The BlackBerry Colt is quick on the draw as the first a new generation of smart phone. Last week saw the announcement of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, Torch 9810 and 9860, a trio of phones using the latest BlackBerry 7 software, but the forthcoming Colt is the first phone to be powered by the QNX software that fires up the …

ZTE may not be a recognizable brand in the U.S., but it is quickly becoming a major player in the handset arena. ZTE’s Blade is looking for a U.S. home. Jessica Dolcourt/CNET The Chinese telecommunications-equipment manufacturer said today that it sold 35 million handsets in the first half of the year, representing a 30 percent increase from a year ago. …

Heartland Payment Systems, which processes payments across the country, is the latest company to jump on the mobile-payment bandwagon. Heartland Payment Systems The Princeton, N.J.-based company said today that it was launching a system to allow merchants to accept payments through smartphones and tablets, similar to Square or Verifone. The system, called Mobuyle, includes an Android application and an encrypting …