Microsoft's purchase of Nokia's phone business gets Chinese approval

Nokia has received approval from Chinese authorities to sell its mobile phone business to Microsoft Corp, it said on Tuesday, and added there had been no request for it to change its patent practices.

Nokia agreed in September to sell the business to Microsoft in a 5.4 billion euro deal. However, the Finnish company kept its patent portfolio, which is seen by analysts as a promising source of future growth.

Nokia said that it still expected the Microsoft deal to close in April.

"Nokia and Microsoft have now received regulatory approvals from the People's Republic of China, the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous other jurisdictions," Nokia said in a statement.

Nokia shares rose 2.9 percent to 5.48 euros after the approval was announced.

As a phone maker, Nokia has paid rivals for the use of their technology licences as well as charging for its own. A newly restructured Nokia would be freer to push up those fees, analysts say.

Google and Samsung had asked Chinese regulators to ensure that the deal with Microsoft would not lead to higher licensing fees, according to media reports.

But Nokia said that it had not been accused of unfair practices regarding its patents.

"No authority has challenged Nokia's compliance with its undertakings related to standard-essential patents or requested that Nokia make changes to its licensing programme or royalty terms," it said in the statement

Nokia celebrates 20th birthday of its iconic ringtone

Nokia, the Finnish smartphone maker, is celebrating the 20th birthday of its iconic ringtone. The famous patent tone, which debuted in the year 1994 on the Nokia 2110 handset, is till date found as a ringtone on the company's Lumia and Asha range of handsets.

"Naturally, there have been many different versions of the Nokia ringtone as the technology has advanced over the years, but the melody always remains the same," stated Nokia in its official conversations blog.

The firm, through a video, revealed the a cappella version of the song. The video shows four people giving different beats (vocals) and mirroring the iconic Nokia music in their own way.

A number of Nokia users have additionally shared their thoughts on the couple of decade old iconic tune. "It's still being a classic. From my 3500 Classic, to my Lumia 920 :D -HB Nokia Tune," states a user named Leonel Castellano.

"Who can forget the famous ringtone back in early 2000 (that's what really stuck in my mind), the "Connecting People" animated gif whenever you boot your device followed by the start-up tone. Ah, those were the days. That particular tone was very unique to Nokia and I recall, even other device manufacturers made that tone available as option tone to their device. Happy Birthday Nokia! (I'm supposed to sing you a Happy Birthday song but the song itself was already licensed, so... Hahaha! Cheers!)," stated Hethler De Chavez, another Nokia fan.

Nokia, days before celebrating the 20th birthday for its Nokia tune, unveiled Nokia Lumia 930, Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 along with Windows Phone 8.1 OS

Nokia challenges Sony to a camera duel, Lumia 1020 versus Xperia Z2

Nokia, the Finnish smartphone maker, has challenged Sony to a '#camera duel'. The gauntlet was thrown by Nokia over Twitter, and pits last year's Nokia Lumia 1020 against the recently launched Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone.

Sony, in the Twitter post on Tuesday, had stated "Picture-perfect moments deserve award-winning camera technology, see how with #XperiaZ2" to which Nokia UK replied "This town ain't big enough for the both of us, @sonyxperiagb!," followed by an image. Sony at the time of writing had not replied to Nokia's post.

The Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone sports a 20.7-megapixel Exmor RS mobile image sensor which can record 4K resolution videos, capture images in burst mode, HDR along with an 8x digital zoom feature. The front-facing camera features 2.2-megapixel sensor, which can also record 1080p videos. The Nokia Lumia 1020 boasts a massive 41-megapixel camera with PureView technology and Optical Image Stabilisation. The rear camera lens have been manufactured by Zeiss optics. While the rear camera can record full-HD videos, the front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera can record 4x VGA (1280 x 960 pixels) resolution videos.

As for which device will actually win a camera duel between the Nokia Lumia 1020 and Sony Xperia Z2, you'll have to wait till we get a review unit of the Xperia Z2 before we give you our verdict.

Nokia recently mocked Apple over its 8GB storage variant of Apple iPhone 5c handset. "Hey Apple: "Today we announce a colourful, fast and affordable 8GB smartphone" - Nokia, Feb 2013," tweetedNokia with an image. The image shows off the admittedly very popular Nokia Lumia 520 budget handset in its different colour variants.

Nokia also made fun of the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S5 handset on Twitter by stating "Stand out from the crowd! #MWC14 #UNPACKED" and posting an image of a Nokia Lumia handset that also mentions "NOT THE SAMESUNG ;)."