Verizon to combat (iPhone) data hogs by throttling mobile data

Verizon is preparing for an expected onslaught of mobile data usage from new iPhone customers by throttling data for the top 5 percent of users — the so-called “data hogs.” It’s also compressing data files transmitted over its wireless network, according to a Verizon memo (PDF) revealed by the mobile site Boy Genius Report.

Clearly, Verizon is trying its best to avoid appearing like AT&T, which saw its network take significant hits in performance after … Continue Reading

T-Mobile to resurrect the Sidekick with 4G and Android

T-Mobile is bringing back the Sidekick messaging phone from the dead, and this time it will be packing Android and support for its 4G network, PC Magazine reports.

At a press breakfast today, T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm confirmed that the next-generation Sidekick, as well as a 4G version of Samsung’s Galaxy S, will be “coming soon.” The devices, which will run on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network, are expected to appear in the first half … Continue Reading

4info says its mobile ad business is exploding

Mobile startup 4info first became known for delivering advertising in SMS text messages, but the company moved aggressively into display ads last year, and it sounds like those efforts have paid off.

The company said that the number of mobile display ads it served increased by almost 2,000 percent in 2010. A big increase was probably expected, since 4info didn’t start ramping up its display efforts until recently. The San Mateo, Calif. company launched its … Continue Reading

Is Skype about to release video-calling for mobile devices?

Skype, a provider of voice and video calling services over the Internet, might be poised to release video calling for mobile devices equipped with a front-facing camera and running Skype at the Consumer Electronics Show next year, according to a number of reports.

The service already has video conferencing built into its PC and Mac applications. The application uses webcams and can connect to other Skype users. But video calling isn’t available on Skype’s mobile … Continue Reading

Will Nokia build Windows phones?

(Update: Nokia disagrees with our report. However, we have two additional sources which agree with it).

According to a trusted source, Nokia is now likely to use Windows Phone 7 as an additional platform for its phones. Also, Nokia’s board has given new ex-Microsoft CEO Stephen Elop the green light to change the company’s strategy if needed, a source familiar with these matters said. This new mandate includes decisions on OS strategy or alliances.

Prior … Continue Reading

MobileBeat 2010: Google's Omar Hamoui to speak on the next wave of mobile advertising innovation

We are delighted to announce that Omar Hamoui, Google’s new vice president of mobile ads, will be sharing his views on the future of mobile advertising in a fireside chat at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference next month. The theme: “The Year of the Superphones.”

Few in the industry are more qualified to sketch out their vision of the industry. As the founder of Admob, Hamoui has walked the walk.

We at VentureBeat followed him as … Continue Reading

Last day for submissions for the MobileBeat 2010 Startup Competition

Today, June 21, we will be closing nominations and voting for the MobileBeat 2010 Startup Competition, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Are you a startup with a new mobile product that will shake up the industry? If so, submit your company here and you may get the opportunity to pitch your product onstage to over 500 mobile industry leaders.

We have an awesome group of startup submissions so far, but are glad to add more. … Continue Reading

MobileBeat 2010: Samsung to keynote on the future of superphones

We are delighted to announce that Samsung chief strategy officer Omar Khan will be delivering a keynote at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference next month, entitled “the Year of the Superphones.”

Khan is just the latest in a string of high-profile speakers we’ve announced recently; we’ll have more to announce over the next few days. Let’s just say, leaders of the entire mobile spectrum are converging on SF next month at MobileBeat, and it’s going to … Continue Reading

Yesterday, Google shrank the feature phone market with Android 2.2

Google announced the release yesterday of the software development kit of Android version 2.2, nicknamed FroYo. This release represents a big shake-up for the industry.

In a recent test on the Google Nexus One by developers Android Police, FroYo delivered a whopping 450 percent speed boost on the Android handset. In the industry standard performance test called “linpack”, FroYo scored a whopping 37.5 MFLOPS processing power as compared to 6.5-7 MFLOPS on Android latest 2.1 … Continue Reading

Ground Truth debuts highly accurate way to measure traffic on mobile sites

A new mobile measurement firm, Ground Truth, today announced it has launched the first such service to use census-based measures of actual Mobile Internet usage. The data, which covers millions of mobile subscribers in the United States, will come directly from mobile operators and other data providers, allowing the company to aggregate figures on mobile data usage on any visited mobile site.

