Xinhua News Agency announced it has signed a framework agreement with China Mobile Communications to establish an Internet search engine company. It did not reveal when the company will be founded and how much capital will be invested in it.

The Dell Streak is much smaller-with just a 5-inch screen and makes cellular voice calls, something the Apple iPad can't do.

According to iSuppli, shipments of game-capable mobile phones will be up 11.4% by the end of 2010 to 1.27 billion, compared to 1.14 billion shipments in 2009. By the end of 2010, it expects console shipments to top 52.3 million units, up just 0.2% compared to 2009's 52.1 million units.

Dell said it will begin shipping the product on Aug. 12 to select customers, and make it widely available on Friday.

Spansion on August 6 filed three complaints against Samsung, alleging patent violations in a broad range of Samsung flash memory products that go into devices like tablets and smartphones. A Spansion spokesman declined to comment on which products those may be. However, Apple's iPad and iPhone 4 use Samsung flash memory.

Menlo is a prototype mobile device with a capacitive touch screen (4.1-inch diagonal, 800x480) running Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 which incorporates a Bosch BMA150 3-axis accelerometer and Bosch BMP085 digital pressure sensor (barometer)

...and if Apple misses out, it will likely never get another chance to acquire the wireless technology necessary to do so because the entire mobile component value-chain is consolidating and the remaining players are giants.

Android isn't only about smartphones - not for long, anyway. Google's mobile operating system is set to make its way onto all sorts of high-tech stuff, ranging from the mundane and to the just plain strange.

Chip equipment maker UMS, which counts Applied Materials as its biggest client, will boost capacity utilisation to 85% in the third quarter from 65% in a booming industry.

Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns. The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets. Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service.