Microsoft: Nokia deal won’t affect other Windows Phone partners

Microsoft: Nokia deal won’t affect other Windows Phone partners Really? Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia will not affect other mobile makers’ Windows Phone plans. That’s according to Big M executive vice president of operating systems, Terry Myerson, who says the tie-up will help build the third place OS’s market share. In a post on the Official Windows Blog, Myerson writes, “Today’s announcement doesn’t change [our approach] – acquiring Nokia’s Devices group will help make the market for all Windows Phones, from Microsoft or our OEM partners.” “We have exciting ideas, and so do our OEM partners. Our partners bring innovation, diversity and scale to Windows....

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Android exec Hugo Barra quits for Chinese mobile maker

Android exec Hugo Barra quits for Chinese mobile maker Moving to Xiaomi. One of Android’s leading execs has quit his post and is heading to China to work for one of the country’s mobile manufacturers. Hugo Barra, Android’s vice-president of product management who has worked at Google for five and a half years, is set to join Xiaomi, working on developing their Android portfolio. In a post on Google+, Barra said, “In a few weeks, I'll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally — as Vice President, Xiaomi Global. “I'm really looking forward to this new challenge, and am particularly excited about the opportunity to continue to...

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4G UK: which next-gen network is the best?

4G UK: which next-gen network is the best? With the UK’s 4G revolution in full swing, which network has the best proposition for you? With Three's official confirmation that it will be offering 4G for free to existing customers when it launches its next-gen network in December, we now have a clear idea of every network’s LTE plans. O2 and Vodafone have both recently launched their offerings, with EE’s service now almost one year old. So, how does each service break down and which one should you go for? Read on to get the lowdown. O2 Launched this week in London, Leeds and Bradford, O2’s 4G packages offer basic deals, with charges varying depending on the device you decide to buy. As with Vodafone,...

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Samsung Galaxy Gear: New screens confirm specs

Samsung Galaxy Gear: New screens confirm specs App unveiled. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is all set for its official unveiling on September 4th. But the chaps at @evleaks are still unearthing the goods about Sammy’s forthcoming new smart watch, this time revealing screen shots of the device’s smartphone control app. The pair of screens confirm a string of info which has already leaked about the timepiece. NFC is mentioned, with a diagram showing a Samsung phone and a Galaxy Gear pairing via touch. A ‘My Apps’ tab supports rumours that the Galaxy Gear will have its own suite of dedicated add-ons. And, interestingly, there’s a ‘Find My Watch’ function mentioned too. How this works is as yet unclear, but we’d...

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iPhone 5S: champagne and graphite models star in new videos

iPhone 5S: champagne and graphite models star in new videos Golden future. Apple’s forthcoming champagne and graphite iPhones have starred in a pair of new videos, as their planned September 10th launch date edges ever closer. The champagne iPhone 5S, filmed by the guys at TLD, highlights the differences with the current iPhone 5. Aside from the colour options, the video also looks at the internal changes, with greater space for the battery, suggesting Apple might have at last cracked its power woes. In a separate video, the graphite iPhone 5S is shown alongside the current black and white editions of the iPhone 5. But with initial iPhone 5 prototypes having come in this colour, it’s been suggested...

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Wozniak’s note of caution is a rare slice of common sense

Wozniak’s note of caution is a rare slice of common sense Is the Woz-man right to urge more patience with Apple's pace of innovation? Joe Minihane gives his two cents. The pace at which the world of smartphones and tablets moves today means that the demands from hardcore fans, hungry for bleeding edge updates, are relentless. If a new phone doesn’t cram in a game-changing feature, then it’s instantly dismissed as irrelevant, despite the fact its software may be spanking new and a game-changer in and of itself. That’s why this week’s words from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak are so refreshing. In an interview with the BBC, Wozniak essentially put demanding fans in their place. “Everybody says, ‘oh my...

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BlackBerry boss: We can survive as niche company

BlackBerry boss: We can survive as niche company Not over yet. BlackBerry can continue to exist as a niche company and will not be completely killed off once it’s been bought out. That’s the opinion of Bert Nordberg, who sits on the ailing mobile maker’s board. In a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nordberg said, “I think BlackBerry is able to survive as a niche company. "But being a niche company means deciding to be a niche company. Historically, BlackBerry has had larger ambitions. But battling giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung is tough." Nordberg said that BlackBerry’s products did still have something to offer. “BlackBerry's unique assets make it stand apart from other phone...

