O2 has launched what it's describing as "the first ever eco rating system for mobile phones in the UK. It's persuaded six of the largest handset manufacturers to participate - Nokia, Sony Ericsson, HTC, LG, Samsung and Palm – and has placed the Sony Ericsson Elm top out of the 65 mobiles it surveyed, giving it an 4.3 out of 5 (86%) Eco rating.

There's definitely money in application stores. PocketGear, which acquired Handango earlier this year and now claims to be the world’s largest open app store and content marketplace, has arranged $15 million in new funding.

The money will come from Trident Capital and BlackBerry Partners Fund.

Mobile research company research2guidance has calculated that the first six months of 2010 have seen more mobile app downloads and more money generated by apps than all of 2009.

Its newest report shows that the worldwide application market was worth over $2.2 billion within the first six months of 2010, compared with a total of $1.7 billion for the 12 months of 2009.

Yesterday morning City of London Police arrested nine people as part of an investigation into a suspected fraud case that's believed to have involved premium-rate international phone numbers being called on mobile phones. Officers also seized up to £15,000 worth of mobile phones along with hundreds of SIM cards and fake documents. The raids took place after an investigation in partnership with O2.

Mark Bridge writes:

The adage that “the customer is always right” has apparently been disproved by a recent survey of mobile phone users.

Mobile News reports that virtual networks Virgin Mobile and Tesco Mobile outperformed their network partners in a recent customer satisfaction survey carried out by research firm YouGov for price comparison website uSwitch.