You've probably never heard of GT Advanced Technologies, but in future Apple devices, the firm could end up playing a major role.

The company, which provides crystal grow equipment and materials for consumer electronics, among other industries, announced today that it's signed a multi-year supply agreement with Apple to provide sapphire materials.

Sapphire has figured prominently in recent Apple products - the iPhone 5S' Touch ID fingerprint reader features a cut sapphire crystal cover and the iPhone 5 was the first to feature a sapphire crystal lens.

However, word on the street is Apple could use the resilient material in future touchscreens. It's first go at the tech has been rumored for the iPhone 6, presumed to release in 2014. Apple would certainly extend the hard yet crystal clear sapphire coating to its other product lines, including the next iPad.

Sapphire sharp

As part of the deal, GT will own and operate the equipment needed to produce sapphire at a new Apple plant in Arizona. The company is fast-tracking development of next-gen, large capacity furnaces "to deliver low cost, high volume manufacturing of sapphire materials."

Apple would have access to loads of this stuff on the cheap, ideal for mass production of millions of handsets, tablets and more.

The GT Advanced Technologies and Apple deal is still young, and with the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPad Air and iPad mini 2 with Retina display newly announced, we're a ways away from seeing scratch-resistant sapphire make it to next-gen Apple products.

Perhaps something prone to daily nicks and bruises may get a sapphire front first? Say, something like the iWatch?

• Get the low down on the iPad Air with our full hands on review.

Let's face it: Moto Maker is what sets the Moto X apart from all the other phones out there. OK maybe not entirely, but the customization options are an undeniable draw.

Previously only available on AT&T, a memo has surfaced online stating the Moto Maker feature will arrive on Sprint starting November 11.

Though the memo is questionable, Sprint's recent Moto X price cut indicates it might be priming the device for the holidays and hopefully other carriers won't be too far behind.

There's only a week left to find out if Sprint customers can give their Moto X a make-over, and honestly, it's about time Motorola spreads the love.

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• 'Moto G' makes Motorola site appearance before being pulled
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• Google's mystery barge is a pop-up chamber of secrets

Via Android Central

EE has switched on the UK's first LTE Advanced mobile network, a little over a year since it launched 4G in Britain - offering theoretical speeds of up to 300Mbps.

That's a considerably more than the 30Mbps top speed touted on its current 4G network and also easily eclipses the 60Mbps top speed offered by EE's double speed 4G, which is now available in 20 towns and cities.

It's worth taking note of those "theoretical speeds" though, as average usage is likely to come way below the quoted maximums. That said, it will still be darn quick.

Here's the catch

If those quoted speeds have got your heart racing then sit down and take a few deep breaths: it's not all good news. The LTE Advanced network has only be deployed in the Tech City area of East London and will be rolled out to the rest of the capital throughout 2014.

You won't be able to take advantage of these super speeds just yet either, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there are currently no handsets available in the UK which support this next-generation service.

Secondly, EE will be hand picking specific business partners to trial the service, predominantly through a mobile broadband offering rather than a mobile phone solution.

So when you can expect to be able to take advantage of LTE Advanced? Well EE reckons the first handsets will arrive in the UK in the middle of 2014, which is when it expects to be able to offer the service commercially.

In the meantime we're stuck with boring old 4G. Hmph.

• Confused? Here's everything you need to know on 4G and LTE

Shares in troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry have plunged to their lowest in a decade after the Canadian company failed to find a buyer.

BlackBerry's shares fell 17% on Monday evening to $6.43 on the Nasdaq after the company scrapped a $3 billion rescue bid from Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH), its largest individual shareholder. It will instead receive $1 billion investment from FFH and a group consisting of "Other Institutional Investors".

The investment, which has a seven-year term, is a loan that can be converted into BlackBerry common stock at $10 per share down the line. It means that the investor group could potentially own around 16% of the company.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, BlackBerry had been in talks with several companies including Cisco, Google, SAP, Lenovo, Samsung and Intel about selling parts or all of its units.

BlackBerry has also announced a change in leadership, with CEO Thorsten Heins leaving the company. John S Chen, who is taking over as executive chairman and will act as interim CEO, was formerly at the helm of software and services company Sybase, which was acquired by applications giant SAP in May 2010 for $5.8 billion.

Public affair

Remaining public could dent BlackBerry's chances of a turnaround, according to analysts. Ovum Chief Telecoms analyst Jan Dawson said: "Fairfax's investment will buy the company some time, which it badly needs, but the company needs a new strategy more than ever.

"If Fairfax had taken the company private, it could have kept that strategy to itself. But with BlackBerry remaining a public company, Chen and Fairfax Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa need to start communicating that new strategy very soon to inspire confidence in a turnaround.

The smartphone maker was name Canada's most valuable company in 2008 with a market value of $83 billion and peaked in 2011, shipping 51.5 million handsets. That fell to 32.5 million in 2012 and is expected to drop to 23 million in 2013.

Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system was the only of the 'big three' to experience growth in its UK market share during the last few months, a report published on Monday has claimed.

While still largely dominant over the chasing pack Apple's iOS (27 per cent) and Google's Android software (58.4 per cent) both experienced slight dips in their respective shares during Q3 of 2013, Kantar reports.

Windows Phone on the other hand boosted its share to 11.4 per cent, which is nearly three times higher than the 4.2 per cent it enjoyed this time last year.

The jump can be almost entirely attributed to improved sales of the rapidly expanding and improving Nokia Lumia range, as other manufacturers' interest in the platform has diminished rapidly.

Bigger than iPhone

That's not where the good news ends for Microsoft though. If the figures are accurate, it can now claim to be more popular than the iPhone in Italy.

Windows Phone enjoys a 13.7 per cent share of the Italian market compared with 10.2 per cent for iOS. Overall, across the entire region, Kandar reports around a 10 per cent share for Windows Phone.

The analysts expect Apple to bounce back strongly in the fourth quarter thanks to the launch of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in September, so Microsoft's is likely to give back a bit of ground.

Overall, the news is good for Microsoft as it continues its slow, but steady, progress. However, while offering up a "huzzah!" for Windows Phone, spare a thought for poor old BlackBerry. Its UK share is down to 3.1 per cent.

• BlackBerry isn't ready to disappear just yet, according to the company's new CEO. BlackBerry phones are here to stay, says John Chen.