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iPhone 5C: New manual and package images leaked

iPhone 5C: New manual and package images leaked One week to go. Just eight days before Tim Cook is due to reveal the iPhone 5C, new images purporting to show the device’s packaging and manual have appeared online. The most intriguing is a snap of the red version of the budget handset. The packaging is consistent with previously leaked pics of the phone, with the same design and a mocked up screen of iOS 7. Users on Chinese site Weibo have also been treated to shots of the iPhone 5C’s one card manual, as well as a photo of the classic Apple SIM ejection tool bundled with the blower...

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Samsung Galaxy Gear photos leak, fitness monitor highlighted

Samsung Galaxy Gear photos leak, fitness monitor highlighted Not much of a looker. And pretty huge at 3-inches too. Images purportedly showing a prototype of the soon-to-land Samsung Galaxy Gear have leaked online, ahead of the device’s launch tomorrow. Sourced by VentureBeat, the work-in-progress smartwatch appears to blend industrial design aesthetics with the, um, practical, unshowy looks of Garmin’s sportswatches and packs a whopping three-inch screen that has seen it termed unappealingly bulky in some quarters. But while it’s indisputably not much of a looker, it may yet emerge that what we’re looking at is unrecognisable from the finished product. That's certainly been the case with Samsung Galaxy...

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iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S dropping Sept 20th, network leak reveals

iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S dropping Sept 20th, network leak reveals Carrier cancels holiday, sparks release-date chatter. Speculation that the next-generation iPhone and its cheaper stablemate will go on sale on September 20th got a good deal more credible today, amid rumours that one of the largest US networks has cancelled holiday for staff for the period. Talk of the handsets tipping up on the 20th has been abroad for months now. The date was initially mooted after some keen-minded deduction on the part of the editor of the International Business Times, who based his prediction on Apple’s previous form. His claim got fresh legs over the weekend when mysterious sources told TmoNews that T-Mobile employees...

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iPhone 5C working model crops up on video

iPhone 5C working model crops up on video First time we’ve seen iOS 7 and plastic shell in tandem. With shells in multiple colours, buttons, screens and mock-up devices appearing online in recent months, the iPhone 5C could well be Apple’s most-leaked phone ever. But there’s been no sign of a working model. Until now, that is. A lo-fi, grainy clip has surfaced on Chinese tech site C Technology showing the phone fully assembled, running the forthcoming iOS 7 version of Apple’s operating system and working well enough to enable the user to conduct a web search. Judging by the footage, the iPhone 5C and its proprietary Safari browser zip along at a fair old lick for what’s being touted as a cheap phone,...

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Microsoft buys Nokia phones business for £4.6 billion

Microsoft buys Nokia phones business for £4.6 billion Nokia sold. Microsoft is to buy Nokia’s phones division in a deal worth £4.6 billion. The news, announced overnight, will see Microsoft take ownership of Nokia’s Devices and Services, as well as licensing its HERE maps and patents. While the Big M will own the Lumia and Asha brands, the Nokia name will be licensed for ten years and used to brand ‘current Nokia mobile phone products’ according to a statement from Microsoft. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, along with a number of other senior executives, will now work for Microsoft, with Risto Siilasmaa, Chairman of the Nokia Board of Directors, stepping up to act as Interim CEO...

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HTC Zara: new mid-range smartphone leaked

HTC Zara: new mid-range smartphone leaked Plastic model incoming. HTC is working on a new plastic handset, dubbed the Zara, with a release date pegged for late 2013. The device was leaked by evleaks, which is developing a solid-gold reputation for getting the inside line on new mobiles. With HTC unleashing aluminium handsets earlier this year, with the One and One Mini leading the line, a plastic device makes sense in light of the impending release of Apple’s iPhone 5C. The Zara is said to pack a 4.5-inch qHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 plus processor and 1GB of RAM. Beats Audio and an ample eight-megapixel camera complete the package. A Q4 release date is expected...

