Slashdot reports that after a lengthy beta period, Boston-based MobileSphere launched what they're calling a 'straight-to-voicemail' service called Slydial. Here's how it works: Call 267-SLY-DIAL and listen to a short ad. Then the service will then connect you to any cell phone subscriber's voice mail box in the U.S., without causing their phone to ring beforehand.

As the report said, "sounds kinda useful—but, incredibly, MobileSphere is pitching the service as a way to avoid actually communicating with all those difficult, boring people in your life." In response, the company said it's just fighting technology with technology, letting people take back control of whether or not they want to talk to co-workers, family, and friends, according to the story. There are also a bunch of videos on the site, illustrating, um, example situations where you'd want to do such a thing.

One of the biggest worries for Americans traveling abroad is the fear of needing medical attention in a non-English-speaking country. HTH Worldwide, a health and safety services company, has a new mobile application to take care of that fear.

Dubbed mPassport, the subscription service has a database of some 4,200 English-speaking doctors and dentists in 180 countries as well as listings for more than 1,000 emergency care locations around the world, according to Mobile Marketer.

Geared towards vacationers, Americans living abroad, students and "globe trotters," mPassport works on any Web-enabled mobile phone. HTH charges $9.95 for 30 days, $15.95 for 60 days or $49.95 for a full year.

Bytemobile, which provides mobile Internet solutions for network operators, has launched a new version of its Web Fidelity and Media Fidelity services that optimize the delivery of PC-quality ad-supported Web and video content to mobile handsets.

Specifically, the new releases feature Web site transparency; optimized Web browsing with navigation bar support for smartphones; expanded Web and multimedia adaptation and new navigational aids and other features for enhanced usability.

With mobile site transparency, PC content is transparently adapted and dynamically optimized according to the specific capabilities of each mobile device. Mobile content is served to the device as is, without adaptation, and optimized only to accelerate speed.

Additionally, the new release of Media Fidelity Service dynamically adapts and optimizes multimedia content in multiple formats, including Flash, Windows Media and MP3. It also now supports streaming media downloads as well as embedded media in all formats.

Cell phone companies targeting younger teens might need to change their marketing approach over the next few years. According to a new report from MultiMedia Intelligence, there aren't a whole lot of 12- to 17-year-olds left in the US without a mobile device. At the end of 2007, more than 16 million kids in that age group had a cell phone, up 12% from 2006. Don't expect this type of growth to continue, the market researcher warns, because forecasts predict only an additional million subscribers through 2012 due to near market saturation.

One way for carriers to gain more new young subscribers would be to market to the even younger crowd. MultiMedia Intelligence found that more than half of teens have a cell phone by the time they turn 13 and become an actual teenager.

Frank Dickson, MultiMedia's chief research officer, notes that the teen market has been the sweet spot for wireless operators, not only because of the number of subscribers, but also because the ARPU for teens is higher than the overall mobile market. "Teens simply use their phones to do more, from text messaging to purchasing premium content," he said. "However, pricing pressures and teen cellular saturation are bringing an end to the teen cellular gold rush."

(Image credit: Jupiterimages Unlimited)

BlackBerry users are getting another useful application before other mobile phone owners. E*Trade is launching a free mobile app called, appropriately enough, E*Trade Mobile Pro that lets its customers monitor their portfolios, get real-time stock quotes, create watch lists and even conduct trades right from the handset.

E*Trade says the new mobile service makes it the first major US broker to offer real-time quotes and cash transfers on a mobile device, WirelessWeek reports.

The brokerage house hasn't said if versions of Mobile Pro for other types of phones (iPhone anyone?) are in the works.

Folks in the UK who want to take advantage of all the fun features of their mobile phones but don't have a clue about how to send a picture or download a game now have a new service that takes away the pain of learning.

ConfigureMyphone.com from WDSGlobal is a direct-to-consumer service that has aggregated mobile data service settings from the major UK mobile operators and more than 4,000 e-mail service providers.

Consumers just visit the Web site; choose the service they want (send/receive photos or e-mail, browse the Internet, download games); type in their phone model, number and operator and wait to receive an SMS with all the necessary settings. The company claims that the whole process generally takes less than 90 seconds.

The service works for Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Virgin, O2, 3 and a number of MVNOs and supports more than 1,500 phone models. It costs a pound per configuration plus the operator's standard SMS fees.

Mobispine, which monitors and aggregates more than 250,000 mobile content feeds, is acquiring PC-to-mobile messaging provider General Wireless. Financial terms of the all-stock transaction weren't disclosed.

According to Mobispine, the combine will offer a comprehensive portfolio of mobile apps that includes RSS feeds of news and blog articles, the ability to share content and the option to send SMS and MMS messages from the PC to mobile phones.

In addition to new technology, the acquisition also gives Mobispine access to General Wireless operator partners including Vodafone UK, Telefonica Moviles Espana, Orange, TIM, KPN, TeliaSonera, Mobilkom Austria, O2 and a few others.

Vodafone has added to its services portfolio with the acquisition of ZYB, a mobile backup service provider out of Denmark. ZYB, which will become part of Vodafone's Internet Services Division, also offers mobile social networking services, Cellular-news reports.

The world's leading wireless operator said in a statement that it bought ZYB to further its strategy of creating new revenue streams around broadband, mobile advertising and online services that integrate the user's mobile and PC experience.

Vodafone paid roughly $48.8 million for ZYB.

Clearwire Corporation and Sprint Nextel Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company:

"The new company, which will be named Clearwire, will be focused on expediting the deployment of the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network to provide a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions," the company said in a statement this morning. "The new Clearwire expects to dramatically enhance the speed and manner in which customers access all that the Internet has to offer at home, in the office and on the road."

The release also said that a group of tech firms, including Google, Intel, Comcast, and more, will invest a total of $3.2 billion in the new company. Next step for Sprint: Fix all the customer service issues.

Mobile advertising marketplace AdMob has launched a new mobile analytics service that, according to the company company, is "the most important thing" that has happened within AdMob since it's marketplace launched two years ago.

AdMob claims its Mobile Analytics service is the first comprehensive way for advertisers to measure the effectiveness of all their mobile campaigns across various ad networks. AdMob Mobile Analytics if a free, unlimited service that is open to all mobile marketers, whether or not they use AdMob advertising.

With the suite of analytics tools, mobile site owners can track unique visitors, length of visit, page performance, user geography, operator and device specifics.

You can check out a demo of the service in the video below. If you want more, click here to learn about the AdMob Mobile Analytics private beta program.