-largest mobile phone maker in South Korea and also makes select models for the US in partnership with UTStarcom. KTFT specializes in developing mobile handsets and outsourcing...
Mar 16 2006 - 04:03 PM ET | Backpage
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gave his idea of the future in a speech at the Government Leaders Forum. In the speech Gates talked about his vision for mobile phone technology, noting that he believes the cell phone will become...
Mar 15 2006 - 10:03 AM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Amp'd Mobile and MTV have teamed up to broadcast the first live concert for mobile subscribers. Fall Out Boy, The All-American Rejects and Hawthorne Heights will perform on March 19th. The full show will be made available for free...
MobileBurn has got their hands on an tiny, full featured slim (9mm) candy bar phone, the LG KG320, also being shown at the CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany. Features: 1.3 megapixel camera 262k color TFT LCD display Bluetooth 128MB of...
Mar 13 2006 - 04:09 PM ET | Backpage
Mobile imaging service provider ScanR today announced new features and its public launch. ScanR takes images of text taken with mobile phones and processes them to be more useful. For example an image of a whiteboard taken at the end...
Fresh off its settlement with NTP, Research In Motion announced its aquisition of Ascendent. The buyout could bring more corporate features to RIM's flagship BlackBerry line. From the press release: Ascendent Voice Mobility Suite is a feature rich solution that...
Verizon Wireless is still busy promoting music on top of its V Cast service--this time by exclusively launching a new single from Shakira. The exclusive period will be two months, quite a long time in the music industry. Besides the...
Deutsche BA, a smaller German airline, has started a new service that allows flyers to check in via MMS. The mechanism is simple; approximately three hours before a passenger is scheduled for a flight, the airline will send a barcode...
Trend Micro announced today a new security package, called Mobile Security 2.0. Mobile Security 2.0 is a software package that helps to protect against viruses and other malicious software targeting Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets. According to NewsFactor, "Company officials...
Intercasting Corporation today announced a relatively new service called Rabble on Cingular Wireless. "Rabble is a carrier-grade mobile blogging and social networking application that allows users to create and share media using their mobile phones". According to the press release,...
A patent infringement lawsuit over Motorola's RAZRWire sunglasses has been dropped thanks to the patent in question expiring. RAZRWire combines Bluetooth headset technology with Oakley sunglasses. The lawsuit was filed in January and is based on a patent that...
The New York Times is running a story today that concludes Verizon's best move is not to try and buy out Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. Earlier this week we discussed the rumor, which was re-ignited after AT&T's...
March 9, 2006 Garmin has announced a GPS cell phone navigation kit, the Garmin Mobile 20. The Mobile 20 is an automotive navigation system that delivers voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions using a Bluetooth cradle/docking station on Nokia, Windows Mobile, and...
Sprint Nextel announced a new plan to give unlimited calling to a home or business telephone number. Sprint to Home costs $5 per month while Sprint Mobile to Office costs $8. The business service will be expanded later this...
Verizon Wireless and TiVo announced a partnership this morning that brings an application called TiVo Mobile to Verizon Wireless subscribers. The new application will allow users to manage recordings on their home TiVo unit right from a mobile handset. Starting...
Mar 07 2006 - 10:39 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, Nokia
According to PhoneScoop, the FCC revealed yesterday a new E Series device, the Nokia E62. Though details are slim, the E62 looks to be a stripped down version of the Nokia E61, which garnered FCC approval recently. The E61 differs...
Fandango teamed up with Sprint Nextel to launch a mobile ticketing service available to Sprint subscribers. Fandango is available for 70% of movie theaters that support remote ticketing and also sells tickets via the web and phone. Fandango's mobile site...
T-Mobile has announced a new service for it's cell service subscribers, for a limited time, it will offer free weekend WiFi at all 6500 plus hotspots. T-Mobile hotspots are located in most Starbucks, Border Books, and FedEx Kinko's copy shops....
