FirstNews
Wheeler Appointment Gets Applause All Around
May 2, 2013 10:13 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsPresident Obama's appointment of longtime wireless veteran Tom Wheeler as the next chairman of the FCC was met with applause from most of the industry. CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent said in statement that Wheeler has a "deep understanding of communications issues...
Sprint Making Good on June 29 iDen Shutdown
May 2, 2013 9:22 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsThe shutdown of Sprint's iDen network has been a longtime in coming and is very near at hand, according to the company. Sprint today confirmed that the last full day of iDEN service will be June 29, with a shutdown that begins first thing Sunday, June 30 and continuing throughout the day...
Tablets with Windows RT See Slow Sales, IDC Says
May 2, 2013 8:37 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsMicrosoft is seeing slow sales of a version of Windows designed for thin and light tablets, even as the tablet market as a whole is growing, a research firm reported Wednesday. Researchers at IDC said manufacturers shipped 200,000 tablets running...
Physical by Smartphone Becoming Real Possibility
May 2, 2013 8:34 am | by Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsIt's not a "Star Trek" tricorder, but by hooking a variety of gadgets onto a smartphone you could almost get a complete physical — without the paper gown or even a visit to the doctor's office. Blood pressure? Just plug the arm cuff into the phone for a quick reading...
Keynote Mobile News and Portal Index: Delivering Video on Mobile News Sites
May 1, 2013 10:46 am | by Venkatesh Giri, Keynote Mobile Expert | Articles | CommentsWe all know more online users are now accessing news via their smartphones - and not just via the traditional news sites we monitor in our Mobile News and Portal Index, but also via social media. As we’ve seen with recent news events...
First News Briefs for May 1, 2013
May 1, 2013 10:34 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsU.S. Cellular today announced that it will begin offering its postpaid service in 47 Sam’s Club locations across 14 states. U.S. Cellular is now available in select Sam’s Club Locations in Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia...
Report: Obama to Appoint Tom Wheeler as Next FCC Chairman
May 1, 2013 10:25 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsPresident Obama is likely to appoint wireless industry veteran and lobbyist Tom Wheeler to succeed Julius Genachowski as chairman of the FCC. According to numerous reports from multiple outlets, Wheeler, who has already served as an informal advisor to Obama on telecom matters, is the top pick...
T-Mo's Merger with MetroPCS Complete, Now Trading on NYSE
May 1, 2013 9:59 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsDeutsche Telekom today announced the completion of the merger of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications. T-Mobile will also debut this morning on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TMUS. As previously announced, the company's board will have 11 members, including...
Best Buy Exits Europe, Selling Joint Venture Stake
May 1, 2013 9:08 am | by Michelle Chapman, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsBest Buy is looking to exit Europe, selling its stake in its joint venture there to partner Carphone Warehouse Group PLC in a cash-and-stock deal valued at 500 million pounds (about $775 million). The consumer electronics company said Tuesday that the deal allows it to streamline...
Apple Sells $17 Billion in Bonds in Record Deal
May 1, 2013 9:06 am | by Associated Press | News | CommentsApple Inc. sold $17 billion in bonds Tuesday in a record deal spurred by the company's plan to placate its frustrated shareholders. The Cupertino, Calif., company sold the bonds in its first debt issue since the 1990s to raise money to pass along to shareholders through dividend payments...
First News Briefs for April 30, 2013
April 30, 2013 10:33 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsGenband has announced a partnership with F5 Networks to deliver integrated SIP and Diameter signaling solutions. The QUANTiX Diameter Signaling Controller addresses surge in signaling traffic growth across IMS and LTE networks. The company also announced that it released GENBAND SPiDR, a WebRTC gateway...
Softbank Claims Its Sprint Bid Represents 21 Percent Premium over Dish Bid
April 30, 2013 10:22 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSoftbank today went on the offensive as it sought to defend the benefits of its $20.1 billion offer to acquire a 70 percent stake of Sprint Nextel. SoftBank Corp. said it has presented an analysis of its agreed transaction with Sprint and explained to investors why its transaction is superior to what it called...
FCC OKs LightSquared to Test Spectrum Sharing
April 30, 2013 9:56 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsThe FCC has granted LightSquared a three-month period to assess the technical feasibility of using the 1675–1680 MHz band for mobile broadband services on a shared basis with existing federal operations. The grant makes good on policy set forth in a July 2012 report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology...
