Samsung has put a 10x optical zoom lens on a smartphone, Google is acquiring navigation app Waze and the European Commission is getting ready to equip cars with an emergency call system.

We're also talking about a strike threat at O2, the risk of 'showrooming' to high-street retailers, the end of Symbian smartphones and plenty more as well.

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

Samsung Electronics has introduced yet another model to the Galaxy S4 smartphone family.

This one’s called the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom and has a 16 megapixel camera sensor with a 10x optical zoom lens, along with image stabilisation and a xenon flash.

Nokia has launched a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone in London this morning. It’s called the Nokia Lumia 925 and is described as ‘a new interpretation’ of the Nokia Lumia 920.

Unlike the previous flagship device, the Lumia 925 is lighter and has a partly metal body along with an AMOLED screen.

The adoption of smartphones and tablets is resulting in consumers spending less time with dedicated devices... but most people still turn to standalone equipment on occasions.

Research from the Consumer Electronics Association in the USA shows that portable game consoles, satellite navigation devices and e-book readers are most likely to be discarded first.