Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo has once again indicated it is interested in a potential BlackBerry deal, sending shares in the Canadian smartphone company soaring on Monday.

Speaking to French newspaper Les Echos, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing admitted that a buyout might be in the cards as the company seeks to gain more traction in the western mobile market.

He said that a deal "could possibly make sense, but first I need to analyze the market and understand what exactly the importance of this company is."

The inflammatory comments come after CFO Wong Wai Ming told Bloomberg in January that Lenovo was "looking at all opportunities," one of which was BlackBerry.

Rescue operation?

When Lenovo first publicly admitted its interest in buying the former mobile kingpin, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins didn't exactly deny the possibility of a a partnership.

Heins, who in the past has not ruled out investment, a buyout or licensing BlackBerry 10 to other manufacturers said: "As always with these topics, we will talk about things when they are ready to be talked about and ready to be announced.

"There are other constituents in the process that need to be involved - if there would be anything."

How willing RIM is to sell-up are accept investment or a takeover bid remains to be seen.

Rather than crying over its fall from grace, the company has been on a PR offensive since the company launched its first handsets running BB10 on January 30, claiming strong early sales, while setting its sights on place in the mobile OS race.

Fair share

Monday's comments boosted the company formerly-known-as-RIM's share price, sending it up 14 per cent on Monday. Shares are up 26 per cent overall in 2013, Bloomberg reports, following a long period in the doldrums.

The next we may hear on the matter of Lenovo's interests is when Heins delivers the company's quarterly results to investors in a conference call on March 28.

That's unless Lenovo continues to continue to speak publicly on the matter.

The long-rumored Amazon smartphone isn't acting at all like the company's speedy Amazon Prime two-day free shipping service, as its release date has reportedly been delayed.

That means the Amazon phone's speculated second quarter release date is likely to be missed, according to DigiTimes, which cites sources in flat panel supply chain.

While the exact reason for the delay isn't clear, the report does say that production at manufacturing partner Foxconn International Holdings "has not been as smooth as expected."

It goes on to indicate that the Seattle-based company's phone is still under an "engineering verification test period due to issues related to its mobile platform."

TechRadar reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this story if the company responds.

Amazon Kindle phone?

Whether or not the Amazon smartphone will run a version of Google's Android operating system like its Kindle Fire tablets is unclear.

However, today's rumor about its delayed release date echos previous reports that the phone's production is being handled by Foxconn subsidiary Ensky Tech.

Ensky Tech is responsible for manufacturing Amazon's e-book readers like the Kindle Paperwhite and tablets like the Kindle Fire HD.

The Foxconn subsidiary is said to be unlikely to start mass production of the Amazon smartphone until June, which means the rumored roadmap has been pushed back by at least three months.

When the Amazon phone's release date does roll around, however, analysts have suggested that it will be able to garner attention with a large screen size between 4 inches and 5 inches and a price as low as USD$150 (£101, AUD$146).

The latest Apple rumors point - literally - to new security features built into the iPhone 5S.

According to the sometimes-questionable China Times, Taiwanese company Chipbond is developing touch display drivers for the next-gen iPhone to support both NFC and fingerprint scanning.

The rumor doesn't come as much of a surprise, especially following a recent Apple patent that would equip future iPhones with a fingerprint reader next to the home button.

Notably, Apple's patent described a liquid crystal security window for scanning fingerprints, which fits with Chipbond's specialty in developing LCD drivers.

iPhone 5S - the S stand for security

Rumors of fingerprint scanners and NFC support in Apple's devices trace back to last July when Apple bought mobile security firm AuthenTec for $356 million (UK£238 million, UA$346 million).

AuthenTec's specialization was in fingerprint scanning technology, a specialty shared by biosecurity firm Microlatch, which Apple has reportedly also been in talks with since last year.

While fingerprint scanning could be used as added security to unlock a device, it's also rumored to be a key part of the next iPhone's NFC support by asking for fingerprint confirmation to make payments more secure.

Apple's actions speak to its interest in using fingerprint scanning and NFC technology in its devices, and if the rumors are true and the chips are already in production, then we may be looking at a key iPhone 5S security feature.

How this special features stacks up to the Galaxy S4's reported eye scrolling tech, we may not know for a few months. But fingerprints vs. eyeballs could make for an interesting dichotomy between the two firms.

Last week Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller was quick to poke some fun at Android security, posting a link on Twitter to an F-Secure report that paints a dire -- if not overblown -- picture of the malware situation on Google’s mobile operating system. But for the past six months Apple was also guilty of leaving its iOS App Store open to attacks that could trick users into installing paid apps or steal their passwords.

