Chinese telecom operators will spend about $41 billion on next generation (3G) mobile networks over the next two years, the government said on Friday.

The US International Trade Commission agreed to investigate Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics based on a complaint filed by Eastman Kodak. Kodak submitted its complaint in November, charging LG and Samsung with violating patents in their camera phones and other mobile products. The relevant patents cover technology related to image capture, compression and data storage, and a method for previewing certain images.

France's competition authority Wednesday temporarily barred an exclusive distribution deal between the country's dominant telecommunications group France Telecom and Apple over the blockbuster iPhone mobile phone.

A source at China Telecom revealed recently that Qualcomm has decided to lower CDMA patent licensing fees for Chinese manufacturers--possibly even lower than the patent licensing fees levied by the WCDMA camp. Specific fee rates have yet to become clear.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of memory chips and LCD panels and TVs, says the global recession is wiping out profits at those businesses in the fourth quarter.

There are phones with cameras, and then there are cameras with phones, and a new badboy reportedly making its way to T-Mobile seems to be the latter.

Texas Instruments, a major provider of processors for mobile phones and other devices, has pulled down its profit forecast for the December quarter by as much as two-thirds on Monday. The company also cut its revenue expectations, saying the economic downturn is having a powerful impact on the market for its chips.

Fourteen of the world's largest mobile phone and chip makers, including Sony Ericsson, Vodafone and ARM, joined the Open Handset Alliance on Tuesday to support the Android mobile device platform developed by Google Inc.

Walmart is officially tight-lipped about the buzz that its shelves could be hosting a US$99 4MB iPhone by the end of the month. But mobile device experts have plenty to say, and it's all good.