Motorola’s free-fall in the mobile phone space it once dominated continued in the most recent quarter: The company’s wireless revenues fell 46 percent to $1.7 billion during the period as its market share eroded to a mere 4.7 percent. And while Motorola managed to … Read More »
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Colin Gibbs
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Motorola’s Droid, the first handset running Android 2.0, was unveiled by Verizon Wireless at a press event at the W Hotel in New York this morning. The phone, which will be available Nov. 6 for $199 with a two-year contract and after a $100 rebate, … Read More »
Google is expanding its mobile navigation offerings with a free, GPS-enabled offering for Android 2.0 users, a service that promises to compete with the navigation apps already provided by carriers. The Internet search company held a press event on its campus yesterday to announce … Read More »
The Android buzz ramped up another notch this week with Google’s release of the SDK for Android 2.0, dubbed Eclair. Among other things, the new OS offers a combined inbox for multiple email accounts, a virtual keyboard with an improved layout and word completion, … Read More »
Opera again showcased the growth of the mobile web with today’s installment of its monthly report of Opera Mini usage, but in a world where web-friendly smartphones are gaining traction its data may be getting stale. While there’s no doubt that Opera Mini has amassed … Read More »
T-Mobile USA has seen its growth stall and its ARPU slide in recent months as cut-rate discount service providers poach budget-conscious customers, and as AT&T and Verizon Wireless target high-end users. So the nation’s fourth-largest carrier is taking aim at both segments at we enter … Read More »
Qualcomm has joined its rival Intel in jumping aboard the open source bandwagon. The San Diego-based chipmaker today unveiled the Qualcomm Innovation Center, a subsidiary created to “optimize open source software with Qualcomm technology.” The QuIC, as Qualcomm has dubbed it, will be … Read More »
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Verizon Communications this morning said its third-quarter net income fell by 10 percent from last year as its fixed-line phone business continued to shrivel, offsetting gains by the company’s mobile and FiOS businesses. Verizon Wireless, the company’s joint venture with Vodafone Group, added 1.2 million … Read More »
All the recent buzz about mobile in the enterprise is justified, according to new figures from Informa. The market research firm predicts the number of enterprise subscribers will grow steadily over the next several years to account for 11.7 percent of total mobile subscribers — … Read More »
Palm’s App Catalog took another step toward maturity as the company opened an online version of the store, allowing consumers (and, just as importantly, potential users) to browse through webOS offerings on PCs in addition to their handsets. While the move was entirely expected, it … Read More »
Prepaid mobile service providers in the U.S. that are watching their margins get whittled away by brutal price wars should look across the pond to O2. The UK operator today released some impressive stats regarding Top-Up Surprises, a year-old mobile ad platform that rewards users … Read More »
If you’re launching an API or technically focused service, Cloudvox executives have some advice: Make sure you support Apple’s OS X. Cloudvox, which was built by startup Seven Scale, enables developers to bridge web applications with phone services. The company released its phone API platform … Read More »
Updated: Spring Design entered the e-book market today with “Alex,” a dual-screen device running Android and boasting a full-blown mobile web browser. But is this the gadget Barnes & Noble is expected to trot out tomorrow? As outlined by James over at jkOnTheRun, Alex rocks … Read More »
Disappointment in the user experience on the mobile web is ramping up nearly as quickly as traffic itself, according to an Equation Research study that will be released Monday. The survey — which was commissioned by Gomez, a developer of software for Internet publishers and … Read More »
Like a hard-luck gambler who can’t walk away from the table, Sony Ericsson is once again raising the stakes despite holding an ugly hand. The joint venture said it has secured $676 million in new funding — primarily from parent companies Sony and Ericsson —
Shares of Nokia plummeted after the world’s largest handset maker posted a brutal quarter and a loss of $832 million. And while the company raised its industry outlook for the rest of the year, its dissolving presence in the U.S. is particularly worrisome. And there’s … Read More »
The cutthroat prepaid market will get even more competitive this weekend when Wal-Mart begins offering no-contract plans at bargain-basement rates. The planet’s largest retailer said it will roll out TracFone Wireless’ Straight Talk, which offers a $30-a-month plan as well as a $45 monthly rate … Read More »
There’s no question that the recession has taken a serious toll on the mobile industry: Overall handset sales have declined, global growth is slowing and the low-margin prepaid segment is fueling much of whatever growth there is. But there are plenty signs … Read More »
In a move that could have a major impact on the lives of Cubans, a small Miami-based firm is hoping to give the isolated island nation its first-ever fiber optic connection to the rest of the world. TeleCuba Communications Inc. said the U.S. government … Read More »
Google’s dominance on the Internet is unquestioned, but its mobile search offering will have to address four major factors if it is to dominate wireless the way it rules the online world. There’s no denying Google’s momentum in mobile: Its Android operating system is attracting handset … Read More »
The automotive industry is fertile soil for the kind of apps that have revolutionized the mobile space over the last year, according to a report released today from iSuppli. The appeal of in-car applications is easy to see. Drivers could use such offerings for navigation … Read More »
Personal navigation device (PND) sales will grow “at an anemic rate” over the next five years before giving way to GPS-enabled phones, according to an In-Stat report published today. The total semiconductor market for PNDs will surpass $1 billion next year before beginning to decline, … Read More »
Clearwire is locked into WiMAX — and barred from deploying LTE — until late 2011 under terms of a deal with its biggest investor, Intel. The pact, which was outlined in Clearwire’s most recent 10-Q filing with the SEC and first reported by Unstrung, … Read More »
