Friday Review: Mood of optimism

The battle for mobile market share in the U.S. has been heating up for months, with operators rolling out handset after high-spec handset while touting the unique benefits of their services in a bid to woo consumers onto their networks. The result is a market awash with strategically-priced smartphones backed up by aggressive marketing campaigns that espouse the virtues of accessing the latest in mobile applications and services. Three recent and prominent examples spring to mind: iPhone on AT&T; Droid on Verizon, and more recently the HTC Evo on Sprint Nextel's CDMA/WiMAX networks. This gradual escalation in rivalry has not been lost on ratings firm Moody's, which on Wednesday this week upgraded the U.S. mobile market to positive from stable. The company said it expects operators will continue to &quot…