Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has begun shipping its flagship N97 mobile phone in more than 75 countries, the company said today. The phone, which sports a touch screen and Qwerty keyboard, is meant to compete with Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry devices, sales of which ate into Nokia’s share of the…

By Jemima Kiss: Rupert Murdoch last night confirmed that charges for accessing Times Online or Sun Online content could start later this year.  “We’re absolutely looking at that,” he said in an earnings call last night, adding that changes will come in the next 12 months. “The current days of…

—Bebo Originals: Having blazed a trail long-narrative dramas like KateModern and Sofia’s Diary, Bebo is branching out to community-generated, short-form, reality-based formats. Original productions head Kelly Brett says (via C21Media.net) says she is keen to add more user-generated content to the long-running series - like Tom Thurlow, 19, whose self-made…

Well, that’s that. France’s largest carrier Orange has lost its bid to get its exclusive arrangement with *Apple* to sell the iPhone in France put back in place, after the Paris Appeal Court sided with the French Competition Council’s December ruling. At the time, the competition watchdog noted that Orange’s…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has quietly bought a 3.6 percent stake in Hertfordshire-based Imagination Technologies for £3.19 million, a move that may be designed to give it more control over iPhone graphics hardware. Apple was already thought to be using technology from Imagination, which deals in intellectual property for digital radio,…

In a move that France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) itself has called a “serious blow,” France’s Competition Council has temporarily suspended the agreement the firm has with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) that lets its French operator Orange sell the iPhone 3G exclusively. The competition watchdog said the ban, which takes effect on…

Nokia’s first mass-market phone with a touchscreen was always going to suffer from the inevitable iPhone comparisons. After using it for a week, I’ve concluded the XpressMusic 5800 is no iPhone killer - nor is it trying to be. Extending the hallmark Symbian S60 to accommodate touch interaction whilst leaving…

T-Mobile’s G1 smartphone with Google’s open-source Android platform will be available from UK T-Mobile shops from October 30, before going on sale across Europe - a slight advance on its initial “early November” estimate. The phone is free on contracts costing from £40 a month and comes with touch-screen, QWERTY,…

The BBC continues its push into mobile. The company announced on its blog that listeners of the BBC’s radio programmes will be able to download the shows on demand on an iPhone or iPod touch for up to seven days after broadcast. The downloads will be over WiFi, and will…

Carriers that caught the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) bug early and secured exclusive distribution rights for the iPhone are clamoring to maintain that position over competitors, but the pool of players is getting deeper. Britain’s O2 is now facing threats from competitors who might try to take advantage of a renegotiation…

Media player maker Archos is bringing its French movie download service to the UK, going head-to-head with the imminent European launch of iTunes Movie Rentals (via Pocketlint). Archos Movie Club lets users get two movies a month for one euro each plus a 19.99 euro monthly fee. They can transfer…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is making a big play for living room entertainment. Steve Jobs used Macworld to unveil a new iTunes Movie Rentals addition to iTunes Store and an update to Apple TV that will let customers rent the movies and more directly on the box without needing a computer.…

Music tracker and recommendation engine Last.fm today used the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to announce its first partnership with a hardware maker - and its first assault on socialising music away from the desktop. Logitech is adding the site’s Audioscrobbler software, which sends a list of played digital…

T-Mobile has announced it will now start selling iPhones with out a contract, for 999 euros (£713), as opposed to 399 euros (£285) with a two-year contract. Any customer can now have the SIM lock on their phone removed, reports the International Herald Tribune. This is in response to an…

So it hopes: Carphone Warehouse expects to sell 10,000 Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhones on launch day (Nov 9) in the U.K…Carphone has an exclusive third-party deal with Apple on the phone retail. The O2 phone will also be sold in Apple and O2 stores, and will go on sale at…

Consumer electronics firm Audiovox is buying French electronics maker Thomson’s non-European audio video business for $19.7 million. The sale includes the once-storied RCA brand, and includes DVD and MP3 players, under brands including RCA. The deal covers Thomson’s U.S., Canada, China and Hong Kong audio video unit. Audiovox will also…

US satellite operator EchoStar is buying “place-shifting” TV device maker Sling Media (see paidContent.org’s extensive coverage here). I caught up with Stuart Collingwood, the VP of Sling Media overseeing EMEA, to ask him about how the acquisition might impact Sling’s business in Europe. Sling has been steadily building up a…

EchoStar is acquiring Sling Media in a cash-and-options transaction valued at approximately $380 million. The deal was announced earlier tonight. The deal is subject to the usual closing conditions; it is expected to close in the fourth quarter. More on paidContent.org here. Sling is available for sale in UK, and…

Today, the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) train made a stop in Berlin, where CEO Steve Jobs and T-Mobile executives officially announced what everyone had already expected: T-Mobile will be the exclusive distributor for the iPhone in Germany. As with the UK, the phone will come out on November 9; it will…