In a recent blog post, Google researcher Elie Bursztein reports that Apple has finally enabled HTTPS-by-default for the App Store as part of a raft of server-side security improvements and performance tweaks, even though he and a couple of other researchers had warned them about the dangers of this omission back in July 2012.

Up until January 23, 2013 the company only used HTTPS for purchase pages.

Like most attacks exploiting the lack of full-session HTTPS on websites, the App Store attacks described by Bursztein could have been carried out against users of public Wi-Fi networks like those found in libraries, parks, airports, coffee shops and so on. He went on to demonstrate a few possible scenarios.

Password stealing: By intercepting the unencrypted traffic whenever an app update is requested from the iTunes server, and attacker could then inject code to produce a pop up asking for the users' password.

App swapping: It is possible to swap a free app with a paid app, forcing the user to buy and install the attacker’s app of choice instead of the one the user originally intended.

Fake upgrade: Similar to the previous scenario, and attacker could trick the user into buying and installing an app by inserting a fake update prompt or hijacking an actual update prompt to silently redirect them to another app. In both cases it’s possible to monetize this attack by having a very expensive application available through the App Store and tricking the user into purchasing it using the app swapping approach.

Preventing application installation: Without HTTPS it’s possible to prevent the user from installing/upgrading applications either by stripping the app out of the store or tricking the app into believing it is already installed.

Privacy leak: The App Store application update mechanism discloses the list of the apps installed on the device.

It’s unclear if any of these scenarios have actually been exploited in the wild but now that HTTPS is enabled by default on the App Store it’s no longer an issue. Bursztein says he’s really happy that his spare-time work pushed Apple to finally protect users.

The latest Apple rumors point to new security features with both a fingerprint sensor and Near-Field Communication reader built into the iPhone 5S.

According to the sometimes questionable China Times, Taiwanese company Chipbond is developing touch display drivers for the new iPhone to support both NFC and fingerprint scanning.

The rumor does not come as much of a surprise, following a recent Apple patent that would equip future iPhones with a fingerprint reader next to the home button.

Notably, Apple's patent described a liquid crystal security window for scanning fingerprints, which fits with Chipbond's specialty in developing LCD drivers.

iPhone 5S, the S stand for security

Rumors of fingerprint scanners and NFC support in Apple's devices trace back to last July when Apple bought mobile security firm AuthenTec for $356 million.

AuthenTec's specialization was in fingerprint scanning technology, a specialty shared by biosecurity firm Microlatch which Apple has reportedly also been in talks with since last year.

While fingerprint scanning could be used as added security to unlock a device, it is also rumored to be a key part of the next iPhone's NFC support by asking for fingerprint confirmation to make payments more secure.

Apple is clearly interested in using fingerprint scanning and NFC technology in its devices, and if the rumors are true and the chips are already in production then we may be looking at a key iPhone 5S security feature.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may offer a 3D camera, or so it seems from a new trademark filing made by the South Korean firm.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as trademark number 85866868 (there will be a quiz on that number), the mark is not exactly for a 3D Galaxy S4 lens, but instead a logo for a new 3D camera feature called "2D 3D Movie & Still."

The logo has circular arrows pointing between the words 2D and 3D, indicating that the feature can convert movies and still images between 2D and 3D formats.

According to the trademark, it was filed for under a class of patent covering "[a]pplication software for smart phones; application software for tablet computers; digital cameras; USB flash drives; mobile telephones; portable media players; portable computers; rechargeable batteries; smart phones; tablet computers; wireless headsets; lenses for cameras."

What device will support it?

The trademark's intended use for smartphones, as well as the recent filing date on March 5, has led to speculation that the feature is intended for the Galaxy S4.

The trademark could just as easily apply to the firm's tablets or non-smartphone cameras, so a 3D camera in the Galaxy S4 is far from confirmed.

All the trademark indicates for certain is that Samsung is developing a feature to convert videos and photos from 2D to 3D and vice versa.

The Galaxy S4 is set to debut at Samsung's Unpacked event on March 14, so there's mercifully little time left for speculation. TechRadar will be in New York in 3D, high-def, surround sound, etc., so stay tuned for all the latest.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may offer a 3D camera, according to a new trademark filing from the Korean firm.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as trademark number 85866868, the mark is not exactly for a 3D Galaxy S4 lens, but instead a logo for a new 3D camera feature called '2D 3D Movie & Still.'

