Entries tagged with “Palm Pre News” from WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Virgin Mobile USA announced that it has completed its acquisition of Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink,) The company believes that the acquisition complements Virgin Mobile USA's strengths.

Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile USA, emphasized the benefits of the transaction providing  Virgin Mobile USA with:

• a set of unique and differentiated data applications;
• entry into the postpaid market, with a sophisticated billing and customer care platform;
• approximately 170,000 Helio customers;
• revised terms for the Sprint PCS Services Agreement [NYSE: S], expected to result in an 8% reduction in the Company's effective cost per minute in 2009;
• reduction in net debt of approximately $35 - $40 million, through the investments of $25 million each by SK Telecom and Virgin Group in the form of preferred mandatory convertible stock at the price of $8.50 per share;
• an increase to Virgin Mobile USA's total revolver from $75 million to $135 million, through additional commitments of $25 million by Virgin Group and $35 million by SK Telecom; and
• the addition of SK Telecom as a strategic shareholder with two seats on the Company's Board of Directors.

Nuance Communications, Inc.announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held SNAPin, a provider of mobile device and server self-service technology. With the strengths and resources of Nuance and SNAPin, the combined organization can deliver innovative, highly scalable mobile customer care solutions that transform the way mobile operators and enterprises interact with consumers in real-time on mobile devices.

Synchronica , mobile synchronization solutions, today announced that it is acquiring consumer mobile email specialist AxisMobile

The AxisMobile acquisition aims to make Synchronica the leading player in mass market mobile email and synchronization middleware for mobile operators and service providers. It will enable Synchronica to provide mass-market mobile email solutions that work on more than three billion mobile phones in the market today.

 AxisMobile’s consumer mobile email platform complements Synchronica’s award-winning Mobile Gateway software by adding ‘email to SMS’ and ‘email to MMS’ gateways as well as a client-less solution for WAP/xHTML browser access. AxisMobile’s patented Optimizer email transcoding gateway further adds the ability to display a large variety of attachments such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations on standard feature phones handsets that would otherwise be unable to support such functionality.

Connect 2 Media, the recently created cross-platform games publisher has announced an investment from Hands-On Mobile, Inc ("Hands-On".) In return for a minority stake in the enlarged entity, Hands-On is injecting the bulk of its EMEA assets into Connect 2 Media, which is backed by leading London-based venture capital firm Acuity Capital LLP ("Acuity").

Hands-On and Connect 2 Media will maintain a reciprocal global publishing partnership ensuring both companies strengthen their global distribution capabilities. Connect 2 Media intends to build upon the success of Hands-On's web-to-wireless gaming efforts and extensive expertise in publishing, developing and distributing mobile games to consolidate its vision of offering games across multiple platforms incorporating mobile, web and interactive TV.

Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG today announced that Sony has agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG. The music company, to be called Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. Sony and Bertelsmann AG originally created the Sony BMG joint venture in August 2004.

Once the transaction is completed, SMEI will be comprised of premier music labels such as: Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records, and Zomba. Key recording artists will include Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Usher and Jay Chou.

As part of the transaction, the parties have also agreed to continue to share the company's manufacturing and distribution requirements between Sony's manufacturing subsidiary, Sony DADC, and Bertelsmann's services company, Arvato Digital Services GmbH ("Arvato"), by extending the agreements with Arvato for additional terms of up to six years. In addition, Bertelsmann will be taking over selected European music catalog assets from Sony BMG.

Forrester Research announced the acquisition of JupiterResearch, LLC., and its parent company, JUPR Holdings, Inc., from MCG Capital Corporation for $23

JupiterResearch has 83 employees and 2007 revenues of approximately $14 million. Forrester, with 2007 revenues of $212 million, now has more than 1,000 employees. JupiterResearch joins Forrester's Marketing & Strategy Client Group, which contributed $46.4 million to Forrester's total revenue in 2007.

Like Forrester, JupiterResearch provides business professionals with syndicated research, analysis, and advice backed by proprietary data. JupiterResearch has a substantive and growing library of syndicated research and strong consumer data and excels at market forecasting.

Mobispine an aggregator of news and content for the Mobile Internet has acquired NewsAlloy, web based feed reader. Mobispine and NewsAlloy are both leading innovators in the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) space will offer users a seamless product to view personalized news feeds on both mobile phones and PCs.

