Samsung’s Galaxy S II Celebrates 20 Million Sold, LG Unveils Optimus 3D Max Android Phone & Video Accounts For Half Of All Mobile Traffic

Samsung’s Galaxy S II Celebrates 20 Million Sold, Just in Time for MWC
After crossing the 10 million units moved threshold back in September, Samsung has joyously announced ahead of MWC 2012 that its Galaxy S II family of phones has sold 20 million since launching in April. According to Samsung, taking just ten months to hit the mark puts it ahead of the original Galaxy S (hovering around 22 million sold) by seven months.
Engadget

LG Unveils Optimus 3D Max Android Phone Ahead of MWC
LG continues to announce an array of new smartphones ahead of next week’s Mobile World Congress trade show. On Wednesday, the company unveiled its follow up to the original Optimus 3D, the Optimus 3D Max. The handset is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP4430 processor beneath a 4.3-inch 3D WVGA display that is protected by Corning’s second-generation Gorilla Glass.
BGR

Video Accounts For Half Of All Mobile Traffic; Android Biggest For Mobile Ads
Mobile video now accounts for half of all mobile traffic; and on some networks, that number is as high as 69 percent — a testament to the rise of smartphones and tablets as the mobile devices of choice for consumers, and their growing interest in using these devices to do a lot more than just make phone calls.
TechCrunch

Why One Startup Wants Your Mobile Carrier to Act Like Your Bank
Google, PayPal and major credit companies are all making land-grabs for the emerging mobile payments industry. Mobile carriers — used to controlling profits made from mobile phones — want to avoid being squeezed out. Now, thanks to a startup called BOKU, there’s a mobile payment solution that could satisfy all sides. The product, BOKU Accounts, works like a debit card issued by your mobile carrier instead of your bank.
Mashable

Last-Minute Apps to Make Valentine’s Day Sweet, Virgin Offers Up Free Voicemail, Call Display & Google-Motorola Deal Approved

Last-Minute Apps to Make Valentine’s Day Sweet
Valentine’s Day is a about celebrating connections. Whether it’s a loved one, a family member or a best friend, reconnect with the important people in your life with the great Valentine’s Day apps.
Amazon

LG Optimus 3D 2 Specs and Image Revealed Ahead of MWC Debut
Images of the LG Optimus 3D 2 have been published online ahead of the handset’s Mobile World Congress debut. The new Optimus 3D will be thinner and lighter than its predecessor, featuring a tapered case that shrinks from 11.9 millimeters down to 9.8 millimeters and a weight that has been reduced by more than 20 grams according to Electronics Times News.
BGR

Virgin Offers Up Free Voicemail, Call Display on All Talk and Text Plans
Two weeks ago Koodo Mobile started to include call display and voicemail into their plan, plus also increased the rate plans by $5 each. Effective February 14th, “back by popular demand”, Virgin Mobile will do the same. From the internal doc we received it states that Virgin is “rekindling an old flame” and giving free Voicemail 10 and caller display to all their Talk & Text plans (plus 50 Canada, US and International Text Messages – picture messaging is not included).
MobileSyrup

Google-Motorola Deal Approved By U.S. Department Of Justice
Just hours after the European Commission announced their approval of Google’s $12.5 billion Motorola purchase, the United States Department of Justice has announced that they too have given the deal their blessing. With this, Google is one step closer to closing the deal, although they’re still waiting on approval from China, Taiwan, and Israel before the transaction can officially be completed.
TechCrunch

Bell Adding 5 Hours of Mobile TV to the Fab 10, Corning and Samsung form Joint Venture & Motorola Wants 2.25 Percent of Apple’s iPhone Sales

Bell Adding 5 Hours of Mobile TV to the Fab 10 $60/Month Plan
Effective tomorrow, Bell will be changing their Fab 10 $60/month rate plan around. It’ll still have the same 200 minutes, 1 GB data, Unlimited nationwide talk to 10 numbers, Unlimited text, picture and video messaging, Call Waiting and Conference Calling and Unlimited local evenings, but will now welcome the addition of 5 hours of Mobile TV viewing. Just remember that any Mobile TV overage is $1/hr.
MobileSyrup

Corning and Samsung form Joint Venture to Combine ‘Lotus Glass’ with OLED Displays
Samsung and Corning — best known for its Gorilla Glass products — announced a new joint venture this week that will manufacture specialty glass substrates for OLED displays. The joint venture will be based in South Korea and will combine Samsung’s OLED display technology with Corning’s ultra tough Lotus Glass substrate.
BGR

