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Electronista: The launch of the iPhone 3G has affected Verizon’s sales since launch but only in a small way, the company said when discussing its latest quarterly results. In response to a question during the US phone provider’s conference call for its spring figures, the company argues that the Apple device had a “minimally short-term impact” on Verizon since the July 11th launch and that the handset’s influence was “disproportionately less” than could be expected for the respective market shares of AT&T and Verizon.

AT&T has said that its agreement to subsidize the price of the iPhone 3G will have an effect on its near-term income but is counting on long-term revenue from contracts to make up the difference.

Verizon also asserts that the original iPhone onwards have had a stimulating effect on its own sales. Over 30 percent of phones sold are now smartphones, the firm says.

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Guardian: Google has confirmed that it will be taking part in next year’s sale of mobile phone spectrum in the US, heralding its entrance into the wireless market.

The company’s executives have said over the past few months that they would be willing to spend upwards of €3,1bn buying up capacity when the Federal Communications Commission sells off part of the 700 megahertz (MHz) band.

The move means that Google could become America’s newest wireless network operator. It already runs relatively small-scale wireless internet access networks in its home state of California, but winning new spectrum would allow it to start a national network.

But the search engine giant will be fighting the auction against bidders including existing mobile phone companies AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, part-owned by Vodafone, who are looking for more capacity for their existing networks.

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OhGizmo!: It’s finally here! You can now have an Internet connection in your vehicle without rigging some monstrosity outside your window. TracNet, a system that allows passengers to access the Internet on a vehicle’s video screens can be installed on anything that moves. It also turns your vehicle into a moving hot spot so you can use your laptop. It does use Verizon’s High Speed Internet, so the DSL high-speeds are still nonexistent, but it will be here soon. The $80 a month price isn’t that great either, but I’m sure that will go down eventually.

The current price is $1,995 (about 1,550 euro) for the automotive version of TracNet. (…)

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