AT&T, Microsoft, and Nokia are aligning their marketing dollars toward making the Lumia 900 a hero phone, a device that’s coveted by the masses. Why the big bucks? Nokia and Microsoft have a very small window of opportunity to make Windows Phone stick, as both Samsung and Apple are waiting in the wings with new …

Research In Motion’s fourth quarter will pack a bit of good news — there was no profit warning, so perhaps the financials are on track. The bad news: analysts say the BlackBerry 7 smartphones are “aging rapidly” and the outlook from RIM could be dismal. Wall Street is expecting fourth-quarter earnings of 82 cents a share on revenue of $4.55 …

Vonage on Wednesday rolled out Vonage Mobile, new iPhone and Android apps, that allow for texts and calls while undercutting Skype rates. Vonage It remains to be seen whether Vonage can make much traction against Skype’s installed base. Vonage’s international calling rates are 30 percent less than Skype’s. But that’s only part of the story. The larger tale here goes …

Nokia’s Lumia 900 is landing in the U.S. with a 4G handset on AT&T. The move is critical for both Nokia and Microsoft since any hopes for Windows Phone are tethered to a strong U.S. entry. As has been the case since Nokia and Microsoft hooked up, critics have praised the combo of a new hardware style with Windows Phone. …

AT&T won’t buy T-Mobile after all as the $39 billion deal was scuttled over regulatory concerns. Now the real sport begins: watching T-Mobile’s fate unfold. The scenarios go like this: T-Mobile will continue to be a fourth-rate carrier that lacks Apple’s iPhone. The faux 4G pitch will eventually wear thin for T-Mobile. T-Mobile will wither away over time without AT&T. …

Research in Motion’s two CEOs have to go. The company has lost investor–and increasingly customer–confidence over the last year. Its latest, greatest savior OS is behind schedule. The PlayBook is a disaster. And RIM could be circling the porcelain rim if it isn’t careful. Nevertheless, RIM carries on with its current management. Co-CEOs James Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are taking …

Verizon Wireless and Leap Wireless announced a spectrum swap as carriers wheel and deal for network capacity. Under the deal, Leap Wireless will acquire 12 Mhz of 700 Mhz A-block spectrum in Chicago for $204 million. Verizon will acquire excess spectrum in various markets around the U.S. for $188 million. A Leap venture–Savary Island Wireless–will also sell spectrum to Verizon …

Google may have just dropped a mobile device management bomb on plans by Research In Motion–as well as about 25 other vendors–with an effort to manage multiple diverse devices in the enterprise. At a powwow at Google’s headquarters, Dave Girouard, chief of Google’s enterprise efforts, said the company will layer in mobile device management into Google Apps. Google Apps will …

In a quarter marked by uncertainty over its merger with AT&T, T-Mobile USA added net subscribers in the third quarter, lost contract customers and kept churn rates steady. However, T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm said in a statement that the upcoming quarter may be challenging due to rivals’ iPhone 4S launches, which “will continue to be an area of concern.” Simply …

Research in Motion shares are now trading below book value and the previous argument for not tossing co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie to the curb revolved around disruption. Here’s what Balsillie said June 16 on RIM’s fiscal first-quarter earnings conference call: Mike and I would like to address some of the concerns that have been expressed in the media …