• LiveWire Mobile’s first-quarter revenues declined 27 percent from the first quarter of 2008, but revenues increased 6 percent from the fourth quarter. Net loss for the first quarter of 2009 was $2.9 million compared to a net loss of $6.2 million a year ago. The company plans to reduce headcount, mainly in India.
• Nuance Communications recognized GAAP net income of $7.1 million in the quarter ended March 31 compared with a GAAP net loss of $26.8 million in the same quarter a year ago.
• Alcatel-Lucent announced its Broadband for All program in the United States, which provides advisory services to help telecom companies, municipalities and developers apply for broadband stimulus funds as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act (ARRA) of 2009.
• Sprint Nextel named Robert Johnson president of its CDMA business unit. Johnson, a senior marketing, sales and customer service executive formerly with AT&T Wireless, will join the company on May 20. Sprint’s CDMA business unit encompasses Sprint’s postpaid consumer marketing and sales, including acquisition, growth and base marketing programs, as well as the more than 11,000 retail sales touchpoints. Keith Cowan, currently interim president of Sprint’s CDMA business unit, will continue as president, Strategy and Corporate Development, leading Sprint’s overall strategic planning.
• Columbitech announced its mobile VPN successfully achieved validation as an AT&T Certified Enterprise Solution.
• Phonevalley says Kraft Foods has expanded its consumer engagement on mobile devices by launching a mobile Internet site (m.kraftfoods.com) to offer existing Kraftfoods.com and new members access to Kraft’s recipes. The Phonevalley-created site extends Kraft Foods’ reach to any mobile phone with an Internet connection.
• FunMobility announced the launch of Ringtone Recorder Pro, a premium version of the Ringtone Recorder application, which is currently a free Top 20 application in the iTunes Store. Ringtone Recorder Pro lets users record and share original ringtones for themselves or friends.
• NetMotion Wireless, provider of mobile productivity and management software, says Diamond Management & Technology Consultants has deployed NetMotion’s newest version of its Mobile Virtual Private Network software, Mobility XE.
• Tessera Technologies has named Robert Yung as its new chief technology officer. Yung joins Tessera from PMC Sierra.
• WeFi is launching a version of its free software on the Android system.
• IBM is extending Alloy to the BlackBerry platform, enabling mobile access to reports and a variety of management approvals.
• 3i Consulting announced the availability of the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal specifically designed for the SAP ERP and BlackBerry platform. The solution, powered by 3i's Mobile Workplace platform, provides access to common ESS functionality such as SAP Workflow tasks, creation and updating of employee banking, address and benefits information as well as time sheet entry and creation of leave requests.