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Vringo sues ZTE for alleged patent infringement

Vringo, a company that offers ringtones, but has increasingly relied on licensing its patent portfolio, is the latest to take aim at ZTE.

The company announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the Chinese telecommunications equipment company, saying that it has violated three of its patents. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.K. High Court of Justice, Chancery Division Patents Court, Vringo alleges that ZTE's cellular network technologies, as well as its GSM/UMTS multimode wireless handsets, are violating its patents.

ZTE has suffered through an awfully tough day. In addition to getting … Read more

Huawei mulls initial public offering, report says

Huawei, the embattled Chinese mobile company looking to expand its footprint internationally, is now eyeing an initial public offering, according to a new report.

Huawei has contacted investment banks to learn more about the process that would eventually take its shares public, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today, citing sources. The company isn't sure yet where it might list its stock and doesn't know how that process might go, according to the Journal's sources.

Over the last several months, Huawei, which derives much of its business activity from telecommunications equipment, has come under fire in the … Read more

iOS 6 users continue to grapple with Wi-Fi problems

A number of Apple iOS 6 users say they still can't connect to Wi-Fi networks, and the problem isn't just with the iPhone 5.

Reports of the glitch have filled up 91 pages on Apple's Discussion Forums since September 19. Most users say the Wi-Fi option on their device is grayed out, preventing them from accessing the feature at all. Many have tried the usual fixes, such as reinstalling the OS, resetting the device, and even getting a replacement unit from Apple. But the problem persists.

Some users have said the bug is isolated to the iPhone 5. … Read more

FCC to look at AT&T's FaceTime limits, says report

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission made remarks today that indicate the agency may review complaints filed about AT&T's decision to limit the use of FaceTime video chat over its cell network, The Verge reported.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said he couldn't comment on AT&T specifically, but if efforts to resolve any disputes aren't resolved and a complaint is filed, "we will exercise our responsibilities and we will act."

An FCC representative confirmed to CNET that Genachowski made the comment during a question and answer session after a speech at … Read more

Verizon has no plans to lock unlocked iPhone 5

Verizon Wireless has no intention of hobbling its version of the iPhone 5, potentially allowing its customers to use the GSM smartphone on competing wireless carriers.

Verizon's version of the new iPhone, which was released on Friday, comes "GSM unlocked" out of the box, allowing it to be used on Verizon rivals AT&T and T-Mobile. While it was understood that this "feature" could be fixed via a future update, in much the same way Sprint did with the iPhone 4S last November, the nation's largest wireless carrier told the Associated Press it … Read more

RIM fixes BlackBerry outage that hit Europe, Middle East, Africa

RIM's BlackBerry e-mail service was offline earlier today for users across the Europe, Middle East, Africa. But service has since been restored, according to the company.

Research In Motion confirmed the outage in a tweet earlier today and said that services should now be up and running again.

A spokesman for RIM sent CNET the following statement from CEO and president Thorsten Heins:

I want to apologize to those BlackBerry customers in Europe and Africa who experienced an impact in their quality of service earlier this morning. The BlackBerry service is now fully restored and I can report that … Read more

Apple's Maps app slammed over missing cities and other mistakes

Released just yesterday as part of iOS 6, Apple's new Maps app is already facing criticism around the world over a slew of geographic errors.

The app has been faulted for misidentifying cities, using incorrect icons, and even failing to display certain locations. Many of the complaints so far seem to be coming from Europe.

For instance, Irish Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has asked Apple to remove the airline icon for Airfield House. The problem? Airfield House is not an airport but a farm, according to Ireland's Breaking News. Shatter may be worried that pilots relying on … Read more

Facebook quietly tests Photo Syncing on Android, report says

Facebook's Photo Syncing is being tested on Android-based devices, according to a new report.

The feature, which automatically uploads images that Android users snap with their devices to their Facebook profiles, is being tested on a small number of users, The Verge is reporting, citing comments from Facebook.

Upon snapping a photo with an Android-based handset, Facbeook's Photo Syncing automatically sends it to a private folder in the user's account. Those images can then be removed from Facebook or shared publicly, depending on the user's preference.

Photo Syncing isn't quite a secret. Facebook currently has … Read more

Verizon: 'Share Everything' going better than expected

More customers are moving to Verizon Wireless' "Share Everything" plan than the carrier anticipated, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said today.

Not only are more customers switching to the shared offering, Shammo said, but they're also adding more devices than Verizon had expected. And a lot of those people are customers who previously had unlimited data plans.

"We're surprised on share from many different aspects," Shammo said during a Goldman Sachs investor conference presentation in New York. "The thing that really surprises us is a lot of people are coming off unlimited … Read more