The news reaching us this morning was explosive. Literally. No-one wants or expects their £500 smartphone to blow up in their face, especially when they're driving - but that's what happened to one unfortunate Samsung Galaxy S3 owner this week. All a touch embarrassing for the Korean manufacturers, not least because a host of high quality images showing the part-melted device are around to prove the tale. The company has consequently pledged to launch a full investigation into the incident... Watch this space for the outcome.

Whether Foxconn chief Terry Gou used this incident to talk up the iPhone 5 in a moment of masterful timing, or he just fancied slagging off a rival phone at a shareholders meeting, is unknown, but his latest bold statements make for interesting reading either way. Foxconn is the manufacturer behind much of Apple's production line so is always likely to be indulging in such rhetoric, but fighting talk between bitter rivals is always welcome as far as we're concerned.

Another exciting mobile product comes in the form of the jointly produced Google-Asus tablet, which has already begun shipping according to reports. This means we could be seeing the Nexus 7 hit stores next month, and it's now suggested that it will cost less than we expected at £100 - £115. Nicely affordable, but enough bring serious competition to the iPad? You tell us.

The tech-world is buzzing with Microsoft Surface tablet chatter right now, but rival company RIM is unperturbed by competitors riding waves of excitement and anticipation while it lurches from one crisis to another. The firm's VP of business development Martyn Mallick is putting on a brave face and talking up the Blackberry 10, though some news of its actual release instead of more delays would probably help his and RIM's cause.

Mentioning ‘financial crisis' in one breath, and then ‘Larry Ellison' in the next feels incongruous and silly, particularly when Larry has just bought as island. An island? An island. Lanai, part of Hawaii, now belongs to the flamboyant Oracle CEO (well, 98% of it does) after Ellison shelled out around $550 million of his hard-earned to treat himself to a little extra living space. As you do.