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Terry Myerson, Microsoft's former Windows Phone boss and now head of Microsoft's mobile operating systems group, has detailed the company's plans for the future of Windows RT and the company's longstanding promise of a common app and developer tool between the different Windows platforms.

Myerson says the company has organized its new OS groups around three key points; commonality, the cloud, and tailored experiences for devices.

"The first of those is that we really should have one silicon interface for all of our devices," says the exec (via Verge). "We should have one set of developer APIs on all of our devices. And all of the apps we bring to end users should be available on all of our devices."

Microsoft is finally working on multi-platform compatibility, meaning a Windows phone app will work on a Windows 8 tablet, just like how Android and iOS operate.

BlackBerry investors have taken another beating today, as the company reported a near billion dollar loss and announced it would cut 4500 jobs, about 35 percent of its global workforce.

The company's shares closed down 18 percent, after falling as much as 25 percent. Shares are now down to their lowest point since last November.

For the quarter ended 8/31, the company says it expects to lose between $950 million and $995 million.

BlackBerry 10 sales were extremely weak, and the company has a large stockpile of unsold Z10 phones leading to a good portion of the quarter's losses. The company says 3.7 million smartphones will have been sold to end users in the quarter. Sales to retailers and carriers are no longer counted if those devices don't sell, in an effort to be more transparent.

Sadly, of those 3.7 million devices, the majority are older BlackBerry 7 phones, like the Bold, which were released in 2011.

After laying off 4500 more employees, the company will be down to 8000 employees. At its peak, the company employed 20,000.

The 64-bit processor that powers Apple's iPhone 5s is fabricated by Apple's great South Korean rival, Samsung.

Of course, all of Apple's custom designed AX chips that power its iPhones, iPads and iPod touch have been fabricated by Samsung's plants, but in recent years the relationship between both companies has soured considerable.

A global patent war erupted over similarities between the iPhone and iPad, and Samsung's Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets.

It's no secret that Apple would like to cut Samsung out of its supply chain as much as possible, and reports suggest that it is eyeing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to possible produce SoC's for future iPhones and iPads instead of its great rival.

An analysis of the iPhone 5s internal components by Chipworks found the A7 to be fabricated in Samsung's facilities, and seeks to confirm that the A7 utilizes Samsung's 28-nanometer Hi K metal Gate. The M7 motion coprocessor in the iPhone 5s is made by NXP.

Check the Chipworks analysis for more detailed information: chipworks.com

Popular music video streaming service Vevo will be blocking YouTube's upcoming offline viewing mode for mobile apps.

The new feature will go live in November, and will allow users to download the videos and play them offline for up to two days.

Vevo is one of YouTube's biggest content suppliers, with videos reaching tens of billions of views every year. Unfortunately, they are not fans of the new offline mode: "We're not going to allow viewing of our music videos or other programming in offline mode," says a Vevo spokesperson.

All of YouTube's largest partners will have the ability to opt out before the service goes live.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has joined Twitter following the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.

Twitter verified the account of the Apple CEO shortly after media reports pointed him out, and at the time of writing, he has already amassed over 120,000 followers. Given his position in the industry, that number is likely to explode over the coming days.

For his first tweet, Cook recounted visiting retail stores in Palo Alto as the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launched.

Visited Retail Stores in Palo Alto today. Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we do.

-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 20, 2013

Sprint has confirmed their recently leaked early-upgrade smartphone program, 'One Up.'

Like rival plans, One Up will let wireless subscribers change their phones once per year, while paying monthly installments for the device. Additionally, the plan will work with tablets, as well.

Sprint unlimited everything plans start at $65 per month.

With most high-end smartphones (priced at $550), you will pay an additional $27 per month for the phone with One Up (after taxes), and there is no down payment necessary for the device.

Sprint says you will save, over the course of a year, $208 over T-Mobile's plan, $500 over AT&T's plan and $539 over Verizon's plan.

U.S. Senator Al Franken has written a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook requesting information about Apple's Touch ID fingerprint technology.

Franken asks Cook questions that Apple may have already answered in its PR campaigns about the iPhone 5s and the safely of the Touch ID fingerprint technology.

The Cupertino-based giant assured users that fingerprint data is safely stored in the A7 SoC that powers the iPhone 5s, and that it is stored as mathematical data. Franken asks Cook in his letter if it is at all possible that the fingerprint data could be converted into a digital or visual format, and whether the raw information could be extracted from an iPhone, which Apple doesn't think likely.

The senator also raised questions about Apple's ability to share fingerprint information with law enforcement or other federal authorities, asking Cook to provide assurances that Apple will never share fingerprint data with government agencies without due process.

However, Apple has already stated repeatedly that fingerprint data is stored in the A7 only, and is never backed up to iCloud or in any way transferred to Apple servers, or even to other devices.

"Passwords are secret and dynamic; fingerprints are public and permanent," wrote Sen. Franken.

Microsoft will provide no more updates for Skype on Windows Phone 7, the Skype blog has revealed.

The Skype for Windows Phone 8 app has been getting quite a few updates as of late. It was the first Skype mobile app to offer HD video calling, and more recently, the Windows Phone 8 app got a new Video Messaging feature that allows you to record and leave video messages for contacts when they are offline.

Given that the majority of Skype's Windows Phone base is running Windows Phone 8, there will no longer be any Skype updates for the older Windows Phone 7.

"As we look ahead to the future, we are focusing all our efforts to bring great experiences and improved performance to Windows Phone 8, building on the capabilities of the platform," The Skype blog reads.

"As a result we are not planning to release further updates to Skype for Windows Phone 7."

The Skype app for Windows Phone 7 will remain available for download in the Windows Phone Store.

