Third-generation (3G) handsets will continue strong growth over the next five years as second-generation technology wanes, reports In-Stat. Through 2012, fourth-generation network handsets are not expected to enter the market in sizable numbers. Helping to boost overall sales, subscribers owning and using several handsets will be more prevalent over the next several years. This development is already widespread in many areas, especially where employers provide a mobile device.

Google announced the release of version 2.0 of Google Maps for mobile, its innovative and widely used mobile mapping and local search application. New in v2.0 is a beta version of Google’s "My Location" technology, which uses cell tower ID information to provide users with their approximate location, helping them determine where they are, what’s around them, and how to get there. Google is committed to providing users with quick and easy access to the information they need, no matter when or where they need it.

Klausner Technologies announced that it has filed a patent lawsuit under its visual voicemail patents against Apple on the iPhone, with damages and future royalties estimated at $360 million. The lawsuit asserts that Apple’s iPhone Visual Voicemail infringes Klausner Technologies’ U.S. Patents 5,572,576 and 5,283,818. These patents have already been licensed to various other companies that provide visual voicemail, including Time Warner’s AOL for its AOL Voicemail services, Vonage Holdings for its Vonage Voicemail Plus services as well as others, under the Klausner Patents.

A mobile phone is for 18 months, not just for Christmas. Up to a million unwary Christmas shoppers risk committing themselves to hundreds of pounds of payments for new mobile phones which will be obsolete within months. Although figures show that most people in the United Kingdom that want a mobile phone already own one, they remain one of the most popular Christmas presents - and anywhere up to a million will be bought in the UK in the run-up to Christmas. In particular this year, operators have promoted the idea of the 'mobile Internet', which means people can use their mobile to surf the web, download music, use Facebook, watch television programmes and make cheap mobile calls via the Internet.

Monotype Imaging, a leading global provider of text imaging solutions, has released its Apple iPhone Compatibility Font Set for mobile device manufacturers and application developers. Comprised of 39 fonts, the collection features typeface designs included on the Apple iPhone. “The iPhone is helping to bring PC-like experiences to users, and fonts are a big part of that,” said Mark Brown, director of OEM sales at Monotype Imaging. “By including a high-quality collection of scalable typefaces on the iPhone, Apple has set the stage. By enabling OEMs and developers to license our collection, Monotype Imaging is expanding options to usher in the development of more typographically enriched mobile offerings.”

MultiMedia Intelligence reports the worldwide unit shipments of multimedia feature-rich mobile phones will exceed 300 million units in 2008, outnumbering shipments of TV sets. Multimedia phones have at least 1 megapixel image capture, MP3 audio, video Playback, Java, USB, Bluetooth, 16-bit screen color, QVGA resolution, WAP and MMS. Revenue from these handsets will be over US$76 billion. “Multimedia has become the term of the day as wireless service has expanded beyond voice to include a variety of communication, data, and entertainment services,” according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer for MultiMedia Intelligence.

According to an exclusive special report now available from TelecomWeb, Google’s recently announced “Android” is “just another mobile Linux,” rather than any real technical innovation: i.e., no more than a convenient way for the company to pursue its real goal - to create an advertising delivery system it can control rather than innovating in telecommunications. Earlier this month, Google unveiled its long-expected thrust into the mobile-phone market. The big surprise is that it didn’t unveil a phone - the putative “Google Phone” many had been expecting.

Style guru Stacy London, of TLC’s “What Not to Wear” and “Fashionably Late with Stacy London,” is launching an exclusive new Web site with Sprint. The site is designed to help people decide what mobile phone best fits their personal style and help holiday gift-givers find the perfect gift for loved ones. The mobile phone that each person chooses to carry is a clear expression of her or his individual personality, and this month CTIA-The Wireless Association estimated that the number of wireless subscribers reached an all-time high in the United States by passing the 250 million mark. This figure demonstrates that the mobile phone has become the most ubiquitous fashion accessory for Americans.

Apple’s revolutionary iPhone will go on sale from Friday, November 9 at Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse retail and online stores. The Apple iPhone will be available at more than 1,300 Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse retail locations across the United Kingdom, giving customers their first chance to get their hands on this revolutionary new product. The Apple iPhone combines three devices into one - a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device - all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers.

The four “Sales Guys” made famous in advertisements from Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, have battled Alltel and “Chad” in a shopping mall, in the back of a van and deep within their “Man Cave.” Now, it seems they are following Chad to the North Pole and taking their quest to stop Alltel to a whole new level. Beginning today, Chad and the “Sales Guys” will be appearing in the first of three new national television spots as stop-motion animation characters.