Mobile

Research In Motion's recent network troubles could be a boon for Apple and Google as frustrated BlackBerry customers consider alternative smartphones.

The worldwide BlackBerry outage that has plagued Research In Motion this week has left millions of subscribers in dozens of countries without access to e-mail and other messaging services for days. And the outage, which is likely one of the biggest in RIM's history, could tempt some of the BlackBerry faithful to ditch their "crackberries" for competing products form Apple and Google.

Angry customers have already taken to social networking sites such as Twitter to vent their frustration. And more than a few have said they're ready to give up on the BlackBerry.

@Gemified Day 3 of #BlackberryOutage. I'm wondering if they have any customers left willing to get a Blackberry again. Dear Blackberry - SORT IT OUT!

@Lkhall buy an iPhone! "@ariannahuff: I'm traveling with AT&T BB, TMobile BB and Verizon BB. What else can a girl do? #blackberryoutage"

@SharonDuceyJam Thank you blackberry for giving yet another reason to shop for a new smart phone. #blackberryoutage

It's hard to say whether customers such as these will actually follow through on their threats to leave the BlackBerry, which is still very popular among corporate customers, government agencies, and other business customers.… Read more

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

Research In Motion has posted an update on its Web site listing the current status of service for its beleaguered worldwide e-mail and messaging service.

RIM Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait noted that e-mail systems are working worldwide, though the company is continuing to clear backlogged messages. In the United States, Canada, and Latin America, the BlackBerry Messenger and browsing service are running as well, though there are still reports of delays. In Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa, the browsing service is still unavailable.… 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

It looks like a legitimate Netflix app, but it's not. There's an Android app circulating that looks very much like the real Netflix mobile app, but it's actually a Trojan that steals account information.

The fake app, which was found on an online user forum, sends the user's log-in information to a remote server and displays a message saying there is an incompatibility issue with the hardware and then attempts to uninstall itself, according to a Symantec blog post.

The server that was receiving the stolen log-in data appeared to be offline today, Symantec said.

With … Read more

It's spreading like a bad rumor. The BlackBerry outage that hit Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, and parts of South America earlier this week today crept into North America--much to the chagrin of BlackBerry users who feel left in the dark.… Read more

Research In Motion offered an explanation for its BlackBerry e-mail and messaging outage that has affected customers throughout the world, including in the U.S. and Canada. But the company still hasn't said when service will be fully restored.

The outage, which knocked out e-mail and BlackBerry messaging service, initially affected customers starting Monday in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of South America. By today, customers in Asia as well as in the U.S. and Canada also started to see delays in e-mails and BBM messages.

During a conference call today with reporters, RIM's CTO … Read more

The U.S. has more subscribers to wireless services than people, a new study released yesterday by CTIA has found.

According to the organization, at the end of June, there were 327.6 million wireless service subscribers in the U.S., compared to 315.5 million people living in the country and its territories. CTIA said in a statement that this marks the first time that there are more mobile devices in use than people living in the country.

The growth of wireless services has helped carriers increase revenues, CTIA said. The organization found that wireless service revenue hit $164.… 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