Qualcomm's new dual-core QSD8672 Snapdragon chip, which can run at up to 1.5GHz, will start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2010, the company said yesterday. This means manufacturers could release 1.5GHz smartphones by Christmas, although early 2011 seems more likely.

Nokia Comes with Music, Nokia's unlimited music service, is being rebranded as Ovi Music Unlimited, according to a report on allaboutsymbian.com. The two-year-old service, which was said to only have 107,000 users worldwide last summer, is available via certain Nokia handsets and desktop computers.

It's been announced that the solar-powered PUMA touchscreen mobile phone will be distributed in the UK by Elite Mobile through an exclusive partnership agreement with Sagem Wireless. The PUMA Phone, described as a 'smartphone' with a proprietary operating system, is equipped with a 2.8-inch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, multimedia player, FM radio, expandable memory, GPS and pedometer.

The European Imaging and Sound Association has awarded the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini 'European Mobile Phone 2010-2011'. It's an award chosen by the editors of special interest magazines across Europe. (No UK mobile publications are currently represented among EISA members).

Research in Motion is currently working to resolve the Indian government's concerns about the encryption on BlackBerry devices. The government has said BlackBerry email and instant messaging services will need to be shut down is no acceptable solution is reached by 31st August. It's reported that a concession with BlackBerry Messenger has already been reached between RIM and government officials.