Nokia 3310 mobile phone resurrected at MWC 2017

Nokia's 3310 phone has been relaunched nearly 17 years after its debut.

Many consider the original handset iconic because of its popularity and sturdiness. More than 126 million were produced before it was phased out in 2005.

The revamped version will be sold under licence by the Finnish start-up HMD Global, which also unveiled several Nokia-branded Android smartphones.

One expert said it was a "fantastic way" to relaunch Nokia's phone brand.

"The 3310 was the first mass-market mobile and there's a massive amount of nostalgia and affection for it," commented Ben Wood from the technology consultancy CCS Insight.

"If HMD had just announced three Android devices they would have barely got a couple of column inches in the press.

"So, the 3310 is a very clever move and we expect it will sell in significant volumes."

The announcement was made ahead of the start of the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona. LG, Huawei and Lenovo are among others to have unveiled new devices.

Nokia no longer makes phones itself, but manufactures telecoms equipment, Ozo virtual reality cameras, and health kit under the Withings brand.
Long life

The new 3310 qualifies as a "feature phone" rather than a smartphone as it only provides limited internet facilities.

It relies on 2.5G connectivity - which has slower data speeds than 3G or 4G - and is powered by the S30+ operating system, which allows web browsing but has a much smaller range of apps than Android or iOS. Its single camera is also restricted to two megapixels.

However, its advantage over more powerful handsets is its battery life. HMD says the colour-screened phone has up to a month's standby time and delivers more than 22 hours of talk time.

It also comes with the modern version of the classic game Snake preinstalled.

Its launch price is €49 ($51,75; £41.51).

"It's almost like a digital detox or a holiday phone," HMD's chief executive Arto Nummela told the BBC.

"If you want to switch off to an extent but you still need to have a [mobile] lifeline, it's a brilliant solution.

"Why wouldn't you buy this like candy? If you see this hanging on the shelf at the checkout in a [see-through] package, then you'd just buy it as an accessory."
More from MWC 2017:

LG G6 phone is made for split-screen apps

Huawei P10 has smarter selfie camera

Google brings Assistant to more Android phones

Blackberry revives classic keyboard phone

HMD also confirmed the Nokia 6 Android smartphone would be released worldwide following its China debut in January.

The device has a 16 megapixel rear camera, a 5.5in (14cm) 1080p "full definition" screen and includes the Google Assistant helper - the search engine's rival to Apple's Siri.

It is priced as a mid-tier device at €229, alongside a glossy black special edition that costs €299.

In addition, the firm showed off smaller, lower-range Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 models.

Taiwan's Foxconn will manufacture the phones, which may offset concerns that networks might have about HMD's capacity to deliver.

"Foxconn - with its experience working with Apple and Samsung - is certainly the standout device manufacturer," commented Tim Coulling from the tech research firm Canalys.

"It's ability to help HMD go from small to large scale will be a critical factor in their partnership.

"It also means if HMD wants to locate manufacturing in different regions to take advantage of pockets of demand, that's something Foxconn will allow them to achieve."

Kim Jong-nam 'died about 20 minutes after VX poisoning'

Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, died about 20 minutes after being poisoned by a nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport, according to an official postmortem report by Malaysian authorities.

S Subramaniam, Malaysia's health minister, said on Sunday in the capital Kuala Lumpur that an autopsy revealed that Kim Jong-un's sibling died due to a large amount of VX in his body.

VX is considered to be the most toxic nerve agent ever produced.

It is classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, can paralyse the nervous system and kill by suffocation within a half-hour after exposure either through direct skin contact or inhalation.

"The amount of the VX was so high that it affected his heart and lungs. The absorption was very rapid, and that resulted in him being killed in 15 to 20 minutes" after exposure, Subramaniam said.
Postmortem complete

Subramaniam said the victim's relatives had still not travelled to Malaysia to verify Kim's identity.

He said if no next-of-kin was available, other methods would be used to confirm the identity, such as dental profiling and photo comparisons where identifications can be made via marks such as moles.

Subramaniam also said the postmortem, excluding the verification process, was complete and would be handed over to Malaysian police for further investigation.

Kim died after falling ill on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after two women allegedly wiped his face with the nerve agent.

Separately, Hilmi Yahaya, deputy health minister, said that the VX found in Kim's body has never before been seen in Malaysia's recorded history.

He said the nerve agent was difficult for immigration or customs officers to detect in small amounts.

VX is an extremely toxic, odourless, tasteless liquid with a brownish colour that has been used in chemical warfare and can be fatal through direct skin contact or inhalation.

