Apr 29 2006 - 02:14 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Disney Mobile hasn't officially launched in the US yet, but the company is already planning an expansion into the UK. Disney teamed up with O2 to provide network coverage in the UK, Sprint Nextel provides the coverage for Disney...
Sprint Nextel has set May 17th as the date for its wireline business spinoff. The new company will be called Embarq. Sprint is exiting the wireline business to concentrate on its wireless efforts. Embarq will trade on the New...
Motorola is busy prepping some new Motorola models according to a product memo passed along to MobileTracker. Motorola's color theme continues, with the launch of two more colored handsets (a pink SLVR and blue RAZR). The Silver SLVR L6 will...
Sprint Nextel launched the LG LX350 on its PCS network. The LX350 is a mid tier handset, but still manages to do so with a sub-$100 price point. Features of the LX350 include: 128×160 65k color LCD (internal) 96×64 65k...
Sprint Nextel announced Text to Landline, a clever service that allows Sprint customers to SMS any landline phone in the US. The text message is converted into a voice message which gets played back for the reciepient. At that point...
Apr 25 2006 - 12:14 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia today announced the N72, a handset quite similar to the N70 but designed for GSM/EDGE networks. Taking a page out of Motorola's play book, the N72 comes in two color schemes, black or pink. Features of the Nokia N72:...
Apr 25 2006 - 12:06 PM ET | Nokia
As part of a European phone launched, Nokia today announced the N73. It's an update to the popular N70. With the updated features it's much more of an imaging phone and Nokia is calling it, "The Ultimate Challenge to the...
Apr 25 2006 - 11:56 AM ET | Nokia
As expected, Nokia today announced the N93. Because of their technical abilities, Nokia is calling its N-Series devices "multimedia computers" instead of the more typical mobile handset. The N93 is an update to the N90, the first N-Series device to...
Apr 24 2006 - 04:11 PM ET | Backpage
Fox Broadcasting has inked a sponsorship deal with Toyota that will have the car maker being the primary advertiser for episodes of Prison Break set to air on mobile phones. While full length episodes of Prison Break will not be...
Apr 24 2006 - 02:38 PM ET | 3G
Aloha Partners announced a new subsidiary called Hiwire that will join several other US firms looking to provide live broadcast TV to mobile phones. Hiwire will compete most directly with Qualcomm's MediaFLO and Crown Castle's Modeo. All three companies...
UPDATE: The Sidekick 3 has been officially announced. The T-Mobile Sidekick III has been approved by the FCC, somewhat confirming speculation that the hotly anticipated device will launch this Summer. While exclusively marketed in the US as the Sidekick, the...
Apr 21 2006 - 01:29 PM ET | Backpage
Tomorrow is Earth Day and several firms have sent out announcements to encourage consumers to recycle an old mobile phone. There are various ways to recycle phones, the easiest of which is to drop them off with a participating carrier....
Apr 21 2006 - 01:04 PM ET | Nokia, Rumor
Nokia is preparing to announce new N-Series models at an event in Berlin on Tuesday. Among the announcements expected is the Nokia N73, an update to the popular N70. We also expect the N93 to make a debut. Information about...
The FCC has posted approval documents (ID BEJCU500 for the LG CU500, a 3G handset that is heading to Cingular later this year. Unfortunately the filing doesn't note if the CU500 uses UMTS or HSDPA (Cingular is bringing out phones...
Apr 21 2006 - 09:12 AM ET | Motorola, Unique
Motorola has patented a novel approach at getting your attention--a mild electric shock. Unlike vibration alert systems that are standard today, the new Motorola shock technology is completely silent. A small pad that contains electrodes is fastened to the...
The FCC has signed off on the Motorola Q, perhaps finally signaling a launch for the delayed handset. Originally slated for a Q1 release, the Q is set to debut exclusively with Verizon Wireless. No new details were in the...
Amazon.com will transition its mobile phone sales to go through Inphonic, the largest online dealer of mobile phones. This is a rare move for Amazon, a company that is more used to having other companies outsource their web store...
Apr 20 2006 - 11:26 AM ET | In The News
Sales of mobile phones worldwide grew 26% in the first quarter of 2006 when compared to the same period last year. An estimated 226.7 million handsets were sold during the quarter according to research firm IDC. Even with the big...
