• Owners of Bluetooth headsets in the United States are using them less frequently, according to surveys with 625 automotive consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe conducted by Strategy Analytics. Only a quarter of Bluetooth headset owners use the devices every day, down from 43 percent last year. "The style and design of the Bluetooth headset remains a pain point for consumers," said Chris Schreiner, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.
• Gray Television has announced its first successful launch of a mobile DTV signal through its NBC affiliate in Omaha, Neb., WOWT. The television station is working with the Open Mobile Video Coalition on a pilot test. The technology is expected to be available to consumers early next year or possibly late this year but will only work on devices with a built-in receiver chip.
• Mobile television company FLO TV has named digital media veteran Alice Kim as its senior vice president of strategy and corporate development. In the newly created role, Kim will oversee strategic development initiatives for FLO TV. Kim most recently served as senior vice president of digital distribution at MTV Networks, where she was responsible for developing strategy and building revenue across the 17 on-air and digital brands of the MTVN portfolio, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, in addition to managing more than 30 digital partnerships.
• Wilmington Trust has selected VeriSign's Messaging and Mobile Media unit to provide text banking services to its clients. Now Wilmington Trust clients can access banking information, such as ATM and branch locations, personal account information and recent transaction history via text message. VeriSign last week announced it is selling the messaging unit to Syniverse.
• Ditech Networks and Lamassu Holdings have settled a proxy contest on nominees to Ditech's Board of Directors. Under the terms of the settlement, the company has agreed to nominate Frank Sansone, Lamassu Holding's candidate, and Alan B. Howe, an experienced industry veteran, as new directors. In view of the settlement, 12-year board member Greg Avis and 8-year board member Andrei Manilou announced they will retire from the board and will not stand for re-election.
• Wireless broadband company Novatel Wireless has appointed high-tech industry veteran Russel Gerns to its board of directors. Gerns has more than 25 years of operational and finance experience in the technology industry and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the UCLA Anderson School of Management Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, a member of the Board of Directors of the California Council on Economic Education and has taught as a professor of business management at Pepperdine University.
• Alcatel-Lucent has announced it will repurchase 11.97 percent of its 2011 convertible bonds, or OCEANEs. The repurchase will occur after its Sept. 10 bond offering. In the event that the bonds are not issued, Alcatel-Lucent would not repurchase the 2011 OCEANEs.