J.D. Power and Associates, which rates the major wireless companies every six months, just came out with their lastest list and it looks like Verizon Wireless and Alltell are the big winners. 

The way it works is J.D. Power questions 22,000 wireless customers on seven issues: dropped calls, static/interference, failed connections on the first try, voice distortion, echoes, no immediate voice mail notification, and no immediate text message notification.

According to David Smith from the Observer (I know guys, it's the UK, but soon enough in a store near you...) Google and Orange are thinking about producing a Google-branded cellphone that would come pre-loaded with mobile versions of Google apps like Google Earth, Gmail, etc. The "Google phone" would be manufactured by HTC, which implies - but doesn't guarantee - that this thing might run Windows Mobile.

Photo courtesy of Astrosurf