Rogers, Sprint to bring connected cars to Canada; Panasonic quits smartphones

Quick news from around the Web.

@FierceWireless: RT@phonescoop: ZTE Updates Warp for Boost Mobile with LTE: ArticleFollow@FierceWireless

> Rogers Communications and Sprint teamed to bring connected cars to Canada. Release

> Verizon and Sprint are leading a record month for the U.S. bond market. Article

> AT&T Mobility said it will sell the Pebble smart watch in its stores and online. Release

> Appalachian Wireless, Bluegrass Cellular and Nex-Tech Wireless will sell Apple's new iPhones starting Oct. 1. Article

> Panasonic quit the smartphone business. Article

> Google's Motorola Mobility is hiring new workers in BlackBerry's hometown of Waterloo, Ontario. Article

> NSN said it demonstrated an Authorized Shared Access field trial with TD-LTE spectrum. Release

Mobile Content News

> eBay has reached an agreement to acquire digital commerce startup Braintree Payments Solutions for approximately $800 million in cash. Article

> Eighty percent of respondents worldwide told mBlox and survey partner Millward Brown Digital that downloading a company's app to their mobile device also meant they would be open to receiving location-based text or push notifications from that same company. Editor's Corner

> The Google Play storefront has removed an application enabling Android users to access archrival Apple's iMessage chat service. Article

Broadband Wireless News

> Verizon Wireless launched a new fixed LTE voice and data offer for homes and small businesses that runs over a broadband router supplied by Novatel Wireless. Article

> Apple iOS 7 support for Hotspot 2.0 could be a game-changer. Editor's Corner

> Wireless operators and vendors are lining up to virtualize the network via software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). The latest examples of this trend arrived this week with separate announcements from carrier AT&T and vendor Cisco Systems. Article

European Wireless News

> Telefónica has been officially awarded an €1.78 billion (£1.5 billion) contract to provide smart meter communications services in the United Kingdom. Article

> Telecom Italia directors and politicians challenge Telefónica's plans. Article

And finally… Marty Cooper proposed the Presidential Spectrum Prize. Article