By Roy Choi |
Outgoing Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski appeared at a Bloomberg Washington Summit Tuesday morning. At the Summit, Genachowski warned of allowing AT&T and Verizon to dominate the wireless industry would be a “very bad thing for our innovation economy.” Genachowski, announced last month his decision…
By Todd Haselton |
Uber denied on Tuesday that it’s raising money that could value the company at $1 billion. The funding news was first reported by Reuters, which said that it would be one of just a few recent startups to receive that sort of valuation. Right after that…
By Todd Haselton |
T-Mobile is reportedly preparing to close its acquisition of MetroPCS on Tuesday. The Associated Press said that the deal is expected to be finalized after the bell. The deal will provide T-Mobile USA with much needed spectrum as it continues to build out its brand new 4G…
By Todd Haselton |
SoftBank is standing by its $20 billion offer to acquire 70 percent of Sprint and believes that the bid is better than Dish Network’s $25.5 billion offer. Speaking during a press conference recently, SoftBank president Masayoshi Son said Dish isn’t as prepared to invest in…
By Todd Haselton |
Android-powered smartphones are now being used to collect payments for transit tickets in Kenya, according to NFCBrief. Kenyans can purchase a payment card, called BebaPay, and will simply be able to tap the card to an NFC-enabled Android smartphone carried by a conductor in order to…
By Todd Haselton |
Nokia wants the cameras on its phones to offer the absolute best experience in the mobile industry. It hopes a new investment in Pelican Imaging will help continue its push for that goal. Make no mistake, Nokia’s PureView 808 already offers an incredible experience with…
By Todd Haselton |
The tablet industry is booming. IDC recently found that 128 million tablets were shipped in 2012 alone as shipments jumped 78.4 percent. Yet, despite the success of the iPad and several other devices, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has gone on the record to proclaim that…
By Adriana Lee |
Instagram caused quite a stink when it updated its Terms of Service. Users, fearing that their uploaded images could be used for advertising without permission, spoke out against the new ToS, forcing the company to reverse the terminology to mitigate the P.R. nightmare. And yet,…
By Roy Choi |
Apple announced last week it could begin a $100 billion capital return program for shareholders through increased dividends and stock buybacks. Monday, the company has filed paperwork with the SEC and looks to be working with investment firms for its debt offering. Interestingly though, Apple will…
By Todd Haselton |
Sprint announced Monday morning that SoftBank has given it permission to consider a competing offer from Dish Network. The carrier announced in October that SoftBank made a $20 billion offer in return for a 70 percent holding in the company. Dish followed up with a…
By Adriana Lee |
Who doesn’t know the horrifying, nerve-jangling experience of losing a mobile device? If it hasn’t yet happened to you, then count your lucky stars. First panic sets in, then shock, usually followed by the stomach-gnawing sensation of utter desperation. And that’s just your run-of-the-mill scenario. Imagine…
By Adriana Lee |
Want to know what’s going on at your company? The best way may be to hit up Twitter, because when pink slips go down, former employees always seem to turn up there. In this case, it was AOL that was doing the axing. And this…
By Todd Haselton |
Just two days ago we covered a charity that’s offering coffee with Tim Cook. You’ll need to win an auction to meet with Cook, of course, but at the time the value was estimated at $50,000. Now it’s worth more than a half of a…
By Adriana Lee |
Yahoo Chairman and board member Fred Amoroso has resigned from the company. According to a statement from Amoroso, who was appointed to the role last May, his stint as chairman was only intended to last one year. And so, almost to the day, he is…
By Todd Haselton |
HTC is placing big bets on the HTC One and, Wall Street, which used to think HTC’s stock was overvalued, is now singing the company’s praises. Analysts with the bank HSBC recently raised HTC price targets on high expectations for the company’s current portfolio of…
By Todd Haselton |
Research firm IDC published a report in March that suggested smartphones were going to outsell feature phones during the first quarter of this year. Today the company confirmed that, for the first time ever, that actually happened. IDC found that 216.2 million smartphone units were…
By Adriana Lee |
Nothing like a little competition to ratchet the broadband envy up a few notches. It’s not enough that Austin, TX, is getting Google Fiber — which alone is turning geeks everywhere green with jealousy (except perhaps Kansas City and Provo) — but soon they’ll also…
By Todd Haselton |
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson recently sounded off on T-Mobile’s new “uncarrier” plans, which suggest that customers don’t need to require a contract (but they really do), and he’s not pleased. Ferguson’s office called T-Mobile’s practices deceptive and is requiring that it offer a full…
By Roy Choi |
We had the fortunate opportunity to be invited to this year’s IFA Global Press Conference (GPC) that took place this past weekend. Over 300 journalists from 55 nations joined in on a weekend packed with company and industry updates in Sardinia, Italy. This event is…
By Todd Haselton |
Apple recently applied for two patents that could enable new functions between your car and your iPhone. The patents describe two situations, one of which is using your iPhone and Bluetooth or Bluetooth LE connectivity to unlock the doors on your car. A second patent…
By Todd Haselton |
Verizon Wireless is currently a joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon Communications. Verizon owns 55 percent of the wireless carrier but has recently expressed interest in buying out Vodafone’s stake. Reuters said Thursday it learned that the company is currently mulling over a $100 billion offer…
By Adriana Lee |
The New York Times has busted its videos out from the paywalls that guard its written content. The company announced Tuesday that the streaming content will be free, and will no longer count toward the 10-article limit for its online web visitors. Good move, NYT.…
By Adriana Lee |
The Australian Federal Police apprehended a 24-year-old man who claims to be the leader of the global hackers group Lulz Security on Monday. An investigation into a hacked government website led authorities to the unnamed Point Clare man, a senior IT professional with the Australian…
By Todd Haselton |
Want to have a coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook out in Cupertino? Love charity? Now’s your chance to make a move. The head of Apple is currently offering to sit down in Apple’s headquarters for a cup of coffee with the lucky winner in…
