The chief executive of HTC has handed some operational duties to the company's chairman and co-founder, as the beleaguered Taiwanese smartphone maker tries to claw its way back to prominence in the hyper-competitive mobile sector.

The biggest selling point of the Adidas miCoach SMART RUN is that the user does not have to rely on a smartphone for it to work.

Lenovo Group is actively considering a bid for all of struggling Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest sign of the voracious appetite of Chinese companies for foreign acquisitions.

Today Microsoft announced its third update to Windows Phone 8. This is the set of new features and upgrades that will carry the smartphone platform through the holiday sales cycle. Included among the new set of code is support for faster processors, larger screens, higher resolution displays, better Internet sharing, and a set of quality of life changes that will be welcome to current handsets owners.

The letter, due to be published on Tuesday, admits the firm is facing "challenging times", but adds that it is taking measures to tackle them.

BlackBerry announced last month that it plans to lay off a shocking 40% of its global workforce by the end of 2013. The first round of cuts began this week, with 300 employees let go.

Samsung Electronics has launched a handset with a curved display screen. The Galaxy Round smartphone will feature a 5.7in display

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Gear smartwatch is seen as an extension of the smartphone, but research is under way to see how the wearable device could work with electronics such as TVs.

Apple has sold nine million of its new iPhone models in three days.

Apple is preparing to ship iPhones to China Mobile, people familiar with the matter say, an arrangement that would significantly increase Apple's distribution in the world's biggest smartphone market.

Dialog Semiconductor has launched what it claims is the industry's first digital pulse width modulation (PWM) controller that can easily and efficiently drive low-cost, 10W power bipolar junction transistor (BJT) switches to reduce the BOM cost in 5V/2A smartphone adapters and chargers.

Blackberry has announced it is planning to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its worldwide workforce, in an attempt to staunch huge losses.

Panasonic has confirmed it is to stop selling smartphones in its home market Japan. It said it would also begin outsourcing production of handsets sold to other countries such as India.

Qualcomm will release a Qualcomm branded smartwatch designed to serve as a second display to your smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2013.

MediaTek is leveraging several of Skyworks' front-end solutions in its dual-core MT6572 platform which is supporting multiple leading tier-one smartphone manufacturers in emerging markets.

Selling a gold-colored iPhone could be popular in countries like China and India, where Apple and Google are fighting it out to be the dominant player in their still-booming smartphone markets.

North Korea has begun producing its own smartphones, even though most residents' access to the Internet and telephone networks is severely limited.

The smartphone-fans turned out with BB guns and knives on sticks to pop the balloons and claim a voucher for a free LG G2.

Sony has reported a jump in profits for the April-to-June quarter, boosted by a weak yen and surge in smartphone sales.

Eight-core processors are "dumb," as the consumer wants an experience that comes from more than just throwing cores together, a Qualcomm executive said, referring to new eight-core chips announced recently.

Aptina has announced a new 13-megapixel sensor for smartphones, the AR1331CP.

Wolfson's WM5102 HD audio hub has been adopted by Sharp for its new range of AQUOS smartphone and tablet devices.

The deal would be a boost for Samsung, which is increasingly seeking to cater to the needs of government agencies, a niche long dominated by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry.

BYD has recently rolled out the new HTC One for HTC, the Ascend P6 for Huawei, the Lumia 1020 for Nokia and the Galaxy S4 mini for Samsung, media reports said.

NEC will now focus on conventional handsets and plans to sell some of its mobile phone-related patents, according to the Japanese daily.

Samsung has revealed it hopes computers sewn into clothing could help take on Google's Glass and Apple's much-rumoured iWatch.

Samsung Electronics lost US$25.3 billion in market capitalization last month, more than the value of competitor Sony, as sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone fell short of investor expectations.

ABI Research reports that the average US implied subsidy for Samsung devices is 84% as compared to Apple 74% and HTC 80%.

The China-based company already has a manufacturing base in Sorocaba (92km from S瓊o Paulo city) which produces telecommunications equipment and employs about 3,000 staff.

The July order for Galaxy S4 parts is for 6.5 million handsets, which is only about a half of the same order placed for May.

Huawei would consider buying Nokia to help it become the world's leading smartphone maker, according to the head of the Chinese telecom group's consumer business.

The smartphone and consumer electronics maker is close to launching an incubator space for startups that are developing software and services for phones, tablet computers and televisions.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 handset is well on its way to becoming the company's bestselling smartphone. Samsung Electronics co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun told The Korea Times the Galaxy S4 is set to surpass the 10 million sales mark next week.

Contract chipmaker Globalfoundries will spend US$4.5 billion to boost production capacity in 2013, anticipating a burst in orders for chips used in low-cost smartphones.