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Sony Xperia Z1: Official Honami name revealed

Sony Xperia Z1: Official Honami name revealed Z successor. Sony’s much-touted Honami handset will be officially dubbed the Xperia Z1 when it’s unleashed at a press event on September 4th. That’s according to an XDA developers forum member, who claims to have the inside line on the device. The new phone, which has appeared in a series of newly leaked press renders, is said to rock a 5-inch display, with Full HD smarts, as well as 2GB of RAM and Qualcomm’s now-ubiquitous Snapdragon 800 processor. What’s more, it’s expected to supersede Sony’s Xperia Z, which was first revealed back in January of this year. The camera is also set to wow users, with a 20.7-megapixel sensor. That should put it right...

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Samsung Galaxy Gear colour options revealed, on sale late September

Samsung Galaxy Gear colour options revealed, on sale late September Smartwatch taking shape. The Samsung Galaxy Gear will come in a suite of colourways, it has emerged, as details of the smartwatch seep out with weeks to go before it makes its anticipated debut in Berlin. Sam Mobile, citing an insider who’d understandably prefer to remain anonymous, today reports that the Galaxy Gear will come in white, orange, grey and black and will start shipping the week commencing September 23rd. A white and gold variant will apparently ship a week later and is tipped to be exclusive to some regions and/or networks. The device's retail date is set to be around late-September or early-October, with Samsung purportedly...

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iPhone 5C video reveals scratch resistant plastic surface

iPhone 5C video reveals scratch resistant plastic surface The end to scrapes from car-keys? The plastic cover of the low-cost iPhone 5C is a lot more robust than some snatched spyshots might suggest, a leaked video of the handset reveals. Much-leaked online in recent weeks, the polycarbonate shell for Apple’s budget handset has been derided in some quarters as cheap and flimsy-looking. Even less kind comments compared the back cover to something tatty you might find a street market. However, a clip doing the rounds online, which comes to us from Chinese site Apple Daily, proves that appearances can be deceptive...

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iPhone 5S gold edition shell snapped alongside iPhone 5, design unchanged

iPhone 5S gold edition shell snapped alongside iPhone 5, design unchanged ‘Old’ meet ‘gold’. Photos of the back plate for the next-gen iPhone in gold have cropped up online alongside the current edition, giving us a glimpse at how the fresh colourway will look. Snapped alongside black and white models of the iPhone 5, the photo suggest that rather than the gaudy gold colourway of some tech-scribes’ imaginations, the handset will feature a subtler shade, probably best described as ‘champagne’. And there’s scant sign of radical changes elsewhere too. As earlier leaks have shown, the new photos indicate that the placement and design of the iPhone 5S’s fixtures and fittings (SIM try, buttons, volume rocker)...

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Samsung Galaxy Gear: Five key rumours you need to know

Samsung Galaxy Gear: Five key rumours you need to know With the Watch seemingly months away, all eyes are on Samsung's smartwatch. Samsung’s iWatch-bashing Galaxy Gear is all set to officially break cover in the next few weeks. But like all good top-end mobile kit, Sammy’s new slice of wearable tech has been the subject of a slew of rumours. From colour schemes to flexible screens, there’s a heap of gossip about the futuristic timepiece. Here’s our pick of the five key rumours you need to know. 1 It’ll be revealed on September 4th Samsung is holding its much-anticipated Unpacked event on September 4th in Berlin, ahead of the annual IFA gadget show in the German capital. The Galaxy Gear is expected...

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Sony teases Xperia Z1 on Twitter

Sony teases Xperia Z1 on Twitter Phablet update primed. After a whole heap of rumours, Sony itself has begun teasing its forthcoming Xperia Z1. The company has taken to Twitter, posting a cropped image of the device, with the missive, “It’s the smartphone everyone’s been talking about…Not long now #bestofSony.” While the Xperia Z1 has undoubtedly been the subject of intense gossip, Sony’s pushing it somewhat to say it’s the phone everyone’s been talking about. That title falls to Apple’s forthcoming iPhones, surely. That said, the Z1 certainly promises to mix things up. A step up from January’s Xperia Z, it’s said to rock a Full HD 5-inch display, 2GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. The...

