ctia - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Citigroup questions if US spectrum shortage exists

  For more than two years, the U.S. mobile industry has warned of an upcoming spectrum shortage, but two analysts at Citigroup don't buy it.

• Group: Spectrum plan could shut down TV stations

  A U.S. Federal Communications Commission proposal to transfer 120MHz of television spectrum from broadcasters to mobile broadband carriers could require more than 800 TV stations to change channels and could drive more than 200 off the air permanently, according to a trade group.

• FCC kicks off review of cell signal boosters

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission may regulate cellular signal boosters, which are designed to solve voice and data coverage gaps by picking up signals from carrier base stations and amplifying them in homes or vehicles.

• FCC revamps pole-attachment rules for broadband services

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to revamp nationwide rules governing how broadband providers can attach their lines to utility poles, with the goal of making it faster and easier to deploy new service in underserved areas.

• Hands on: Budget Android tablet, Huawei S7 Slim

  There are great budget PCs and laptops, but where are the decent budget tablets? The answer could be Huawei's S7 Slim, an Android 2.2 OS 7-inch tablet shown here at CTIA. Tablet maker Huawei offers a bright spot among a sea of mediocre "value priced" tablets that I've seen with its S7 Slim offering.

• Why tablets are just a fad

  At this week's CTIA Wireless 2011 conference in Orlando, tablets have taken center stage. Not only have multiple new devices been announced, but predictions have been made that tablets will ultimately replace laptops as the standard, "post-PC<" workplace computer.

• PlayBook will need BlackBerry tethering, to start

  BlackBerry PlayBook users won't initially be able to get their BlackBerry e-mail directly on the tablet, but will have to tether a BlackBerry phone wirelessly to it, a Research In Motion executive said this week.

• Twitter won't be able to ignore China, co-founder says

  Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone thinks his company eventually will have to deal with China despite disagreements over censorship, but it has no plans to do so immediately.

• Quakes called signal of danger to cell networks

  Mobile networks were damaged more by the Feb. 25 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, than by the 2010 quake that devastated Haiti, according to the chairman of a company that owns carriers in both countries.

• Best Buy to resell LightSquared 4G service

  Satellite-LTE startup LightSquared has made a deal for national electronics retailer Best Buy to resell its service, LightSquared CEO and Chairman Sanjiv Ahuja said on Wednesday at the CTIA Wireless trade show.

• T-Mobile teams up to offer cheaper roaming for e-readers

  T-Mobile USA and U.K. operator Everything Everywhere are working with Germany-based Giesecke &amp; Devrient on embedded SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards designed to cut the cost of using e-readers while abroad, they said Wednesday.

• Sandvine turns to Citrix to cut mobile latency

  While weak signals and overloaded cells usually take the blame for slow mobile data, the way packets are handled on a carrier's network can also affect performance, and vendors of network management tools are finding new ways to reduce bottlenecks.

• U.S. carriers disagree on cutting-edge networks

  The network chiefs of the three biggest U.S. mobile operators disagreed about some emerging network technologies during a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion at CTIA Wireless but agreed that the wireless industry is in a period of major change.

• Femto Forum specifies APIs for femtocell apps

  The Femto Forum has published a set of API (Application Programming Interface) specifications, which will allow for the creation of applications that can be integrated with femtocells, the industry organization said on Tuesday.

• Opera releases browsers for smartphones, tablets

  Opera Software has released updated versions of its Mini and Mobile smartphone browsers, and adapted the browsers' interface for tablets, the Norwegian company said on Tuesday.