Ifa user's BlackBerry smartphone and his PlayBook (via Bluetooth) are connected to a company's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, then the company's IT shop will be able to set controls on the way tethering works, RIM officials explained.

Intel is yet to be much of a player in the booming tablet and smartphone spaces, a concern for industry observers in the long term. However, for now the burgeoning markets are helping drive demand in some of Intel's traditional businesses.

Analysis was sparked by a Morgan Stanley survey suggesting that Nokia could have sold 2.5 million N8 smartphones during Q410, and 9 million in 2011. The survey included 150 handset retailers in 5 countries across Europe.

Verizon Wireless unveiled its plans for the iPhone 4, saying the Apple smartphone will be available beginning Feb. 10, with certain Verizon Wireless customers being able to pre-order Feb. 3. A 16 gigabyte Verizon iPhone will sell for $199.99, while a 32 gigabyte will go for $299.99, each with a two-year customer agreement.

A video of Motorola demonstrating the new device

Motorola showcased three new smartphones. Each of the devices is a potential game changer, not necessarily because they're the latest and greatest in smartphones but more because the company seems to have listened to consumers about what the features, the tools and the specs they're looking for.

Qualcomm Inc. agreed to buy Wi-Fi chip maker Atheros Communications Inc. for US$3.1 billion in cash as it aims to address growing demand for devices that use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet.

"It'll come out in the spring of 2011 and the price, we haven't decided yet," said Chris Casper, a group manager at Toshiba's digital products division.

There have been rumors afoot about RIM working on a 4G LTE BlackBerry for a couple of years now, and the device that was intended to be released this year has been pushed to the end of the year.

Vizio, which made its name selling televisions, announced that it would begin selling an Android tablet with an 8-inch screen, a front-facing camera, HD video capability, and the ability to connect to HD televisions. It also announced that it would begin selling smartphones.

LG Electronics' Thinq technology will allow smartphones and tablets to control and communicate with some of the company's home appliances, including ovens, refrigerators, washing machines and a robotic vacuum cleaner, the company announced on Monday.

The latest news claims that the device will be launched on January 5th instead, which is when CES will be held.

New standards were released in Europe this week for a universal USB phone charger that will let Europeans use one charger for different phones starting early next year. The standards are based on MicroUSB and were embraced on Wednesday by the European Commission, which says they will be helpful to both consumers and the environment.

HTC has filed for a trademark for a product called HTC Scribe, describing it as a "handheld wireless device, namely a tablet computer." The filing was recorded with the US Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 26.

Poor battery life is likely the reason that Research In Motion has delayed the launch of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet until the second quarter of 2011, according to a new report from Kaufman Bros.

The pending acquisition of Motorola's mobile telecom equipment arm by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), which is pending approval by China's Ministry of Commerce, would make it more difficult for domestic rivals Huawei Technologies and ZTE to enter the US market, an analyst said.

RIM allegedly doubted Apple's ability to produce the original iPhone when the first-gen handset was initially announced, then thrown into panic after teardowns of the smartphone revealed the company had managed to produce a full-touch device with market-ready battery life.

A trio of posts this weekend point to a 2011 smartphone explosion, grudging admiration of Android, and a continuation of the trend of 2011: Android continuing extend its lead over the iPhone in terms of market share.

China Unicom, which only sells iPhone handsets bundled with mobile service contracts at present, will sell the 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS with no contract for CNY3,999, said the spokesman for China United Network Communications.

Skype suffered a serious server outage Dec. 22 that left swaths of its 560 million or so worldwide users without PC calling capabilities for most of the day.