Latest news

According to sources, Google is building an app that would help you automatically connect to wireless hotspots such as those offered by Starbucks.

Google is supposedly testing the iOS and Android versions of the app at its headquarters.

The current process for many Wi-Fi networks can be a bit tedious. You usually have to find the access point, head to your browser and then agree to a terms page.

For 7000 Starbucks locations, AT&T formerly provided the Internet service but Google will now do so. The search giant is expected to use encrypted networks, and there is the possibility Google will use the app to install a dedicated security certificate using your Google account, allowing for automatic authentication whenever a connection is available.

The large European carrier KPN has struck a deal with Silent Circle which will bring encrypted phone calls and text messages to customers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

KPN has 33 million mobile wireless subscribers and another 6 million landline users.

Starting in June, KPN subscribers with Android and iOS devices can download the Silent Circle 'Silent Phone' and 'Silent Text' apps from the KPN CloudStore, allowing for secure communications. The services "use end-to-end encryption based on open cryptographic standards," says the carrier.

To protect your privacy, Silent Circle does not keep any metadata and encryption keys never leave a user's device. The keys are then destroyed after every session.

KPN operates as E-Plus in Germany and Base in Belgium. The company cited privacy concerns brought forward by NSA leaker Edward Snowden as one reason for the move to encryption. Pricing for the apps will remain the same, $9.95 per month or $99.95 annually.

Google has announced the discontinuation of the Google Currents app in favor of their existing Google Play Newsstand.

Says the search giant: "Google Play Newsstand is the new home for all your favorites news, magazines, blogs, and more. Newsstand updates and replaces Google Currents, which is no longer available for download or use. For existing Currents users, all your subscriptions will instantly transfer and be available for you in Newsstand. Discover a better way to enjoy all the news you love with Google Play Newsstand now. Find articles recommended just for you in Read Now, topics to follow, and premier news partners like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Guardian, and more."

The end of Currents comes concurrently with the update to version 2.3 of the app. The new update, which is just 860KB, will direct current users to Newsstand and then clear out app storage from Currents.

Currents had its share of fans and haters, with most respecting the design but criticizing the functionality.

Google has announced 'Project Tango' today, a new prototype phone with 3D sensors.

The search giant says the phone can build "visual maps" of the rooms or areas you are in with advanced 3D scanning. Says the company:

As we walk through our daily lives, we use visual cues to navigate and understand the world around us. We observe the size and shape of objects and rooms, and we learn their position and layout almost effortlessly over time. This awareness of space and motion is fundamental to the way we interact with our environment and each other. We are physical beings that live in a 3D world. Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen.

The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.

Over the past year, our team has been working with universities, research labs, and industrial partners spanning nine countries around the world to harvest research from the last decade of work in robotics and computer vision, concentrating that technology into a unique mobile phone. Now, we're ready to put early prototypes into the hands of developers that can imagine the possibilities and help bring those ideas into reality.

HTC will launch their oft-rumored smartwatch at this year's Mobile World Congress, using Qualcomm's Toq design.

Qualcomm confirmed at last month's CES event that the struggling smartphone maker had licensed the Toq hardware and design including the MEMS display (with Mirasol) and all internal components.

In addition, HTC will reveal a second smartwatch this month, as well, based on Google's Google Now integrated search service. That device will use a standard AMOLED display. Finally, the company may also launch a touchscreen wristband music player.

Qualcomm, who released the Toq as a standalone with little fanfare as a reference device, has long said it prefers to license and supply the tech for the upcoming wearable revolution, just like it does for smartphones and tablets.

Google will be holding its annual I/O conference a little bit later this year.

The company will host the event on June 25th-26th in San Francisco, led by Android/Chrome boss Sundar Pichai.

Interestingly, Google has changed the registration following years of madness where first come, first serve tickets sold out in minutes and Google's servers were crashed.

For this year, applicants will be selected randomly via lottery.

Yesterday, we reported that Facebook was buying messaging behemoth WhatsApp for a staggering $19 billion in cash and stock. It appears they were not the only company aiming to buy the small company.

According to Fortune, Google tried, unsuccessfully, to acquire the company for $10 billion.

The news comes via sources close to WhatsApp. The report also claims that Google did not offer a board seat to WhatsApp founder and CEO Jan Koum, which Facebook did.

WhatsApp has over 400 million active users and only 35 employees. The other co-founder, Brian Acton, applied to work for Facebook in 2009 and was not hired. I believe the new billions in his account will ease that pain.

Canonical has announced that the first Ubuntu smartphones are on their way, thanks to agreements with OEMs Meizu and bq.

The company also says they have the backing of some of the world's largest carriers, who will help the phones be released by the end of the year.

Says Canonical: "Ubuntu introduces a new UI paradigm for mobile devices. Ubuntu puts content and services at the centre of the experience, rather than hiding them behind stores and apps. This gives consumers a fresh and rich way to engage with their favourite videos, music and other mobile activities. It also means OEMs and operators have unprecedented customisation opportunities with a common UI toolkit, which gives devices their own unique footprint and without fragmenting the platform."

