Best Buy Europe, the retail venture that's 50% owned by The Carphone Warehouse, says it's creating up to 8,000 jobs in the UK over a five-year period. Up to a thousand of these roles will be with its 24-hour Geek Squad technology support service, with Geek Squad staff planned in every Best Buy store. In fact, Geek Squad – which launched in the UK in 2007 – says it'll quadruple its tech support team numbers during the next 18 months.

Best Buy is launching in the UK in Spring 2010, with the first stores in Hedge End Southampton, Thurrock and Merry Hill in the West Midlands. As well as selling mobile phones they'll offer multimedia equipment, computing technology, appliances, music, movies and games.

Mark Bridge writes:

I like a good conspiracy theory. A good one, mind you. None of this “Funny thing happened on the way to Mars” nonsense. Oh no, not me. And, despite occasionally mirroring Jerry Fletcher by balancing a bottle on the door handle, I’ve never been inclined to publish such a theory. Until now.

You see, it’s Mobile World Congress in a fortnight’s time. Which is when the great and the good of the mobile industry – along with their mates and hangers-on – head for Barcelona. Microsoft will be there. They’re holding a press briefing on Monday afternoon. And there’s a lot of talk about Windows Mobile 7 being (unofficially) on the agenda. But where’s the evidence?

Free mobile phone satellite navigation provider Nav4All has said its service is going offline within three days. The company has been offering a global navigation service for five years, with 27.5 million people having downloaded the software.

The company says it's suspending its service because "the data licence agreement with Navteq (a 100% Nokia subsidiary) was not extended, in a totally unexpected manner" and later adds that its "growth was reported in the licence reports to Navteq"...