The new Xbox Live update launching tomorrow is the start of a rollout of lots of new content partners on the platform. But the big innovation will be allowing them to be navigated from a unified search mechanism powered by Microsoft’s Bing. Read more »
There is no question that we love our mobile devices. There’s also no question that we are paranoid about how much of ourselves we pour into… Read more at paidContent »
A big move for Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) today, and something of a seismic shift for the cable industry as it moves away from its fixation… Read more at paidContent »
The spectrum deal that Verizon signed to buy the unused airwaves from the nation’s top cable providers signals the moment that the consumer benefits of the convergence of voice, video and data hit the wall. It’s a deal that’s great for Verizon and bad for consumers. Read more »
With AT&T’s proposed deal to purchase T-Mobile now effectively dead, consumers have won, right? Yes and no. There’s much cause for consumer rejoicing, but the U.S. is still pro-carrier because we can’t easily use our phones on different networks. We really don’t have true carrier competition. Read more »
Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks are selling off the spectrum remnants of their stillborn wireless venture, SpectrumCo, to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion. The deal allows Verizon to double up on its LTE network, while creating a new alliance between Verizon and cable. Read more »
We’ve seen some significant strides for LTE in the past year — with some big names like Verizon and AT&T (NYSE: T) getting behind the fast… Read more at paidContent »
Apple admitted on Thursday it has used and supported in the past CarrierIQ software, but it says it hasn’t used it for tracking keystrokes or messages. The company says it stopped supporting this software “in most” of its products with iOS 5. Read more »
Several days into the Carrier IQ story — which raised privacy concerns around software that claims to be an innocent diagnostics tool — an… Read more at paidContent »
Verizon Wireless, the country’s largest mobile operator and Android device seller, does not install Carrier IQ’s keystroke-sniffing software in any of its phones and doesn’t use the now-controversial company’s data in way, company officials said. Now we wait for the other operators to sound off. Read more »
Eighteen of the largest cable and telecom companies added about 635,000 net new subscribers during the third quarter of 2011, with a majority of the subscribers – 83 percent or 525,000 – coming from cable companies. This brings the total for the US to about 77.8 million subscribers. Read more »
We can stop wondering if Clearwire will default on its loan payment. Sprint has stepped up with a plan to spend $1.6 billion over the next four years that will help Clearwire stay solvent, and Clearwire said it would make its $237 million debt payment. Read more »
The FCC’s plan to take the funding program that provides telephone service to rural areas and upgrade it for the 21st century will soon become law, as universal service fund reform hits the Federal Register. Here’s what the plan means for consumers, telcos and innovation. Read more »
Verizon is taking a big step toward making its FiOS TV service available through connected devices, with the launch of a new app for Microsoft’s Xbox Live next month. But the new app will be missing a lot of the most popular networks and shows. Read more »
AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile seems all but dead. If the deal falls through mobile operators stand to gain or lose depending on which of side of the battle lines the stand. The biggest losers, however, aren’t necessarily AT&T and T-Mobile. Read more »
T-Mobile claims its new 42-Mbps HSPA+ can rival LTE. In the industry’s first apples to apples-to-apples comparison, RootMetrics put T-Mo’s claims to the test in multiple markets. The conclusion: T-Mobile’s network is fast but its still can’t match the raw speeds of Verizon’s LTE. Read more »
Following the FCC’s decision to send the $39-billion proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA to an administrative hearing, AT&T has withdrawn its application to combine its spectrum with T-Mobile’s from the regulatory agency. Additionally, it said it will take a $4 billion charge against earnings. Read more »
Verizon dodged a bullet on Tuesday when the FCC denounced AT&T-Mo. No conditional approval means no new regulations to haunt Verizon’s own consolidation plans in the future. Now Verizon needs its archival AT&T to throw in the towel before it can do any more damage. Read more »
The momentum right now in cleantech is as much about connectivity and how it can drive energy efficiency as it is about advancing sources of renewable energy. And as the web and mobile connectivity change our consumer experiences, the opportunities to redefine cleantech are rich, and they are already happening. This research note examines the cleantech space in that context and analyzes the car-sharing, home-energy-management and smart-grid sectors and their relevant companies to see how connectivity will play into their future endeavors. Companies mentioned in this report include RelayRides, Opower, Silver Spring Networks and Nest. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As you sit down to your sustainably raised turkey dinner this year, it’s a good time to think about the things that have gone well for greentech in 2011. Yes, there have been clouds for the industry, but there have been quite a few milestones, too. Read more »