Neither of the OEMs are household names in the U.S., but Meizu is relatively large in China and other parts of Asia. "Ubuntu's intuitive and visually stunning user interface aligns with our own ethos of producing simple, innovative mobile experiences. This partnership gives us an opportunity to develop a truly different and compelling offering that will support our strategy to deliver devices to both China as well as internationally," notes Li Nan, Meizu's VP Sales and Marketing.

Google has boasted that its new and updated Google Maps is out of beta and will be rolling out over the coming weeks.

The Maps went into preview/beta mode last May.

As part of the update there are a few notable updates:

Make smarter decisions. Simply search for "coffee" in your neighborhood, and you'll be able to see results and snippets right on the map. When you click on a cafe, the map will suggest related results that you may not have known about.

Get where you're going, faster. Car? Bike? Train? Find the most efficient route for you, with your best options laid out on the map, including the time and distance for each route. And with the new real-time traffic reports and Street View previews, you'll become a commuting ninja.

See the world from every angle. Rich imagery takes you to notable landmarks, sends you flying above mountains in 3D, and gives you a sneak peek of businesses you plan to visit. The new "carousel" at the bottom of the map makes all this imagery easy to access, so you can explore the world with a click.

After a few days of rumors, Microsoft has officially unveiled the upcoming Xbox One Media Remote.

The remote will sell for $25, a small bump up from the Xbox 360's remote price and will go on sale in March.

Reads the release from Xbox head Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb:

Releasing across Xbox One markets worldwide in early March, the Xbox One Media Remote lets you control video playback for Blu-ray movies and streaming video on Xbox One. Additionally, there are dedicated Back and OneGuide buttons. The OneGuide button provides one-touch, quick access to your favorite TV shows and movies through the Xbox program guide. This remote is designed to help you listen, watch and switch among experiences instantly – allowing you to rule your entertainment. The Media Remote can also control TV/Receiver power and volume through Kinect, which uses IR blasting to send signals to your TV and/or receiver.

Facebook has made the biggest news announcement of the day, acquiring the massive messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock.

WhatsApp has over 400 million active users, and Facebook is paying $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in stock, and the other $3 billion is in restricted stock for certain executives.

With the acquisition, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook's board of directors and the company will remain independent as a brand and service.

WhatsApp had less than 50 employees at the time of acquisition and just one VC funder, Sequoia Capital, who invested $8 million in 2011 and has a stake worth over $2 billion now.

The New Zealand Court of Appeals has ruled that police raids on Kim Dotcom's mansion in 2012 were in fact legal, but the removal of evidence, including computers and hard drives, were "an unauthorized breach."

Dotcom's lawyer Ira Rothken says they will likely take the appeal to the Supreme Court over the validity of the warrants for the raid. On January 20th, 2012, authorities including the U.S. FBI executed warrants to raid Dotcom's mansion, seizing 135 laptops, desktops, portable hard drives, flash storage devices and servers.

The warrants were executed at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) who is still looking to bring Dotcom and a few other programmers to the U.S. to face criminal charges of copyright infringement and money laundering.

One of the biggest issues at hand is that the warrants were very vague and only referred to "breach of copyright" as the offense. That charge is valid in the U.S. but does not exist in New Zealand. The warrants also did not reveal under which country's laws the alleged offenses were committed. The original ruled in Dotcom's favor but the appeals court did not. The appeals court did admit the warrants were deficient in some respects but not enough to be nullified.

Irrational Games, the developers behind the hit 'BioShock' series will be shutting down, with most of the team being laid off.

Creative Director and co-founder Ken Levine posted a note on the homepage of the company's site explaining the shut down of the company:

Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I've ever had. While I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we've done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience.

I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I'll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There's no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.

Samsung will unveil two new versions of their failed Galaxy Gear smartwatch at the Mobile World Congress event in Spain next week.

Most interestingly, one of the watches will run on Tizen rather than Android, making it one of the first commercial Tizen devices. In theory, a Tizen watch could sync across Android, iOS, Windows Phone and other devices, making it much more applicable than the original Galaxy Gear which could only sync with a handful of Samsung's Android phones.

All the devices will debut on February 24th during the company's Unpacked show.

Additionally, Samsung is said to have improved the Gear's battery life substantially, which could be a game changer. The first-generation model offered barely two days of life, compared to 4-7 days for the Pebble and other rival watches.

Google has released a new map and blog post highlighting cities that may be next to get the company's gigabit Fiber Internet.

The Internet, which is available currently in Kansas City and Austin, allows for download and upload speeds of 1,000 Mbps, astronomically higher than the average American ISP speeds of 5-15 Mbps.

Google is now inviting 34 cities (housed within eight metro areas) to try out Google Fiber. The lucky cities are: