Motorola V300 C-Note faceplate

After Years of Delays, China Finally Issues 3G Licenses (PC World)
PC World - China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) finally granted 3G licenses to the country's mobile operators on Wednesday, bringing to a close years of waiting and delay.

New 3G Palm Pre Enters Smart Phone War (PC World)
PC World - Palm today announced its long-awaited new operating system--called Web OS--as well as the new Palm Pre smart phone to match. The Pre will be available exclusively on the Sprint 3G Network in first half of 2009. The announcement was made at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.

Japan may promote lower mobile phone fees (Reuters)

Reuters - Japan's government will seek to introduce new guidelines on mobile phone connection fees as early as 2010, which may lower rates for consumers, the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday.

Palm's Pre Getting Good Reviews, So Far (PC World)
PC World - The early buzz is favorable for the Palm Pre, the vendor's new smart phone that is earning praise from reviewers who've had a chance to play with it. The device, which combines a touch screen with a slide-out QWERY keyboard, was introduced yesterday at CES 2009 in Las Vegas. The Pre features Palm's much-anticipated Web OS operating system, and will be available on the Sprint 3G network in the first half of 2009.

Skype Extends VoIP To Some Mobile Phones, MIDs (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - Skype is offering its Voice over Internet Protocol service to Android and Java-enabled mobile phones, and to Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). This is the first time the software has been released for mobile users in the U.S.

Verizon Wireless completes $5.9B Alltel buyout (AP)
AP - Verizon Wireless on Friday completed its $5.9 billion purchase of Little Rock, Ark.-based Alltel Corp., making Verizon the nation's largest mobile phone company.