January 2009
Announcing Our EconMusic Spotlight Q&A With... →
Here’s yet another reason to attend our upcoming EconMusic conference next week: A Spotlight Q&A with music industry vet Fred Croshal, founder and CEO of the Croshal Entertainment Group….
The Super Bowl May Not Be Ready For The Small... →
The mobile phone will definitely qualify as a 12th man during this year’s Super Bowl, but don’t think it’s going to get any playing time on the field. Fans will be able to use their phones to…
Top Headlines Of The Week From paidContent.org,... →
Join us for our second EconMusic conference on Feb. 5 at the LA Times building paidContent.org: —Memo From AOL’s Falco: 10 Percent Staff Cut, International Re-Org, No Merit Raises —…
Turkcell Happy With Ringback Ads Program, Gives... →
Turkish operator Turkcell is seeing some success with its Tone & Win platform, which lets users sign up to a program and choose an ad for people calling them to hear, then being rewarded with…
RIM Completes Chalk Acquisition →
Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) has completed its acquisition of mobile software firm Chalk Media, which developed Mobile chalkboard which facilitates the creation of video and audio content…
THQ Restructures Wireless Division; Will Focus On... →
THQ (NSDQ: THQI), the global game developer and publisher, told employees yesterday that it plans to restructure its wireless division based on plans announced in November to return the…
Maybe Mobile Gaming Has Turned A Corner? Report... →
Over the past three or four months, we’ve reported that mobile game companies are starting to be more bullish and are seeing positive trends for one of the first times in awhile. Even Gameloft…
Senate Tries Again: Passes Second Bill Making The... →
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a second bill on Thursday that would allow broadcasters to drop their analog signals on Feb. 17 as originally planned—or not. The first bill passed on Monday would…
Live Cargo Acquires Place-Shifting Technology Firm... →
Live Cargo, a Greensboro, N.C.-based streaming technology platform provider, has acquired mobile technology firm CMWare in an equity and cash transaction. Numbers for the deal were not revealed. The…
Report: Social Networking Pushing Mobile Web Usage... →
Mobile social networking is helping drive mobile web usage into the mainstream in Western Europe, where the number of users accessing social nets with their phones jumped 152 percent from November…
Earnings: NTT DoCoMo Posts 16 Percent Rise In... →
Japan’s largest mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) released its earnings for the nine months ending December 2008 today, which includes its third quarter results. The incumbent…
Smart phone sales grow, but overall mobile devices... →
In 2008 Smartphones were 14% of all mobile devices shipment globally in 2008 and should increase to more than 17% of the total in 2009, according to new projections from ABI Research…
Dell, Acer Looking At Entering Smartphone Market →
Rumblings about two computer-makers—Dell and Acer—are escalating as to whether they will enter the mobile-phone market. The WSJ reports that Dell is preparing a move into cellphones as early as…
U.S. Carriers Are Desperate—This Week Proved It →
It’s becoming clearer by the quarter that wireless operators simply don’t have a phone or user experience that can compete with the iPhone—the financial results reported by the top three U.S….
WiMax Axed By Bankrupt Nortel Networks →
Nortel Networks said it will no longer support WiMax as it tries to restructure after filing for bankruptcy protection two weeks ago. Reuters reported that Toronto-based Nortel said today that it…
Nokia Forms JV In India To Go D2C With Content And... →
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has moved to increase access to its services in India by forming a joint venture with ICT system integration company HCL Infosystems to sell mobile entertainment and value…
Mobile Subscriber Growth To Slow, Handset Sales To... →
Informa Telecoms and Media reports that the global mobile subscription market grew by 18.5 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, lower than the previous annual growth rate of 22.5 percent. The…
Earnings: Gameloft Yearly Revenue Increases By 15... →
Gameloft (EPA: GFT) achieved sales of 110.3 million euros (US$143 million) in 2008, an increase of 15 percent over 2007—an increase of 20 percent on a comparable exchange rate basis. The biggest…
Mobile Advertising Bits: Reuters-Nokia Extend Ad... →
—Reuters in global tie-up with Nokia: Reuters has extended its agreement with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to allow the handset maker’s mobile ad unit Nokia Ad Sales to handle its mobile inventory…
AdMob Tops Off Third Round With Another $12.5... →
When your global advertising network encompasses 6,000 mobile sites, 450 iPhone applications and you serve more than 4.6 billion mobile banner and text ads a month, apparently a bad economy…
Growth Slowing At T-Mobile International →
The number of mobile customers signing up for the services of Deutsche Telecom’s wireless unit T-Mobile International is slowing across some of the group’s most important markets. Though…
Israeli Handset Maker Modu Raises $7 Million From... →
Israeli handset maker Modu has raised $7 million in funding from Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), which gives the chipmaker the right to supply the Modu’s phones with their chips. Modu’s main…
Nokia Brings Nokia 6700 classic, Nokia 6303... →
Nokia bring another set of cool phones with its new and exciting offer of Nokia 6700 classic, the Nokia 6303 classic and the Nokia 2700 classic. All three mobile phones are build on the…
One Week Away: EconMusic At The L.A. Times →
If you haven’t purchased your ticket to EconMusic yet, now’s the time. There’s only one week left until the half-day conference next Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Los Angeles Times…
Potential Digital TV Delay Will Cost Qualcomm's... →
It’s unclear whether the switch to digital TV will be pushed back with the Senate and House disagreeing about whether the delay is necessary, but one thing for certain is which company will be most…
Verizon Has Sold 1 Million Blackberry Storms →
Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has sold 1 million Blackberry Storms since launching the handset on Nov. 21, spokesperson Brenda Raney told MocoNews. That’s quicker than the first iPhone, which took…
Mobile Content Bits: Photobucket; 63 For DTV; Car... →
—Photobucket Launches Download Service: Popular photo-sharing site Photobucket has launched a service that lets US residents download images from the site onto their mobile phone (they’ve had the…
Not So Fast: House Defeats DTV Delay Bill →
The debate over the date of the switchover to digital TV continues: The House defeated the bill passed by the Senate on Monday, which would have delayed the transition from Feb. 17 to June 12. (
Earnings: Qualcomm's Q1 Revenues Meet Guidance;... →
Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), which is benefiting from the evolution from 2G to 3G devices, said its first-quarter 2009 revenues were at the high end of its guidance, however, net income for the…
Vodafone Completes WayFinder Purchase →
Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) has obtained 98.13 percent of the shares in Swedish navigational software firm WayFinder Systems, mostly coming from its public cash offer being accepted but about a fifth…
Android's Scare With Malware Makes Apple's Tough... →
Apple’s policies on the iTunes App store may be arbitrary and hard to understand, but now they are getting a bit of appreciation after people accused an application in Google’s Android Market of…
Earnings: AT&T Net Income Falls 23.6 Percent;... →
Fourth quarter earnings fell 23.6 percent at AT&T (NYSE: T), which posted net income of $2.4 billion, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $31.1 billion. Last year, the telecoms giant reported…
DSTL1 Android Smartphone →
Introducing the General Mobile DSTL1, a Dual SIM Phone that according to GSMArena, will be Android enabled and will be presented at the Mobile World Congress in February:
This is…
Earnings: Openwave's Bottomline Widens Based On... →
Openwave Systems (NSDQ: OPWV), which competes in the analytics, content and messaging space in mobile, released second-quarter fiscal results for the period ended Dec. 31, 2008. Revenues totaled…
Mobile Content Bits: Glu Goes D2C; Televisa In US;... →
—Glu (NSDQ: GLUU) Goes D2C: Glu is selling its games direct to consumers with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, The Dark Knight and Family Feud available immediately and others planned in the…
Senate To Increase Broadband Stimulus Grants, Add... →
In the latest bail-out package, the U.S. Senate will consider earmarks of up to $9 billion and tax-breaks for companies that are willing to build wired and wireless broadband networks. Of course,…
FT Reboots Mobile: Plans iPhone Apps, Commercial... →
The Financial Times has relaunched its mobile website to bring it in line with FT.com’s recent redesign. The new look adds personalised stock listings - but the commercial model for mobile…
Jingle Networks Raises $7.5 Million For Directory... →
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Jingle Networks, which provides directory assistance services, like free411.com, has raised $7.5 million in a fourth round of funding, reports peHUB, according to a…
Vodafone Sees "Unbeatable" Scale Through Tighter... →
If Vodafone’s idea of working together more with China Mobile and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) means rushing out a phone full of bugs—like the Blackberry Storm—to market, it should probably…
Verizon Call: "No Evidence Of Slowing" In... →
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) said that last year presented a difficult economic environment and that there is more uncertainty going forward into 2009, but President and COO Denny Strigl…
New Apple Patent Gives Weight To Veiled IP Threat →
Ever since Apple’s acting CEO Tim Cook made some comments about Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) protecting its intellectual property from companies trying to rip them off and getting an instant response from…
Industry Moves: Legal Fight With IBM Cleared Up To... →
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) said Mark Papermaster will be joining the company as SVP of Devices Hardware Engineering in charge of the iPod and iPhone hardware engineering teams on April 24, after…
AdMob Adds Ads To Android Apps →
Mobile Advertising Platform AdMob said today it has started serving mobile ads to applications built for the the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android operating system, including the T-Mobile G1. AdMob…
Motorola Remains Committed to Windows Mobile... →
Yesterday, reports circulated that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) laid off 77 employees in Plantation, Fla., and that the facility will no longer conduct new Windows mobile development there. The
Camera Phones Must Go "Click" To Ward Off... →
New York Congressman Pete King introduced a bill earlier this month in the House of Representatives that would require camera phones to make a noise when taking a picture. Under the “Camera Phone…
Nokia Acquires bit-side To Accelerate Mapping... →
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has agreed to acquire bit-side, a professional services and software company that makes mobile applications for the iPhone, Android and other platforms. The German-based…
Mobile Analytics Software Provider Carrier IQ... →
Carrier IQ, a software provider of mobile analytics for carriers and equipment vendors, has raised $20 million in a third round of funding from investors that include Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Capital…
Earnings: Verizon Earnings Up 15 Percent, Boosted... →
Fourth quarter earnings rose 15 percent at Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), the country’s largest wireless operator, boosted by growth in its wireless and broadband units. Verizon reported net…
UK Mobile Banking Service MoBank Raises Second... →
UK mobile banking service MoBank has raised a second round of funding for 750,000 pounds ($1.06 million) from an undisclosed group of individuals and private investment companies to continue to…
Nokia To Launch Luxury Vertu Brand MVNO In Japan →
Just in time for the recession. Nokia’s hyper luxury brand Vertu—is launching an MVNO in Japan, aimed at “discerning subscribers,” marking the global handset maker’s first foray into carrier…