Alcatel IDOL 4S is a VR-ready Windows 10 Mobile smartphone you might actually want


Windows 10 Mobile is a solid smartphone operating system with two big flaws -- lack of both apps and developers. This has lead to such low market share, that many consider Microsoft's mobile operating system to be irrelevant. With that said, not everyone needs a lot of apps. If you mostly do things like text messaging, surfing the web, and accessing email on the go, a Windows 10 device is a brilliantly secure way to do so.
Today, Alcatel officially announces the previously leaked IDOL 4S with Windows 10 (there is an Android version too). Not only is the inexpensive device beautiful, but chocked full of solid specs and wonderful features too. Best of all, it comes with a virtual reality headset in the box!
Nokia buys Alcatel-Lucent for $16.6 billion, considers selling HERE


Following on from yesterday's confirmation that Nokia was in talks with Alcatel-Lucent regarding a possible buyout, the Finnish company has now gone ahead with the purchase. Nokia is paying €15.6 billion ($16.6 billion) for the French telecoms equipment manufacturer. The deal is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2016, subject to shareholder approval.
The coming together of forces is very much a forward-looking venture. Nokia says that the combination of Nokia Technologies and FutureWorks with Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs will allow for "unparalleled innovation capabilities". Nokia also announced that it has initiated a strategic review of its HERE business, but it is not yet clear whether this will ultimately result in its sale.
Nokia could boomerang back into the mobile market with Alcatel-Lucent purchase


At the beginning of the week rumors started to creep out that Nokia was interested in buying Alcatel-Lucent. The story started with a report on Bloomberg and -- rather surprisingly for such rumors -- Nokia decided to not only comment on the rumor, but confirm that it is true.
Details are still rather thin on the ground and there's no hint at a possible timescale for a buyout of the French telecoms firm. What the statement does do, however, is open up the interesting possibility that Nokia could be on the verge of re-entering the smartphone market after offloading the handset side of its business to Microsoft.
Alcatel Pixi 3 comes with a choice of three OSes -- and Android will still win


When it comes time to buy your next smartphone, will you be swayed by hardware or operating system? Forget iOS for a moment; put Apple's mobile OS out of your mind for right now. Hardware to a large extent determines price, and an upcoming range of budget phones from Alcatel offers an interesting choice.
The Pixi 3 -- that rainbow-colored delight you see above assaulting your eyeballs -- comes with a choice of four screen sizes, and three OS choices. The smallest measures just 3.5 inches, but 4, 4.5 and 5 inch models are also available. But the interesting thing is that each is available with a choice of Android, Windows Phone or, erm, Firefox OS installed.
Alcatel-Lucent introduces componentized, software-defined network hardware


The shrinking cell site is definitely a theme this week, as mobile infrastructure companies make their big announcements before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. International telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent on Monday, for example, debuted LightRadio, a software-defined mobile radio and distributed base station architecture with virtualized wireless controllers and gateways.
At an event in London yesterday, Alcatel-Lucent unveiled the lightRadio Cube, a tiny base station which includes a baseband radio paired with a Freescale system-on-a-chip, with signal amplifiers and passive cooling mechanisms in a single enclosure a little bigger than a Rubik's cube. This item is the cornerstone of the lightRadio network.
Alcatel-Lucent admits software glitch is slowing 3G speeds on AT&T


An issue with how the software on wireless equipment provided by Alcatel-Lucent handles advanced 3G data connections is responsible for slower upload speeds on AT&T's network, the two companies admitted on Wednesday.
Speed issues have been reported in several cities including Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. It's not everywhere though: earlier this week, BetaNews' Joe Wilcox reported he was unaffected in the area surrounding his residence in southern California.
MPEG LA wins major MPEG-2 settlement from Alcatel-Lucent


