The BlackBerry Z10 was the first handset from the company formerly known as RIM, now renamed BlackBerry, to run its new operating system BlackBerry 10, and there was much more on the line here than simply making a few pennies – arguably the company's survival rested on the success of this device and the BlackBerry Q10.

It's no secret that BlackBerry is on the rocks, with the company even admitting that it hasn't been in the best shape of late, and the 4G toting Z10 was the start of what it hoped would be a successful revolution.

Since its launch in January the BlackBerry Z10 has received a few software updates which has seen things become more stable, plus the app store has also witnessed some new arrivals, so we've taken the time to update the keys parts of our review with the latest information.

In the UK the handset has witnessed a massive price drop since launch and you can pick up the Z10 free on contracts starting at £32 per month, while you'll need to fork out just £149.95 if you want it SIM-free.

Sporting a 4.2-inch 1280 x 768 display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and lower price tag, the BlackBerry Z10 finds itself jostling for position with the Nokia Lumia 925, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and iPhone 5C.

Lock eyes on the BlackBerry Z10 and you'll notice it's an unassuming slab of black glass and plastic that mimics the general aesthetical design of many a smartphone these days.

The Z10 is a little bezel-heavy with a sizable gap above and below the screen, and that's before we even get to the additional plastic chunks stuck on both ends of the handset.

It all seems a little unnecessary but luckily it doesn't make the BlackBerry Z10 overly cumbersome, with the handset measuring a comfortable 130 x 65.6 x 9mm (5.1 x 2.6 x 0.4 inches).

Weight wise the BlackBerry Z10 finds a happy medium – weighing 137.5g (4.85 oz), it's nowhere near as heavy as the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, yet it's not as feather light as the iPhone 5.

The weight gives it a reassuring presence in the palm and while the chassis is distinctly plastic, the handset's heft at least restores some form of premium feel.

Around the back you're greeted with a textured plastic rear that is slightly rubberised, providing a decent level of grip.

There are only a couple of things to note on the back of the BlackBerry Z10: the 8MP camera with a single LED flash, sat in the top-left corner, and the shiny metallic BlackBerry logo in middle.

We were pleased to find that the rear can be removed easily by placing a finger in the indented speaker grill at the base of the Z10, enabling us to simply peel off the plastic.

Underneath you'll find microSIM and microSD slots, with the latter capable of supporting cards up to 32GB in capacity, although we've been told that a future update may see this support boosted to the 64GB variants.

This means you can build nicely on the already decent 16GB of internal storage, which will appeal to many who have been put out by the likes of the iPhone range and HTC One, which don't offer storage expansion.

An added boon is the removable 1,800mAh battery, enabling you to switch out a dead battery for a fully charged one if you're someone who likes to carry multiple power packs around.

On the rear cover itself you'll notice the NFC pad, which enables the BlackBerry Z10 to interact with other compatible wireless devices.

On the right-hand side of the Z10, anyone familiar with the BlackBerry PlayBook will instantly recognise the triple button setup, with volume rocker switches separated by a central key – used for playing/pausing music and activating voice control when held down.

Up top you get a centralised power/lock key next to a 3.5mm headphone jack, while on the left there's a couple of handy connectivity ports.

The metal finish of the keys gives the handset a touch of class - if not a little sharp when you catch your finger on them - and all are well positioned, enabling us to reach them easily when using the Z10 one-handed.

The now standard microUSB port that features on pretty much every phone these days (bar the iPhone) is present, alongside a miniHDMI port. This enables you to connect the BlackBerry Z10 directly to a TV for big screen viewing.

There's no HDMI cable in the box so you'll need to pick one up separately, but there is at least a USB cable so you can hook the Z10 up to your computer.

The BlackBerry Z10 doesn't wow us with a new design, but it's a sturdy handset with a decent build quality and functional layout that makes it easy to handle.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Blimey Nexus 5, we were starting to wonder if we'd ever see you.

Now that Google has gone official with the Nexus 5, which is the first device to come packing Android 4.4 KitKat, the good news is that you don't have long to wait to get your hands on its chocolatey goodness.

So we've pulled together a list of networks and retailers who will be offering up the handset. Keep an eye on the list though, we'll be updating as we hear more...

• Nexus 5: Everything you need to know

Google Play Store

As expect, you can buy the Nexus 5 straight from the Google Play Store. It's available for £299 for the 16GB model in black or white, or £339 for 32GB.

Carphone Warehouse

Carphone was originally selling the Nexus 5 SIM-free. But sadly the retailer has informed TechRadar that it only had limited stock for SIM-free sales and they are now all gone. You snooze, you lose folks.

