| Today's Top Stories
1. Dish hints at possible wireless plans in AT&T/T-Mobile deal opposition
2. Data price plans are hindering 3G tablet sales
3. Samsung's Omar Khan, chief product guru, leaves company
4. Virgin Mobile to raise PayLo prices but drop BlackBerry add-on fee
5. Report: Antitrust officials investigating Nortel patent auction Editor's Corner: Will other companies license HP's webOS? And will this strategy work? Also Noted: Spotlight On... Is the 'freemium' model the best way to sell an app?
Samsung's Galaxy S II reportedly delayed in U.S.; Cincinnati Bell to sell HTC Panache and much more...  Five mobile apps you should avoid like the plague
Since the start of 2011, our weekly feature Appealing/Appalling has spotlighted the most innovative and most infuriating apps available for download. With the first half the year now in the books, let's take a look back at the absolute worst of the worst--the most laughable and most frustrating applications lurking in the nooks and crannies of the app store ecosystem. Life is hectic enough, after all; you don't have time--or money--to waste on apps that don't make it a little more manageable, or at least a little more fun. Get started
News From Across the Wireless Industry:
1. Rogers offers usage-based LTE service in Canada
2. Ericsson scoops up Vodafone Italy managed services deal
3. GetJar: We're not going to take Apple's app store bullying
| 
Will other companies license HP's webOS? And will this strategy work?
 Hewlett-Packard's recent confirmation that it is in talks with a number of companies to license webOS set off a flurry of speculation over the potential partners HP is negotiating with.
I don't have any inside scoop on those companies, or where the negotiations stand, though HP CEO Leo Apotheker said there is "no time pressure" to complete a deal. However, from talking with a range of analysts, it seems there are two schools of thought: either HP is talking to a handset maker looking to hedge its bets on Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform, or a nontraditional company such as Amazon.com. I'm still undecided on which side will prevail, but I'm leaning more toward the handset maker route. Before I explain why, let's take a look at the pros and cons of each side. A traditional handset OEM could be in the cards, but it would have to be a company that does not compete with HP's core business. Analysts told me that HP also seems to be looking for a partnership akin to the one Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) struck with Nokia (NYSE:NOK) on Windows Phone 7. HP is "looking for partners that will focus on webOS either primarily or exclusively," NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin said. Samsung was named by Bloomberg as a possible partner for HP on webOS, but others include LG and Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI). Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said HP might try and push for a deal with a company like LG, Samsung or Sony that could put webOS into TVs, household appliances, automated home control units and other connected devices. HP bought Palm, he said, "to have a platform they could control," and licensing webOS to a direct handset and tablet competitor is "not antithetical to that strategy but doesn't support it." A key benefit of licensing webOS to a handset OEM is that it could help HP achieve greater scale, especially if it is a company that could bring webOS to other devices beyond what HP plans to do. However, it would depend on how the deal is structured, because the downsides are, of course, that the devices could compete with, and potentially undercut, HP's efforts.
