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In an effort to boost sales of their Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon has begun a new partial money down, no interest financing option for the tablet line.

Here's how it works:

Make your first payment at checkout to get your new Kindle Fire HDX. Pay the remaining balance in 3 equal installments every 90 days.

No interest
No finance charges
No hidden fees
No credit check or application required

To get started, click on the button below. Add any eligible Kindle Fire HDX or Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" tablet to your cart. At checkout, we'll charge 25% of the device price, plus any applicable tax and shipping charges in full. The remaining balance will be automatically billed to your credit card in three equal installments every 90 days.

@Evleaks has released a small image of the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update, showing that Microsoft is moving away from hardware buttons to virtual buttons into the future.

The company has been internally testing the on-screen buttons for some time and the new addition could lead to smaller bezels and potentially larger screens for future models.

For manufacturers, the removal of the physical button requirement will help lower costs, as well but it is optional and OEMs can choose to stick with physical buttons for their devices.

Microsoft will unveil the OS update at next year's BUILD 2014 conference.

Partial Windows Phone "Blue" screenshot. pic.twitter.com/LnV9h0MMKL

-- @evleaks (@evleaks) December 14, 2013

Google has confirmed its acquisition of robotics engineering maker Boston Dynamics, a company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon.

The company builds robots such as the BigDog, which can stay upright, walk with almost perfect balance over uneven terrain and run faster than humans.

While it is unclear what Google's larger picture is, Boston is the eight robotics company to be purchased by the search giant in the last year. The company's robotics division is led by former Android boss Andy Rubin. Boston Dynamics has not sold the robots commercially, but has worked with the Pentagon, including building a set of humanoid robots named Atlas. Atlas' goal is to be able to operate in the event of natural disasters or man-made catastrophes like the Fukushima power plant meltdown.

Here are a few videos of the company's products:

According to the latest beta, Apple's upcoming iOS 7.1 will bring a new Car Display mode.

The update allows customers to "attach an iOS device to a compatible car center console via either wireless protocols or over a USB cable. An iOS interface for managing Maps, Messages, and Music then appears on the car's display."

Apple's latest beta for iOS 7.1 has added the ability to enable the "Car Display" mode in the Settings app. Additionally, the source code shows a large increase in reference to the car mode from beta 1 to beta 2.

The update is set for an early 2014 release.

According to the SMB email management company Intermedia, Apple ruled small and medium-sized business activations for 2013.

The company says over 190,000 iPhones and iPads were activated on its network for the period ended October 31st, beating out Samsung at the number two spot with just 29,000 activations.

Posting the figures in its annual "2013 Small + Medium Business Mobile Trends Report," the company says Apple accounted for 76 percent of all activations so far for 2013. Intermedia is one of the world's largest "third-party providers of hosted Exchange, delivering integrated email, calendars, contacts and other business tools to nearly 700,000 business users."

Motorola was far down in third at 13,800 activations for the same period, and Microsoft Windows Phones saw the largest growth at 93 percent, but the baseline figure was tiny.

Microsoft's Nancy Tellem says Microsoft will see it first original programming for Xbox early next year, a little bit later than expected.

Tellem is the president of entertainment and digital for Microsoft, who added: "We're hoping we will be able to put something up in the first quarter, at minimum second quarter."

The programming will be available on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One for Xbox Live subscribers.

Tellem was put in charge in 2012, and adds that "I'm incredibly ambitious and impatient" and although the content is taking longer than expected, "reflecting on what we've done and what lies ahead, it's been pretty good." One major project is based on the blockbuster series Halo, and is produced by Steven Spielberg.

Xbox Live has 48 million subscribers currently, and there are about 75 million Xbox consoles active around the world, giving Tellem a large audience for her slate of shows.

According to a new report, Apple will release the oft-rumored iWatch in October 2014, after having testing multiple prototypes.

Supposedly, the watch will also include wireless charging capabilities, allowing for the device to charge from as far as three feet away.

Battery life still appears to be an issue for Apple, with previous reports claiming the prototypes could only last up to 2 days on a charge, and the company not ready to release it until that it is extended to 4-5 days. The new report claims Apple has been using a tiny 100 mAh battery for their prototypes, which is extremely small when considering the Samsung Galaxy Gear and its poor battery life has a 315 mAh battery.

It also remains unclear what size display the watch will feature, with most reports claiming it will be either 1.3-inches or 1.7-inches.

Valve's new Linux-based operating SteamOS is available for download this week, coinciding with the launch of the company's Steam Machine hardware beta, which 300 users received.

For the time being, the OS is not aimed at novices, and should be tested by "intrepid Linux hackers," says the company.

