It's been a long time coming, but BlackBerry Messaging could finally be launching on iOS and Android.

The company formerly known as Research in Motion published the manuals for BBM on iOS and Android online before promptly taking them down, reports Pocketnow.

Those who caught a glimpse say the manuals featured instructions for sending messages and voice messages and references to location services and statuses.

The site reports that screen sharing, voice communication, and video will be there eventually as well, though not at first.

All signs point to BBM

Earlier this year word was BBM would arrive on iOS and Android by the end of the summer.

It may seem unlikely, but there's still about a week left for that to hold true.

Earlier this month BBM for Android entered internal beta at BlackBerry, and in July a BB exec said it would arrive on Google's mobile OS by the end of September.

This month a press release even claimed that BBM for Android will arrive "soon" - but only on Samsung's Galaxy S4, and only in Africa.

There's been even less word on BBM for iOS, but all signs seem to point at the fact that both versions of the BlackBerry Messaging app are still on their way.

Whether anyone still cares is a different question, and one that will only be answered when it finally comes out.

• Could BBM on iOS actually save BlackBerry? TechRadar asks the important questions.

It's been a long time since we received any official word on Tizen, the open source smartphone OS based on Linux.

Unofficial word will have to do, then, and the blog Tizen Indonesia has just that.

Samsung will launch Tizen officially at its first global developer conference at the end of October in San Francisco, according to the site.

Given all the times we've expected Tizen to be right around the corner and not heard a peep, though, we'll believe it when we see it.

Conflicting reports

We've asked Samsung to clarify whether Tizen will indeed launch in October, and we'll let you know if they give us anything concrete.

As early as fall 2012 we thought Tizen was about to drop, as sources were claiming Samsung's first Tizen phone was due "in the near future."

Turns out their definition of "near" may be different from ours, since it's been a year with nary a peep on the Tizen front.

Reports last month claimed that Tizen will launch anywhere from IFA 2013 in September to this year's holiday season, a much longer wait than we would have thought even at our most pessimistic.

It's definitely still happening, unless Samsung has changed its tune since July, when the Korean company and Intel (another Tizen proponent) announced a $4 million app incentive for Tizen developers.

It will be interesting to see what kind of results they got when the OS finally launches.

• While Samsung may turn to Tizen, the HTC One has finally launched on Verizon!

Sony looks certain to abide by its recent preference for making mobile gadgets resistant to the wet stuff, judging by a Twitter teaser posted to the social network on Friday.

The Japanese company is expected to unveil its next flagship device, the Xperia Z1 (previously known as 1i and Honami) at an event prior to the the IFA tech show, which gets underway in early September.

With that in mind, the company tweeted: "About to make a splash... #bestofSony," accompanied by a photo showing liquid falling on the slim device we've seen appear in previous teasers and leaked snaps.

Of course, if the Xperia Z1 arrives able to withstand the odd accidental dunk in the toilet bowl, it wouldn't be a surprise. Both the Xperia Z and Xperia Z Ultra were also IP57 and IP58 certified respectively.

4K making the headlines?

Indeed, unless the device becomes waterproof to 200m or something equally ridiculous, the phone's resistance to the elements is unlikely to be a headline-maker when it is announced on September 4.

The Xperia Z1 has been tipped to tout a powerful 20-megapixel camera and the ability to capture 4K video support, making it the first smartphone to boast that functionality.

It's also expected to arrive with a 1080p, Full HD 5-inch display (or Reality Display as Sony likes to call it).

• Judging by these reportedly leaked test photos, Honami's 20-megapixel camera might be pretty special

Despite Samsung's recent attempts to delay a November retrial to resolve two lawsuits with Apple, the Federal judge overseeing those cases says enough is enough, the show must go on as scheduled.

Foss Patents today reported that Judge Lucy Koh is ready to wrap up a pair of Apple v. Samsung lawsuits once and for all, clearing the way for a limited damages retrial scheduled for November.

A case management order filed Thursday evening effectively denies two Samsung motions which would have held up the resolution of its most high-profile legal scuffles with Apple in the Northern District of California.

