LG’s first curved mobile, the LG G Flex, is on its way to Europe. The device, an Android Jelly Bean phablet with a slightly curved display, was announced late last month and was initially thought to be only slated for release in South Korea. However, Orange has confirmed that the G Flex will be launched …

With 4G only now starting to become commonplace, Huawei already has its eye on what comes next. The company announced on Wednesday that it is pouring $600m into 5G research over the next five years, ahead of the expected launch of 5G networks in 2020. Related stories Global Chip Shortage and $53B Subsidy Boosts US Manufacturing Your Phone Screen Is …

2013 appears to be the year of the alternative smartphone OS, with Tizen, Ubuntu Touch, and Firefox OS throwing their hats in the ring. By the end of this year, big name mobile operators like Telefonica and manufacturers including Samsung will have worked together to get devices running those operating systems into the market. But it’s not just the big …

French legislation that had caused an uproar for its approach to iTunes has finally entered the statute books–but the controversy continues. The law now in force is a watered-down version of a bill that had initially threatened to outlaw Apple Computer’s practice of using digital rights management technology with purchases made on the iTunes Music Store. Apple’s rivals can now …

Apple Computer has refuted claims by Norway’s consumer watchdog that it uses unfair practices by making its iTunes service incompatible with rivals’ systems. Norway’s consumer council complained to Apple earlier this year that iTunes’ lack of interoperability with digital-music players other than the iPod was not in the best interest of consumers. The watchdog said consumers must be allowed to …

France’s controversial copyright law, which had threatened to mandate interoperability between Apple Computer and rival online music players’ digital rights management, has been dealt a major setback as sections of the legislation are being ruled unconstitutional. The Dadvsi law, which had initially been intended to free digital music lovers from proprietary DRM, now could be doing the opposite. Changes to …

France has given the thumbs-up to the defanged version of a controversial law that would have forced Apple Computer to open up its iTunes digital rights management to players other than its iPod. The Dadvsi law, which originally included provisions to allow people to crack DRM protections and oblige Apple to interoperate with its rivals’ music download services and vice …

Illegal downloads are still beating legal online music in Europe, analysts say. According to a new report from analyst house JupiterResearch, consumers are three times more likely to get their digital music from illegal file-sharing networks than pay to download the tracks from online song shops such as iTunes and Napster, with 15 percent of consumers using P2P sites and …

High prices and digital rights management incompatibility are slowing the take-up of online music services in the United Kingdom, according to analyst firm IDC. Jason Armitage, senior research analyst at IDC’s European consumer devices unit, said that despite the rapid increase in the number of iTunes-style stores, the United Kingdom has yet to benefit from more choices or cheaper pricing. …

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details. LONDON–Napster President Brad Duea has criticized cellular operators that use the popularity of mobile music to exploit their customers. Speaking at Mobile Content World, Duea said consumers should only be charged once for their music–for whatever hardware they transfer it to. “Some operators want to force consumers to buy …