Mobile services are a tough nut to crack by any standard, so when a new player wants to step up to the plate, they'd best have a whole heap of cash in tow and a dedication to stick it out for the long term. That's exactly the path Nokia finds itself going down, with the CFO admitting last week that it dropped nine figures (in euros -- not dollars) last year ramping up various segments of its Ovi initiative -- chiefly the Music Store, we'd imagine -- and will continue to shovel giant piles of cash in that direction until at least 2010, at which point the company hopes to finally see a profit for its efforts. That's a long time to commit to being in "investment mode" as they're calling it, but when you control a crushingly massive percentage of the world's mobile market share, you can probably afford those sorts of things.

It still hasn't been conclusively proven that Ovi's going to fly with carriers -- well, maybe it has, since the Vodafone juggernaut has jumped in head first -- but either way, it's looking like Samsung wants a little piece of that action. It's unclear at this point just how far-reaching Samsung's initiative will be, but the company announced its intention at MWC to develop unified internet services for its handsets, which we figure is pretty much code for "we want to continue to make money from our devices after they're in customers' hands." As RCR points out, features like its blogging client and navigation are currently outsourced to ShoZu and Navigon, respectively, and moving forward, all that stuff will be rolled up and maintained in-house. Whether doing so is going risk stepping on carriers' revenue models the way Ovi has done, though, remains to be seen.

If you just so happened to pick up a 2004 (or earlier) year model GM vehicle will waiting for that oh-so-tempting self-driving edition to land in '08, and can't wait to take full advantage of the svelte built-in OnStar system, you better start now. When analog networks have the option to go silent in 2008, vehicles equipped with analog-only hardware will not be able to communicate with those friendly voices on the other end of the blue button, which could leave some (previously) loyal GM customers seeing red. All vehicles kitted prior to 2002 will unfortunately not sport the same sense of security it once did, while select vehicles from 2002 to 2004 can be upgraded with digital equipment. Verizon Wireless -- the current network of choice for OnStar -- "has not said how or when it will dismantle its analog network," but will likely pull plugs in stages. While the value of OnStar's service is certainly debatable, leaving a substantial amount of your four million customers without a resolution certainly doesn't bode well if you're looking to snag repeat buyers, but we suppose it's the price you pay for keepin' things fresh.

[Via Autoblog]

Google world domination step #12,875: get inside their phones. In the latest attempt to filter every bit of data that could possibly hit your eyeballs, Google has introduced a mobile interface for its Google Reader RSS aggregator, so now you can get your news, read your email, and do the search thing without ever surfing away from a Google-owned domain. As long as you have a Google Personalized Homepage with the Reader Homepage Module installed, you can access Google Reader Go Mobile from any cellphone browser, giving you immediate access to the headlines from your favorite sites like Engadget and Engadget Mobile. Google's next step? Implantable RFID chips: get inside their heads.

Three cheers for a free new service that not only alerts you of your cellphone airtime usage, but provides a forecast as well so you can adjust your calling patterns accordingly. Unlike other minute-tracking solutions, MinuteWatcher doesn't require downloading any software to your phone; rather, it automatically signs into your account on your carrier's website, pulls the relevant data, and emails it to you on a preset schedule in graphical or text-only formats. Available immediately for customers of all the major networks, MinuteWatcher seems like a no-brainer to sign up for, unless you're sketchy about giving up some of your personal info like password, phone number, and home address.

[Via PRWeb]

In a new partnership announced today, Yahoo is going to be launching a slew of services for Helio customers including search, mail, IM, news, sports and more. This is supposed to be one of the most extensive mobile offerings of Yahoo! services, and Helio seems to think it lines up well with that snazzy target demographic of theirs. Some of the more interesting integration includes Yahoo search straight from your phone's home screen and the display of news feeds there as well. There's no word as to when the Yahoo services will launch, but we're guessing they'll be available when Helio itself launches this spring.