ctia 2011

SAN DIEGO--While the mobile-payment players acknowledge that partnerships are necessary for long-term viability, many are gearing up for some chaotic times.

The idea of a digital wallet and the opportunities that come from moving payments onto the smartphone were major themes at the CTIA Enterprise & Application show. American Express executive Dan Schulman used his keynote address to call for more alliances, noting that, "no single company can do this alone." The prospect of mobile payments was also the focus of one of the more prominent panel discussions today.

It's not hard to see why. Beyond getting … Read more

SAN DIEGO--It could cost the the GPS industry as much as $400 million for gear to protect its precision devices from interference caused by LightSquared's planned wireless network, although the company believes the figure will be ultimately be lower.

LightSquared Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told CNET on Wednesday that there are roughly 500,000 commercial precision GPS devices in the U.S. He said his partner Javed GNSS has developed a device that costs between $300 and $800 and will protect GPS devices from such disruptions.

Boulben said Thursday that the cost could be dramatically lower, noting that … Read more

SAN DIEGO--No single company can catapult mobile payments into mainstream use, said American Express executive Dan Schulman, who called for more partnerships between the financial and wireless worlds.

"All of us need to play together," Schulman said today during his keynote address at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show. "All of us have strengths and capabilities we bring to the table."

Schulman himself straddles both worlds. He is the group president of American Express' enterprise growth unit, which is responsible for mobile payments. Prior to that, he ran Virgin Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel's prepaid, … Read more

Even as we lick our lips over Google's upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich update to Android, I'm impressed that even the more modest new Android phones are on board with Gingerbread.

The ZTE Score is one of them. First introduced exclusively through Best Buy, the Score is also Cricket's latest Muve Music phone.… Read more

SAN DIEGO--How often do you actually talk on your cell phone?

The answer, for a lot of people, is much less than they used to. With apps that power text messages and instant messaging, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and Internet-based phone services freely available, there are a lot of alternatives to making a traditional phone call.

At least one carrier is catching on. Last week, T-Mobile and Wal-Mart said they would offer a no-contract plan with unlimited data and text messages--but only the 100 minutes for phone calls. The cost: $30, which is the same amount as … Read more

Sprint Nextel plans to shed more light on the financial impact of selling the Apple iPhone during its next quarterly report.

The company had always planned to provide more guidance regarding the iPhone, Chief Executive Dan Hesse told CNET during an event at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications show in San Diego. With the iPhone 4S not even out yet, he didn't believe it would be fair to provide any estimate so soon.

Sprint and Hesse caught a lot of flack on Friday when the company laid out its own 4G plans. Investors at the conference bristled as Hesse … Read more

SAN DIEGO--AT&T's lineup of 4G LTE smartphones will be thinner and more power-efficient than current devices on the market, Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T's wireless and consumer unit, told CNET today.

The company's first 4G LTE smartphones, which will launch in the fourth quarter, will use a new technology that allows for phones with a slimmer profile that last longer without a recharge. The availability of the technology drove the timing of the phones' release.

"We had to wait longer, but we think it's worth the wait," de la Vega said in an interview. … Read more

Cricket, wasting no time between Android announcements, unveiled its next smartphone today in the Samsung Transfix.

Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and featuring a sliding QWERTY keyboard, the Transfix is powered by an 800MHz processor. Other notable specs include a 3.2-inch display and 3.2-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, and the requisite connectivity package.

While the hardware may not appeal to your typical Android enthusiast, the no-contract $179.99 price point will certainly turn a few heads. The Transfix will join other Android phones on the Cricket network, including the recent ZTE Score and Huawei Ascend II.

The … Read more

SAN DIEGO--Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Dan Hesse said the wireless industry can help get the troubled economy back on track.

"Mobile has a direct and powerful impact on efficiency, productivity, and the economic performance of any business in this country," Hesse said during his keynote address at the CTIA Enterprise & Application conference today.

Hesse, Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead, and AT&T head of mobility Ralph de la Vega reunited for another round of keynote addresses at CTIA. Unlike the last CTIA gathering in March, the executives were scheduled to speak in separate addresses, avoiding the … Read more