 On the flipside there is Amazon, which analysts argued could be a compelling partner for HP that wouldn't compete as directly with it as OEMs would. Amazon has "assets that are reasonably close to what Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has in terms of a cloud-based, high-velocity transaction-based business model that doesn't need to monetize on hardware," said CCS Insight analyst John Jackson. Working with Amazon could be a win-win, especially if Amazon put webOS on the Kindle, said Recon Analytics analyst (and FierceWireless contributor) Roger Entner. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos strongly hinted in May that the company will produce a tablet soon. Amazon has the service-delivery mechanisms in place to allow webOS to compete more directly with iOS and Android, giving it a leg up on Windows Phone and Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry. T he downside, as Golvin pointed out, is that Amazon's cloud-based services would compete with HP's own, though HP's cloud services are more focused on the enterprise market than consumers. HP hasn't said which way it is leaning, but has given indications of its intent. In an interview last week with AllThingsD, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group, said the company is focused on working with a partner that will "expand the [webOS] ecosystem" and take the platform in a new direction, rather than compete head-to-head with HP. "That's exactly what we would look for, someone who would go in spaces that we are not in," he said. My bet is that, although a deal with Amazon has a lot of potential, HP will forgo working with Bezos, partly because of the cloud services competition and partly because there might not be as much value for Amazon. Moreover, the onus is on HP to find a partner--they need the platform to scale up, and they have to get someone to bite. Which companies could that be? I would argue for LG or Motorola. Unlike Samsung, neither really competes with HP in PCs or printers, and neither has found the kind of success HTC and Samsung have with Android. LG just cut its smartphone sales targets for 2011, and Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha recently indicated the company might be open to the possibility of combining resources with a software company. Both could use webOS as a strong hedge against Android. Like I said, I don't know how this will turn out (Representatives from LG and Motorola declined to comment, and an Amazon representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment). But to any potential licensees out there, Leo Apotheker is waiting for your call. --Phil Read more about: BlackBerry, Google, Apple, samsung
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* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. Dish hints at possible wireless plans in AT&T/T-Mobile deal opposition
Dish Network is the latest company to oppose AT&T's (NYSE:T) proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA, but in doing so it also revealed that the satellite TV company may have wireless plans up its sleeve. According to a filing with the FCC, on July 7 executives from Dish, including Thomas Cullen, the company's executive vice president of sales, marketing and programming, met with Rick Kaplan, the chief of the FCC's wireless telecommunications bureau. During the meeting, Dish made its opposition to the deal clear and said it was doing so because it "would harm competition and consumers by, among other things, potentially discouraging Dish Network from entering the market to provide mobile broadband." Until now, Dish has been playing coy about any potential wireless ambitions. A Dish spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Dish's potential wireless plans. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said earlier this year that the company had no "grand strategy" around wireless spectrum. Dish received final approval last week from a bankruptcy court judge to purchase TerreStar Networks for $1.375 billion. The purchase nearly matches the $1.4 billion Dish will pay for DBSD North America, a transaction that won bankruptcy court approval last month. Together, DBSD and TerreStar each give Dish access to 20 MHz channels of S-band spectrum. FCC approval of the transfer of spectrum licenses to Dish might not happen until year-end.
For more:
- see this FCC filing
Related Articles:
DOJ's antitrust chief Varney resigns, raising questions on AT&T/T-Mobile deal
Dish gets final approval for $1.38B TerreStar auction purchase
Dish Network lands $1.38B bid for TerreStar, reportedly outflanking MetroPCS
Bankrupt TerreStar extends deadline for bids on assets
Dish's Ergen: No 'grand strategy' on spectrum play
Dish's $1B DBSD purchase sparks spectrum intrigue Read more about: DISH Network, Satellite Operators, Satellite Broadband, T-Mobile USA
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2. Data price plans are hindering 3G tablet sales
Tablets equipped with 3G cellular connectivity are not selling because consumers don't want to pay for another cellular data plan on top of what they are already paying for their smartphones, an IDG analyst told ComputerWorld. According to IDG analyst Bob O'Donnell consumers are buying the Wi-Fi equipped tablets at a much faster rate that 3G-equipped tablets, which are sitting unsold in inventory at carrier stores and other retailers. O'Donnell said he is basing his information on various interviews conducted with tablet makers, including executives at Samsung and Motorola (NYSE:MMI). O'Donnell's comments jive with findings last month from ABI Research, which found that only a quarter of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad tablets shipped in the first quarter featured support for 3G networks. That number is significantly lower from previous quarters and just below the industry average of around 35 percent. ABI analyst Jeff Orr wrote in a research note that even though the attach rate of 3G-capable tablets was higher than that of 3G-capable PCs or netbooks, activations of those tablets on the cellular network was surprisingly low. Orr concluded that Wi-Fi connectivity for tablets tends to be "good enough" for most consumers. O'Donnell asserted that U.S. carriers need to change their pricing plans for data--such as offering a data plan for a family of devices, rather than a single device--if they want this trend to change. He predicts that operators will start doing that in the fall. In May, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) CFO Fran Shammo said that the company will offer family plans for data services, however he stopped short of providing a launch date for the new plans. Shammo, who disclosed the news to Reuters as part of the Reuters Global Technology Summit event, said the carrier will introduce the family data plans sometime after it replaces its unlimited smartphone data service with tiered data pricing. He did not provide any further details on the plans. For more:
- See this ComputerWorld article Special Report: Testing tablets: What are the pros and cons of today's tablets? Related articles:
ABI: 25% of iPads sport 3G connections, slightly below industry average
Verizon Wireless to offer family data plans
Rumor Mill: RIM scraps plans for 10-inch PlayBook tablet
How should wireless carriers approach the tablet market?