Samsung announced the world's largest MMCmicro card this morning. At an impressive 2GB, the fingernail sized chip is designed expressly for mobile phones. MMCmicro is a competitor to microSD, but lags somewhat behind--a 2GB microSD chip has already been...
T-Mobile USA Today has launched the BlackBerry 8700g, which is identical to the 8700c that Cingular launched back in November. The BlackBerry 8700 series is the latest line from Research In Motion and sports the conventional QWERTY keyboard seen on...
Apr 19 2006 - 11:28 AM ET | Motorola
Motorola reported its first quarter 2006 earnings statement yesterday. Once again the handset maker was able to increase its marketshare, this time almost 5 percentage points. The RAZR continues to be a hot seller, but the company didn't break...
Apr 19 2006 - 11:18 AM ET | Cingular
Cingular Wireless reported its first quarter earnings statement this morning. Gross additions were flat year-over-year, but churn was at its lowest rate ever which helped increase net additions. Cingular remains the largest carrier in the nation with 55.8 million...
As part of its sponsorship of the NFL, Sprint Nextel will broadcast the 2006 NFL draft to Sprint TV subscribers. This is the first time that the draft has been broadcast live to mobile phones. It takes place April...
Spint Nextel has launched Nick Mobile on its Sprint TV service. The kid-themed channel will feature content from several popular Nickelodeon programs, including SpongeBob SquarePants, The Backyardigans, Unfabulous and Dora the Explorer. Like other on demand Sprint TV content, the...
According to the New York Times, NTP was able to effectively silence an inventor named Geoff Goodfellow who dabbled in wireless email 10-years before NTP's patents were filed. The small patent holding firm recently received a $600 million settlement from...
Apr 17 2006 - 09:27 AM ET | Motorola
Motorola's second revision of the ROKR phone has been approved by the FCC. Interestingly one of the documents posted on the FCC's website hints that the ROKR E2 may sport iTunes afterall. When it was announced, Motorola said the E2...
The Samsung A990 has been approved by the FCC (ID #A3LSCHA990) and is on track for a debut from Verizon Wireless. The A990 is set to be the flagship 3G phone from the carrier. Features of the Samsung A990...
Apr 16 2006 - 12:05 PM ET | Samsung
Samsung was awarded a patent for technology to power a virtual screen. The illustration given in the patent application shows a mobile phone standing on end projecting a user interface on the ground. An electronic pen is then used...
Apr 13 2006 - 02:12 PM ET | Backpage, MVNO
Youth-centric MVNO Amp'd Mobile has closed a $150 million C-round of venture capital financing. This brings the total amount invested in Amp'd to over $250 million. Not only is the sum substantial for a mobile virtual network operator, but this...
Apr 13 2006 - 10:16 AM ET | MVNO
Upstart MVNO Helio today announced a partnership with Yahoo that will ensure Yahoo's suite of web services will be integrated into Helio's platform. The Yahoo services covered include Search, Mail, Messenger, News and Sports. Helio is the joint partnership between...
Apr 13 2006 - 10:05 AM ET | Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel launched another new location based service (LBS), Family Locator. As the name suggests, Sprint Family Locator is designed to let families keep tabs on eachothers whereabouts. With the new service parents can use either a phone or PC...
Apr 13 2006 - 09:57 AM ET | Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson had a strong first quarter based on increased sales of its Walkman series of phones. Pre-tax income of Euro 151 million was a 115% increase on a year-on-year basis. Important metrics from the release: Revenue of Euro 1,992...
Apr 11 2006 - 04:36 PM ET | Unique
Google was granted a patent (# 7,027,987) today that covers converting voice to search queries. While there is not currently a mobile version of the technology (see desktop based demo), it seems like a natural extension. Google's technology converts...
Apr 11 2006 - 04:29 PM ET | Backpage
Mobile content now has an Emmy. The academy added a category for, "Outstanding original programming for computers, cellphones and other hand-held devices, including the video iPod." The winner will be announced on April 22. Among the nominees is Fox...
Apr 11 2006 - 01:45 PM ET | Backpage, Nokia
Nokia beat both internal and analyst estimates for the average handset price in Q1. The average selling price (ASP) per handset was $124.80 while estimates topped out at $122.25. It's the highest average price over the past three quarters....
