wireless

According to Bloomberg, Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen made a $2 billion bid last week for LightSquared's radio frequencies, which are owned by private investment firm Harbinger Capital Partners.

Bloomberg added, based on unnamed sources said to be familiar with the deal, that LightSquared has until the end of the month to make a decision.

Dish is already bogged down by other networking and communications deals floating around -- namely a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel. The nation's third-largest mobile provider … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- When Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Lopez are the biggest draws for a technology show, there's a problem.

The CTIA Wireless trade group's spring show officially kicks off for the last time on Tuesday. It marks an unceremonious end to the conference, which next year will merge with its sister show in the fall to better align itself with the holiday shopping season.

While CTIA still touts itself as the largest wireless show in North America, its influence and importance have waned in the last few years. CTIA has always had the misfortune of following at … Read more

Verizon subscribers eying Nokia's new Lumia 928 can now pick up the phone either online or offline.

As previously promised, the 928 went on sale Thursday, available through Verizon's Web site and its brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Selling the phone for $99 with the standard two-year agreement, Verizon is currently offering a ship date of May 20, so eager buyers won't have long to wait.

The Lumia 928 is a smaller, lighter, and sleeker version of its 920 predecessor and offers an AMOLED display and a brighter flash. Like all Lumias, it runs Microsoft's Windows Phone software.… Read more

No one can deny the popularity of sound bar speakers, but I've always been frustrated by their sound quality. There were exceptions; the $899 Atlantic Technology PB-235 and $699 SpeakerCraft CS3 are quite good, but in the more popular $300-to-$400 range the 'bars weren't all that great. Granted, they were a big step up from TV speakers, but their sound was still a compromise, compared with what's available from the better $300-to-$400 Emotiva and Audioengine self-powered stereo speakers (they get hooked up from your TV's stereo analog jacks).

A few weeks ago I spent … Read more

Verizon Wireless may be looking at new phone pricing options, but that won't affect service plan pricing, Verizon's financial chief said Tuesday.

Fran Shammo, speaking at the J.P. Morgan tech conference, said the company has looked at T-Mobile's new phone and service plan options "a number of times," but Verizon won't change the service pricing on its "Share Everything" plans.

"We may give users more options to buy phones, but it won't affect the service pricing," he said.

Clearwire's board of directors has gone through the due diligence evaluating buyout deals and all paths have led it to one conclusion: go with Sprint.

In a letter the board wrote to shareholders on Monday, Clearwire's directors urged their fellow shareholders to accept Sprint's merger deal with the company when they can vote on the transaction next week. In the letter, which was signed by Executive Chairman John Stanton, the board used the advice of analysts, its own evaluation of the deal, and help from an independent shareholder advising organization, called Institutional Shareholder Services, to make its … Read more

Well, this is interesting. AT&T launched a brand-new prepaid network on Thursday that goes head-to-head with T-Mobile's new no-contract model.

Called Aio Wireless (pronounced AY-oh), the new wireless service provider leans on AT&T's network and offers a range of prepaid devices, including Apple's iPhone 5, which costs 649.99 full retail.

Other smartphones are decidedly more entry-level, and Aio does not offer premium devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nokia Lumia 920. It does, however, sell Nokia's budget Lumia 620 Windows phone 8 device for $179.99.

There are striking similarities … Read more

The Kyocera Kona doesn't look like much, but for mobile users seeking a no-muss, no-fuss handset that can perform the basics, this is a phone worth considering.

The device is Cricket Wireless' latest offering, and is currently available for $29.99 with Cricket's contract-free service. True, it lacks a lot of comforts you'll find in even midtier feature phones, like a camera flash or video capabilities. And while its extra features are rather paltry (a 2-megapixel camera and 2G data connectivity, for example), for people who want a bare-bones handset that's easy to use, it'll … Read more

Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead said on Wednesday that there remains an importance place for both Windows Phone and BlackBerry, the two aspiring mobile operating systems trying to eat into the dominant positions of Apple and Google.

On Windows Phone (which he mistakenly referred to as Windows Mobile 8), Mead said he has been encouraged with what he has seen, noting that the OS has gotten good engagement from the handset manufacturers.

Likewise, there's a vital role for BlackBerry, he said during an investor conference today.

Both Windows Phone and BlackBerry are attempting to stage their respective comebacks, and … Read more