Ontela, which provides a photo-transferring service to wireless operators, announced today it is merging with online photo site Photobucket.com. The newly combined company will adopt the Photobucket name, as well as the company’s 22 million US-based users and will continue to market the Ontela software through carriers. (more…)
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Archive for the ‘Wireless’ Category
Ontela merges photo-transfer service with Photobucket
by Sarah ReedyDecember 16th, 2009
No Comments Related Topics: All Stories, Mobile Apps, Wireless |
Nuance signs up Samsung for mobile care, XT9
by Sarah ReedyDecember 16th, 2009
Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) today inked a deal with Samsung Electronics to embed its on-device self-service software, Nuance Mobile Care, in select mobile phones. The relationship builds on one announced earlier this week to bring Nuance’s XT9 predicative text service to Samsung’s mobile phones. (more…)
No Comments Related Topics: All Stories, Mobile Apps, Service Delivery, Wireless |
Allied Wireless hiring at new Little Rock HQ
by Ed GubbinsDecember 15th, 2009
Allied Wireless, a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Atlantic Tele-Network (NASDAQ:ATNI), is building a new headquarters in Little Rock, Ark., the company announced today along with plans to hire 200 to 250 workers at the new location.
Allied was created to operate wireless assets acquired by Atlantic that had been divested as part of Verizon Wireless’s acquisition of Alltel. Atlantic had previously hinted that it might choose Little Rock to set up its new base of operations, in part because hundreds of layoffs following Verizon’s acquisition have left a ready pool of available talent there.
In September, 13-year Alltel veteran Frank O’Mara was named to lead the acquired business, which includes 800,000 subscribers in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Idaho.
No Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, IMS, Independent, LTE, Mobile Apps, Telecom Jobs, Wireless |
Swype adds Nokia, Samsung to investor list
by Sarah ReedyDecember 15th, 2009
Start-up Swype has made no secret that its goal is to take-over text input for all mobile phones, and it appears to be one step closer. The company, whose technology relies on quick tracing motions on touchscreen phones, today announced it has secured $5.6 million in series B funding, including from world’s largest handset maker Nokia (NYSE:NOK). (more…)
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AT&T, Verizon both gained from 3G ad war
by Ed GubbinsDecember 14th, 2009
AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) appear to have both benefitted from the recent internecine ad campaign in which the two bickered over whose 3G wireless coverage was superior — though Verizon may have gained more than its rival.
According to a survey released today by YouGov Brand Index, Verizon Wireless’ brand awareness among adults 18 to 34 shot from 37.1% in early November to 62.2% in early December. AT&T’s awareness in the same group rose from 41.2% to 54.5% in that time. Toward the end of November, as the holiday shopping season kicked into full swing, Verizon Wireless had surpassed AT&T in terms of awareness.
That mutual benefit is fortunate for the two companies, since the war brought attention to weaknesses in both of their offerings and underscored the limits of today’s 3G networks. But it also may encourage the two to try to repeat the phenomenon. We haven’t seen the last of Luke Wilson.
1 Comment Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), IMS, LTE, Mobile Apps, WiMAX, Wireless |
US still waiting as first LTE network lands in Sweden
by Sarah ReedyDecember 14th, 2009
Just a few weeks after Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) finished its 2009 WiMax rollout, competing 4G technology long-term evolution (LTE) landed its first network – in Sweden. TeliaSonera launched in two cities – the first LTE launches ever – today, promising wireless download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. The wireless operator used equipment from Ericsson and Huawei to roll out the service in Stockholm and Olso, respectively. (more…)
No Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, Global, IP/NGN, LTE, WiMAX, Wireless |
Study: Backhaul radio spend down in Q3
by Kevin FitchardDecember 11th, 2009
Operators are supposed to be busting up their piggy banks to upgrade their backhaul networks in anticipation of increased 3G and eventual 4G data traffic, but a new study from Infonetics shows that one of the key backhaul equipment sectors, microwave radios, was down 8% in the third quarter. The global microwave market brought in $1.4 billion, half of which went to Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and NEC, according to Infonetics. (more…)
No Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, Global, LTE, Wireless |
Video–A little bit of (twisted) LTE humor
by Kevin FitchardDecember 11th, 2009
For those of you have been following the VoLGA issue, here’s a video that might amuse–or offend–you. The debate over how exactly to extend bread-and-butter voice and SMS services over the all-IP data network is becoming contentious. On one side are the advocates of IP multimedia subsystem (IMS)-based solutions and on the other are those that favor a more generic solution, utilizing operators existing 2G and 3G circuit-switched infrastructure. Even within those camps there are some big disagreements.
Who says engineers don’t have a sense of humor?
No Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, Global, IMS, Service Delivery, Wireless |
Prepaid reaches the high, low ends
by Sarah ReedyDecember 10th, 2009
Prepaid wireless users are no longer relegated to out-of-date flip phones or the bricks that once symbolized the contract-free market. More and more sophisticated handsets are being introduced by carriers and being embraced by younger text- and Web-oriented wireless customers, according to New Millennium Research (NMRC). (more…)
5 Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, Mobile Apps, Wireless |
Sprint prepaid guru taking over 4G business
by Kevin FitchardDecember 10th, 2009
Matt Carter, the brains behind Boost Mobile’s $50 unlimited plan, is moving from prepaid to Sprint’s WiMax group, where he will take on the newly reinstated title of President of 4G. After Sprint (NYSE:S) acquired prepaid MVNO Virgin Mobile last month, Virgin CEO took Dan Schulman took over all prepaid operations, but Sprint has found a new task for Carter: performing the same black magic that revitalized Boost and launched the ‘unlimited wars’ in the US on Sprint’s newest business division, 4G.
Carter is stepping into shows that were originally filled by Barry West, Sprint’s former chief technology and President of 4G, who left for Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) after the two companies’ merger of WiMax assets last year. After the divestiture, Sprint became the controlling stakeholder in Clearwire and began to offer service over its WiMax service as a MVNO. While Clearwire was still in few markets, Sprint kept the 4G President role vacant, turning over 4G operations to vice president of mobile broadband Todd Rowley. But with Clearwire expanding its footprint to 20+ markets, covering 30 million pops, this winter, Sprint appears to be renewing its efforts in WiMax, bulking up its local and nationwide ad campaigns and reinstating the 4G President’s role.
“Matt Carter has led Boost Mobile prepaid service to unprecedented growth in the last year, and he has the executive and marketing skills to maximize Sprint’s industry leadership in 4G,” Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said in a statement.
No Comments Related Topics: 3G/4G, All Stories, IP/NGN, Residential Services, WiMAX, Wireless |