Just because MetroPCS' unsolicited advances to Leap got rejected doesn't mean it can't check its damaged ego at the door long enough to get some other business put away. The two regionals sat down recently to hammer out a pretty comprehensive package of collaboration, throwing in a new 10-year roaming agreement, a spectrum swap whereby Leap gets coverage in San Diego, Fresno, Seattle, and parts of Washington and Oregon while MetroPCS picks up Dallas / Fort Worth plus some Louisiana and Florida territory, and a mutual agreement to drop any pending litigation against one another. Can't you just feel the love in the air?

SkyTerra's Mobile Satellite Ventures, ICO Global Communications and Qualcomm have jointly announced today a partnership that could have far-reaching implications in the mobile realm. In short, the trio has agreed to "integrate satellite and cellular communication technology in select multi-mode mobile baseband chips," which will essentially enable handsets to have "ubiquitous mobile communications coverage from anywhere in North America, including areas where traditional cellular service is currently unavailable or unreliable." The release proclaims that this hookup will lead to satellite connectivity being in mass-market devices, but only time will tell how long it takes for compatible handsets to get adopted by carriers. Unfortunately, we do know it won't happen prior to 2010, as that's the planned ship date for the newfangled chips. Thanks for the heads-up, guys -- but oh, how the tease hurts us.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Update: Images provided are of Mobile Satellite Ventures' design concepts.

You could almost feel this one unraveling, but any remaining hope that Sprint and Clearwire would work something out has apparently been lost. Reportedly, the two have given up on trying to finalize an agreement to jointly build a nationwide WiMAX-based network, citing "complexities of the transaction and the departure last month of Sprint Chief Executive Gary Forsee" as primary reasons for the plan's deterioration. 'Course, Sprint still has a few options left, but it's fairly safe to say that what was the most promising one is seemingly out of the picture, at least for now. Interestingly, it wasn't noted as to whether the two would hook back up and give this one more go in the future, but there were suggestions that a number of big timers (Intel, Nokia, Samsung, etc.) would possibly "inject financing into Clearwire to help keep its WiMAX project on track." And here we thought this was only the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Merely days after we caught wind of Apple's rumored discussions with Vodafone, three other European carriers became the ones to reportedly agree to Apple's terms. According to FinancialTimes, "Apple has succeeded in committing European mobile phone operators that want exclusively to sell its new iPhone to share parts of their revenues with the technology group." The contract, which was signed by T-Mobile Germany, Orange, and O2, "requires that the operators hand over to Apple ten-percent of the revenues made from calls and data transfers by customers over iPhones" -- the same chunk required of those wanting to slap that Made for iPod logo on their accessories. Unfortunately, there's no word just yet on pricing, a launch timeframe, or any other lingering deals with overseas carriers, but we could very well hear more from all sides during IFA.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

It's no secret that Google's quite interested in getting intermingled with the mobile internet crowd, and shortly after Sprint wrapped up a deal with Clearwire, the carrier has now inked yet another pact with a search giant. The deal, hailed as a "milestone" in Sprint's mobile internet strategy, will purportedly seek to "establish an internet destination for user-generated content and multimedia offerings." More specifically, Barry West (president of 4G Mobile Broadband for Sprint) noted that "Google and Sprint will optimize the internet experience for the digital lifestyle," and suggested that the agreement would wed the "best mobile internet network with the leading internet search company." Unfortunately, the nitty gritty we crave seems to be absent at the moment, but until the two start putting their heads together, we'll just have to believe Google when it promises a "rich and compelling broadband experience for WiMAX customers."

[Via The New Zealand Herald]

In reality, it's probably best when two feuding companies decide to put their differences aside and move forward, but it's certainly a lot less fun. Nevertheless, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have reportedly inked a cross-licensing agreement on patents, which "allows the two companies to use each other's patents covering second-generation and third-generation wireless technology." Additionally, the deal requires that both firms withdraw all patent-related lawsuits filed against each other, and while "additional details" surrounding the exact terms were left undisclosed, we can now safely lay to rest all those outstanding 2G / 3G battles between the two outfits -- and wait for new quarrels to begin, of course.

It still ain't exactly cheap, but the key word here seems to be "cheaper" as negotiators for the European Union have finally hammered out an agreement for roaming rates between countries. The deal calls for outgoing rates to be capped at €0.49 (about 66 cents), while incoming calls top out at €0.24 (about 33 cents), apparently a far cry from some of the rates folks are seeing currently. Be that as it may, subscribers will have two months to opt into a compliant plan or stick with their current one -- once the agreement is finalized, that is, at which point carriers will have one month to offer the new rates. Best of all, though, the legislation calls for rates to fall further in 2009. How often does that happen?