The logo has circular arrows pointing between the words 2D and 3D, indicating that the feature can convert movies and still images between 2D and 3D formats.

According to the trademark, it was filed for use with "Application software for smart phones; application software for tablet computers; digital cameras; USB flash drives; mobile telephones; portable media players; portable computers; rechargeable batteries; smart phones; tablet computers; wireless headsets; lenses for cameras."

What device will support it?

The trademark's intended use for smartphones, as well as the recent filing date on March 5, has led to speculation that the feature is intended for the Galaxy S4.

The trademark could just as easily apply to the firm's tablets or non-smartphone cameras, so a 3D camera in the Galaxy S4 is far from confirmed.

All the trademark indicates for certain is that Samsung is developing a feature to convert videos and photos from 2D to 3D and vice versa.

The Galaxy S4 is set to debut at Samsung's "Unpacked" event on March 14, so there is little time left for speculation. TechRadar will be there with all of the latest, 3D camera or not.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 may offer a 3D camera, according to a new trademark filing from the Korean firm.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as trademark number 85866868, the mark is not exactly for a 3D Galaxy S4 lens, but instead a logo for a new 3D camera feature called '2D 3D Movie & Still.'

The logo has circular arrows pointing between the words 2D and 3D, indicating that the feature can convert movies and still images between 2D and 3D formats.

According to the trademark, it was filed for use with "Application software for smart phones; application software for tablet computers; digital cameras; USB flash drives; mobile telephones; portable media players; portable computers; rechargeable batteries; smart phones; tablet computers; wireless headsets; lenses for cameras."

What device will support it?

The trademark's intended use for smartphones, as well as the recent filing date on March 5, has led to speculation that the feature is intended for the Galaxy S4.

The trademark could just as easily apply to the firm's tablets or non-smartphone cameras, so a 3D camera in the Galaxy S4 is far from confirmed.

All the trademark indicates for certain is that Samsung is developing a feature to convert videos and photos from 2D to 3D and vice versa.

The Galaxy S4 is set to debut at Samsung's "Unpacked" event on March 14, so there is little time left for speculation. TechRadar will be there with all of the latest, 3D camera or not.

Microsoft has launched a new promotional campaign to get students using its Office 365 University and SkyDrive products. Under the new offering announced today, students with a qualifying .edu e-mail address can register to access the productivity suite at no cost for three months -- or double that if they share the offer on Facebook. The suite includes the same applications and features found in Office 365 Home Premium, including the 20GB of extra SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes worth of Skype calls per month.

After the free period is over if you want to continue using the suite you’ll have to pay up the regular Office 365 University subscription fee, of course. But that isn’t a bad deal either. A license for the educational package costs $79.99 for four years and is good for up to two PCs or Macs. Moreover, students can renew the offer one time, so in total they could theoretically get eight years of Office 365 for just $160.

To get the word out Microsoft released a couple of ads featuring Parks & Recreation star Aubrey Plaza. In the ads, Plaza not-so-subtly tells a group of college students how they can get their projects done using Office 365 and SkyDrive in separate locations instead of having to set up physical meetings.

If you’re not a student you can still try out Office 365 Home Premium free for one month as well.

Microsoft has been touting the subscription-based Office 365 over its desktop counterpart. According to the company, the web-based suite will be updated more frequently with the latest features and allows small businesses and households with up to five computers or mobile devices to access everything for one price.

If you're still waiting for Windows Phone 7.8 to hit your older Nokia Lumia handset, you may need some extra patience while Microsoft pauses its global rollout of the update.

NDTV Gadgets reported Monday that Microsoft has indeed suspended the Windows Phone 7.8 update it started rolling out to older Nokia Lumia handsets at the end of January.

The news comes by way of Nokia Russia's official Twitter account in response to an inquisitive Lumia 800 owner waiting anxiously for their update to hit.

The Windows Phone 7.8 update is largely a cosmetic one, but early supporters of the platform have been eager to download it since Microsoft first started pushing it to Lumia smartphones on January 31.

Live Tile fix

While disappointing, the news is hardly a surprise - Microsoft Vice President of Windows Phone Joe Belfiore confirmed a reportedly "minor issue" with the update's new Live Tiles via Twitter back on March 3, promising a fix would be forthcoming.

Vodafone Germany was actually the first to halt the Windows Phone 7.8 update, announcing the news on the company's message boards back on February 23 without a specific reason for the delay.

In addition to Live Tiles on the Start screen, the 7.8 update introduces Windows Phone 8-style branding and icons for Games, Office and Windows Phone Store, while also doubling the number of theme and accent colors to 20.

