mobile

AT&T said Thursday that it will start offering live mobile TV service from MediaFlo in May, but will anyone be watching?

AT&T first announced its partnership with MediaFlo in February 2007. Back then it said it expected the service to begin by the end of 2007. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Reuters the company waited until May to offer the service because it was "a brand new service on a brand new network, and two brand new devices."

The new service will operate on two new handsets, the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. … Read more

AT&T today announced two enhancements to its AT&T Mobile Music service that will let users use music to customize their cell phones. With mSpot's Make-Ur-Tones (couldn't they have come up with a better name?), AT&T customers can create their own ringtones using an application downloaded to their cell phone. While that in itself is hardly new, the application gives aspiring musicians a lot more freedom than you might expect. Instead of just offering a selection of Midi tones, users will be able to download an actual music track and then cut their … Read more

There's nothing fun about being on a wait list, especially when you're told the wait just got longer.

Skyfire (video), a new cell phone browser demoed in February, hit such demand in its closed beta program, the company split participation into two rounds. According to a Skyfire statement, those lucky ducks who signed up before March 1 made the cut for Beta 1 and will receive the golden invitation to join the testing in phases from now until the end of April.

This first phalanx of users will also be invited to continue their testing as the second … Read more

Bubble Motion, a provider of text messaging-for-voice technology, has raised $14 million in a second round of funding from Sequoia Capital, Comcast Interactive Capital, and NCD Investors, the company said Wednesday.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company, which was founded in 2003, had previously raised $10 million from Sequoia, an early backer of Google and Yahoo. Comcast and NCD are new investors in Bubble Motion, which develops a short voice messaging service that enables users to sidestep the keyboard. According to the company's Web site, Bubble Motion is available to 100 million people worldwide, with cell phones from carriers … Read more

When it comes to mobile applications, simple can be good. Golf.com's new one for select Windows Mobile 5 and 6 phones makes it easy for links-lovers to find all the course location and details they could want while on the move--except for directions and hours of operation. They also won't be able to add personal course ratings or send a new favorite link to a friend from the application.

But never mind all that. Golf.com's free Course Finder beta, which heavily promotes its partnership with Microsoft, does what it needs to by providing a golf-themed … Read more

The Sony PCM-D50 is my new gold standard for portable audio recording with a price less than $500 (well, technically it retails for $600). If you're wondering what it does, and why on earth you would want it, then check out our full review and image gallery.

There's also an action-packed First Look video for the the Sony PCM-D50, featuring Elvis and farting kittens...really.

If you want to hear the PCM-D50 in action, then listen to the latest episode (#90) of the MP3 Insider podcast (recording samples are about halfway through).

Updated 7:35 AM PDT. News.com's Richard Defendorf contributed to this story.

Under pressure from investors, Motorola has decided to split into two publicly traded companies, one handling handsets and accessories and the other taking on wireless broadband networks and enterprise-level communications services.

"Our decision to separate our Mobile Devices and Broadband & Mobility Solutions businesses follows a review process undertaken by our management team and Board of Directors, together with independent advisers," CEO Greg Brown said in a release. "Creating two industry-leading companies will provide improved flexibility, more tailored capital structures, and increased management … Read more

Wouldn't it be nice if you could find interesting things to read on the mobile Web much more quickly and easily?

Now, CBS Mobile says that it has just the feature on its mobile WAP site to help readers dig deeper into mobile Web sites and to find the stories they want to read much more easily. The media giant has partnered with a company called Aggregate Knowledge, which sifts through click-histories of every story on the site and looks at users in aggregate in order to find patterns in those clicks so that it can recommend the most … Read more

The new location-based service FindMe is a straightforward app that uses cell phone towers to broadcast your general whereabouts to Facebook friends, saving you from updating Facebook manually with places you frequently travel. In beta, FindMe installs on your cell phone and updates your Facebook status when it senses you've changed locations. For each new cell area FindMe detects, you'll be able to tag it "Work," "Home," and so on, and you'll only share addresses you manually enter yourself. As you change zones, FindMe updates your bearings, going "dark" when you … Read more