It's still stocking the Nexus 5 on pay monthly deals though, and for no cost if you join a £32 per month, two year 3G contract on O2.

That includes unlimited calls and texts and 1GB of data. Oh, you can get it on a 4G contract for £37 per month, which will lump on an extra 2GB of data fun.

O2

While Vodafone and EE aren't getting in on the Nexus action, O2 is offering the phone directly, but only in the larger 32GB variant.

Available on O2's Refresh tariff, the phone is free on a £32 per month deal, which gives you 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of data.

You can now also get it on PAYG, but don't do that - it's still £429.99, which is a tad expensive when you compare it with how much Google is offering it for.

Three

Data friendly network Three is also stocking the Nexus 5 and it has confirmed the handset will be supported by its 4G service which is due to roll out in December.

You can bag yourself unlimited data (plus 500 minutes and 5000 texts) on the Nexus 5 from just £29 per month, although you'll need to stump up £49 at point of sale.

The 16GB Nexus 5 is also available on PAYG, but at £399.99 it's extremely expensive so you'd be better off going via Google direct.

Phones4U

The Nexus 5 has popped up over at Phones4U, but it seems stock is hard to come by, as it's currently listed as 'unavailable'.

However, the great news for fans of funny finger shapes is that the Nexus 5 will be appearing back on the shelves shortly - it's just been nabbed by too many hungry fans.

Mobiles.co.uk

The 'secret' arm of Carphone Warehouse (as in, it's owned by the high-street retailer) has the Nexus 5 on most networks, and it's relatively cheap, starting at £17.94 on contract, although sadly there's no PAYG price.

MobilePhonesDirect.co.uk

A relatively similar deal here - with the phone costing £18 on a two year deal as the cheapest monthly option.

You can also pick up the phone SIM Free, but be warned: it's a pointless £454.99 to do it.

Source : techradar[dot]com

Apple is known for being a minimalistic company, but the number of assembly line workers it takes to build an iPhone is becoming increasingly complex.

The more intricate iPhone 5S is said to have 600 assembly workers on each production line at Foxconn manufacturing facilities, according a report by the Wall Street Journal.

"We have been churning out about 500,000 iPhone 5Ss everyday, the highest daily output ever," said an unnamed Foxconn executive to the paper.

By comparison, the less complicated, Touch ID-lacking iPhone 5 and the unapologetically plastic iPhone 5C are said to need 100 fewer workers. That's still a staggering 500 people per production line.

Wait times drop

With around-the-clock assembly lines producing one million iPhone 5S units every two days, the wait times for the new iPhone have dropped significantly.

You can now find an iPhone 5S in just about every Apple Store and it's available to ship within three to five business days online after quickly selling out at launch.

Even the once-precious gold model is readily available thanks to Foxconn's 500,000 a day figure, which is said to have put the plant at full capacity.

The supply has caught up to demand so much that we're starting to see certain retailers drop the price of the more expensive iPhone 5S ahead of Black Friday deals.

• iPhone 6 may let you refocus your photos using Lytro-like tech.

Source : techradar[dot]com

BlackBerry's BBM instant messaging service is becoming a little more social today thanks to the launch of its Twitter-like BBM Channels feature.

This update is available to all smartphone owners still wielding a BlackBerry after having been in beta since its debut in May, according to dedicated BlackBerry blog CrackBerry.

After downloading the newest version of BBM, Channels will give users the ability to follow and subscribe to other people or business' channels. Users can also set up and post to their own BBM Channels.

It effectively connects users to brands, proving that BlackBerry's messaging service is moving beyond peer-to-peer and group chats.

It's also a great way for BlackBerry to monetize its fledgling BBM service to businesses that want to market with targeted ads to BlackBerry users.

Coming to Android, iOS soon

As the company formerly known as RIM is getting its house in order by reshuffling its executive team, it's continuing to show interest in expanding its platform beyond BlackBerry devices.

To that end, BBM Channels is supposed to be "coming soon" to iOS and Android chatters.

Apple and Google hardware owners received a BBM app last month, and it was well-received with 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours.

BBM iPhone owners were particularly energized about the BBM app, which is set to expand with BBM Voice and Video within months.

BBM Channels alone may not be enough to right BlackBerry's ship, but it could make BBM an attractive spinoff in the future.

• Read: iPhone 6 may let you refocus your photos using Lytro-like tech

Source : techradar[dot]com

How do you follow up a phone like the HTC One? It was only the third smartphone to garner a highly coveted five star TechRadar review and the Taiwanese firm has got a job on its hands to repeat the trick with its successor.

