It was the week of the no-bid auction and the liberation of the iPhone.
PCCW claimed Hong Kong's fifth 3G license to add to its collection when it was the only one to apply for the vacant cdma2000 spectrum. It gets a bill for HK$76 million and another HK$150 million for a performance guarantee.
Missing in action was China Unicom, which was believed to be keen on setting up a Hong Kong counterpart to its mainland operation. Instead, it was busy launching cdma2000 in Macau - a license it won 18 months ago as the sole bidder. Rival Hutchison was there too, kicking off its 3G business in the gambling enclave with some 3.5G functionality.
If 3G left the market cold, Steve Jobs made the offer thousands were waiting for. "Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone," he said on a company blog. He says the company has kept the platform closed for security reasons, and the iPhone, being "the most advanced phone ever" would be an obvious target for publicity-seeking bad guys.
Also responding to market demand, Google installed digital watermarking technology on YouTube to prevent the uploading of copyrighted movies and TV shows. Google says the technology goes beyond what is legally required, although it won't deal with the millions of videos already posted.
eBay posted a $936 million quarterly loss as a result of its Skype acquisition and also announced a tie-up between the VoIP business and MySpace.
Ericsson shocked the Street with a sudden profit warning, a result of lower-than-expected wireless network sales. But the good times are back for chip leader Intel. With the chip price wars well over, it posted a record third quarter.
Yahoo saw its result down slightly, but the company has been accused of giving false information to a Congress committee over its role in the jailing of a Chinese citizen. Another group of US lawmakers has called on the Bush administration to block the planned acquisition of 3Com by Bain Capital and Huawei on national security grounds.
Some 40 Cisco staff in Brazil were arrested for allegedly avoiding $833 million in duties, while Microsoft and partners unveiled their unified communications products for the enterprise.
Finally, an Aussie citizen is auctioning his/her vote at the coming general election on eBay. After receiving twice as many offers as a Hong Kong 3G license, the bidding is up to A$1.25.