Samsung is expecting to report a massive 73 per cent jump in profits for the last quarter of 2011, thanks largely to record smart phone sales, the BBC reports. The South Korean tech monster reckons it racked up operating profits of £2.9bn in the last three months of last year, spurred on by the success …

Sprint Nextel plans to streamline its operations and oust several executives in a move to simplify its business The company will combine the sales and marketing duties for its business and consumer operations, a Sprint representative confirmed to CNET. The move will lead to departure of four key executives. Reuters earlier reported the news, citing a company memo. By combining …

A white version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be arriving soon, satisfying our lust for pearlescent versions of existing gadgets. The winter-hued Nexus will be arriving in two weeks, according to Expansys, though other online retailers such as Clove and MobileFun are giving dates of 6 February. Expect to splash out about £500 for the privilege of nabbing the …

Those of you lucky enough to live in the land of the mugged and not appreciated will be glad to hear that O2 is rolling out a massive free Wi-Fi zone across the London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea. The deal has been struck in partnership with Westminster City Council, and the fancily titled Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. …

Apple could be plotting to squeeze Thunderbolt ports into upcoming mobile gadgets such as the iPhone 5 or iPad 3. Patently Apple spied an Apple patent that hints at that very eventuality. The patent, which is one of three new Thunderbolt patent applications from the Cupertino tech giant, details how a connection could be established with mobile devices. “A connection …

Cell phones and smartphones aren’t the only things that phone makers like Samsung sell. The occasional accessory also sneaks out to complement those phones. Just days before the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung is releasing not one, but six. Four new wired headsets and two new Bluetooth headsets make their debut, ranging from $20 up to $130. …

The second largest wireless carrier–and only official iPhone carrier–in China is offering the iPhone 4S for free when customers sign up for a multiyear contract. According to a report by Bloomberg, China United Network Communications Group (China Unicom) is offering monthly rates for as low as $45 USD in an attempt to get customers locked in to a three-year service …

Apparently, Nokia isn’t content with just two mobile operating systems. The Finnish handset giant scooped up Smarterphone, a small Norwegian company that has an operating system designed for more basic cell phones, known in the industry as feature phones. The acquisition was disclosed by Smarterphone’s Nordic investor parent, Ferd Capital. A Nokia representative confirmed the acquisition but declined to comment …

Now playing: Watch this: Ep. 205: CES 2012 Preview 41:23 Dialed In #205: CES 2012 Preview In this edition of Dialed In, we chat about what slick smartphones and other cool mobile gear we expect to see at the upcoming CES 2012 trade show in Las Vegas, from Android Ice Cream Sandwich to new Windows Mango handsets from Nokia. Bonus: …

Ongoing legal battles over patents and tough competition are hurting Motorola’s sales and profits, the company said Friday. After the market closed on Friday, the company reported that sales fell short of expectations in the fourth quarter of 2011. The company estimates sales of about $3.4 billion for the quarter with modest profitability on a non-GAAP basis. Analysts had expected …

Fancy firing up Android apps on your telly? You could do just that with the LG’s Google TV, the first  telly to use the system announced for the UK. Google TV puts Google in your gogglebox by using Android — Google’s mobile phone and tablet software — to run your telly. Sadly, although it’s the first to be officially confirmed …

In a recent patent application uncovered by The Apple Blog, Apple has detailed a system for allowing your power adapter to become a security key for your password recovery process. Screenshot by The Apple Blog In basic terms, should you forget your password, an onscreen recovery application would prompt you to plug in your specific power adapter to confirm your …

Research in Motion is reportedly putting its eggs into one BlackBerry 10 basket. The beleaguered BlackBerry maker scrapping a few projects and focusing on a single BlackBerry 10 smartphone, codenamed London, according to a report from Boy Genius Report. The phone looks similar to the one that The Verge reported on in November. A RIM representative wasn’t immediately available to …

Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET The Galaxy Nexus could be making its way to Sprint Nextel’s upcoming 4G LTE network. An advertisement that was accidentally published on one of CNET’s Consumer Electronics Show pages showed off the Galaxy Nexus, currently only on Verizon Wireless, as a phone that will run on Sprint’s 4G LTE network. To ensure no confusion with its …

An embarrassing number of tablets from 2011 should never have been made. No one was safe, not even big manufacturers like HP and RIM. In hindsight, it might have been smarter for some companies to just put their half-baked designs back in the oven. Sure, it might cause some short-term embarrassment. Stockholders would be left puzzled. Products would miss their …