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Google has introduced a new landline service, Fiber Phone, for just $10 per month.

Reads the Google press release:

In their efforts to take on Apple Music, Spotify has raised another $1 billion, although this time the terms do not appear to be too favorable.

The streaming giant raised the convertible debt from TPG, Dragoneer and Goldman Sachs, and the money will be spent on marketing and expansion, says Spotify.

While the large raise looks great on paper for the company, the terms are a bit rough. The venture firms can convert the debt into equity at a 20 percent discount to the initial public offer price, and if Spotify does not go public in the next year, the discount increases 2.5 percent every six months. This is in addition to Spotify paying 5% interest on the debt annual and the fact that TPG and Dragoneer can sell their shares just 90 days after the company goes public, a full 90 days before Spotify's own employees.

It makes sense that Spotify would need to take money at such terms given that it is facing off directly with Apple and its nearly infinite amount of cash. The company already has 11 million paying Apple Music subscribers in just 9 months, compared to Spotify at 30 million after 7 years.

According to recent court filings, Oracle is now seeking up to $9.3 billion in damages in their long-standing copyright lawsuit against Google over the use of Java in over a billion Android phones and tablets.

Oracle sued Google back in 2010, claiming that Google needs to license parts of Java before using it for Android moving forward. In 2012, a jury split on whether Google's use of Java was protected by fair use laws that allow limited copying of key software.

The new trial begins in May, and the damages figure is up significantly since the first trial, where Oracle was seeking $1 billion. Since then, Google has released six new versions of Android and smartphone sales have exploded. Oracle suggests they would have made $475 million had Google decided to license Java, and the rest of the damages figure includes Oracle's own calculation on how much profit Google made from Android since 2010.

Google claims the 37 APIs they used are only a fraction of a percent of the amount of code used in Android and the profits "attributable to" the alleged infringing code would be negligible.

Bioware's head of design and art in Montreal, Alistair McNally, believes that the upcoming Mass Effect Andromeda and the company's new IP are looking "stunning," even in their earlier stages.

"Played Mass Effect Andromeda yesterday and then today our new IP. Both of which are looking stunning," McNally said on Twitter.

The company revealed they had a new IP in the pipe last week at GDC, without giving much detail.

Mass Effect: Andromeda, expected to be a blockbuster, has also been delayed and now has an expected 2017 release date.

According to a new research report from Sensor Tower, the average U.S. iPhone user spent $35 on apps and games in 2015.

71 percent of that spending went towards games, at $25 per person, followed by music at just $3.40 per person. The rest of the top five included social networking, entertainment and lifestyle apps, at just $1.80, $1, and $0.40 cents spent. The rest of the figure went towards all other apps, although nothing really stood out.

In total, U.S. iPhone consumers downloaded 10.5 games per active iPhone, and users also downloaded an average of 3.4 photo and video apps.

According to market research firm IHS, it only costs Apple $12 more to build a 64GB model iPhone compared to a base 16GB model.

The company charges an extra $100 for the larger capacity model, suggesting a much heftier profit if consumers opt for the 64GB version.

As most iPhone fans know, the 16GB model, after taking into account Apple's operating system and a large bit of useless native apps, is not really 16GB and a few apps and pictures/videos can fill up the phone in a heartbeat. Apple knows this, as well, and has exploited the strategy for some time, says IHS, adding that Apple "has long used this product strategy to improve their overall blended gross margins on their iPhone line."

Pebble, the smartwatch startup, will be laying off 25 percent of their employees this week due to financial strain.

CEO Eric Migicovsky said the company has raised $26 million since last summer, on top of over $20 million raised via Kickstarter campaigns but that the layoffs were necessary due to a slowdown in Silicon Valley that has affected all startups and private tech companies.

"We've definitely been careful this year as we plan our products," Migicovsky said. "We got this money, but money [among VCs in Silicon Valley] is pretty tight these days."

"We want to be careful," Migicovsky said. "Pebble is in this for the long haul. We have a vision where wearables will take us in five to 10 years, and this is setting us up for success."

The exec says Pebble will focus on health and fitness apps for their watch line, where many of their users are interested.

Microsoft will introduce interactive Live Tiles at the upcoming BUILD conference, significantly changing how you interact with the tiles in Windows 10.

