U.S. publisher HarperCollins said Monday that it plans to convert some 20,000 books in its catalog into digital form in a bid to rein in potential copyright violations on the Internet. The move comes as the U.S. publishing industry is bringing lawsuits against Web search leader Google over its effort to scan copyrighted books in libraries–a move the industry fears would set a dangerous copyright precedent. Chief Executive Jane Friedman said HarperCollins had no immediate plan to raise revenue from the digital copies of the books but it had concluded it was a vital move to protect its authors’ rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by digital media manufacturers who were battling a patent infringement lawsuit filed by flash data storage card maker SanDisk. The court denied manufacturers a petition–filed by Ritek, Memorex and Pretec Electronics–to reverse July’s federal appeals court ruling that reinstated SanDisk’s infringement suit. The appeals court overturned a decision by a federal judge in California, who had granted motions to dismiss the case at different times in 2003 and 2004. At issue are flash memory devices used in products such as digital cameras, personal digital assistants and MP3 players.

Electric Pocket’s popular Ringo ringtone manager is now available for users of Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone devices. Ringo has long been the one of the best selling ringtone manager for Palm’s Treo-brand smartphones, where it has proven popular for the ease with which users can customize their phones with personal ringtones and SMS tones. The new Ringo Mobile brings these features to the Windows Mobile phone platform, and is available for devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 and Pocket PC Phone Edition. Supported devices include the iMate JasJar and HP iPAQ Mobile Messenger series.

When New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin announced a plan to attract residents and business back to the ravaged city with free municipal Wi-Fi service, BellSouth cried foul and pulled its offer of a building to be used by the police department, whose own headquarters were damaged. Nagin’s announcement came exactly one month from the day that BellSouth rolled out wireless broadband services for New Orleans’ recovering businesses at $69.95 per month.

America Online founder Steve Case said in a Washington Post article that Time Warner should be split into several different companies. Case said other solutions the company has been reported to be considering, including possible joint ventures between AOL and Microsoft or Google, would be insufficient. Case was an architect of the merger of AOL and Time Warner and served as chairman of the merged company until 2003. He stepped down as a board member in October, but still holds more than $250 million of Time Warner stock.

BoxWave announced two new additions to the Palm Tungsten E2 product line–Armor Case & FlexiSkin for the Palm Tungsten E2. The Armor Case for Palm Tungsten E2 is a form-fitting, trendy aluminum case that is designed to fit your handheld perfectly. It’s exterior is made of anodized aluminum that is strong yet lightweight while the interior is padded with a layer of foam for optimal security. FlexiSkin for Palm Tungsten E2 is a soft, low-profile case that allows the complete usability of your handheld while providing protection against scratches, bumps, and hard knocks.

Sprint Nextel is expected to announce that it has begun selling a service that allows users of its mobile video phones to watch full-length movies, television shows, concerts and comedy specials. Provided by vendor MSpot, the service offers unlimited shows and movies for a monthly flat fee of $6.95, on top of regular service charges. The announcement comes as Sprint and other wireless phone services are looking to video content like TV programs, music and sports to boost revenue.

Yahoo and Six Apart, creator of Movable Type–the most popular software used to create professional blogs–said on Sunday Yahoo will be the preferred supplier of Movable Type for small businesses. The partnership is the latest in a string of deals as Yahoo seeks to embrace so-called “social media,” the new generation of Web sites that encourage Internet users to share written text, photos, and videos. On Friday, Yahoo acquired Del.icio.us, a site for users to share their favorite Web links. Earlier this year, it acquired Flickr, which offers a way to annotate and share photos.

Mobile Systems announced a 10% off Christmas promotion for each order made through their web site before 1 Jan 2006. The Web site offers quality dictionaries by Oxford University Press for Palm OS, Pocket PC, Symbian Series 60, series 80 and 90, the Sony Ericsson P series and Blackberry. The discounted products include various productivity software as MobiSystems PhotoAlbum, Diets, QuickWrite and the OfficeSuite bundles by Mobile Systems. For selected products the company extends the discount up to 50%.

BoxWave is pleased to announce the Armor Case for the Palm Tungsten TX. The Armor Case for Palm Tungsten TX is a form-fitting, trendy aluminum case that is designed to fit your handheld perfectly. It’s exterior is made of anodized aluminum that is strong yet lightweight while the interior is padded with a layer of foam for optimal security. While the Armor Case works to protect your handheld, it’s accessible openings give quick access to your stylus, memory slot, headphone jack, IR port, and charging/synchronization port.