The Mobile DTV Alliance is already brimming with heavy hitters with the likes of Intel, Motorola, Nokia, and Texas Instruments, but today it welcomes Microsoft to the fold. The Mobile DTV Alliance encourages the deployment of DVB-H in North America....
Mar 02 2006 - 09:34 AM ET | Backpage
Good Technology has raised another $20M in venture capital. The series-e round of investment ups the total take to well over $200M. $65M was pumped in less than a year ago. Good is planning on using the money to...
A research group, Mobile Antivirus Researchers Association (MARA), has found the first mobile phone to PC virus. Thankfully, it appears that the virus was sent directly to them instead of being found in the wild. The virus included the following...
Fifth Media has announced their new Axia A308 ahead of CeBit 2006, and is billing it as the world's smallest Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone. Details: Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Intel PXA272 CPU 416 MHz 128MB and 64MB RAM 2.2...
Ubergizmo is reporting a rumor that the Motorola Q may be undergoing "Friendly-User" testing soon. The rumor goes on to say that, "With that and a few extra things to be taken care of, we should be seeing the Q...
Coming in the midst of a Walkman Mobile induced media frenzy, Google and Sony Ericsson have jointly announced a deal to put Google services on the new K610, K800, and K790. The first being a pre-loaded blogging application that...
The third headset Sony Ericsson announced today was the full-featured HBV-PV705. Designed for long wear, this lightweight “pen form” headset rests on the ear (not in the ear canal), for easy communication with those around you. The HBV-PV705 will...
The second Sony Ericsson headset announced today is the HBV-GV435. Designed for long wear the HBV-GV435 includes: DSP Auto Volume BT 2.0 Auto Paring The HBV-GV435 is expected to ship early in Q3 2006....
Today Sony Ericsson announced three new headsets, one of which is the diminutive HBV-IV835. This full-featured Bluetooth headset includes: DSP Auto Volume BT 2.0 Auto Paring The HBV-IV835 is expected to ship in mid Q2 2006....
Feb 23 2006 - 12:21 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Google researchers let it slip that adult content is the most popular topic for mobile Google searches. Porn made up a full 20% of searches from cellphones, compared to 8.5% from desktops. The figures were pulled out of a...
Feb 23 2006 - 12:11 PM ET | Backpage, Rumor
Verisign may be looking to exit the mobile business, if a report from Valleywag pans out. The company shelled out nearly $300 to buy Jambra (AKA Jamster), but that company is having a hard time sustaining growth. They also snapped...
Yahoo and Cingular have launched Yahoo! Go Mobile on the Nokia 6682. The software integrates S60 phones (but in the future more models) with Yahoo! services. Specifically, Yahoo! Go Mobile will connect email, messaging, address books, and calendar. An interesting...
The T-Mobile MDA is now shipping from T-Mobile USA. It was announced along with the SDA on February 13th. The feature-packed Windows Mobile smartphone is listed at $349.99 after a $50 rebate and 1-year contract. Since the device is...
Cell phones often get the rap as being facilitators of bad manners in public, but the San Jose Museum of Art has the novel idea of getting it's patrons to listen instead of talk. During a current exibit, "Visual Politics:...
ZD Net UK is reporting that by 2010 Microsoft and Linux Smartphones will surpass Symbian in units shipped. Quoting an analyst's report from the Diffusion Group, by 2010 "Symbian will see its market share halved to around 22 percent, while...
Cingular Wireless is one of more than twenty mobile phone carriers testing video sharing. The trials are scheduled to be completed in the first half the year are to test out a technology that allows one-way video transfer during a...
Opera Software today announced its first AJAX powered widget for mobile phones. The app's called Freedom and gives users a suite of widgets such as news, real-time stock prices and maps. “Freedom is a great demonstration of how the...
Virgin mobile has announced two new packages for their Mobile services in the U.S.. First up is a new service called "Inner Circle". Essentially this package is aimed at teens to enable unlimited nights and weekends calling to three phone...
