Ofcom, the UK government and the major networks have all agreed a timetable for 4G to be launched across the UK.

We're talking about those plans in this week's podcast - and taking a look at all the other top mobile industry stories as well, from US mergers and leaky tablets to free WiFi and forthcoming quarterly results.

HTC Corporation has announced unaudited results for the third quarter of its 2012 financial year, a few weeks ahead of the official quarterly figures.

Total revenue in Q3 2012 reached NT$70.2 billion (just under £1.5 billion) and net income after tax was NT$3.9 billion (£83 million).

International figures from ABI Research show that 4G data currently costs around 20% more than the equivalent 3G tariff.

However, the research company says there are signs that competition is already causing 4G tariffs to fall.

Sony Corporation has suspended sales of its Xperia tablet computer because some of the devices aren’t as waterproof as initially thought. The Android-powered Xperia Tablet S was described as being ‘splash-proof’ when it was announced in August.

A manufacturing flaw is believed to have caused gaps between the screen and the casing, which has affected the waterproofing.

In April we reported that US-based bookseller Barnes & Noble was forming a partnership with Microsoft to combine Barnes & Noble’s digital eBook and College education businesses. The as-then unnamed company would be a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble but with Microsoft owning a 17.6% share.

Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have now completed the partnership deal, naming the new company NOOK Media LLC.