Several reports leaked out today that Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) will start selling the new Samsung Omnia II starting Dec. 2 for $200. But the cool part of this announcement, which was mostly neglected in all the fuss, is that this Windows Mobile 6.5 device will include something Samsung calls “Genius Texting.”

The technology, developed by Seattle-based Swype, is an attempt at making touchscreen keyboards way easier to use and more accurate. Who knows who fast users will pick up on it because it’s not like anything you’ve used before. Start by pressing the first letter of a word, and then without lifting your finger, drag it from letter to the next until the word is spelled—and sort of like waving a magic wand, the word will appear. With the proliferation of touchscreen phones, it’s nice to see advancements in inputs, and if what I’ve been hearing about Swype in the Seattle wireless community is any indication, we should be seeing this in a lot more phones, on a lot more carriers and manufacturers, early next year. We’ll expect to hear more when the phone’s officially announced sometime next week.

Renting Redbox movies is extremely inexpensive—the 99-cent per night rentals are why the company is currently battling three of the big Hollywood studios—but a new iPhone app is aimed at making it even cheaper. The app, which launches Monday, tracks down and ranks free rental promo codes; developer Neese Products is charging 99-cents.

Users can rank the promo codes based on their “validity” and “usefulness;” the app sends code updates twice daily. There’s no-rev share with Redbox parent Coinstar, because it’s not a Coinstar or Redbox-branded app. Redbox currently offers SMS-based alerts, but it’s not clear whether those alerts include discount codes. It’s the first app from Phoenix-based Neese Products, which says it develops products designed to solve “everyday household problems.”

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) said it is buying a division of privately held RadioFrame Networks, which makes network equipment for Sprint’s Nextel division. The iDen base station technology will become part of its Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business, which was rumored to be for sale. Motorola did not disclose terms of the deal. Release.

Redmond, Wash.-based RadioFrame Networks also makes femtocells, which carriers can give to subscribers to boost cellular coverage at home or in the office using a broadband connection.

Mobile payments provider Boku is gaining traction, seemingly evolving into the chosen platform for social and casual gaming companies that want to make it easier for their users to pay for virtual goods and downloads on-the-go.

The company—which officially launched its service in June—already counted big publishers like Playfish and Slide as clients; now it has added 12 new partners, including King.com (co-founder Toby Rowland is extremely bullish on the “freemium” model), dating game-creators Snap Interactive and Zoosk, as well as MMORPG-creator Perfect World.

The iPhone store is processing about five times more downloads than its Android counterpart, and according to sentiments from mobile gaming company Gameloft, it’s a trend that will continue, because there will be fewer games—specifically—for Android users to buy.

At an investor conference, Alexandre de Rochefort, Gameloft’s finance director, said the company had “significantly cut” its investment in the Android platform for two reasons: Google “has not been very good” at enticing users to buy mobile content through the Android store, and Gameloft (EPA: GFT)—as well as other developers—haven’t been making “significant revenue” as a result (via Reuters).

A fresh set of rumors are circulating that Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) is looking for a partner in the U.S. to help finance a high-speed data network for its T-Mobile wireless subsidiary.

Reuters reports that the German paper Handelsblatt cited unidentified people from the German company as saying they are looking at partnering with other competitors, such as MetroPCS, Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) and AT&T (NYSE: T). They are also looking for a financial investor from outside the space that may take a stake in the company. While the search is still in its initial stages, the company has abandoned other potential strategies such as a takeover of Sprint-Nextel.

Sony keeps flip-flopping over adding music downloads to the PlayStation Network (PSN). After scrapping plans to add a music store to the gaming network—complete with the ability for gamers to port tracks to the handheld PSP—comes news that the company will indeed expand the PSN into a full digital download store, with music, books, as well as mobile apps available. It has been tentatively (and blandly) named the “Sony Online Service.”

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) says it’s cutting up to 330 research and development jobs in Scandinavia so its technology teams are better prepared for future products.

In a statement on Friday, Nokia says that as many as 230 jobs are under threat at its site in Oulu, Finland, while “approximately” 100 face the axe at the company’s Copenhagen centre.

[With Staci D. Kramer] After all the legal craziness, eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) has closed its deal to sell control of Skype to an investment group led by Silver Lake for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note. The group acquiring 70 percent of Skype in the deal valued at $2.75 billion includes Skype cofounders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis and their Joltid Limited, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz. Ebay keeps a 30 percent stake in Skype, as well as $50 million worth of Skype’s debt financing and that note.

DeviceAnywhere, a company that helps developers test their applications online before they are released to mobile phones, said today that it has raised an undisclosed amount of debt financing to expand internationally.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, which secured money from MMV Financial, will use the funds to create a global sales and marketing team in order to go after new territories, where the company is seeing a lot of demand, according to a spokesperson. Most recently, the company raised an undisclosed amount in equity financing in December 2006. Investors in the company include: Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Ventures and France Telecom’s venture subsidy, Innovacom.

»  The iPhone store is processing five times more downloads than its Android counterpart. [PocketGamer]

»  Flurry is launching AppCircle, a new app that helps other apps get noticed. [VentureBeat]

»  An overview of the first five months of the Ovi store. [MobilePerry]

»  Consulting firm IDC’s list of the topselling smartphones for the third quarter. [Fierce Wireless]

»  Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and iSkoot get together to launch an app that will give you Facebook, MySpace and Twitter access. [MediaPost]

»  Is a new Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Labs feature violating a privacy protocol? [JK On The Run]

Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) has laid off an undisclosed number of employees in Little Rock, Arkansas, where it had a regional headquarters as part of its $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel (NYSE: AT). A spokeswoman told ArkansasBusiness.com that the positions were considered redundant and spanned multiple divisions, including marketing, finance, legal and other corporate functions. Verizon declined to say how many employees were let go, but said that affected employees would be eligible for open positions at the company, including call center and other customer-facing positions.

Yesterday, Verizon Communications said it was giving 1,000 employees in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia a chance to leave voluntarily through buyouts. Layoffs could follow, reports AP.