It looks as though reports that Ericsson will invest $1.5 billion in South Korea were premature. Ericsson officials told the Financial Times that while it’s plausible that its investment could reach that amount, it’s uncertain at this point, depending on issues like market access. The confusion came after a meeting between Ericsson and South Korea officials in Stockholm over the weekend. In a press release Monday, Ericsson said it is collaborating with the Republic of Korea to use mobile broadband and other technologies to reduce CO2 emissions.

Juniper Research projects that that the number of mobile application downloads will hit almost 20 billion per year by 2014 as vendors, operating system providers and carriers launch their own storefronts. The research firm cited the increasing deployment of app stores targeted at mass market handsets and an uptick in applications appealing to wider demographics as some main factors driving this market.

Cincinnati Bell has chosen wireless technology company Option to provide a 3G HSPA USB dongle modem. Cincinnati Bell will be Option’s first U.S. customer for the device, dubbed the iCON 452. The 3G dongle works on the AWS spectrum and will provide mobile broadband service with twice the monthly data allowance of similar competing products in Cincinnati Bell’s market. The quad-band dongle is also equipped with a Micro-SD slot for use as a storage device and can hold several gigabytes of memory.

Alltel Wireless has upped the price war ante with a back-to-school special that allows certain new and existing customers to add up to four lines to their primary account and receive three months of free service on those new lines. There is a non-refundable activation fee of $25 per line, and only customers with the company’s My Circle plans, Smart Choice pack or bundled wireless internet can use the offer. The company is also offering the LG Banter, which features a slide-out qwerty keyboard, interchangeable blue and silver faceplates and comes preloaded with Alltel e-mail, Yahoo! instant messenger and AOL instant messenger.

Mobile application testing company DeviceAnywhere has launched the LG Virtual Developer Lab in partnership with LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. The service, which allows developers to remotely interact with 140 physical devices in Europe, the United States and Canada, will be available to members of the LG Mobile Developer Network. The LG Virtual Developer Lab is built on Java and Flash Lite, and aims to allow developers of all sizes to test across a range of LG handsets to optimize the end-user experience.

Dell reported that demand appears to have stabilized and expects to report a slight sequential increase in sales for its second quarter ending July 31. However, the company also anticipates a slight decline in its gross margins due to higher component costs, competitive pricing and an “unfavorable mix of product and business-segment demand.” Company CFO Brian Gladden said that despite the stabilization of demand, it varies significantly by customer segment and geography. The company has introduced cost-cutting measures and is on course to reduce annual costs by more than $4 billion by the end of fiscal 2011.

Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman has added another $15 million to her campaign for governor of California, the Associated Press reports. The donation brings her personal contributions to $19 million in her run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has contributed $4.2 million of his own money into his campaign. While Whitman earned her fortune at eBay, Poizner created and later sold SnapTrack, a Silicon Valley-based GPS firm, for $1 billion.