At BUILD, Microsoft is holding a session called "What's New for Tiles and Toast Notifications" and the session teases that Live Tiles "are evolving with two highly-requested surprises that you won't want to miss."

Windows fans will remember that Microsoft initially hoped to ship Windows 10 with interactive live tiles, so it appears that 9 months later Microsoft might be ready to finally launch.

Speculation is that the update will allow users to respond and interact with notifications within the apps, like replying inline for messages or emails, for example.

According to new reports, Rovi is looking to merge with DVR giant TiVo.

TiVo is currently valued at $750 million and shareholders will likely own 30 percent of the merged company if an acquisition goes through.

Rovi, formerly Macrovision, holds a large portfolio of patents for copy protection, software licensing and "search recommendation" on devices such as DVRs, consoles, set-tops and cable boxes, making the two companies a synergistic fit.

TiVo, once known for its DVR set-tops, has now become more a licensing company, striking deals to have their technology on cable boxes and via satellite TV operators.

Netflix has admitted this week that they throttle streams for mobile users, following a report by the Wall Street Journal that claimed they downgraded the quality specifically for AT&T and Verizon customers.

The company had also allegedly said that T-Mobile and Sprint have much "more consumer-friendly policies," and therefore Netflix kept the quality in full for the carriers.

In response, Netflix said that they limit video quality for all mobile users, capping the video at 600kb/s, in order to save consumers from crushing their data caps in quick order.

Additionally, the company says they will soon introduce a data-saver feature for mobile that will give you better control over quality and data usage.

According to sources, Microsoft is willing to help financially back bids to acquire Yahoo, including those from private equity firms.

Yahoo recently put itself up for sale, but there are varying values for the core assets of the company. CEO Marissa Mayer has made it clear that she prefers to try to turnaround the company herself without selling, but there has been little to show for her efforts in the last three years.

Activist shareholder Starboard Value is sick of Mayer and the slow process, and is now mounting a proxy challenge to replace the current board with their own board of directors. Starboard will bring "credibility to a process that has been publicly criticized repeatedly for being too slow, fraught with conflicts of interest and very difficult for highly qualified and motivated strategic and financial buyers to access much-needed diligence information."

Yahoo currently trades with a value of $32.5 billion, but their stake in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan account for nearly $30 billion of that value. Yahoo allegedly wants to sell their core assets for $10 billion, which is a joke. The whole saga will be interesting moving forward.

Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe has announced that the first Oculus Rift consumer models have begun shipping, and some lucky buyers will have theirs as early as Monday.

Consumers have been anxiously awaiting the consumer model VR headset, following years of research and development and developer models.

The Rift sells for $600 and is currently back-ordered, meaning if you buy now you won't get yours until July.

For a list of the games available at launch for your Oculus Rift, check here: Afterdawn

After a few delays, Foxconn has agreed to purchase Sharp for $4 billion, with the deal expected next week.

Both companies will hold board meetings early in the week with an expected signing on Wednesday.

Foxconn had initially offered $4.3 billion for the struggling electronics maker but then delayed as it appears they overbid after viewing the financials of Sharp.

The deal is expected to give Foxconn the leg up for mass-producing OLED screens for Apple's upcoming iPhones in 2017 or 2018, a massive deal for hundreds of millions of devices.

After a failed experiment closed down in 2014, DVD rental service Redbox is looking to get back into the online video streaming business.

The former service was called Redbox Instant and the new service is dubbed Redbox Digital. Variety has posted pictures of the logo and some features and the publication expects a closed beta to begin soon.

Redbox Instant launched in 2013 as a joint venture with Verizon, but the service gained little traction and shut down in 2014.

The new service will be different than Instant, which was similar to Netflix (subscription bundle) but Digital will be more similar to Google Play and iTunes where you can rent or download movies and TV shows.

Additionally, there are plans to integrate the service into Redbox's existing mobile apps, including extended support to smart platforms like Roku.

Apple has updated their Apple Music app for Android with a new widget.

The basic widget offers pause/skip functions and forward/back and you can 'heart' tracks you like to help the service better create playlists for you.

Besides the widget, the update also makes it simpler to see what's streaming on Beats 1 and to redeem gift cards through the app.

Check out the app here, if you are interested: Google Play