If industry whispers are to be believed, then Apple is set to unveil its much-hyped iPhone 5 at a company event on September 12. And as you’d expect the rumour mill has been in overdrive as to what the Californian firm’s latest offering will entail.

Predictably Apple has not released any details about the iPhone 5, but rumours suggest that pre-orders for the new phone will start on the same date as the unveiling with stock shipping on September 21.

What is clear is that Apple will have to come up with something pretty spectacular given all the hugely impressive Android handsets that are now available or about to be released.

So what can we expect? Well, at this point it appears that the iPhone 5 will have a larger 4-inch screen compared to the 3.5-inch screen of the previous iPhones. It will also have a completely new design with an entirely new casing as we saw with the iPhone 3G and later the iPhone 4.

Reuters reported that Apple’s famous 30-pin connector is to become smaller to make room for a 3.5mm headphone jack at the base of the new phone. Other accounts have claimed that Apple will opt for a smaller 8-pin option over the current 30-pin port.

And of course it will come with 4G LTE connectivity, an improved rear camera and 1GB of RAM, although none of this is yet official.

Apple sold 26 million iPhones during the last quarter generating $16.2 billion, although this was down from 35.1 million in the previous quarter. The firm’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer noted that the continuing rumour and speculation around the release of the iPhone 5 has driven down sales as customers hang off purchasing new phones until the iPhone 5 is released.

To see for yourself the latest offerings from Apple head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, February 25-28. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona, organise all your entertainment needs and arrange transportation. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Finally Britons have been given the chance to join millions of Americans, Finns, South Koreans and Australians after Everything Everywhere was given the go ahead to deploy the country’s first commercial 4G network.

The giant operator, which is a merger of Orange and T-Mobile, will switch on its network in October. The new signalling standard for 4G networks, called Long-Term Evolution (LTE), will allow smartphone users to download data 10 times the speed currently allowed by 3G networks. Within a few years it is predicted that 4G will be around three times faster than the most expensive home broadband packages on offer.

The decision by Ofcom essentially gives Everything Everywhere a head start over rivals Vodafone and O2. The UK’s second and third largest carriers are not able to start using the new bandwidth until after a radio spectrum auction which is due to conclude in March of next year. They stated this week that the regulator had created a temporary monopoly in allowing Everything Everywhere to switch to 4G before they could. Ofcom countered, however, saying that the need to keep the UK in the digital race was more important than any complaints about competition.

Everything Everywhere has still not released details of how extensive its 4G coverage will be, but it is expected to take years before the whole of the UK is covered. Islands of 4G coverage will spring up around the major cities first, where investment is likely to be highest.

By 2015 almost the entire population should be able to use the new network as operators have agreed to 98 percent coverage across the country. However, for those who prefer their older handsets, the 2G networks will still be around for the foreseeable future. So good old fashioned text messages and regular phone calls still have some time before they are consigned to the history books.

For all the latest information on the world of 4G and other mobile-related news, head to the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, 25-28 February. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona. Or if you prefer, why not try one of our luxury yachts – the choice is yours. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

New details have emerged about the content of next year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 25-28 February at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

The GSMA have confirmed that the CEOs of AT&T, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Viber will give keynote speeches during the four-day event. These industry executives join previously announced speakers including the CEOs of Deutsche Telekom, Mozilla, Nokia, Vodafone Group, and Telecom Italia Group.

A programme of talks will cover topics such as “Mobile Operator Strategies”, “The Future of Communications”, “Operating in the Cloud”, and “Mobile in Media”.

Adding on to 2012’s successful Connected House exhibit, this year’s Mobile World Congress will feature Connected City, which will showcase all the latest cutting edge wireless technologies for the smart cities of the future. In addition, a Wireless Broadband Alliance Wi-Fi Zone will focus on next-generation hotspot migration, Wi-Fi roaming and offload and Wi-Fi and heterogeneous networks among other things.

Given the explosive growth of the apps market, App Planet will be back again this year featuring more product and service demonstrations, network opportunities and workshops from some of the biggest and most influential companies in the mobile apps market.

And this year’s mPowered Brands Programme will see GSMA and Leger Marketing team up to reveal the results of their 50-country citizen assessment on the importance of mobile technology on people’s lives. The assessment will focus on issues such as quality of life, individual productivity and shopping behavior among other things. The results will be shared at the mPowered Brands Theatre at the Mobile World Congress, so head down if you want to be part of the action.

Next year’s Mobile World Congress will be the biggest yet and will be housed in the state-of-the-art facility, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. For the best hotels, rented apartments and other accommodation choices contact EAS, your friendly local travel agents here in Barcelona. With our expert knowledge and experience we’ll make sure you have an unforgettable stay. We’ll even sort out your transportation and nightly entertainment needs, so click on this link to fill in our request form.