IBM’s MessageSight Looks Ready to Deal With the “Internet of Things”
April 30, 2013 9:01 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsIBM’s looking big picture at the needs of a smarter planet with the unveiling of its new appliance, MessageSight, which could come in handy once the “Internet of things” blows up in the consumer market. The message hub comes ready to handle the galaxy of micro-transactions connected devices...
Clearwire Draws Sprint Funding for Third Straight Month
April 30, 2013 8:55 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAfter declining funding from Sprint in January and February, Clearwire has elected to take the funding for May, making it three straight months of $80 million draws for a grand total of $240 million. The initial offer from Sprint totaled $800 million to be lent...
IBM Hits Refresh On Its Mobile First Focus
April 29, 2013 4:40 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsIBM Monday announced updates to the “Mobile First” initiative it has adopted toward its integrations with enterprise customers. At the kickoff to its annual Impact conference Tuesday morning, the recurring message was “Business. In Motion,” and that mantra materialized in numerous new products and updates to existing offerings in IBM’s portfolio.
First News Briefs for April 29, 2013
April 29, 2013 11:01 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsMyriad Group AG, the company creating and connecting communities across mobile and TV, today announces that it has completed the acquisition of RCS products and intellectual property from Metaswitch. The acquisition enables Myriad to extend and enhance the social messaging portfolio it provides to network operators...
SoftBank Allows Sprint to Conduct Talks with Dish
April 29, 2013 10:49 am | by Associated Press | News | CommentsSprint Nextel says SoftBank is allowing it to seek more information from Dish Network related to its rival bid for the third-largest U.S. cellphone company. Sprint has agreed to sell 70 percent of itself to Japan's Softbank Corp. for $20.1 billion. But it recently got a competing...
Google Now Update Hits iOS App
April 29, 2013 10:43 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsGoogle continues to make inroads on iOS today with the launch of an update to its Google Search app. The company today announced it was adding Google Now functionality to its iOS app. Google Now is a kind of virtual assistant akin to Apple's Siri...
Report: Investors Pan Rumored $100B Verizon Bid for Vodafone's Share in VZW
April 29, 2013 10:12 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsA Reuters report from Wednesday that claimed Verizon had hired advisers to prepare a $100 billion bid for Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless was apparently credible enough to provoke a response from major Vodafone investors...
Looking Beyond the Bill
April 29, 2013 9:48 am | by Dr. Andy Tiller, Vice President, Product Marketing, AsiaInfo-Linkage | Articles | CommentsA simple charting of the evolution of mobile communications services would begin with the delivery of basic voice and text messaging, and show today the enabling and provision of multi-channel voice, data, video, social media, imagery, financial services and more. An obvious assumption would be that...
Smartphones Overtake 'Dumb' Phones Worldwide
April 29, 2013 9:32 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsResearch firm IDC said more smartphones than "dumb" phones are being made this year, a milestone in a shift that's putting computing power and Internet access in millions of hands worldwide. Manufacturers shipped 216 million smartphones worldwide in the first three months of this year...
First News Briefs for April 26, 2013
April 26, 2013 10:29 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsNexmo announced it has been selected by Line Corporation as an SMS API provider for its mobile service platform, LINE. With this announcement, Nexmo added LINE to its growing list of global messaging app customers, including Viber, KakaoTalk and ICQ.
GGI Makes Mobile Games as Social Change
April 26, 2013 10:25 am | by Ben Munson | Articles | CommentsAs good as giving back can make you feel, people could still use a little extra encouragement to be charitable. Global Gaming Initiative gets that and the company has gone ahead and made a game of it, literally. GGI’s first mobile game, “Sidekick Cycle”—developed by IT Matters and arriving on iOS devices in June—is equal parts downhill racer and charitable simulation.
Amazon Reports Lower 1Q Earnings, Higher Revenue
April 26, 2013 10:24 am | by Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsAmazon.com Inc.'s net income declined in the first three months of the year even though revenue increased 22 percent, as the online retailer continued to spend heavily on order fulfillment and rights to digital content. The world's largest online retailer, which also sells the Kindle devices...
