Federal regulators approved SBC Communications’ takeover of AT&T and Verizon Communications’ purchase of MCI Monday in a move consumer activists called anti-competitive. The agency required that SBC and Verizon freeze the wholesale prices they charge competitors to lease high-capacity business lines and said they had to guarantee that they will sell their Internet access as a stand-alone service, so customers aren’t forced to buy local phone service as well. The acquisition by SBC Communications of AT&T is valued at $16 billion; the deal with Verizon Communications and MCI is said to be worth about $8.5 billion.

SYWARE announced the availability of businessMobile 360 Suite for the small-to-medium businesses marketplace. The new suite empowers SMBs to use powerful, mobile database and application development software that delivers database computing to users in the field. The businessMobile 360 Suite provides easy-to-use mobile printing and wireless connectivity capabilities on any Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Windows CE device for use in all industries.

The president and CEO of mobile computing vendor Palm Inc., Ed Colligan, said in an interview with Computer Business Review that he would probably not have spun off Palm’s former operating system arm, PalmSource, had it been up to him. The decision for Palm’s operating system division to be spun off was not taken while Colligan was in charge. At that time he had left Palm to co-found mobile device vendor Handspring, which Palm ended up buying. In September PalmSource was sold to Japanese mobile browser firm Access. Soon after, Palm announced that it was going to support Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 on some devices, but still support PalmSource’s Palm OS on others.

Roaring Penguin Software’s CanIt-PRO anti spam software customers can now sign up for mailing lists or input email addresses in online forms without fear that those addresses will be sold or used by third parties thanks to a new innovation called CanIt “Locked Addresses.” Users can now create random-looking email addresses that forward mail to their regular inbox, but only accept messages from one particular sender each–automatically rejecting mail from spammers or any unauthorized third party. Locked addresses work by “locking on” to the first person or organization to send email to a user’s particular locked address. Once that first sender has been identified, the locked address will reject email messages from any other sender and log that information for the user. Users can create an unlimited number of locked addresses and use them when entering information in Web forms or signing up to newsletters/mailing lists.

Computer and Internet use is up, but so are concerns about identity theft and other online dangers. Fifty-five percent of American households had access to the Internet at home in 2003, more than triple the percentage in 1997, according to a report by the Census Bureau. Internet usage increased with education, income and the presence of school-age children at home, the report found. It was lowest among adults who have not graduated from high school.

A federal judge in New York has rejected the Department of Justice’s request to track people’s cell phone information without first providing probable cause for such investigations. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of the Eastern District of New York issued an order on Monday denying the Justice Department’s application for disclosure of information regarding wireless subscribers. The Department of Justice had asked that carriers be required to provide information on individual subscribers, including details on caller location, outbound call origination and call termination, to help in its surveillance of potential suspects. As part of the request, the Justice Department also asked for clearance to seek such customer data in real time, as callers are using their phones.

Palm has opened a Research and Development Center at Swords, Co. Dublin, with the support of IDA Ireland (Industrial Development Agency). The center will develop custom software applications for Palm Treo smartphones for the mobile operators in Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

VITO Voice2Go has not only become a best-seller, but also a real rival of Microsoft Voice Command. Both Microsoft Voice Command and VITO Voice2Go have common functions and strive to simplify managing Pocket PCs hands-free. With these programs users can call up their contacts, and start applications, i.e. control their Pocket PC without using stylus and buttons. VITO works with any language, whereas Voice Command you can only give commands in English.

Vodafone Sweden has extended its BlackBerry from Vodafone portfolio with the addition of three mobile phones that support popular BlackBerry services developed by Research In Motion. Vodafone Sweden’s new and existing business customers that use the Nokia 9500 Communicator, Nokia 9300 smartphone, or Sony Ericsson P910i can now also use BlackBerry Connect to manage their email while on the go.

Smart Communications, with Research In Motion, announced the availability of BlackBerry Connect for new and existing users of the Nokia 9500 Communicator, Nokia 9300 smartphone, and Sony Ericsson P910i in the Philippines. The introduction of BlackBerry Connect significantly expands SMART’s portfolio of BlackBerry products which currently includes the BlackBerry 7100g, BlackBerry 7290, and BlackBerry 6720.