180Squared, a start-up formed by former Microsoft Mediaroom architects in April 2008 to focus on billing/operational support systems or IPTV deployments based on Mediaroom is moving beyond its Microsoft beginnings to be platform-agnostic. The company today also announced two customers using its product line geared towards rapid IPTV installation, integration and deployment, Surewest Communications and Reservation Telephone Cooperative. more

Social games have become increasingly popular online as the user demographic has expanded and social networks like Facebook have added built-in gaming options. Virtual goods with real price tags are a key component of these games, a market that Think Equity forecasts to double to $1 billion in revenues next year. Mobile payments vendor Obopay today announced a mobile payments platform to help merchants cash in on this gaming movement, allowing users to make seamless in-game purchases. more

Google keeps chipping away at telco-functionality, quite aptly one service release at a time. Up today: Google Voice will now work with user’s existing mobile (and only mobile) telephone number, bringing the service’s voice mail features to the number they already own and use. Since Google Voice is free anyway, users get the best of its features without having to change their  number — bingo, quasi number portability. Via a simple set-up screen that helps users forward their missed calls over to Google, a user’s carrier voice mail is simply switched out for Google.

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To the applause of many key stakeholders, the Department of Energy will today unveil the recipients of $3.4 billion in stimulus grants for 100 smart grid projects. The grants will range from $400,000 to $200 million to fund 25 large and 75 small utility and state projects across 49 states. The money is meant to enable a complete grid overhaul, as well as create tens of thousands of jobs. more

AT&T (NYSE:T) today reported a record 24.5 million connections on its nationwide WiFi hotspot network in the third quarter, but what was most surprising about the figures was the the type of device being used to make those connections. In Q3, 60% of all WiFi connections were made by smartphones and other integrated mobile devices, making it the first quarter in which laptops didn’t dominate the network. more

Providing a bit more clarity on its WiMax roll out schedule for the rest of the year, Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) indicated this week that it planned to bring the majority of its remaing 2009 deployments online in November, turning up three big Texas markets, three cities in North Carolina and the mammoth Chicago market. Clearwire also said it would officially launch service in Philadelphia in the next few week, opening retail stores to compliment the online sales already ongoing on its Website. more

Even with a slew of competitors coming to market any day now, Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) has a reason for feeling cocky. The maker of the iconic iPhone today reported its best quarterly sales ever for its phones and line of Mac computers. Apple posted a 47% increase in profit in the fourth quarter and sold more than 7.4 million iPhones across 80 countries. more

The economic recession may have caused layoffs and cutting back in the enterprise, but it hasn’t hurt the growth of business use of mobile data services. According to ABI Research, mobile data services revenues will increase 17% next year and continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12% until 2014. more

If you’re a foreign infrastructure vendor looking to gain ground in the highly competitive 4G market, the thing to do is open up up a long-term evolution (LTE)–preferably somewhere on the outskirts of Dallas. ZTE is the latest equipment supplier to do just that, joining Nokia Siemens Networks (NYSE:NOK, NYSE:SI), Huawei and Fujitsu in building new 4G R&D facilities or expanding their current labs in the technoburb of Richardson, Texas. more