Wireless

Schools shift from textbooks to tablets

March 6, 2013 2:46 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

Schools are increasingly looking to the hand-held tablets as a way to sustain students' interest, reward their achievements and, in some cases, actually keep per-student costs down. News Corp. just introduced its $299 Amplify tablet designed for the education market; some 2,000 schools use Google's $199 Chromebooks.

FreedomPop giving away home broadband

March 6, 2013 2:21 pm | by Ben Munsen, Wireless Week | News | Comments

After announcing its plans to enter home broadband service back in December, MVNO FreedomPop has today made its Burst wireless router available to the public. The device retails for $89 and gives users access to FreedomPop’s freemium service on Clearwire’s WiMax network.

Google Builds White-Space Spectrum Database

March 5, 2013 2:16 pm | by Ben Munsen, Wireless Week | News | Comments

Google has unveiled a searchable map of the available white-space spectrum in the U.S. The company said this new effort is in order to help promote dynamic spectrum sharing. The FCC is in the process of evaluating the map for accuracy.

Time Warner Cable scores marketing deal with University of Kentucky

March 4, 2013 12:03 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Time Warner Cable has struck a multi-year sponsorship deal with the University of Kentucky’s athletic program centered around the men’s basketball and football teams. With the agreement, Time Warner Cable serves as the official sponsor of University of Kentucky athletics across its core video, high speed data, Wi-Fi and home phone products and services.

Former Knology execs Holt, Ard join Synapse

March 4, 2013 11:56 am | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Former Knology president Todd Holt has signed on as president of Synapse Wireless while Royce Ard, who worked with Holt at Knology, was hired as vice president of marketing. In his new job, Holt is responsible for directing the custom product offerings and horizontal market businesses in Synapse's core market of cloud-enabled, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication solutions

Companies struggle to popularize mobile money

March 1, 2013 1:03 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

Even people who work in the mobile phone industry passed up the opportunity to use their phones to get into the Mobile World Congress using their smartphones because it was just too much of a hassle to set up the capability. It's a poor omen for an industry that's eager to have the cellphone replace both tickets and credit cards.

Smart watches gain interest and popularity

February 28, 2013 12:40 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

Miniaturized computers, worn on the wrist, link to the wearer’s iPhone or Android handset, and can display not only the time, but also e-mail messages. The Pebble smart watch is $150, and can also display texts, provide caller ID, and scan Twitter or Facebook feeds.

Clearwire draws Sprint funding

February 27, 2013 2:11 pm | by Ben Munsen, Wireless Week | News | Comments

Clearwire has elected to accept the $80 million draw from Sprint for March, while continuing to discuss acquisition offers from both Sprint and Dish. Dish has said that it will withdraw its offer of $3.30 per share to buy the remaining 50 percent of Clearwire if the WiMAX provider drew any of the funding offered by Sprint.

Verizon to test Ericsson’s TV over LTE

February 26, 2013 3:40 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

What Ericsson is calling an end-to-end LTE broadcast solution is based on the eMBMS standard covering broadcast video over LTE. It represents one of the first proposed uses of both HEVC and MPEG DASH. Telstra in Australia and Verizon Wireless will be among the first to trial the system.

Alcatel appoints Combes as successor to Verwaayen

February 22, 2013 1:51 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | Comments

Alcatel-Lucent’s board of directors approved the appointment of Michel Combes as the company’s new CEO. The change goes into effect April 1. Combes will also join the company’s board, subject to the approval of shareholders at the Alcatel-Lucent annual general meeting.

Numera takes medical monitoring mobile

February 21, 2013 1:49 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

The telehealth services company signed a deal with AT&T to be its wireless network and location services provider for a personal health monitoring device and associated service it is developing. Numera’s Libris includes a device that can detect when the person who is using it experiences a fall, at home or away.

FCC moves to open more unlicensed spectrum

February 21, 2013 12:46 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | Comments

The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to make more unlicensed spectrum available for robust public Wi-Fi networks. The Commission proposed to make up to 195 MHz of additional spectrum in the 5 GHz band available to unlicensed wireless devices.

Ergen: Dish has time to mull many options for wireless

February 21, 2013 12:43 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | Comments

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen said his company has seven years to use its spectrum, which was recently approved by the Federal Communications Commission for use in deploying an LTE-Advanced wireless network. Clearwire is still mulling its options.

FCC adopts new guidelines for signal boosters

February 21, 2013 12:40 pm | by Ben Munson, Wireless Week | News | Comments

The FCC issued a Report and Order concerning cellular signal booster use and preventing them from interfering with wireless networks. Under the new rules, consumers are required to obtain permission from and register their signal booster with their wireless carriers in order to continue using it.

Dish video subscribership flat in 2012

February 20, 2013 3:03 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

Dish Network added about 14,000 net new video subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2012, ending the year with 14.05 million, compared to 13.96 million at the end of the prior year. Dish also added about 78,000 net broadband subscribers in 2012.