[Via textually.org]

In Google's continued dominance of, well, pretty much everything, the company has sealed yet another deal, and this time it's partnering with China Mobile to reportedly "provide mobile and internet services in China." Google stated that it would be providing technology to China's "largest handset operator," allowing searches on the Chinese outfit's "Monternet WAP portal." The service, which has purportedly been in trial operations since last month, is slated to roll out officially in "early 2007," but no hard dates were to be found. Nevertheless, this marks just another day in the world of search giants inking deals with mobile / laptop providers in order to channel more traffic, and subsequently, more revenue based on having their search page load up first when users have a query, and if your handset hasn't been hit by a pre-selected search engine deal just yet, your time is probably drawing nigh.

Contrary to previous beliefs, it looks like neither Orange nor HTC will have a part in producing the first "Googlephone," and instead it seems that Samsung is slipping in the back door to steal the limelight. When the Ultra Edition 13.8 (formerly known as the Z720) got official a few days back, we noticed the relatively unexpected suite of Google apps swarming the mobile's innards, and aside from the handset not exactly abiding by the Opera agreement that is supposedly falling into place, it seems a good fit for the first Google-infused mobile. Of course, the programs that come loaded are all available as free downloads on supported handsets, but it seems the European-bound 13.8 will be numero uno in what's likely to be quite a lengthy list of Googled mobiles.

Continuing along Opera's silent, yet somewhat noticeable pursuit of conquering the mobile browser realm, the firm has sealed a deal with Samsung "to provide Internet browsers for its advance mobile telephones." Similar to the renditions already found on Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Blackberry / Treo, and basically every other handset out there, the browser will reformat pages for optimized mobile viewing and give Samsung owners one less thing to download when setting up their phone. Interestingly, the licensing deal is "per phone sold," but there's no information on just how much coinage will be changing hands when all this goes down.

While it was but a week ago that we got word of a forthcoming mobile from LG and Prada, the first round of "official photos" (read: blurred almost beyond recognition) have already surfaced, and it will purportedly be based on the mysterious LG KE850. Foregoing the typical LG-branding, this black beauty looks to have Prada's fingerprints all over it, and instead of the typical keypad, it'll reportedly sport a touchscreen display that "changes based on the application being used." Moreover, the handset will feature a predictable minimalist design, boasting an all black color scheme and a simple black / white contrasting interface. Although we don't know a great deal about the feature set just yet, it supposedly only has a minimal amount of onboard memory, and while prices have "yet to be confirmed," we're led to believe the pricetag will be quite a bit lower than we're all secretly expecting when it hits "five European countries" in March / April of next year.

It looks like Helio isn't the only game in town touting a MySpace partnership anymore, as Cingular has not only joined the ranks (well, solidified the friendship, anyway), but upped the ante in the process. While we learned about MySpace's integration with Helio (and the subsequent perks for members) awhile back, Cingular's deal promises a "more expansive" offering. So expansive, in fact, that users will be charged an extra $2.99 per month to upload photos taken on their handsets to their profile, read / respond to MySpace emails, update their blog entries, and search / view friend profiles on their handsets. Apparently, these not-so-outrageous niceties are costing users due to the "small Java application" that they can download, which presumably makes accessing these luxuries an easy and painless process. About "30 cellphone models" will initially be supported, with another 20 or so to follow suit, and while online videos aren't currently supported, that functionality should be launched "sometime in 2007."

We've all done it. The temptation of that latest-and-greatest smartphone being offered by (Verizon / Sprint / T-Mobile / Cingular) is just too great; we cave, signing our life away for one, two, or (gulp) three years in exchange for a killer price. Problem is, if you're anything like us -- as scary a thought as that might be -- the next gotta-have-it phone is going to drop well before your contract is up. Of course, most carriers offer the possibility of transferring your contract to another unsuspecting victim, but tracking that lucky individual down is the tricky part. A start-up going by "Celltradeusa" looks to help facilitate that search, charging $20 to pair up folks looking for a deal with other folks looking to slide out from under their contract. Going through the motions of getting the new owner's paperwork filled out (credit approval, etc.) is still left to the buyer and seller to work out themselves, but they've at least taken the guesswork out of finding one another in the first place.

[Via SmartMoney]

Mobile TV may not be off to the blazing start some had hoped, but it seems like only good things can happen when the world's #1 and #2 handset manufacturers get together to push it. Nokia and Motorola have announced an agreement to collaborate on DVB-H interoperability, lessening the burden on carriers trying to take mobile TV networks live and (hopefully) hastening wide-scale adaptation. The agreement may be seen as a blow for Qualcomm, which peddles the rival MediaFLO tech, but even they've managed to hedge their bets in the event the tide turns solidly against them. Either way, this all means nothing until devices are in consumers' hands and the market is sustainable; Modeo, we await your move.