Verizon Wireless may be in merger negotiations to buy competitor ALLTEL according to a report filed on Engadget. Rumors surrounding a buyout by Verizon Wireless are nothing new--earlier this year there was word Sprint PCS was a likely candidate--but this...
May 31 2005 - 12:51 PM ET | Siemens
Siemens today announced the CX75, a mid-line camera phone. Features of the Siemens CX75 include: * Tri-band GSM * 132 x 176 pixel screen with 65K colors * VGA camera with video recording and 5x digital zoom * Small and...
May 31 2005 - 12:34 PM ET | In The News
Several US Wireless carriers have announced their preparations for hurricane season are complete. Six hurricanes made landfall in the US last year, making it one of the worst seasons on record. Preparations for wireless carriers include network testing, preparing mobile...
May 31 2005 - 12:23 PM ET | Cingular
In Cingular's fifth annual wireless usage surgey, men once again lead in the number of minutes used. This year men talk 35% more, more than double the 16% figure from last year's survey. bq. Despite common misconceptions men do communicate,...
May 31 2005 - 01:04 AM ET | Cingular, Data
Cingular announced today that it will start providing Good Technology's GoodLink software to corporate clients looking to have push-email. By sharing the profits with Cingular, Good is showing another sign that upsetting market leader RIM (maker of BlackBerry) is its...
May 31 2005 - 12:45 AM ET | In The News
The Wall Street Journal has a large piece in today's issue (humorously titled, "Why You Still Can't Hear Me now") on the sometimes unpredictable wireless reception common in the US. The article notes that despite recent spectrum buyouts and mergers,...
May 30 2005 - 12:00 AM ET | Site News
We are taking the day off in honor of Memorial day. MobileTracker will resume publication on May 31st 2005....
May 29 2005 - 08:20 PM ET | Ringtones
A ringtone made its way to the top of the British singles chart this Sunday, topping Brit-rock group Coldplay. Ringtone Crazy Frog Axel F outsold Coldplay's Speed of Sound 4-1, making for a disapointing opening weekend for the popular band....
SE-NSE.com, an unofficial Sony Ericsson forum, has posted drawings of two new handsets purported to be in development by Sony Ericsson. Going by the codenames Zoe and Ellen, the two handsets are designed to sell for less than most current...
May 29 2005 - 05:19 PM ET | 3G, T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA, a division of Deutsche Telekom, is still planning on launching a 3G network in 2007. T-Mobile USA CEO Robert Dotson believes his company will continue to grow at about 1 million new customers per month through the end...
May 28 2005 - 03:32 PM ET | In The News
The long running debate of whether cellular phones should be allowed on aircraft is still raging, now CTIA is urging for more research to make sure airborne networks don't interfere with existing terrestrial networks: bq. Steve Largent, President and CEO...
WireFly is hosting a Memorial day weekend sale that has made some high-end handsets exceptional deals. Since this sale is limited to this weekend, move fast if you're interested. The Motorola RAZR V3 is being sold for free after rebate....
May 27 2005 - 02:42 PM ET | In The News
Gartner says sales of mobile handsets are above expectations and as such revised the sales outlook for 2005. The first quarter saw sales of 180.6 million units, compared to 153.7 million in the year ago quarter. Total projected sales for...
Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint spoke recently at the Reuters Telecoms, Media and Technology Summit in Paris, noting that his company will try to expand its handset selection: bq. Sony Ericsson launched only seven new models in 2004, well below...
May 27 2005 - 02:22 PM ET | Data
Good Technology, mostly known for its wireless email services, has raised another $65 million in venture capital. This latest round brings the total amount invested to over $200 million. Good is trying to oust wireless email leader Research in Motion...
May 27 2005 - 01:59 PM ET | SMS
The fourth season of American Idol came to a close this week with Carrie Underwood being named the winner. While SMS is still largely unused in the US, American Idol viewers sent a record 41.5 million text messages during the...
May 27 2005 - 01:47 PM ET | In The News
Wired News reporter Joanna Glasner wrote today about the slow adoption of WiFi capable mobile phones by wireless carriers. Because phones with WiFi would in theory be able to make nearly free calls over VoIP, thus bypassing expensive wireless airtime,...
May 27 2005 - 02:42 AM ET | Cingular
As expected, Cingular Wireless has reintroduced its Go Phone service, bringing all of the company's pre-paid services under the brand. Go Phone was originally marketed by AT&T Wireless and was left largely untapped since the merger last year. There are...
May 26 2005 - 02:04 AM ET | Data
A new study from Network Management Group consulting firm says that young adults are interested in streaming mobile music and video options. 2005 has been called the, "Year of the music phone" with many music savvy handsets being announced, such...
May 26 2005 - 01:55 AM ET | Cingular
While Cingular Wireless previously announced that 3G service was coming sooner than expected, analysts from Deutsche Bank now believe the rollout will be slowed down initially to 12-15 cities. Cingular, which plans on using the HSDPA 3G standard, still is...
May 25 2005 - 11:43 AM ET | Nokia
Nokia this morning announced the 770 Internet Tablet, a new tablet device that runs Linux. Oddly, the Nokia 770 is not a mobile phone, but in the future will be able to make calls via VoIP technology. Features of the...
Verizon Wireless' launched a new V Cast channel called Encore that will broadcast select Clear Channel concert performances. Concerts will be made available for a week after its live performance. bq. Within days of a recent concert, each participating artist...
May 24 2005 - 08:49 AM ET | Palm
Palm Inc. announced plans in August 2003 to spin off into two companies, PalmSource and palmOne. palmOne is the hardware company and maker of the popular Treo 650 while PalmSource is the software comapny that makes the PalmOS palmOne announced...
May 23 2005 - 04:49 PM ET | Ringtones
Napster today announced that its new Napstertones ringtone service has hit 100,000 downloads since its launch on May 9th. The company has a marketing advantage thanks to its existing subscriber base of over 400,000 people. The service is currently only...
The Motorola RAZR V3 just got cheaper--Amazon.com is now selling the super-thin handset for $49.99 after rebate and a new service contract through Cingular Wireless. Earlier this month we noted when Amazon dropped the RAZR's price down to an industry...
May 23 2005 - 03:23 PM ET | Nextel
Nextel today announced Mobile Email Enhancement service, a new Java based push email solution that is compatible with Outlook, Lotus Notes and regular POP based accounts. Mobile Email Enhancement service uses Visto ConstantSynch and comes in either desktop or enterprise...
May 23 2005 - 11:28 AM ET |
Researchers in Canada are working on a new lens technology that should increase the quality of camera phone photos while at the same time take up less space. Made up of light-sensitive liquid crystals, the lens is five times thinner...
May 23 2005 - 12:40 AM ET | In The News
Today's Wall Street Journal argues that music oriented mobile phones may not be "iPod killers" like Bill Gates and others are saying. Quoting the article: bq. IPods are superb examples of design -- navigating between thousands of songs is only...
May 23 2005 - 12:00 AM ET | In The News
Pre-paid mobile phone service (aka pay-as-you-go), is currently facing legal trouble in the form of patent infringement lawsuits from Freedom Wireless. Freedom Wireless sued Boston Communications Group, a firm that provides services to many large carriers that provide pre-paid service....
May 22 2005 - 11:05 PM ET | Samsung
TECH WATCH -- Samsung has announced the, "First Solid State Disk (SSD) based on NAND Flash memory technology." The advantages over conventional hard drive technology include: a drastic power savings (uses only 5% of the power) and lower weight and...
May 22 2005 - 10:50 PM ET | Motorola, Nextel
The Motorola i930 has been approved by the FCC according to documents posted recently to the agency's website (FCC ID AZ489FT5843). Widely talked about by Nextel power users, the i930 is the first Windows Mobile smartphone built for iDEN cell...
May 19 2005 - 04:33 PM ET | Samsung
UPDATE: The Samsung D307 has started shipping from Cingular. The FCC yesterday posted approval documents (FCC ID A3LSGHD307)for the Samsung SGH-D307, a competitor to phones like the Motorola A630 and LG F9100. The Samsung D307 features a full QWERTY keyboard...
May 19 2005 - 03:20 AM ET | Accessories
Cellboost is a tiny disposable battery charger that is available for all the major brands of phones. It's a great solution for frequent travelers or even just the absent minded. Since it's portable, you don't have to be near an...
