A Skype app for BREW-based Verizon Wireless handsets, such as the Samsung Reality and LG enV Touch and Chocolate, is now available. Verizon already offers such an app for Android and BlackBerry devices. - Verizon Wireless and Skype are expanding the handsets options on which Verizon customers can download and run Skype's voice-over IP (VOIP) mobile application. Following the launch ofthe Skype app for BlackBerry and Android-running handsets, the two have announced the availability of the Skype ...

Blockbuster is expanding its mobile efforts. On June 23, Verizon Wireless announced that Blockbuster on Demand, an online movie buying and rental service, will become available on the new Motorola Droid X.

Blockbuster on Demand has already been available on T-Mobile's HTC HD2 since March. In late 2009, Blockbuster launched an app allowing iPhone and iPod touch users to rent and buy movies.

Many of the company's competitors are going after mobile phones as well. Apple lets iPhone, iPod and iPad users rent movies from iTunes. Monthly rentals service Netflix has recently released its iPad application. The top-grossing app on iTunes right now comes from yet another competitor, MobiTV, which streams news and sports onto the iPhone.

The influx of rivals ranging from Redbox to Netflix has been one reason behind Blockbuster's recent struggles with its rental stores business. In the first quarter, Blockbuster's revenues slid 15.6% year over year, to $939 million. The company will hold its annual shareholders' meeting on June 24. And the competition is quickly moving from the rental stores, TVs and PCs onto mobile devices.

The effort to let any Web service run over wireless networks may be dead.

On April 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Federal Communications Commission couldn’t tell the U.S.’s largest cable company, Comcast, not to interfere with certain types of traffic. This in effect reverses the FCC’s 2008 ruling, which allowed Web services like Web-calling provider Skype to run over most wired networks, and to grow and prosper faster.

Ever since, Skype and other services have lobbied the FCC to impose similar, so-called net neutrality rules on wireless networks of carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, has said he’d like to extend net neutrality rules onto wireless networks.

Now, however, Genachowski's ability to go ahead with the reforms may be severely crippled. While the FCC could appeal the court’s decision, that could be a drawn-out process. And it’s likely to halt any new net neutrality rulemaking and proceedings. That’s bad news for Skype, as well as a myriad of other Web services that depend on being able to run over various carriers’ networks to grow. These companies will have to work with the carriers to gain access to their networks via business negotiations – as Skype has already done with Verizon Wireless.

The effort to let any Web service run over wireless networks may be dead.

On April 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Federal Communications Commission couldn’t tell the U.S.’s largest cable company, Comcast, not to interfere with certain types of traffic. This in effect reverses the FCC’s 2008 ruling, which allowed Web services like Web-calling provider Skype to run over most wired networks, and to grow and prosper faster.

Ever since, Skype and other services have lobbied the FCC to impose similar, so-called net neutrality rules on wireless networks of carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, has said he’d like to extend net neutrality rules onto wireless networks.

Now, however, Genachowski's ability to go ahead with the reforms may be severely crippled. While the FCC could appeal the court’s decision, that could be a drawn-out process. And it’s likely to halt any new net neutrality rulemaking and proceedings. That’s bad news for Skype, as well as a myriad of other Web services that depend on being able to run over various carriers’ networks to grow. These companies will have to work with the carriers to gain access to their networks via business negotiations – as Skype has already done with Verizon Wireless.

Skype Mobile will be available initially on Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones, including the BlackBerry Storm 9530, Storm2 9550, Curve 8330, Curve 8530, 8830 World Edition and Tour 9630, as well as Droid by Motorola, Droid Eris by HTC and Motorola Devour. - Verizon Wireless and Skype announced at CTIA Wireless March 23 that Skype Mobile will become available March 25, quot;starting with nine Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones. quot; The deal allows Skype Mobile customers to quot;make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype con...

Listen up, wireless industry. If you promise users high-speed mobile Web access — and your network actually delivers — subscribers will flock to your product.

Ask Clearwire. An average Clear service user consumes more than 7 Gigabytes of data per month, says Clearwire, which delivers access at speeds, it claims, that are up to four times faster than those available for laptops from cellular service companies. Clear allows people to plug a tiny card into a laptop's USB port to surf the Web.

That's equivalent to an average user streaming a couple of movies onto his or her laptop a month. While that might not sound like much, it's a lot more usage than what most people are getting out of their mobile laptops and smartphones today. An average iPhone owner only uses up about 500 Megabytes of data a month, estimates independent wireless consultant Chetan Sharma. An average laptop owner likely consumes about double that amount.

Clearwire customers likely use the service more because it's faster. It can deliver a faster speed because Clearwire's network runs on a different technology, called WiMax.

Still, it's an important lesson for other providers, such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. They are investing billions to beef up their networks, and they will eventually see as much per-user broadband use. They'd better plan for it – or, else, cap the amount of bandwidth their customers can use up in order to prevent their networks from being overwhelmed with traffic.