Samsung could be set to release its fourth-generation handset, the Galaxy S4, by March 2013 if the latest media reports are to be believed.

The new phone will be revealed at the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona according to The Korea Times, with the release date to be set shortly after.

Rumours on the new phone’s features are flooding the internet, but the general consensus is that it could once again be set for an upscale with a bigger screen reaching 5-inches – up from the current 4.8-inches of the Galaxy S3.

Other leaks suggest the handset will contain a revised quad-core processor, even more powerful than the current 1.4 GHz quad-core offering. It is also expected to include LTE connectivity and a significantly higher resolution camera than the current 8-megapixel. As with the current model it will run on Android.

“Samsung wants to keep its one-year product schedule and the Galaxy S4 will be the first to match that strategy,” a local Samsung partner reportedly told the Korean newspaper. “The S4 will see some external changes, but retain its popular rectangular shape with rounded corner concept.”

The launch of its next-generation Android device just nine months after the current Galaxy S3 model’s release is viewed as an attempt by Samsung’s to combat the unrivalled success of the iPhone 5. According to recent reports from Apple, the iPhone 5 has broken all records with the smartphone receiving a whopping 2 million advanced orders in its opening 24 hours on sale.

In August sales of the Galaxy S3 surpassed sales of the iPhone 4S for the first time in the US, although this milestone was followed quickly by the release of the iPhone 5.

For the latest information and offerings from Samsung head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona. For all your accommodation needs in the city look to EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We have rooms in all the best Barcelona hotels and most centrally located apartments. We’ll organise your transportation, nightly entertainment and make sure your stay is as stress free as it is unforgettable. Click on this link to fill in our request form.

More news out of Korea this week suggests that Samsung could be working on its own mobile browser.

Reports coming from the Electric Times claim that Samsung has been trying to recruit WebKit developers to replace the browsers on its smartphones with an in-house solution. WebKit is the open-source engine used to produce many web-browsers including Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome.

The fact that Apple and Google already have their own web-browsers means that news of Samsung’s desire to break into the browser market comes as no surprise. The advantage of mobile browsers is that unlike web-browsers, the version that is pre-loaded onto the mobile is the one consumers normally use.

A Samsung browser would go head-to-head with Google’s Chrome and might help the company differentiate its product if the browser proves to be a competitive and effective alternative to other handsets.

Meanwhile Samsung is preparing to release its Galaxy Note 2 in Europe starting on October 1. The tablet hybrid (or phablet), which was formally unveiled at the IFA show in Berlin last month, comes with Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile operating system, in addition to a 1.6GHz quadcore processor and an 8-megapixel rear-end snapper.

There is also a stylus on-board, dubbed the S Pen, which can be used to construct emails and control the integrated planner, as well as a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera which can be used for Skype. The phone also features a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display.

For all the latest Samsung news and product launches head to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, February 25-28. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona, organise all your entertainment needs and arrange transportation. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

It’s good news for Samsung as the South Korean firm posted quarterly profits of an incredible $7.4 billion through July-September.

This is now the fourth consecutive quarter that the firm has posted record profits. The latest figures are up 91 percent on last year’s figures thanks to increasing sales of Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones and strong demand for its display panel units.

The firm revealed that sales of its flagship Galaxy SIII smartphone was the key driver in raising profit margins. Although the company did not state how many handsets it shipped during Q3 2012, Reuters put the number at around 58 million during the three-month period. Sales of the firm’s display panels were also up 19 percent on the previous year.

Despite the good news the company’s shares fell 2 percent in Seoul following the earnings announcement. Analysts said investors were worried that increased competition may result in firms having to lower their prices to attract buyers while spending more on their marketing campaigns, which would dent profits.

This does not seem to be worrying Samsung, however, which raked in more than half of its profits from its mobile communications business. The company believes that its Galaxy SIII and Galaxy Note II smartphones will help it sustain its earnings momentum into the final quarter of the year.

The company also revealed that it plans to act more aggressively to increase its share of the tablet market next year. “The tablet market is going through a very significant change. The release of mini tablets that are between the size of smartphones and standard tablets could open up a new growth area next year,” explained vice presidents Kim Hyun-joon and Robert Yi.

For more news on Samsung and other leaders in the world of mobile technology don’t miss out on next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 25-28. For the best in accommodation, arranged transportation, hotel recommendations, and anything else you can think of to make your stay in Barcelona one to remember, look no further than EAS, the travel agent you can trust. With our expert local knowledge we can source rooms in the best hotels, find you the most centrally located apartments, organise airport transfers and other transportation needs, and even arrange yacht and aircraft charters. Click on this link for more information.