Will tablets cut into notebook sales? Read more about: ABI Research, iPad, tablets, 3G connectivity
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3. Samsung's Omar Khan, chief product guru, leaves company
Omar Khan, the Samsung CTO who has been the South Korean handset maker's point person for mobile strategy in the U.S. for the past three years, is leaving the company, Samsung confirmed.  | | Khan | "Omar Khan was a valued member of the Samsung Mobile U.S. team but has decided to leave Samsung Mobile to pursue another opportunity," Samsung said in a statement provided to FierceWireless. "Omar is not leaving to join a competitor to Samsung, and we anticipate having a continued relationship with him once he settles into his new role." Khan, Samsung's chief product and technology officer for its mobile operations in the U.S., has been with the company for just over three years. Samsung said a trio of product marketing executives--Nick Dicarlo, Gavin Kim and Tim Rowden--will assume most of Khan's responsibilities. Multiple blog reports indicated that Khan is leaving Samsung to head Citigroup's mobile solutions business. A Citigroup representative wasn't immediately available to comment. Khan was often the U.S. executive who introduced new Samsung devices at U.S. trade shows, alongside JK Shin, the president of Samsung's mobile communications business. Khan presided over an expansion of Samsung's presence in the U.S. smartphone market and the introduction of its GalaxyTab tablet line. His departure comes at a time when Samsung is looking to bolster its smartphone position and compete with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in tablets. For more:
- see this TheDroidGuy post
- see this MobileCrunch post
Related Articles:
Samsung sues Apple in escalation of patent fight
Analyst: Samsung to overtake Nokia's top smartphone spot in Q2
Samsung clings to smartphones as bright spot in Q1
Samsung unveils GalaxyTab 8.9, thinner version of 10.1 Read more about: Omar Khan, tablets, GalaxyTab, samsung
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4. Virgin Mobile to raise PayLo prices but drop BlackBerry add-on fee
Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) Virgin Mobile prepaid brand will increase its low-end PayLo price plans this week but drop the cost of its most expensive plan, a company spokeswoman confirmed.  | | Virgin Mobile will soon sell the Motorola Mobility Triumph Android smartphone. | Sprint spokeswoman Jayne Wallace confirmed to FierceWireless that starting this week Virgin Mobile will increase the price of its PayLo $25 plan, which includes unlimited texting, email and data and 300 voice minutes, to $35. The $40 plan, which comes with unlimited texting, email and data and 1,200 minutes, will increase to $45. Meanwhile, the unlimited $60 plan will drop to $55, and Virgin also will drop a $10 add-on fee for Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry devices. The pricing changes were first reported by the blog MobileCrunch. Wallace said the changes are being made because Virgin Mobile is evolving its identity from a pay-as-you-go service to a postpaid-alternative with high-end smartphones. "Like all major carriers, we've seen data usage in particular increase significantly over the past few months, and are taking these steps to ensure customers continue to enjoy unlimited data while using Virgin Mobile, without overages or a contract," she said. "Smartphone penetration within the pre- and postpaid markets has grown exponentially, with mobile data traffic increasing to match. We have a commitment to deliver top-of-the-line smartphones to our customers without a contract at attractive prices and remain focused on offering the best value in wireless." The changes come ahead of Virgin's launch of the Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) Triumph, the brand's first Motorola Android device. The device runs Android's 2.2 Froyo operating system, has a 4.1-inch WVGA touchscreen and a 1 GHz Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon processor. It also has a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video capture and a front-facing VGA camera for video chatting. For more:
- see this MobileCrunch post
Related Articles:
Sprint teams with Motorola to launch 10 smartphones in 2011
Sprint discontinues Common Cents Mobile prepaid brand
Virgin Mobile to cap data speeds if users exceed 5 GB limit