Virgin Mobile USA today announced that it will launch the Kyocera Switch_Back. Prior to today's announcement the Switch_Back was known as the Strobe (we caught up with it for the first time at CES this year). The Switch_Back is Virgin...
Despite Sprint's vow to slow down the rate of new MVNO agreements, the top cable companies in the US are all set to launch self-branded mobile service on the Sprint Nextel network. The deal was originally announced back in November...
Apr 10 2006 - 03:41 PM ET | CTIA, Smartphone
CTIA 2006 -- Mobile TV upstart Modeo was showing off a self-branded Windows Mobile handset that sports DVB-H (the mobile TV standard supported by Modeo). The device was designed by HTC and is "production ready". Physically it's about exactly the...
Apr 10 2006 - 02:23 PM ET | Backpage
The Nepalese government shut down its mobile phone network in order to curb pro-democracy protests. Mobile phones are the primary mode of communication in the country and are the preferred way to organize protests. In addition to shutting down...
Apr 07 2006 - 01:25 PM ET | Sony Ericsson
More picture love this morning, check out our new Sony Ericsson CTIA gallery. With two minor phone introductions, Sony Ericsson didn't exactly wow the crowd, but we also snapped some pictures of some of their other models that will...
Apr 07 2006 - 09:55 AM ET | Nokia
We just posted a gallery of Nokia's new releases from CTIA. Included are shots of Nokia's 2365i, 2865i, 6175i (all CDMA devices) and 6126 (GSM). The 6126 was our favorite, thanks to a great screen and impressive feature set...
Apr 07 2006 - 12:18 AM ET | 3G, Backpage, Rumor
Texas Instruments, NEC and Matsushita are in discussions to merge 3G operations to cut costs. Reuters reports: A source close to the talks said the five companies are aiming to set up a joint venture to develop microchips and software...
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola is showing off its Follow Me TV technology that allows users of Motorola set top boxes to shift around their recorded TV content. TV programs can be transfered to mobile handsets, such as the RAZR V3x....
Apr 06 2006 - 11:17 PM ET | CTIA, MVNO
CTIA 2006 -- GreatCall is a new MVNO that will cater its services primarily to older users that want simple voice service. Several carriers are targeting young people, but this is the first to make seniors its focus. At launch...
Research In Motion today announced its first quarterly earnings report since settling with NTP. The company was profitable, but lowered its outlook for future quarters. Much of the $600 million that was paid to NTP was already in an...
CTIA 2006 -- Cingular Wireless joined forces with MySpace to allow indie bands turn their music into ringtones. Besides having over 60 million members, MySpace also hosts homepages for hundreds of thousands of bands (both indie and signed). Specific...
Apr 06 2006 - 01:06 PM ET | Backpage, Data
Opera Software revealed some of the usage behind its new Opera Mini browser today. Because the software works through a proxy server run by Opera Software, it's possibly to accurately assess usage. Opera Mini uses are generating between 38-76...
CTIA 2006 -- A Sprint Nextel executive said during a discussion this morning that his company doesn't expect to add many new mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the near future. Currently Sprint is the leading US carrier for...
Apr 06 2006 - 12:41 PM ET | Backpage
Wiki hosting provider Socialtext announced a new mobile wiki product dubbed Miki. While there is nothing inherently unmobile about normal wikis, Miki provides a streamlined XHTML interface that makes it easier for the limited browsers most mobile devices have....
CTIA 2006 -- Sprint Nextel announced this morning that the Sprint Music Store has now reached 2 million downloads. The service launched in late October and reached one million downloads in February. But Sprint hasn't announced how many of...
CTIA 2006 -- Verizon Wireless today announced a barrage of new content for its V Cast service. The content comes from several new partners and will be available to existing and new subscribers for no additional cost. The O.C...
Apr 05 2006 - 06:07 PM ET | CTIA, Samsung
CTIA 2006 -- In addition to slick new GSM handsets like the t719 and t509, Samsung announced a CDMA clamshell dubbed the a960. One unusual aspect of the a960 is the external face of the phone sports an off center...
Apr 05 2006 - 01:09 PM ET | CTIA, MVNO
CTIA 2006 -- Disney finally unveiled its plans for Disney Mobile, a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that will market itself towards parents that want to keep better track of their kids. Unlike some other kid-targeted handsets that focus on...
