Facing stiff competition from Apple’s iPhone, Verizon Wireless is fighting back with a vengeance. Verizon has declared that Blackberry Storm, the first-of-its-kind touchscreen smartphone by Research In Motion (RIM) will be available solely to Verizon Wireless customers in the U.S. and to Vodafone customers in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The launch of new smartphones designed around Google's Android software may not be available until the fourth quarter of this year, as several handset companies and operators are having problems getting Android phones ready for a launch still in 2008.

Apple is breaking away from its history of exclusive iPhone distribution agreements with operators. The signing of agreements with service providers in Italy, Austria, India and Australia as well in a handful of European countries are ample proof of that.

While it should have come as no surprise to investors, shares of Russian wireless services provider VimpelCom (NYSE: VIP) still jumped 6.6% Friday when the company confirmed it had offered to purchase Golden Telecom (Nasdaq: GLDN) for $105 per share. The tender offer follows months of speculation -- and even a public admission -- that VimpelCom would make a move for the fixed-line broadband services provider.

Google Inc, hopes to re-write the way mobile phone market is used and operated, by announcing yesterday its entrance into the bidding for the 700-megahertz spectrum. This has become available due to broadcasters switching from analog to digital networks. One of the key features is that it has very high penetration rates, including the ability to go through walls -- a key attribute for wireless.

The FCC has announced its intent to issue regulatory guidelines to handle the auction of the 700 MHz band radio spectrum. The 700-MHz spectrum is currently being used by analog television. With broadcast television going digital, the spectrum would now be free to handle the increasing demands set by wireless communication. The auction would be conducted for the purpose of handling the recent upsurge in wireless communication.

Duke University has been able to finally resolve the problem with the Cisco wi-fi network it was employing on campus. The problem caused some sort of incompatibility between the network and the Apple iPhones on campus, resulting in the phones sending an overwhelming number of address requests to the Cisco Wireless Access Points (WAPs).

New York -- It took hackers less than a week to figure out ways to override some restrictions on Apple's new iPhone, a report says.

Strengthening its 3G wireless business in Europe and Asia, the Paris, France based Alcatel on Friday announced its plans to acquire Ontario based Nortel's Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network access equipment division for $320 million.

Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s largest mobile phone retailer, said that it had signed up 340,000 customers for its free broadband offering, twice as many as it was expecting two months after launch, as it reported underlying pre-tax profits up by 35.5 per cent to £136.1m ($ 255m).