• ZTE plans to debut eight new devices at Mobile World Congress next week. The Chinese telecommunications company said the gadgets would feature multi-core chips, LTE, and the latest versions of Android and Windows Phone. ZTE wants to become one of the world's top three device manufacturers by 2015.

• Pinger, which makes a communications app for iOS, has landed $7.5 million in funding from Deutsche Telekom's investment division, T-Venture. Pinger plans to use the cash to expand its app to other platforms and international markets.

• The Samsung Rugby Smart will hit AT&T on March 4. The ruggedized Android smartphone is dustproof and water resistant, capable of withstanding being submerged in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes. It runs on AT&T's HSPA+ network and comes equipped with a 3.7-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display and 5 megapixel camera. It is being sold for $100 with two-year contract and data plan.

• Cincinnati Bell will use Convergys for billing and customer support through 2014 under a new extended contract. Convergys will support the operator's long distance, IP services, and carrier access billing systems. Cincinnati Bell also said it will license a wireless billing solution that Convergys has hosted and managed for it over the past nine years. Financial terms of the contracts were not announced.

• Qualcomm's Gobi modem brand now encompasses its entire complete modem product portfolio, including the MDM chipset family. Qualcomm's modems provide 3G and LTE connectivity to a variety of wireless devices including smartphones, tablets, data cards, routers, USB dongles, customer premises equipment and M2M modules.