Feb. 18, 2010 at 9:57 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
By Wailin Wong
| Motorola Inc. confirmed Thursday that its Backflip mobile phone will be available at AT&T in March, making it the carrier’s first device powered by Google’s Android operating system.
Motorola announced the Backflip at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. It was widely expected that the phone was headed toward AT&T, which plans to release five Android smart phones during the first half of 2010. The phone will be available on March 7 and cost $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Consumers must sign up for a smart phone data plan and two-year contract with AT&T.
The Backflip folds over to reveal a physical keyboard that is larger
than that of the Droid, Motorola’s Android smart phone at Verizon
Wireless. The Backflip also has a small touch pad on its rear so that
users can navigate the main screen from behind. With this design
feature, users can swipe through a photo slideshow without covering the
main screen with their fingers, for example.
Get the full story »
Feb. 18, 2010 at 6:10 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
Dow Jones Newswires | Hackers in Europe and China successfully
broke into computers at nearly 2,500 companies and government agencies
over the last 18 months in a coordinated global attack that exposed
vast amounts of personal and corporate secrets to theft, according to a
computer-security company that discovered the breach.
Disclosure of the attack comes on the heels of Google Inc.’s allegation
that it and more than 20 other companies were breached by Chinese
hackers. This operation appears to be more far-reaching, infiltrating
some 75,000 computers and touching 196 countries. The highest
concentrations of infected computers are in Egypt, Mexico, Saudi
Arabia, Turkey and the U.S.
Get the full story »
Feb. 16, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
By Wailin Wong | Motorola Inc. has revised the terms of co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha’s
compensation that relate to the company’s new plan to separate into two
entities.
Jha’s original employment agreement called
for the executive to receive $30 million if the separation failed to
take place before Oct. 31, 2010. If the separation was successful, Jha
was to get stock and stock options worth 3 percent of the new handset
company.
The key date for separation is now June 30, 2011. If the split does not
happen by then, Jha will receive $38 million — higher than the
original $30 million under his first employment agreement.
Get the full story »
Feb. 16, 2010 at 10:51 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
Associated Press | America’s top telecommunications regulator says he
wants 100 million U.S. households to have access to have
ultra-high-speed Internet connections by 2020.
Get the full story »
Feb. 15, 2010 at 9:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
By Wailin Wong | Motorola Inc. announced Monday the Cliq XT, a new
Android touchscreen phone that will be available next month in the U.S.
at T-Mobile.
Outside of the U.S., the device will be known as the Quench. Schaumburg-based Motorola did not release pricing information.
Motorola’s new Cliq XT (Motorola) >>
Get the full story »
Feb. 12, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
Associated Press | In response to privacy concerns, Google says it has tweaked Buzz, the social hub it added to its e-mail service this week.
Users worried that Buzz made their frequent e-mail contacts visible to
others. And it did so by automatically making these contacts their
followers and followees on Buzz, and making these lists public.
Get the full story »
Feb. 12, 2010 at 5:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Telecommunications
Motorola’s booth at the Consumer Electronics Show. (AP, File)
By Wailin Wong | Motorola Inc. on Thursday unveiled a new plan for splitting into two
companies, combining its mobile devices division with the cable set-top
box business, instead of creating a standalone phone unit.
The other company will include wireless networks and communication gear for governments and businesses.
The Schaumburg-based company had signaled nearly two years ago that it
planned to divide in two, with the phone business on its own.
Executives later said they were open to alternative structures.
|
|
See also
• Greg Burns: Why breaking up Motorola is hard to do
|
Get the full story »
Feb. 11, 2010 at 11:42 a.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Technology,
Telecommunications
From Business Week | Motorola Inc. has filed suit in state court against seeking more than $24.7 million owed on loans from two Iridium Communications Inc. units.
Read the full story: businessweek.com
Feb. 10, 2010 at 5:31 p.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
From MarketWatch | Schaumburg-based Motorola may be changing its long-discussed break-up plans wireless with a move to combine its cable set-top business with its wireless-phone unit before spinning them off into a separately traded company.
Feb. 10, 2010 at 9:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Media,
Telecommunications
By Kristin Samuelson | Guess it wasn’t so Comcastic after all.
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable service, is rebranding itself as XFinity,
in an effort the company suggests is designed to produce a full image
overhaul.
The brand change starts rolling out Friday in Chicago and 10 other markets,
including Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
Read the full story: chicagotribune.com/business
Feb. 9, 2010 at 1:19 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Telecommunications
By Wailin Wong | Motorola’s Super Bowl ad starring actress Megan Fox generated a fair amount of online chatter over the weekend, but not as much buzz as Google and Doritos, according to Chicago-based marketing firm Alterian.
Alterian tracked online buzz related to Super Bowl ads between Dec. 1 and Feb. 8, monitoring conversations on forums such as blogs, Twitter and message boards. Heading into Super Bowl weekend, Motorola ranked eighth out of 35 advertisers in volume of mentions. In Alterian’s final results, which saw the total list of advertisers grow to 46, Motorola dropped to 12th in volume. Alterian data showed that the Schaumburg-based was more frequently discussed on Monday than on the day of the game.
Feb. 9, 2010 at 12:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Conventions,
Telecommunications
By Kathy Bergen | The dwindling SuperComm telecommunications trade show is canceling its
2010 exhibition at McCormick Place, which had been set for October.
The cancellation comes after the show’s manager, Reed Exhibitions, pulled out, citing financial projections for the show. The move does not reflect unhappiness with McCormick Place, a spokesman said.
Get the full story »
Feb. 9, 2010 at 12:05 p.m.
Filed under:
Retail,
Telecommunications
By Wailin Wong | Prepaid
carrier Boost Mobile said Tuesday it has opened eight new retail stores
in the Chicago area over the last month as part of a national expansion
plan.
Get the full story »
Feb. 8, 2010 at 11:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Technology,
Telecommunications
Associated Press | Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it
charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new
Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.
The Google fee was dropped to $150 from $350, but customers who break a
contract on the phone will still have to pay an early termination fee
of $200 to T-Mobile.
Get the full story »
Feb. 8, 2010 at 9:13 a.m.
Filed under:
Technology,
Telecommunications
Models pose with Motorola’s new Android 2.0-based Motoroi during a press conference in Seoul in January. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)
