Sony and LG have decided to make amends on a patent dispute. Back in February, LG filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission claiming Sony’s assortment of Blu-ray players violated eight of LG’s patents. Sony responded by claiming LG violated its patents in some of its mobile phones. The whole thing got so bad, PS3 consoles were seized in Europe by Customs.

AT&T has confirmed that there was a major service outage in the NYC area. Users were unable to make or receive calls, text, or access the internet, Smartphone users however still had texting. The company blames the outage on a “software update” and could not say when service will be restored. Users trying to make more »

At the Fortune’s Brainstorm: Tech event, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse talked about some Palm Pre things, mixed in with some Android news. Basically, they waited around until Android has evolved enough, which is known as the second version of Android to Hesse. He claims Sprint was always in support of Android, but they wanted to more »

If you are a phone geek, you know Japan’s cellphones are the bee’s knees. Way ahead of the phones we use in the US and Europe, Japan leads the way in innovation, yet can’t seem to capitalize on those advantages. The problem: advanced hardware.

What makes hardware the problem? Software. In Japan, software on phones is rather clunky and even called, “primitive” by the New York Times. Unlike the iPhone, which is rather bland hardware fused with supreme software, Japan’s phones are just the opposite: supreme hardware fused to bland software.

RFID is the future. It is if you listen to Ericsson’s vice-president of systems architecture, Håkan Djuphammar. Mr. Djuphammar expects every new cell phone to contain RFID chips by next year and these phones will usher in a whole new ecosystem of creative uses of the technology. Could RFID be a win-win for everyone?

One customer Ericsson is working with is an electric company with hundreds of unmanned stations that have a combined total of 15,000 access keys. The customer is not exactly sure where all those keys are and who has them. The solution Ericsson provided is RFID locks and enabled phones allowing the phones to act as a key and unlock these stations based on the workers proximity. Even cooler, these RFID codes can be set to allow temporary access by specific RFID enabled phones allowing the company to control who can get where.

Many people find charging their mobile phones to be a hassle, especially when they are on the go. Nokia thinks it has the solution: a phone that charges itself. A new charging system it’s working on allows a phone to charge itself using ambient radiowaves. Such waves are all around us thanks to TVs, radios more »

Verizon Wireless has suspended several employees it says accessed call records belonging to a now inactive phone owned by President-Elect Barack Obama. The employees will not be paid during their suspension and are under investigation.

“We apologize to President-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day,” according to a statement attributed to Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. “Those who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.”

Sources say the phone in question has been inactive for several months. More after the break.

The nightmare on Wall Street may become one for mobile phone makers and providers as well. The financial markets have long provided them with their most profitable customers, but with over 12,000 workers already out of a job and the possibility of tens of thousands more joining them, tough times could be on the horizon. Experts say RIM, the makers of the ultra popular Blackberry, could be especially hard hit. Palm, HTC and HP also stand to be affected.

Demand is already slowing in the U.S. due to the credit crunch and poor housing market. Cell providers have tried to compensate by offering deeper subsidies on their high end handsets, but if predictions come true, it may not be enough. RIM sold nearly 6 million Blackberries last quarter and is preparing to roll out their much anticipated Blackberry Bold, and that seems to have RIM feeling confident they can ride out the storm.

The engineer blamed for causing last week’s deadly train collision was texting on the job, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Officials say Robert Sanchez, who was killed, ignored a stop signal and never hit his brakes, resulting in the collision that killed 24 other people and injured over a 100 more. As a result, the California Public Utilities Commission is meeting today and are expected to announce a ban on personal use of all wireless devices by train workers. California’s Metrolink already prohibits it’s employees from using cell phones on the job. The accident is a tragic reminder of why texting and driving don’t mix.

Verizon Wireless announced that it has added 10 new 3G sites in Northern California. The new sites expand voice and data coverage to several areas including Petaluma, Santa Clara, San Rafael, Walnut Creek, and southwest San Jose.

The new sites add to the company’s $4.6 billion dollar investment in California. Nationally, they invest an average of $5.5. million a year to increase network coverage and capacity. This includes the popular V Cast and VZ Navigator services. They now have the nation’s largest 3G network and boast nearly 70 million customers.