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One in ten British kids own a mobile phone by the age of five

One in ten British kids own a mobile phone by the age of five The age gap in mobile ownership and spend in Blighty is shrinking. More than a million British children get their first mobile phone by the time they are just five years old, uSwitch research reveals. According to the study, the typical British child gets their first handset by the age of 12, costing just £125 on average, which is a little more than half of what parents spend on their own mobile devices. Young ‘uns also spend about £11 per month on mobile bills, compared to £19 by their parents. However, more than one in ten (11%) children end up with bigger outlays than their old folks. In something of a shocking revelation, 42 per cent of...

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Exclusive: iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C parts revealed in new leaked photos

Exclusive: iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C parts revealed in new leaked photos Fourth iPhone 5S colour spied. New images of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, shared with uSwitch Tech, appear to show a fourth iPhone 5S colour option, as well as a string of new angles of both of Apple’s forthcoming handsets. The graphite grey iPhone 5S appears alongside the now seemingly nailed-on 'champagne gold' edition of the device. The images suggest it’ll have a slate-coloured central panel, with black panelling along the top and bottom. Once again, the gold iPhone 5S looks as if it won’t come in a gaudy bullion-colour, but rather a more mute champagne tone. Other images, from insiders close to Apple’s supply chain, show the iPhone...

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Blue HTC One seen in the wild

Blue HTC One seen in the wild Blue for you. HTC is priming an amped-up phablet edition of its flagship One smartphone. But while we wait for the so-called One Max, another version of the One is also said to be edging closer to launch. A blue-coloured HTC One has been spotted in the wild and papped by a worker at one of the Taiwanese giant’s factories. The device was seen earlier this month in a leaked press shot. While the colour is different, there’s little to suggest the internals of the device will not be the same. That means the latest version of Android, layered with HTC Sense and the company’s ace Ultra Pixel camera round the back...

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IFA 2013: Five key gadgets you should be excited for

IFA 2013: Five key gadgets you should be excited for We list five mouthwatering kits you should be looking forward to this year's tech expo in Berlin. Berlin’s annual gadget bash, IFA, is just over a week away. And while trade shows have become less of a draw in recent years, with the biggest players preferring to reveal products at their own specially organised events, this year the German capital is set to see some pretty major launches. Some of late 2013’s key phones, tablets and, yes, smart watches, are going to be unveiled. Here are five key products you need to know about. Samsung Galaxy Gear Samsung has done a purposefully poor job of keeping a lid on leaks about its forthcoming Galaxy Gear...

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3: new components leaked

Samsung Galaxy Note 3: new components leaked Phablet fantastic. Gossip about Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Note 3 has gone quiet in the past couple of weeks. But the all-new phablet has burst back into the headlines this morning, after a screen component was snapped by mobile leakster Sonny Dickson. Previous Next Dickson says he snagged the images from ‘a trusted source in China’. They appear to show a brushed metal design, with the usual Samsung branding and home button placed at the bottom of the device. The images add little to what we already know about the spec sheet. The screen is believed to measure 5.7-inches. However, they do clearly suggest the bezel has been shaved...

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Steve Wozniak dismisses Apple critics

Steve Wozniak dismisses Apple critics Don’t expect greatness every year, says co-founder. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has said the company’s critics have got to understand that the company can’t release revolutionary kit year after year. In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC, Wozniak said, “Everybody says, ‘oh my gosh, two years have passed and we need something really new and great from Apple’.” Well yeah, great advances for mankind don't happen every year.” Launching a staunch defence of Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple CEO, Wozniak said the current boss was hand-picked for the role by his predecessor. “Steve Jobs had very strong feelings about what makes a company great, what makes products great....

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Nokia Lumia 625 review

Nokia Lumia 625 review Is the Lumia 625 the mid-range smartphone you've been waiting for? Joe Minihane spills all. The Nokia 625 bids to take on the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that is Android, with a spec sheet that is better than most mid-range kits out there and a price tag that's even more unbelievable. Could this be the best-value smartphone currently in the market. Read on to find out. First impressions Nokia’s all-new budget blower is a colossus. Measuring in at 4.7-inches and with the look and feel of a top-end smartphone, it doesn’t have the air of a budget device. It blasts into life quickly and feels nippy when flicking through Windows Phone’s various native apps, as well as the various...

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