Skype struggles; Nokia evolves

The telecom industry is constantly evolving. Some companies seem to be falling out of favour and have performed poorly for various reasons lately.

Vodafone grabbed the headlines earlier this year following a break-in at its exchange centre in Basingstoke. The incident resulted in hundred of thousands of customers being affected. In addition, the telecom giant was recently in the firing line over claims that it escaped paying part of an outstanding UK tax bill, and at about the same time it received criticism for shutting down its phone network in Egypt during the pro-democracy protests. Another currently unpopular contender is Blackberry- that notorious accomplice of the London looters that did very little prevent riots spreading by refusing to temporary halt the Messenger service used by urban villains during the chaotic days in London in August 2011. Skype hasn’t had an easy ride either in the past few months. Following the much buzzed about Microsoft takeover, the service suffered a near fatal crash that had critics questioning the acquisition and so the future of the widely used communication tool.

Not so scandal-ridden but equally trying to keep head above water in the competitive market, handset producers are desperately trying to give the alpha contraption that is the iPhone a run for its money. HTC recently introduced the HTC Titan. Significantly, the handset is the first vendor to introduce smartphones that run the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. Making the handset even more appealing, it features a screen that measures 4.7 inches. Nokia is not lagging far behind and is soon to launch a new smartphone version called Symbian Belle. Also seeing growing potential in the affordable end of the market, Nokia has brought out two new handsets fitted with mini price tags- enter Nokia 100 and 101, the most budget friendly mobile phones yet.