3GSM 2006 -- Sony Ericsson launched a new stereo Bluetooth headset dubbed the HBH-DS970. With its Walkman series music phones selling briskly, the stylish headset should be a welcome addition. Battery life for the headset is rated at 300 hours...
The TimesOnline is carrying a story that BT, Virgin and Microsoft are announcing a Mobile TV alliance. The three will announce a digital TV service for mobile phones at the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona. This is just one of...
3GSM 2006 -- Motorola hasn't had any major new handset announcements at the show thus far, but the company did introduce the W220. It's an entry-level clamshell that will likely stick to emerging markets. Features are sparse, but do...
Feb 13 2006 - 10:22 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, Data
Option N.V. the wireless technology company, today has announcement the GlobeTrotter GT MAX, a tri-band HSDPA / 3G UMTS Wireless Data Card. "The GlobeTrotter GT MAX is has a multi-band flip-out integrated antenna design meaning that GT MAX once...
Microsoft is planning on launching a couple of devices today to compete with the Blackberry. Microsoft's devices will feature it's version of push email from several providers including Vodaphone, and Cingular. But according to an article at the Wall...
Sony Ericsson and Nokia today announced their intention to work together in the DVB-H space to build phones and secure programming from 2006 onward. According to Sony, "There are going to be a multitude of technologies that will enable...
3GSM 2006 -- Broadcom is showing off a new chip that combines Bluetooth and FM radio. The company hopes that it will help make FM radio a standard feature for mobile phones that have Bluetooth. Having the two functionalities...
3GSM 2006 -- The Sony Ericsson J100 is one of two new handsets the company announced this morning at 3GSM (see our article on the K610i, the other new handset). Unlike most Sony Ericsson handsets, the J100 is bare...
3GSM 2006 -- Nokia and Vodafone this morning announced a partnership to increase the adoption of the S60 phone platform. By making more Vodafone handsets S60 the carrier will have an easier time making the customizations and value adds...
3GSM 2006 -- McAfee has launched a new security suite built exclusively for mobile phones. The consumer side of the McAfee Mobile Security (there is also software for network operators and enterprise users) is an application that is available for...
HP will split its handheld devices from the laptop division. This will make its iPAQ smartphones a more core business for the company. Smartphones are a high-growth sector for the company and is forecasted to post 50% growth year...
Cornice’s is making two notable announcements at 3GSM: The Cornice Dragon Series Micro Hard Drive will be launching in 8- and 10-gigabyte capacities. Cornice Hard Drives will be inside the Samsung i300 Mobile Smartphone [via Cornice]...
PhoneScoop is reporting that T-Mobile will be charging "a couple of bucks a month" for an upcoming UMA plan. The Samsung T709, a T-Mobile exclusive, will be able to transfer phone calls utilizing UMA between traditional GSM networks and...
Nokia announced that F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus will ship on several of its business oriented phones. The software will be on the memory card bundled with the N71 and will be in the catalog on the E60, E61 and E70...
Zi Corporation announced a new version of its handwriting recognition software, Decuma. Version 4 adds predictive features (including word completion) which is a first for handwriting recognition according to the company. Decuma recognizes 100% naturally shaped letters in upper...
T-mobile has doubled the price of SMS messages from $0.05 to $0.10 in the U.S.. Though this price hike is not good news for T-Mobile subscribers, it's made worse with the fact that customers are reporting no way to...
Sprint and Bones in Motion appear to be the first to market with a unique application suite that tracks fitness and lifestyle goals via gps enabled cell phones. Bones in Motion's BiM Active software "enables runners, cyclist, and walkers...
ABI Research is reporting that 2006 may be a banner year for 3G technologies world wide. As reported by MobileMag, "The expansion of 3G services is expected to increase substantially this year, continuing the trend from last year when...
Today at the DEMO 06 conference in Phoenix, AZ new startup called Sharpcast is promising to seamlessly connect your computer, cell phone, and web photo albums together. Sharpcast promises "instantaneous backup of mobile phone pictures, speedy catalog recovery and...
