news
FCC’s Wheeler Proposes Open-Internet Rules
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has made official what he had already signaled for weeks. In an op ed in Wired Magazine online, Wheeler said...
Smartphones
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Kantar: Apple Tops In Q4 U.S. Smartphone-OS Share
London — Apple’s fourth-quarter share of smartphone sales exceeded Android-phone sales in the U.S. in for the first time in any quarter since the...
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InfoSonics Targets Frequent Selfie Takers
San Diego — InfoSonics is targeting people who are very into themselves with the launch of a new Verykool-brand smartphone. The Verykool-brand S5015 smartphone,...
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Carriers Spend $41.3 Billion For More Wireless Spectrum
Washington — Verizon, AT&T and Dish came away from the FCC’s AWS-3 (Advanced Wireless Services 3) spectrum auctions as the biggest winners followed by...
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Cricket, U.S. Cellular Get Aggressive On Prepaid Plans
New York – Cricket Wireless and U.S. Cellular are getting into the prepaid-service price wars. U.S. Cellular lowered the prices of Simple Connect Prepaid...
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CIRP: No Big Spike In iPhone Buyers Who Dumped Android
Chicago – The launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus didn’t cause a bigger spike in the percentage of U.S. iPhone buyers who...
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Apple, Samsung In Global Smartphone Tie In Q4
Boston – Apple tied with Samsung as the world’s largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter, thanks to surging sales of its iPhone 6...
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Survey: iOS Gets 50% Of Q4 Cellphone Activations
Chicago — Smartphone activations repeated history in the fourth quarter when Apple’s iOS surged to account for more cellphone activations than the Android OS,...
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T-Mobile Super Bowl Ad Keeps Up With Kardashian
Bellevue, Wash. — T-Mobile hopes to kick butt with its second Super Bowl ad, which stars out-size TV personality Kim Kardashian West in a...
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Carriers Getting Cable-Company Competition
Bethpage, N.Y. – Cable-TV provider Cablevision Systems is getting into the mobile-phone business with a low-cost Wi-Fi calling service that offers unlimited talk, text...
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Sprint Targets T-Mobile With Trade-In Program
Overland Park, Kan. – Sprint is going after T-Mobile subscribers by guaranteeing a minimum $200 trade-in value when they trade in their current T-Mobile...
CES-2016
Survey: iPhones Grab 50% Share Of Q4 U.S. Phone Sales
Chicago – The strength of Apple’s iPhone launches last September boosted its share of cellphones sold in the U.S. to 50 percent in the...
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T-Mobile Plans ‘Smartphone Equality’ Program
Bellevue, Wash. –T-Mobile is breaking with the carrier tradition of offering the best phone and tablet deals only to people with the best credit...
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Verizon Takes Aim Against Regulation
Bedminster, N.J. — Google’s reported plan to become an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) reselling Sprint and T-Mobile service “is another prime example of...
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MetroPCS Sweetens LTE Data Plans
Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile’s MetroPCS prepaid brand is igniting another round of price competition among prepaid providers by permanently adding 1GB of LTE data...
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FreedomPop Adds $5/Month Unlimited Wi-Fi Phone Service
Los Angeles — FreedomPop, the no-contract MVNO that offers free and low-cost cellular voice and data plans, launched a new $5/month service that delivers...
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BLU Smartphone Goes Super-Thin
Miami – Unlocked-smartphone supplier BLU Products launched what it called the thinnest smartphone available in North and South America at 5.15mm (0.2 inches). The...
CES-2016
Sprint Expands Device-Leasing Program
Overland Park, Kan. – Sprint today expanded its device-leasing program to the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note. The models join the iPhone 6,...
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Virgin, Walmart Team On First Prepaid Data-Sharing Plans
Overland Park, Kan. – Sprint prepaid brand Virgin Mobile plans Jan. 17 availability of the industry’s first data-sharing prepaid plans, which will be available...
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T-Mobile Cuts Prepaid Prices
Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile stoked the price fires again with the launch of Simply Prepaid plans that cut prepaid-service costs by $10/month compared to...
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Google Readies Modular Smartphone
New York – Google will roll out its long-awaited Ara modular smartphone in Puerto Rico in the second half through two wireless carriers to...
