Cellular

On Tuesday, Opera sewed up a short beta run of Opera Mini 4.1. After a mere month and a half, the Norwegian software company declared the cell phone browser build stable enough to institute as the latest product standard.

Opera Mini 4.1, like Opera 9.5 Beta 2, can now guess the URL you want when you enter a search term in the address bar, a praiseworthy ability. It can also highlight terms on a Web page to let you zero in on most-wanted data bites. You'll use this Find feature, common to desktop browsers, by hitting … Read more

Sprint Nextel's plan to spin off its WiMax network and form a $14.5 billion joint venture with Clearwire may have hit a speed bump.

On Monday iPCS, Sprint Nextel's largest affiliate, said it will try to block the deal that was announced last week. iPCS, which serves 640,600 subscribers in seven states, said three of its subsidiaries have filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois against Sprint for violating an exclusivity contract.

Sprint Nextel is spinning off its 2.5 GHz assets to form a joint venture with Clearwire. The new company, called Clearwire, … Read more

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is working with three other companies to launch a $150 million venture capital fund that will invest in companies developing new applications and services for mobile devices.

Electronic publisher Thomson Reuters and venture capital firms JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners have joined RIM to establish the fund. RIM said the fund won't be restricted to investing in BlackBerry-specific applications. It will also invest in start-ups as well as relatively mature software developers.

Specifically, investments will focus on services and applications such as mobile payments, advertising, retailing, and banking. It also will support companies … Read more

Sprint Nextel subscribers continue to jump ship, as the company's sales decline and losses widen.

The company has been struggling for several quarters as customers have complained of poor service, especially from its Nextel division. Sprint bought Nextel for $35 billion in 2005, and the merger has largely been a failure, costing the company billions of dollars to integrate while causing the company to also lose millions of newly dissatisfied customers. Many Nextel customers have complained of poor service and a lack of handset choices.

Investors have been pushing the company to sell assets and focus on its core … Read more

World: Say hello to the RIM BlackBerry Bold. *Cue dramatic music.*

You may know it as the RIM BlackBerry 9000, but on Sunday, Research In Motion officially took the wraps off the highly anticipated smartphone, complete with a new name. The "Bold" is in reference to the smartphone's gorgeous display, but it's also bold in that it represents a number of new moves for the company. Oh, BlackBerry Bold, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways.

The bold and the beautiful As we just mentioned, the device gets its name from its screen. … Read more

The fate of Philadephia's citywide Wi-Fi deployment is still in limbo as EarthLink threatens to pull the plug.

EarthLink, which fronted $20 million to build the network and has completed 80 percent of the build-out, stopped accepting new customers last week, according to a report by Metro Philadelphia. The company has also supposedly given the city a deadline of this week to come up with a plan to take over the network or sell it to a third party.

EarthLink, which won the contract in 2006 to build what was at the time to be the largest citywide Wi-Fi … Read more

Virtual cell phone operators Virgin Mobile USA and Helio are rumored to be in merger talks, a move that could bring a lot of benefits to both companies.

The tie-up between the two MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, was first reported Thursday by the wireless blog MocoNews. According to the blog, SK Telecom, one of Helio's parent companies, would buy out Virgin Mobile USA and then Virgin Mobile would buy Helio in an all-stock transaction.

As the economy tightens and other larger wireless carriers look to consolidate, it makes sense for these smaller players, who essentially resell service … Read more

Just a quick heads up to all you Sprint customers: The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 is now available for purchase. Yes, that's right, the Curve can now be yours for just $179.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. Like Verizon's version, the Sprint Curve features Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-megapixel camera, and integrated GPS with support for Sprint Navigation. However, unlike Verizon, you can access Sprint's various multimedia services on the Curve, including Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store. The sleek little smartphone is scheduled to arrive in our office today, so … Read more

Cablevision is building a Wi-Fi broadband network in the New York area, the company said Thursday.

The company said it will use wireless mesh technology to build a high-speed Wi-Fi network that will cover parts of its cable footprint in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. The new network will take two years to complete. And the company thinks it can build it relatively cheaply spending roughly $100 per subscriber, Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledge said during the company's quarterly earnings call Thursday.

Cablevision's approach is very different from other citywide or regional Wi-Fi projects that cities and … Read more