CTIA 2006 -- Possibly the most interesting new handset shown off so far at CTIA is the Samsung t719. At first glance it looks like a normal clamshell, but when you open the handset you'll see a hybrid QWERTY keyboard...
Apr 05 2006 - 12:47 PM ET | CTIA, Samsung
CTIA 2006 -- Samsung introduced its answer to Motorola's slim SLVR by announcing the t509. At just 9.8mm thick, the t509 qualifies as the thinnest handset for the US market. It's not as thin as the EV-K100 in Korea (7.9mm),...
CTIA 2006 -- UTStarcom unveiled its new flagship low-end phone for North America, the CDM7025. The handset has been approved for launch by Sprint and should be OK'd by Verizon Wireless shortly. Features are light, but that's the idea:...
CTIA 2006 -- Verizon Wireless announced a partnership with Adobe that will see Flash technology built into many upcoming handsets. The carrier has plans to develop a whole Flash ecosystem that will, "allow developers to create new interactive mobile...
Apr 05 2006 - 09:49 AM ET | CTIA
CTIA 2006 -- Leading mobile speech-to-text software vendor VoiceSignal has announced VoiceMode 2.0 which it claims is the industry's first continuous dictation solution. VoiceMode 1.0 was revolutionary but pauses had to be put inbetween words for the software to...
CTIA 2006 --UTStarcom unveiled a mid-tier flip phone this morning dubbed the CDM7075. While it only features a VGA camera, the CDM7075 is being touted as an imaging phone that will change people's mind's about using a camera phone. Features...
CTIA 2006 -- Mobile ESPN is about to get a big boost, the company just announced an agreement with Sprint that will give the MVNO space in 500 bricks-and-mortar Sprint stores. Mobile ESPN uses the Sprint network, but until...
Apr 05 2006 - 08:00 AM ET | CTIA, Nokia
CTIA 2006 -- Nokia this morning unveiled the 6126, an Americanized version of the 6131 which was announced earlier this year at 3GSM World Congress. Despite the number of features in the 6126, it's a Series 40 handset and does...
Apr 05 2006 - 08:00 AM ET | CTIA, Nokia
CTIA 2006 -- As part of an introduction of three CDMA handsets, Nokia announced the 6175i this morning. As a CDMA clamshell style handet, the 6175i is a rare combo from GSM/candybar heavy Nokia. Features of the Nokia 6175i include:...
Apr 05 2006 - 08:00 AM ET | CTIA, Nokia
CTIA 2006 -- The Nokia 2865i is one of three new CDMA handsets Nokia announced this morning (see 6175i and 2365i for info on the others). The Series 40 handset falls in the mid-range, and includes the following features: Bluetooth...
Apr 05 2006 - 08:00 AM ET | CTIA, Nokia
CTIA 2006 -- Nokia revealed a trio of new CDMA handsets this morning, including the 2365i. The 2365i is fairly entry-level, but with some features that differentiate it from the budget phone crowd. It's also another clamshell style handset from...
Apr 05 2006 - 04:12 AM ET | CTIA
In case you hadn't already noticed by the surge of new content, we're busy covering CTIA Wireless 2006. Check out our special event coverage page for links to all the new content on one page, because at the pace we're...
Yahoo! teamed up with Research In Motion to bring several of Yahoo's mobile products to the millions of BlackBerry users. Those products specifically include Yahoo! Go for Mobile, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger. BlackBerry owners can activate the...
CTIA 2006 -- Rocket Mobile's Song IDentity application has been upgraded to version 2.0. The app should be available to Verizon Wireless subscribers soon. Song IDentity allows customers to identify songs playing from any music source (such as a...
CTIA 2006 -- Verizon Wireless today announced that its V Cast music download service now totals over 1 million songs, up from about 500,000 a few months ago. According to the company that makes it the largest mobile music...
CTIA 2006 -- MediaFLO parent Qualcomm today announced that it has city-wide coverage of Las Vegas for its mobile TV network. Because of the live network around the city, live demos will be possible at CTIA. Devices will be...
