Wireless Business Forecast articles from April 2005

Wireless Business Forecast archives from April 2005

No Slam Dunk: The MVNO Challenge.(mobile virtual network operator)
April 7, 2005... The business model seems so simple: Lease wireless time from a major carrier at a modest, low-risk-per-subscriber fee. Check. Get a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) to manage the technical, support and fulfillment ends of the business....

Two-Minute TV: Making Pocket Video Work.
April 7, 2005... As we have argued in these pages ad nauseum, if video is going to become a viable mobile medium, it must take greater pains to accommodate the format of small screens and even smaller mobile attention spans. The current line of video on...

WBF Analysis: Sony PSP Opens Up a New Wireless Front.
April 7, 2005... The most important thing about the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) launch last week is not how dazzling the device is (we'll get to that). And it's not that Sony pushed something less than 1 million units of this pricey $249 game device out...

We're Doomed! Gaming Wakes Up To Wireless.
April 7, 2005... For the last few years, the mainstream video-games industry considered mobile gaming an interesting sideshow but not necessarily an act they wanted to bring into the main tent. Aside from THQ Wireless, most major publishers simply licensed...

Another Mobile Search Engine Hits The Airwaves.(4INFO)
April 7, 2005... Yet another mobile search engine went live this month, leaving us wondering how the steady stream of offerings in this genre plan to differentiate themselves, let alone rise above the brand dominance that Google and Yahoo! already carry over...

Spam In Your Pocket.
April 7, 2005... Despite aggressively worded rules from the FCC restricting unsolicited marketing messages to cellphones, the vanguard of U.S. text message users -- college students -- report they are already being spammed regularly. A Ball State University...

Deal Sheet.(Orion Information Services)(Agito Systems ApS)(Broadband Alliance Inc.)(Airpath Wireless)(Illustration)
April 7, 2005... Who's Doing What?: Motorola [MOT], headquartered in Schaumberg, Ill., 847\576- 6000 Still is not releasing its phone that includes iTune software from Apple [AAPL], headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., 408\974-2113 What to Expect Near...

The Big Bump: February Data Usage Starts Its Climb.(consumption data of cellular telephone services)
April 21, 2005... Following a strong previous quarter of handset sales, U.S. mobile customers are starting to exercise the multi-functionality of their advanced phones and get acquainted with the data services carriers have been promoting so aggressively for...

WBF Analysis: Beyond the iPod - Making Phones More Than Music Players.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... This industry has to start thinking outside of the iPod box. The mobile industry is all a-twitter over the prospect of becoming the next big distribution platform for rock entities 50 Cent and Outkast. And it is about to be seduced by the...

Executive Q&A: Peter Adderton On MVNOs And 3G.(mobile virtual network operators)(Interview)
April 21, 2005... If the nascent field of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) can claim any veterans, then Peter Adderton must be one of them. The Australian native led Nextel into the youth MVNO market with its "Boost" brand several years ago, and he...

Is Wireless Better Than Sex?(survey of people about wireless telephones)
April 21, 2005... Well, in Spain and Germany, more than 20 percent of cellphone owners have interrupted the sex act in order to answer their mobile phones. In the United States, where we either take our sex more seriously or just have it less frequently, only...

Can't WiMAX and HSPDA Just Get Along?(launch of Intel PRO/Wireless 5116)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2005... After months of delay that led to much public re-thinking and hand- wringing about the future of WiMAX, Intel finally launched its first standards- based WiMAX chipset, the Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband interface device, based on the...

Google Local For Mobile: Lurching Toward A Search Solution.(product launch by Google Inc.)
April 21, 2005... No one would ever question Google's ingenuity or tech prowess. The company has made its bones with pure technological solutions to problems that previously required human hands, like matching keyword advertising to the actual content on a...

Thumbplay Wants To Be An Immigration Agent.(market share of Thumplay.com)
April 21, 2005... The recently launched Thumbplay mobile-content portal claims it wants to be the largest independent source of games, wallpapers and ringtones for phones at its Thumplay.com site. It is trying to bring to the United States the direct-...

Deal Sheet.(alliances and partnerships between Hewlett-Packard Co. and Infinity Radio)(marketing agreements between Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd.)(acquisition of Macromedia Inc. by Adobe Systems Inc.)(Illustration)
April 21, 2005... Who's Doing What?: Hewlett Packard [HPQ] headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., 866/266-7272 Will provide mobile "Visual Radio" with Infinity Radio [owned by parent company Viacom (VIA)], headquartered in New York City; 212/846-3939 What to...