**As published at RCR Wireless News**

CERRITOS, Calif. — The line has been tempered here as the grand opening for a new Apple Inc. store gets underway.

Early adopters of every age, race and preference are waiting in line for Apple’s new iPhone 4. But because this is a grand opening, there is also the occasional fanboy or fangirl simply waiting here to get an early look at the store and grab the free t-shirt that’s being given out to the first 1,000 people inside.

The doors have been open for more than an hour now, but the line hasn’t progressed much – at least that’s the sense from the view about 350 people back from the front. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN FRANCISCO – Although millions of fanboys and industry watchers have already seen what turned out to be the new iPhone 4 today, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs still had a few surprises up his sleeve to share during his keynote at the company’s annual developer gathering.

If there is any less excitement or anticipation for Apple’s game-changing mobile device, that sure wasn’t apparent this morning. Lines began forming around the building at 6 a.m. this morning and when the gates to the main hall were finally raised for Jobs’ keynote there was a mad dash for seats (press included). The whole experience felt very rock concert in typical Apple fashion. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LOS ANGELES – After spending the last three days up close and personal with the cable industry at its big annual affair, I’m disappointed to report that mobile was hard to find. The wireless innovations and news I’d hoped to see were simply not there.

I’m not sure lobbying will do the trick, but the entire mobile industry should do everything it can to bring wireless out from the distant horizon it sits in now and into clear view for most business in this space who don’t yet see the light. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

For a community that clamors around the word “open” like a proverbial up-for-grabs ticket to the next Super Bowl, there are some surprisingly closed aspects of the world of mobile app development. With an equal mix of the-sky’s-the-limit mentality and hesitation, there’s an uncertainty surrounding the mobile developer community for good reason.

The incredible, ongoing success stories built on the shoulders of giant business models online – think Google, eBay, Amazon, Salesforce.com, etc. — have not be replicated several times over yet on mobile. Missing from mobile still are the several revolutionary business models and teams of successful entrepreneurs and developers who follow. With large purses following online ad networks moving to mobile, for example, like AdMob and Quattro, mobile has had its share of success stories of late, albeit they are more limited and evolutionary. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

Many talk about cellular towers as if each of them were equivalent to a claim for gold or oil. But in reality, towers are even better than gold (the black and gooey kind or shiny and gold kind).

For all intents and purposes, the ability for wireless towers to multiply from sea to shining sea isn’t at all hindered by the same resource requirements. In other words, a natural resource like gold isn’t finite in the same way space and the need for wireless towers flourishes – indeed their growth is only kept in check by man-made forces.

For the past 10 to 15 years, the tower industry has gone through waves of consolidation, periods of rampant growth and buildouts that were followed by equally rapid down turns. Generally, the cycle repeats. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – At Mobile World Congress today, Microsoft finally offered an entirely new look and feel for its mobile operating system in Windows Phone 7 Series.

Presented as a complete reboot with no obvious remnants from the existing Windows Mobile operating systems (except for that “Start” button), Microsoft has finally delivered what almost every other competitor has already done to varying degrees of success: an answer to Apple’s iPhone.

When Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage this morning, his near-feverish excitement almost matched some of those who regularly clapped and yelped gleefully in the standing-room-only crowd. Read more

**As published by RCR Wireless News**

On the surface, there isn’t much to suggest that this newly Democratic-led FCC will make any radical regulatory changes in the wireless industry. There is a loud camp cheering for new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to take a more heavy-handed approach in wireless affairs, but popular opinion inside the Beltway paints a different picture.

While the President Obama appointee is digging into wireless matters such as competition, innovation and third-party application control perhaps more swiftly (and publicly) than his predecessor, the Federal Communications Commission is only asking questions at this point. Questions are cheap. Policymaking is an entirely different matter that must measure political fallout against results. And more important: the nation is still digging out of the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression. Read more

Listen in on any conversation in the wireless industry, or one about cellphones in general, and the iPhone is bound to pop up sooner than later. The device has changed how digital marketers can leverage a rich media experience on a handheld, but it also presents some inherent challenges that have to be kept in mind.

While so much chatter about Apple’s trailblazing mobile device is gushingly positive, iMedia decided it was time to play devil’s advocate and determine where the iPhone’s marketing power is overhyped.

The device has turned developers — working in their basement — into millionaires overnight, yet the marketing return is nowhere near the scale needed for larger campaigns. Read more

For most in the wireless industry, marketing has been an opportunity lurking in the shadows — plenty of hype and lofty dreams resting squarely on the potential that marketing can deliver. And yet most companies’ interest ends when it comes time to pay the piper.

That’s not to say there aren’t companies making hay out of the existing mobile marketing business. Mobile marketing has climbed to a $4 billion market annually, according to the latest projections. While that number pales in comparison to traditional marketing spend, some wireless executives and industry leaders say the market will double this year alone. Read more

If you tend to be a Grinch when the holidays roll around, maybe Weezer can help bring you some holiday cheer and put you back into the spirit of things. The band just recorded six Christmas song classics that will be the hallmark of a new iPhone application from Tapulous, the makers of Tap Tap Revenge. Set to be released later this week, Christmas With Weezer is the latest application that’s all about one band. Earlier this summer, the company released a Nine Inch Nails version of its wildly popular application. The free version, which earned Tapulous its star power soon after the App Store launched, is one of the most downloaded applications on the storefront and shows no signs of relenting.

This project, which spanned about a week for the band, also marks the first time the group has originally recorded songs for mobile. The exclusive tracks “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night,” “First Noel,” “Hark, The Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” live on in new-fashioned Weezer glory on the $5 application along with two bonus tracks and a video message from the band. Read more