 Mobispine is an easy to use, free mobile service that allows users to view web content on their mobile phone. It aggregates web content transmitted by RSS feeds. Users can personalize content by subscribing to existing feeds and by adding new feeds instantly. For more information, visit: http://www.mobispine.com

News Alloy is a free Web Based Feed Reader for discovering, reading, and sharing news and information. News Alloy lets you view information from a wide variety of news sources, special interest publications and blogs via RSS and Atom in an easy to use and manageable way via Web Based AJAX Driven GUI and Mobile/PDA enabled service. For more information, visit: http://www.newsalloy.com

New Motion, Inc., doing business as Atrinsic an Internet media and mobile entertainment company, today announced that it has acquired the assets of Ringtone.com, a popular mobile entertainment destination for downloadable mobile content and a highly valuable Internet domain which receives more than 1,000 signups per day.

SilverBirch Inc. a leading digital media company, today announced an agreement in principle to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Red Mile Entertainment, Inc., a California-based video game publisher with worldwide rights to established brands and intellectual properties including the "Heroes" flight combat franchise.

Red Mile, an NASD OTC Bulletin Board listed company, has developed and published a number of successful console and PC titles including Heroes Of The Pacific, which sold over 600,000 units. Current projects in development include a sequel, Heroes Over Europe, which is anticipated to be released in early 2009, and another highly anticipated licensed title, for which the company will seek a co-publishing partner.

Red Mile is expected to contribute over $7 million in revenue and roughly $2 million in EBITDA starting in 2009. SilverBirch has advanced a bridge loan of $750,000 CAD dollars to Red Mile as part of the acquisition terms, and will also issue seven-eighths of one SilverBirch share from treasury in exchange for each Red Mile share, plus an earn-out based on future revenue targets. Currently 16,544,461 Red Mile shares and warrants qualify for the transaction, which equates to 14,476,403 new Silverbirch shares. The transaction is subject to regulatory and exchange approvals both in Canada and the United States as well as, in the case of Red Mile, shareholder approval.

Microsof announced it intends to acquire MobiComp, supplier of backup and restoration of mobile data and mobile posting of social content to websites such as Facebook. The acquisition would combine MobiComp’s expertise building imobile data protection and sharing services with Microsoft’s platforms across mobile phones, the web and PCs. Terms of the planned acquisition are not being disclosed.

The Portugal-based company is known for a variety of breakthrough mobile services including MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, and Active mTicker. These services help mobile operators and people round the world back up personal content stored on a phone, publish updates to online communities, and get entertainment and news content delivered to phones.

MobiComp will contribute to a rapidly expanding list of offerings from Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business while continuing to serve its existing partners and customers, which include 11 mobile operators worldwide.

The new iPhone, announced today at the WWDC has 3G, GPS, longer battery life, push email and a major price decrease.

""The No. 1 reason why people didn't buy an iPhone...was that it was too expensive," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said.

3G GPS & Apps
Slightly thinner but still looking like its father, the new iPhone has  3G and GPS, for turn-by-turn directions. Battery life is improved to 5 hours of talk time or 5-6 hours of browsing. Apple also showed a suite of online applications, with email, calendar, contact list, and a photo gallery.

Enterprise Push Email
The new phone will  lets business users send and receive Microsoft Exchange email. Apple worked with Cisco Systems and built virtual private network (VPN) services into the iPhones for security of exchanging enterprise information.

A 16GB iPhone 3G will sell for $299, while the 8GB will go for $199. It also be available in white when it is released  July 11. Apple will sell the device in 70 countries. 

Verizon Wireless has entered into an agreement with Alltel Corporation and Atlantis Holdings LLC, to acquire Alltel Corporation in a cash merger.

Verizon Wireless will acquire the equity of Alltel for approximately $5.9 billion. Based on Alltel's projected net debt at closing of $22.2 billion, the aggregate value of the transaction is $28.1 billion. The deal will make Verizon Wireless the #1  wireless operator in the U.S. with nearly 80 million subscribers.

The merger should be completed  by the end of the year, subject to  regulatory approval.

Alltel and Verizon Wireless both use the same network technology - CDMA  using the Qualcomm's BREW platform for content delivery. Alltel also has recently said it plans to migrate to the LTE technology for its 4G path, the same technology Verizon plans to deploy.

Mobile content provider of infrastructure and services, Motricity,  announced that it has sold its smartphone and direct-to-consumer businesses to an entity owned by Motricity co-founder, former board member and executive 27 year-old Jud Bowman. The new company will operate going forward as PocketGear, Inc.

