As Mobile World Congress 2015 comes closer, rumors of what phone manufacturers have in store gain traction. The last one concerns Huawei and what the company has in mind for MWC 2015. According to HDBlog.it, we're going to see the company reveal a more compact version of the Ascend Mate7.

More specifically, the phone will have a 5.5" display, which will strategically position it between the Ascend Mate 7 and its 6" display and the soon-to-be-announced Ascend P8, which is believed to have a 5" screen.

The company is unlikely to reveal the aforementioned flagship at MWC 2015, since it is preparing a special event for the Ascend P8. Rumor has it, the event is going to be held in Europe in Q2 2015.

There are no specifications other than the screen size for now. The Ascend Mate 7 comes with a HiSilicon Kirin 925 chipset and a 13MP camera, so we guess Huawei could also be packing its mini version with similar hardware.

One thing is certain, don't expect a QHD resolution in the upcoming Huawei smartphone, as battery life is of top importance to Huawei's…

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Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa is in talks to acquire its second UK carrier, O2. Currently owned by Spanish outfit Telefonica, O2 may go for £9.25 billion with up to £1 billion to be paid later.

Hutchison already owns Three and the potential merger between the two carriers will push it above the current leader EE, making it the biggest UK carrier with 32 million users. EE itself was eyed for acquisition by British Telecom, a deal that could reportedly cost £12.5 billion.

Anyway, the talks started on Friday and nothing has been decided yet, the negotiations will continue for several weeks. If successful, the deal will take the number of leading UK carriers from four to three, which will require a regulatory approval.

Telecom expert Ernest Doku fears the reduced competition will lead to an increase in prices for users. That aside, the stocks of both Hutchison Whampoa and Telefonica went up after the…

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Samsung is hard at work expanding its device lineup. During the last few months it became clear that the Korean tech giant is starting a brand new A-series lineup, an E-series, as well as a J-series. The A lineup already has two members- the Galaxy A3 and the Galaxy A5, both of which we have reviewed in depth here and here, respectively. Similarly, two mid-ranged E devices have been announced, but are still unavailable – Samsung Galaxy E5 and Galaxy E7. And as for the J line, we have only seen glimpses of an entry-level device, dubbed the Galaxy J1.

A few interesting trademark links came to our attention today, which seems to further prove that Samsung is keeping busy with the new smartphone lineups. And although a reserved name definitely does not equal a new handset the links are indicative of the manufacturer's intention to broaden the new families.

It appears that the Galaxy E5 will be getting a smaller brother, presumably under the name Galaxy E3, whine the J series will be expanded upwards with the Galaxy J3, J5, and J7.

Presumably all of the future devices will bear similar design ant technical specifications to their respective siblings and differ in size, but at this point in time Samsung has simply acquired the copyrights to a set of Galaxy names and really anything else is pure speculation. What is your take on the future of the manufacturer's expanding lineup and what do you think the new devices should bring to the table in order to compete in the increasingly overcrowded mobile scene.

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Xiaomi's large success last year was in large part due to the manufacturer's latest device lineup with successful handsets like the Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Redmi Note and the Redmi 2. The latter is an extremely affordable device, priced at around $100. Xiaomi has realized its appeal and news has just surfaced that an upgraded version is already in the works. The original model is powered by a 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 SoC, has 8GB onboard memory, a 4.7-inch HD display, 1GB of RAM and even offers LTE connectivity.

The new improved version has popped-up on TENAA – the Chinese certification authority and it seems to be very similar to its predecessor, but with two very important changes. First of all the RAM has been bumped-up to 2GB, which is a lot more adequate on today's mobile scene. Storage is also doubled at 16GB, which is also a necessity given the growing requirements of a lot of Android apps.

Other than that the new Xiaomi Redmi 2 looks pretty much unchanged. It is equipped with the same set of cameras – an 8MP main shooter with LED flash and a 2PM front one. The device will probably ship with the same Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS as well, coupled with MIUI V6 on top.

If Xiaomi manages to keep the original tantalizing price tag the improved hardware might just rekindle the handset's popularity and prove to be a really smart move in terms of competing with rivals, like the Meizu M1 Mini, for example. With certification already passed the new Redmi 2 should hit consumer markets really soon and take its place among the premium Xiaomi Mi Note and Mi Note Pro models to complete the company's current lineup.

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Current record holder for slenderness in the smartphone world Vivo X5 Max is likely going to be dethroned this year by the recently announced Ivvi smartphone. Vivo, on the other hand, is set on spreading the thinness hype across its lineup.

Vivo X5 Max L

The Vivo X5 Max L (mind the L) is a more affordable version of the X5 Max, marginally thicker at 5.1mm. The Snapdragon 615 of the X5 Max has been replaced by a Mediatek chip with a CPU ticking at 1.7GHz. Those two items sum up the changes, TENAA certification reveals.

