**As published in RCR Wireless News**

LAS VEGAS – As the official spring-time gathering of the wireless industry came to a close, RCR Wireless News met with the No. 1 and No. 2 WiMAX chipset manufacturers to check the temperature of the space and learn more about their progressive plans for LTE.

Both Beceem and Sequans started in 2003 to make a play in the emerging WiMAX space, but one got an early and definitive lead. Now, as both continue to try to out-maneuver one another in the fast-growing WiMAX market, each is readying its war chest and industry heft in a much-more crowded and competitive landscape in LTE.

Lars Johnsson, VP of marketing and business development at Beceem, pegged the Silicon Valley-based company’s share of the WiMAX chipset space at about 65% while his counterpart at Sequans, Craig Miller, VP of marketing and business development, pegged the Paris, France-based company’s share at upwards of 25%. Read the full story

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

BARCELONA – HTC showed no signs of slowing today as it announced a refresh to its HTC Sense user-interface overlay and a trio of new smartphones. Indeed, CEO Peter Chou said he expects the device maker to be among the top three smartphone suppliers by 2013.

While noting the difficulties the mobile industry went through as a whole last year, Chou boasted it “was the most significant year in our history.”

After raising the brand’s profile considerably during 2009, HTC is continuing to refine Sense and pursuing smartphone market share growth even more aggressively, he said during a morning press conference. Read the full story

** As published in RCR Wireless News **

LAS VEGAS–As if there wasn’t enough evidence already of mobile’s growing power in the consumer electronics space, Qualcomm Inc. Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs gave his first-ever keynote at CES this morning.

When it comes to wireless communications, one would be hard-pressed to find a company that’s become as entrenched and integral to the growth and innovations the industry has achieved as Qualcomm. Indeed, the San Diego-based company’s rise has been lock-in-step with the exponential rise in global mobility.

And yet, Jacobs began his speech today: “Qualcomm’s not exactly a household name.”

Jacobs believes every electronics device will eventually be like a cellphone, in varying form factors of course, but the key ingredient being that always-connected data capability. Read the full story

** As published in RCR Wireless News **

SAN FRANCISCO – The spark that led Motorola Inc. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha to reinvigorate his company’s relationship with Google Inc. was similar to two drunks finding each other in a bar, or at least that is what Jha half-jokingly explained at this week’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco.

As was widely expected, Jha took the stage to announce Motorola’s plan for a new lineup of devices that run on Google’s Android operating system. Read the full story

I have serious commitment issues when it comes to my mobile phone. Early termination fees don’t scare me as much as a phone that’s just gotten plain old boring for me. And believe me, I always find a way out.

It might be dropped calls, crap voice quality and pathetic download speeds that drive me to the edge one time. The next time, I might just get sick of the color or maybe I don’t like the way it looks at me or fits in my pocket. Either way, I’m bound to jump and run — it’s just a matter of when. Materialistic? Sure. Overindulgence? You bet.

Like any commitment-phobe, I’m all about multiples. Whether it’s the carrier(s) I do business with or the mobile device(s) I carry, I just can’t settle down and tie the knot with one or the other. I’m one of those types who has two phones usually. Although I try to keep them from knowing about each other — work and personal don’t always belong together — they inevitably cross paths. Read the full story