The sale includes Motricity's direct-to-consumer businesses PocketGear.com, SymbianGear.com, PalmGear.com, Smartphone.net, Mobile2Day.de, and smartphone application storefronts powered for partners including Palm, Sony Ericsson and AOL.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In conjunction with the closing of the transaction, Bowman has resigned his position on the Motricity board of directors.  The company announced layoffs earlier this year.

comScore, Inc. a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the acquisition of M:Metrics, Inc., the recognized leader in mobile measurement. The acquisition makes comScore the immediate leader in measuring the emerging and strategically important mobile Internet market and adds to comScore’s leading position in measuring PC-based Internet usage.

The transaction involves a cash payment of $44.3 million and the issuance of approximately 50,000 options to purchase shares of comScore common stock to certain M:Metrics unvested option holders.

RealNetworksannounced that it intends to separate its global casual games business into an independent company and distribute shares of the newly created games company to its shareholders.

RealNetworks’ casual games business is a leader in the casual games industry worldwide, with a vertically integrated development, publishing, licensing, distribution and retail business. Casual games are family friendly and easy-to-learn but hard-to-master. Played on personal computers, mobile devices and living room consoles, casual games include board, word and hidden-object games and puzzles. In the first quarter of 2008, RealNetworks’ games business revenue rose 33% from the first quarter of 2007 to $31.8 million. For 2007, games revenue was $108.5 million, up 26% over 2006.

“RealNetworks was a pioneer and has been a leader in the casual games industry since we introduced RealArcade in 2001,” said Rob Glaser, Chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. “We believe that spinning off our casual games business will give it the best opportunity to continue to flourish and lead.”

Clearwire Corporation (and Sprint Nextel Corporation y announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company.

The new company, which will be named Clearwire, will be focused on expediting the deployment of the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network to provide a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions.

Sprint and Clearwire also announced today that five innovative technology, content and communications leaders - Intel Corporation ) through Intel Capital, Google Inc.), Comcast Corporation: Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks - have collectively agreed to invest $3.2 billion into the new company.

Upon completion of the proposed transaction, Sprint will own the largest stake in the new company with approximately 51 percent equity ownership. .

Nokia unveiled a trio of minimalist lmobile devices: the Nokia 6600 fold, the Nokia 6600 slide and the Nokia 3600. The devices are expected to start shipping during the third quarter of 2008.

"There is a strong consumer demand for mobile handsets that blend elegant looks with modern features," said Mikkel Drucker, Director, Connect Devices. "Each of the three devices introduced today offers a slightly different take on a core design language. We believe they are both beautiful to use and beautiful to behold - and offer a range of choice."

Nokia 6600 fold - Taps into Motion Sense Control
With one touch of a button, the elegant Nokia 6600 fold opens to reveal a bright 2.13" OLED screen displaying up to 16 million colors. With its seamless design, the signature "smooth back" of the Nokia 6600 fold creates a comfortable contour when open, and remains subtle and compact when closed. The high-gloss surface of the Nokia 6600 fold comes to life when tapped twice to "wake up" the hidden outer display that reveals time, incoming messages, missed calls and more. A double tap on the Nokia 6600 fold also snoozes alerts and silences or rejects incoming phone calls.

Infineon Technologies AG  announced that Samsung Electronics, Inc., Seoul, Korea, has chosen Infineon’s HSDPA Platform XMM 6080 for their new family of HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) mobile handsets. Samsung is introducing a comprehensive family using the Infineon XMM 6080 platform. The platform includes the HSDPA/EDGE baseband, power management, single chip 3.5G RF transceiver and is complemented by Infineon’s protocol stack for HEDGE phones.

This  solution enables customers to significantly reduce their component count, footprint, complexity and cost of designs. The XMM 6080 platform will enable Samsung to introduce a wide range of new HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) phones reusing the proven Infineon core architecture.

Infineon has already started volume shipments of its platform. The Samsung HEDGE phones with the XMM 6080 are expected to be available in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

Apple is buying the microprocessor company  PA Semi for a approximately $278 million reports Forbes.  PA Semi is known for low-power, sophisticated chipsets which could enhance iPhones and iPods.

AOL today announced that it has acquired Sphere Source, Inc., a leading provider of contextual-search tools which offers related content to publishers. Sphere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL as part of the company’s Programming division, which is led by Executive Vice President Bill Wilson.

Founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, Sphere uses its contextual-search platform technology to make connections between content from blogs, video, media, photos and advertisements. These contextual results are then displayed in a pop-over window or an integrated widget that lets publishers enhance articles by incorporating related articles and blog posts from archived content and across the Web.