LAS VEGAS -- All of the exciting new devices and discussion about high-bandwidth 4G (Fourth Generation) data services (up to 100Mbps) here at CTIA have the comm equipment guys salivating: It's likely to mean a boom in new business for building backhaul networks, the plumbing that carriers need to haul all of the data to and from the mobile towers. There are deals to be had, as Alcatel-Lucent announced a new deal with Verizon for backhaul networks paving the way for 4G. In addition, equipment vendors were announcing new gear that can accommodate service providers that need to overhaul their networks for mobile upgrades. For example, Huntsville, Alabama-based Adtran yesterday announced a flexible new Ethernet mobile backhaul product, the NetVanta(R) 8044M,  that can easily swap between copper and fiber.

Who knew? The IPO market is doing well. Despite a glum market day featuring extreme weakness in bonds and a lackluster stock market, three companies went public today with roaring debuts: Calix Networks, Maxlinear, and First Interstate Bank. MaxLinear, which makes RF (radio frequency) chips for consumer devices such as settop boxes and mobile phones  opened 31% higher in a New York Stock Exchange listing, while broadband equipment maker Calix Networks Inc. rose 28% on its first trade, also on the NYSE. A regional bank system, First Interstate, opened 10% higher on the Nasdaq. Three for three, not bad! I guess the underwriters have got their pricing right. The new issuance shows investor demand for relatively young, growing companies. MaxLinear sold 6.4 million Class A shares, one million more than originally expected, at $14 a share. Calix priced 6.3 million shares at $13, the high end of its $11 to $13 range. First Interstate BancSystem Inc. sold 1.3 million more shares than expected, but priced them at $14.50, toward the lower end of its $14-$16 range. The IPO of Calix System is of special relief to me, as my former outfit Light Reading had been looking for the company's IPO since about 2004. Finally Calix CEO Carl Russo, the former startup CEO who scored a $7 billion dollar  deal in selling Cerent to Cisco Systems in 1999, has had (another) big day! All three companies appear to be riding some nice trends: Calix focuses on broadband access equipment, which could be getting a boost from a national broadband policy. MaxLinear is riding the wave in the mobile wireless market, and First Interstate is benefitting from a rebound in national banking, as consumers shy away from the big bad "too-big-to-fail" banks.

Service provicers are spending the most time testing the Blackberry OS, but Android-based phones are gaining and the Microsoft Windows and Symbian OS continue to lose share with developers, according to data from mobile developer testing specialist DeviceAnywhere . The data, which measures testing of smartphones on the four major U.S mobile networks, is released monthly with the latest numbers coming from January of 2010. In DeviceAnywhere's measure of time spent on the OS, BlackBerry lead the way with 58.5% usage, up from 50.6% from January of 2009. Microsoft Windows Mobile fell from 22.5%  in January of 2009 to 16.2%% and Android jumped from 2% to 5%. Here are a few bullet points from the research:

Android Testing On the Rise.

• From a standing start in 2009, Android has become the fourth most tested smartphone Operating System in DeviceAnywhere Test Center in the United States.
• The Android-based T-Mobile G1 has risen to become the most-tested device on the T-Mobile Virtual Developer Lab.

Less Time Spent on Microsoft Windows Phones.

• The time spent on Windows Mobile dropped significantly from 26.5% in January ‘09 to 16.2% in January ‘10, as a proportion of total time spent on smartphones in DeviceAnywhere Test Center.

Handset Manufacturers without Established App Stores Holding Up Well.

• While industry discussion has focused on app stores, testing on mobile devices from application developers, web, content and media companies has taken a wider view.
• The second, third and fourth most popular devices for testing on DeviceAnywhere Test Center are Samsung, Motorola and LG respectively, all of which do not yet have US application storefronts.

In terms of popular devices driving usage, the BlackBerry 9000 and the Apple iPhone were the most popular on the AT&T network. On Sprint, it was the BlackBerry Curve (8330) and the Palm Pre. On T-Mobile it was the HTC G1 and the Motorola V2 and on Verizon BlackBerry led the way with the 9630 with the 8330 in the first and second spot.

LAS VEGAS -- Given that the rest of the Western world is wallowing in a lingering recession/depression, it's nice to hunker down in Vegas at the CTIA where it's sunny, people are still smiling, and the mobile world looks like it's going strong. I would describe the news flow as light, but there is plenty of excitement in the halls and aisles of the trade-show floor where serious innovation and is happening around the growth concept known as the mobile consumer: New location-based mobile apps, 4G, mobile commerce, unified communications, and even such staid telecom technologies such as fiber and mobile backhaul are all being lifted by the increasing mobile data traffic.  People will chuck their cars and forfeit their homes before they'll part with their smartphones, apparently. Well, if you don't have a home, you may as well have a device so that you can still network and send Twitter messages.

  Although we are still technically in a bear market for early-stage biotechnology due to lack of speculative funding from both VC’s and investment banks syndicating IPO’s, many public companies have been doing well. As a result we have a more bifurcated market with larger caps stable or growing and smaller caps in a funk. Nonetheless there is plenty of money on the sidelines that will drive stocks of companies with compelling products and technology. At the recent Rodman and Renshaw Investment Conference in November of 2009  the buzzword was “cash runway” as smaller cap companies with weak balance sheets need to retrench until new money comes back into the market. Nonetheless, Rodman continues to fund PIPES in the biotechnology sector as technology is progressing and deals are being done. Negative articles and “hand wringing” abound in the biotech market citing clinical trial failures, political concerns, a dearth of funding and a “breakdown of the business model." But these critics miss the point: the universe of companies and universities in the biomedical sector are trading and investing in R&D programs that result in drugs, diagnostics and services with the objective of improving healthcare.