As a result, Ground Truth data will likely show a more realistic picture … Continue Reading

How the iPhone built the mobile ad market, even as the rest of the economy tanked

Even as the global advertising industry entered a significant contraction last winter, the nascent mobile ad market started heating up.

Why? Credit the iPhone.

First, publishers of new mobile applications started paying other publishers every time a user clicked on their ad to download their applications (cost per click, or CPC). Second, brand advertisers sought to reach iPhone users as they surfed more frequently on their applications.

Back in November 2008, while the rest of … Continue Reading

Asurion AddressBook unlocks Android's social media potential

A new application called Asurion AddressBook launches on the Android Market tomorrow, opening up new ways to use social media on the phone — and instantly making the iPhone look even more outdated for not running applications in the background and its lower app integration. Asurion AddressBook can be downloaded here.

At its core, the application is an address book that integrates various app feeds, just like the Palm Pre, Motoblur, or what Friendfeed does … Continue Reading

Android phones give carrier services more muscle

Google’s Android phones have emerged as major competitors to the red-hot iPhone. And now Android seems to have yet one more thing working in its favor: Carriers have figured out that it offers them some very valuable options to help them differentiate their services from their competitors.

Fundamentally, Android is just an operating system that can be customized due to its open source nature (not so the iPhone). The business alliance behind Android, the Open … Continue Reading

Q&A: Flurry, T-Mobile push boundaries on carrier-developer collaboration

Flurry, a company that provides analytics for mobile applications, and T-Mobile have teamed up to release a free analytics platform for the T-Mobile development community focusing on Android, BlackBerry and J2ME. With even more app usage data, T-Mobile will be able to improve its retail strategy and help its customers discover new apps.

On the other side of the coin, developers will be able to use the data to improve the applications they create. T-Mobile … Continue Reading

Silicon Valley software developers to get WiMAX network soon

WiMAX, the next-generation technology that will replace aging Wi-Fi networks with smarter, faster Internet access, is slated to launch in the Bay Area in 2010. But a small cadre of software developers will be able to access the network much sooner.

A twenty square mile network, dubbed the WiMAX Innovation Network, “will be announced in the coming weeks”, we learned from Clearwire today. Setting up a network in the Bay Area has proven harder than … Continue Reading

Palm's Pre fails to help Sprint, and RIM snickers

[Disclosure: This post is one of a series of articles sponsored by Verizon. The company has given us editorial freedom to write what we'd like. In return for us covering the company's developer conference, Verizon will be running ads on our site in ensuing weeks.]

Sprint Nextel’s much-vaunted launch of the Palm Pre smartphone hasn’t turned around losses in the company’s subscriber base yet, according to second-quarter earnings results. The company said today … Continue Reading

Q&A: Verizon says it will be the first to offer 'true' mobile video

[Disclosure: This post is one of a series of articles sponsored by Verizon. The company has given us editorial freedom to write what we'd like. In return for us covering the company's developer conference, Verizon will be running ads on our site in ensuing weeks.]

Verizon just launched an app store called Vcast Apps, opening the door for developers to reach 1 billion consumers by working with the company’s software development kits and … Continue Reading

Verizon promises developers access to a "billion" customers

[Disclosure: This post is one of a series of articles sponsored by Verizon. The company has given us editorial freedom to write what we'd like. In return for us covering the company's developer conference, Verizon will be running ads on our site in ensuing weeks.]

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, will today announce more details of its plan to woo application developers and challenge the dominance of Apple’s iPhone App store.… Continue Reading

MobileBeat: Listen to panels on mobile gatekeepers and startup competition part 2

Stitcher has delivered more audio recordings of Thursday’s MobileBeat conference. The first link is for the panel entitled What Will the Gatekeepers Do Now? The AppStore and Beyond (pictured above), moderated by Matthaus Krzykowski. And the other is the MobileBeat 2009 Startup Competition — Apps event. (pictured below)

… Continue Reading

14 finalists picked for MobileBeat2009 Top Startup Competition

VentureBeat’s team of experts has selected 14 finalists for our MobileBeat2009 Top Startup Competition.

We’re revealing the full list at our conference on July 16, but here are some teasers about the seven finalists for the top “mobile services” category and seven finalists for the top “mobile applications” category.

Criteria included needing to be less than three years old. Of the more than 100 qualified applications, 53 were from new companies or products (companies that … Continue Reading