Content providers will soon pay mobile carriers to exempt their traffic from consumers’ mobile data plans, says AT&T’s Randall Stephenson. That may seem like a good deal for consumers but in the long-term it’s actually a raw deal. Read more »
ESPN is reportedly in negotiations with Verizon to exempt its content from the carrier’s data caps. Such a deal would set a precedence for a very different mobile internet than the one we know today. Read more »
It may be a contrary opinion, but I think Facebook should build its own phone — not a smartphone, but a cheap feature phone. I wouldn’t buy it. You wouldn’t buy it. But millions of people would. Here’s why. Read more »
The “mobile first” philosophy is under way today. That means a new generation of mobile-centric data centers will arise over the next three years, with chips, servers, and power architectures customized for mobile workloads. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The wireless industry has been racing to keep up with consumers’ ever-increasing reliance on mobile technologies. Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, argues that it’s now time for the government to respond with the same sense of urgency. Read more »
For the first time, the U.S. will surpass Japan as the world’s biggest market for mobile advertising, according to research firm eMarketer. In 2012, advertisers are expected to spend more than $6.43 billion globally in 2012, with the U.S. contributing $2.3 billion. Read more »
Twitter wants a taste of the success Facebook is experiencing globally. For that to happen it needs to embed itself in the feature phone, the primary device used in developing markets to access the internet. So Twitter is following in Facebook’s footsteps by partnering with MediaTek. Read more »
T-Mobile USA has a well-deserved reputation for having the hungriest smartphone users in mobile, but now it’s offering proof. The typical smartphone user on its network consumes an impressive 760 MB per month. For HSPA+ 42 smartphones that number increases to an astonishing 1.3 GB. Read more »
As mobile app usage explodes, wireless equipment vendors have been forced to not only keep pace to with radio technologies scale the Internet infrastructure behind them. Cisco has built a new mobile core to handle the enormous data loads the smartphone has heaped onto wireless networks. Read more »
Pizzerias love the mobile Web. Why? There’s a feature embedded in many of their sites called click-to-call that allows a hungry mobile surfer to initiate a phone order directly from the Webpage. An astonishing 35 percent of site visits result in a click-to-call order. Read more »
If you’re like many of us, you’re already thinking over some New Year’s resolutions that will make you a better “you” in 2012. But how are the tech industries’ thought leaders approaching the new year? We asked 12 of them for their resolutions. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Toronto-based Polar Mobile, which provides a digital media distribution platform powering the apps of some of the biggest media companies in the world, including Conde Nast, Sports Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal, announced a new $6 million funding round on Monday. Read more »
On Sunday, AT&T is reconfiguring its mobile data plans in a way that will anger many customers but may actually please others. It’s raising its smartphone and tablet data plan rates, while simultaneously offering customers a better deal on the data they do consume. Read more »
The number of mobile subscribers is growing steadily across the globe, but each continent tells a different story about 3G and 4G penetration, market saturation and the rate of future growth. This report looks at the global mobile landscape over the next five years, forecasting the number of subscribers and the penetration of 3G and 4G services by both continent and country. In particular we look at new markets such as China and India, possibilities in developing countries in Africa and the Middle East, and saturation in the first world. Companies mentioned in this report include HTC, Motorola and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
f people are buying through online retail sites on mobile, they’re most likely doing so on Apple devices, according to a new report. iPads and iPhones accounted for over 92 percent of online retail not originating from a desktop device in December, according to the study. Read more »
The Federal Communications Commission’s controversial net neutrality rules have been officially filed with the Federal Register and will go into effect Nov. 20. But it’s expected to prompt new legal challenges from carriers who question the FCC’s legal authority to implement the rules. Read more »
It’s going to be a mobile Internet world and we’ll just live in it. That’s the conclusion of IDC,which is forecasting that mobile Internet users will grow by an annual compound growth rate of 16.6 percent through 2015, when they will pass wireline PC users. Read more »
If recent news from Twitter, Pandora, Google and Amazon is any indication, it seems that a set of technologies collectively known as HTML5 are finally starting to gain a lot of momentum, and to me, that’s a good thing — especially for the mainstream users. Read more »
For one-quarter of smartphone users, their device is the primary way they access the Internet, according to new data. It’s a sign of the growing dependence on smartphones and also shows that for a sizable chunk of users, it’s out of necessity. Read more »
There are countless mobile sites and apps designed to help users spend their money this holiday season. To help save you time, we’ve rounded up some of the more notable ones. Read more »
