Alleges mass infringement of blue-laser diode patent The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has named 30 companies it intends to investigate to see if products they import into the States are guilty of patent infringement. Continued

Mobile division left to fend for itself Motorola is to split into two companies - one selling infrastructure and networking equipment, the other left to try and sell handsets against increasing competition. Continued

Pockets purportedly picked, info supposedly swiped PS3 gamers may have had cash stolen from their online wallets, Sony has warned. They may also have had their passwords changed by hackers and personal information taken, the games giant admitted on Thursday. Continued

‘The telephone boxes of the broadband era’ Ericsson’s chief marketing officer, Johan Bergendahl, caused a huge commotion last week when he predicted that Wi-Fi hotspots would become as “irrelevant as telephone boxes”. Even allowing for Ericsson’s self-interest in a world where cellular networks will be the main route for users to reach the internet while on the move, the surprise that greeted Bergendahl’s remarks was strangely anachronistic. Continued

Review Two screens are better than one LG has dreamed up a novel twist on the touchscreen concept that adds a dash of Viewty and a splash of Chocolate to create an original look that combines two front-panel displays: a touchscreen and a standard display. Continued

This is the extremely smart, ultra-mobile, HTC Advantage not to be mistaken with a UMPC because, y know, it actually has a keyboard. It also has Wi-Fi and HSPDA connectivity and will be selling for around a thousand Euros when… Continued

Tight supply blamed for PS3 sales surge Microsoft is rumoured to have signed deals with two additional manufacturers to make Xbox 360s. The claim follows reports that sales of the console have dropped in the US. Continued

More cuts in roaming charges - this time from T-Mobile, which is reducing data charges for registered business customers from 16th February. According to the company, the new tariffs will reduce by half the cost of data roaming for new… Continued

More news from the 3GSM, this time from Microsoft and Vodafone, who have announced they are working together on an enhanced and co-branded Instant Messaging service. The idea is to make the service seamless - accessed from both the PC… Continued

Review Skinny perfection Sony Ericsson turned heads last year with its ultra-slim Walkman W880i. Now its successor, the W890i, aims to play to an even wider audience with improved handling and upgraded features. Continued

iTunes is not our only option O2 UK has signed a deal to give its customers access to the Napster (Light) music download service, though punters will have to pay an additional 20 pence to use the service from their mobiles. Continued

New billing system hates BlackBerrys Some O2 customers being migrated to their new all-singing-all-dancing billing platform, known as Companion, have discovered their bolt-on data packages have been cancelled and are being threatened with no connectivity until the next billing cycle in March. Continued

Review Brand on the run? Following the fashion set by LG with its Prada Phone, Samsung has become the latest mobile maker to bring together couture culture and touchscreen technology. Running up its own style-savvy Giorgio Armani number, Samsung has embraced the iconic Italian fashion house chic for this premium label handset. Continued

Down Pompei Tiscali has ditched its CEO and is mulling options to sell off its broadband business, including its two-million-strong UK subscriber base. Continued

Something fishy about DNS hijacking Hull’s broadband monopoly, Karoo, has joined the ranks of Verisign, Tiscali and Orange in redirecting net users’ mistyped URLs to pages displaying advertising. Continued

Review Can network storage really be this easy to use? Network-attached storage (NAS) boxes are all very well, but they’re not what you’d call user friendly. Arch-geeks love ‘em for storing and streaming content, but a fair few folk would prefer a simpler yet equally robust way of making storage available on a network. Continued

To subscribe to The Register’s weekly newsletter - seven days of IT in a single hit - click here IT greenery Continued

A hard charge to make stick… Are computers bad for the planet? As a consumer of power, IT equipment is certainly all too visible, and is shaping up to become a prime whipping boy for governments striving to get a lid on their CO2 emissions. After anything that burns petrol, PCs, chargers and that arch eco-criminal, standby mode, now come pretty close to the centre of the crosshairs. Continued

eComm ‘And maybe the Jesus Phone too’ One day, Google believes, software developers will love its “non-existent” Android handset just as much as they love the iPhone - and maybe more. Continued

To subscribe to The Register’s weekly newsletter - seven days of IT in a single hit - click here Do the job shuffle Continued

Updated BD Live online content links coming to console Sony has announced a PlayStation 3 firmware update that will bring support for the Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0’s BD Live online interaction technology to the games console. Continued

A hard charge to make stick… Are computers bad for the planet? As a consumer of power, IT equipment is certainly all too visible, and is shaping up to become a prime whipping boy for governments striving to get a lid on their CO2 emissions. After anything that burns petrol, PCs, chargers and that arch eco-criminal, standby mode, now come pretty close to the centre of the crosshairs. Continued

Andrew’s mailbag Making the most of MultiTouch With over 100,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK, and a $100m pot of money available for developers, there’s no doubt Apple’s MultiTouch UI has a lot of potential. Continued

Music gratis, hardware more expensive Apple could soon offer an unlimited music bundle with future iPods and iPhones if the plan strikes a chord with the music industry. Continued

Taking the fight to Samsung, SanDisk et al Intel will ramp up its solid-state drive operation next quarter with the introduction of a range of notebook-oriented units running to 160GB of storage capacity. Continued

Red letter day for ad-funded Voixio New UK service Voixio is to offer free national or international phone and video calls to internet users. The catch? For every call you first have to watch an ad or commercial. Continued