Verizon has announced that their updated FiOS app will bring live TV watching to your favorite mobile devices, while using a mobile data connection.

For the time being, the service will only extend to nine cable channels; BBC America, BBC World News, EPIX, NFL Network (iPad-only), HGTV, DIY, the Tennis Channel and Scripps Networks Interactive channels, Food Network and Travel Channel.

The app, for iOS and Android, is dubbed FiOS Mobile.

Last year, the app launched for iPad with 75 channels of live TV, but you needed to be connected to Wi-Fi to use it. With the updated app, if you are using Wi-Fi, you still have access to all 75 channels, and additionally local affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox and UniMas and Univision if you are in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Finally, the app has added on-demand content, like FiOS's 45,000 Flex View titles.

Valve has setup a new teaser site to drive interest ahead of an announcement that will be made on Monday.

"The Steam Universe is expanding in 2014," we are told, with most expectations being that Valve is likely to announce the Steam Box, which is hardware the company has been working on for the living room.

"Last year, we shipped a software feature called Big Picture, a user-interface tailored for televisions and gamepads. This year we've been working on even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room. Soon, we'll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam," the teaser website states.

A countdown clock is set to expire on Monday afternoon (Eastern Time, US).

Either this will be a Valve-branded Steam Box (Valve co-founder Gabe Newell did reveal already that the Steam Box will be distributed entirely by Valve) or perhaps its the announcement of partnerships with hardware manufacturers to make PCs that are more living-room/TV friendly?

What do you think Valve will reveal?

The Obama administration is petitioning the FCC to make moves that will thwart a law that criminalizes the unlocking of smartphones and tablets that are owned by users.

Through the NTIA - the President's principal adviser on domestic and international telecommunications and information policy - the White House is petitioning the FCC to make new rules related to unlocking smartphones and tablets.

The new rules would act thwart a law scheduled to take effect on January 26, 2014, that would make it punishable for up to five years to unlock a mobile phone without permission from a carrier.

It is common practice for carriers to lock smartphones to their networks when customers buy a subsidized device on a specific plan, like a two year plan. At the end of this time, customers may feel they want to take their device - which they now own - to another network.

Every three years, the Library of Congress examines possible exemptions to copyright laws. In the latest round, it decided not to renew an exemption that affects the unlocking of phones, setting the course for the law to take effect in January.

The Obama administration already asked the U.S. Congress to act on the issue, but as usual, the Congress has been slow to act. Therefore, the administration is looking to the FCC as another route.

Sony has officially unveiled the Bravia Smart Stick, a new Google TV device that plugs directly into your TV.

The dongle will sell for $149.99 and will only work with Sony Bravia TVs from this year (and into the future).

Featuring 8GB of on-board storage, the device plugs directly into the MHL port of Bravia TVs, and a provided USB cable is the power source. Additionally, the Smart Stick comes with a voice-activated remote control, allowing users to better control their content and entertainment.

"The BRAVIA Smart Stick answers the question, 'What's on TV,' with 'whatever you want to watch'" said Jamie Marsh, TV marketing manager for Sony Electronics Home Entertainment & Sound Division. "It brings the full power of Google services to your TV. From the apps in the Google Play store to the power of Google search, the BRAVIA Smart Stick integrates seamlessly with Sony's own BRAVIA apps and navigation to deliver an amazing connected TV viewing experience."

Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console will not support gameplay capture at launch, according to a Sony executive.

Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios, was responding to a question on Twitter about whether HDMI capture of gameplay footage will be possible from launch day, or if it will be something Sony rolls out later on.

The PlayStation 3 (PS3) console protected HDMI signals using HDCP, which meant users had to rely on analogue cables to record gameplay footage from the console.

It was announced this week that the PS4 will allow gameplay capture through HDMI, but now we know it will not be possible at launch.

@sagman12PC the latter

-- Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) September 20, 2013

The FCC has approved AT&T's proposed acquisition of Atlantic Tele-Network's (Alltel) retail wireless business.

Although the agency says the transaction "will likely cause some competitive and other public interest harms in several local markets" it is approving the deal since AT&T has accepted a number of conditions.

One such condition is that AT&T must maintain Alltel's CDMA network through June 2015.

The approval was not a guarantee. In August, FCC stopped reviewing the transaction because they said AT&T did not provide enough information on how the carrier would integrate Alltel's prepaid customers to its network.

Besides the agreement to keep the CDMA network running, AT&T also agreed to ensure that all of Alltel's CDMA network footprint would be covered by the company's own HSPA+ faux-4G service within 15 months of the transaction closing. Additionally, 75 percent of the footprint must have access to LTE within 18 months.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all Alltel customers will be provided "a handset comparable to his or her existing handset, at no cost to the customer and without requiring a contract extension."

An Apple stores in Southern California had an eventful launch for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5s when people were arrested for fighting.

Pasadena Police Lieutenant Jason Clawson said that two men among the line-up of hundreds waiting for a new iPhone got into a fight. The men, identified as 23 year old George Westbrook of Compton, and 43 year old Lamar Mitchell of Pasadena, were arrested for fighting in public.

In a separate incident at the same store, another man was detained for a 72 hour mental evaluation. He had gotten into an argument with another man whom he said paid him to keep his place in line. Several news sources report that it was a homeless man paid to keep a place in line by another man who clearly didn't feel like camping out.

Apple hired two Pasadena police officers to stay at the store throughout the rest of the day, and there was no major incident.

Apple fans waited in line to get their hands on a new iPhone 5s - or maybe an iPhone 5c - on Friday, but there was no shortage of complaints about supply, particularly of the gold coloured smartphones.