After struggling throughout 2009, mobile phone maker HTC is eyeing an upturn in sales this year, though profit margins are still likely to be down. Earlier this month, HTC announced a 31 percent drop in fourth quarter 2009 earnings to 5.6 billion Taiwan dollars ($175 million) from 8 billion ($250 million) in 2008’s final quarter. …

Ericsson it is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees, the wireless equipment maker said Monday. The company reported on Friday a huge downturn in fourth quarter and full-year 2009 earnings. For the quarter ended December, Ericsson saw its net earnings plummet 92 percent to 314 million million kronor ($43.4 million dollars), compared with the year-ago quarter. Sales …

The White House’s new iPhone app The White House If you can’t catch the president’s next speech on TV, no problem–you can watch it on your iPhone. The White House has hit the iTunes market with its very own app designed to keep all good U.S. citizens updated on the latest goings-on of government. In addition to offering news, blogs, …

Google’s recent turmoil in China has prompted the company to halt the launch of two Android smartphones in the Chinese market. The company told Dow Jones Newswire on Tuesday that it has indefinitely postponed the Chinese debut of two mobile phones manufactured by Samsung and Motorola. The phones, which were to be sold by provider China Unicom, were initially set …

Mobile app stores are likely to get a lot busier this year. Smartphone consumers will spend $6.2 billion on mobile apps in 2010, forecasts Gartner in a recent report, generating ad revenue of around $0.6 billion throughout the world. Downloads will also skyrocket, exceeding 4.5 billion this year. But good news for app users–82 percent of all apps downloaded will …

More cities and countries are enjoying faster Internet speeds, according to the latest State of the Internet report released Wednesday by Akamai. Looking at the third quarter of 2009, the report found that most countries in the top-10 list for Internet performance saw an average 18 percent increase in speed from the second quarter. South Korea topped the list, with …

Nuance, which makes Dragon voice-to-text software, is forging ahead in the iPhone app market. Dragon Dictation for the iPhone and iPod Touch Nuance Over the weekend, the company updated its Dragon voice dictation app for the Apple iPhone and unveiled a new Dragon Search app to let you find info via voice. The 1.2 version of the free Dragon Dictation …

Ford cars are about to become true mobile hot spots. The carmaker announced Monday the next generation of its Sync system designed to let Ford owners plug a USB modem directly into a car’s built-in Wi-Fi, creating broadband Internet access to all passengers. Those in the car can jump online through any Wi-Fi-enabled device, from smartphone to laptop. Credit: Microsoft …

Smartphones will capture 37 percent of the worldwide cell phone market by 2014, a leap from 16 percent in 2009, predicts a new report from Pyramid Research. The report, released late last week, sees much of the growth coming from outside the U.S., notably in emerging markets. Across the globe, China is likely to outpace the U.S. as the largest …

Yet another wireless technology has been finalized by its backers, this one promising even faster speeds than current Wi-Fi specs. The new WiGig standard has been finalized by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance, a group comprised of such heavy hitters as Intel, Dell, NEC, Toshiba, and Microsoft. WiGig promises speeds as fast as 7 gigabits per second, about ten times quicker …