Today, 7:44 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Today Leap Wireless announced that it will begin offering its Cricket wireless services, including 3G, in the greater Philadelphia region starting March 10. Cricket's coverage will include downtown Philadelphia, its suburbs, as well as across portions of southern New Jersey extending out to Atlantic City and down to Wilmington, Delaware. The expansion adds 6.3 million POPs to increase Cricket's total POPs to 83.8 million. Cricket expects to add about 1,450 new jobs in the new market.
Friday, 8:55 AM by Eric M. Zeman updated Friday, 1:00 PM
Clearwire recently reported its quarterly earnings and in the report shared some details about its future mobile WiMax roll-outs. By the end of 2009, Clearwire expects to launch in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia and Seattle and others. It also has major markets lined up for launch in 2010, including New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston and San Francisco. Clearwire said that it expects to have close to 100 WiMax devices in the market by the end of 2009 to support its networks. Those devices will include modems, PDAs/handhelds, netbooks, and laptops. Clearwire also plans to launch a dual-mode 3G/4G modem that can roam between cellular networks and WiMax networks.
Thursday, 4:20 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Nokia issued a statement regarding the 5800 XpressMusic NAM variant. The statement reads, in part, "Following the introduction of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in North America, some consumers reported difficulties connecting with the local 3G network... We have concluded this was an isolated situation related to a configuration change in the North American variant. We have now adjusted the configuration and will resume sales shortly." Nokia said that anyone who bought a 5800 NAM and is experiencing trouble should contact Nokia Customer Care.
Thursday, 12:00 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Today Skyfire announced a new partnership with Unstream.tv, which will allow Windows Mobile and Symbian phones to stream live video through their browsers. Skyfire supports both Flash 10 and Silverlight, which lets it play video. Ustream.tv is able to deliver streamed video content, including TV, videos, radio programming and more to mobile phones. Ustream will be automatically added to Skyfire's list of bookmarks.
Thursday, 9:45 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Alltel Wireless announced that the Palm Treo Pro is available online and in its retail stores starting today. The Treo Pro supports EV-DO Rev. A data speeds, has Wi-Fi for data, and GPS for location services. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1, and will come with mobile Internet Explorer 6. Pricing was not immediately available.
Thursday, 9:00 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Speaking at a conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that the company will do better at getting Windows Mobile products and updates to market sooner. Responding to a question about the wave of competing devices such as the iPhone and G1, Ballmer said, "There are opportunities for us to accelerate our execution in this area. We've done a lot of work to make sure we have a team that will be able to accelerate it." Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.5 earlier this year and plans to have it in the market by the end of 2009. It also confirmed that Windows Mobile 7 will be available some time in 2010.
Thursday, 8:38 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World opened to developers late yesterday, and with the opening came more information of how the application storefront will work. According to RIM, new applications can only be written for BlackBerry OS 4.2.0 and higher. Other minimum requirements include that the BlackBerry apps be written for devices using either a trackball or SurePress. This means older BlackBerries with trackwheels, such as the 7000 series of devices, won't be supported. In order to download App World to a BlackBerry, users must have a PayPal account, which will be used to bill for applications. Developers can offer applications for free, but paid applications start at $2.99 and range up to a maximum of $9.99. BlackBerry themes will not be allowed in App World. App World will initially launch in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

Thursday, 8:17 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Today Cricket announced that it is adding the Samsung SCH-r211 to its roster of bar-style devices. The r211 is a small phone that has a simple feature set, including speakerphone, web access, messaging, and game and ringtone downloads. Because the r211 supports AWS, it will work in all of Cricket's markets. It costs $90 and is available immediately.
Thursday, 8:02 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Speaking in an industry event, James Harper, senior manager of technology marketing at Nokia, said that the company is moving forward with Long Term Evolution as its preferred radio technology. Nokia will have LTE-enabled devices in the market by 2010, in conjunction with the first wave of LTE networks that are set to go live in that time frame. Harper did not expand on exactly what types of devices it would make.
Wednesday, 2:56 PM by Eric M. Zeman updated Wednesday, 3:17 PM
AT&T Mobility and the Communication Workers of America have come to a tentative agreement about terms for a new contract. The terms of the deal include an 8.8% increase in pay over the course of the contract, a $500 bonus, and a minimum $1000 monthly commission for sales consultants (given a certain level of sales performance). The contract will last for four years and blankets some 20,000 AT&T workers.
Wednesday, 2:36 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Research In Motion has officially named its BlackBerry application store "BlackBerry App World." Consumers can sign up to receive notifications about the site's launch, which is expected in the near future.
Wednesday, 10:02 AM by Eric M. Zeman
According to the Official Palm Blog, the Treo Pro will be available on the Sprint network beginning March 15. The Treo Pro runs Windows Mobile 6.1, has a full QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen, GPS, Wi-Fi, and will be the first Palm phone to offer Internet Explorer Mobile 6. It will cost $200 after rebates with new agreement.
Wednesday, 8:46 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Amazon has released a free application via the iPhone Apps Store that duplicates some of the functionality of its Kindle e-reader device. With the application, users will be able to search and shop for e-books, download them via PC or over the air, and sync between computers, Kindles, iPhones and iPod Touches. The software allows users to adjust the font and text size, add bookmarks, add notes, and Amazon allows users to read the first chapter of any book before they choose to buy it. Most books cost $10.
Mar 3, 2009, 4:14 PM by Eric M. Zeman
President Barack Obama has nominated Julius Genachowski to be the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Genachowski had previously been listed by Obama as a potential nominee. Once approved by Congress, Genachowski will take the reigns from acting chairman, Michael Copps. Obama will also have to nominate a republican to replace former commissioner Deborah Taylor, who left the FCC in December.
Mar 3, 2009, 1:53 PM by Eric M. Zeman
According to GigaOm, MetroPCS is planning to deploy its future generation Long Term Evolution network some time during 2010. MetroPCS COO Tom Keys told GigaOm, "It is our desire to deploy LTE in 2010, probably the latter half." MetroPCS operates a CDMA network in about a dozen markets right now using its AWS and PCS spectrum holdings. Keys believes MetroPCS' small size will help it to deploy LTE rapidly once it is ready.
Mar 3, 2009, 1:36 PM by Eric M. Zeman
The National Association of Broadcasters and the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV) have sued the Federal Communications Commission over its plan to permit use of unlicensed devices to send/receive broadcasts in white space spectrum. The NAB and MSTV contend that using the white spaces for such purposes will interfere with neighboring spectrum and disrupt television broadcasts. The groups are seeking to reverse the FCC's decision and prevent the use of white space spectrum. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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