Cricket will soon have some competition in the prepaid iPhone market . Sprint’s Virgin Mobile plans to sell Apple’s smartphone for use on a pay-as-you-go basis, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Sprint is expected to announce later this week that the prepaid carrier will offer the iPhone as early as July 1, sources …

Microsoft is ratcheting up its push for developers, and now we know specifically when Redmond will make its foray. The software giant announced last month that it would hold a Windows Phone developer summit on June 20-21, but now it appears we will be getting a taste of its next-generation mobile operating system. Microsoft sent out invitations to the press …

Verizon piqued our interest last week when it announced that it would double the speed of its top-tier Fios plan but didn’t reveal how much it would cost. The new service, which will boost speeds to 300 Mbps for downloads and 65 Mbps for uploads, will cost customers $204.99 a month, according to purported training material (see below) sent to …

Android continues to dominate the U.S. smartphone market, according to data released today by market researcher ComScore. Google’s mobile operating system captured 50.8 percent of the market for the three months ending in April, a 2.2 percent increase over the three months ending in January. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS accounted for 31.4 percent of the market in April, a 1.9 percent …

While other parts of its business appear to be on the ropes, Research In Motion learned today that it is free to use the BBM acronym to describe its popular BlackBerry Messenger software. A Canada Federal Court found that the BlackBerry maker’s use of BBM did not infringe on the trademark of broadcast measurement firm BBM Canada, which has owned …

Research In Motion announced today the resignation of its chief legal officer, the second high-level departure from the struggling phone maker in the past week. Karima Bawa is leaving the handset maker after 12 years, RIM said. The company said it’s known of Bawa’s departure for some time and has already begun searching for a replacement chief legal officer. “Karima …

Verizon Wireless wants to be sure its customers pack one of its phones when they travel abroad this summer. The carrier confirmed today that four of its Android-powered smartphones will soon get a software update that will allow them to operate on GSM networks — the dominant global wireless technology and the standard in Europe. Verizon said GSM roaming would …

Open Garden wants to help you share your Internet connection with every Wi-Fi-enabled device within 20 meters. The San Francisco-based mobile startup, which launched today at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, lets users create a large mesh network that allows all the Open Garden-enabled devices to automatically share Internet access and bandwidth, according to a TechCrunch report. Essentially, what Open Garden …

Now playing: Watch this: Sprint’s new HTC Evo 4G LTE 3:46 After a week-long delay caused by a patent spat with Apple, HTC’s Evo 4G LTE will finally begin shipping to Sprint customers later this week. The carrier made the announcement on a company blog this afternoon: Customers who preordered HTC EVO 4G LTE…Your wait is almost over! Sprint expects …

Virgin Atlantic will soon allow passengers to use their cell phones during flights, but don’t expect your phone-free fuselage to be replaced with coffeehouse clatter. The airline announced today it will allow passengers to make in-flight phone calls, send and receive texts, check e-mail, and surf the Web via general packet radio service (GPRS) from inside A330 Airbus planes on …