Apr 04 2006 - 05:01 PM ET | CTIA, Motorola
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola announced a new iDEN handset this afternoon, the i580. iDEN is the network technology that Nextel currently uses, but will be switching from as it furthers integration with Sprint. The i580 is built to take...
Motorola has teamed up with leading online mobile phone dealer Inphonic to create a Motorola branded "Online store-in-store." The expanded collection of Motorola products should reach 20 million online visitors monthly. These new online stores will allow Motorola to...
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola continued its trend of releasing already existing handsets in new color schemes with the launch of three new colored RAZR V3i models. Features stay the same as the original, but the outside now comes in dark...
Apr 04 2006 - 04:22 PM ET | 3G, CTIA, Data
CTIA 2006 -- Current third-party Mobile TV leader MobiTV has surpassed the million subscriber milestone. The numbers weren't broken down by geographic area, so it's hard to tell how many of these subscribers are in the US (MobiTV's service...
UK based cable operator NTL has agreed to acquire Virgin Mobile UK for $1.68 billion. Rumors of a deal between the two companies have been making the rounds for months, with Virgin initially rejecting the idea of a buyout....
Apr 04 2006 - 12:27 PM ET | CTIA, Motorola
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola has expanded its smash hit RAZR line with today's introduction of the RAZR V3m. It's a music savvy upgrade to the RAZR V3c, the CDMA version that is carried by Verizon Wireless. No word on if...
Apr 04 2006 - 12:23 PM ET | CTIA, Motorola
CTIA 2006 -- Motorola today introduced a new entry-level CDMA handset, the W315. The handset features a shape somewhat similar to the PEBL, albeit with an external antenna. Features of the new Motorola W315 include: 1.8" 128×160 65K CSTN screen...
CTIA 2006 -- Sony Ericsson has announced the Z525, a minor update to the popular Z520. The Z525's feature set mirrors that of the Z520 with the addition of push-to-talk. Sony Ericsson didn't note what type of PTT technology the...
CTIA 2006 -- Sony Ericsson debuted the W700i this morning as part of the first series of CTIA announcements. The W700i is Sony Ericsson's 8th Walkman branded handset and is very close in features to the W800i [read our review]....
Apr 03 2006 - 10:47 AM ET | Nokia
Nokia went on record about the shipping delays its had with six handsets: N91, N71, N80, E60, E61 and E71. While all the phones have been announced and supposed to be shipping, the mobile phone giant has encountered software...
Verizon Communications and Motorola both announced sales of business units this morning. The moves should allow both companies to focus on their core strengths: for Verizon that means the US industry and wireless while Motorola is looking to focus...
Sprint Nextel launched its first Motorola branded PCS phone in quite some time, the Motorola C290. The last Motorola phone Sprint PCS carried was the V60v back in 2004. It remains to be seen if this add could mean Sprint...
Apr 03 2006 - 10:12 AM ET | Backpage, Data
Traffic.com announced new mobile versions of its real-time traffic information service. Traffic teamed up with Air2Web to create WAP and SMS versions of its update service: Using push and pull messaging, drivers can receive traffic summaries and alerts of...
Apr 03 2006 - 10:06 AM ET | Data
AOL has announced a new mobile browsing service that reformats websites to appear better on mobile devices. This is similar to a service from Google and a handful of independent sites. These types of services have caught some flack...
Apr 03 2006 - 12:37 AM ET | Backpage
LivePlanet announced a multiplayer game called PhoneTag that will be launched exclusively on Amp'd Mobile. PhoneTag will incorporate location based mapping and messaging: Players must "capture" an assigned target by getting within a predetermined range of it, while avoiding...
According to Reuters, MapQuest Navigator is a new location based service for select US mobile phones that promises point-to-point navigation with voice direction and mapping. MapQuest is a unit of AOL and operates one of the leading internet based...
Apr 03 2006 - 12:23 AM ET | Cingular
Cingular has started the launch of Motorola's SLVR L6 handset, a more entry-level version of the SLVR L7 that was launched earlier this year. Radio Shack currently has an exclusive on the device and we're not sure when it will...
Apr 02 2006 - 05:20 PM ET | Palm, Smartphone
Palm revealed over the weekend that its Treo 700w smartphone does not properly deal with Daylight Saving Time. Clocks advanced an hour this morning and while the Treo 700w automatically picked up on the change, appointments in the calendar...