News Note: Today Sony Ericsson and Panasonic inked a deal to integrate the GC83 EDGE PC Card inside the Toughbook CF-29 utilizing Cingular's network. [Press Release]...
Last night Verizon brought us the Fygees reunion concert, but in addition they also appear to be the first cell phone provider to leverage a new technology that allows a subscriber to purchase tickets directly onto their mobile phones....
Feb 06 2006 - 02:33 PM ET | Backpage, Camera
We missed this one last week, but it's still news worthy. Varioptic announced that it is now shipping liquid lenses for use in camera phones. Because the lens uses liquid to focus, it's much thinner than models that use more...
Verizon Wireless today announced that it has won a permanent injunction against a Florida company it accused of sending spam SMS messages. Passport Holidays sent 98,000 spam text messages to Verizon Wireless subscribers. The company will also pay $10,000...
Feb 01 2006 - 03:36 PM ET | 3G, Backpage
The Federal Communications Comission has set June 29th as the date for its advanced wireless service licenses auction. T-Mobile USA is expected to make a big showing at the auction since it is currently light on spectrum and doesn't...
Feb 01 2006 - 03:28 PM ET | Backpage, Data
USA Today launched a WAP version of its online content today. In terms of circulation, USA Today is the nation's largest news paper. The WAP site was created by Crisp Wireless and is updated in real time with content...
T-Mobile USA is now stocking the Motorola PEBL at retail stores. Since last month the handset has been sold exclusively online by the carrier. Design wise the PEBL is modeled after a water-smoothed peddle and feature wise the phone stacks...
As the only wireless sponsor of the NFL, Sprint Nextel is gearing up for a big showing next Sunday when Superbowl XL takes place. The company announced lots of mobile content for the big game: Live coverage of press...
Jan 26 2006 - 04:05 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia announced its fourth quarter results for 2005--more market share and less profit. The leading mobile phone manufacturer shipped an impressive amount of phones, but price pressure lowered the average price per handset by twelve euros. Key figures from...
T-Mobile USA announced its fourth quarter 2005 customer results today. The company experienced record growth and lowered churn to make for a total of 21.7 million customers. That still puts them well behind the top three carriers (Cingular, Verizon...
Cingular announced its fourth quarter earnings results this morning. This is the final release that will show confusing numbers thanks to the AT&T Wireless merger, it happened in October 2004 which affects the year ago numbers. Important figures in...
A group of industry leaders today announced an alliance to promote Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld. The DVB-H standard is a method of getting live TV content on mobile phones. The Mobile DTV Alliance is made up of: Intel,...
Symantec has issued an alert over three new trojan horse applications for Symbian powered phones. These will affect Nokia's S60 line of smartphones. The trojans are being called: SymbOS.Bootton.E, SymbOS.Pbstealer.D and SymbOS.Sendtool.A. To be affected you will have to...
Burger King has teamed up with Sprint Nextel to stream an extended version of its big Super Bowl ad to Sprint PCS subscribers. In addition to airing on mobile phones, Burger King will make it available to iPod owners...
Jan 19 2006 - 04:08 PM ET | Backpage
Wirefly, one of the largest online mobile phone dealers, announced the most popular phone trends of 2005. The announcement also includes a list of predictions for what will be hot in 2006. Hot in 2005 Motorola RAZR, smartphones, 3G,...
Sprint Nextel announced the results to its 2005 consumer wireless usage study. A national sample was used and the results should be fairly accurate across all carriers. Interesting findings include: Half of camera phone owners use the camera (15%...
Several companies have submitted bids to equip New York City's subway system for mobile phone communication. The project went up for bids back in August of last year. Having the subway system wired will not provide significantly more revenue...
Jan 18 2006 - 03:22 PM ET | Backpage
Opera Software today announced the immediate availability of Opera 8.5 beta for Windows Mobile. Opera 8.5 Pocket PC is based on the same core that the desktop version works off of. The Symbian based version of Opera is widely...