HTC is working on something though, as a myriad of leaks, rumors and suggestive benchmark results worm their way onto the web - all of which appear to reference the "HTC M8."

Why is this significant? Well, the codename for the original HTC One during development was M7, so the M8 moniker makes logical sense for the firm's next flagship smartphone.

The handset won't launch under the M8 name however; there's actually a bit of confusion over the name HTC will give it after backing itself into a little bit of a corner with its "One" brand.

Currently HTC One Two is being bandied about, but we reckon that's more for convenience rather than a hard and fast name for the market.

With 2012's One X, One S, One V and then One X+ followed by the One SV and headline making One in 2013 it's not clear where HTC will go next.

The HTC One+ perhaps? Or how about the HTC One Magnificent?

Bear in mind we also have the One Mini and One Max - variations HTC will no doubt want to exploit with its next-gen flagship - and we're left scratching our heads.

One thing is for sure though, the HTC M8 is going to have some stiff competition as the Samsung Galaxy S5 will also be rocking up in 2014, along with the iPhone 6 later in the year.

We've rounded up all the latest M8 chatter from around the web to bring you the best picture of what you may see from the HTC One Two.

HTC M8 release date and price

We have seen a mention of the HTC M8 release date, with perennial leaker @evleaks tweeting that the handset would be with all four US networks by the "end of Q1 '14."

In other words the HTC One Two should be hitting stores before the end of March 2014, which pegs an unveiling earlier that month, or even in February - could there be a MWC appearance for HTC's next flagship?

There's no mention of a HTC M8 price just yet, but if it does transpire to be the next flagship handset it'll carry a hefty price tag - so you might want to start saving now.

• How will the M8 beat the five star HTC One?

HTC M8 display

Big screens are the order of the day for today's flagship smartphones and various reports seem to suggest HTC will build ever so slightly on the 4.7-inch display found on the One.

It looks like the M8 will pack a 5-inch display, although one report says it could go as big as 5.2 inches.

There's been a lot of talk around 2K and 4K displays on smartphones arriving in 2014, but if an Antutu benchmark result is to be believed HTC will stick to the same full HD, 1920 x 1080 resolution for the One Two.

The 5-inch, full HD screen has been echoed by @evleaks - a usually reliable source of upcoming phone leaks.

HTC M8 power

The HTC One arrived on the scene with a relatively decent 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, but things have advanced since then and numerous reports are all pointing to the same chip for the M8.

That processor is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 SoC, and benchmarking results points towards the quad-core chip being clocked at 2.26GHz - the same as the LG G2.

There was a rumor doing the rounds claiming that HTC was looking to boost the One to an octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM, but the handset never materialized - has it been held back for the M8?

Several other leaks are quoting 2GB of RAM, which would be the same as the HTC One - but still plenty to run Android.

For those of you who love gaming on your smartphone there's some potentially good news for you, as the M8 has also been linked to the Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU which will enhance the graphical output of the handset.

HTC M8 operating system

No surprises here, when the M8 finally launches under whatever moniker HTC has managed to bodge together you can be sure Android will be hiding under the hood.

The good news is that it's tipped to be the very latest version - Android 4.4 KitKat - and of course it will be coated in a heavy layer of HTC's Sense overlay.

• Android 4.4: Everything you need to know

Word is that the One Two will come with a brand spanking new version - Sense 6.0 - although we hope it doesn't deviate to much from 5.5, which we greatly enjoy.

If the details surrounding processor and RAM ring true then you can expect the M8 to run whatever version of Android it's rocking smoothly.

HTC M8 camera

HTC broke the cameraphone mould with the One as it introduced its Ultrapixel lens and proceeded to slap it on the Mini and Max variants of the handset as well.

The technology was met with mixed responses and questions were raised when the camera transpired to be equivalent to a 4MP snapper - albeit letting in a hell of a lot more light thanks to the larger pixels.

Some will be hoping HTC ditches the Ultrapixels tech in favor of the traditional megapixel approach and with the likes of the 41MP Lumia 1020 and 20.7MP Xperia Z1 on the market competition is fierce.

There's been little leaked on the camera front of the M8, but the one revealing benchmark result we keep referring to quotes the same front and rear cameras as the One.

HTC M8 chassis

Something which really made the HTC One stand out from the crowd was its all metal body - something only Apple had really fully embraced before, and it gave the handset a supremely premium look and feel.

A couple of images have already slipped out claiming to show the body of the HTC M8, and from first glance it appears almost identical to the One - no surprise, why change a winning formula?

The report reckons that HTC will keep the all metal body, but that the M8 will feature a slimmer form factor, making the handset even more pocketable - and hopefully a touch lighter too.

Source : techradar[dot]com