Referencing data from GfK, RIM stated that its over-the-counter sales accounted for an average of 27.7 per cent of the smartphones sold in Britain in each month of 2011. In December, BlackBerry handset represented 26.3 per cent.

However, these figures have been reported by RIM and GfK is so far not due to reveal the statistics of the other major providers, such as Apple and Android.

Whether or not BlackBerry took the top place in the UK, it is still struggling to keep a hold of its market share around the world. RIM's stock price has fallen by around 75 per cent in a year, and a number of release deadlines have been missed, further damaging its reputation.

Its co-founders Mike Lazardis and Jim Balsillie recently stepped down in order to allow new leaders to take the firm forward and hopefully improve its global standing, although they will remain involved in the business for some time to come.

The Full Monty package is aimed at first-time users who are keen to pay a single subscription charge without any unpredictable extra data payments. This makes it the first smartphone contract deal to truly provide unlimited calls, text and data, without being restricted to a fair-use policy.

Prices start at £36 a month. However, these will obviously be higher for users looking to access higher-rate smartphones, such as the Apple iPhone 4S. In addition, the contracts are for a minimum of two years, but this is not unusual given the recent trends for longer deals.

It is expected to be particularly attractive to heavy internet users who might want to link their phone up with other devices to turn it into a WiFi hotspot without having to worry about going over their monthly allowance.

The deal is available on all handsets in the T-Mobile store and will be on offer from 1 February to new and upgrading customers. Meanwhile, existing customers who are yet to reach the end of their current contract can move across but they will lose out on the bundled handset.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie resigned as the firm continued to lose market share to the Apple iPhone, as well as growing competition from Android-powered handsets.

Thorsten Heins, the chief operating officer, has now been named president and chief executive of the firm.

A statement from Mr Lazaridis issued on Sunday read: “There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognise the need to pass the baton to new leadership.”

He added that the company needed a new leader to take it into a new phase.

RIM was once one of the leading players in the smartphone market, managing to capture the attention of the business market, as well as consumers and younger people. However, many of their recent endeavours have fallen flat.

The RIM PlayBook tablet, for example, was a commercial failure as consumers deemed the Apple iPad to be more desirable. As a result of this and other business problems, including an email outage, the company has seen its shares fall by almost three quarters of their value over the past year.

A number of similar suggestions have circulated on previous occasions but this time there are claims that the chief executives are due to meet in Las Vegas shortly in order to finalise the sale.

If true, Steve Ballmer and Andy Lees from Microsoft will meet with Kai Oistamo and Stephen Elop from Nokia to plan the transfer of the firm's smartphone sector.

There would be much to decide, including a new name under which to run the smartphone division. However, Microsoft would make many of the final decisions, with Mr Elop resigning as the chief executive of Nokia.

In the past, Nokia has been keen to dismiss rumours along these lines and has worked hard to define its tie-up with Microsoft through the Lumia handsets and others as a partnership, not a precursor to a break-up.

Unfortunately for Nokia fans, it looks like this could be set to change in the near future with more power heading Microsoft's way.

A statement from Nokia to SlashGear read: “We’ve put these rumours to rest a long time ago. The focus for Nokia is on executing on our partnership around Windows Phone and growing the ecosystem, and each company has the tools they need to do so.”

The company is the world's top provider of memory chips and smartphones and has already rushed past Apple in the smartphone market, according to Reuters. In fact, Samsung's handset department is now its biggest earnings generator.

Lim Do-ri, an analyst at Solomon Investment and Securities, told the news agency: “Samsung's got great business portfolios from components to a wide range of consumer electronics that enable it to better tide over the volatile technology cycle than many of its peers.”

Indeed, the firm is one of the few to be gaining ground against Apple, as the latest models from its competitors such as Nokia and Blackberry struggle to raise interest.