It is substantially more potent than the nerve agent Sarin, but works in a similar way.

The official postmortem report came as Malaysian authorities questioned a number of detained suspects, including a North Korean national suspected of producing the VX used to kill Kim.

Brexit will 'end freedom of movement as we know it', says Home Secretary Amber Rudd

Brexit will spell the "end of freedom of movement as we know it" - but the numbers will not just suddenly fall once Britain leaves the European Union, the Home Secretary has said.

Amber Rudd said the Government was "against cliff edges" - appearing to back Brexit Secretary David Davis' suggestion that the door will not "suddenly shut" - as she revealed businesses and other stakeholders would be consulted in the summer on new immigration controls.

She also appeared to back his suggestion that it will take "years and years" for British workers to fill the low-skilled jobs left by EU migrants.

Ms Rudd confirmed reports that ministers are considering plans to limit benefits for new immigrants, but insisted it is one of a number of options the Home Office is looking into.

She said: "We are working on a range of options. It would be a mistake for me to go any further than that. We are looking at all the different options.

"How they are implemented and how long it will take will depend on the final arrangement and how we set it up," she told ITV's Peston on Sunday.

Earlier this week, Mr Davis' comments during a visit to Estonia raised questions over Theresa May's pledge to use Brexit to take back control of immigration and reduce net migration to the tens of thousands.

He warned: "In the hospitality sector, hotels and restaurants, in the social care sector, working in agriculture, it will take time - it will be years and years before we get British citizens to do those jobs.

"Don't expect just because we're changing who makes the decision on the policy, the door will suddenly shut: it won't."

The Prime Minister has consistently said the UK wants to continue to attract talent, but the focus has been on highly skilled workers in industries such as finance and technology - not care workers, fruit pickers and barristas.

Mrs May has made it clear that transitional arrangements may need to be imposed on certain parts of the economy, especially where there are skill shortages, after Britain formally withdraws from the EU.

Ms Rudd's comments come amid reports that new arrivals could be given five-year working visas if they have a job, but be banned from claiming any benefits during that time.

According to The Sunday Times, ministers are also discussing plans for the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to decide on how many visas are issued to workers in key industries such as health and hospitality, which are heavy reliant on immigrants, to take the political sting out of the issue.

Ms Rudd said Mrs May also considered guaranteeing the rights of all EU nationals who are resident in the UK - if a similar deal is reciprocated for British expats in Europe - a "priority" when she triggers Article 50 to formally begin Britain's exit negotiations.

IS terror threat 'is highest since days of IRA' - UK terror laws watchdog

Islamic State militants are planning "indiscriminate attacks" on UK citizens on a scale similar to those perpetrated by the IRA 40 years ago, the new terrorism watchdog has said.


Max Hill QC, the new Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, warned that Islamists were targeting UK cities and said there was an "enormous ongoing risk which none of us can ignore".

But Mr Hill, who successfully prosecuted the failed 21/7 bombers, praised the intelligence services' "truly remarkable" success rate for foiling plots since the 2005 London bombings.

Speaking in his first interview in the role, Mr Hill told the Sunday Telegraph: "I think the intensity and the potential frequency of the serious plot planning - with a view to indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians of whatever race or colour in metropolitan areas - represents an enormous ongoing risk that none of us can ignore.

"So I think that there is undoubtedly significant ongoing risk which is at least as great as the threat to London in the 70s when the IRA were active on the mainland."

Mr Hill questioned whether the fall of IS strongholds in the Middle East will cause British extremists to return to the UK.

"Of course the imminent fall of Mosul and perhaps the prospective retaking of Raqqa are both bound to lead to a higher instance of returning fighters. Does that mean that the British public need to be immediately alarmed at a spike in terrorist activity within this country?" he said.

"The answer to that is, I don't know, but it doesn't follow as a matter of fact that those who chose to go to live or fight abroad will bring that fight back to this country."

When Mr Hill was appointed to his role on Monday, he was praised by Home Secretary Amber Rudd who said that his "wealth of experience and legal expertise" would ensure the UK's terror laws were fair, necessary and proportionate.

Lord Heseltine to head Tory rebellion against PM on Brexit

Theresa May is facing a rebellion in the House of Lords - with Tory grandee Michael Heseltine vowing to defy the Prime Minister and back opposition efforts to ensure Parliament gets a meaningful vote on the final outcome of Brexit negotiations.

Lord Heseltine said Labour, Lib Dem and rebellious Conservative colleagues are prepared to throw their support behind a change to the Government's Brexit Bill.