May 18 2005 - 08:19 PM ET | In The News
The total number of mobile phone subscribers has cruised north of 1.8 billion according to research released today by Informa Telecoms & Media. According to the report, the number will swell to 2.14 billion by the end of 2005. Previous...
May 18 2005 - 12:43 PM ET | Samsung
Samsung today took the wraps off its RAZR lookalike, the Samsung SCH-V740. At 14.5mm thick, the V740 is only a half millimeter thicker than the Motorola RAZR V3, but it's able to pack in a few more features: * EV-DO...
May 17 2005 - 09:00 PM ET | Nokia
At the E3 gaming megashow, Nokia announced plans to bring N-Gage games to the next generation of Nokia smartphones. Currently the games only play on N-Gage handsets which have seen less than stellar sales. The new phones should begin shipping...
May 17 2005 - 04:07 PM ET | Data
Hugh Panero, CEO of XM Satellite Radio, has gone on record stating that XM is currently in the process of carrier negotiations to get its radio content carried on mobile phone networks. On Monday the company announced it had surpassed...
May 17 2005 - 03:56 PM ET | Virgin Mobile
In an attempt to lure more high volume customers, Virgin Mobile USA today introduced an optional new pricing model. Under the new plan, customers pay 35 cents each day (flat fee) to receive a 10 cent per minute rate all...
May 17 2005 - 03:50 PM ET | In The News
JAMDAT Mobile has signed a multiyear license with id Software for exlusive rights to DOOM mobile. DOOM, one of the most popular games of all time, will be published by JAMDAT under the name DOOM RPG. The deal also covers...
May 17 2005 - 12:05 AM ET | SMS
AMBER Alert, the nationwide notification service for missing children, has announced a new SMS feature that allows users to keep abreast of alerts in their home area. To sign up for the free service (only carrier imposed SMS fees apply),...
Verizon Wireless today officially started business channel sales of the Treo 650 (see previous report). News broke today that with the launch of the Treo 650, Verizon Wireless is shipping a push email solution powered by Intellisync. This is seen...
May 16 2005 - 03:45 PM ET | In The News
Ken Belson writes in the New York Times about a little known practice some cities are using to balance the budget--imposing stiff wireless taxes. It's no secret that wireless service is heavily taxed (CTIA says an average of 17%), but...
T-Mobile USA today introduced the Motorola V330, the update to the long-running Motorola V300. New features of the Motorola V330 include Bluetooth, more standard keypad and being a quad-band handset. According to early user reports, reception has also been improved...
Verizon Wireless today officially announced that it will be carrying the Samsung i730. This has been rumored for quite some time (info from the FCC leaked in November 2004). Features of the Samsung i730 include: * EV-DO * Bluetooth *...
May 15 2005 - 11:59 PM ET | Samsung
Samsung on Sunday announced the SCH-S310, its first attempt at a beat box phone. Motion sensing technology along with a large quanity of built-in music clips allows users to create their own tunes on the go. Additionaly, the SCH-S310 can...
May 15 2005 - 11:51 PM ET | Siemens
Shares of Siemens spiked late last week as speculation that a buyer had emerged for Siemens' fledging mobile unit. A myriad of companies have been rumored in the deal, including heavyweight Motorola. The latest round of speculation centered around Samsung,...
At a press event in Korea today, LG showed off a new 5 megapixel camera phone. The LG SV550 sports a 5 megapixel CCD with auto focus and a twist design. The SV550 is the second 5 megapixel phone announced,...
May 12 2005 - 04:14 PM ET | Bargain
As part of Amazon.com's "Big Electronics Sale", all cell phone accessories are on sale. Until May 23rd, wireless accessories are 5% off. Here's the list of all the top selling acessories, which includes several Bluetooth headsets. The previous Amazon.com deal...
May 12 2005 - 01:09 PM ET | In The News
Microsoft founder Bill Gates told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he sees mobile phones overtaking the iPod as the top portable music player. Of course, Mr. Gates sees Windows Mobile 5.0 as a major reason phones will win out....