The company is expected to report an operating profit for the three months to the end of December of $4.1 billion, according to the Thomson Reuters survey of 30 analysts, which would be its highest level of profit since the third quarter of 2010 and a 57 per cent increase on the same time in 2010.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Taiwan's HTC Corp was in infringement on one of four patents in dispute by Apple and, as a result, has imposed a sales ban on some of HTC's smartphones.

However, the ban will not come into effect until April of next year, so HTC does have some leeway when it comes to the development of its smartphone technology.

The patent concerned related to technology that allows users to click on phone numbers and other data in a document to either dial directly or bring up more information. Unfortunately, this idea is in wide use among smartphones and HTC is far from alone in having implemented t.

Melvin Li, a Hong Kong based patent agent and counsel consultant at a US law firm, told Reuters: “With this ITC ruling, I think other phone companies are all scratching their heads now as to how to resolve the same technology they are using.”

The news comes as BT has also announced that it is to sue Google over the Android mobile system and a number of its other technologies.

O2 is in the process of creating a 4G network across 40 square kilometres of London for a nine-month trial.

In the process of doing so, it will provide consumers, businesses and venue owners with the latest 4G network, in return for feedback regarding the performance and use of the system.

Ronan Dunne, chief executive of O2, stated that the announcement demonstrates the network's “commitment to delivering 4G to our customers at the earliest opportunity”.

He added: “The work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK.”

Meanwhile, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt stated that the trial is welcomed as a “positive example of how firms are continuing to invest in, and develop, the type of communications services that will keep the UK at the forefront of the digital revolution”.

"Initiatives such as this London trial support the Government's objective of stimulating innovation, as well as investing in delivering long run economic growth for the UK," he added.

Phones4U will provide new pay-as-you-go smartphone and contract customers three months of the service for free if they purchase a Wi-Fi enabled smartphone during the Christmas period.

This service will be provided through The Cloud, which is owned by BSkyB, and boasts over 6,000 hotspots around the country. After registration, customers will be automatically connected to the free points of access once they enter within range.

Among the areas offering access are restaurants such as McDonalds, JD Wetherspoons and Cafe Nero. There will also be free access from the company's shops themselves as well as a variety of other points in the UK.

In addition to this offer, the company is giving pay-as-you-go customers a free £10 top-up, which will be delivered to their handsets on Christmas day.

In total, the offers are expected to be worth in the region of £5.5 million, but the firm wanted to provide them in order to “give something back to our customers, to say thank you and wish them a Merry Christmas”, Phones4U trading director Scott Hooton remarked.

Low demand for its older models was deemed responsible for the slump. Net profit fell to $329 million (£208 million) for the three months to 27 August from $797 million in the same period last year.

Overall, revenue for the second quarter fell to $4.2 billion, which was a ten per cent drop on the previous year's performance. The drop comes as the company has announced cuts of around 2,000 jobs. The 11 per cent reduction in the workforce comes as part of a general shake up of operations.

In spite of the disappointing figures, RIM did manage to shift 10.6 million Blackberry smartphones and around 200,000 Blackberry PlayBook tablets during the three-month period. However, this was substantially below analysts expectations.

Things are expected to improve in the next quarter due to the number of new product launches revealed recently, with shipments of between 13.5 and 14.5 million smartphones predicted. The new products came too late into the second quarter, however, to make a significant difference to the results.

A recent survey from Ofcom-accredited price comparison website, Homephonechoices.co.uk, found that nearly half (48.5 per cent) of British home phone customers could be losing out by sticking with outdated deals. Indeed, these people were shown to have not switched provider in the last give years, despite the fact that they could save over £100 a year by doing so.

Other ways of cutting costs include paying by direct debt, checking hidden costs for installation fees, opting for paperless billing and paying annually rather than monthly.

Michael Phillips, product director at the website, commented: “Home phone customers now have a huge selection of providers to choose from, with some of the smaller niche providers offering relatively inexpensive packages for calls and line rental when compared with some of the more established players.”

He added that home phones are often the 'forgotten bill', so while people will check their insurance and financial products to see if they can save any money, they neglect to shop around for a better deal on their landline.