Research In Motion has been ordered to pay $147.2 million dollars in damages for infringing a mobile device management patent held by Mformation Technologies.

A jury decided that RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server infringed the patent, which enables companies to update devices ‘over the air’, and awarded damages based on sales of BES-connected BlackBerry smartphones in the USA from late 2008. The award was calculated on sales of 18.4 million handsets and a royalty of $8 per device.

Pointing and waving your hands are set to become widely-used ways of interacting with mobile phones, according to a new study from ABI Research.

It says the detection of vision-based gestures - physical movements identified by a camera or other sensors - will offer an additional input method for 600 million smartphones in 2017.

Vodafone Ireland and Three Ireland have agreed to set up a 50/50 joint venture company to share their physical network and site infrastructure across the country.

The deal, which has been rumoured for a few weeks, will see the two companies sharing around 2000 sites. As a result, Vodafone and Three will be able to reduce purchasing costs and potentially increase network coverage.

New research from Nielsen in the USA shows that two out of three people who bought a new mobile phone in the past three months chose a smartphone and not a feature phone.

It means that 54.9% of US mobile customers currently own smartphones.

Brightstar Corporation has agreed to sell its 50% share of mobile communications distributor Brightstar Europe to Tech Data Corporation. The two companies, which both operate international distribution businesses, formed the joint venture in 2007.

Tech Data will pay Brightstar around $165.6 million for the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval. Brightstar Europe’s handset protection & insurance and buy-back & trade-in customers will be transferred to Brightstar as part of the agreement.