Jan 17 2006 - 01:22 PM ET | Backpage, SMS
Gannett today announced a minority investment in 4INFO, a mobile search company that we profiled last year. Gannett is the largest newspaper group in the US with a combined daily circulation of 7.6 million. Thanks to the investment, 4INFO...
Jan 12 2006 - 03:26 PM ET | Backpage
Google today launched a mobile version of its homepage personalization feature. For quite some time desktop users could customize the Google homepage to make it more of a portal (like Yahoo) than just a search box. As of today...
Mobile Satellite Ventures announced that it has signed a contract with Boeing for three satellites that will be used for American mobile communication. MSV aims to provide nationwide voice and data coverage starting sometimes after the satellites are launched...
CBS is working on a new TV series that will be broadcast exclusively on mobile phones. The so called 'mobisoap' will feature new episodes seven days a week and they will range between three and five minutes each. No...
Research and Motion and Google today announced that Google Talk and Google Local will be supported through the BlackBerry Wireless platform. "As mobile technology continues to converge, consumers are becoming increasingly more connected and require access to information at...
Nokia and Kyocera this week announced a resolution to a patent infringement spat. Both companies alledged the other infringed on patents related to mobile handsets. A cross licensing deal was made and all legal actions between the two companies...
Several MobileTracker readers wrote in yesterday to ask about the Motorola ROKR E1's status with Cingular. Apparently it was pulled from Cingular's website, which could have meant it was discontinued or simply sold out. A Cingular spokesperson has confirmed...
UPDATE: The HP iPAQ hw6900 has been officially announced at 3GSM 2006. Details of the HP iPAQ hw6900 have leaked thanks to a report from our friends at Engadget. The Windows Mobile 5.0 powered smartphone hasn't been officially announced (so...
Zingy yesterday announced that its MovieGoer application has gotten location-based services so that users don't have to type out their current location. Instead, the phone recognizes where they are and finds the nearest theaters: Instead of having to manually...
Jan 10 2006 - 10:45 AM ET | Backpage
MobiTV today announced a partnership with Universal Music Group. Under the deal MobiTV will be able to offer music videos from Universal's catalog, which currently number more than 1100. MobiTV will create 4 dedicated music channels to show the...
Virgin Mobile USA renewed its partnership with MTV this week. As part of the deal, Virgin Mobile became the exclusive wireless sponsor of Total Request Live and Direct Effect. The shows will use mobile content such as live in-program...
A new study has linked cell phones and other types of always-on communicatioin to increased family tension. All those, "Can you pick up some more of...?" calls must be adding up. From the study, via Reuters: The study, which followed...
Jan 07 2006 - 07:02 AM ET | Backpage, CES, MVNO
CES 2006 - Amp'd Mobile announced another round of content deals, this time including almost all of the big US broadcasters. The content will range from behind the scenes features to interviews and previews. So far you cannot view full...
Jan 07 2006 - 05:57 AM ET | Backpage, CES
CES 2006 - Google co-founder Larry Page yesterday introduced pay-for-download videos on Google Video. The company introduced a new software application dubbed Google Video Player as part of the launch. While not mentioned in Mr. Page's speech, Google has also...
CES 2006 - Last night at the MOTOMIXER event, Motorla announced a 10-year alliance with photographic juggernaut Kodak. Motorla and Kodak hope to make geting photos off of camera phones an easier process. Under the alliance, Motorola and Kodak plan...
CES 2006 - Flash memory giant SanDisk today announced two new high capacity cards for mobile phones. The launch goes in tandem with Verizon Wireless' release of V Cast Music. Verizon's music service depends on phones that use the two...
Jan 06 2006 - 03:36 AM ET | Backpage, CES, Data
CES 2006 - Yahoo is expanding its mobile offerings with the introduction of Yahoo Go Mobile. This news comes a day after Google and Motorola announced a partnership. Yahoo Go Mobile allows anyone with a Yahoo account to get content...
Jan 05 2006 - 02:47 PM ET | Backpage, CES, Data
CES 2006 - We caught up with a neat still in pre-launch mode company called scanR last night. They specialize in making camera phones work for business users. Until now about all a camera phone could be used for in...
CES 2006 - Nokia has introduced the 6102i and 6103, updates to the 6101 and Nokia 6102. The new phones are indentical with the addition of Bluetooth. Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile USA both carry the model and it has outsold...
CES 2006 - Sony Ericsson debuted two new accessories for its Walkman branded phones (including the freshly announced W810i). Both make it easy for you to listen to music from your phone without headphones, they just vary in portability and...
Jan 04 2006 - 02:01 PM ET | Backpage, CES
CES 2006 - Adobe announced a significant update to its mobile version of Flash. Flash Lite 2 is being targeted to carriers looking to customize the UI of their phones. In addition to the actual mobile player update, Adobe also...
CES 2006 - Joining Motorola in announcing Bluetooth accessories, Nokia has debuted three new wireless headsets. Noted in the press release was that Nokia believes 2006 will be a great year for Bluetooth equipped phones, increasing to 220 million...
CES 2006 - MobiTV today introduced a major new version of its streaming TV service, dubbed MobiTV2. The upgraded service is available now to customers using Sprint PCS and Cingular. For those unfamiliar, MobiTV streams live television to mobile...
Jan 04 2006 - 10:41 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, CES
CES 2006 - Laptop maker Lenovo will build support for Cingular's 3G network technology into an upcoming laptop model. This saves users from the expense of getting a card and also keeps the PC card slot free. Several companies...
CES 2006 - As part of a mass launch of Bluetooth accessories, Motorola today showed off the H5 MINIBLUE Bluetooth headest. Interestingly enough, the microphone on the MINIBLUE is located in your ear and picks up your voice through your...
CES 2006 - Motorola today announced a wireless QWERTY keyboard that hooks in with many existing Motorola handsets to aide text messaging. The Motorola TXTR (model D7) uses Bluetooth to hook into phones and has a screen so you don't...
Motorola and Oakley continued their partnership (remember the RAZRWIRE?) by announcing O ROKR eyewear. These sunglasses sport stereo headphones designed to be used with the ROKR E2. Besides listening to tunes, the O ROKR can also make calls because...
CES 2006 - Logitech announced two new stereo headsets for mobile phones. Both use Bluetooth and are meant to be used with music phones. The Logitech Mobile Stereo Headset HS 200 and 210 both sport 40 mm full-range neodymium...
Cornice announced new hard drives at 8 and 10GB targeted at mobile devices. Samsung uses Cornice's old model for the i300 which sports a 3GB hard drive. Not only can the drives store more, but they are actually physically...
The FCC recently posted approval documents (ID A3LSPHA960) for another unannounced phone, the Samsung A960. It's a clamshell handset that sports (among other features) EV-DO 3G data. Some other highlights include: Bluetooth OLED external display Camera with lens cover...
RadioShack today announced that Cingular Wireless handsets are now available at more than 5,000 RadioShack stores nationwide. The Cingular handsets replace RadioShack's previous Verizon Wireless phones. The deal was announced back in August but has just now completed. Wireless...
Dec 30 2005 - 04:05 PM ET | Backpage, SMS
While South Korea is using SMS to send court indictments, pimps in India are using text messages to get new business. According to IndiaDaily: The pimps send random SMSes to corporate salary account holders of leading private banks, offering...
Dec 30 2005 - 03:59 PM ET | 3G, Backpage
The US government will host another wireless spectrum auction. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced it will be cheaper than first thought to move the government out of 1710-1755 MHz. The total cost is expected to come in...
Dec 29 2005 - 08:14 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Opera Software today announced that Google will be the default search engine for both of its mobile web browser products. This includes the widely acclaimed Opera Mobile and the new (not yet widely available) Opera Mini. The one-year deal...
