Over 1.2bn mobile phones sold in 2009
More than 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold globally last year, according to the latest research from analyst firm Gartner. The figures are 0.9 per cent on 2008, but the fourth quarter of 2009 saw an 8.3 per cent year-on-year rise to 340 million handset sales. "The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," says research director Carolina Milanesi. Nokia remained top with nearly 441 million handset sales in 2009, taking a market share of 36.4 per cent - down from 38.6 per cent in 2008.
PCR Online

Vodafone 'UK’s fastest network'
An independent survey, commissioned by mobile operator O2, has found that the Vodafone network offers the fastest speed for web browsing on a mobile phone. O2 came top for music downloads. The tests measured speeds on each of the UK's five mobile broadband networks to see which provided the fastest service.
The Telegraph

Qualcomn gets smartphone amplifier support from RFMD
RF Micro Devices has started volume production of its RF720x WCDMA/HSPA+ power amplifiers (PAs). The RF720x family is optimised for smartphone handset reference designs from Qualcomm and other suppliers. The chips support all major WCDMA/HSPA+ bands and band combinations.  According to Eric Creviston, president of RFMD's Cellular Products Group (CPG),  there is significant smartphone design activity taking place particularly in Korea, China and Taiwan.
Electronics Weekly

Rumour: Apple iPad available to pre-order this week?
The Wi-Fi version of the Apple iPad tablet could be available to pre-order this week, from Thursday 25th February.  The Wi-fi iPad is set to go on sale officially next month, with the more expensive Wi-fi and 3G option to follow in April.  That’s the rumour currently doing the rounds, with a “source close to the matter” quoted by the App Advice website, claiming the pre-orders would apply to US customers for now.  Apple has a ‘Notify Me’ section on both the US and UK online Apple Stores.
PC Advisor

Yahoo signs up Twitter
Yahoo and Twitter announced a deal to put Twitter feeds on Yahoo homepages, e-mail accounts, Yahoo Sports and other sites in a broad content-sharing agreement that also includes Twitter in Yahoo search results.  The global partnership will also include real-time public Twitter updates in a range of Yahoo properties, including Yahoo News, Finance, Entertainment and Sports. Yahoo search users will be able to see Twitter results immediately, while other aspects of the new agreement will go into effect later this year, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
ComputerWorld UK

Google faces European competition inquiry
The European Commission is looking into complaints about Google's behaviour, the company has revealed. The complaints were made by UK price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr, and Microsoft's Ciao. Google's senior competition lawyer Julia Holtz said the internet giant was "confident" it operated within European competition law.
BBC News

Let us legally rip discs, campaigner tells govt
Consumer rights advocate Consumer Focus has called on the government to fix copyright laws broken by the rise of digital technology. CF's argument is that now the UK's population has amassed a sizeable collection of computers, iPods and phones, members of the public have been busily rippings CDs and DVDs in order to get content to play on all these gadgets.
Reg Hardware

Microsoft tops Superbrands list overtaking rival Google
Microsoft has toppled its internet rival Google from the prized top spot in a survey of the UK's strongest 500 business brands published today. Google, which held the top position in 2008 and 2009, slips to fifth place while Microsoft enjoys the number one slot after coming second in the annual Business Superbrand top 500 survey in 2007 and 2008, and fifth last year.
The Guardian

Apple TV 'just a hobby', confirms Tim Cook
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, says the Apple TV remains 'a hobby', and that the vast majority of his company's revenue comes from its mobile devices. But Mr Cook said that Apple believed Apple TV – which allows people to download movies and TV shows from the iTunes store and watch them on their television – was worth continued innovation and investment because there was "something there".
The Telegraph

Investor reveals details of successful web applications
To be successful, a web application must be fast, instantly useful, playful and search engine friendly with a clean user interface, according to venture capitalist Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures. Wilson, speaking at the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami Beach, also told the developers and entrepreneurs who filled the Colony Theater that applications should also have their own "voice," or a personality that distinguishes them, and focus on doing a few things really well.
Techworld