The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the European Commission (EC) have granted Orange and T-Mobile the right to merge their UK networks. The merger had raised concerns of a monopoly on the UK’s retail mobile telephone market. In 2010 alone, the network coverage of Orange and T-Mobile together is forecasted to expand from 3,000 to 16,0000 masts.

Toyota executives faced questions this week in the first of several US Congressional hearings investigating the company’s recent spate of recalls. Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles worldwide since the fall of 2009 in an attempt to fix malfunctioning accelerator pedals and brake pads.

Thousands of mobile companies descended on Barcelona, Spain, for the annual Mobile World Congress, from February 15th to 18th. The Congress was a celebration of innovative mobile solutions, a discussion of industry challenges and opportunities, and a forum for mobile companies to unveil new phones and platforms.

Samsung unveiled plans to expand its role in the Russian wireless market. The electronics company will provide Yota, one of Russia’s primary mobile service providers, with more than 5,000 cellular base stations and access control routers.

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that construction is set to begin on the operational infrastructure of Galileo, the EU’s global navigation satellite alternative to GPS.

KORE Telematics, the world’s largest specialized provider of digital wireless services for the M2M and telematics markets, has signed an agreement with AT&T to support wireless data services through the AT&T Control Center.

Fleetilla, the GPS tracking and fleet management software provider, has partnered with Online Tech to expand the availability and security of its services.

Industry leaders and automotive enthusiasts gathered for the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich., which runs until January 24.

 

Google released its much-anticipated Nexus One smartphone, marking the Internet search giant’s first foray into the retailing business. Google hopes the Nexus One will rival Apple’s iPhone and increase the availability of handsets using Google’s Android software.

Software giant Google has unveiled a visual search application for smartphones called Google Goggles. When users with the new mobile application take a picture, Google launches a search for information associated with that image, whether it is a bottle of wine at a vineyard, the façade of a restaurant in Manhattan, or a street sign in the backwoods of West Virginia. Once the search is complete, users receive a list of links on their smartphones just as they would on their computer after a conventional Google word search.

Microsoft released a new version of Bing Maps, still in Beta, that offers a suite of new features, including street-side and enhanced aerial views and three-dimensional modeling, which enables users to rotate images 360 degrees in one spot.

The Panda Group, a multi-service cooperative based in Finland, has announced a new pilot program testing the use of GPS data to determine insurance premiums and road tolls. Starting in 2010, a thousand cars in Finland will be outfitted with GPS devices that track speed, sudden braking, frequency of rapid accelerations, and where and how often cars are driven. 

MyGuide Americas has announced a new personal navigation device that enables drivers to track their carbon footprints.

Mercedes-Benz US, in collaboration with Hughes Telematics, has released a new telematics platform that integrates the Internet, smartphones, and cars into a seamless package

Trimble [http://www.trimble.com/] released GeoManager 9.1, which pinpoints vehicle location, status, speed, and time information.