Motorola Wants 2.25 Percent of Apple’s iPhone Sales in Exchange for Use of Its p]Patents
It has been customary lately to see Samsung and Apple battling it out in court, but Motorola vs. Apple has been gaining some serious momentum. According to some documents dug up by FOSS patents, Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple’s iPhone sales, in exchange for licensing patents that Motorola is claiming Apple uses.
SmartPhoneEnvy

Vimeo App Lands for Windows Phone, Lets You Upload Your Next Student Film Over 3G
Vimeo is here to stream all the HD student shorts your little Microsoft-loving heart desires. The official app doesn’t just let you browse, search and view clips on the site, though — it completely integrates with your account, allowing you to upload HD video, tweak the details of your uploads and even check stats.
Engadget

Sony Ericsson Rebrands as Sony Mobile Communications, DROID 4 Touted as Thinnest, Most Powerful 4G Smartphone & Lumia 710 and 800 headed to Canada

Sony Ericsson Rebrands as Sony Mobile Communications
Sony Ericsson will be rebranding its mobile division as Sony Mobile Communications. All devices released from now on will be launched under the Sony brand, as released by the Sony Mobile Communications division.
MobileSyrup

Nokia Lumia 710 and the Nokia Lumia 800 Signal New Smartphone Dawn for Nokia in Canada
The Nokia Lumia 710 will be available this February for $49.99 on select 3-year plans as part of Rogers’ Smartphone Lite lineup of affordable devices. The bold Nokia Lumia 800 will be coming soon only to TELUS in black, as well as cyan and magenta options for customers looking to stand out from the crowd.
CNW

2012 International CES Opens Show Floor Doors 10 a.m. PST Tuesday, January 10
The 2012 International CES opens its show floor doors at 10 a.m. PST on Tuesday, January 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. More stories from the International CES and Exhibit Hours available.
CEA

DROID 4 Touted as Thinnest, Most Powerful 4G LTE QWERTY Smartphone
Motorola unveiled Monday at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show a new device it’s calling the thinnest and most powerful 4G LTE QWERTY smartphone.
Mashable

Rogers Prepping New Cancellation Policies, 6.8 Million Android And iOS Devices Were Activated on Xmas Day & Apple to Launch Redesigned iPhone

Rogers Prepping to Rollout New Cancellation Policies January 2012, Will Bring “Bill 60 Like Changes Across Canada
Apparently Rogers will be putting a similar Bill 60 structure in place across Canada where those wireless customers who wish to cancel their service will have to pay a “service disconnection fee”, or “Economic Inducement”, of $12.50, plus the hardware subsidy cost – “Hardware Savings / # of months in term X # of months remaining in the term”.
MobileSyrup

6.8 Million Android And iOS Devices Were Activated on Xmas Day, 242 Million Apps Downloaded
On a combined basis, 6.8 million devices were activated, up 353 percent from the 1.5 million average activations a day over the first 20 days of December. And that number from 2.8 million combined activations on Christmas, 2010, the previous record.
TechCrunch

Apple to Launch Completely Redesigned iPhone in Fall 2012
Apple is planning to use a rubber or plastic material — similar to the material used in the company’s bumper cases — that will be built into the new iPhone case. In all likelihood, this material will be used as a bezel surrounding the front edge of the phone (like the iPhone 3GS bezel) and it will serve two purposes.
BGR

Windows Phone Marketplace Passes 50,000 Apps
It seems like only yesterday that the Windows Phone Marketplace hit 40,000 apps — actually, it was Nov. 17 — and now Microsoft’s mobile app store has just passed 50,000, according to All About Windows Phone.
Mashable

LG Eclypse Now Available at SaskTel, Sony Ericsson ‘Super Phone’ Has a 13-Megapixel Camera and LTE & One Out Of Almost Every 7 Ads To be Mobile by 2016

One Out Of Almost Every 7 Ads To be Mobile by 2016
In 2016, one out of almost every seven digital ads will be served to a mobile device. Mobile advertising will account for 3.8% of all global ad spending on all media. According to Berg Insight, that will account for as much as $22.45 billion (€17.2 billion) of the global industry in 2016.
ReadWriteWeb

LG Eclypse Now Available at SaskTel
SaskTel has joined Bell and Virgin by releasing the QWERTY slider LG Eclypse. The best part of this launch is for an entry level device it comes with decent specs: Android OS 2.3.4, 1 Ghz processor, 3.5-inch touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, and a 5 megapixel camera that shoots 720p videos.
MobileSyrup

Sony Ericsson ‘Super Phone’ Has a 13-Megapixel Camera and LTE
Sony Ericsson is getting ready to release the LT28at, a high-end smartphone which the company refers to as “super phone.” The details on the Bluetooth SIG site are scarce, but LT28at will come with a 13-megapixel camera, LTE support and a 4.55-inch 720p “Reality Display.”
Mashsable

Samsung Launches Two Dual-sim Galaxy Y Phones for Carrier Cheaters
Samsung is rolling out a pair of dual-SIM blowers for everyone who wants to keep their working and private lives separate, or take advantage of constantly changing carrier deals. The Galaxy Y Duos packs a 3.14-inch touchscreen, HSDPA modem, 3 megapixel camera, microSD storage and an 832MHz processor that runs Gingerbread. The Galaxy Y Pro Duos’ only difference is its smaller 2.6-inch LQVGA TFT screen, to make space for the physical keyboard below.
Engadget

Say Goodbye to Symbian, Nexus S Update Has Been Paused & LTE Pricing May Drop as Much as 60% by 2016

Say Goodbye to Symbian, Say Hello to Nokia Belle
Symbian is already on its last legs as a mobile OS, now Nokia is giving it a bit of a kick while its down by ditching the name it grew up with and rebranding the latest version simply Nokia Belle.
Engadget

Don’t Hold Your Breath For That Nexus S ICS Update — It’s Been Paused
Still anxiously sitting by your Nexus S, awaiting that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update that started rolling out a few days ago? According to a forum post by Google Community Manager Paul Wilcox, the company has paused the update in a number of regions while they “monitor feedback”.
TechCrunch

LTE Pricing May Drop as Much as 60% by 2016
The monthly price we pay for 4G LTE data could drop drastically over the next five years. Currently, 4G LTE networks are blazing fast but there’s no doubt that the technology comes at a price. 4G LTE handsets sold directly by wireless carriers typically cost more than their 3G counterparts, and tiered 4G data prices are still a bit too costly for heavy data users looking to ditch their cable companies.
BGR

Google Now Activating 700,000 Android Devices a Day
If the success of Android is determined by device activations, Google is certainly the market leader. According to Andy Rubin, Google’s Director of Mobile Platforms, there are 700,000 unique Android activations every day.
MobileSyrup

Facebook App for iPhone Gains Timeline, Explosion at Apple Supplier Injures 57 Workers & Even Santa Loves Siri

7 New Apps Worth Downloading This Week
With about 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store and an estimated 300,000 apps in the Android Market, finding the gems among the virtual haystack can be full-time job.
Mashable

Facebook App for iPhone Gains Timeline
Facebook updated its application for iOS devices over the weekend. The update included one major new feature: Support for the Facebook Timeline layout (which must first be activated online).
PhoneScoop

Even Santa Loves Siri in This New iPhone 4S Commercial
It must be hard being Santa. With all that responsibility (3.7 billion appointments?!) and not a lot of time, he’s got to keep his life organized. Well, Apple’s got him covered in this new Siri-focused iPhone 4S commercial.
MobileSyrup

Explosion at Apple Supplier Injures 57 Workers
The welfare of Chinese workers is back in the spotlight after an explosion at Shanghai-based Riteng Computer Accessory Company left 23 people in hospital with burns and another 34 with more minor injuries.
Engadget

Red Robot Labs Acquires Supermono, Appirio Buys Saaspoint To Expand To The UK

Two acquisitions today that were for the most part executed so Silicon Valley companies could buy their way into the UK (and Ireland) market.

Red Robot Labs / Supermono

Freshly funded location-based mobile gaming company Red Robot Labs has acquired UK-based indie gaming company Supermono Studios.

Red Robot says it will act as parent company, but let Supermono run an independent game creation and marketing business.

Founded almost a year ago, Red Robot Labs will thus expand to the UK market and set up shop in London. The company has also attracted Phil Harrison, General Partner at London Venture Partners and a former exec at Sony Computer Entertainment as a company advisor.

Also read: Life Is Crime: If You Try To Shakedown My Virtual TechCrunch Office, I Will Virtually Beat You Down

Appirio / Saaspoint

Cloud solutions company Appirio, which just raised funding from Salesforce.com and other strategic backers, has acquired Saaspoint, a provider of cloud consulting services.

Saaspoint brings Appirio experienced cloud consultants, as well as a physical presence in the UK and Ireland, in an effort to aggressively expand across Europe.

Founded in 2005 by early Salesforce.com employees, Saaspoint boasts offices in the UK and Ireland, and has served more than 100 global customers including companies such as British Gas, Dell, eBay, Paypal, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and UBM.

The transaction is expected to close later this month, subject to customary closing conditions.

CrunchBase Information

Red Robot Labs

Appirio

Saaspoint

Information provided by CrunchBase