Motorola’s RAZR was arguably the most iconic feature phone, and its Droid, the first Android phone on the Verizon network, helped to ignite the popularity of the platform. Verizon made headlines for selling 250,000 units in the phone’s first week of availability and 1.05 million in its first 74 days (an awkward measure, but the amount of time it took Apple to sell its first million iPhones). Read the rest of this entry »
Unfiltered
Frank discussion with telecom's most experienced editors
Clearwire preps for future with changes to board and biz model
In the wake of Clearwire’s topsy turvy row and reconciliation with parent Sprint, the WiMAX operator is making some big changes. Last week, an SEC filing revealed that director Ben Wolff has resigned, making him the latest member of Clearwire’s original management team to depart. Today Clearwire revealed to DSLReports that it is simplifying its mobile broadband pricing structure, eliminating contract plans entirely and charging a simple prepaid flat rate of $50 a month for its WiMAX to all new customers. Read the rest of this entry »
Consumer group unhappy with Universal Service reforms
Although most telecom industry stakeholders found something to like in the FCC’s plan to transition today’s Universal Service program into a broadband-focused fund (CP: Carriers see good and bad in Universal Service reform order), a key consumer group was considerably less positive. Read the rest of this entry »
Towerstream grows its California network with Color Broadband buy
Towerstream is about to get a lot bigger in Southern California. The metro wireless ISP is buying Color Broadband, a competing fixed wireless WiMAX provider in Los Angeles and Orange County. Towerstream didn’t disclose the financials of the deal, but operationally the acquisition gives the WISP much more visibility (both figuratively and literally) in one of its most important markets. Read the rest of this entry »
Google TV, right on the second take?
“The initial version of Google TV wasn’t perfect, but launching it gave us the opportunity to learn,” Googlers Mario Queiroz and Dureau blogged recently, announcing the arrival of a major software update that Google hopes will cause consumers to reconsider its play for the living room’s big screen (CP: Get ready for Google TV, take two). Read the rest of this entry »
Report: Active Ethernet gaining in popularity
Nearly 600 independent telcos nationwide have deployed fiber to the home, according to a new report published in the October Broadband Communities Magazine—and although GPON continues to be the dominant technology used in these networks, the report shows that active Ethernet is making gains. Read the rest of this entry »
Femto Forum working on Wi-Fi offload–that’s right, the Femto Forum
The Femto Forum is quite the busy when it comes to standards, always trying to get its technologies incorporated into whatever release the 3GPP happens to working on. Its latest standardization work is somewhat bizarre for on organization dedicated to promulgating femto and small cell technology. The Forum is developing carrier Wi-Fi offload technologies. Read the rest of this entry »
Good news for OSS/BSS: New smartphone leader Samsung gets cross-domain services
Samsung’s move ahead of Apple (CP: Samsung beats Apple for number one spot, says report) as the top smartphone manufacturer is good for OSS/BSS. That’s because when it comes to services that inherently operate across devices, Samsung gets it. Users with Samsung HDTVs, Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets can stream media from device to device today without requiring add-on hardware. In the Apple world, extra bits like an Airport and Apple TV are necessary. Read the rest of this entry »
Siri’s career plans include TV (and cars?)
Just as the world is getting comfortable acquainting Siri with the Apple iPhone — setting up meetings hands free and settling the matter of how much wood a woodchuck could chuck, among other important questions — we’ve learned she has a new career ahead of her. Read the rest of this entry »
Mohu: Time Warner Cable said no to ‘OTT antenna’ ad
Mohu, manufacturer of an antenna designed for picking up over-the-air HDTV broadcasts, issued a press release yesterday to say that Time Warner Cable has refused to air its commercials, which state that viewers “do not need cable.” Read the rest of this entry »