Telcos to physically verify SIM buyers address

MUMBAI: Buying a sim card, hitherto a fairly painless task, is set to get more complicated. In a high-level meeting convened by joint commissioners Himanshu Roy and Sadanand Date on Monday, the police laid down a new rule: that subscribers' addresses be physically verified before they are sold a sim card by mobile companies or retailers. They also suggested a number of additional security measures such as the setting up of CCTV in shops and recording the voices of subscribers when their sim cards were activated.

"A huge number of sim cards are being bought under fictitious names to carry out terrorist activities in India," said Roy. "We asked mobile service providers to follow the telecom ministry's stringent guidelines prescribed on August 9, 2012."

Cops rue cell service providers' laxity 

Joint police commissioners Himanshu Roy and Sadanand Date on Tuesday briefed mobile service companies on the government guidelines to prevent misuse of sim cards. The meeting was attended by the representatives of over a dozen mobile service providers.

Google Android powers 68% smartphones sold in 2012: IDC

WASHINGTON: Google's Android operating system will power more than two-thirds of smartphones sold worldwide in 2012, and will remain the dominant platform for at least the next four years, a survey showed Tuesday.

The survey by the research firm IDC showed Android will be the platform for 68.3 percent of smartphones shipped in 2012, far ahead of 18.8 percent for the iOS platform used on Apple's iPhone.

"IDC forecasts Android to be the clear leader in the smartphone mobile operating system race, thanks in large part to a broad selection of devices from a wide range of partners," the market tracker said.

"Samsung is the leading Android smartphone seller though resurgent smartphone vendors LG Electronics and Sony, both of which cracked the top five smartphone vendors during the third quarter, are not to be overlooked. IDC believes the net result of this will be continued double-digit growth throughout the forecast period."

Galaxy S III outsells Apple iPhone 5 in UK

For a seventh consecutive month, the Samsung Galaxy S III is the most popular smartphone in the United Kingdom. The data compiled by uSwitch is based on live searches, pre-orders, as well as postpaid sales.

Curiously, Apple's current smartphone flagship is not even second. The iPhone 5 is outperformed by its predecessor, whose lower price and improved contract offers helped it remain appealing. The Samsung Galaxy S II completes the quartet at the top.

Jelly Bean update is now available on AT&T Galaxy S III

AT&T owners of the Galaxy S III, rejoice! The wait is finally over - the Jelly Bean update for your favorite droid is now available.

Unfortunately, there is no over-the-air option for now, and you will have to use Kies to get the update. Just install the latest version of Samsung's proprietary software, connect your Galaxy S III and check for updates. It should be there waiting for you.

After the update procedure is done, your Galaxy S III will be running on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and the latest TouchWiz UI on top of it. If you want to learn about every new feature coming with the update just head over to our review.

This makes AT&T the third major US carrier to release Jelly Bean to its Galaxy S III units, after Sprint at the end of October and T-Mobile last month.

Verizon is the last one left, as the procedures required to approve the update for distribution are obviously more tedious at the Big Red. We are hoping they will be over soon, though.

Cracking News- Nokia sells its HQ in Finland, to stay there on a lease

Nokia's financials aren't what you'd call great lately, and as a result the company is selling its headquarters building in Espoo, Finland for €170 million.

The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, but the company has no plans to move out afterwards. Instead it will lease it back and continue its operations there. The building offers 48,000 square meters of office real estate and has been housing Nokia's HQ since 1997.

Here's what the chief financial officer of Nokia, Timo Ihamuotia had to say.

We had a comprehensive sales process with both Finnish and foreign investors and we are very pleased with this outcome. As we have said before, owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets. We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis.

Nokia is obviously in dire need of money and is trying to cash in on just about everything valuable it holds. In June the company sold its Vertu subsidiary and now its the HQ turn to go. Hopefully, the cash will help the company continue normal operating until the WP investment pays off. That Q4 report will make for a pretty interesting read.