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Posted on 06.29.06 by Nikhil @ 5:38 pm
Earthlink just had a big day. The company, which I have covered in Forbes Wireless Stock Watch, turned on its first citywide Wi-Fi system in Anaheim, Calif. The network is expected to be widely used not just by the locals, but by the tens of millions of tourists that come the city each year to visit Disneyland. Andy Seybold, a wireless technology guru who is generally skeptical of the success of municipal Wi-Fi networks, said that the network is going to change the face of telecommunications forever. There are several reasons. One is Reliability (In New Orleans, says Seybold, Wi-Fi was the last network to go down and the first to come back on line). Another was that the network will provide 90% coverage to the city of Anaheim to 90% of buildings’ exterior walls.That means the service extends indoors. Of course, there are many hurdles for Wi-Fi to overcome. Competing against the established carriers won’t be easy and issues, such as quality of service and customer service, could pose serious problems. But with the Anaheim municipal Wi-Fi system officially launched, we’ll sound find out. Filed under: Stock Watch and Infrastructure and Cutting Edge and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.28.06 by Nikhil @ 5:11 pm
Wireless subscribers have long viewed Verizon Wireless as the best all around wireless carrier in the U.S. Now, the company also seems confident of its high rating. This week, Verizon Wireless said that it would cut the early termination fees customers have to pay if they break their contracts. How often does something like this happen? The company’s CEO, at a Yankee Group conference, said that starting this fall, Verizon would prorate the fee it charges to its customers, instead of landing them with a $200 or more charge if they cancel with one year left on their contract or one day. While this is welcome news, Verizon Wireless has another motivation as well. By doing this, it will be easier for existing customers to upgrade to new phones, thus getting the same deals that new customers get. In the past, existing customers were penalized for upgrading–a move that makes little sense. Read more about this at Newsfactor.com. Filed under: Stock Watch and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.28.06 by Nikhil @ 4:16 am
Intel is not abandoning wireless, but the company has decided to move out of the cellular phone market. Intel just announced that it will sell its communications and applications processor business to Marvell Technology for $600 million in cash. Marvell will acquire Intel’s Xscale technology, which includes the “Hermon” processor that is used in the popular Blackberry 8700 device. The company will also now own the “Bulverde” processor that is used in the new Q smartphone from Motorola as well as in the Palm Treo handhelds, among others. The reason for the decision: Intel has struggled in the mobile phone market since 1998 and has not been able to gain market share against big competitors such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Broadcom and Freescale. The company, which has been losing market share in its PC business as well, to AMD, has been talking about a restructuring Intel is still a big player in Wi-Fi and provides wireless Internet access through its Centrino mobile platform for notebook PCs. The company is also a big supporter of WiMax, a higher speed technology that will begin picking up steam later this year. You can read more in TechWorld.com. Filed under: Stock Watch Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.22.06 by Nikhil @ 2:17 pm
The videogame business has been a blood bath for investors recently. Shares of Electronic Arts and Activision have dropped nearly 30% since the beginning of May. During the same period, shares of ATI Technologies, which creates high-end graphics cards and chipsets for videogame consoles, computers and wireless phones, are off almost 15%. The reason for the carnage? The videogame industry is in the midst of a lengthy transition to a new generation of gaming consoles. Only Microsoft’s Xbox360 is available, while Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 are still months away. Consumers don’t buy video games if they aren’t sure what platform they will be using at Christmas. Hence, sales are down, and so are projections and the stocks themselves. But as usual, Wall Street is missing the big picture on these stocks. Every few years, the videogame sector goes through a transition, and the gaming companies take a hit. As consumers wait for the next generation of consoles, they put off purchasing new software or games. A year from now, the transitions will be complete, and these stocks will be a lot higher. Click Here to find out how wireless will help save videogame stocks. Filed under: Stock Watch Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.12.06 by Nikhil @ 11:31 am
Tom Online has announced that it will buy wireless entertainment company Infomax, which will give it access to the company’s TV distribution network and strengthen its own wireless holdings. The transaction is valued at a maximum of $75 million, and will be based on about 2.5 to 3.5 times Infomax’s 2006 earnings, and 3 to 4 times its 2007 earnings. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, should close by the third quarter. Filed under: Stock Watch and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.09.06 by Nikhil @ 1:27 pm
No big surprise, perhaps, but it’s still a milestone. According to a report by Strategy Analytics, there are now more than 100 million users of third generation (3G) high speed technology. Most of this is thanks to growth in Asia where such services are offered by carriers such as NTT DoCoMo, Hutchison 3G and SK Telecom. But more growth will come over the next year from the U.S. thanks to 3G networks being deployed by carriers such as Cingular and Verizon Wireless. There are more details available at Networking Pipeline. Filed under: Infrastructure Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.02.06 by Nikhil @ 2:02 pm
After just spending 8.5 hours in a plane coming back from Europe, I’m not so sure this news is good news. But today, JetBlue won a government auction for wireless spectrum. With it, the airline could offer its customers cell phone service aboard flights as well as access to the Internet and other entertainment. I would have liked the Internet access, but listening to other people’s phone calls would have annyoed me. The spectrum that JetBlue got is in the 1-megahertz frequency band. It is sold by the Federal Communications Commission nationwide and is not limited to just JetBlue, so it is likely that JetBlue’s subsidiary, LiveTV, which won the auction, will now offer the service to other airlines. Read more about this at Charter.com. Filed under: Applications and Cutting Edge and News Comments: None |
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Posted on 06.01.06 by Nikhil @ 12:45 pm
New York - Last fall, when InPhonic Chief Executive David Steinberg told me that his company was misunderstood by Wall Street, I raised an eyebrow. Argh! Was that just a CEO’s euphemism for “the stock will fall further?” Or did he have a legitimate claim about Wall Street making the stock a great opportunity for new investors? Well, both have happened. The stock did fall a bit further, but now it looks like Wall Street is coming around and beginning to understand InPhonic, which recently made a change to the way it generates revenue. Read the rest at my column, Unwired Portfolio, on Forbes.com. Filed under: Stock Watch and Cutting Edge Comments: 2 Comments |
