Opera has announced its Mini 5 web browser is now available for Google Android in beta form. The browser was recently announced for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry handsets but now Android users can download it from Market, with Opera saying it offers “a fast and cost-efficient Web experience”. The fast part is because Opera nicely compresses data from the web by up to 90 per cent before... 

MSN Video Player has been a big enough success through a pilot scheme to be launched as a major new product, and Microsoft is not ruling out offering the service to television manufacturers, on Xbox and through the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 Series. A million people have already used the ad-funded and free MSN Video Player in beta to watch full-length programmes, trailers and clips, enough of an... 

Google’s plan to release its own mobile phone – the Nexus One – seems to have backfired as sales estimates have been slashed. Such was the hype around the search giant’s own phone that some analysts predicted that the Nexus One would sell 3.5m units in its first year. But the lack of marketing around the phone (coupled with the fact the HTC Desire is essentially the same device... 

The HTC Legend has been given a UK release date for later this month – despite not having any confirmed operator support. Clove Technology is offering the HTC Legend for just £320 SIM-free (£376 including VAT), and the phone will be shipped on 23 March. This is in advance of the mooted April release date, so consumers can get their hands on the first phone to run Android 2.1 in the UK earlier... 

Microsoft has announced its first application for the Google Android platform, and has told TechRadar it’s glad to be there. The Tag application, which lets users scan barcodes and then visit online retailers to purchase the goods, has finally been added to Android Market. While it seems similar to Google’s own barcode scanner app, Tag also turns the barcodes into coupons to get money... 

Orange and Intel have signed a new agreement to bring Orange services to the tech firm’s new MeeGo platform. Items such as Orange TV and Orange Maps will be brought to the new OS, which runs on Linux foundations, and will be used on devices running Intel’s Atom processor. The new deal will see MeeGo, with Orange services, brought to smartphones, tablets and netbooks, meaning a wide gamut... 

We’ve spoken to O2 about the impending Skype and Nokia deal over Symbian handsets – and it’s not good news for its users. Basically, as Skype is all about sending voice calls through data (which means calling people far away costs the same as dialling someone next to you) the amount of data used ramps up. O2 has decided that this is against policy – and has given TechRadar... 

HTC has sent us a response to the Apple lawsuit, claiming that it is only focused on its own innovations. Apple has issued the lawsuit against HTC alleging that the Taiwanese firm has nabbed a number of its patents in most of its phone range. But HTC has issued an early statement, maintaining its stance of only using its own technology: “HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder...