Apple officially launches smartphone trade–in programme

Swap your old Samsung, BlackBerry and Nokia devices for store credit.

Apple has officially launched a smartphone trade–in programme, weeks after stories emerged about the company’s plans.

The new service lets would-be Apple device owners exchange a series of top–end rival smartphones, either for store credit to go towards a new iPhone, or for cash via a bank transfer.

Handsets Apple receives will be recycled in an eco–friendly manner, something that services such as Envirofone already offer. The programme is open both online and in Apple's high street shops throughout the UK.

We played around with Apple’s site and were offered £108 in store credit for a good condition Sony Xperia Z3 Compact.

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BlackBerry sale: why it's descended into farce

Things have taken a turn for the ridiculous in Ontario.

For a once-great company, BlackBerry is really making a hash of its sale.
While Nokia bowed out gracefully, fixing up its inevitable deal with Microsoft with minimal fanfare, the deal to sell BlackBerry is becoming much like the launch of its products: Drawn-out and tedious.
After seemingly arranging a deal to sell to key investor Fairfax Financial, the company said others would be welcome to bid.
It then turned out it had spoken to Google and attempted to draw Samsung and LG into a battle for its patents and enterprise network.
That’s understandable. Analysts have said already that the company is worth far more broken-up than as a single entity.
But now Fairfax appears to be struggling to raise the necessary $4.7 billion to push its deal through.
And to make things worse, Mike Lazaridis, the man who founded the company but oversaw its descent into irrelevance, says he wants to buy the company.

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BlackBerry co-founders keen on takeover bid

Lazaridis rises.

Mike Lazaradis, the erstwhile-BlackBerry CEO, company-founder and the man who oversaw BlackBerry's rise and fall, is said to be readying a takeover bid for the company.
Partnering with co-founder Doug Fregin, Lazaradis has asked Goldman Sachs to help find potential backers for a $4.7 billion deal. That’s according to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US.
The men already own an 8% stake in the failing mobile-maker. They started the firm in 1984, with Lazaradis helping it to become dominant in the pre-iPhone era.
However, his and co-CEO Jim Balsillie’s blasé approach to the threats of Apple and Google helped turn BlackBery into the tech world’s biggest basket case.

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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 makers.
“BlackBerry is strong on the enterprise business, its products are NSA-proof in the sense that you can't intercept their communication, its handsets' keyboards have many fans around the globe, and the company has a leading worldwide data network.”

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BlackBerry A10 phablet detailed

BlackBerry goes big.

BlackBerry is prepping a new phablet to add to its arsenal of BB10 devices, it has emerged.
Dubbed the BlackBerry A10, it packs a huge five-inch screen and has appeared as part of a leaked roadmap of future devices from the Canadian mobile maker.
Word on the web is that it’ll pack a Super AMOLED display, along with 2GB of RAM and a dual-core processor. A quad-core one would apparently hamper battery life too drastically and therefore won’t be included.
Design-wise, the BlackBerry A10 apparently resembles the Samsung Galaxy S4, albeit slightly larger.
BlackBerry is expected to launch the A10 during the autumn.
As revealed yesterday it may also launch a new, entry-level BB7 device around the same time.

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BlackBerry BB7 phone landing this year

BB10 takes a back seat.

BlackBerry has confirmed it will be rolling out a device this year that uses its old-school BB7 platform.
The news came directly from CEO Thorsten Heins, who was speaking at a shareholder meeting.

Although he didn’t serve up details, it appears Heins was talking about the BlackBerry Bold 9720, which has been leaked extensively across the web.
The move appears to be an attempt to keep fans of older BlackBerry devices on side.
While the newer BlackBerry 10 platform has received rave reviews, and its Z10 has sold relatively well, BlackBerry is still a long way off competing in the smartphone space.
Heins also told shareholders that the company would only ever sell six handsets at any given time, allowing it to concentrate on serving up a decent roster of devices.

 so enjoy BlackBerry BB7 phone landing this year, on your pc news.

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TalkTalk offering BlackBerry Curve 9320 for £2.50 per month

Six days left for promo.

The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is available for £2.50 per month with TalkTalk Mobile, as part of a time-limited promotion.
The offer is available to all TalkTalk broadband and TV customers who sign up online for the handset on a two-year contract on TalkTalk Mobile before the end of June.

As well as a free phone in black, blue or white, £2.50 per month gets you monthly allowances of 100 any-network, anytime call minutes, 250 texts and 200MB of mobile data.
TalkTalk also provides 100 monthly call minutes to TalkTalk mobiles, as well as unlimited family calls, free text alerts and free voicemail.
Although it doesn’t run the latest BB10 version of the phone maker’s operating system, the Curve 9320 supports all key BlackBerry services. Not least the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) instant messaging app, which is accessible through a dedicated key to make it easier to share news and snaps.

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iPhone 6 concept packs fingerprint scanning & 18MP camera

Designer works up ‘what-if’ render.

A designer has given us a glimpse of what the next iPhone may look like, in the latest in a rash of renders of the iPhone 5S / iPhone 6 that have appeared online in recent weeks.
Created by Antonio De Rosa of ADR Studio, the concept design takes on board much of what leaks suggest will be on board the forthcoming Apple smartphone. That means there’s a larger screen – albeit at 4.3-inches one that’s much smaller than talk of an iPhablet suggests – and a beefier A7 quad-core processor.

De Rosa’s fantasy phone also substitutes the current iPhone’s eight-megapixel snapper for a lavish 18-megapixel camera, complete with double-flash LED and noise reduction.
But it’s perhaps the use of fingerprint scanning tech – also a long-time fixture of the iPhone rumour mill - and transformation of the area beneath the screen where his render stands out.

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Apple iWatch: 5 key rivals to Cupertino’s future effort

We take a look at the techno timepieces vying for wrist-room. 

he Apple iWatch remains a glint in the eye of every Cupertino fanboy and fanatic.
But the unannounced timepiece is already having a huge effect on the tech world, with mobile makers clamouring to beat Tim Cook and co to the punch with their own versions.
In fact, the first wave has already arrived, with Sony leading the charge. Here are five key iWatch rivals to keep an eye out for.

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