May 12 2005 - 12:54 PM ET | T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA reports its Q1 numbers today, the last national US carrier to do so. While the company grew (and was profitable), growth has slowed down. Highlights in the statement include: * Net income of $103 million from revenue of...
May 12 2005 - 12:44 PM ET | Motorola
Back in March, Motorola announced that it would make a CDMA version of the popular RAZR V3. Motorola Korea has announced that the CDMA RAZR will ship in June. A website (Warning: Flash) has been set up for the phone....
May 12 2005 - 12:12 PM ET | Sprint Nextel
Sprint PCS today launched the Samsung A800. Late last month Wired magazine leaked details of this phone, including the fact that it was to be carried by Sprint. Features of the Samsung A800 include: * 2 megapixel camera with autofocus...
May 12 2005 - 12:09 AM ET | Sprint Nextel
Sprint has added seven new countries to its international roaming list. This brings the total up to 40 countries (see below). The new countries are: Jamaica, Peru, Venezuela, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil and Saipan. Coverage in Canada and the Dominican Republic...
May 11 2005 - 09:55 PM ET | SMS
Dodgeball, a SMS based social networking service, has announced that Google has purchased the company. The two-person team that currently runs the service explained the move in their own words: bq. As a two-person team, Alex and I have taken...
May 11 2005 - 03:37 PM ET | Smartphone
Fresh off the announcement of Windows Mobile 5.0, Symbian is touting strong Q1 numbers. * Phone shipments totalled 6.75M versus 2.40M a year ago (180% growth) * Cumulative shipments of Symbian OS phones since Symbian's formation reached 32m phones. *...
May 11 2005 - 03:26 PM ET | Data
Sony yesterday announced the VAIO T350, the first laptop that has EDGE wireless data technology built-in. Besides EDGE, the Sony VAIO T350 supports WiFi and Bluetooth, making the ultraportable laptop the most wireless savvy on the market. The T350 includes...
Select Verizon Wireless business customers that ordered the Treo 650 recently have reported receiving the device. Photos can be seen here, with the Verizon branding clearly visible. Pricing appears to be: * $529.99 - No nontract * $449.99 - 1-year...
As expected, Cingular has launched the LG A7110. It's the first LG phone to include EDGE. Features of the A7110, a midlevel handset, include: * EDGE high-speed data * 128 x 160 pixel 65K color display * IrDA (no Bluetooth)...
May 10 2005 - 02:04 PM ET | Smartphone
As expected, Microsoft has announced the next version of its mobile operating system called Windows Mobile 5.0. Rumors pointed to the name "Windows Mobile 2005" prior to today's announcement, but it's the same software. Windows Mobile 5.0 is a major...
May 09 2005 - 08:40 PM ET | DoCoMo
Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo has started a $100 million US-based venture capital fund. Through DoCoMo Capital, NTT DoCoMo intends to shorten development time, lower its research and development costs and expand its opportunities for developing mobile services and technologies....
May 09 2005 - 08:29 PM ET | Ringtones
Napster has teamed up with Dwango Wireless to being the sale of ringtones. Originally known as the place to download (albeit illegally) free music, Napster is now a fee based subscription service. Wallpapers and other graphics will be sold alongside...
May 09 2005 - 08:17 PM ET | Sony Ericsson
DataViz today announced a version of its popular Documents To Go for top tier Sony Ericsson phones (P800, P900 and P910). Documents To Go allows users to use, edit and create Microsoft Word and Excel files right on a mobile...
Research In Motion today announced that BlackBerry subscribers have passed the 3 million mark. It was just six months ago that BlackBerry topped 2 million and 15 months since one million, making the growth even more impressive. bq. "It's an...
May 08 2005 - 02:40 AM ET | Nokia
The FCC has posted approval documents (FCC ID QURRM-42)for the Nokia N90. The N90 is one of three new NSeries high-end phones that Nokia introduced late last month (see also N70 and N91). The N90 features a high-resolution camera among...
May 08 2005 - 02:24 AM ET | Sony Ericsson
The Sony Ericsson K750i was approved by the FCC late last week (FCC ID PY7A1022011). While US availability has not yet been announced, FCC approval is a good sign that the phone is at least ready to launch globally. Slated...
