San Francisco - Advance movie ticket seller Fandango said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Microsoft's Tellme to add voice-activated movie information for mobile phones. Initially available for BlackBerry devices, with Helio Mysto phones to be added, the service uses GPS technology to target showtimes and provide directions to theaters.

Las Vegas - XM Satellite Radio (NASD: XMSR) said on Tuesday that it partnered with mobile media firm QuickPlay Media to develop an XM Radio Mobile service for BlackBerry smartphones. The service offers 20 of XM's channels for $7.99 per month, and is compatible with BlackBerry devices with version 4.2 software or higher, including the 8800 Series, 8700 Series, Pearl and Curve.

Toronto - Digital music service provider Puretracks announced on Tuesday that it has developed a new DRM-free mobile music store and service for BlackBerry smartphones. Puretracks has licenses from all four major labels, as well as many independents, for a catalog of 2 million songs, but did not say specifically what content would be available on the new service. The Wi-Fi-based Puretracks Mobile Edition for BlackBerry, which will be previewed this week at South by Southwest in Austin, will launch first in the U.S. in April before rolling out to Canada and other markets.

Toronto, Canada - Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research in Motion (NSDQ: RIMM), maker and developer of Blackberry devices, outlined his vision for the company as leveraging the convergence of social networking and multimedia in a morning keynote at the Canadian Music Week's digital music & media summit. His vision involves moving beyond facilitating text-messaging and email communication to bringing multimedia content and social networking together on mobile devices. He also challenged the music industry to embrace social networking to reach fans of all genres and sub-genres of music:
"Don't disintermediate yourselves as hit machines", Balsillie said to the room of music industry professionals.

Barcelona - Melodeo, a provider of mobile music delivery technology, has announced a deal with Blackberry device maker Research in Motion that will let Blackberry users access their iTunes music libraries on the devices, Billboard reports. Melodeo's NuTsie service is expected to launch for Blackberry users sometime in the spring.

Las Vegas - EchoStar Holding Corp.'s (NASD: SATS) Sling Media, a developer of media place-shifting devices and technology, announced on Friday that it will offer a version of its software compatible with BlackBerry smartphones later this year. The SlingPlayer Mobile software will enable Slingbox owners to shuttle their home TV channels, recorded programs and other media to their BlackBerry devices.

San Francisco - Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry mobile device, announced that it has launched an optimized application for use with the Facebook online social network. The application will automatically push Facebook messages, Wall posts or pokes to a user's BlackBerry, as well as allow users to post photos to Facebook. T-Mobile USA will be the first carrier to provide the new application, which will also be offered for download from Facebook.

New York - Online retailer Barnes & Noble.com said on Monday that it has partnered with digital magazine and book publisher Zinio, to launch a new "See Inside" book preview feature on BN.com. The feature will initially be available on "thousands" of titles on the site. The company separately announced a partnership with mobile commerce service provider Digby.com, to market its CDs and DVDs to users of BlackBerry smartphones.

Ottawa, Canada - Mobile game publisher Magmic Games said on Thursday that it has signed a deal that will make fellow publisher In-Fusio's mobile games available from carriers supporting BlackBerry devices, as well as on Bplay, Magmic's BlackBerry entertainment portal. Titles will include a BlackBerry version of "Golden Tee Golf Mobile Edge."

I’ve had it with all the hype about mobile being the next big thing — more to the point, I’ve had it with the mobile web. Here are five reasons why the web on the go still has a long way to go.

Frankfurt, Germany - Apple's iPhone outsold all other smartphone models in the U.S. in July, taking 1.8% of the total U.S. handset market, according to a report from market research firm iSuppli.

New York - MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, announced on Tuesday that it is working with Research In Motion to allow BlackBerry smartphone users to have one-click access to MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball. Fans can now download an MLB.com icon to their BlackBerry smartphone, allowing immediate access to the MLB.com mobile website with a single click.

This weekend we drove from our home in Leesburg, VA to visit my wife’s family in Staten Island, NY. Along the way, we passed through rural areas of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. I had my laptop with me, which we used while we were driving. I used my Blackberry 8830 as a tethered modem, and we enjoyed UNINTERRUPTED high speed internet access.

New York - Sona Mobile on Thursday launched its Sona Media Platform, which delivers "push media" streaming video and other content to BlackBerry and other wireless devices in the background, notifying users when it is available for playback. New York-based Sona said the platform supports SMS, WAP, SMTP, BES/MDS and e-mail.

New York - Mobile game publisher Gameloft plans to expand into publishing games for BlackBerry mobile devices, The New York Times reported on Monday. Research in Motion, which manufactures the BlackBerry, counts about 8 million subscribers. Gameloft titles for the Blackberry will include a version of its "Asphalt: Urban GT 2" racing game, "Pro Golf 2007 feat. Vijay Singh," and games based on the TV shows "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost."

Las Vegas - QuickPlay Media on Tuesday introduced a version of its QuickPlayer for Research in Motion's BlackBerry wireless communications device. Available for an additional $7.95 per month to BlackBerry service users, the application allows BlackBerrys to receive streaming audiocasts from providers including ABC News, Clear Channel, The Wall Street Journal and Westwood One.