• T-Mobile USA announced the beginning of its special pre-sale program for existing customers who want to be among the first to get their hands on the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G by HTC. Current T-Mobile customers can visit www.T-MobilemyTouch.com to order the company’s latest Android-powered device. Existing customers who order the device during the pre-sale period from July 8–28 can qualify for myTouch 3G delivery before the national retail launch. National retail availability of the $199.99 device will begin on Aug. 5.
• Qualcomm has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 17 cents per share, payable on Sept. 25. The company approved a 6 percent increase in its quarterly cash dividend in March, bringing the sum from 16 cents per share to 17 cents per share. The dividend increase also raised the company’s annual dividend to 68 cents per share.
• Airtel Wireless has launched a push-to-connect service in Alberta, Canada, with Motorola iDEN handsets and iDEN Harmony communication technology. Motorola's iDEN cellular technology allows users to make regular voice calls, share data and also have immediate contact for two-way conversations with the push of a button. Its iDEN Harmony system is designed for customers with 800 MHz or 900 MHz spectrum. The company currently has iDEN networks operating with 31 operators in 23 countries worldwide with more than 23 million subscribers.
• Inlet Technologies has created software that supports live streaming to the iPhone. The technology, dubbed Spinnaker, allows content creators to stream live to the iPhone in formats including H.264 video and HE-AAC audio. Additionally, capabilities similar to Apple’s Stream Segmenter will be built directly into Spinnaker to eliminate the need for additional hardware. Inlet demonstrated the technology at Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference last month in San Francisco.
• Software company Openwave Systems has appointed of John Giere as senior vice president, products and marketing. Giere has worked in telecom management, marketing and business development for 20 years at companies including Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson. He also serves on the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Executive Board.
• Handango has partnered with mobile entertainment company Viva Vision to expand distribution of Handango’s mobile entertainment slideshows. The deal will allow consumers to access the slideshows through Handango’s online retail site and through Handango InHand, the company’s on-device client. Slideshows available at launch include Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, Walt Disney Presents, Car and Driver and Bikini CAM.
• Universal Music Group (UMG) has signed an agreement with digital security firm Gemalto to jointly promote the firms’ Smart Video Card, which embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card. The Smart Video Card disc can be preloaded with 120 MB of content, which can be played in a standard DVD player, providing a music distribution medium that can be used on any digital music player. The global agreement, which excludes North America, will allow Gemalto to offer UMG content along with its SIM card products while Universal Music Group International will promote Smart Video Card to operators it works with to deliver online content.