Research Director

Japanese electronics giant Sony has been busy developing new handheld devices in an effort to better compete in the mobile market. Under way is a suite of new devices, including a PlayStation game-playing phone.

For decades Sony has kept its focus on consumer electronics. When the company wanted to compete in the mobile-phone market, it formed a joint venture with Ericsson. Now Sony is expanding its presence in the smartphone and portable-device market.

As Apple gets ready to ship its Pads with AT&T as the exclusive U.S. 3G carrier, the wireless giant's CEO seems to be downplaying expectations by saying the tablet computer will be "largely a Wi-Fi-driven product."

The basic iPad with Wi-Fi will sell for $499, and consumers who want 3G connections will have to shell out an extra $130 and pay AT&T $30 per month for unlimited data, or $15 a month for a 250MB plan. They'll also have to wait an extra month for 3G-capable tablets.

No Strain on Network

CA on Wednesday said it agreed to acquire privately held 3Tera. The acquisition lets the former Computer Associates move deeper into cloud management with 3Tera's popular AppLogic solution. The terms of CA's latest in a string of acquisitions were not disclosed.

Mozilla has released a mobile version of its Firefox browser for users of Nokia's N900 smartphone, which runs the handset maker's high-end Maemo operating system. Built on the same engine as Firefox 3.6 for PCs, the new mobile browser is currently available for download in more than 30 languages, with support for more smartphone platforms and languages on the way, the developers said.

Increased access to high-speed Internet connections helps create jobs, though it doesn't always result in higher wages, according to a new research report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

For months, mobile-phone users have heard rumors that Windows Mobile 7 might be delayed. However, Microsoft's mobile operating system may be in the hands of users sooner than expected.

Industry observers expect the software giant to introduce the updated platform next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which is where the company launched its latest version, Windows Mobile 6.5.

Google's computer operating system, due to be released next year, may rank among software most targeted by hackers in 2010, according to a Dec. 29 report from the computer security company McAfee.

The Web-based operating system, dubbed Chrome, relies on a technology known as HTML 5 that's designed to help Web applications behave like PC software. Developers use HTML 5 language to ensure that software delivers fast response times and stores information that users can access even when they're not connected to the Internet.

The disparity in usage between smartphone users and other subscribers -- and the stress it puts on the network -- is a problem that AT&T intends to deal with, according to Ralph de la Vega, head of the company's wireless unit. Speaking at the UBS 37th annual Global Media and Communications Conference this week, he reportedly addressed the issue of disproportionate traffic by iPhone users.

Averting PR Disaster

Verizon Wireless has begun shipping Research In Motion's new Blackberry Storm2 handset. Verizon is offering the new smartphone, which incorporates improved touchscreen technology, at a post-rebate price of $179.99 for customers signing up for a two-year service contract.

RIM's latest BlackBerry sports a QWERTY-style keypad, a 3.2-megapixel camera with camcorder capabilities, built-in Wi-Fi, 2GB of onboard media storage, and 256MB of flash memory. What's more, the Storm2 ships with a 16GB SD memory card.

Elisabeth Weise in USA Today: