Smartphones can enable an amazing level of connectivity, but they can also allow that activity to be monitored and used in controversial ways. But for mobile marketing to realize its full potential, consumers may need to sacrifice their privacy to one degree or another. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Smartphone sales surged both in the U.S. and worldwide, carriers struggled to cope with the ever-increasing consumption of mobile data, and the fight for spectrum remained front and center in the first quarter. Our latest quarterly wrap-up analyzes these trends and more. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google has filed applications for a satellite farm and a video franchise license, suggesting it’s serious about rolling out pay TV services in its fiber-to-the-home markets. But what’s that mean for the future of TV, as Google attacks that market? Read more »
Both houses of Congress have reached a compromise a few wireless spectrum issues that had the potential to put the kibosh on innovation and competition when it came to both mobile broadband and more unlicensed spectrum. Read more »
FreedomPop plans to give away mobile data access to most of its customers for free, charging only premium users a monthly fee. If can it can make the math work, it could potentially shake up the wireless market, extending mobile data to broad swathes of the population. Read more »
Is AT&T failing to keep its story straight about the need for more spectrum, or is it just that the popping of the spectrum bubble has taken them by surprise as well? The nation’s second largest operator now sees a data drizzle rather than deluge. Read more »
The FCC is trying to get rural Americans online, and to help, later this year carriers can apply for part of a $300 million fund to bring wireless broadband to the heartlands. Only it’s not the heartlands, as the nifty interactive map shows. Read more »
Boxee isn’t just marketing its live TV tuner as an alternative to cable; it is also fighting with cable companies about having access to their programming. The reason? Cable companies want to encrypt their basic cable tier, which Boxee and other CE makers oppose. Read more »
LightSquared has asked the FCC n to impose future standards on GPS device design, claiming such requirements would allow GPS and its LTE network to co-exist peacefully. While LightSquared would appear to be taking the middle path, the proposal smacks of a political stunt. Read more »
Qualcomm’s wireless technologies already dominate the mobile broadband networks on U.S. land. Now it wants to dominate the skies above it. Qualcomm is petitioning the FCC to clear a huge swathe of spectrum for an airplane broadband network supporting the eye-popping bandwidth of 300 Gbps. Read more »
Google is asking the Federal Communications Commission for permission to test a mysterious Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled “entertainment device,” in employees’ homes in four U.S. cities. So inquiring minds want to know, what exactly is it and is Google trying to build its own devices? Read more »
The Wi-Fi Alliance, the keepers of the Wi-Fi brand, have come out swinging against the characterization of white spaces broadband as Super Wi-Fi. The Alliance issued a press release Friday saying it likes the tech, but the name will lead to “substantial user confusion.” Read more »
The sky is falling again in cellular land, and this time Siri is to blame. At least that’s the assessment form this opinion article in the Washington Post this morning claiming Siri’s piggy ways will destroy our cellular networks. But this assessment is wrong. Read more »
After its failed merger with AT&T, T-Mobile’s break-up fee included some choice 4G spectrum it will use to bulk up its HSPA+ network. In a map submitted by a GigaOM reader, you can see exactly where T-Mobile gains new airwaves and how much. Read more »
Carl Icahn has been quietly buying up LightSquared’s debt a rock bottom prices, which would put the activist investor in position to take over the company in the increasingly likely event of bankruptcy. But would there be anything left of LightSquared to salvage? Read more »
AT&T has raised prices on wireline phone users. Behind the rate hikes isn’t just greed on the part of Ma Bell, but the rapid disintegration of the wireline business as customers abandon ship and providers are stuck maintaining a network for fewer people paying less. Read more »
LightSquared accused the commercial GPS industry of “rigging” government tests on the potential GPS interference problems of its LTE network and called for new rounds of tests from independent labs with no participation from GPS device makers. Read more »
Sending a bit over a wireless network is 200 times more expensive than sending a bit over wireline, which explains some of the high costs and limits of wireless data plans. How can operators drive down these prices so wireless doesn’t lose its luster? Read more »
Sprint has given its partner LightSquared 30 days to get regulators to green-light the launch of its controversial 4G service, but it may not be enough. If Sprint pulls out of the network-sharing deal, LightSquared’s costs multiply, almost certainly killing its rollout plans. Read more »