Listen up, wireless industry. If you promise users high-speed mobile Web access — and your network actually delivers — subscribers will flock to your product.

Ask Clearwire. An average Clear service user consumes more than 7 Gigabytes of data per month, says Clearwire, which delivers access at speeds, it claims, that are up to four times faster than those available for laptops from cellular service companies. Clear allows people to plug a tiny card into a laptop's USB port to surf the Web.

That's equivalent to an average user streaming a couple of movies onto his or her laptop a month. While that might not sound like much, it's a lot more usage than what most people are getting out of their mobile laptops and smartphones today. An average iPhone owner only uses up about 500 Megabytes of data a month, estimates independent wireless consultant Chetan Sharma. An average laptop owner likely consumes about double that amount.

Clearwire customers likely use the service more because it's faster. It can deliver a faster speed because Clearwire's network runs on a different technology, called WiMax.

Still, it's an important lesson for other providers, such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. They are investing billions to beef up their networks, and they will eventually see as much per-user broadband use. They'd better plan for it – or, else, cap the amount of bandwidth their customers can use up in order to prevent their networks from being overwhelmed with traffic.

Verizon Wireless is on track to deploy LTE in 25 to 30 markets, it has previously announced, after successful testing in Boston and Seattle. The rollout will enable LTE to finally begin catching up to WiMax, which Clearwire and Sprint currently offer in 27 U.S. markets.
- Verizon Wireless officials are saying their plans to roll out 4G Long-Term Evolution networks are coming along swimmingly. LTE trials in Boston and Seattle reportedly saw peak download speeds of 40M to 50M bps and peak upload speeds of 20M to 25M bps quot;significantly faster quot; than cu...

Motorola General Manager Bruce Brda has big plans for the company’s networks mobility business, which specializes in next-generation wireless equipment and was recently spit off from a larger division.

The networks unit, which on Feb. 11 was combined with a unit that makes radios and computers for corporate and government customers, wants to boost revenue generated from services, such as helping carriers design and make more efficient use of their new wireless networks. Services already account for more than one-third of the division’s $4 billion in annual sales. “There’s room to grow it by a few percentage points,” Brda says. The division, which employs thousands of people, is “highly profitable,” he says. The unit’s financial performance and exact employee numbers have not yet been reported separately. Brda’s business specializes in gear for next-generation mobile networks, based on technologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax.

The idea is to offer a broader array of services for carriers that may use Motorola’s – or other vendors’ – equipment in more markets, particularly in the Americas. While he wouldn’t provide any hiring projections, Brda expects to grow his services staff in the coming months.

Striking additional partnerships is also on the agenda. The unit already buys certain gear from partners such as Cisco. “We will partner as a way to expand the reach of our products and to gain [research and development] efficiency,” Brda says. “I believe we have all of the components carriers need in the next couple of years.” The division already sells LTE and WiMax gear to carriers like Verizon Wireless and Clearwire. In the coming months, Brda expects to win a large LTE contract with giant China Mobile. “We are confident we’ll get that,” he says. “We are winning as many [LTE] deals as everyone else.”

The February split from the home unit, which manufactures set-top boxes, shouldn’t affect the networks division’s ability to find customers and win business too much. “The decision Motorola had to weigh is what business has the most synergy [with the home business],” Brda says. Motorola envisions creating cell phones that act as remote controls for televisions and set-top boxes, among other functions. “My goals, my financial objectives haven’t changed whatsoever,” Brda told me this afternoon. “It’s just that I am now reporting to a different leader,” co-CEO Greg Brown. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha heads the second part of the business, which makes mobile phones and set-top boxes.

Motorola General Manager Bruce Brda has big plans for the company’s networks mobility business, which specializes in next-generation wireless equipment and was recently spit off from a larger division.

The networks unit, which on Feb. 11 was combined with a unit that makes radios and computers for corporate and government customers, wants to boost revenue generated from services, such as helping carriers design and make more efficient use of their new wireless networks. Services already account for more than one-third of the division’s $4 billion in annual sales. “There’s room to grow it by a few percentage points,” Brda says. The division, which employs thousands of people, is “highly profitable,” he says. The unit’s financial performance and exact employee numbers have not yet been reported separately. Brda’s business specializes in gear for next-generation mobile networks, based on technologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax.

The idea is to offer a broader array of services for carriers that may use Motorola’s – or other vendors’ – equipment in more markets, particularly in the Americas. While he wouldn’t provide any hiring projections, Brda expects to grow his services staff in the coming months.

Striking additional partnerships is also on the agenda. The unit already buys certain gear from partners such as Cisco. “We will partner as a way to expand the reach of our products and to gain [research and development] efficiency,” Brda says. “I believe we have all of the components carriers need in the next couple of years.” The division already sells LTE and WiMax gear to carriers like Verizon Wireless and Clearwire. In the coming months, Brda expects to win a large LTE contract with giant China Mobile. “We are confident we’ll get that,” he says. “We are winning as many [LTE] deals as everyone else.”

