Mr Foulkes said ministers were "genuinely looking for a way forward" and urging those concerned to take part in consultation.

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If all else fails, the mobile phone inventors will prosper longer term in the arms of those with the deep pockets to take them forward into whatever the mobile future holds.

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When The Washington Post Co. decided last year that it was time to get out of the weekly newsmagazine business, only a handful of suitors came forward with offers to take over Newsweek, and of those, only one, stereo equipment mogul Sidney Harman, was deemed an appropriate steward for the venerable title.

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