Mobile

After losing an early round in its trademark dispute with a small New Mexico software provider over use of BBX, Research In Motion has opted for new name for its new operating system.

U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson in Albuquerque granted a temporary restraining order today requested by Basis International that bars RIM from using the BBX mark. In granting the request, the court concluded that "the BBX mark is identical to the mark which RIM is allegedly using to present its BBX product."

RIM representatives could not immediately be reached for comment, but the company said in more

Verizon Communications has fired 40 employees involved in this summer's bitter labor strike for behavior the company said ranged from physical violence to making racial threats.

The company informed the employees by mail over the weekend of their terminations for violating the company's code of conduct while picketing a new contract, according to a Boston Globe report. More than 45,000 Verizon workers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states walked off the job to protest contract reduction offered by the company.

"We respect the rights of our employees to peacefully picket and protest during a strike. However, the more

Let’s face it. At the moment, there are only two major online app stores to speak of: Google’s Android Market and Apple iTunes. Sure, Amazon has an app store as does Barnes & Noble, among others, but these are still primarily feeders for the Android brand as a whole.

Based on the latest figures out of the Android Market, it would almost seem that Google doesn’t need much help. The Android Market has reached 10 billion downloads and counting as of this past weekend.

We can likely expect download numbers to increase even more more

Verizon Communications is ready to get into the online video business.

The telecommunications provider plans to launch an online streaming video service that would take on Netflix, Hulu, and the traditional cable providers, Reuters reported today.

Such a service would mark a break from the company's past adherence to the pay TV model. As of the third quarter, Verizon delivers cable TV, along with Internet and phone service, to 4 million customers under its Fios offering. The new online offering would be rolled out to markets where Fios is unavailable, and will likely use its wireless arm's national more

Verizon Wireless denied claims that it was blocking the Google Wallet mobile payment application on the upcoming Galaxy Nexus.

"Recent reports that Verizon is blocking Google Wallet on our devices are false," the company said in a statement today. "Verizon does not block applications."

Google Wallet, unlike other applications, needs to be integrated into a secure part of the phone that is proprietary to Verizon, the carrier said. As a result, Verizon and Google are still in commercial talks over the issue.

The issue is a rare instance in which Verizon and Google haven't been aligned--the partnership between executives more

HTC may be showing cracks.

The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer said today that it saw November sales fall nearly 30 percent to NT$30.9 billion (roughly $1 billion) from a year ago. That follows its warning from last month that it wouldn't see any sales growth in the fourth quarter.

Those are just the latest cracks in a company that over the past year has seen its Android crown seized by a rival as support from its carrier partners receded, all while suffering several legal setbacks in its patent battle against Apple. While HTC still enjoyed strong performance for more

AT&T; may be huge and generating boatloads of cash every quarter, but when it comes to service, the carrier has a lot of work to do.

For the second year in a row, AT&T; was ranked last in Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. The company was hit especially hard by complaints over poor voice service and phone-based customer care. Even worse for AT&T;, the company's 2011 rating is slightly lower than last year's.

Consumer Reports' survey examines voice, data, and text-messaging service, as well as customer care. The specific ratings are available to subscribers.more

Android's surge in popularity has triggered an accompanying surge in malware aimed at the mobile OS, says a new study today from Fortinet.

Analyzing the malware landscape this year, the security vendor tracked a 90 percent jump in Android malware families in 2011 compared with 2010. That figure doesn't account for infection rates or severity, only the rise in malware seeking to infect Android devices.

In comparison, malware directed toward Apple's iOS rose by only 25 percent over last year.

Fortinet pointed to two reasons for the larger bull's eye painted on Android's back.

Google'more

Verizon Wireless will begin selling its version of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus smartphone on Friday, according to documents purportedly from an authorized Verizon retailer.

An e-mail and PDF posted by RootzWiki say UPS will ship the phones to Verizon stores on December 6 and gives an "official launch date" of Friday, December 9.

"Do not receive the product in via your scanner (this is a change in procedure)," the e-mail warned those collecting the shipments to stores--perhaps in response to the frequency with which sales plans have been revealed through screenshots of retail inventory systems.

Verizon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.