LG has decided not to participate in this year's Mobile World Congress 2010, citing the costs of hiring a pavilion and “chronic worries over copyright-related issues.”
Apple has announced that app downloads for its iPhone and iPod touch have surpassed three billion, in under three months. The App Store, which launched in July 2008 and is now available in 77 countries, reached two billion downloads just two months ago.
News Corp has sold its Digital Publishing Group (DPG) unit to VC firm VantagePoint Venture Partners for an undisclosed amount. The company will reportedly retain a stake in DPG, which was founded in 2005 and creates content management and publishing systems for customers including Fox's stable of local TV stations.
The president of Spanish telecoms regulator CMT, Reinaldo Rodriguez, has been elected to the board of the new EU controlled advisory group The Body of European Regulators in Electronic Communications (BEREC). While John Doherty, chairperson of Irish regulator ComReg, will be the first president of BEREC. It will hold its inaugural meeting on January 28 in Brussels.
Chilean operator Entel PCS has launched LTE network trials with Ericsson. According to Entel, this is the first LTE field trial rolled out in Latin America.
An independent Luxembourg-based holding company set up by more than 100 international creditors is acquiring German cable company Tele Columbus from its current owner Escaline subsidiary Orion Cable. The holding will be controlled by financial restructuring specialist Boutique Nikolaus & Co, which will restructure Tele Columbus's debt. Tele Columbus has around 2.5 million customers and reported revenues of €259 million during 2008.
PC maker Lenovo has launched a product which the company says bridges the gap between netbooks and smartphones. The Lenovo Skylight, which has been dubbed a smartbook, has been designed for web browsing.
Chinese search engine Baidu has joined forces with Hulu investor Providence Equity Partners to set up an online video channel in China, which will be based on the Hulu model.