G20 pledge: Telcos can lead world out of recession
Bosses for some of the world’s largest telecom companies have pledged to help the world out of recession by creating 25 million jobs, but only with less regulation and allocation of the required spectrum. According to reports, a letter sent to the G20 leaders said companies like Nokia and Ericsson were willing to spend 376 billion on new mobile broadband networks in the next five years.
IT Pro

Yahoo! launches mobile web portal
Yahoo! has launched a browser-based portal designed for mobile phones that pulls myriad internet services into a single web page. The service aggregates news headlines, weather forecasts and other personalised information into a single interface. Users can also access their email and social-networking accounts through the portal, as well as IM their friends and contacts.
Telegraph
 
Netbook sales soaring while notebooks stutter
A report by research firm DisplaySearch predicts that netbook sales will grow by 65% in the coming year, compared to growth in notebook sales of just 3%. The report finds that the worsening economic situation is providing the biggest stimulus to netbook sales, as customers look for low initial purchase costs.
Vnunet
 
Palm opens up web-enabled gadget platform
PDA manufacturer Palm is pitching its new software development kit (SDK) for its next-gen operating system, WebOS. It will be provided to a broader set of developers, allowing the platform to be refined and improved, with general availability of the SDK scheduled for later this year. 
Telecoms
 
Teenager invents YouTube music player
A 15-year-old programming whiz from Iowa has created the world's first YouTube music player, mining the site's extensive library of music videos free of charge.
David Nelson and his father, Mark, spent a year developing Muziic Player, a free downloadable player that allows users to organise, search, stream and create playlists from YouTube's catalogue of music clips.
Guardian
 
Verizon joins global mobile software push
Verizon Wireless will join the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) created by China Mobile, Softbank and Vodafone to help standardize mobile application development and get new software out to mobile users more quickly. JIL, formed last April, is working on creating a single mobile platform for developers that would allow applications to be run on multiple operating systems
Network World
 
MSN to launch in-house music store as Nokia deal terminated
MSN is to launch an in-house UK music store in May having terminated its agreement with existing service provider Nokia.Beta versions of the download and streaming store are slated to go live in five European countries from this month, according to MSN.
Washington Post

IBM launches cloud-based social networking tool
IBM today announced Lotus Live Engage, a new cloud-based social networking package designed to offer firms of all sizes the ability to communicate and collaborate with clients, business partners and supply chains. Formerly known in beta as Bluehouse, the new offering will appeal to smaller firms that do not have the resources to set up their own collaborative services, and larger companies looking for ways to securely interact outside the firewall,
Vnunet

Italy to sell off unused UMTS spectrum
Italy plans to sell off unused 3G mobile spectrum over the coming months and has made provision for existing operators and newcomers to acquire the frequencies, it emerged this week. Three blocks of spectrum will be sold at a minimum of €88.7 million each.
Total telecom
 
Shazam launches BlackBerry music recognition app
Music recognition service Shazam has launched an app for BlackBerry handsets that allows users to quickly identify music tracks and even send the title and artist info to their friends with the touch of a button. As soon as the Shazam on BlackBerry app, which is available from RIM's BlackBerry App World, is opened, the handset can be held up in front of music playing to identify a track.
IT World