T-Mobile USA inched into the mobile payments arena today when it said it would allow customers to purchase goods and services through their phones. The carrier said it would extend its carrier billing to digital content such as music and games which can be bought with the browser on the phone. Instead of entering credit …

MetroPCS’ smartphone strategy is paying off, its president said today, after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results. MetroPCS A fourth of MetroPCS’ customers use smartphones already, and 38 percent of its customers are tied to a family plan, Chief Operating Officer Thomas Keys said during a conference call with analysts. “The growth has been driven by increasing interest in smartphones,” …

T-Mobile USA is replacing the outlets that will be lost when RadioShack switches to Verizon Wireless, and early today announced that its first new partner is 7-Eleven. T-Mobile and 7-Eleven said that, as of yesterday, consumers can buy prepaid handsets at the convenience store chain. The partnership signals T-Mobile’s increasing presence in the prepaid area; 7-Eleven is already known for …

Sprint Nextel said today that it will begin offering 4G services on a wholesale basis, allowing other companies and smaller carriers to resell a 4G connection to their customers. As part of the announcement, Sprint said it would offer up the HTC Detail, which is similar to the Evo Shift smartphone, and a Sierra Wireless data card to companies looking …

NTP, the patent company that successfully forced a settlement from Research In Motion over wireless e-mail technology, has gotten the nod from an appeals court on the validity of its patents used in lawsuits against several other smartphone players. RIM was the first to settle with NTP five years ago, but it may not be the last. Research In Motion …

Samsung Electronics has agreed to halt sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia until it resolves its patent fight against Apple. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 won’t be coming to Australia any time soon. Samsung Bloomberg reports that Apple and Samsung came to an agreement during a hearing in a federal court in Australia today. Samsung agreed to stop …

Verizon Wireless and American Express said today that they’re partnering to let customers order goods through their phone by typing in their phone number. During the coming months, Verizon will start integrating American Express’ Serve, a digital payment and commerce platform, into its phones and tablets. Unlike other initiatives, designed to let consumers pay by tapping their phone to a …

HTC has filed another lawsuit against Apple in the U.K., further escalating the patent battle between the two smartphone manufacturers. HTC phones such as the Status are caught up in a major patent battle with Apple. Josh Miller Bloomberg reported today that the suit was filed on Friday in London. The suit comes two weeks after HTC suffered a blow …

The mobile world moves at a breakneck pace, and it’s difficult to keep up–even without the technical jargon most industry insiders throw around. And they do love to toss those terms about. Last week, I dabbled in Wall Street-speak after AT&T and Verizon Communications reported their quarterly financial results. But today, I wanted to get back into some of the …

Apple, followed closely by Samsung Electronics, overtook Nokia in global smartphone market share during the second quarter. Apple controlled nearly a fifth of the smartphone market, or a share of 18.5 percent, as it shipped more than 20 million iPhones, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. Samsung Electronics wasn’t far behind, with 17.5 percent of the market share and …