The recent introduction of a $45 unlimited calling and texting plan by Tracfone Wireless has kicked off another round of price wars in the wireless industry, which may lead to consolidation in the pre-paid market, Dow Jones Newswires reports. In recent months, pre-paid offerings have gotten more popular as they…

PacketVideo, the San Diego-based mobile video and software company that has been around since 1998, has sold about 35 percent stake in the company to Japanese mobile giant DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM). The firm is part of NextWave Wireless. The all-cash deal is intended to “strengthen DoCoMo’s position in advanced music…

Italy’s diverse social network, mobile and community operator Dada has resumed its journey on the M&A trail, buying 51 percent of Milan Stock Exchange-listed casual web games publisher Fueps for €1.36 million.

While the larger M&A market has all but dried up in the first half of 2009, “companies that have something, anything, to do with mobile,” are the exception to the rule, reports AllThingsD, which quotes The Jordan, Edmiston Group. Release. In the past six months, the number of overall transactions…

Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is mulling over a bid for T-Mobile UK, a move that would catapult them to the lead of the British mobile phone market, one of the most competitive markets in Europe. The FT.com, citing “people familiar with the situation” said that Vodafone, the world’s largest carrier by…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is tripling its stake in UK microchip firm Imagination Technologies, taking its share to 9.5 percent. Its buying 2.2 million new shares at £1.4275 each (total £3.14 million).

New media developer Fanzter, which runs the celebrity, style and entertainment platform Coolspotters, has acquired iPhone app creator Mustache. Terms were not disclosed, but the transaction involved a combination of cash and stock, Aaron LaBerge, Fanzter’s CEO and co-founder, told us. The deal follows Fanzter’s $2 million second-round funding in…

China’s mobile content giant KongZhong is acquiring Simlife International, a leading Chinese mobile game developer, the company said in a statement today. KongZong has agreed to pay $3 million in cash to the shareholders of Simlife. An additional payment of $1.25 million in cash and 6 million of the company’s…

Nortel Networks, which has been struggling to sell off its assets since filing for bankruptcy in January, has accepted a $650 million bid from Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens Networks, the second-largest telecom equipment maker in the world, reports WSJ. Nokia Siemens, a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens, initially made…

Rumors have been rampant over the fate of struggling T-Mobile UK, with its parent company Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) reportedly shopping the unit around and entertaining offers from carriers, including France Telecom’s Orange. However, a France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) spokesperson said it did not make an offer and now Deutsche…

Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) search subsidiary A9.com has purchased SnapTell, a startup that offers users a way to search for product information from their mobile phones. Its free iPhone and Android apps let people take a photo of a piece of media—like a DVD, CD, or video game—and then immediately see…

A new mobile payments company is launching, using venture capital to buy its way into a strong market position. Boku has raised $13 million in two rounds of funding in the last week or so. The first round totaled $3 million and came from Khosla Ventures and Index Ventures and…

Jersey City, N.J.-based Antenna Software has acquired Dexterra, which together will offer a variety of devices and mobile applications for the mobile enterprise market. Bothell, Wash.-based Dexterra, which had raised $106 million in venture capital, had been rumored to be on the path to an initial public offering. The company…

France Telecom reportedly is in talks to buy into Indian mobile operator Aircel, currently majority owned by Malaysian operator Maxis. France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is seeking to buy a 20-25 percent stake in Aircel, which has about 19.6 million subscribers and is valued at between $7 billion and $8 billion,…

Salem, Mass.-based Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN) will acquire some of the ex-Alltel markets Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) was forced to divest as part of its take-over of Alltel (NYSE: AT). ATN is paying about $200 million for 800,000 subscribers in rural areas in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and…

Will third time be luck for the Chinese digital media entertainment provider Hurray? After failing at two previous attempts to be bought, the Nasdaq-traded company has received a new offer from Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the online gaming biggie in China, for a majority stake. Under the proposal, Shanda will commence…

Walt Disney’s investment arm Shamrock Holdings is in early talks with Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to buy the handset maker’s Israeli mobile operator MIRS, reports Reuters, citing Israel’s business newspaper Globes. Neither Shamrock or Motorla would comment on the matter. Globes said that the troubled handset maker was hoping to secure…

Intel (NSDQ: INTC) has agreed to acquire software company Wind River Systems for about $884 million, the semiconductor giant announced Friday, a move that would help gets its chips into more consumer devices, including smartphones and mobile internet devices, The $11.50 a share in cash represents a 44 percent premium…

Research In Motion has acquired navigation firm Dash Navigation for an undisclosed sum, according to The Boy Genius Report quoting GPS Business News. Dash made a GPS navigation device that failed to sell enough units, and then tried licensing its technology. RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) is likely to use the companies…