Mobiles reviews - partnerships

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 [...]

LiMo Foundation and LiPS Forum combine to battle open-source competitors

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:06:28 +0000

As smaller competitors in an growing open-source mobile OS market, LiMo Foundation and LiPS (Linux Phone Standards) Forum members are in for a serious battle for open-source marketshare. With Nokia buying out Symbian to essentially seed the open-source Symbian mobile platform, and the OHA backing Google's Android platform, there isn't much hope for small-game. Oh, [...]

Alltel expands WiFi service - Alltel WiFi expands to 25,000 hotspots in US

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:36:49 +0000

It seems that Alltel is picking up their game in the face of acquisition from Verizon Wireless. Following on their announcement that they'll be rolling out EVDO Rev. A on their network, Alltel is expanding their Alltel WiFi service in the US. For those times when WiFi is a better fit for your needs, Alltel has [...]

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 [...]

Mobile handset manufacturers bringing Symbian together for new open-source mobile platform - Symbian OS, S60, UIQ united

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:06:35 +0000

With news that Google's Android-push will take just a bit longer than we would prefer, it's fitting that Nokia has just announced that it will be working to bring together the fragmented Symbian environment under a single, open-source umbrella. Nokia has been working closely with Symbian for years with S60 development, and it seems that the [...]

Helio shutting down retail stores and kiosks - another MVNO's death in the making?

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:33:34 +0000

With SK Telecom's Helio MVNO talking to Virgin Mobile over possible merger or buy-out deals, it seems an odd move to actually shutdown much of Helio's operations throughout the US. But, we're hearing that the negotiations between Helio and Virgin Mobile aren't exactly making waves. Add to that the rumor that Virgin Mobile is planning to [...]

Samsung drops Qualcomm as component supplier, taps Infineon for chips

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:54:45 +0000

Following on Infineon's recent announcement that their CEO will be stepping down at the end of this month, Samsung has announcement that they've tapped Infineon to supply the mobile chips for Samsung handsets. In doing so, Samsung will no longer be sourcing wireless components from Qualcomm. The South Korean company has purportedly chosen Infineon as their [...]

RIM allows Indian government to snoop on BlackBerry emails

Fri, 23 May 2008 19:24:09 +0000

RIM, not one to let the prospect of getting kicked out of the potentially lucrative Indian wireless market, has apparently had its hand forced by the Indian government. Following on government officials' threats to ban RIM from the country if a workable network-monitoring deal wasn't worked out in a timely fashion, RIM has announced that [...]

Velti and Vantrix partner to bring mobile video advertising

Thu, 22 May 2008 15:14:08 +0000

Mobile advertising services provider Velti has teamed up with mobile content delivery company Vantrix to support a universal video advertising platform. Under the agreement, Vantrix will use its device detection and video optimisation technology, while Velti can stream or provide on demand ad-supported video content on mobile internet sites. The idea is of course to [...]

T-Mobile Germany looking to keep iPhone all to itself

Tue, 20 May 2008 23:20:18 +0000

Call them greedy if you want, but T-Mobile Germany isn't going to change their mind about keeping the iPhone all to themselves. It seems that the iPhone is too good to share with other carriers in T-Mobile's home country. Reuters is reporting that T-Mobile expects to continue iPhone exclusivity in Germany. While Apple is rumored to [...]

LiMo Foundation announces new members: Verizon, SK Telecom, Sagem, SFR, Mozilla and others

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:21:24 +0000

LiMo Foundation is steadily gaining momentum. Industry seems to be scared of Google's Open Handset Alliance and they're jumping to other big Linux group. That being said, LiMo has announced the addition of new member companies — Infineon Technologies, Kvaleberg AS, Mozilla Corporation, Red Bend Software, Sagem Mobiles, SFR, SK Telecom and Verizon Wireless, which [...]

Virgin Mobile USA confirms negotiations with SK Telecom

Wed, 14 May 2008 18:01:08 +0000

Just yesterday SK Telecom made an official announcement claiming that rumors regarding a possible merger between Virgin Mobile USA and Helio were "groundless." Today, however, is another story altogether. Turns out the two companies, Virgin Mobile USA and SK Telecom, are actually in early talks to hash out possible strategic partnerships. One scenario has SK Telecom [...]

LG and Samsung team up to develop and promote North American mobile TV

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:13:41 +0000

LG and Samsung are teaming up to propose their jointly developed technology as the North American technology standard for mobile DTV. Two Korean giants are proposing a system that will "reflect the findings of the IDOV (Independent Demonstration of Viability) conducted by the Association of Maximum Service Television (MSTV) on behalf of the Open Mobile Video [...]

PhoneTag goes GrandCentral, mobile workers rejoice

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:21:34 +0000

It's cool to have a single number to ring all your phones, but if you're a savvy user, you also want you voicemail converted to text. Guess that's why voicemail-to-text and visual voicemail services provider, PhoneTag (former Simulscribe), decided to collaborate with the Google-owned service. Prior to this integration, consumers who wanted to experience unified communication [...]

SK Telecom rebuffs Virgin Mobile USA and Helio merger rumors

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:05:21 +0000

Following market speculation that SK Telecom, Helio's sole remaining parent, was negotiating with Virgin Mobile USA to orchestrate a possible merger between the two companies, the South Korean carrier has announced that rumors regarding Virgin Mobile USA's acquisition of Helio were "groundless." SK Telecom wants us to know that it remains "committed" to Helio but that [...]