As Mobile News went to press a total of around 170 premises have been searched and 23 people have been detained: 16 in Glasgow five in Manchester and Oldham and two in London.

So far police have arrested and charged 18 people. No names will be released until the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland brings formal charges. The operation continues.

Customs has deployed more than 400 criminal investigators supported by 100 officers from Strathclyde Police Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police Service.

The investigation is being co-ordinated by Customs and Strathclyde police and the arrests outside Glasgow have made because of intelligence from Scotland.

A Customs spokesperson said: This operation is part of an international criminal investigation into frauds that may run to hundreds of millions of pounds. The investigation that has led to these arrests has been ongoing for a year.

Missing trader fraud affects a number of inter-linked businesses so the frauds are connected. But these arrests have nothing to do with any recent prosecutions.

Informa senior analyst Chris Coffman said: The quality of mobile games has improved significantly over the past year but it will be tough to convince consumers of that until the content discovery and provisioning process is simplified.

The report predicts that global revenues from mobile games will reach $7.2 billion (GBP3.8 billion) by 2011 but providers will need to attract new players.

Though mobile gaming has grown into a $2.4 billion business in 2006 it is not yet a mass-market activity added Coffman. The five per cent of mobile subscribers who download mobile games today wont be the engine that drives the next five years of growth.

The handset is fully HSDPA-enabled and provides users with connection speeds of up to 1.8 megabits per second.

Derek Williamson head of business marketing at T-Mobile said: By launching the MDA Vario II T-Mobile is ensuring that our customers are the first to truly experience broadband-speed connectivity on the move via their mobile phone. T-Mobile continues to take the lead in transforming the way people live and work by supporting their need for access to information and communication any time.

It is hoped that the increased speed of the service will provide users with better quality Internet video calling and e-mail experience on a mobile device.

The MDA Vario is also Web n Walk-enabled allowing customers constant Internet access for a specific price each month.

The device features a QWERTY keyboard a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash a VGA camera and Bluetooth connectivity. The handset is available in a red silver or black casing exclusive to T-Mobile.

Thomas Chambers chief financial officer for Symbian said: Our units have increased by 65 per cent year on year and we continue to grow the number of units shipped. Since the commencement of Symbian OS we have shipped 82.8 million phones.

He added: People want more functionality from handsets these days. Its not just a phone anymore its an MP3 player and a camera too. Therefore I see this as the beginning; its only the start of things for the smartphone market.

Nigel Clifford chief executive officer of Symbian said: Symbian continued to lead the smartphone market in Q2 2006 with more than 12.3 million Symbian smartphones shipping worldwide. During Q2 Symbians revenues grew to GBP41.2 million – an increase of 54 per cent on Q2 2005.

Symbian confirmed that 23 new phone models were shipped in Q2 2006. He added: As TV and micropayment are built in to phones the smartphone market will continue to grow. I do still think people need to be educated on the benefits of smartphones but that process has begun and I think it will continue to grow.

This means that 20 per cent of mobile users now regularly use WAP capability on their phones to download ringtones games wallpapers or access the Internet on the move.

The MDA has attributed the rise to the networks creation of mobile Internet zones such as Orange World and O2 Active.

The MDA now plan to issue mobile Internet user figures on a monthly basis.

Software provider SEVEN said the announcement meant more mobile users would now be able to take advantage of push e-mail.

Henrik Voigt director and head of enterprise solutions at Sony Ericsson said: There is increasing demand for access to mobile e-mail on every level of mobile phone.

SEVEN developed its Always-On products to ensure that users with mass market Java-enabled phones now enjoy the same level of user experience previously only available on business devices like the Blackberry.

The service allows e-mails to be pushed directly to the device as they are delivered to the e-mail server. Further push e-mail handsets will follow.

The site will be accessed directly from the O2 Active portal allowing all O2 customers with a WAP capable phone and an eBay account immediate access to it. This will allow users to track sales and bids on the go.

Familiar ?My eBay features will be viewable from virtually any handset including ?items I am watching ?items I am bidding on ?items I am selling and ?items I have won. Users will also be able to bid for goods in real time.

O2 general manager of content Simon Dean said: eBay is the latest in a growing list of well-known brands that really appreciate the potential of converging their Internet services with mobile. Our experience with eBay on i-mode has shown us there is really strong demand for it from our customers who really want to engage with these types of services.

The move will mean that O2 Actives 6.4 million users will be able to select from more than 13000 categories just as they can on a PC and a fixed Internet connection.

Humphrey paid off the clubs debts last week cleared the board and installed himself as chairman and trustee. The club costs GBP4000 a year to run.

He has also changed the teams longstanding black-and-white striped football kit for a purple and yellow uniform reflecting its new sponsor Go Mobile.

Despite reaching the second round of the FA Vase in the 2003-04 season the club had no sponsorship last season and its players were voluntary. Humphrey has put its players on a wage and obtained 20 sponsorship deals through friends within the industry. He has also renamed its home a basic pitch and club house the Communications Stadium.

The club has gone bust. I sat down with the committee last week and agreed to help out. We want to get it into the football league said Humphrey.

The handset features i-mode which allows users to instantly access specific Internet sites as well as use i-mail and MMS.

LG Mobile sales and marketing director John Barton said: With i-mode the LG L343i provides access to a huge range of specifically convenient i-mode services.

The LG L343i also has an in-built digital camera with flash and 4x zoom as well as 40 polyphonic ringtones.

The phone is available to buy in O2 stores now.

The retailer has been promoting the cash for old mobiles scheme in its UK stores since February. The number of handsets reclaimed for re-use and recycling is 82 per cent higher than the same period in 2005.

Since February GBP85000 has been paid out to Argos customers trading in their mobiles in cash and Argos credits held in envirocards (an electronic preloaded payment card). The Argos charity partner – Help the Hospices – has also gained GBP18000.

Pete Petrondas founder of Eazyfone Group which runs the Envirofone scheme said: The success of our mobile trade-in scheme demonstrates how recycling electrical and electric equipment can be integrated seamlessly into normal consumer behaviour.