Dec 29 2005 - 02:58 PM ET | Backpage
China will require mobile phone buyers to register with the government starting in 2006. The move is an attempt to cut down crimes being perpetrated with anonymous phones. Vice Minister of Information Industry Xi Guohua said earlier that according...
Dec 28 2005 - 04:05 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
According to The Wall Stree Journal noted [sub required], InterDigital will receive $250 million from Nokia after a US federal judge backed up a prior arbitration award. The original dispute was over royalties that Nokia allegedly did not pay to...
Dec 28 2005 - 01:06 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
CompUSA announced a partnership with Nokia today that will result in a Nokia Experience section in all of CompUSA's stores. Already about 200 stores have the section, with the rest (about 40) getting it in the first quarter of 2006....
A chinese language website posted details about a new Windows Mobile smartphone said to be in the works from Lenovo. The Chinese owned Lenovo is most well known for purchasing the ThinkPad series of notebooks from PC stalwart IBM. The...
The Samsung SGH-i858 has shown up on the FCC's approval site [FCC ID A3LSGHI858]. It's a feature-packed slide style phone that probably won't make it to America, but with the FCC approval it's possible. 900/1800/1900 GSM with EDGE 2 megapixel...
Dec 26 2005 - 11:15 AM ET | Backpage, SMS
In another sign that SMS is becoming the preferred method of communication in many parts of the world, South Korea announced that indicted will soon be served via text messages. According to Reuters the service will be opt-in, but it...
Dec 22 2005 - 01:22 PM ET | Backpage, Camera
Ithica College is hosting a film festival for movies shot entirely with a mobile phone. The entries must be under 30 seconds long, which will likely be much more limiting than having to shoot it on a phone. Dean...
SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog game is now available through Verizon Wireless the two companies announced today. Verizon Wireless is the first US carrier to pick up the game. The classic game first debuted 15 years ago with the SEGA Genesis...
Virgin Mobile USA today announced a new contest that will allow one lucky winner and three friends to live a life of luxury for a week on a Necker Island. Virgin's founder Richard Branson purchased Necker (part of the British...
Sprint Nextel today received approval from the Federal Trade Commission for the proposed buyout of Alamosa Holdings. The $4.3 billion deal will close in the first quarter of next year. Alamosa is a Sprint PCS affiliate serving 1.5 million customers...
Dec 19 2005 - 02:15 PM ET | Backpage
Insight Research expects worldwide wireless telecommunications revenue to reach $600 billion in 2006. Total telecom revenue is about double that figure, with wireless becoming a higher percentage every year. The report also notes that 1.8 billion mobile phone subscribers are...
The New Yorker takes on the legal battle between NTP and Research In Motion (maker of the BlackBerry). We've covered this case many times in the past, but this article focuses on what started it all--the US Patent Office pushing...
Dec 19 2005 - 12:22 PM ET | Backpage
Movie theater owners want the ability to jam cell phones according to a report from Retuers. The technology has been around for some time, but is currently illegal. There are safety and liability concerns (possible communications gap during a crisis,...
Dec 16 2005 - 03:43 PM ET | Backpage
A federal appeals court has stayed an injunction against Boston Communications Group Inc. and Cingular Wireless, allowing the two companies to continue TDMA pre-paid service. Freedom Wireless recently won a lawsuit regarding patent infringement for pre-paid wireless service that used...
Sprint Nextel today announced a deal to buy affiliate Enterprise Communications, a Sprint PCS affiliate that serves 52,000 customers in Alabama and Georgia. The sale is valued at $98 million, including assumption of debt. Sprint noted the buyout should close...
In what's becoming almost routine, the US Patent Office has ruled once again that a patent held by NTP isn't valid. This is the second review of the patent and the verdict has been the same both times. However, NTP...
Sprint Nextel has agreed to buy Velocita Wireless. Velocita provides service to 400,000 business and governmental customers. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. After completion of the transaction, Sprint Nextel will utilize a portion of Velocita's spectrum assets...