They want Parliament to have the ability to veto the outcome of Mrs May's negotiations in Brussels, including if she walks away without a deal.

Writing for The Mail on Sunday, Lord Heseltine said he was not engaging in a "confrontation" with the Government - but warned the Supreme Court's ruling that MPs and peers have ultimate authority over Brexit needs to be upheld.

He wrote: "In the end the outcome of Brexit will have to be confirmed by Parliament.

"It will also have to pass in 27 national European parliaments, several sub-national parliaments and the European Parliament.

"It was perhaps unwise for our Government to suppose that our Parliament should be excluded where all others were included."

Senior ministers have vowed to thwart Lord Heseltine's rebellion - telling the newspaper that he and his supporters as "bad losers who are trying to wreck Brexit".

Sky's Chief Political Correspondent Jon Craig said Lord Heseltine's decision to lead the charge against Article 50 will be a "rallying call to the rebels".

He explained: "They want more votes before a Brexit deal happens and also protection for EU citizens living in this country.

"It is a headache that Theresa May could do without as she is celebrating a good by-election result in Copeland."

This Quiz Tests Your Internet Abbrev. Knowledge

Some people speak in a foreign language made up entirely of acronyms, while others think FML might be shorthand for female. Luckily WPromote published a helpful quiz to Visual.ly to test where you fall on the internet abbreviation spectrum:
OMG: oh my god, BRB: be right back, LOL: laugh out loud, TTYL: talk to you later, JK: just kidding, NP: no problem, LMFAO: laughing my f****** a** off, WTF:what the f***, POV: point of view, TMI: too much information, EOD: end of day, DL: down low, FML: f*** my life, MILF: mom I'd like to f***, DND: do not disturb, ROFL: rolling on floor laughing, LMK: let me know, IMHO: in my humble opinion, GMAB: give me a break, AFK: away from keyboard, TCB: taking care (of) business, TYVM: thank you very much, SMH: shake my head, EAD: eat a d***, WOW: world of warcraft, HTML: hypertext markup language, LAMP: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Python/Perl (or look at me post), MMS: multimedia messaging service, CSS: counter-strike: source, WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get, MMORPG: massive multi-player role-playing game, LARP: live action role play, ASL: age sex location, WYWH: wish you were here, GNOC: get nude on cam, MOS: member (of the) opposite sex, FTF: first to find, BTDT: been there done that, FBTW: fine be that way, LAB: life's a bitch

At 93rd birthday bash, Robert Mugabe says he won't quit

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has marked his 93rd birthday with lavish celebrations, addressing his own mortality in a speech but showing no signs of quitting politics.

Thousands of government supporters, some wearing clothing adorned with Mugabe's image in younger days, converged in Matabeleland for Saturday's birthday bash and show of strength for the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Also wearing a multi-coloured suit emblazoned with his own image and dark glasses, Mugabe, , the world's oldest head of state, told the crowd he had no intention of stepping down.

"People who are busy forming their own groupings saying Mr Mugabe must go. I ask myself where should I go?" Mugabe, who has been in power for 37 years, said in a speech that was broadcast on state radio and television.

Speaking for over an hour, Mugabe said he would not impose his successor and that if ZANU-PF party felt he should retire, it would hold an extraordinary congress to choose a new leader.

"Others are saying 'President, choose a successor before you retire'. Is that not imposition? Me imposing someone on the party? No, I don't want that," Mugabe said.

"This is an issue for the congress to choose. We can have an extraordinary congress if the president retires but you said I should be your candidate in the next election."

His hands gripping the podium, Mugabe spoke slowly. He said that at times he felt alone, but that he has a "mission" and "mandate" as Zimbabwe's leader and appealed for the ruling party to overcome its divisions.

"It's not always easy to predict that, although you are alive this year, you will be alive next year," he said.

"It does not matter how healthy you might feel. The decision that you continue to live and enjoy life is that of one personality we call the Almighty God."

Guests at the birthday party enjoyed pieces of a cake weighing 93kg, according to party organiser Kudzai Chipanga.

The cake was shaped like the continent of Africa because "everyone in Africa loves him", said Chipanga.

ZANU-PF officials said hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on the birthday bash at a school in Matobo, just outside Zimbabwe's second biggest city, Bulawayo.

But critics said the money should had been used for other priorities amid a deepening economic crisis.

Zimbabwe's economy is set to contract by 2.5 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

More than 80 percent of the workforce scrape a living in the informal sector, while the government has failed to pay civil servants' salaries in time since June.

Mugabe celebrated his actual birthday on February 21 with a smaller cake-cutting ceremony.