Former smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry has agreed a deal to sell its 'legacy' patents for $600 million. The company, which became a security software business when it moved away from smartphones, says it'll keep patents that are essential to its current business.

Long-established watch brand Timex has announced its first smartwatch: the Timex Ironman One GPS+.

It’s a fitness-focussed wearable device that offers connectivity via its own SIM card instead of relying on a Bluetooth connection to a nearby smartphone.

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week a major retailer with a significant online presence announced plans to release its own-brand smartphone by the end of the year. No, not Amazon. This news came from Tesco.

BlackBerry says it expects to sell much of its Canadian property and land this month.

This follows an announcement in January when it revealed plans to sell the majority of its ‘real estate’ holdings in Canada.

BlackBerry Limited says it plans to sell most of its property in its home country of Canada.

It’s working with real-estate specialist CBRE Limited to get rid of the majority of its commercial buildings through what’s described as “a combination of sale-leaseback and vacant asset sales”.

By incorporating advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, AI can help to optimize a smartphone's performance, providing users with a faster, more efficient and user-friendly experience.

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

Mark Bridge writes:

James Rosewell shows me a colourful roll of paper that's the width of an iPhone but well over three metres long. When I look closer, I can see it's a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal's mobile website. That's a lot of scrolling to do... and a pretty unfriendly user experience for anyone reading the news online. Why does it work so badly?

We look at the latest mobile industry headlines, including the UK iPhone launch. We also talk to Chris Caudle from the IMPDA about cashback and review the HTC S710 smartphone.

The team looks at the latest industry headlines, including plenty of mobile music news. There's also a review of the Nokia N81 and a chat with Mark Sennett, the man in charge of the new Mobile News web site.

The team review the latest news including Google and Sony's rumoured mobile phones. The team debate the Nokia Music Store and bring you a review of the LG Viewty KU990.

This week the team look at the J600 from Samsung & the Blue Q wrist band. Also Iain & James take you through the latest news and gossip from the past 7 days.

We talk to Nokia UK's Simon Ainslie and to Chris Caudle from the IMPDA, we review the Sagem my150X, we hear from Ian White and we look at the week's mobile news headlines.