Michelle Maisto

Apple will begin using its iBeacon technology in 254 of its U.S. retail stores Dec. 6, the Associated Press reported the same day. The technology will enable customers who download the Apple Store app and agree to be tracked to receive very location-specific offers. Someone standing beside an iPhone table might receive an offer to […]

AT&T introduced Mobile Share Value plans Dec. 5 that seem to signal real change in an industry that’s been called “stupid, broken and arrogant.” Those descriptors came from T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who said in July that he wants to “redefine” the industry. He started with T-Mobile—which this year ended two-year contracts, introduced monthly hardware […]

AT&T has announced new Mobile Share Value plans that will become available Sunday, Dec. 8. When rival T-Mobile announced in December 2012 that it planned to shake up the mobile industry with strategies that its rivals likely wouldn’t or couldn’t follow, this may have been the type of thing it expected AT&T wouldn’t do. But, […]

An independent survey of 300 CIOs in the United States and U.K. found enterprises failing to turn mobile technology into business advantages or new revenue streams, according to a Dec. 5 report from Mobile Helix, an enterprise application provider that commissioned the survey from Vanson Bourne. The CIOs cited cost and complexity among their reasons […]

Is China Mobile finally accepting preorders for the Apple iPhone 5S and 5C? A spokesperson for the carrier, which is the largest in the world and has yet to officially sell an Apple smartphone, says the answer is no. However, the truth may be closer to not yet. Fortune, on Dec. 2, snapped a screen […]

YotaPhone, a brand-new concept in smartphone design, in now available in Russia, Austria, France, Spain and Germany, with new markets in Europe and the Middle East coming by year’s end, Yota Designs announced Dec. 4. The Russian designer of Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment gave the phone a splashy introduction in Moscow, though it was […]

Boeing, Morgan Stanley and Secusmart are among the BlackBerry customers that have signed up to test the latest version of the Canadian company’s multi-OS enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, version 2 (BES10.2). More than 30,000 customers around the world have installed BES10 commercial and test servers, BlackBerry said in a Dec. […]

NEW YORK—The “bring-your-own” trend ranks among the top six security threats global businesses will face in 2014, the Information Security Forum (ISF) said at an annual security breakfast discussion here, its second to date. A nonprofit group founded in 1989, the ISF performs research on topics dictated by its 350-plus global member organizations. Only recently […]

BlackBerry CEO and Executive Chairman John S. Chen has followed up his Nov. 13 open letter with a more-specific note to BlackBerry’s enterprise customers and partners. The message of the Dec. 2 note was summed up in this line: “Our for-sale sign has been taken down and we are here to stay.” BlackBerry announced Nov. […]

The drones are coming. Amazon says that a drone-based delivery system it’s testing will one day be a reality, enabling it to deliver packages to customers’ doorsteps in 30 minutes or less. “Yes. One day, Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today,” Amazon said in a post […]

BlackBerry joined the Black Friday deal-making, selling the Z10, unlocked, for $199, a savings of $200. The offer runs through Dec. 2. “Call the shots,” BlackBerry said in a flier. “You can switch carriers for a better monthly rate anytime. Or use a less costly, pre-paid SIM card when traveling abroad. You decide.” The Z10 […]

Piper Jaffray has been performing biweekly checks of iPhone 5S supply levels at 60 Apple retail stores in the United States and says all systems are go for Black Friday shopping and beyond. At Apple stores, Apple Insider said in a Nov. 26 report, citing data from the investment firm, 99 percent of iPhone 5S […]