May 06 2005 - 04:08 PM ET | Smartphone
Microsoft is expected to announce the next version of its mobile phone operating system, Windows Mobile 2005, at the a developers conference next week. The Mobile and Embedded DevCon 2005 takes place May 9-12th at the Mandalay Bay Resort &...
May 06 2005 - 02:00 PM ET | Data
Leading weblog publishing service Blogger has launched a new feature dubbed Blogger Mobile that allows users to post content from mobile phones. Both images and text can be posted to all Blogger powered sites (or by default a new moblog)...
May 06 2005 - 10:46 AM ET | MVNO
Hop-on, best known for making low-cost mobile phones, is starting a US based mobile virtual network operating. Hop-on prepaid is targeting the youth segment, immigrants and travelers. Voice traffic is charged at a flat 15 cents per minute. Hop-on plans...
May 06 2005 - 02:33 AM ET | Kyocera
Kyocera announced today that it will outsource its North American cell phone production to Flextronics International. 1,700 jobs will be lost in the move. bq. Kyocera produces 13 million cellphones a year globally. It will outsource production at U.S. unit...
May 05 2005 - 04:42 PM ET | In The News
Western Europe is on pace to have a 100% mobile phone penetration rate in 2007 according to research firm Analysys. For comparison, the US is expected to have 65% penetration by the end of the year. Many countries already have...
Amazon.com today lowered their price of the Motorola RAZR V3 to just $99 after rebate. Thanks to its slender profile, the RAZR V3 is one of the sought after phones in the US market. The price requires a new service...
Cingular has launched the UTStarcom SMT 5600, a Windows smartphone previously carried by AT&T Wireless. MobileTracker noted in March that the SMT 5600 was under evaluation. Features of the UTStarcom SMT 5600 include: * Windows Mobile * Small size, 4.24"...
May 04 2005 - 07:50 AM ET | Bluetooth
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has tapped ultra-wideband (UWB) for high-speed communications inside of Bluetooth. Though nothing is final yet, the goal is to work towards an architecture that allows devices to take advantage of UWB data rates for scenarios...
May 04 2005 - 07:43 AM ET | Motorola
Siemens reiterated today that investors for the future spin-off of Siemens mobile have not been finalized. This comes after a German newspaper said that Motorola had agreed to buy the unit outright, but changed its mind at the last minute....
May 03 2005 - 05:47 PM ET | Data
In a study on the US wireless industry, research group IDC noted that fourth quarter 2004 US wireless data revenues hit $1.6 billion. That works out to approximately $3 per wireless user per month. Overall data made up 5.8% of...
May 03 2005 - 05:33 PM ET | Cingular
Following on the heels of T-Mobile USA, Cingular Wireless will begin to market its pre-paid mobile service. The company has done very little to sell pre-paid since the AT&T Wireless merger. Cingular will use the AT&T Wireless Go Phone brand...
May 02 2005 - 03:17 PM ET | Nextel
Nextel today announced a major new push-to-talk feature called Group Connect (Nextel was using this name for another service which has now been re-named Talkgroup). Using a Group Connect enabled handset, users can add up to twenty contacts, for a...
May 02 2005 - 03:01 PM ET | MVNO, Rumor
SK-EarthLink, the upcoming 3G mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), is rumored to have a WiFi enabled handset in its future. The phone will function as a normal mobile handset unless in the range of a WiFi hotspot and then it...
May 01 2005 - 04:37 PM ET | Motorola, Nextel
As part of a large product launch today, Nextel has started selling the Motorola i355. The i355 is a ruggedized handset meant for rough use (like the Motorola i530). Features of the i355 include: * All-weather design, meant to be...
May 01 2005 - 04:28 PM ET | Motorola, Nextel
Nextel has launched the Motorola i275, an updated version of the Motorola i265. The update includes a camera, making the i265 the second camera phone from Nextel. Features of the Motorola i275 include: * 128 x 128 pixel 65K color...
May 01 2005 - 04:19 PM ET | Motorola, Nextel
Nextel has launched the Motorola i605, its first phone that includes Bluetooth. Details of the i605 were released by the FCC back in December 2004. Features of the Motorola i605 include: * Bluetooth * 176 x 220 pixel 262K color...
