Mobile consumers in Russia now have access to more than 800 free mobile games thanks to a partnership between Russian mobile content portal Telefoner.ru and ad-wrapped game distributor Greystripe.

Telefoner launched in December as the first Russian social network geared towards sharing user-generated mobile content.

Greystripe co-founder CEO Michael Chang sees Russia as an important market for his company because it's receptive to "high-quality, ad-supported mobile content." Chang added that Telefoner is a perfect partner for Greystripe because "ad-supported games are a natural addition to mobile social networks."

UK ad-funded mobile game site 123play.com has hooked up with Pocketgamer.co.uk in a deal that makes the mobile gaming news site the first place, aside from 123play.com and its mobile site, where consumers can download its games.

Pocketgamer has added a special 123play section to its site where visitors can enter some basic info and choose a game to have sent to their phone.

123play, which is only open to folks in the UK, offers free, ad-funded games from THQ Wireless, RealArcade, Digital Chocolate, Hands-On Mobile, Vivendi Games Mobile, PlayerX, Indiagames and Progressive Media. Its advertisers include Britvic, eBay, the Sun and NME.

The service faces stiff competition from established companies such as Greystripe, which has more than 800 free, ad-wrapped games and a growing network of distribution partners.

PopCap Games has opened a new office in Shanghai, China, and has named James Gwertzman vice president of Asia-Pacific, according to a MediaPost article.

The report said that Gwertzman will oversee the casual gaming company's operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, leading the game and business development teams, artists and other staffers.

The new outpost is the latest in a series of office openings for the mobile game company, the most recent being in Korea and Singapore.

"We've had a modest 'stealth' presence in the area for two years now, but now we're ready to open a fully staffed office," Gwertzman said in the report. "With more than 400 million Internet users, the wired population of Asia is bigger than that of either North America or Europe, and casual games are very popular throughout the region."

AT&T has scored itself a mobile role-playing game that, much like its larger online brethren, requires gamers to go out on quests and fight the good fight (including real-time monster combat) to get the loot they need to defend themselves and their homeland.

Developed by Your World Games in cooperation with Hardcore 3D Wireless and Gamevil USA, The Shroud features Taro, a farmer who becomes a savior as he struggles to protect his homeland from the Shroud and its ancient evil inhabitants.

Players who are connected to the AT&T network during game play can access two additional challenges that let them pit their scores against others on the leaderboard or go on special quests to collect rare items.

The Shroud is playable on a large number of AT&T phones for $6.99.

PocketGamer reports that online casual game giant PopCap is busy working on a few games for the iPhone and is really excited about the potential the iPhone brings to the mobile game world.

"I've seen some of the stuff we're working on in our lab and it's a terrific gaming device," PopCap's VP of Asia/Pacific James Gwertzman said regarding the Apple phone. "The screen is beautiful, it’s powerful and the interface is incredibly intuitive."

No word yet on when those iPhone games will be available, or what they'll be, but we're hoping for Bookworm (which PopCap has already taken mobile) or maybe Peggle.

Worldwide revenue from mobile games is on track to top $4.5 billion this year and is expected to see a CAGR of 10.2% over the next few years to reach $6.3 billion in 2011, according to new research from Gartner.

Consumer spending on mobile games in Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region will account for $2.3 billion this year and $3.4 billion in 2011. Much of this can be attributed to the low number of PCs versus mobile devices in emerging Asian markets, says a Cellular-news story on the report.

As for other parts of the world, the Western European mobile games market is expected to top $862 million in 2011, up from $701 million in '08. As more users in North America subscribe to mobile data services, the money they spend on games will grow from $845 million this year to some $1.2 billion by 2011, Gartner projects.

As part of its recent agreement to distribute mobile games based on Sega titles, Glu Mobile is going to the Olympics in two events.

Pocket Gamer reports that Glu is publishing the mobile game, Sonic at the Olympic Games, in which the famous hedgehog sets up his own Olympics with his friends as the athletes. Players can compete in track events such as hurdles, triple jump, discus throw and javelin.

The second game, Beijing 2008 - The Official Mobile Phone Game of the Olympic Games, includes four events. Players can choose to represent athletes from among 32 countries.

German mobile game developer Fishlabs is testing the free game waters. The company is making three of its 3D games available through Greystripe's ad-funded game platform.

Fishlabs' Galaxy on Fire, Planet Riders and Tank Raid can be downloaded from Greystripe's GameJump portal and through its network of distribution partners.

According to Pocket Gamer, Fishlabs has a "great reputation for its rich 3D mobile games," which it has, until now, offered as for-pay downloads.

Pocket Gamer reports that EA Mobile is considering a subscription service for its mobile games that would cost users about the price of a single game purchase for unlimited access to up to five games per month.

"The kind of subscription we are thinking about is that you'd subscribe to an EA channel, and you can download five games a month maybe, and the price for that might be similar to what you'd pay per download now," Javier Ferreira, head of EA Mobile's European business, told Pocket Gamer sister site PocketGamer.biz.

Since the subscription thing is still in the idea phase, there's no way to tell if EA will try to launch a service on its own or partner with carriers - or if it will ever really happen.

If Bluetooth headsets that make it appear like you're talking to yourself don't garner enough odd looks from strangers, then consider the upcoming F305 handset from Sony Ericsson.

The handset maker's first dedicated gaming phone, the F305 includes motion-detection technology that will have you swinging your phone arm in an attempt to bowl a strike or hook a bass - and earning some interesting looks if you're in a public place.

Pocket-lint reports that the phone, due out in Q3, comes preloaded with three motion games: Bowling, Bass Fishing and Jockey. Gameloft has developed several other motion games, and PlayNow has 50 2D and 3D games available for download for the F305 as well.

In addition to the motion technology, the slider phone also boasts dedicated gaming keys, a two-inch screen, a two-megapixel camera, Bluetooth support, an FM radio, a media player and stereo speakers.