May 5 - 4:30pm EDT   Palm's next stop with the Pre after Sprint may be Australia. Pointing only to insiders in its rumor, the Pacific nation's Smarthouse asserts that Telstra has landed a three-month exclusive for the phone on its network that would start from August. The phone maker's national manager, Brett Murray, doesn't mention a date but partly corroborates the report by confirming a second-half 2009 launch window for the Pre in Australia. He also can't confirm exclusives, though Sprint itself is separately rumored to have a three-month deal of its own. [full story]

April 7 - 10:30am EDT   The Australian government today set out to improve the country's Internet access by unveiling a plan to roll out a nationwide, fiber-to-the-home Internet service. The network would provide 100Mbps access to about 90 percent of the country's population and would reach the remaining 10 percent through long-range wireless. Completing the network will take about 8 years and a cost of as much as $43 billion AUD ($30.6 billion US) over that period. [full story]

February 26 - 1:10pm EST   A mandatory Internet censorship plan in Australia proposed by the government is facing stiff opposition, with an independent senator's decision to block legislation that would start the blockage of certain websites with morally questionable content, the Thursday edition of the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The Green and Opposition parties have blocked the measure and have been joined by independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who changed his position on the mandatory ban. All now believe a filter would not be effective at blocking unsafe content and would slow Internet access while carrying a risk of blocking legitimate websites. [full story]

February 11 - 5:15pm EST   Ericsson on Wednesday announced it will perform the first demonstration of the second implementation of its HSPA+ multi-carrier technology that allows for maximum download rates of 42Mbps at the Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona, Spain. The multi-carrier technology lets users receive data on two frequency channels at the same time, thereby doubling the user data rate in HSPA network coverage areas. Australia's Telstra, Ericsson's partner, uses an early HSPA+ network that allows for up to 21Mbps downloads. [full story]

February 9 - 10:20am EST   Vodafone and cellular provider 3's parent label Hutchison today said they would combine their operations in Australia, creating a much larger carrier. The move gives the entity about 6 million cellular customers on the island nation and is being made to compete against incumbents Optus and Telstra, both of which have outpaced Vodafone's Australian wing. A combined Vodafone and Hutchison will have about $4 billion Australian dollars in revenue per year and match Optus in size. [full story]

January 15 - 11:30am EST   Cellular carrier Vodafone on Thursday said that it has successfully run a field test of HSPA+ on its network to pave the way for deploying the 3.5G service. A trial conducted in Spain has managed 16Mbps downstream speeds in peak but real-world conditions, or more than double the theoretical-only 7.2Mbps peak for regular HSPA. The test comes despite using a single-antenna reception setup that limits the potential bandwidth on the network. [full story]

January 12 - 12:10pm EST   Senior officials from Australian carrier Telstra claims on Monday that HTC is developing a smartphone that would trump devices from Apple and Palm. The executives, who observed some of the competition at CES this past week, say HTC has a touchscreen device in the works which is "better and more functional" than either the iPhone or the just-unveiled Pre and should have both a larger display than existing HTC phones as well as custom software written by the phone maker itself; the inaugural T-Mobile G1 currently uses only Google's stock software. [full story]

December 5 - 9:30am EST   Telstra today said it has switched on the world's first HSPA+ network. Also known as HSPA Evolution, the early 3.5G network promises to be about three times faster in downloads than the best regular HSPA networks, which top out at 7.2Mbps in peak conditions. The Australian carrier's service should theoretically allow downloads as quick as 21Mbps and should also help with uploads; the speed is enough to rival many landline Internet connections, the company and its launch partner Ericsson boast. [full story]

November 7 - 12:40pm EST   Cellphone buyers and owners should expect to see another major update to Windows Mobile 6 before a complete overhaul, Microsoft's CEO has confirmed. Steve Ballmer disclosed the information recently during the 2008 investor briefing for Australian carrier Telstra, which supports a variety of Windows Mobile phones. "With releases we'll make this year," he began, "releases we'll make with 6.5 next year, Windows Mobile 7, I think we have a pretty interesting roadmap." Prior to this, Windows Mobile 6.5 had not been announced by Microsoft. [full story]

November 6 - 2:50pm EST   Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday said at an annual Telstra investment meeting that the Google-designed Android operating system debuted in the T-Mobile G1 handset won't make the company money. According to a report originating from an event held by Australian cellular provider Telstra, Ballmer believes Google is essentially telling its investors the new product has no revenue model; he doesn't understand the strategy. [full story]

October 6 - 11:50am EDT   Australian cell carrier Telstra this morning said it was on track to be one of the first providers in the world to use Enhanced HSPA, or eHSPA. Also known as HSPA+, the feature will give peak Internet download speeds of about 21Mbps per second, or about three times the best 7.2Mbps speed on regular HSPA devices. The move is made possible in part by having a new Ethernet-based network backbone and should supply 'true' mobile broadband across the island country. [full story]

August 20 - 9:50am EDT   Palm today corrected its premature launch yesterday with a more formal introduction of the Treo Pro, including its launch information. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is the first major redesign of GSM-based Treos and sports a normal headphone jack, a Wi-Fi toggle button, and a hardware ringer switch like the iPhone. It also becomes the first Treo to support tri-band HSDPA for 3G access on AT&T and similar carriers and uses true GPS for navigation. [full story]

July 16 - 12:10pm EDT   Ericsson and the Italian division of cell carrier 3 today said they have successfully tested the world's first 3G network based on enhanced High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). The trial of the new service gives uploads to the network at up to 5.8 megabits per second in peak conditions and is faster even than downloads on most existing services, which in ideal conditions would offer 3.6 megabits. The new technology also cuts back dramatically on the lag that hurts video calls, multiplayer games, and other time-sensitive features. [full story]

June 30 - 9:30am EDT   Telstra has confirmed earlier reports and announced sales of the iPhone 3G, according to the Australian carrier's website. The phone will take advantage of Telstra's Next G broadband network, which has the broadest coverage in the country in part due to support for the 850MHz band; the company has otherwise announced very few details, with customers being expected to register interest in a particular iPhone, along with any accessories they might be curious as about such as a Bluetooth headset, a "dual dock," and a TTY adapter. [full story]

June 19 - 11:35am EDT   Australian phone carrier Telstra will sell the iPhone 3G, but may be late in joining its peers, writes The Australian. The newspaper cites "people close to the company," who say that while Telstra has perpetually refused to confirm any plans for the iPhone, it has in fact signed a deal; this may be announced by chief Sol Trujillo as soon as next week. Telstra's retail head, David Moffatt, is said to have toured the new Sydney Apple Store last week with a team of executives. [full story]