Although users of older Nokia Lumia handsets will have to wait just a bit longer, at least they know it's coming: Owners of non-Nokia Windows Phone 7.5 handsets are still waiting to learn if their devices will be eligible for the update in the first place.

Huge, chunky, ugly slabs of grey aren't exactly the design aesthetic we've come to expect from Apple in its line of iDevices, but these photos show how the iPhone started out as just that.

The pictures of this early iPhone prototype come from an ex-Apple employee who shared them with verbose tech blog Ars Technica.

The device shown has more in common with an iPad than an iPhone, with dimensions of 5-inches x 7-inches - and thickness-wise it's closer to a MacBook with a depth of 2-inches to contend with. Not exactly pocket-friendly.

But it was never designed to be - this early model was intended to allow devs to nail down what would eventually become iOS. And while it may seem big to us, the source pointed out, "At the time, it was really impressive seeing basically a version of OS X running on it."

It came with USB, ethernet and serial ports which were all for the same purpose and probably would never have made it to the finished iPhone, although the source notes that "at that early date, no one knew what [the final device] would be".

We're glad the design has moved on a step or two since then, that's for sure, and we're expecting the iPhone 6 to be a little more refined.

Xi3 Corporation is now accepting pre-orders for their Piston Console, a cube-shaped PC built using modular construction. Perhaps more importantly, however, it’s the same system that Value’s upcoming Steam Box is based on. The company has set a pre-order price of $999 on the console although if you order between now and the end of SXSW on March 17, Xi3 will knock $100 off the price tag.

Founder, president and CEO of Xi3 Corporation Jason A. Sullivan said that given the amount of awards, media attention and gamer interest that the Piston Console has garnered since it was unveiled at CES 2013, his company is seriously becoming concerned that they might not be able to meet demand for the system this year. As such, they decided to begin accepting pre-orders at the start of the SXSW Gaming Expo.

As an aside, the Piston Console was on display at SXSW this past weekend. If you happened to be in the Austin, Texas area, you could have stopped by the event to be one of the first to see the system in action.

So, what exactly do you get for your investment? At this point, we know the Piston Console includes a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB. Other key specifications like the GPU have not yet been revealed – perhaps a tough sell if you aren’t willing to disclose the system’s full specs. We are told that users can upgrade to a 256GB SSD for $340 more or a 512GB drive for an extra $750.

The SimCity fiasco is closing in on a full week now as the game has been plagued with server issues since the moment it became available. According to EA, they are doing everything possible to rectify the issue but if you’re the game’s publisher, you know by now that simply isn’t enough.

Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw recently said on a company blog post that the server issue has improved significantly but some users are still experiencing response and stability problems. The simple answer for what went wrong is that a lot more people logged on than anticipated. She said more people played in ways that were never seen during the beta.

To help make amends, Maxis is going to offer SimCity players a free PC game download from the EA portfolio. Bradshaw didn’t specifically say what game would be offered or if gamers would get to choose any title from EA’s catalog. Furthermore, we are told that on March 18, SimCity players who have activated their game will receive an e-mail telling them how to redeem their free game.

Pay close attention to the wording here as Maxis’ general manager didn’t specifically say that anyone who purchases and registers the game before March 18 will get a free game. In fact, no real stipulations were mentioned at all. For all we know, EA / Maxis could limit the free game offer to users that were affected by server problems within the first week. Or perhaps it’s just a poor choice of words and anyone that buys and registers SimCity before March 18 can get a free game.

As bring your own device (BYOD) infiltrates SMBs' IT strategies, Google's Android operating system (OS) is becoming more widely used at work. There are productivity gains in its wide range of apps, so it is fast becoming an option for firms that don't want to spend a fortune on mobile devices.

The low cost of Android smartphones compared with those running other OSs such as BlackBerry's is one attraction, and their lead in the consumer market ensures they are familiar to many users.

But BlackBerry is still most prominent in the workplace as many CEOs are worried about integrating Android into their businesses because of concerns that it is insecure. With 99% of malware created for the OS, it's important that if Android is adopted, a clear internal strategy is in place.

Apps ecosystem

Android can be easily customised to provide some interesting and useful enterprise applications.

"There is a huge ecosystem of productivity applications and software readily available for Android, as well as native support for Java based sites and improved security measures," says Ernest Doku, Product Relations Manager at price comparison firm Uswitch Communications.

"The OS is fast becoming a good bet for those businesses looking for a stronger infrastructure and fewer overheads," he adds.