The February split from the home unit, which manufactures set-top boxes, shouldn’t affect the networks division’s ability to find customers and win business too much. “The decision Motorola had to weigh is what business has the most synergy [with the home business],” Brda says. Motorola envisions creating cell phones that act as remote controls for televisions and set-top boxes, among other functions. “My goals, my financial objectives haven’t changed whatsoever,” Brda told me this afternoon. “It’s just that I am now reporting to a different leader,” co-CEO Greg Brown. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha heads the second part of the business, which makes mobile phones and set-top boxes.

Android operating system for smartphones has more than doubled its market share in the U.S. between September and December, according to comScore's survey of more than 30,000 consumers aged 13 and up.

Android's market share rose from 2.5% in September to 5.2% in December, while BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Microsoft and Palm lost ground in the U.S. smartphones market, according to comScore. Developed by a consortium of companies lead by Google, Android has gained traction thanks to the introduction of a slew of new handsets that run it, including Google Nexus One and the popular Motorola Droid.

But while Motorola's new smartphones enjoyed good traction this fall, that didn't prevent the company from losing more market share in the fourth quarter, as sales of its cheaper phones slowed down further. The world’s largest handset maker, Nokia, lost share as well. The company said recently that it has gained share worldwide, but it’s still having trouble cracking the U.S. market.

Research In Motion, on the other hand, actually gained cell phone market share, as more Americans switched to smartphones and picked up popular handsets like BlackBerry Pearl and Curve, according to comScore. LG gained share as well.

The biggest gainer in handsets, though? Samsung, whose market share expanded from 20.4% of the U.S. market in September to 21.2% in December, according to comScore’s Feb. 8 report. Samsung has continued to come out with highly capable yet inexpensive phones that have been a hit at AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless. At Verizon, Samsung Omnia, a Windows Mobile-based smartphone, sells for only $10 after an online discount and with a two-year contract. The phone features a 5 Megapixel camera, a touch screen and full Web browser.

On Jan. 6, Qualcomm announced that accessories maker mophie has built an antenna to catch Qualcomm MediaFlo TV's programming into its cases for the iPhone and iPod touch. The move will allow Qualcomm to sell its TV service while bypassing wireless service providers, which haven't been as successful as hoped in pushing the service thus far.

Carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless have long offered the MediaFlo service for select phones carrying Qualcomm's antennas, but it's not taken off as fast as many analysts hoped. Many people balk at paying a monthly fee for the service when they can get plenty of free programming online. And the market growth has been inhibited by the limited availability of MediaFlo-ready phones. The iPhone -- one of the most popular smartphones in the world -- had lacked the feature.

Now that an antenna is being built into a smart smartphone case, at least one of the barriers to MediaFlo's adoption will come down. iPhone fans will no longer have to wait for Apple to built the antenna into the smartphone in order to receive MediaFlo broadcasts. They will still have to pay Qualcomm fees for using the service. But at least Qualcomm won't have to share the revenues with the carriers.

Later on, mophie could make similar cases available for other devices, such as BlackBerry and Android-based phones, I suspect. Qualcomm is sure to benefit from no longer having to depend on carriers for so much of its MediaFlo traction and revenues.

By 2013, carriers will sell 31% of all notebooks, according to a Nov. 18 report from consultant In-Stat. What this means is, in three years, nearly a third of new laptop buyers will be paying carriers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T a monthly laptop service fee, which stands at around $60 in the U.S. today. That fee would come in addition to what consumers pay for their mobile phone service.

For carriers, this additional fee spells a revenue bonanza. An average American pays $50 in wireless service fees today, according to industry association CTIA. As consumers tuck on additional data services, such as those for their new laptops, netbooks and smartphones, that amount could begin to climb, even if voice minute charges keep on shrinking. Average monthly bill amount has been essentially flat since 2003.

This morning, Verizon Wireless announced Droid Eris, a new phone from HTC. The announcement comes on the heels of another, of Motorola Droid, another smartphone device based on Android software developed by Google and its partners. So Verizon Wireless has decided to develop a single brand for all Android-based phones it puts out: Droid, a company spokesperson confirms.

This strategy is a smart one: Currently, very few consumers are even aware of Android, or know what it is. With the Droid brand, Verizon Wireless is likely hoping to change that, and to make Droid phones stand out in the consumers' minds in the same way the Apple iPhone does. Indeed, Android-based phones are highly differentiated products: They are the only phones that can connect to and download apps from the Android Market, an app store for mobile games, calendar and productivity applications. They also can access services such as Google Maps Navigation, which offers voice turn-by-turn directions. It's important to point out these differences to consumers, and a single Droid brand can help achieve just that.