Tired with mobile ad revenue to Google and Yahoo!, seven global cell phone operators have joined forces to create their own mobile search engine. The seven operators are Cingular, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone.

Given the operators’ tendencies to create “walled garden” approaches to content, there’s doubt as to whether the operator consortium can pull off a victory. With seven different businesses participating in this project, it is unclear if they’ll develop one engine that is white-labeled to each brand or create an advertising clearinghouse that search services could use to access subscribers.

It remains to be seen how this would succeed as they will be looking to succeed where others have failed, like Microsoft. Some critics have questioned the necessity, as most phone and hand held devices have the ability to search directly from Google or Yahoo! pages. Google as the undisputed leader in the Internet search, has since announced plans to include ad links to all mobile searches, claiming to make their services profitable by 2008.

The Apple iPhone has some decent competition from LG. Announcements a few months ago emerged of an LG cell phone that would give the iPhone a run for it’s money. Originally called the KE850, LG has partnered with Prada to package the product a little more stylish.

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With cell phone theft increasing at an unhealthy rate globally, some companies and research facilities have come up with innovative and useful ways to combat it. Here are 9 Antitheft Cell Phone technologies that are upcoming and available globally in the market today.

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Not everyone wants to be associated with the Apple iPhone, Verizon has turned down a deal to be the exclusive distributor of iPhone. But Verizon may be doing that for the right reasons.

Among other things, Apple wanted a percentage of the monthly cellphone fees, say over how and where iPhones could be sold and control of the relationship with iPhone customers, said Jim Gerace, a Verizon Wireless vice president. “We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.”

Apple now has no other choice but to work with Cingular (now AT & T). There are no financial terms made known to the press but reliable sources have said that it is a 5-year, USA-only exclusivity contract. That leaves Apple a free hand to market iPhone to the rest of the world. Whether or not Apple will try to push the same conditions as proposed to Verizon remains to be seen. But I guess Apple will make it a condition that the terms of the negotiation will not be made public for fear it would embarrass Apple the second time should any carrier decided not to dance along with Apple. With all those ridiculous terms and conditions imposed by Steve Jobs, who in the right mind would?

Read [USA Today]

D-Link has introduced the “pay-as-you-go” V-Click dual mode phone allowing easy switching between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

The phone will begin shipping within the next few months and will feature tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 mhz) and 802.11 network access. SIM Smartcard usage automatically gains GSM access. With a touch of the V-Click button, the user can activate or deactivate the Wi-Fi connection allowing access to the internet or an internet phone service.

Boasting a sleek form factor of approximately 4.17″ x1.73″ x 0.75″, the V-Click phone will come in different colors styles, support Opera MobileTM (a Wi-Fi hotspot browser) and a 2 inch (176×200 px) bright color screen.

For security of transmissions, the V-Click phone offers WEP , WPA and WPA2 standards based encryption. Users can purchase call time from service providers and load it up using the SIM card. Costing around $600, a hefty price for a “pay-as-you-go” phone, it would initially be available through D-Link’s website.

News Release [D-link]