According to an extensive comparative study of iPhone 4S performance across all three major U.S. carriers, AT&T offers by far the best data performance on paper, and also performs nearly as good or better than both Sprint and Verizon in terms of call quality and reliability. Read more »
Data center operator Telx will break ground soon on a 215,000-square-foot data center next to an existing facility in Clifton, N.J. The network-rich Clifton Cloud Connection Center will target customers that want to build hybrid cloud computing solutions. Read more »
Near-field communications (NFC) is far from being a standard in mobile payments, but the wave-and-pay technology may have gotten its biggest… Read more at paidContent »
Next Issue Media, the digitized magazine and newspaper newsstand, has added several more titles from company backers Hearst and Time Inc. (N… Read more at paidContent »
AT&T isn’t seeing its network subscribers jumping the fence for greener pastures in the wake of rivals Sprint and Verizon getting the Apple iPhone, an AT&T executive said in an interview with MarketWatch on Wednesday. Instead, it hasn’t seen subscriber loss rates change at all. Read more »
When it comes to the promise of data as the currency of the web, the current state of affairs has privacy advocates and many consumers up in arms. But it doesn’t have to be the one-sided affair it is today, in which companies have all the data and all the rights, and we shouldn’t have to be afraid of who’s doing what with our information. With laws, products, practices and education, data can become a far more valuable currency than cash ever was. Keeping that in mind, this research note examines five issues that must be addressed by policy makers and entrepreneurs so that they can deliver on our data-driven digital future. Companies mentioned in this report include Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The addition of Charlotte; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Oklahoma City and San Juan, Puerto Rico bring AT&T’s LTE city count to 15 — meeting its 2011 target. But feeling pressure from Verizon’s ever-growing competing network, AT&T may opt to overshoot its goal. Read more »
In the net neutrality debate, Internet Service Providers talk about charging content providers for prioritization so they can invest in improving infrastructure. But placing a price on prioritizing content creates an inherent disincentive to expand. Professors Hsing Cheng, Shubho Bandyopadhyay and Hong Guo elaborate. Read more »
The usual third-quarter subscriber boom failed to happen as operators had no new iPhone to lure in new customers. But UBS predicts that the fourth quarter will more than make up for any slumps, as it combines the traditional holiday surge with a delayed new-iPhone bump. Read more »
Coincidence or design? Today came not one but two developments on the state of unlocked iPhone 4S devices: Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) will start to… Read more at paidContent »
The US Senate this afternoon voted against a law to repeal new FCC rules that forbid internet service providers from favoring certain websit… Read more at paidContent »
Britain’s broadband market used to be widely lauded for its combination of high speeds and low prices, something achieved through a mixture of strong competition and careful regulation. But as the gigabit revolution has taken hold elsewhere, the U.K. has been left trailing its counterparts in […] Read more »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
China Telecom is moving ahead with plans to pursue an MVNO service in the U.S. starting next year. A China Telecom executive said the branded cellular service will start early next year and will target tourists and travelers who fly between China and the U.S. frequently. Read more »
The iPhone 4S launched on three U.S. carriers simultaneously for the first time ever, but AT&T still takes home the gold in terms of the choices made by 4S customers when it comes to mobile networks, according to a new study by app analytics firm Localytics to be released Thursday. Read more »
The economics of providing mobile data don’t work, and as proof we only have to look at the death of the unlimited plan. Today only 13.5 percent of operators offer a “true” unlimited plan, while 25 percent offer an unlimited plan in name only. Read more »
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Orange have long been rivals in mobile phone markets in Europe, but as growth slows down in the region, the two are… Read more at paidContent »
Verizon is tops with 63 percent of the world’s current LTE subscriber base, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. But the U.S. carrier isn’t resting on its laurels. It now offers a promotion that doubles the monthly amount of LTE data for smartphones at no extra charge. Read more »
What will be the most-used medium for consuming mobile content in the future: the web or apps? It’s a question that gets hotly debated, and… Read more at paidContent »
TeliaSonera, a Scandinavian-based telephone company, has conducted a trial for an optical network that saw a terabit speed optical transmission based on 500 gigabit per second super channels. The trial used Infinera gear and was conducted between Los Angeles and San Jose, Calif. Read more »
