Three UK customers will no longer be able to do their shopping at Carphone Warehouse, after the network decided to cut ties with the high street retailer.

From earlier December, the UK's smallest major mobile network will no longer sell devices, service plans or upgrades through Carphone's website or brick and mortar stores.

Instead, those wishing to sign up or extent their relationship with Three will need to do so through its own 348 stores and online portals, or from other smaller independent retailers.

The decision to ditch CPW follows the curtailing of Three's relationship with Phones 4U last year. Both decisions are believed to be attributed to the extra costs of selling through third-party retailers.

Impact

A Carphone Warehouse spokesperson informed TechRadar: "From early December we will no longer be selling or upgrading Three propositions through our channels. This will not impact our commitment to provide customers with choice and value: no one else offers customers a wider range of networks and tariffs."

The Times (subscription) reports that Carphone has already shrugged off Three's decision, with an internal memo calling it "a very small part of the business." It is focused on relationships with "major networks," it reportedly said.

Going forward, it will be very interesting to see whether Three's bottom line is affected now users no longer have the option of signing up for tariffs and SIMs at either of the UK's major independent retailers.

Quite often Three's contracts stack up very well against the likes of O2, Vodafone and EE, especially in the unlimited data department.

It seems the other major players will be happy to see Three depart from those arenas given the network's plans to offer 4G LTE data plans at no extra cost.

Time to freshen up those Google+ profile photos, because the latest flavor of Android will start using them to identify users as part of the new Caller ID by Google service.

Google Engineering Director Attila Bodis announced Tuesday on his Google+ page that the company's Caller ID by Google service will be getting a little more personal early next year.

In an effort to help make it easier to identify who's calling, Google will begin using Google Profile photos in early 2014, which will be displayed on incoming and outgoing calls with Android 4.4 KitKat.

Caller ID by Google is part of the new Phone app included with the latest version of Android, which now matches Google Places listings for businesses as well as looking up contacts from Google Apps domains.

Are you verified?

Beginning early next year, Caller ID by Google will also tap into Google Profile photos, making it easier for callers to identify themselves to other Android 4.4. KitKat users.

"Coming in early 2014, users who have verified their phone number and have discovery turned on will have their names and Google Profile photos display whenever they call you, or you call them," Bodis explains.

Google claims the feature is "great if a new friend who hasn't been saved in your contacts yet calls you," but not everyone will be thrilled to have their profile image broadcast with every call.

Google+ users are encouraged to "make sure you are happy with how you appear on caller ID" by visiting your Google Account - especially since the only opt-out seems to be removing verified numbers and/or turning discovery off.

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It's only a matter of time until we see 4K displays make their way into our pockets, and Samsung has revealed its intentions to bring the screen tech to smartphones in 2015.

The information was disclosed during Samsung's second ever Analyst Day, where the company predicted when displays with an eye popping 3840 x 2160, 4K resolution would land.

If 2015 is still too far off the Korean firm also has a treat for us in 2014, with WQHD displays on their way boasting a 2560 x 1440 resolution - or in other words, a 2K screen.

Samsung is said to be working on a 5.2-inch 560ppi 2K AMOLED panel for phones, which could give stunning clarity to everything on screen, but that will jump up even more when 4K comes in.

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The future's here

Looking forward then and there's a good chance the Samsung Galaxy S5 could be one of the first smartphones to sport a 2K display, while in the camera department the Korean firm is working on a 16MP snapper. Could this be S5 bound too?

Oh, and one last thing. You know that 64-bit A7 processor Apple has stuck in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2 ? Well Samsung is working on its own 64-bit core, with plans to ditch the ARM chips it's used previously.

In short, Samsung's smartphones are set to become more powerful with increasingly eye catching displays over the next couple of years. Are you ready?

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It seems the folks over at Sony are getting into the Christmas spirit a little early, announcing that owners of the Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra and Tablet Z can get their mitts on a range of digital goodies.

In this digital party bag comes access to 10 games and 5 movies, all completely free. Sony's offer also includes a 60 day free trial to its Music Unlimited service, available to those that have yet to sign up.

As with any promotion, there are obviously some stipulations, like owning one of the three aforementioned devices.

Sony Xperia Z owners need not apply

This means that those with the older Sony Xperia Z handset in their pockets miss out on the digital love sharing.

If, however, you are lucky enough to own an Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra or Tablet Z, picking up the offer is as simple as going through the Xperia Privilege app.

There are a few games titles from PlayStation Mobile, such as Hungry Giraffe, Tokyo Jungle Mobile and Ten By Eight, and some movie blockbusters including Elysium and The Amazing Spider-Man.

With a lot of competition coming from the five-star iPad Air and the superb HTC One and Samsung Galaxy Note 3, this could give Sony a much needed edge in the run up to December 25.

There's a new phone manufacturer on the block and it's not afraid to swear or pour scorn on phone-related "gimmicks": meet Kazam.

Not to be confused with the file sharing app Kazaa, beloved by teens of a certain late-90s era, Kazam was founded by two ex-HTC execs and launches with six phones up its sleeve.

The entire Android-running line up offers dual-SIM capability so you can have two numbers running from one handset - perfect for travelers, workaholics, drug dealers and serial adulterers.

Thunderation

The top end handset is the Kazam Thunder Q4.5. The 4.2-inch handset launches running Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and with 1GB of RAM to back it up.

There's 4GB of on board storage and a microSD slot for expansion, plus an 8MP autofocus rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-mounted snapper to boot.

Skipping down the specs ladder, the Kazam Trooper range comes in screensizes from 3.5-inches to 5.5-inches, offering dual-core processors, Jelly Bean and 5MP cameras all round.

What's more, Kazam is offering free screen replacement if you crack yours in the first year of phone ownership, which is nice, sure, but also a roundabout way of saying "Hey guys, our screens aren't all that durable, that cool?"

The company says it is "time to shake up the status quo and bring some fresh thinking to the world of smartphones", that fresh thinking being a belief that "ruthless logic is revolutionary".

If all that floats your smartphone loving boat, you'll be able to buy the phones in the UK before Christmas, apparently, although there's no word on pricing, release date, retailers, network deals or what company is actually manufacturing the handsets themselves as yet.

It's not clear yet if the handsets will make it to the US, Australia and beyond. We suspect not.

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Android 4.4 KitKat might have just launched with the Google Nexus 5, but as with seemingly all Android updates, other handsets are still waiting for the older software.

We reported the other day that Android 4.4 KitKat will arrive to HTC One handsets in January, but with many of HTC's flagships still running 4.2, the update to 4.3 should help to keep users happy over the Christmas period.

HTC's UK Twitter feed announced that the OTA update which also brings across the updated Sense 5.5 UI - the same UI as found on the HTC One Max.

Slowly but surely

As with all updates, these will hit network free handsets to start, with network providers still needing to run their own tests.

The updated Sense 5.5 brings across an improved version of HTC's BlinkFeed, with the ability to disable it. Other features include updated HTC Zoe, and the ability to make animated GIFs.

Android 4.3 also brings its own features, including multiple users, an updated keyboard and camera, and OpenGL:ES 3.0.

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