If your desk drawer — or, more appropriately, your purse — is overflowing with wireless gadgets, you aren’t alone: North American consumers are increasingly owning multiple devices and spreading their mobile budgets across them, according to new figures from Wireless Intelligence, and U.S. women are … Read More »
U.S. mobile data revenues surpassed $19.4 billion in the first half of 2009, a 31 percent increase over the year-ago period, and data accounted for more than 25 percent of all wireless service revenues, according to the CTIA’s semi-annual industry survey. The report, which was … Read More »
Google’s Android operating system is set for iPhone-trajectory sales over the next few years, Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said in a report yesterday from Computerworld, and will be the second-ranking smartphone OS globally by 2012. Gartner predicts Android’s share of the smartphone market will grow … Read More »
Verizon Wireless’s tie-up with Android was headline news yesterday — and for good reason (GigaOM Pro, sub. required) — but lost in all the hype was the company’s fusillade of press releases outlining its developer outreach initiative. In an obvious effort to attract the … Read More »
Nearly lost in all the hubbub about the Android/Verizon tie-up today is the news that Microsoft has launched Windows Marketplace for Mobile. But as the superphone phenomenon gets legs, has Microsoft’s opportunity to regain relevance already passed? Take a quick survey of the smartphone … Read More »
A half-dozen venture capital firms will invest as much as $1.3 billion into Long Term Evolution, or LTE, development under a new initiative spearheaded by Verizon Wireless. The 4G Venture Forum, as the group is dubbed, includes Alcatel-Lucent Ventures, Charles River Partners, New Venture Partners, North … Read More »
Adobe today unveiled a new version of Flash in an effort to expand support for the popular technology beyond the traditional Internet to mobile phones, netbooks, set-top boxes and other connected consumer devices. Flash Player 10.1 will run on platforms including Google’s Android, Research In … Read More »
Augmented reality has been around for years (remember that annoying blue flash that accompanied the puck on NHL broadcasts?), but the space has become white-hot in the last few months as developers begin to harness today’s technology to marry the real world with the virtual … Read More »
The iPhone still rules when it comes to traffic on the wireless web, according to the latest figures from AdMob, but Google’s Android and Palm’s webOS are picking up steam. The San Mateo, Calif.-based mobile ad company today said the iPhone (not including the iPod … Read More »
Bring a magnifying glass if you’re looking for surprises in a new study from CFI Group. The market research firm has just released the findings of a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. smartphone users that holds true to form: iPhone users love their … Read More »
U.S. broadband policy must take into account real network speeds, which lag advertised speeds by as much as 50-80 at least 50 percent, according to the FCC task force charged with helping to develop a national broadband plan. But just how policy should address the … Read More »
Updated with comment from Google: A group of Android developers has splintered off and created its own community in the wake of last week’s dust-up between Google and Steve Kondik. The developer, who’s known as Cyanogen, drew the Internet giant’s attention by offering a free, … Read More »
Research In Motion shares took a beating on Friday and several analysts cut their ratings on the stock after the company posted disappointing sales for its fiscal second quarter and ratcheted down expectations for the current one. But while increasing competition and ever-dwindling … Read More »
AT&T is continuing to move into the connected-devices space with the new TomTom XL 340S LIVE, but the gadget’s $300 price tag — and $10-a-month service — will likely prevent it from gaining much traction. There’s a lot to like about the GPS-enabled navigation device: … Read More »
Cloud computing is one of the hottest topics in mobile — even if many in the space are confused about just what defines the cloud. And as the use of mobile cloud services ramps up, network operators and others in the wireless space will … Read More »
Google has reportedly filed a cease-and-desist order against one of the Android platform’s most prolific developers. The developer, Steve Kondik, who’s known as Cyanogen, offers a free, after-market firmware product that bundles closed-source Google apps such as Gmail, Market, Talk and YouTube. CyanogenMod, as … Read More »
The developer race for Google’s $250,000 grand prize is on again. Judging began today in the second Android Developer Challenge, which will see the first-place developer pocket the quarter million-dollar award. Users can download submitted apps through the Android Market and score offerings based on … Read More »
Vodafone is hoping to hold onto customers with an ambitious new mobile web service that includes a cloud-based address book, full-track music downloads, app store and integration with social communities such as Facebook and Twitter. Vodafone 360 — which sounds strikingly similar to Nokia’s … Read More »
The mobile phone shopping experience is plagued with uninformed retail staffers and intolerably long wait times at the sales counter, according to new figures from Amdocs. The St. Louis-based provider of software and services to the communications industry found that while 60 percent of respondents … Read More »
Scandinavian developers Flander and Ardites are merging with Symbio Group to create a global player in the outsourced product development space in a deal announced late tonight. Symbio, which has headquarters in Beijing and Silicon Valley, provides outsourced product development (OPD) services to clients … Read More »
Verizon Wireless, nearly two years after saying it would offer its network to “any apps, any device,” is moving toward openness with all the haste of a 12-year-old headed to the dentist. The company said today it’s certified fewer than five dozen devices for … Read More »
The FCC defended today its right to censure Comcast for blocking P2P files on its cable network, arguing in a court filing that it has general jurisdiction over all interstate communications by radio and wire — including the company’s cable modem service. The claim came … Read More »
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