Mformation secures $20M in funding.

"Mformation(R) Technologies Inc... has raised a round of financing of $20 million. The financing was led by expansion and late stage investor QuestMark Partners who participated in the financing along with Wasatch Cross Creek Capital, a private equity affiliate of Wasatch Advisors, Inc. and Mformation's existing investors who invested their full pro-rata share. "

Smith Micro in licensing agreement with Wavecom.

"The firm's wireless management software will be used by Wavecom S.A. in its machine-to-machine device management service, which is used by equipment manufacturers and service providers to run remote diagnostics, upgrade applications and firmware, and add features to their products via wireless connections."

Norton smartphone suite to ship next week.

"The new Windows Mobile software will include antivirus, antispam, firewall and data encryption capabilities, to keep data secure, even if the smartphone is lost. Symantec will also sell an optional VPN (virtual private network) component for users who want to securely connect with their corporate servers.

The enterprise software will have advanced IT administration and auditing features. For example, administrators could wipe data off the phones remotely, or check an audit log to see everything that was done with the device after it was lost. Administrators will also be able to lock down certain mobile phone features, making them unavailable to users."

Going private: Alltel for $27.5 billion.

"Alltel, one of the smaller mobile carriers has decided to go private in a deal that values the company at $27.5 billion ($71.50 a share in cash), a 23% premium over Alltel’s closing price on December 29, 2006, when the rumors of the likely deal first surfaced. "

AT&T offers mobile backup solution.

"AT&T Mobile Backup functions as a small application downloaded to your handset. Once activated, the service [provided by Asurion Mobile Applications] begins an automatic backup process that can be scheduled at the interval of your choosing. Once the system has uploaded your info, it becomes available via an online interface."

related: Mobile Analyst Watch: AT&T offers mobile backup solution
"I would like to protect other mobile content and apps, system state info, etc in case of disaster (i.e. break or lose phone). I currently back up this data to my phone's microSD memory card, but if you lose the phone, most likely you lose the backup too. So is there an OTA backup service for this? Is there even a market? How about for the enterprise?"

Boo Hoo for You: Japanese smartphones say "in ya face" to us Westerners.

A viral marketing video from Symbian -- just for fun.

Qualcomm's MVNO, healthcare's the hook.

"While Qualcomm won't say which carrier its MVNO will be piggybacking on, the safe bet seems to be Verizon Wireless. LifeComm has admitted it has an agreement with a CDMA carrier and the service will run on Qualcomm's BREW platform, which is the same one Verizon uses. LifeComm will also make use of assisted-GPS for location services."

It's Silicon Valley vs. Telcos in battle for wireless spectrum.

"And because this will be the last auction of unused spectrum for the foreseeable future, it represents the final opportunity to create an alternative to the major carriers. The FCC grants auction winners a license to use spectrum for a number of years, but as these licenses are almost invariably renewed at no additional cost, they are effectively deeds of ownership for the winning bidders. No surprise, then, that the fight has already gotten intense."

Worldwide handheld device market continues downhill slide.

"The worldwide handheld device market opened the year with its thirteenth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline as user interest continued to transition towards converged mobile devices and other consumer electronics devices. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped just over 900,000 handheld devices in the first quarter of 2007, 36.3% less than the previous quarter and 40.6% less than the same quarter a year ago. The decrease in shipments coincides with the announcement that one of the leading vendors, Dell, is leaving the industry."

T3G Technology selects Red Bend for FOTA solution.

"Red Bend Software... announced an agreement with T3G Technology, a leading TD-SCDMA handset chipset maker, to integrate Red Bend's market-leading FOTA solution onto T3G's mobile phone reference design platform."

InnoPath introduces activation-based client pricing and no-cost porting programs.

"The [InnoPath] programs announced today directly address these OEM concerns, greatly reducing risk with regards to their client programs, and setting a new standard for MDM client vendors. Client success is ensured through open interoperability testing and training, while the combination of no-cost porting, activation-based pricing, and lowest-pricing protection will eliminate any financial uncertainties."

related: Networks can get free software for handsets. Until they use it, that is, says InnoPath.

Synchronica raises US $7M in funding through placement of shares.

"Synchronica... has raised US $7.0 (£3.5) million in funds through a placing of new ordinary shares which will be used to accelerate growth in Synchronica's core business... Synchronica will use the funds primarily to strengthen its position in the burgeoning mass market mobile email and synchronization sector."

Linux evolves for mobile devices.

"A version of the increasingly popular Linux operating system Ubuntu will be developed for use on net-enabled phones and devices. The Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project aims to create the open source platform for initial release in October 2007. "

Motorola to announce iPhone competitor.

"Motorola CEO Ed Zander has given notice that Motorola is set to announce a direct competitor to Apple’s iPhone... Due to be formally announced next Tuesday, he described it as a 'media monster'."

User-programmable OLED screens on cell phones.

"South Korean company Sky's IM-R200 cell phone has two screens, the second of which slides out of the bottom and can be programmed in different patterns and button orders (to make text-messaging more convenient, for instance)."

Apple's iPhone rocks the cell phone industry.

"The findings of our latest ChangeWave cell phone survey invite extremes to describe the startling impact the Apple iPhone is having on the cellular industry." [see source for survey results and near term predictions]

Sun responds to AJAX, Silverlight with JavaFX.

"JavaFX is said to be a new scripting variant of Java with a focus on development for the consumer communications market, including desktops, mobile clients, and TVs. The first product release is JavaFX Mobile, a software system for mobile devices."

mFormation lands Telus deal.

"mFormation Technologies Inc has been selected over rivals InnoPath, Bitfone (now part of HP) and Insignia (whose assets were acquired by Smith Micro) to supply mobile device management (MDM) technology to Canadian operator Telus...

The MDM space appears to have three frontrunners, namely mFormation, InnoPath and Bitfone/HP, with a couple of others such as Insignia/Smith Micro and Synchronica. Both mFormation and InnoPath claim market leadership, while Bitfone is somewhat in transition as a result of the HP acquisition, in that the acquirer is talking about a direct-to-enterprise play, leveraging its strength elsewhere in the enterprise market. To date, most MDM business has been with the carriers or handset manufacturers, with even enterprise MDM being a service offered by mobile carriers rather than a DIY technology. Bitfone is announcing something that may change the competitive environment on Tuesday next week in Shanghai, promising an enterprise MDM platform."

Silverlight: The web just got richer.

"Silverlight was demonstrated today on a Windows mobile device as part of a new service that the NBL have built. The demo showed both Silverlight applications and media streaming running on a mobile phone - so Silverlight even at this stage is about more than just the desktop browser and desktop market. With windows mobile and Symbian now the two dominant mobile platforms, I can’t see any reasons why we won’t see Silverlight on Symbian as well - thus spreading the platform across the vast majority of both desktops and mobiles, something that alternative platforms have not managed to do."

also see: Why Silverlight Is Important