The past year in mobile has been even more eventful than most of us would have predicted. Our appetite for mobile data grew dramatically; Google’s Android continued its march to worldwide dominance; Amazon joined the tablet bandwagon; and AT&T tried and failed to acquire T-Mobile USA, among many other things. All of that activity lays the groundwork for a very promising — and very challenging — 2012. This research note serves both as a review of the major trends and events of 2011 as well as a forecast for the coming year. Companies mentioned in this report include Millennial Media, Quattro Wireless and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full research note, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The FCC approved Qualcomm’s sale of its 700 MHz spectrum to AT&T. The deal is striking for two reasons; it closes a big chapter in the history of mobile TV and the FCC said it will look at interoperability in LTE bands next year. Read more »
Ignoring the threats by Congress to kill off white spaces, the Federal Communications Commission has approved commercial operations of the first networks and devices to tap into the airwave gaps between TV broadcasts, potentially setting off a new revolution in ‘Super Wi-Fi’ services. Read more »
Verizon Wireless couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to the AT&T-Mo saga. Not only did its archival take a beating but Verizon managed to lock down its spectrum position while AT&T was distracted. But most importantly to Verizon, AT&T backed off before it went over the brink. Read more »
AT&T has thrown in the towel on its acquisition of T-Mobile, which kept the mobile industry stalled through much of 2011 as experts, executives and consumer organizations waited to understand what a deal would mean. Now the industry can return to solving the spectrum question. Read more »
Between the collapse of AT&T’s proposed $39 billion merger with T-Mobile and the death throes of a proposed wholesale 4G network created by a satellite company and now-broke hedge fund, the wireless industry has generated a lot of stories but no real change in the past ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The impact of digital technology has shattered long-established monopolies and ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry. Today, publishers must find ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly, and this report examines a few different approaches, from more flexible paywalls to charging users directly for access and mimicking the business models of other industries, such as online gaming. Companies mentioned in this report include Ford, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When the FCC said it was putting together a report on the future of media, many feared it would recommend subsidies and other breaks for traditional media entities, but the report actually provides very little help for media companies, other than some helpful advice. Read more »
It’s important to dispel potential myths and market misunderstandings when it comes to consumer electronic devices and trends. For 2011, that includes paid video chat, Apple dominating the living room and the misinformed belief that Google will rule the e-book space. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The always-unpredictable mobile space enters 2011 at a particularly dynamic time. Carriers are now bringing 4G networks online, even as their definitions of “4G” vary. Meanwhile, mobile data consumption is exploding and the FCC trying to settle on policies both to regulate the industry and to ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple has gone all-in for streaming as the primary means of getting content onto its devices. That has distinct strategic advantages for Apple, but it’s not without risks, especially for ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Google turns to smart grid applications as the latest effort to win over hearts and minds to the elusive and much-debated white space technology. Will an application like the digital power grid help unlock the massive potential behind the unused TV broadcast ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Not long ago, digital rights management and copy protection seemed to be on their last legs. But DRM is poised to make a major comeback, and copy restrictions could soon be a bigger of TV viewing than ever. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The growing anti-Apple alliance between Google and Adobe is likely to extend beyond mobile devices and apps, however. One collaboration that is surely in the works, even if its not ready to be announced this week, is the integration of Flash into Google’s new Smart TV ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Federal Communications Commission handed the major Hollywood studios a significant victory last week, granting their long-pending petition to allow use of selectable output controls (SOC) on cable and satellite set-top boxes to prevent copying of early-release video-on-demand movies. The studios’ push for the new early ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The FCC is already facing stiff opposition from television broadcasters to a plan to reallocate a modest 500 MHz of spectrum for mobile network operators. So it’s up to network operators and their partners to find ways of handling increasing traffic as mobile data consumption ramps ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
