Carriers & Vendors
AT&T Digital Life Adds Seven Cities to Its Launch List
May 20, 2013 10:52 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAT&T’s wireless home management service, Digital Life, has just launched in an additional seven cities, adding to the 15 it started with at the end of April and moving closer to the 50 cities it hopes to populate by the end of 2013...
Sprint Completes Spectrum Buy from U.S. Cellular, Gains 420,000 Customers
May 20, 2013 10:47 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSprint on Friday announced that it had completed its purchase of 20MHz of PCS spectrum from U.S. Cellular that covers various Midwest markets, including Chicago, South Bend, Ind., and Champaign, Illinois. As part of the deal, Sprint also snagged 10MHz of PCS spectrum in the St. Louis market...
Yahoo Takes Big Leap With $1.1B Deal for Tumblr
May 20, 2013 10:23 am | by Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsThe deal announced Monday represents Mayer's boldest move yet since she left Google 10 months ago to lead Yahoo's latest comeback attempt. It marks Yahoo's most expensive acquisition since the Sunnyvale, Calif., company bought online search engine Overture a decade ago for $1.3 billion in cash and stock.
Friday Flick: Google I/O Keynote
May 17, 2013 10:51 am | Videos | CommentsAt its 6th annual Google I/O developer conference, Google packed tons of announcements into three hours of keynote. Less gadget-heavy than last year’s I/O which introduced Google Glass, this year’s event focused more on new and improved services....
Barclays Opens Coverage of Leap Wireless on a Sour Note
May 17, 2013 10:28 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsBarclays began its coverage of Leap Wireless, parent company of Cricket Wireless, by slapping an underweight tag on the prepaid carrier and putting the price target (PT) at $4. Leap’s stock today is down more than two percent. Barclays follows a number of downgrades for Leap, including JP Morgan Chase downgrading from neutral to underweight.
Galaxy S4 to Top 10M in Sales by Next Week
May 17, 2013 10:19 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSamsung says it expects sales of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, to surpass 10 million units by next week. The company began selling the S4 in Korea on April 26 and has since begun selling the device in 60 other countries. According to a report in the Korean Times...
Google's Products Dig Deeper into People's Lives
May 17, 2013 9:11 am | by Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsFor Google CEO Larry Page, happiness is a warm computer. "Technology should do the hard work so people can get on doing the things that make them happiest in life," Page told a crowd of 6,000 software developers and entrepreneurs who flocked to San Francisco Wednesday for...
Google Executive Defends Tax Strategy to Lawmakers
May 16, 2013 8:22 am | by Associated Press | News | CommentsA senior Google executive defended his company's complicated structure before Britain's Parliament, denying charges that it was misleading authorities to dodge paying tax. The U.S. Internet giant is accused that, even though it has rawn billions in revenue from Britain over the past few years...
Cisco 3Q Net Income Rises 14 Percent
May 16, 2013 7:11 am | by Associated Press | News | CommentsCisco's net income jumped 14 percent in the latest quarter as revenue at all four of its divisions rose for the first time in a year and a half. Cisco earned $2.5 billion, or 46 cents per sharein its fiscal third quarter, which ended April 27. That's up from $2.2 billion, or 40 cents per share...
Google Unveils Cross-Platform Messaging System, Streaming Music Service
May 15, 2013 4:55 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAt its 6th annual Google I/O developer conference, Google packed tons of announcements into three hours of keynote. Less gadget-heavy than last year’s I/O which introduced Google Glass, this year’s event focused more on new and improved services.
Stephenson: AT&T's 1Q was Disappointing
May 15, 2013 10:56 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says he expects the company's mobility business to improve "markedly" in the coming quarter. Delivering the morning keynote at the J.P. Morgan investor conference that was broadcast online, Stephenson covered a number of topics...
Dish Crystalizing Sprint Bid With $2.5B Debt Offering
May 15, 2013 10:56 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsDish Tuesday announced a $2.5 billion debt offering to be placed in escrow for use toward the $9.3 billion the company still needs to raise for the cash consideration portion of its $25.5 billion offer to merge with Sprint, a move that serves as more than a gesture of good will toward the Sprint bid since it will likely cost Dish to place that money into escrow.
Verizon and VMware Launch Dual Persona Solution for Enterprise
May 15, 2013 9:36 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon is looking to offer its customers a way to keep business and pleasure separate, at least so far as their devices as concerned. Verizon Enterprise Solutions and VMware today announced availability of VMware Horizon Mobile, a dual persona solution for Verizon's enterprise customers...