Sprint launches multi-pronged prepaid wireless strategy Read more about: Virgin Mobile, Smartphones, prepaid, data pricing
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5. Report: Antitrust officials investigating Nortel patent auction
Antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice are exploring whether the $4.5 billion winning coalition bid for Nortel Networks' patent portfolio will hurt competition by blocking or harming Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform, according to a report in the Washington Post. The report, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, said antitrust enforcers are looking into the winning bankruptcy court bid made by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), EMC Corp., Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Sony, though the repor t did not say if, or when, any action might be taken. The report also noted that the American Antitrust Institute sent a letter to the Justice Department asking antitrust officials to begin an investigation of the sale. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. Google made the opening bid of $900 million in April and was in the final round of bidding but dropped out as the prices spiraled higher. The patents cover technologies including wireless video, Wi-Fi, social networking, semiconductors and, most notably, LTE. "We chose not to bid at that level," Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, told the Financial Times. "I presume people spent $4.5 billion to do something with them," he said of the winning consortium. "They didn't just wake up and say, 'Oh, we'd like to have this patent portfolio.' I don't know what their intent is, but we, as a company, worry that this is an attempt to use patents rather than to innovate." However, the sale could be delayed, given that Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis has launched an investigation to ensure the sale aligns within the Investment Canada Act. Canada has reviewed past Nortel asset auctions to see if they comply with the Investment Canada Act, most notably for Ericsson's purchase of Nortel's CDMA and LTE assets. For more:
- see this Washington Post article
- see this FT article
Related Articles:
Nortel's $4.5B patent sale could be delayed
Google's bids on Nortel's patents raise questions
Apple, Ericsson, RIM and others win Nortel patents for $4.5B
Report: Apple, Intel jump into Nortel patents race
Bankrupt Nortel postpones auction of patent portfolio
Report: Justice Department approves Google's bid for Nortel patents Read more about: Patents, Department Of Justice, antitrust, Google
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Also Noted SPOTLIGHT ON... Is the 'freemium' model the best way to sell an app?  If mobile gaming is a multibillion-dollar industry, then how are developers making money from free apps? And if so many apps are free, why would users pay for apps at all? The answer lies in the "freemium" business model for apps, in which apps offer some services for free, incentivizing users to try an app before paying for additional features. The primary source of income for many freemium apps is in-app downloads, and a recent study from Flurry found an increasing number of freemium apps populating the top 100 grossing games list in Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store. Special feature
Quick news from across the Web @FierceWireless: RT @karaswisher: Reindeer Antlers and Reykjavik: How Microsoft and Nokia Are Getting Down to Business Together: Article | follow@FierceWireless > Apple is hoping to block the sale of new HTC devices via a patent complaint with the International Trade Commission. Article > Cincinnati Bell will sell the HTC Panache for $199.99 with a two-year contract. Article > Verizon Wireless issued a software update for the HTC Thunderbolt. Article > Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said Windows Phone Mango phones will be sold in time for the holidays. Article > Rumors indicate U.S. carriers are stalling the rollout of Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone. Article > Around 50 percent of Americans should have a smartphone by fall 2012. Post Mobile Content News > AT&T is looking at the mobile local ad space. Article > Mobile Posse inked a deal with U.S. Cellular to sell ads to mobile phone idle screens. Article > Apple is taking its "app store" legal challenge to GetJar. Article > New figures show an increasing appetite for purchasing iOS