Frank Meehan is stepping down as the CEO of INQ, the Hutchison-owned mobile phone maker that has been a trailblazer—if a very small one—in the mobile industry, with the first devices to integrate Spotify, Skype and Facebook into the phone’s browser. Ken Johnstone, who co-founded the company with Meehan and…

Operator partnerships for services are notoriously hard to get right: and it looks like the mobile payments and advertising joint venture between Everything Everywhere, Vodafone and O2 in the UK will be no different… Before those operators have even applied for clearance from the regulators, the UK’s fourth-biggest operator, Hutchison…

Tom noted the other day how the two big news stories that bookended last week—Google (NSDQ: GOOG) buying Motorola (NYSE: MMI), and HP (NYSE: HPQ) canning its mobile strategy—could prove to be a boost to Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and its Windows Phone OS. Now, there are reports emerging of handset…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has received a quick approval from the Department of Justice Federal Trade Commission for its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, first announced in May. Meanwhile, Skype is streamlining its executive team, with some key people getting dismissed ahead of a final completion of the deal.

Three, the Hutchison-owned mobile operator that splashed on to the UK mobile scene as a greenfield 3G entrant in 2003, has lost its CEO of the past four years, Kevin Russell. David Dyson, who had been the COO, has now taken the top position.

Our look at some of the big stories today in mobile: Google’s Android in-app payments service gets some early users—and maybe some confusion; Gartner says tablets drive up worldwide IT spend; and Hutchison’s Three posts a profit.

So INQ and HTC are revving up to release the first “Facebook phones”? Not exactly, but it’s a crucial step for Facebook in testing the waters for an even deeper plunge into mobile.

You’ve gotta hand it to Three: just when European operators (and other mobile operators worldwide) are jumping back into mobile data caps, the Hutchison-owned UK mobile operator has come out with a zinger: a mobile plan that offers unlimited data, on top of generous allowances for voice calls and texts.…

In lead-up to holiday shopping mania in the UK - which informally commences at the beginning of December (but has been trickling through since September) - more developments on Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPad subsidies from the mobile operators: Three confirmed that, like Orange and T-Mobile, it will be offering iPads…

—Telmap/4th Screen: The mobile mapping and navigation company Telmap has partnered with agency 4th Screen to offer geo-targeting technology for location-based advertising services. 4th Screen will use the services on its Mpression ad platform as well as in its deals to sell mobile ads on behalf of O2, Virgin Media…

Three UK CEO Kevin Russell today gave a glimpse of how operators are scrambling behind the scenes in the UK over who will get to carry the iPad device in Europe. “Every man and his dog is bidding for it,” he said. While Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) made an easy-enough move…

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) only announced Vodafone as an upcoming UK Nexus One carrier, in its Tuesday unveiling. But, true to its wish that more carriers should join in, T-Mobile and 3 UK are also aiming to offer their service with the handset. “We can confirm that we are in talks…

—News International: A few months after stepping aside as News International’s digital development director, Mike Anderson is leaving to become a consultant. Anderson used to be MD of The Sun and NOTW, took the digital role in 2007, but took leave of absence earlier this year, after which he returned…

3 UK, Britain’s smallest mobile operator, reported that losses narrowed 66 percent on the back of a nine percent increase in revenues. Revenues for 2008 at 3 UK, part of the telecoms firm 3 Group, owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, came in at £1.559 billion. The unit now…

Three is adding video-on-demand to its mobile TV offering, offering pay-to-download shows including episodes of The Hlls and South Park for between £1.29 ($1.79) and £1.99 ($2.76) for a week’s access. Shows come from MTV, Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) and Turner. It’s a partnership with Mobix, whose Adrenalin platform is powering…

In a bid to increase the amount of data its customers consume, Three UK launched its so-called “Facebook Phone” today, which Britain’s smallest carrier and its handset partner INQ Mobile are calling the world’s first social mobile phone. While the handset—the INQ1—gives consumers one-click access to Facbeook and live updates…

—iPhone Demand In UK Overwhelms O2 Site: It’s four days before Apple’s iPhone goes on sale in the UK, and it looks like mobile operator O2, may not be prepared for the demand. The operator’s website was quickly “overwhelmed”, flashing an error message and directing customers to call in by…

Latest mobile headlines from our sister site mocoNews.net. Click for more detail… —3UK To Downplay Emphasis On Content: Analyst Ovum emergees from an interview with 3UK CEO Kevin Russell concluding “the emphasis on content is to be downplayed moving forward”. “Only now are customers entering 3 stores to ask specifically…

3 UK has apologised to a customer to whom it had sent a phone containing pornographic self-portraits thought to be of its previous owner. CNET (NSDQ: CNET) UK blogger Rory Reid wrote he upgraded his existing 3 handset to a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E65 - “containing all the previous owner’s…