Mobiles reviews - buyout

Virgin Mobile USA to acquire Helio in $39 million deal

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:11:39 +0000

Not completely unexpected, Virgin Mobile USA has today announced that it will indeed be taking over Helio. The MVNO joint-venture between SK Telecom and Earthlink has struggled to find even a modicum of success in a competitive and cut-throat US wireless market. And, it seems that Helio's financial troubles have finally come to a head with [...]

Virgin Mobile USA to take over Helio

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:41:49 +0000

While no official announcement has yet been made, the Financial Times is reporting that a source close to the situation has indicated that a tentative agreement has been struck between Virgin Mobile USA and Helio. The deal would have Helio essentially being absorbed within Virgin Mobile USA's larger wireless network. Virgin Mobile USA and Helio have [...]

More Sprint rumors - buyouts, spinoffs, acquisitions, oh my!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:34:03 +0000

Sprint's in trouble, and they know it. It's not like anybody can ignore the kind of financial hardships that Sprint has been living recently, and the recent launch of Sprint's "Simply Everything" plan is evidence that Sprint knows they have to take drastic measures. Now, with Sprint in a weakened condition and the crap-poor valuation [...]

Qualcomm buys SoftMax - looks toward noise reduction on mobile phones

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:40:04 +0000

Qualcomm is clearly one of the mobile industry’s leading chipmakers, but that doesn’t mean they can sit back and let the revenue from their 3G technologies roll in. The San Diego-based chipmaker seems to be taking a new approach to the mobile chipset market - integrating noise-reduction technology into their chipsets. Qualcomm has just snatched up SoftMax, a privately-held firm that specializes in noise-reduction technology. SoftMax develops algorithms that aid in signal separation, echo cancellation, and signal processing - allowing voice to be separates from background and ambient noise. Interestingly, Broadcom, Qualcomm sparring partner of late , recently debuted a new Bluetooth headset platform that utilizes SoftMax’s noise reduction algorithms. The BCM2047 Bluetooth headset from Broadcom uses a dual-microphone setup for noise reduction and echo cancelation. “The acquisition of SoftMax will allow new opportunities for our customers to differentiate themselves by providing a superior level of voice quality to end users,” said Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, in a statement. So, Qualcomm’s got another piece of the IP-pie in their pocket. Another way to grab extra revenue from competitors that will need to start incorporating noise-reduction technologies into their mobile chipsets if they want to stay competitive. A good move on Qualcomm’s part indeed. [Via: InformationWeek ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Sensear: Noise-cancelling, Voice-amplifying hands-free systemNokia and Qualcomm in a nutshellQualcomm's New MVNO - For Healthcare ProfessionalsQualcomm and Nokia: Eternal enemiesMotorola debuts the Motorola MOTOPURE H12 Universal Bluetooth headset