Comcast has added some new bells and whistles to its Xfinity Voice service, including the ability to make free phone calls over a home or public Wi-Fi hotspot. The new suite of features, which is called Voice 2go, is accessible on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices and on other smartphones. In order to make […]
Telecommunications
@ The Cable Show: FCC chief commends cable’s innovation efforts
In stark contrast to the dark days of former Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin’s reign, current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski lavished praise on the cable industry for its innovative efforts. In a one-on-one session with NCTA President and CEO Michael Powell, who has also served as the FCC’s chairman, Genachowski said cable operators have […]
Verizon advances 700 MHz sale with advisor picks
Verizon Wireless is taking steps to move forward with the sale of some of its valuable 700 MHz assets, a plan it said it will only follow through on if the FCC approves its AWS acquisition. The operator announced Monday afternoon that it has hired Loop Capital Markets as a co-advisor for the sale of […]
Google replaces Jha after closing Motorola deal
Google has appointed Dennis Woodside as CEO of Motorola Mobility, wasting no time taking over control of the company after CEO Larry Page announced this morning via a blog post that Google has officially closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of the handset manufacturer. Sanjay Jha, the CEO behind the former Motorola Mobility’s turnaround, will stay […]
@ The Cable Show: Verizon debuts video portal; Comcast a partner
Verizon Wireless President and CEO Dan Mead used the Tuesday morning general session to announce his company’s new mobile video portal app, which is called “viewdini,” and he said that Comcast is the first announced cable operator partner. Viewdini searches and collects content from various sources and puts it at the fingertips of viewers – […]
@ The Cable Show: User interfaces that don’t stink?
Even though HTML5 is still evolving, creating user interfaces (UIs) using the Web-based markup language are perfectly feasible today. That said, cable companies engaged in developing HTML5-based UIs are certain to be unnecessarily duplicating efforts. Designing a UI was simple when the only display a cable operator had to worry about was the TV (and […]
@ The Cable Show: Cable ecosystem turbo-charges speed-to-market cycles
Joan Rivers used to tell a joke about Elizabeth Taylor, that the movie star would yell “faster” at her microwave during her more porcine days. While today’s cable customers aren’t quite as demanding, there’s definitely a need for speed when it comes to the innovation cycles for new products and services. One way to speed […]
@ The Cable Show: Boston will soon get Xcalibur, renamed X1
Comcast is on the verge of commercializing its X1 cloud-based on-demand service. Sometime in the next few weeks, the company will release its X1 app for subscribers in Boston to download and begin using. That will be the beginning of a gradual, national rollout for the service, announced exactly a year ago at the last […]
T-Mobile, MetroPCS lobby FCC to limit Dish to 20 MHz
T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS are lobbying the FCC to limit Dish Network’s use of the spectrum it plans to use for an LTE network. The two operators asked the FCC to make Dish give up half of its 40 MHz holdings in the 2 GHz AWS-4 band in exchange for a waiver to use the […]
China approves Google acquisition of Motorola Mobility
China yesterday approved Google’s proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. China’s go-ahead was all that was needed for the deal to move forward after antitrust agencies in the United States and Europe issued their statements of approval. China’s consent came with one hitch: Google must keep Android, its mobile operating system, open and free for […]