In addition to the choice of apps, surfing the web is often easier on an Android device than a BlackBerry, and there is often less lag time when using instant messaging apps such as Skype on Android.

But it's difficult to leave behind what is familiar. BlackBerry is still thought of as the business staple, and the Balance software on the new BB10 operating system allows a partition to be created between work and personal applications and data. BB10 provides tools for delivering work apps to mobile devices, solving many of the issues associated with the BYOD trend.

At the moment, Android does not have the equivalent to Balance but, if managed properly, the OS can be partitioned using third party software so that work and consumer apps and information remain separate.

David Emm, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab, says: "Android can be attractive because it is so easily customisable and if you have the software in place you can partition it."

He adds: "There is nothing intrinsically insecure about Android OS, it's the open strategy."

Android partitioning

In addition, enterprise users will soon be able to partition Android in the same way as BB10 using Knox software, which Samsung announced at Mobile World Congress in February. The company is hoping to take on BlackBerry and bolster the adoption of its Android devices in business by offering a more secure version of the OS, which separates business and personal information on smartphones.

The Knox software runs a security enhanced version of Android, which has been developed by the National Security Agency (NSA), and users get enterprise-focused tools such as email, browser, contacts, calendars, file sharing, collaboration, CRM and business intelligence applications.

Whether a business decides to use Android, BlackBerry or Apple's iOS, the security measures are crucial. "When you have confidential business data you need to make sure it is secured," says Emm.

A well planned strategy is needed, involving measures such as remote wiping if a phone is lost or stolen, and a code of practice for employees that includes rules on multiple use.

"If you haven't thought about what would happen if a device is lost or stolen you could run into more problems," Emms says.

Effectively it's about management. "You create sandboxing, looking at what is on there if, for example, you lost a device. You can then remote wipe it. That's attractive to companies as they can wipe a phone."

With tightening budgets, BYOD and a business requirement for advanced capabilities, it is likely that many SMBs will look to Android as a mobile OS, especially with the signs from Knox that more secure software is on the way. BlackBerry could struggle to maintain its lead in the enterprise.

Doku says: "As the Android market continues to expand and iOS bleeds into the corporate space from consumer popularity, BlackBerry may have a tough task on its hands remaining relevant in the SMB space."

Once there a security strategy in place, Android can provide benefits to many SMBs.

"Android has the benefit of flexibility but you must have a strategy in place," says Emm.

There is one more twist to the plot, with BlackBerry's recent indications that it is working on a secure workspace for Android and iOS apps on its phones. This could make it a little harder for the business user to decide which of the two they should choose.

Said to be the dual-SIM Galaxy S4, pictures of a mysterious Samsung device have been posted over on Chinese forum 52Samsung.

The handset is labelled with the S4's model number GT-I9502 and, while appearing similar to the Galaxy S3 in its design, appears to be packed full of juicy S4-looking features.

Some of the images show the S4's specs, with the 1080 x 1920 display and quad-core processor certainly chiming with previously leaks we've seen.

This time there's nothing to be seen in the way of eye-scrolling features and no way to be sure if this is the 4.99" screen we've been expecting, but the new images do show the handset running Android 4.2.1. with 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel camera.

Screen dream

Real or fake? It could all be an expert Photoshop job, or Samsung using a fake case to throw us off the scent like it did in the run-up to the S3 launch. We have to say that the design surprises us a little, given that we were expecting a return to the more squared look of the S2.

Whatever the case, there's not long to wait now to find out, with Samsung's "Unpacked" event happening on March 14. We'll be in New York to give you the first word when it all spills out the box.

LG announced its Optimus L5 2 at MWC 2013 as yet another entry-level smartphone from the Korean firm in its bafflingly-named low-to-mid-range line-up.

We knew the UK would be getting the handset at some point between April and June, but LG has now confirmed that it will be coming to South and Central America, Europe, Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Africa too, with some regions getting a dual-SIM model.

The company hasn't confirmed the LG Optimus L5 II's international pricing yet, but we're expecting it to land for around £120 SIM-free ($180/AU$175) or around £10 a month on a contract.

Middle child syndrome

The successor to the LG Optimus L5, the II comes with a 4-inch IPS screen and a battery that LG reckons you'll only need to charge after two full days of use.

It's running Android Jelly Bean but comes with only a single-core 1GHz chip and 512MB of RAM.

When we got our mitts on one at MWC, leading us to brand it "a stylish, well-equipped proposition" for the price, so if you're after a cheap and cheerful Android it's definitely worth a look.

Stay tuned for our full LG Optimus L5 II review coming soon.