The computing giant Microsoft has today purchased the mobile business of the one time mobile giant Nokia for around £4.6 billion. The deal also includes Nokia maps and a large collection of design and manufacturing patents. The deal will be completed by mid 2014 with the majority of Nokia employees remaining in Finland.
Apple Confirm 10th September Event
Apple have sent invites to the press confirming the speculated 10th September event. At the event, taking place at their Cupertino HQ, Apple will likely announce the new iPhone 5S and possibly a low cost iPhone too.
Give us a break - Next Version of Android to be Named KitKat
Google and Nestle have announced a strange partnership today (Tuesday) which sees the next version of Google's Android operating system being named KitKat after the popular chocolatey wafer snack. It's been confirmed that there's no money involved in this deal but both companies will be advertising eachother.
Microsoft Unboxes the Xbox One
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrmAsxJPv4&w=560&h=315] In a new video from Microsoft, Xbox's Major Nelson (apparently that's a real name) did a full unboxing of the companies' new games console - the Xbox One.
There wasn't too much revealed that wasn't already known though. He takes viewers on a tour of the console itself, showing the HDMI, USB, Kinect, USB and Ethernet ports aswell as looking at the new controller, Kinect and a bundled headset.
Mr Nelson also pointed out that included HDMI cable will have 4K capability.
It's expected that the Xbox One will be launched in November for around £400-£500, in strong competition with the new Sony PS4.
Vodafone UK Announces it's 4G Offering
Vodafone in the UK have announced that their 4G services will launch in London on 29th August 2013, the same day as O2 switch on their 4G network in Leeds, Bradford and London. The network's plans will start at £26 although this is sim-only. Regular plans will be in three prices £34 (Regular), £39 (L) and £44 (XL) on 24 months contracts. There's no word yet on data apart from the £44 contract giving an 8GB monthly allowance. Vodafone Test Drive will give every 4G customer 3 months of unlimited data though so they can figure out how much they actually use each month.
Plus, customers on the L and XL plans will get Spotify Premium and Sky Sports Mobile TV included, that's around £15 of free services for two years.
Vodafone say other cities such as Birmingham, Bradford, Nottingham and Sheffield will get 4G by the end of the year while 98% of the population will get indoor coverage in a couple of years.
Mobile phone companies have recently been criticised by consumer groups for not offering unlimited data plans for 4G, especially given how much more data consumers are likely to use. Three will be the only network to offer unlimited data plans but they won't launch services until the end of the year.
With the competition starting to hot up let's see what happens over the coming months when all the networks services come online. Who will have the best deals and who will get the most customers?
Do you use 4G already? What are your experiences? Please leave comments below.