• The global wireless base station infrastructure market revenues declined by 22.4 percent for the first quarter of 2009 to $9.8 billion compared with the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest report from EJL Wireless Research. ZTE was the only company that did not decline substantially in the first quarter from fourth-quarter levels while Nortel was down 60.6 percent due to the continued uncertainty on the emergence of the company from bankruptcy protection.
• SEVEN announced it is the e-mail provider for Mail Movistar across Telefonica’s customer base — including small office/home office (SOHO), small and medium enterprise (SME), enterprise and, launching today, the consumer segment.
• Sprint Nextel discount line Boost Mobile has launched the Motorola Clutch i465, which is a push-to-talk-capable phone that is also designed for messaging thanks to a full qwerty keyboard. The phone is available with Boost’s $50, all-you-can-eat service plan.
• Cox Communications will use Starent Networks Corp.’s core networking solutions for the buildout of its 3G wireless network. The cable company will use Huawei equipment to roll out its CDMA EV-DO 3G network and eventually plans to migrate its network to LTE. Cox has been ramping up its vendor announcements in advance of the rollout and announced last week it would deploy Bridgewater Systems’ service controller.
• Tyco Electronics completed the previously announced $675 million sale of its Wireless Systems business to Harris Corporation. Wireless Systems develops critical communications systems based on IP technology for customers in the public safety, utility, transit and public service industries.
• SkyCross says it has developed a way to reduce specific absorption rate (SAR) levels in small wireless devices without sacrificing signal strength. Incorporating exclusive iMAT technology from SkyCross in small wireless devices enables them to operate using half the power without any change in signal strength while reducing SAR levels and increasing battery life. SAR measures the rate that the body absorbs RF energy when exposed to an electromagnetic field.
• DeviceAnywhere reports it has successfully integrated and certified its mobile development platform into three major IBM software solutions, including IBM Rational, IBM Tivoli Netcool and IBM WebSphere. As a result, organizations can access mobile development products offered by DeviceAnywhere while enabling DeviceAnywhere customers with additional capabilities from IBM’s suite of software and middleware solutions.
• Photobucket announced the availability of a free Nokia-compatible Photobucket mobile photo application inside Ovi Store by Nokia. The mobile application grants Nokia customers worldwide access to images on Photobucket as well as access to personal Photobucket albums.
• Mobile music and entertainment company mSpot has surpassed the 6 million mark in total paid users, a 150 percent increase since July 2008. The Silicon Valley company offers consumers access to music, custom ringtones, live radio, videos and movies on their mobile devices.
• Glu Mobile announced that Brain Genius Deluxe is now available for $2.99 from Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod touch. Brain Genius Deluxe is the sequel to Glu’s hit series Brain Genius.
• New industry specifications for visual voicemail, driven by Comverse, Tier 1 operators and major handset vendors, have been adopted by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP). The new global specifications for visual voicemail cover various factors, such as how messages are configured and retrieved on mobile handsets.
• Fiserv introduced Mobile Money FastTrack, a mobile banking solution for deployment by financial institutions. Mobile Money FastTrack, a streamlined version of the flagship Mobile Money solution introduced by Fiserv in 2008, delivers essential mobile banking features within an affordably packaged solution that can be enhanced as the mobile channel matures, the company says.