Breaking Mobile Industry News

Apple: Jailbreaking iPhone Will Still Void Your Warranty

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 27, 2010 - 8:03am.
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has responded to the U.S. Copyright Office's ruling that consumers aren't violating the law when they "jailbreak" their iPhones by noting that the act will still void their warranties, Cult of Mac reported. "Apple's goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience," the company told Cult of Mac in a statement.

Apple Again Postpones Release of White iPhone 4

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 23, 2010 - 6:25am.
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) announced on Friday that it will further delay the release of the white version of its iPhone 4 until later this year, after pushing a planned June release until the second half of July. "White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year," the compay said in a statement.
tags: Mobile | Apple | Retail | iPhone 4 |

Mobile Apps Store GetJar Hits 3 Million Daily Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 29, 2010 - 11:59am.
San Mateo, Calif. - Mobile applications store GetJar announced on Thursday that it is now serving 3 million downloads per day, making it second only to Apple's iTunes in terms of volume. Among the top downloads at GetJar, which offers applications for Android, BlackBerry, Java, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms, are mobile apps for YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo.

tags: Mobile | GetJar |

Mobile Apps Store GetJar Hits 3 Million Daily Downloads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 29, 2010 - 11:59am.
San Mateo, Calif. - Mobile applications store GetJar announced on Thursday that it is now serving 3 million downloads per day, making it second only to Apple's iTunes in terms of volume. Among the top downloads at GetJar, which offers applications for Android, BlackBerry, Java, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms, are mobile apps for YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo.

tags: Mobile | GetJar |

Report: Apple Investigating iPhone 3 Issues With iOS 4 Update

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 29, 2010 - 7:57am.
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) is investigating complaints from iPhone 3 owners who say the recent iOS 4 software update has degraded the performance and battery life of their smartphones, The Wall Street Journal reported.
tags: Mobile | Apple | iPhone |

WaTunes Bringing Music Store to Mobile Platforms

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 28, 2010 - 11:02am.
Los Angeles - WaTunes, a social music service that also provides distribution of artists' songs to digital retailers and services, said on Wednesday that it plans to release mobile versions of its Music Store application for iPhone, Android, Palm and BlackBerry platforms this winter. The application, previously available on Facebook, lets Facebook users buy any songs on Facebook using a unique storefront.

tags: Mobile | Music | WaTunes |

Report: Mobile Location Services Not Ripe for Marketers Yet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 28, 2010 - 9:15am.
Cambridge, Mass. - Just 4 in 100 online adults has ever used a location-based mobile service like Foursquare, Gowalla or Loopt, and only 1% of these people "check-in" on such services more than once a week, according to a report from market research firm Forrester.

Apple Begins Shipping Free iPhone 4 Bumper Cases

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 27, 2010 - 9:35am.
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has begun shipping the free iPhone 4 bumper cases it promised consumers as a remedy to reception issues caused by the device's external antenna.
tags: Mobile | Apple | iPhone 4 |

Knewco Secures $1.2 Million for In-Text Ad Platform

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 27, 2010 - 7:51am.
Bethesda, Md. - Knewco, a developer of in-text advertising technology aimed at helping advertisers more accurately target potential clients, has raised $1.2 million in a new round of equity funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
tags: Deals | Mobile | VC | Advertising | Knewco |

Thumbplay Adds Offline Listening to Mobile Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 26, 2010 - 10:24am.
New York - Mobile entertainment publisher Thumbplay announced on Monday that it has added offline caching of songs to its mobile music service for Android and BlackBerry smartphones. The company said it will soon add offline play of songs to the iPhone version of its $9.99 per month mobile music subscription service.

Study May Use iPhone to Measure U.S. Media Consumption

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 26, 2010 - 8:35am.
Los Angeles - The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), a collaboration between big media and ad agencies, is considering using Apple's iPhone as a meter to record media consumption as part of a new study, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Orange to Bundle Access to Streaming Music Service Deezer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 23, 2010 - 9:22am.
Paris - France-based streaming music service Deezer has partnered with mobile network operator Orange, which will bundle the company's premium streaming service with some of its Internet and mobile service packages. Deezer's service normally costs about $6.43 per month, or $12.87 for a version that includes mobile access.
tags: Mobile | Music | Orange | Deezer |

Wholesale iPhone App Marketplace Appbackr Raises Funds

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 23, 2010 - 6:12am.
Palo Alto, Calif. - Appbackr, the developer of a digital wholesale marketplace for iPhone and iPad applications, said on Thursday that it has closed its second seed round of funding.

AOL Launches Smartphone Portal, Releases Android Apps

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2010 - 10:09am.
New York - AOL (NYSE: AOL) on Thursday launched a new smartphone portal, designed to optimize the Internet company's content for mobile devices. The company said the portal, m.aol.com, works on any mobile browser, and includes a touch interface for use on iPhone or Android devices. AOL also said that it has released two new free applications for Android-based devices -- the AOL app and DailyFinance app.

tags: Mobile | AOL | Android |

Barnes & Noble Releases Nook eReader Software for Android

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2010 - 10:08am.
New York - Bookseller Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) on Thursday released a version of its free e-book reader software for the Android mobile platform. The company also re-branded the software -- previously known as BN eReader -- as Nook, to complement its e-book reader device of the same name.

Report: Global Smartphone Shipments Up 43% in Q2

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2010 - 8:05am.
Boston - Global smartphone shipments rose 43% in the second quarter of 2010 from the same period a year ago, to 60 million units, according to a report from market research firm Strategy Analytics.

AT&T Q2 Earnings Up 26% on Record iPhone Activations

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 22, 2010 - 6:24am.
Dallas - AT&T (NYSE: T) said its earnings were up 26% in the second quarter, to $4 billion, propelled by the activation of a record 3.2 million Apple (NASD: AAPL) iPhones during the period. The company said sales were up 0.6% to $30.8 billion in the second quarter.
tags: Mobile | Apple | AT&T | iPhone | Financials |

Motorola, Verizon to Replace Droid X Phones With Faulty Screens

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 21, 2010 - 11:50am.
Los Angeles - Around one-tenth of 1% of Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) new Droix X smartphone shipped with a screen defect, and the company and carrier partner Verizon Wireless are offering to replace the units, Engadget reported. The display issues included vertical banding and flickering. "Any consumer who experiences a flickering or banding display should contact a Motorola customer support center or Verizon Wireless," the companies said in a statement.

Blinkx Releases Mobile Video Index API for Developers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 21, 2010 - 11:49am.
San Francisco - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, on Wednesday released a new API that gives developers of mobile applications and sites access to the company's index of MP4 video. The mobile video index includes millions of videos from Blinkx's network of content partners, including the Associated Press, CelebTV, Howcast and Lonely Planet.

tags: Mobile | Video | Blinkx |

Streaming Radio Service Pandora Hits 60 Million Users

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 21, 2010 - 11:47am.
New York - Streaming music service Pandora now counts 60 million registered users, president and CEO Joe Kennedy said at the New Music Seminar on Wednesday. The company reported reaching 50 million users in April, and 40 million in December. "Pandora plays the music of tens of thousands of artists every day. It's a very promising sign for the industry that music fans are so quickly embracing this new form of radio," Joe Kennedy.

tags: Mobile | Music | Pandora |