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Alcatel One Touch Adds Direct-To-Consumer Sales
Irvine, Calif. — Alcatel OneTouch is supplementing smartphone sales to carriers and MVNOs with the launch of direct-to-consumer sales of unlocked phones, unlocked cellular-equipped...
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Deezer Goes Wireless In Cellular Deal
Atlanta – The Deezer music service, currently available through Sonos and Bose wireless multiroom-audio systems, will really go wireless at the end of the...
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HTC Arrives At CES With Plan In Hand
Las Vegas – Smartphone maker HTC came to International CES to further outline its plans to become a personal technology company that offers more...
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TCL To Revive Palm Brand
Las Vegas – TCL Communications, which markets smartphones and other mobile devices under the Alcatel One Touch brand, will resurrect Palm as a mobile...
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Smartphones, Smart Watches In CES Spotlight
Las Vegas – Smartphone suppliers are looking to differentiate their products with licensed brand names, affordable LTE price points and niche designs, while smart...
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ZTE Unveils New Global Brand Identity
Oakland, Calif. – Smartphone maker ZTE USA unveiled its new global brand identity during a Dec. 30 Golden State Warriors basketball game here at...
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BLU Products Ventures Farther Into LTE Smartphones
Miami – Unlocked-smartphone supplier BLU Products is moving aggressively into LTE smartphones with the launch of three Android models that complement its wide selection...
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Kodak-Brand Smartphone In The Picture
Reading, England — Bullitt Group, which builds ruggedized cellphones under the licensed Caterpillar brand, will go to International CES with the industry’s first Kodak-brand...
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ZTE, Houston Rockets Wrap Up Season Of Giving
Richardson, Texas — ZTE USA and the Houston Rockets wrapped up their second annual Season of Giving program in which ZTE staff, Rockets organization...
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Boost Mobile Gets A Pair, Makes Plan-Price Cuts Permanent
Irvine, Calif. – Sprint prepaid no-contract brand Boost Mobile began offering two new smartphones and made permanent its Data Boost service plans, launched in...
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BlackBerry Goes Retro With Classic
New York —The long-awaited BlackBerry Classic, which combines the traditional look of the old BlackBerry Bold and Curve smartphones with the company’s latest touchscreen...
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Sprint Prepaid Brands Adding First Windows Phone
Irvine, Calif. – Sprint is stepping up its commitment to the Windows Phone OS with plans to offer a Windows phone for the first...
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T-Mobile Launches High-Speed Data Rollovers
Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile will enable subscribers to roll over unused high-speed data for up to a year to avoid paying for unused data,...
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T-Mobile Prepares Next Un-Carrier Initiative
Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile plans on Tuesday to unveil its latest “uncarrier” initiative, called Un-carrier 8.0. The carrier said it will “continue to rewrite...
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T-Mobile Expands Wideband-LTE Service
Bellevue, Wash. – T-Mobile rolled out Wideband-LTE service to its 26th major market, the New York City metro area, up from 19 just a...
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Samsung Prices VR Headset At $199
DALLAS – Samsung Telecommunications America (STA) revealed the pricing and sales outlets for its Oculus-powered Gear VR Innovator Edition virtual-reality headset, which is available...
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Survey: New iPhones Boost Apple Share
London – The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus boosted Apple’s smartphone share a lot around the world but only a little in the U.S.,...
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Carrier Price Wars Heat Up With Sprint Half-Off Deal
Overland Park, Kan. – Sprint pulled out the big guns in the intensifying carrier price wars, offering to halve the bills of Verizon and...
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Sprint Expands iPhone Leasing Program
Overland Park, Kansas – Sprint unveiled a third leasing option for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, adding a 30-month option to the current...
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BlackBerry To Reveal Classic Launch Plans
New York — BlackBerry is coming to Manhattan on Dec. 17 to launch its BlackBerry Classis smartphone, a productivity-first smartphone that combines the latest...
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Survey: iPhones Attracted Fewer Android Users After Recent Launch
Chicago – Fewer iPhone purchasers came from the ranks of Android users on a percentage basis during the 30 days after the most recent...