"At this point the OS itself is not yet a finished product for a non-technical user. SteamOS Beta is an early, first-look public release of our Linux-based operating system. The base system draws from Debian 7, code named Debian Wheezy. Our work builds on top of the solid Debian core and optimizes it for a living room experience. Most of all, it is an open Linux platform that leaves you in full control. You can take charge of your system and install new software or content as you want," reads the website.

Additionally, Valve published an FAQ including installation guides, minimum requirements and what the OS can do. The download clocks in at about 1GB.

Ubisoft has unveiled its new "Snowdrop" gaming engine, a truly "next-gen" system that incorporates features previously only seen on high budget feature films.

The publisher is using the new engine for its upcoming game "Tom Clancy's 'The Division.'" There's little in the way of details but Ubisoft has released a 2-minute clip showing off some of the incredible features we will see in the game.

For starters, the engine supports dynamic day and night cycles, dynamic global illumination, dynamic weather including snow melting on cars over time if the sun comes out or weather gets hotter, and real-world damage to surfaces/items/buildings when you shoot at them.

The game is set for launch in 2014 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

On Friday, the WSJ reported that Sprint is preparing to bid on rival carrier T-Mobile USA in a deal that will cost them over $20 billion.

The report claims Sprint will explore antitrust issues before proposing any deal, which will take months, suggesting a mid-2014 bid, at the earliest.

A merged Sprint/T-Mobile would be a major competitor to market leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T, especially as Sprint and T-Mobile offer the best values for their plans, offering as low as $60 a month for unlimited everything plans.

Both companies have significantly expanded their LTE offerings in recent months, and are competitive on that front, although Verizon is the clear winner as far as national support goes.

Before any deal could be completed, the companies would have to get FCC approval that the deal would not lead to higher prices for consumers. AT&T was rejected from buying T-Mobile in 2011, due to antitrust issues, but Sprint and T-Mobile are the third and fourth largest carriers in the nation, so a combination would make them competitive with the current almost-duopoly of Verizon and AT&T.

Samsung announced earlier this week that it has merged its mobile devices/wireless and digital imaging divisions.

The move should lead the company to create a better synergy and improved camera imaging tech for its smartphones and tablets.

"We will transplant the brand, sales networks, software competency and manufacturing competitiveness of the Wireless Business Division into the Camera Business Division, and integrate the technical know-how of the two business divisions into competency for differentiating our smartphones," adds the company.

Samsung has certainly experimented with merging the two technologies in the past, releasing the Galaxy Camera, a high-end digital camera running on Android with touchscreen capabilities.

Google has launched a new help site called Google Tips, providing customers with guidelines and tips on how to use their consumer products.

Each card (Google Now users know about these) describes the product and you can flip the card to learn more about how it works. You can share the cards with your social networks and via email.

The site has cards for the following thirteen products: Search, Gmail, Chrome, Android, YouTube, Maps, Docs, Drive, Play, Calendar, Keep, News, and Google+.

To access any part of the site you must be logged in to Gmail, as expected.

Blockbuster is now officially dead, with all stores closed and all employees laid off.

The 91 remaining Blockbusters open in the UK were unable to avoid the fate of their American counterparts and will close down on December 16th. All remaining 808 employees will also lose their jobs.

"It is with regret that we have to make today's announcement. We appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their professionalism and support over the past month," said Thomas and O'Reilly, administrators of the bankrupt business. "Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a buyer for the group as a going concern and as a result had to take the regrettable action to close the remaining stores."

In the U.S., all 300 remaining stores will be closed out by January by its owner, Dish Network. For the UK stores, the company is liquidating and will offer 90 percent discounts on most items still in stock.

Oppo has announced that their upcoming flagship, the Find 7, is "coming soon" with an expected launch in the next two months.

If the rumored specs are to be believed, the device will be a monster. Powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 805 and 3GB RAM, the smarpthone has a 5.7" 2560 x 1440 pixel display and dual 13 MP / 5 MP cameras.

Additionally, it is rumored to have a large 4000mAh battery as well as the standard Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS features.

The company recently launched its N1 device, which uses CyanogenMod as its operating system and also includes a special rear touchpad for easier scrolling.

Walmart is preparing to drop the price of the iPhone 5C to just $27 with a new contract, down from its standard price of $99.

The company offered a similar deal for Black Friday, but that was $45 and included a gift card.

Apple's device has not sold as well as its brother, the 5S, and Apple has reportedly cut production by as much as 40 percent for the cheaper, plastic model. It appears that Walmart is looking to get rid of excess inventory into the holiday season.

Additionally, the iPhone 5S will drop in price to $127 with contract, down from $199, and the first-generation iPad Mini will come with a $50 gift card.

The sale starts tomorrow at 8am and extends until Christmas Eve.