Punchkick Interactive Inc. » Wireless

NextWave Wireless Stock Soars More Than 41% in Just One Trading Day — Say Hello to WiMAX

ryan unger — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:41:49 +0000

It would seem that WiMAX’s impact on mobile technology in the United States might be closer than we all originally thought.

NextWave Wireless Inc. (Nasdaq: WAVE), a global leader of all things WiMAX, announced that it has retained Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank to explore the sale of its extensive spectrum holdings in the United States. NextWave’s U.S. spectrum footprint covers over 251 million people in the United States and includes major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, and Detroit.

What drove the surge? Possibly Allen Salmasi, chief executive officer and president of NextWave Wireless, when he remarked:

Since the completion of the recent 700 MHz auction, we have received multiple offers for our U.S. spectrum assets. [N]ow is the perfect time for us to sell these valuable assets while network operators are trying to finalize their band plans and spectrum holdings for their continuing 3G and planned 4G rollouts. Monetizing the value of our substantial spectrum assets would allow us to further strengthen our balance sheet, retire debt, and continue the commercial introduction of a wide range of innovative wireless broadband and multimedia solutions such as our high-performance WiMAX and RFIC chipsets, advanced multi-mode, multi-band TD-CDMA, WiMAX and LTE enabled base station platforms, breakthrough MXtvTM and TDtvTM mobile television systems.

AT&T, T-Mobile USA and Sprint respond to Verizon’s Unlimited Cell Phone Plans

ryan unger — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:56:09 +0000

AT&T is offering unlimited voice for $99 and unlimited connectivity and messaging for $35. One year contract is required for new subscribers and data plans are unchanged, though.
Analysts are expecting Sprint to, “offer flat-rate calling plans at up to 40 percent discount to it’s rivals” — bringing unlimited wireless minutes into the $60 range for sprint customers.
$99 buys you unlimited voice and text (including text, picture and IM) at T-Mobile. Previously, the Deutsche Telekom owned mobile operator has been selling unlimited text messaging for $14.99 and 5,000 minutes of calls for $129.99.

Sources: IntoMobile, Reuters

Google May Build Huge Wireless Network Using Floating Balloons

ryan unger — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 03:30:52 +0000

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is considering either a partnership or a full-on buyout of Space Data Corp—a company that provides balloon-based wireless networks. If you think that seems a little strange, consider this: the balloons can help bring wireless service to individuals in rural areas and they can be launched on the cheap—about $50 to launch the balloon, $1500 for the receiver, and a $100 finder’s fee for recovery after the balloon returns to earth.

Additionally, a BusinessWeek article from last month revealed that Space Data believes it can cover the whole country with a WiMax broadband network with just 370 balloons. Compare that with the 22,000 or so towers that would be necessary using traditional methods.

Sources: Gizmodo and WSJ and BusinessWeek via TechCrunch and Broadband Reports

Verizon Wireless to Offer Unlimited Voice, Data, and Messaging Packages

ryan unger — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:41:42 +0000

Engadget reports that they have received a flood of tips stating that Verizon to offer unlimited voice, data, and messaging packages. It is reported that starting Tuesday, February 19th the following plans should be available:

$100 – Nationwide Unlimited (voice)
$120 – Nationwide Select Unlimited (voice, SMS, MMS)
$140 – Nationwide Premium (voice, SMS, MMS, VZNav, VCAST, email)
$150 – Nationwide Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and data)
$170 – Nationwide Global Email and Messaging (voice, SMS, MMS, and international data)
$200 – Family plan with two lines, $100 per additional line

Additionally, the sources at Engadget claim that premium paying subscribers will also receive the following additional perks:

The 5GB cap on data will be lifted
The plans will be available on one or two year agreements
There will not be a contract extension for current customers
All plans include mobile Web 2.0 portal access
No roaming or long distance charges

584 Flash Capable Windows Mobile Devices in World’s Largest PDA Database

ryan unger — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:15:11 +0000

I stumbled across the self-proclaimed “World’s Largest PDA Database,” and as soon as I did I thought, “I can finally get a tally of how many Windows Mobile 2002, 2003 or 5.0 devices are on the market!” In total I found 584 devices. Unfortunately, however, there is no data on the penetration of these devices.

Why is this important? Adobe offers installers for Flash Lite 2.1 for Windows Mobile 5.0, Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC 2003, and the Flash Player 6 for Windows Mobile 2002. Although this does not have the mass market appeal of Verizon Wireless, it is certainly notable.

Flash is pre-installed on:

70 Nokia Phones (includes N96)
58 Sony Ericsson Phones
13 BREW Phones
6 Sony CLIE PDAs
All NTT Docomo handsets
All KDDI handsets

Flash can be installed on:

Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition (166)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Premium Edition (52)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Professional Edition (10)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone (61)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition (25)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Premium Edition (54)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Professional Edition (6)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone (11)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition (57)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Premium Edition (41)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Professional Edition (4)
Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Smartphone (35)
Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition (20)
Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Premium Edition (33)
Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Professional Edition (2)
Microsoft Smartphone 2002 (7)

Note from Adobe.com:

Note: This version of Flash Player is for the individual use of developers of Pocket PC devices. For more information about Adobe’s Flash Player distribution policy read the FAQ.

When you download the free player, it is provided “as-is”—which means that Adobe will support it only for Windows Mobile 5 and Pocket PC 2003 OS devices through available online resources on our website. If you experience any problems for non-certified devices, you should discuss them with other developers in various forums.

