—PSP Mobile: Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment announced today that it had partnered up with Skype to turn the PlayStation Portable (PSP) into a device that could make and receive telephone calls. PSP owners will be able to call one another for free on WiFi networks once they have downloaded a system software update to be released in late January. They will also be able to call landlines and mobiles by buying Skype credits. The FT sees the deal as Sony’s way to boost the appeal of the PSP, which has struggled to capture consumer attention in a market increasingly dominated by devices such as the iPod.

—MSN Mobile Launches Ads: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has rolled out its UK mobile advertising platform, following the recent relaunch of its MSN Mobile portal. Inventory includes banner ads and text ad placements. Microsoft has signed on three advertisers: Nivea Visage, SanDisk (NSDQ: SNDK) and Yell.com Mobile (via NMA).

—15 Million i-channel Users: DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) has announced that it has 15 subscribers to its i-channel service, which pushes scrolling text headlines to a handset’s standby screen and costs 150 yen (US$1.37) a month. Nine months ago the service had 10 million subscribers, and it was launched in September 2005 reports Fox Business.

—Dubai TV: UAE state broadcaster Dubai TV has launched a free interactive mobile portal (application or WAP page) which will offer previews of new shows from the network, content, branding advertising and promotion reports C21 Media. Content will include daily sporting and weather information, ring tones, games and a weekly competition.

—LG’s (SEO: 066570) Success: To give you an idea of the size of the global mobile phone market, LG’s move into second place in the handset manufacturer wars had a significant impact on South Korea’s balance of trade. South Korea’s IT exports rose 10.5 percent in 2007 to US$125.13 billion reports AP—a quarter (27.75 percent) of that increase came from a 13.1 percent rise in mobile phone exports (to US$28.70 billion).

—People tend to give the iPhone a lot more power than it should be credited for…For example Travis Boatman, VP of worldwide studios for Electronic Arts’ (NSDQ: ERTS) mobile division, said during a panel at CES that the iPhone is “a replacement for someone who had a Razr before. They still want their content but there’s no distribution platform in place so there’s a negative impact on the industry”. Since people won’t be able to transfer their games from their old handsets, Boatman claimed the iPhone would hurt the mobile game industry in the short term, according to IDG. There are far bigger issues plaguing the mobile game industry than a single handset which—even at its most hopeful projections, will sell less than the equivalent of 5 percent of the US market. Transfering games from one handset to another is an issue, but there are ways around that. The real challenge is getting more people to buy mobile games, which requires better distribution systems. Boatman previously said the iPhone had an “amazing interface for games”...

—JuiceCaster Launches Mobile Search for User Generated Video: Mobile social network JuiceCaster, which allows people to connect to multiple social networking sites, has launched a mobile video search (MVS) application to allow people to look for user-posted videos on wireless devices. People with video capable cell phones can text keywords to “84462,” and the free service will send back an SMS with links to the requested content.