Apple's legal team has been quoted as saying "[t]his case is within striking distance of a true final judgment," and it appears that Judge Koh agrees with that sentiment.

Monkey wrenches

According to the report, a pair of Samsung motions filed in July were little more than a method of throwing "a monkey wrench or two into the works of Apple's pursuit of actual, enforceable remedies for infringement."

The first motion attempted to convince Judge Koh that Apple violated court orders by seeking "vastly greater damages" for the 13 infringing products that are the focus of the November retrial.

Samsung also filed a motion seeking a new trial to determine its liability over U.S. Patent No. 7,469,381 - better known as the "rubber-banding" patent, and one that has racked up a number of Apple victories all around the globe.

Judge Koh's case management order sets a jury trial for November 12, with a pretrial conference to be held October 17; Samsung will also get one last shot to derail the retrial during a motion hearing to be held in early October.

• Sony sets a date: Find out when you can buy the new PlayStation 4!

I'm excited. Really excited. I'm looking at my watch constantly – not because I'm counting down to something, but because I'm trying to get my money's worth before it gets chucked.

Because I just know that in the next few months I'm going to be waving my left arm around like a newly engaged bride waves her finger about, showing off my Samsung Gear smart watch and inviting (if not subtly, then with a smack in the face) people to say 'Ooooh, what's that?'

Yes, I'm traveling ahead in time and jumping the gun, I know, I know. But we're all aware it's coming and, along with the rumoured Apple iWatch, it's going to be a great time for wearable tech, and as a mad runner, I can't wait to replace my Jawbone UP with something that not only keeps a track of every pace but also gives me discreet alerts and adds extra functionality to my tablet and smartphone experience.

Don't look back in anger

I shouldn't need to be excited though - we should have loads of smart watches on the market already, with the market littered with concepts that petered out into abject failure.

The obvious one: the Pebble. Pebble fans are a diehard lot, and you won't find many that will admit they may as well have changed their Kickstarter funding into coins and thrown them into wishing wells, although that probably would have yielded the same result.

I'm talking from experience here. I bought a Pebble earlier this year. It was one of those moments when I sat on eBay with a glass of wine (times three) and days later a plain cardboard box turned up.

Not only did it look clunky and horrible, but the integration with apps was awful. You'd get numerous notifications, but only the top one would work and the screen was pretty crap. It went back on eBay the next day.

Clock up the miles

But why has it taken even this long? The idea of a smart watch on a wrist has been around for decades. So why has it never really taken off. Does it mean even the technology behemoths of Apple and Samsung are doomed to fail?

The biggest chance came from LG about three years ago. Never known for being too conservative, the LG GD910 (and what a slick name) was when the firm was arguably going through its wackiest phase.

See through keypads, widescreen slabs and then a watch phone. But it was totally screwed up by two things: firstly, the fact that you could get yourself to Disneyland for the same price and secondly, you couldn't actually use the damned thing without fingers as small as pins.

It wasn't a smart watch (i.e. a device that complements the phone) but a watch phone. A watch. And a phone. In one. Independent of anything else.

It meant that texts, calls and some of the other tasks you need a larger screen with were just useless. And it ran LG's proprietary OS. Pointless. Yuk.

So now it's all change. It's the chance to make things that look sleek, fit as neatly on the wrist as a standard digital timepiece, but one imbued with the best bits of our favourite gadgets.

Like most boys, I have a dream of looking like Dick Tracy with a cool little timepiece that secretly lets me do more than tell what o'clock it is. Trouble is, the current crop leaves the user looking less Tracy and more just Dick.

Don't screw it up, eh?

I've reviewed dozens of phones and tablets for TechRadar over the years – each time putting them through their paces in the most unbiased, rigorous way possible.

But as well as being a professional, I have a love/hate relationship with tech, and that's what these columns are all about: the passionate howlings of a true fanboy. Tell me why I'm right, wrong or a hopeless idiot in the comments below or by tweeting @techradar or @phillavelle.