Google Poised to Show Off Latest Devices, Services
May 15, 2013 9:10 am | by Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is expected to use its annual software developers' conference to showcase the latest mobile devices running on its Android software, while also unveiling other features in its evolving product line-up. Google hasn't spelled out what its executives will discuss during this year's opening keynote, which is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. PT and last for nearly three hours.
BlackBerry Unveils New Q5 Qwerty Device
May 14, 2013 10:27 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsBlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins today introduced the newest BlackBerry 10 device, the Q5. Specifically designed for emerging markets, the Q5 will launch globally this summer. Heins made the announcement during an opening keynote at BlackBerry’s annual developer conference, which was broadcast online.
Sharp Reshuffles Management After Record Loss
May 14, 2013 10:02 am | by Elaine Kurtenbach, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsJapanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. named a new president Tuesday, reshuffling its top management to help restore profitability after reporting a record loss. The Osaka, Japan-based maker of Aquos TVs said that Kozo Takahashi, currently an executive vice president...
Big 4 Cellphone Carriers Unite on Anti-Texting Ads
May 14, 2013 9:54 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsThe country's four biggest cellphone companies are set to launch their first joint advertising campaign against texting while driving, uniting behind AT&T's "It Can Wait" slogan to blanket TV and radio this summer. AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile will...
VZW Makes $7 Billion Distribution
May 14, 2013 9:16 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless today announced a $7 billion cash distribution to its owners, Vodafone and Verizon. The payment will be made on June 25 and will see Verizon getting $3.85 billion, while Vodafone will take $3.15 billion. The move comes after speculation...
Clearwire Again Implores Shareholders to Vote For Sprint Offer
May 13, 2013 11:17 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsToday’s letter goes over the points outlined in a letter Clearwire sent to shareholders last week but this time, Clearwire comes armed with a new recommendation from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), an advisory firm that is now recommending Clearwire shareholders vote for the Sprint merger.
Report: SoftBank Pushing Banks to Not Finance Dish’s Sprint Bid
May 13, 2013 10:09 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSoftBank appears to be playing hardball with banks that could potentially help finance Dish Network’s $25.5 billion opposing bid. A Reuters report cited two sources suggesting SoftBank, which owns 33 percent of Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, has told lenders their chances of underwriting Alibaba’s imminent IPO could be jeopardized by aiding Dish in financing its Sprint bid.
Samsung Boasts 5G Technology 100 Times Faster than 4G
May 13, 2013 10:00 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSamsung said today that it is testing 5G technology capable of data speeds 100 times faster than 4G networks. According to a press release, Samsung's new adaptive array transceiver technology will allow data to transmit at higher frequencies than currently possible...
Dish: If Sprint Bid Falls Through, There are Other Options
May 9, 2013 4:58 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsDish Network is in a heated battle with Japanese carrier SoftBank over whose bid is the best value for Sprint. But Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen seems confident that his company has other options for breaking into wireless should Dish lose out. During Dish’s first quarter conference call Thursday, Ergen suggested Dish could partner with someone else in the wireless industry, sell its spectrum or sell the company.
AT&T Launches Aio Wireless Prepaid Brand
May 9, 2013 11:34 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAio’s website lists four different rate plans. Basic, Smart and Pro all offer essentially the same service except that Basic ($40) throttles HSPA+ data after 250 MB, Smart ($50) throttles it after 2 GB and Pro ($70) throttle it after 7 GB. In addition, a $15 Tablet plan offers 250 MB of HSPA per month. Extra gigabytes of HSPA run $10 and unlimited international calling plans start at $10.
AT&T Network Chief Highlights Small Cell Deployments
May 9, 2013 11:10 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAT&T is big on small cells. In fact, the company is set to deploy over 40,000 small cells by the end of 2014. Speaking at the Jefferies 2013 Global Technology conference, Bill Smith, president of AT&T's network operations, small cells are a key tool in the carrier's toolbox for maintaining the vitality of AT&T's wireless network going forward...
First News Briefs for May 9, 2013
May 9, 2013 10:52 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsTelit Wireless Solutions, a global provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, services and solutions, today announced approval by Sprint for its CE910-DUAL cellular M2M module. A dual-band CDMA 1xRTT module, the CE910-DUAL allows Sprint M2M Solutions customers to deploy a wide range of M2M applications benefiting from reliable connectivity over Sprint’s nationwide network while enabling even the most cost sensitive business plans.
