Amazon’s [AMZN] new Kindle 2, shipping this week, shames the original Kindle with a host of improvements: better enclosure, faster page-turns, a better Web experience and seven times the memory. But the Kindle 2 is put to shame by the someday-Kindle 3, which exists, for now, only in our collective imagination.

Don’t get me wrong; the $360 Kindle 2 is cool. Very cool. But not yet cool enough for the price. In fact, if anything, the Kindle 2 has made me more inclined to buy the original Kindle at its new discounted price of $220.

After spending a week using both Kindles intensively—I adopted a collegiate slacker-at-finals reading pace—I can say that neither device fulfills even a sliver of its potential. But when the next version bursts from CEO Jeff Bezos’ bird-like head, I will picket tirelessly for its universal adoption. (Listen to Fast Company’s interview with Bezos below.)

VoIP pioneer Skype has confirmed recent speculation by unveiling a version of its software for Apple’s App Store. The eBay-owned company said in a statement today that the client will work with both the iPhone and iTouch, and offer free on-net (Skype to Skype) calls on a global basis and reduced calling rates to other numbers. However, unlike many rival mobile VoIP services, calls made using ’Skype for iPhone’ can only be accessed via Wi-Fi hotspots and not via standard mobile networks. The application’s IM functionality will work over 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS or EDGE, though Skype warned that an unlimited data usage plan would be necessary to avoid high network charges. "Skype software for the iPhone has been the number one request among our users," said Scott Durchslag, chief operating officer at Skype, which boasts over 400 million users.

Skype already offers a version of its software for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform and has also recently announced a version called ’Skype Lite’ for Google’s Android platform. A version for the BlackBerry is expected in May. Other mobile developments include a tie-up announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress last month between the VoIP firm and Nokia that will see Skype pre-installed into Nokia’s smartphones, starting with the N-Series later this year. Back in 2006, Skype also struck a deal with 3 UK for development of the 3 Skypephone that has sold around 500,000 units. However, until now, iPhone users could only access Skype via third-party applications such as Fring or Truphone. In an e-mailed statement to Mobile Business Briefing, Truphone welcomed the launch of ’Skype for iPhone’ but claimed its own service offered a number of advantages, including the ability to make VoIP calls via mobile networks and connect to multiple IM communities (MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk etc.). Skype’s service could also run into issues with the mobile operators that carry the iPhone, some of which have banned VoIP and P2P software over their networks.

Maurice Jarre, three-time Oscar-winning music composer for films such as ‘Doctor Zhivago’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, and ‘Passage to India’, died overnight on Sunday in Los Angeles, aged 84.

The Frenchman’s death was announced by the manager of his son, electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

Jarre wrote the music for more than 150 films by directors including John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston and Luchino Visconti.

Unlike many prominent musicians, Jarre began learning music relatively late, toward the end of his teenage years. Against his father’s will, he enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris and studied under Joseph Martenot, inventor of an electronic keyboard that prefigured the modern synthesizer.

In 1951 he wrote his first score, for the short ’Hotel des Invalides’, at the request of director Georges Franju. His career took a spectacular turn in 1961 when producer Sam Spiegel asked him to work on David Lean’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

Jarre, who settled in the United States in the mid-1960s, also wrote symphonic music and music for theatre and ballet.

TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved.

The researchers, who are based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, had been asked by the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader whom China regularly denounces, to examine its computers for signs of malicious software, or malware.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Obopay, Inc., the pioneering service provider for payments via mobile phones, today announced an investment from Nokia, the world leader in mobile communications. This investment is a resounding endorsement for Obopay’s ongoing innovation in mobile money technology.

"This investment is a landmark in the evolution of mobile payments. It underscores the global potential of mobile money by providing convenient access to money anytime, anywhere. Given Nokia’s position as the leader in mobile communications, we could not have asked for a better investor," commented Obopay CEO Carol Realini.

Obopay has also named Teppo Paavola, vice president and head of Corporate Business Development at Nokia, to its board of directors.

Obopay will use this minority investment to aggressively extend their product suite and enhance their global presence, as mobile devices become constantly more integrated into the daily lives of the world’s 4 billion mobile consumers.

Teppo Paavola, said, "This investment reflects our belief in the global potential for mobile payments. Obopay has consistently demonstrated its ability to redefine how people spend and send money and has established itself as the leader in a competitive landscape."

About Obopay

Obopay, Inc. (www.obopay.com) is a pioneering service that lets consumers and businesses purchase, pay, and transfer money through any mobile phone using Obopay’s mobile application, text message, mobile Web, or Obopay.com. As the first mobile payment service created exclusively for the mobile phone, only Obopay works on any phone and any carrier to empower consumers and businesses with the convenience of mobile payments. Obopay is bringing mobile payments to more consumers through industry-first alliances and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.