The World’s Largest Handheld Database

U.S. Mobile Industry is Behind the Times and Other Lies My Mother Told Me

ryan unger — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:29:11 +0000

As a resident of the United States, I’ve longed for the latest mobile phones from Japan, Korea, and other more “tech-fortunate” countries throughout APAC and Europe. I live in arguably the most powerful industrialized nation on the planet, and yet I still can’t video chat from mobile to mobile like they do in Japan. My free-phone-with-a-two-year-commitment doesn’t come with a QR Code™ reader pre-installed. And, let’s be honest, most entry level phones in the States don’t even include Bluetooth or a 1.3 megapixel camera. Until recently, I was convinced that the U.S. mobile market is behind the times.

So what gives?

Very recently, a number of studies have surfaced leading me to think that maybe, just maybe, things aren’t so bad on this side of the pond. For example, according to the CTIA in Wireless Wave Fall 2007 – A Continental Idea:

[..] earlier this year Merrill Lynch reported that Europeans still pay an average of 19¢ per minute for an average of 153 minutes a month, compared to 5¢ per minute for 834 minutes a month for customers in the U.S. The U.S. is the leader in offering bucket plans, driven by competitive market forces to offer more minutes at a lower effective rate.

3G penetration stats are looking up, too. According to industry analyst Chetan Sharma, President of Chetan Sharma Consulting, “Because of the heavy penetration of the Internet over the desktop, as well as the late advent of 3G in the market, there was not a big driver for mobile Internet until the last one or two years. As 3G penetration has been increasing[,] now we’re up to 15 to 16 percent penetration (in the U.S.).”

M:Metrics — which conducts an on-going survey of thousands of wireless customers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the U.S. — recently found that a slightly higher percentage of U.S. consumers browse wirelessly for news and information than their European counterparts.

The study also shows that the U.S. is at the top in average number of minutes used per month at 832 (Canada, the number two country, averages 429 minutes). The country with the lowest average revenue per minute — a measure of the effective price per voice minute — is again the U.S. at $0.04 USD (South Korea and Mexico are tied for the number two spot at $0.11 USD). And finally, the number of wireless carriers with over one million subscribers is the largest in the U.S. at 10 companies. The country with the next highest number is the England.

My conclusion? Maybe it’s true that the grass is always greener on the other side.

Bill Gates drops to second most wealthy, happy 4th of July

ryan unger — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:47:37 +0000

His wealth, estimated currently at $59.2 billion, has been surpassed by that of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim. Slim, the son of a Lebanese immigrant, runs businesses in a number of industries from Mexico City. Stock in his wireless company, American Movil, recently surged in price by 27%, boosting his net worth to $67.8 billion. Source Continue reading →

16 million Verizon Wireless subscribers can view Flash Lite content using 13 different phones

ryan unger — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 07:20:51 +0000

Via Bill, I recently learned that as of April 30 2007, 13 Flash Lite for BREW supported handsets represent 16 million active Verizon Wireless subscribers (reported by M:Metrics).

One of the many benefits with developing with Flash Lite is that you can target multiple devices with the same screen size using one FLA file. In the graphic below you can see how a developer would only need to create 3 FLA files to target all 13 supported Verizon Wireless handsets.

The phones that support the Flash Lite for BREW extension are: LG VX8100, LG VX8300, LG VX8500, LG VX8600, LG VX9800, LG VX9900, Motorola RAZR V3c, Motorola RAZR V3m, Motorola KRZR K1m, Samsung SCH-A930, Samsung SCH-A950, Samsung SCH-A970, and the Samsung SCH-A990.

Who Watches Mobile Video?

ryan unger — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 19:23:58 +0000

A recent article by Katie on NewTeeVee pointed out that according to data from Nielsen, middle-aged men with high incomes are the main demographic of Americans watching video on their cell phones. On the surface it may seem that this proves that the price point is still too high (which it is), but my theory is that the type of video programming also plays a part.

Nielsen is launching a mobile stat service called Nielsen Wireless, and has compiled some preliminary data. In the first quarter of 2007:

Eight million persons 12 and older viewed video on their mobile phone (this excludes videos created with a phone’s camcorder function)
The mobile video audience skewed somewhat older and male: 46 percent of the mobile video audience is 35 years or older and 54 percent of the audience is male.
At least 7 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds viewed mobile video programming in the first quarter of 2007, while at least 25 percent used their mobile phone to connect to the Internet
A total of 33 million people in the US used the mobile Web.
As of May 31, more than half, 55 percent, of primary users of video-enabled mobile phones lived in households with total incomes of $75,000 or above

Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s mobile video production capabilities.

Flash Lite’s role in the BREW ecosystem

ryan unger — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:35:21 +0000

fiercedeveloper.com wrote a short article about Flash Lite’s role in the BREW ecosystem citing the October 2006 deal between Verizon Wireless and Adobe. The article from fiercedeveloper.com can be seen as a sign that Flash Lite may be gaining more acceptance from the media, and that it may soon be seen as the standard for wireless development in the US and abroad.

“Verizon’s expanding selection of handsets, and Adobe’s support of Flash Lite for BREW, is a strong signal for developers considering Flash Lite.”

At the BREW 2007 conference, we expect Adobe and Verizon Wireless to be talking about Flash Lite’s impact on some 37.5 million Americans. Verizon Wireless was the first US operator to adopt Flash Lite to it’s network, and the first operator worldwide to offer Flash Lite for BREW.

If you have interest in developing Flash Lite for BREW for Verizon Wireless, you may want to read our Adobe.com article, Developing Flash Lite for BREW applications for Verizon Wireless