Several days into the Carrier IQ story—which raised privacy concerns around software that claims to be an innocent diagnostics tool—and some handset makers and at least a few carriers are scrambling to clear their names of any CarrierIQ association, although the discussion is unlikely to end here.

We have seen this one brewing for some time already, and now it appears to be bubbling over: the Hutchison-owned UK mobile operator Three is preparing an official submission to the EU against a proposed joint venture between the UK’s three largest mobile operators to enable mobile payments and other…

Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) has put its digital eggs into one basket—centralizing all its global digital operations into one new unit—and with today’s results it’s easy to see why: the company today released some dismal results for some of its legacy businesses—namely in its home market of Spain—which have resulted in…

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Orange have long been rivals in mobile phone markets in Europe, but as growth slows down in the region, the two are, at least in part, taking somewhat different paths in their search for fresh revenues: Vodafone is increasingly looking at its investments in emerging markets,…

Only one day left to iPhone news nirvana, and a lot of leaks are coming through about who will get to sell the device—and what, exactly, that device will be. Today, a new report out from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech takes that one step further to lay out which operator will…

Some more consolidation in the digital marketing space, with one of the UK’s bigger mobile specialists, Mobile Interactive Group, showing that it wants to get involved in doing more cross-platform business: the company is buying 44 percent of Digital Jigsaw. Prior to today’s news, MIG had already owned 56 percent…

Very big news today for the mobile advertising world, and a major boost for the mobile ad network InMobi: the company has just announced that it has raised a massive funding round—$200 million—from the Japanese company Softbank Corp. The value is a sign of how much hope and expectation is…

Baidu’s determination to get a piece of the action in China’s fast-growing mobile market has yielded plans for an app store and mobile platform of its own, Baidu Yi, based on Android; and now we are getting more details on the second part of the equation: the devices.

When Facebook announced that it would be folding Places check-ins into status updates, some took it as a sign that the company was bowing to Foursquare as the dominant “check-in” service in mobile. But one app developer tells us that based on the activity on his apps, this is far…

It’s taken a little while, but it looks like RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) might have finally woken up and smelled the coffee in the social media world and started to leverage some of the power it’s already established through one of its most viral products, BlackBerry Messenger.

Turmoil and a significant changing of the guard at mobile data services company Motricity. The company today announced that Ryan Wuerch (pictured), the founder, has left his role as chief executive, effective immediately. Jim Smith, who had been president and COO, has taken over the role on an interim basis.

If Vodafone’s earnings today underscored the pressure on operators to move on from their traditional lines of business, then Verizon’s earnings demonstrate the benefits of what happens when they do. The operator today reported earnings that topped expectations, citing strong takeup of 4G/LTE services as one of the key drivers.…

		EPS*	Rev. vs QQ210	Net Inc. vs QQ210
Verizon	Release		2.8%	235.%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Big news today in the world of mobile payments: the three largest operators in the UK have announced a joint venture to offer mobile wallet services to its customers, in the hopes of finally kick-starting a service that has been long on discussion but painfully short on execution up to…

At the recent G8 meeting in Paris, Mark Zuckerberg told French president Nicolas Sarkozy, hosting the event, the internet needs light-touch regulation to free businesses to innovate. But, in keeping with the European Commission’s current approach, Sarkozy is keener on a kind of responsible legislation that protects consumers and culture…

Vodafone’s internet chief is leaving after the company put the brakes on its online mobile services strategy, FT reports. Seventeen-year Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) veteran Pieter Knook joined in 2008 to direct a new internet services group in Vodafone.

Yet another micro-transactions and payment platform has raised a significant wad of money. This time it is PlaySpan, which has received $18 million in a third round from Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) Ventures and Softbank Bodhi Fund, and existing investors Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC, and others. The Santa Clara,…

Vodafone’s venture capital arm is making a “strategic” investment in Perfecto Mobile, an Israeli startup that lets companies test their mobile apps and services on mobile devices over the internet. Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) has been a Perfecto customer since last February, when it chose the company to provide an “online…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) may have postponed iPad’s international roll-out by a month - but, within an hour of that announcement, all three UK iPhone carriers released identical statements declaring they “will offer dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May”. —Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) will offer plans…

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) has an on-again, off-again relationship with Verizon Wireless. Despite owning 45 percent of the largest U.S. wireless carrier, Vodafone hasn’t been happy with the returns on its investment. On some level, Vodafone should feel pretty good that it owns 45 percent of the largest U.S. wireless carrier.…