A quick rundown of the rest of the innards lists a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM as well as 16GB of expandable internal storage. A 13MP/5MP imaging combo is on board for recording priceless moments.

Market availability will likely be limited to its China homeland and other countries on the Asian continent. Price is unknown so far.

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The absence of Motorola on the dynamic and ever-growing Chinese market has surely been felt, considering that the brand has had a long and successful history of operation in that region. After the major Moto acquisition by Lenovo last year the official plan was to limit availability to counties, where Lenovo' own smartphones aren't so well received and seeing how this is not the case on its native turf in China odds where that the Moro lineup was destined to miss the sprawling market completely.

This morning however, Rick Osterloh, the company's president, announced that Moto devices are officially hitting the Chinese market. Initial plans state that the lineup will include three smartphones – the Moto G 4G, Moto X 2014 and something dubbed the Moto X Pro, which is essentially a rebranded Nexus 6.

Motorola also plans to introduce the Moto Hint Bluetooth earpiece, the Moto 360 smartwatch, along with the Moto Maker phone customization service.

As far as availability goes The Moto X will hit the market shortly with sign-ups for the Moto G and Moto X Pro, which will most probably be available after the Chinese New Year on February 19. The Moto 360 will also come later.

Motorola promises to approach the new market with the same high level of customer service and aims to offer users "the most personal smartphone ever". Product Marketing VP Steve Sinclair, reiterated that by stating that: "When you buy a Moto phone, we don't forget about you".

Motorola has a pretty good track record of delivering speedy and stable updates to the Android platform. This, coupled with a central focus on improving productivity and general performance of devices with a only a thin software layer and an otherwise pure Android approach is a formula that has brought a lot of market success to the US company in the past. Whether or not this will roll-over to the new eastern market is anybody's guess, but Motorola seems to have all the right ingredients to…

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Microsoft is continuously expanding its smartphone portfolio, and after the low-end Lumia 435 and Lumia 532 of late, the midrange is due for a refreshment. The future smartphone with an model designation RM-1072 will be a cheaper alternative to the current Lumia 830.

Nokia Lumia 830

The hardware of the new device will be very similar to that of the Lumia 830. Display size and resolution are identical at 5 inches and 1280×720 pixels. The familiar but somewhat dated Snapdragon 400 chipset will provide processing power. RAM, while unspecified, is likely going to be 1GB as recent devices even in the budget segment came with that amount. Built-in storage will be 8GB with the option for microSD expansion.

The camera department marks a notable difference. The main imager on the back will be an 8.7MP unit, putting the new device smack in the middle between the Lumia 735 and Lumia 830. A basic 720p snapper will be on the front, adequate for Skype video calls.

The RM-1072 has passed certification in Indonesia on January 5 and its official unveiling appears imminent. A dual SIM version will also be available. The new device is expected to carry a $275 price tag upon…

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The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which launched in the US back in November, will be available in Canada soon. While there’s no word on the price and availability date, the device is up for pre-order on Best Buy, with the listing suggesting that both Roger and Bell will be offering it.

As most of you would probably know, the key selling point of the Galaxy Note Edge is the curved display present on its right edge, effectively doubling as a secondary screen that can be used for a variety of purposes such as displaying notifications and housing media-player controls.

The smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 805 chipset with 2.7GHz Krait 450 quad-core processor and Adreno 420 GPU. It sports a 5.6-inch 1600 x 2560 Super AMOLED display, 16 MP front camera, and 3.7 MP rear snapper. The device comes with 3GB of RAM, 32/64GB of internal storage (which can be expanded up to 128GB via MicroSD card), and runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

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Around 75% of the application processors that would power the next generation iPhone will be supplied by Samsung, according to a report from South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, which cited unidentified sources in the semiconductor industry.

While there was no word on the financial details of the deal, as well as which other companies, apart from Samsung, will be supplying the processors, a Reuters report noted that the South Korean company will manufacture the chips in its factory in Austin, Texas.

Samsung was the company behind the A7 SoC that powered the iPhone 5S, which Apple launched back in 2013. However, the Cupertino-based company ditched Samsung in favour of Taiwan-based TSMC for its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

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Samsung will manufacture the Tizen-based Z1 smartphone in India. The Korean giant launched the affordable device in the country earlier this month.

The device’s manufacturing process will take place in Samsung’s Noida facility in India. The company’s Vice President of Marketing for India confirmed the news.

Targeted a first-time smartphone buyers, the dual-SIM Samsung Z1 is priced at Rs 5,700 (about $93). According to industry sources, the Korean giant has sold about 50,000-55,000 units of the handset since its launch in mid-January. This is a stellar achievement for the Tizen device considering the highly competitive price segment it inhabits.

Samsung will soon launch the Z1 in Bangladesh. The device is not likely to make it to more mature global markets.

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