apps. Article Broadband Wireless News > Tablets equipped with 3G cellular connectivity are not selling because consumers don't want to pay for another cellular data plan on top of what they are already paying for their smartphones, an IDG analyst told ComputerWorld. Article > Revenue from the wireless industry worldwide is expected to surpass $1.3 trillion in 2011. Article European Wireless News > Successful partnerships between competitors are an uphill struggle unless there are clear and identifiable benefits for the involved companies. Commentary > Vodafone Italy awarded Ericsson the contract to manage the field service operations of its fixed and mobile networks, as well as for its fixed core network nodes. Article > Nokia Siemens Networks is making a determined play for the burgeoning M2M market with the announcement of new software that reduces signaling traffic over GSM networks. Article And finally... The Hewlett-Packard TouchPad got the royal treatment. Post > The Muther! of all Hackathons + DevCon: Innovation trumps sleep. Always. Silicon Valley - June 24/25 The Muther! is coming and YOU don't want to miss it! A real mashup where Hackathon meets DevCon in a fun, informative format! The real world doesn't focus on a single technology, phone or solution, so neither will the Muther! Join hundreds of Developers, Tool companies, Carriers, Investors and other mobile fanatics for a two day adventure of Master Classes, UnPanels, Coding, New APIs, Prizes, a BBQ and more. Attend! > Mobile Forum on Backhaul - July 20 - Juniper Networks, Sunnyvale, CA As demand continues to increase, the backhaul operations becomes complex. Join Bridgewave Communications, Juniper Networks, Vantrix and more for this important discussion on how to manage this complexity. Save 30% by using "Fierce30off" when you register - http://telecomcouncil.cvent.com/event/MF_Backhaul > TC3: Telecom Council Carrier Connections - Sept 15 - Mountain View, CA Sponsored by Huawei, Blue Coat, and Qualcomm, TC3 connects you to what the carriers are thinking, what they are looking for, and how they find innovation and work with entrepreneurs. It's 15 carriers with 20 strategies in 1 day. Details at http://telecomcouncil.com/tc3 > CTO Telecom Summit - September 18-21, 2011 - Montelucia Resort, Scottsdale, AZ The CTO Telecom Summit, September 18-21, 2011, will bring together CTOs to discuss IT topics and trends currently affecting the industry. The 2011 agenda has been revamped to include focus groups, think tanks, and analyst Q&As, all of which encourage meaningful conversations between delegates, analysts and solution providers. Learn more. > BlackBerry DevCon Americas - Oct. 18-20 - San Francisco, CA The showcase event for mobile developers. Join thousands of BlackBerry enthusiasts & experts for sessions, hands-on labs, demos and much more. Learn how you can maximize your investment in mobile development for the BlackBerry platform. Register early & save at www.blackberrydevcon.com. > The Open Mobile Summit: NEW DATES ANNOUNCED - November 2-4 2011 - San Francisco, CA > Appcelerate: At the Open Mobile Summit - November 4, 2011 - San Francisco, CA Mark your calendar for the app economy event of the year. In its first year, Appcelerate brought 600 of the leading mobile innovators together to explore how to build and monetize a killer app business and featured CEOs Smule, BottleRocket, ngmoco, Shopkick, Disney Mobile and more. Don't miss 2011.. Click here for more info
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| > Telecommunications Director, Experian Consumer Direct, Irvine, CA The Telecommunications Director will be the primary point of contact for all voice related systems in the organization. This will include PBX systems, Voice Mail, Call Management Servers, CTI, Call Recording, IVR, Witness Call recording, VoIP technologies, Cell Phones, PDA's and Carrier Services. This role will support multiple Telephony systems in separate locations... Learn more. > Sr. RF Engineer at SyChip, Inc. in Plano, TX If you have RF Engineering experience in wireless technology – this is a great OPPORTUNITY to join an exciting company and to become a part of a winning team Murata Electronics North America, Inc., a leading international electronic component sales organization, is seeking a Senior RF Engineer for our Plano, Texas office. Learn More! > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
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