According to new market data published today by the NPD Group, The BlackBerry Curve was the top selling smartphone in the U.S. in Q1 2009, regaining the number one spot from Apple’s iPhone.

The NPD report concluded RIM’s total market share for Q1 2009 was up 15% over Q1 2008. The report says RIM now collectively has 50% of the U.S. smartphone market.

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According to a WSJ report, Microsoft is developing a new Microsoft branded phone dubbed “Pink”, that will likely be powered by Windows Mobile 7, coupled with Zune, Marketplace, and My Phone services, among other services developed by the MS Danger team.

The device will exclusively support the features above; the features will not be available for licensing for other vendors who power their devices with Windows Mobile.

The report also indicates Microsoft is in talks with Verizon to launch the device exclusively in the U.S.

There is currently no other information relating to a possible release, pricing, features, or even what the device will look like.

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AT&T has confirmed today that the company is performing upgrades that will double the capacity of its network.

AT&T Vice President of Technology told TelephonyOnline today that the company will upgrade the HSPA “from 3.6 megabits per second to 7.2 megabits per second through software upgrades at the base station.” No timeframe was provided on the upgrade.

The latest iPhone 3.0 rumors are now say there will be HD playback and HD video output, AppleTV functionality to stream HD movies from iTunes, voice control, dialing, among other features.

You can see the latest roundup of the iPhone 3.0 features here.

In related Apple news, Apple has made it for the first time on the Fortune 100 list ranking in 71st place.

Apple knows how hard it can be sometimes to use your iPhone when moving around, such as when jogging or bustling to your next appointment.

According to a new Apple U.S. patent filing, the company is developing technology that will help improve touch accuracy by making OS elements larger depending on motion-based activity.

The software will be able to detect “signatures of motion” and then change OS elements accordingly. For example, if you sitting at your desk, it is easy to scroll through your contact list, but the process becomes a bit cumbersome if your jogging with the smaller font and list. The new technology will detect motions and enlarge that list accordingly, as seen above from the patent filing.

Other elements of the OS will also change accordingly, including text, icons, among other elements.

This technology is still a while away, if it will ever materialize to begin with.

Update: U.S. Patent Office filing link.

Skype has just launched its new mobile iPhone app allowing people to make free skype-to-skype calls and to also make calls to mobile phones or landlines around the world at cheap rates, essentially allowing people to bypass using their carriers voice services.

The telecoms have now essentially banned the Skype mobile application for the iPhone, or restricted it to only work via WiFi.

Both O2 in the UK and AT&T in the US has just restricted the Skype app on the iPhone to only work via WiFi. Germany has banned the application altogether.

Net Neutrality groups in the US have raised concerns and filed a motion with the FCC to seek an investigation as to whether AT&T has violated any Internet laws.

AT&T maintains it has the sole right to block competitors from accessing its network. It is highly unlikely the telecoms will unblock Skype, in fact, more telecoms might block the service, given consumers can easily use Skype as a perfect substitute to making expensive calls via the wireless providers.

Skype mobile for the iPhone has now launched, and the much-anticipated Skype app for the BlackBerry is coming in May. There are some differences between the two. The BlackBerry will get the Skype Lite version, that will actually support both 3G and WiFi calling over the BlackBerry, the iPhone is currently restricted to calls only over WiFi. However, some other features for the BB will not be present (at least immediately), including file transfer support, and voicemail. Skype for BlackBerry will initially only support the Curve and the Bold.

As part of Skype’s plan for mass integration, the company recently reached a deal with Nokia to have Skype preinstalled on the upcoming Nokia N97 when it ships. Skype’s next plan is to release a version for Palm’s upcoming Pre Web OS powered handset, followed with other standard versions for other platforms.

Skype for the iPhone pictured

eBay’s popular VoIP service Skype has just launched a mobile version of its service for the iPhone. A BlackBerry version will launch by the end of May. It firstly rolled out the iPhone Skype app on Tuesday in Japan (already available in Japan from the time difference) and will also launch tomorrow for everyone else. Reports indicate the sound quality and everything else is great. The apps will be completely free to use and download, but some features such as making calls requires Skype credits.

Fido GSM telecom in Canada, owned by Rogers who has a complete monopoly over the GSM networks in Canada, has announced today it will not be reordering any new stock of the 16GB 3G iPhone and will simply let the existing stock completely deplete as of the beginning of April.

The move indicates the company could be readying the launch of a new iPhone model by the summer as is widely rumored. Apple most recently unveiled the new iPhone 3.0 OS that features many enhancements, you can find a complete round up here, including screens and the new features.

It is also widely rumored Apple could be releasing an iPhone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard given the new support for push notifications for Gmail on the new 3.0 OS.

Rogers added 199,000 new mobile subscribers in Q4 of 2008 alone, and sold 385,000 iPhone devices across Canada in all of 2008.

Rogers and Fido remain the only companies capable of carrying the iPhone. The Canadian government more recently outlined plans to bring in new competitors to ease the tight grip that a few companies hold on the Canadian mobile telecom market. There are even rumors T-Mobile could expand into Canada.

The iPhone OS 3.0 will be available this summer as a free upgrade to iPhone 3G and the 1st Generation iPhone owners. iPod touch users will have to pay $9.95 for the upgrade.

The Dev-Team has announced they have already jailbreaked the new iPhone 3.0 OS.

Here are the new exciting features in the new iPhone 3.0 OS

– Spotlight search just like on your Mac
– BGR noticed a setting “Find My iPhone”, it seems this will be Apple’s new security feature to help people find their lost iPhone’s via the internet and GPS. Read the full story

Jay Freeman has just launched his new Cydia Store for the iPhone, effectively letting users buy jailbroken iPhone apps from the service. The Cydia Store is completely separate from the Apple App Store and requires a jailbroken iPhone. It is possible the service could spike in usage, even posing a marginal threat to the real app store assuming wide adoption and users can get some of the same cracked apps. Read the full story