O2 now bigger than BT
Yesterday BT reported a 45 per cent decline in pre-tax profits and now, just 24 hours later, comes the news that O2, (the company formerly known as BT Cellnet and currently owned by Telefonica of Spain) has grown to such an extent that it now has more UK subscribers than its former parent. O2 has 21 million customers in Britain for its mobile service whilst BT has 19.4 million landline subscribers.
Telecom TV

Qualcomm reveals first smartbook
Yesterday in New York, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs reportedly gave a fleeting reveal of the first smartbook device.  The as yet unnamed device is manufactured by Lenovo and will be available on AT&T in the US, with the full launch coming at CES in January.  Jacobs described the device, which is built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, as thinner than a Palm Pre (16.95mm).  The device will have full Flash Player 10 implementation, support HD video playback and come with embedded Wi-Fi, GPS, and 3G.
Trusted Reviews

Apple 'more profitable' than Nokia
Strategy Analytics has reported that, in the US, Apple's profits have exceeded Nokia's for the first time. Nokia posted a third quarter operating profit of $1.1bn from its handset unit, while sales of Apple's iPhone generated $1.6bn in profit over the same period.  Nokia, the world's biggest handset maker, is facing increasing competition from the likes of Apple and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry.
Telegraph.co.uk

Femtocell market underwhelms
ABI Research has reduced its estimate for the number of femtocell shipments to occur in 2009 by 55 per cent.  The market research company now believes about 350,000 femtocells will have shipped by the end of the year. This is "adjusted" from 790,000 figure ABI forecast for the year in April 2009.  All the large operators in the US have femtocell offerings including AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Vodafone in the UK also has a femtocell service, and China Unicom recently announced its femtocell offering.
EETimes

Maps show UK fibre rollout plans
The research firm Point Topic has published four maps showing the likely rollout of next-generation broadband access across the UK over the next few years.  The maps are intended for use by local and regional governments, as well as by those tracing potential gains in property prices and developing marketing strategies for broadband-related products.  According to Point Topic, the maps show that BT's planned next-generation access (NGA) rollout "falls a long way short of covering even those areas where NGA should be economically attractive even without subsidy".
ZDNet

Google buys VoIP firm Gizmo5
Google is bulking up its phone offerings with the acquisition of Gizmo5, a company that offers voice-over-IP software for mobile phones and computers. The service is similar to Skype's in that it allows users to make low-cost or free calls using a software client on their computers. Gizmo5 also offers a client for mobile-phone users.
PC Advisor

Microsoft launches Bing UK
Microsoft has rolled out a UK version of Bing, its search engine, with localised results and services. The website was launched in the United States in May with UK web users only having access to a US version of Bing. The roll-out of a localised site will help Microsoft deliver more relevant search results.
Telegraph

Verizon to trial campaign of 'copyright notices'
Verizon is expected to begin issuing 'copyright notices' on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America to those accused of illegally downloading songs from the web. This move is significant for the music industry because among ISPs, Verizon has typically been among the most reluctant to intervene in copyright cases on behalf of entertainment companies.
ZDNet

Pyramid Research predicts US smartphone sales boom
Smartphones will account for 31 per cent of all new handsets sold in the US this year, according to Pyramid Research's latest report. The company predicts this will soar to around 60 per cent of sales in 2014. Pyramid has also issued its estimates of US smartphone market share for 2009, claiming that LG and Samsung will take 23 per cent of new sales each.
Mobile Entertainment

Brits urged to embrace 'whole new world' of digital TV
New research from Moneysupermarket.com has revealed that almost 20 million have never accessed interactive digital TV services. 28 per cent of people however did say the services – which can vary from news services to on-demand content depending on the provider – are one of the best TV innovations.
Cable