Many seriously injured soldiers die on the battlefield from internal bleeding before reaching medical care. So scientists are developing portable ultrasound packs that could one day be used without a doctor’s assistance to detect and stem such life-threatening blood flow. Philips Research said that it has received funding from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to lead development of an ultrasound device for military use in the coming years. Financial details were not disclosed.

MobiMate announced that O2 Asia Pacific has licensed WorldMate 2006 Standard Edition for the new O2 Xda Atom Exec, the company’s latest PDA-phone that is shipping throughout Asia Pacific and the Middle East. This is the ninth such agreement MobiMate has signed in 2006, leading to several million pre-licensed copies of WorldMate to ship on many of the best smartphones and mobile phones in the market.

M1 and Research In Motion have launched Singapore’s first UMTS-enabled BlackBerry handset–the BlackBerry 8707v. The BlackBerry 8707v offers customers more ways to stay connected wherever they are. In addition to phone, email and mobile data applications, customers can also use the handset as a tethered modem to access the Internet from their laptops. The BlackBerry 8707v also enables users to speak on the phone while simultaneously sending and receiving email, browsing the Internet or using other data applications, even while the handset is being used as a modem.

With 30 minutes before his flight and “excellent” signal strength for T-Mobile’s airport-wide hotspot, ZDNet’s David Berlind decided to charge some Wi-Fi time on his credit card. No sooner had he paid than the signal dropped to nil, leaving him unable to load a Web page or log onto his company network. When he called the company to get his money back, a less-than-helpful service rep refused to issue a refund.

A worm is targeting MySpace users, compromising their “About me” pages and infecting visitors to them, Symantec has warned. When a logged-in MySpace user goes to another member’s “About me” page affected by the ACTS.Spaceflash worm, they are quietly redirected to a URL that holds a malicious Macromedia Flash file, the security company said in an advisory on Spaceflash Tuesday. That file, in turn, will replace the visitor’s own “About me” page with one that is compromised.

DataViz announced a partnership with Sony Ericsson to provide Exchange ActiveSync connectivity for Sony Ericsson’s new Symbian OS based UIQ 3.0 smartphones, both the M600 and P990. The Exchange ActiveSync mailbox and synchronization engine included on these new smartphones is powered by DataViz’ RoadSync which provides secure, wireless and “Direct Push” synchronization of corporate email, calendar, contacts and attachments from Exchange Server 2003. Both DataViz and Sony Ericsson are official licensees of the Exchange ActiveSync protocol from Microsoft.

Vodafone Italia and Research In Motion announced the launch of the new BlackBerry 7130v in Italy. The BlackBerry 7130v provides the perfect balance of performance, design and function for mobile customers who prefer a traditional phone-style design. The BlackBerry 7130v elegantly integrates the industry’s most advanced hardware, software and network technologies in a sleek mobile phone design. It is an “all-in-one” device that allows mobile users to send and receive email and text messages, make and receive phone calls, surf the Internet and keep ahead of their schedule with an organizer while on the go.

Vodafone Italia and Research In Motion introduced the new BlackBerry 8707v in Italy. The BlackBerry 8707v brings the popular and proven BlackBerry wireless platform to the Vodafone UMTS network, bringing corporate business and individual users the connectivity that they require in a stylish, contemporary design. Using the Vodafone UMTS network, BlackBerry 8707v customers can simultaneously speak on the phone while sending and receiving email, browsing the Internet or using other mobile data applications. The BlackBerry 8707v can also be used as a tethered modem to connect users to the Internet from their laptop.

Vodafone Spain and Research In Motion launched the new BlackBerry 7130v in Spain. The BlackBerry 7130v is ideal for mobile users who require a stylish, slim handset that offers advanced wireless functionality, including support for phone, email, text messaging, Web, organizer and other applications. The BlackBerry 7130v delivers premium phone features including smart dialing, conference calling, speed dial, call forwarding, polyphonic and MP3 ring tones, as well as speakerphone and Bluetooth support to ensure wide compatibility with wireless headsets and car kits.

A Pittsburgh company says it’s developed a new way to prevent doctors from leaving surgical sponges inside patients: by embedding radio frequency-equipped tags inside the sponges. According to company officials, surgeons or nurses could wave wands over patients near the end of their operations and detect any leftover sponges still in the body. According to a newly released study, none of eight patients had any problems when tagged sponges were briefly placed into their bodies during operations.