Dell and China’s top search engine Baidu plan to jointly develop tablet computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market dominated by Apple and Lenovo.

China is one of the fastest growing markets for tablets and is home to more than 900 million mobile phone subscribers, but analysts were sceptical that the partnership would unseat Apple as the dominant force in the market.

Dell declined to give a timeline for the launch of the devices, but local media reported that it may be as early as November.

Baidu launched a new mobile application platform early in September and offered a glimpse of its upcoming mobile operating system, which it hopes will serve a growing number of users accessing the Internet from smartphones and tablet computers.

The company said it already had partnerships with Dell and other device makers and declined to comment on the new tie-up. Dell said the partnership with Baidu involved the company’s new mobile platform.

Baidu has built on its dominance of China’s search market significantly since Google’s high-profile exit last year citing hacking and censorship concerns.

Baidu’s Nasdaq-listed shares are up nearly 50 per cent so far this year, giving it a market value of around U$50 billion.

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced the completion of investigations into complaints received from a group of licensed operators that Batelco and Viva had launched anti-competitive prices for mobile originated calls to certain international destinations that prevented a fair opportunity being provided to all and harmed competition.

The TRA issued separate notices on August 23, 2011 to both operators upon its investigation, which allege that the operators’ pricing constituted an abuse of dominance in the international mobile telecom market, and breached the conditions of competition provided for by the law.

The TRA said it would subsequently issue its final decision following consideration of Batelco and Viva’s responses on the notices.

“Batelco has been informed of this decision and is in the process of making a detailed submission to the TRA outlining reasons why we believe we acted fairly and consistent with the regulatory and competitive laws of the kingdom, commented Rashid Abdulla, CEO Batelco Bahrain. “We look forward to the opportunity to outline our case to the TRA and we are confident we will receive a fair hearing.”

Ericsson is hoping to reach an agreement with Chinese infrastructure company ZTE over their respective patent lawsuits, Ericsson’s CEO, Hans Vestberg has said.

Earlier this year, Ericsson filed a lawsuit against ZTE over allegations of patent infringement in the UK, and reportedly also in Italy and Germany – apparently after years of negotiation did not deliver a settlement. ZTE responded by filing a lawsuit of its own against Ericsson in China.

ZTE is also seeking patent invalidation procedures against Ericsson before the patent re-examination board of SIPO (China’s State Intellectual Property Organisation).

“The telecommunication industry is an industry (in which) we share technologies with competitors, customers and suppliers … Hopefully we can get an agreement (with ZTE),” said Vestberg. He made the remarks at a news briefing during a one-day business trip to Beijing.

Batelco’s chairman Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa announced that Batelco’s board of directors appointed a new group CEO and the creation of a new executive role, responsible for Batelco’s growth and transformation into one of the most admired communications companies in the Middle East.

Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa has been appointed Batelco’s new group CEO while former CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos has been moved to the newly created post of CEO Strategic Assignments responsible for Batelco’s joint ventures. Current Batelco board director Murad Ali Murad is set to become the new deputy chairman of the board in place of Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa is the first national to hold the most senior role at Batelco Group and will assume responsibility for the telco on October 1, 2011.

Incoming Batelco Group CEO, Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa

Given the socio-political unrest that has been witnessed in Bahrain this year, it is unclear whether Kaliropoulos’ sidelining is as a consequence of the Bahraini establishment closing ranks at the state telco, or as a result of the downward pressure Batelco’s operating results have been under over the last few quarters due to larger-than-expected losses in its investment in India.

From September 1, 2011, Vodacom’s new mobile applications store will go live. Vodacom Apps will feature a catalogue of over 140,000 applications powered by Appia, one of the world’s largest open application marketplaces. This event marks the launch of what Vodacom believes will be an entirely new local South African mobile application ecosystem, complete with the development of home-grown talent and revenue opportunities.

Vodacom Apps will support major mobile platforms including Android, Blackberry, Java, Symbian and Windows Mobile, making it relevant for the vast majority of data capable mobile phones and smartphones. The store will feature a wide variety of apps in various categories such as games, travel and entertainment, business and professional, work and school, and phone tools.

Vodacom Apps users will be able to download free apps, for which standard data charges will apply. In the near future, Vodacom will introduce paid-for apps that customers can pay for using their airtime account. This means that all Vodacom customers can use the store without the need for a credit or debit card. 

All Vodacom customers who wish to access Vodacom Apps can do so from September 1 by visiting http://vodacom.mobi/apps on their mobiles or from the Apps feature on Vodafone live!