By Wailin Wong
Clearwire Corp. launched Monday a new pay-as-you-go 4G mobile Internet service aimed at a young urban consumers in Chicago and 48 other markets.
Clearwire launched 4G service in Chicago late last year, offering broadband speeds that top those of 3G networks and allow for bandwidth-intensive activities such as streaming high-definition video. Sprint and Comcast also offer 4G products and services, which run on Clearwire’s network.
The new pay-as-you-go service is called Rover and will be branded separately from Clearwire’s other 4G offerings. Mike Sievert, Clearwire’s chief commercial officer, said in a conference call that Rover is geared toward city-dwelling youth between the ages of 18 and 24. Get the full story »
Aug. 26, 2010 at 2:42 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Internet,
Media,
Radio,
Sports,
TV
By Tower Ticker
Former Chicago Sun-Times star sports columnist Jay Mariotti, has not spoken publicly about his weekend arrest in Los Angeles on suspicion of felony domestic assault. And it doesn’t appear he will be saying much of anything on his usual turf, ESPN or AOL’s Fanhouse site, at least for a while.
Mariotti will be sidelined next week from his regular role as panelist on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” perhaps longer, it was learned Thursday. AOL Fanhouse, for which Mariotti has been a columnist since January 2009, has suspended him pending its own investigation.
Aug. 25, 2010 at 4:13 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Internet,
Retail
By Sandra M. Jones
Sears Holdings Corp. hired Razorfish executive David Friedman to take the retailer’s top marketing post, replacing Richard Gerstein, who resigned in May.
Friedman, 46, begins his job as senior vice president and president of Sears’ marketing business unit on Sept. 13.
He was most recently president of the Americas at Razorfish in Chicago, a digital marketing company, where he was head of the firm’s retail and consumer goods practice. Before that, Friedman spent 10 years with Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting, as an associate partner working with retail and consumer products companies. Get the full story »
Aug. 25, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Technology,
Telecommunications
By Associated Press
Google is adding a new e-mail feature that may persuade more people to cut the cords on their landline phones. The service unveiled Wednesday enables U.S. users of Google Inc.’s free Gmail service to make calls from their personal computers to telephones virtually anywhere in the world.
Aug. 25, 2010 at 2:39 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Litigation,
Technology,
Updated
By Wailin Wong
Facebook employees write on the Facebook "wall" following a news conference at Facebook's headquarters, August 18, 2010. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Teachbook.com has two employees and fewer than 20 users signed up for its free Web community. The site has yet to officially launch.
But the Northbrook, Ill.-based company, which provides tools for teachers to manage their classrooms and share lesson plans and other resources, has been thrust into the spotlight by social networking giant Facebook, which sued the start-up for using “book” in its name.
“We’ve been sitting here scratching our heads for the last couple of days,” Teachbook’s managing director, Greg Shrader, told the Tribune on Wednesday. “We’re trying to understand how Facebook, a multibillion-dollar company, feels this small enterprise in Chicago is any type of threat.” Get the full story »
Aug. 25, 2010 at 7:27 a.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
Trade
By Associated Press
Germany’s government is planning a new law to protect employees’ privacy, including making it illegal for employers to check on job candidates’ private Facebook postings. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Wednesday the law would make it illegal for future bosses to ask applicants to become their Facebook friend in order to check out details they would otherwise keep private. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Apple is in talks with several media conglomerates to allow consumers to rent TV shows through iTunes according to a report in Bloomberg Tuesday, which cited three unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
Apple is in serious discussions with News Corp. to allow viewers to rent programming from its Fox network for 48 hours, the report said, adding that Walt Disney and CBS are in talks with Apple as well.
Representatives from Apple, Walt Disney, News Corp. and CBS declined to comment. Get the full story »
Aug. 24, 2010 at 1:10 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers,
Internet
By Associated Press
Microsoft is now powering the search engine on Yahoo’s Web site in the U.S. and Canada. Get the full story »
Aug. 24, 2010 at 12:35 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Government,
Internet
By Associated Press
State attorneys general nationwide are demanding that Craigslist remove its adult services section because they say the site cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads.
Attorneys general from 17 states, including Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri, announced Tuesday that they have sent a joint letter calling on the classified advertising site to get rid of its adult services category. Get the full story »
By Dow Jones Newswires
Dell Inc. put its first U.S. smartphone on sale on Tuesday, making the computer maker the latest technology manufacturer to enter the competitive mobile handset market.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company said its 3.5-inch touchscreen phone, dubbed the Aero, runs on Google Inc.’s Android operating system and is available for $99.99 with a new two-year contract from AT&T Inc. and $299.99 without. It can be ordered on Dell’s Web site. Get the full story »
By Dow Jones Newswires
The Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced e-mail alerts that will allow the public to be notified when new feedback is posted on its Web site about rulemaking for the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.
It has had e-mail alerts for a year on other matters and has since sent 11 million updates to nearly 14,000 subscribers. Get the full story »
Aug. 20, 2010 at 10:09 a.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Internet,
Retail
By Wailin Wong
Daily deal site Groupon reported Friday that it sold 445,000 vouchers for retailer Gap, bringing in $11 million in revenue for the Chicago-based company’s first-ever nationwide promotion.
Groupon typically splits revenue down the middle with its participating merchants. The company declined to disclose how it divided the $11 million from Thursday’s sale. The coupon offered $50 in Gap merchandise for $25, and demand was so high that Groupon’s servers experienced technical difficulties on Thursday morning. Get the full story »
Aug. 19, 2010 at 3:17 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Fashion,
Internet,
Retail
By Associated Press
Rising sales at its low-price Old Navy chain helped Gap Inc. post a 3 percent increase in second-quarter net income, Gap said Thursday.
Based in San Francisco, Gap also operates Banana Republic and Gap stores, plus its websites including its Piperlime online business. And it affirmed a profit outlook for the year that is in line with Wall Street estimates. Get the full story »
Aug. 19, 2010 at 12:22 p.m.
Filed under:
Credit Cards,
International,
Internet,
M&A
By Reuters
MasterCard Inc. will buy U.K. payment services company DataCash Group Plc for $520 million in cash to expand its online commerce business and take market share abroad.
The world’s second-largest credit and debit card payment processing network said it is paying a 54 percent premium to DataCash’s Wednesday closing price. DataCash’s shares rose to a 10-year high. Get the full story »
Aug. 19, 2010 at 10:19 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Internet,
Litigation
By Ameet Sachdev
The company Aircell said Thursday that it has settled remaining claims in a patent lawsuit brought against the company over its in-flight Internet system.
The settlement news comes three weeks after a Massachusetts jury found that Aircell had not infringed on a patent owned by Ambit Corp., a technology company based in Massachusetts. Get the full story »