Could the manufacturers of DVD players (no, not just Blu-ray, but the original DVDs) owe back royalties to Alcatel-Lucent for the use of patented technology by way of the MPEG-2 codec? The MPEG Licensing Authority had asserted that Alcatel may have structured its 2006 merger with Lucent in such a way that it could hide up to five patents in a special trust, and spring their overdue royalties on the video industry long after DVDs already began the march to obsolescence.
That assertion was being made in a Delaware courtroom earlier this month, in a trial pertaining to a lawsuit filed by the MPEG Licensing Authority back in 2007. Today, MPEG LA -- which also collects royalties for the use of MPEG-2 -- announced a settlement in the case, essentially amounting to a complete defeat for Alcatel-Lucent.
The pendulum swings toward Microsoft in the Alcatel-Lucent IP battle


The intellectual property war which at one point had Microsoft owing Alcatel-Lucent a penalty of over $1.5 billion, may end up with the latter actually owing the former. First that penalty was reduced in light of new Supreme Court guidelines, and then last September an appeals court overturned the jury verdict, ruling in favor of Microsoft.
Yesterday, Microsoft was handed another victory, as first reported by my friend and colleague Liz Montalbano at PC World, with the US Patent and Trademark Office overturning the validity of two Alcatel-Lucent patents, concerning methods for how a user selects calendar entries from an onscreen menu. Microsoft had owed the France-based holder of the Bell Labs patent portfolio some $357.7 million, which has since accrued interest.
Alcatel-Lucent wants to get webby with you

A serious corporate realignment re-focusing the business on three markets (and four investment areas) puts a Web 2.0 glamour -- it's still glamorous, Web 2.0, right? no? how about Web 3.0? -- on telco manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent.
There are layoffs on tap as well for the French firm. Around 1,000 managers and 5,000 contractors will find their jobs eliminated over the course of 2009 and 2010.
Alcatel-Lucent reorganizes again under former BT head

In September, networking technology joint company Alcatel-Lucent named Ben Verwaayen, formerly of British Telecom, its new CEO. The company today announced its completed leadership team that will take office on the first of the new year.
Alcatel-Lucent has been in a protracted transitional phase where it has not yet become profitable. As such, it has taken on an all new leadership team and a new business model. The new model breaks operations into three regions: the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and Asia-Pacific (APAC).
Microsoft wins appeals ruling in Alcatel-Lucent MP3 case

Microsoft on Thursday was released from a payout to Alcatel-Lucent that at one time was as high as $1.5 billion, when a federal appeals court tossed the original jury's verdict in a long-running patent case.
The original case concerned Windows Media Player and Microsoft's MP3 license for that software. Microsoft licensed its MP3 codecs for $16 million from Fraunhofer Labs, the German research institute that, with Bell Labs and French electronics giant Thomson, invented the MP3 audio-compression standard.
Alcatel-Lucent grants more time for Motive to make up its mind

Alcatel-Lucent has extended its tender offer to purchase US software company Motive yet again, stretching the offer into its fifth month.
In early August, Alcatel-Lucent had collected approximately 27 million shares in Motive, but its tender offer was set to expire, and had to be renewed if any deal was to proceed.
In another re-org, Alcatel-Lucent ushers in new execs

Several weeks after announcing the departure of CEO Patricia Russo and Chairman of the Board Serge Tchuruk, networking technology giant Alcatel-Lucent has named their successors.
Following a two year "transitional phase" of profitless quarters, French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent's CEO Patricia Russo announced that the company was actively seeking her replacement. Today, the company has named Ben Verwaayen as Alcatel-Lucent's new CEO.
Alcatel-Lucent extends its offer to Motive Inc. shareholders

Telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent has extended the tender offer it made in June to buy Texas automation software company Motive.
The previous offer to buy all issued and outstanding stock in Motive was set to expire at midnight on August 12. Today, the company announced that it will extend the offer until September 10. As of last night, approximately 27 million shares had been tendered.
Alcatel-Lucent shakes up management, gives CEO and Chairman the boot

Two years after merging, Telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent has not posted a single profitable quarter. Following its second quarter 2008 earnings statement, a major executive shakeup has been announced for the company.
Though revenues and sales exceeded analyst expectations, so too did the company's net losses, which amounted to €1.1 billion. Bloomberg News analysts predicted a loss of only €135 million.
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