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According to Strategy Analytics, India has surpassed Japan to become the world's third largest smartphone market, behind China and the U.S.

The news is not too surprising given that India has a population of 1.3 billion, but it is notable as Japan has long held the spot.

Apple, Samsung and Indian Android OEM Micromax have been driving higher sales thanks to improved distribution, says the analytics firm.

While the average global growth for smartphone shipments is around 40 percent year-over-year, India is at 163 percent. India's market is growing much quicker than China at 86 percent, Japan at 24 percent and the U.S. at 19 percent.

Although Apple is seeing strong growth in the nation thanks to its price cuts and financing programs, Micromax and other cheap domestic Android OEMs are seeing exponential growth figures, ranging from 200 to 500 percent.

Google's Motorola Mobility has dramatically updated their logo today, as the company continues to re-invent itself.

Moving away from the black, bold and italic "MOTOROLA," the new logo features a softer, skinnier all-lower-case title.

While the "M" design remains the same, it will now be surrounded by a colorful highlight.

Additionally, Google has finally made it clear who is in charge, by adding the tagline "a Google company" below the name.

Moving away from the old bloated Motorola, Google has laid off over 20 percent of the workforce, slimmed down the company's lineup of products, and will soon be releasing the American-made X Phone flagship.

According to a report from IGN, Sony made the decision to unbundle the PlayStation 4 camera (Eye) in order to gain an advantage over Microsoft's Xbox One console.

IGN cites multiple sources in reporting that the original plan for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) was to have it bundled with the camera for a retail price of $500, but the company decided that cutting the camera could give it a significant price advantage.

That prediction turned out to be correct, with the PS4 set to launch for $100 less than Microsoft's Xbox One, which comes bundled with Kinect and requires it to function properly, at a cost of $500.

In order to keep the news quiet until the price was announced, Sony only informed its retail partners that the camera would not be bundled with the system, but not that it was cutting the price.

The move definitely has made the PS4 look more attractive ahead of the holiday season, but it has also relegated the camera to an optional accessory, meaning that game developers will be less likely to work with it than they would be if every PS4 owner had one.

The Turkish authorities want Twitter to setup a representative office inside the country, after it singled out the service for aiding weeks of anti-government protests.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has referred to Twitter as a "scourge" that is used to spread lies about the government with the goal of terrorizing society in the country.

"We have told all social media that ... if you operate in Turkey you must comply with Turkish law," Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim, told reporters.

"When information is requested, we want to see someone in Turkey who can provide this ... there needs to be an interlocutor we can put our grievance to and who can correct an error if there is one."

Reuters cites an unnamed official as saying Twitter had been asked to identify users who posted messages deemed insulting to the government or the Prime Minister.

Facebook voiced concerns about proposals that would see Internet firms being obliged to hand over data more frequently, and denied that it has provided any user data to the Turkish authorities.

Just days after dropping the price of their upcoming handheld console and announcing a June launch, the company has delayed its release for a month.

The console, which was initially priced at $349 to much criticism, will cost $299 now when it launches sometimes towards the end of July.

Nvidia says they discovered a mechanical issue, but they would not specify except to say it was with a third-party component.

In their statement, the company says "We want every Shield to be perfect, so we have elected to shift the launch date to July."

NVIDIA SHIELD's specifications:

• Tegra 4 – The world's fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD's sleeper feature
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• There's more – NVIDIA put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

Google has made vast improvements to its Earth satellite imagery across several of its products, cleaning up previous bad images and wiping even clouds from the skies.

The improvement virtually eliminates clouds, includes refreshed imagery for regions of the world where high-resolution imagery is not yet available, and offers a more comprehensive and accurate view of the texture of our planet's landscape.

Using Google Earth Engine technology, Google's engineers mined hundreds of terabytes of data from the USGS's and NASA's Landsat 7 satellite, resulting in an image of the entire planet with a resolution of 15 meters per pixel.

The resulting 800,000 megapixel global image is so big that if you wanted to print it at a standard resolution of 300 dots per inch you would need a piece of paper the size of a city block.

Check out Google's Maps blog for pictures highlighting improvements.

Sharp has unveiled its new 70-inch AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV, the first television to receive the coveted THX 4K certification.

Capable of displaying content up to 3840x2160, the 70-inch class (69.5-inch diagonal) TV could display breathtaking 4K content. It will cost you though, with a price tag of $7,999.99.

"Sharp has a rich history of leading the electronics industry in innovation. Today we continue that tradition with the introduction of the AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV," said John Herrington, President, Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America.

"With four times the pixel resolution of HD, the 70 inch class AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV is our finest television ever."

Two of the best Android phones are the market just got a little better today, as Google has made the Nexus editions of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One available through the Google Play Store.

Both versions have been stripped of their third-party user interfaces and will run stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Each will get the quickest updates, moving forward, the same as the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4.

Each are unlocked and contract-free, meaning they have hefty price tags. The HTC One is now available for $599 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $649.

It is also important to remember that in getting stock Android, you also lose some highly-rated features of the devices, such as the One's camera app and Samsung's suite of premium apps like S-Touch.

Microsoft has announced today a trio of new apps for their Windows Phone platform.

The new apps will allow users to watch full episodes of their favorite shows on Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet.

Additionally, you'll be able to view thousands of curated clips and special behind-the-scenes material from the programs.

Special to Windows Phone, you can pin your favorite shows to the Start Screen for quicker access and set calendar reminders for your favorite episodes.

Get the apps here: Windows Phone Apps

In a case that is now 9 years in the making, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled this week that Joel Tenenbaum must pay the $675,000 in damages to the record industry.

The original court decision was in 2009 and has been back and forth through the appeals process ever since.

Tenebaum, a graduate student at the time, was accused of sharing 30 tracks via Kazaa in 2004. The student did not admit to sharing the tracks, but also tried a "fair use" defense that was thrown out. His actions in court also made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing and felt no remorse. After the defense fell apart, the original jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 for each of the 30 songs, due to willful infringement.

After the first case, the damages were reduced by one judge, but the RIAA appealed and won. Tenebaum tried to take the case to the Supreme Court in 2011, but was denied last year.

Reads the final ruling: "Joel Tenenbaum illegally downloaded and distributed music for several years. A group of recording companies sued Tenenbaum, and a jury awarded damages of $675,000, representing $22,500 for each of thirty songs whose copyright Tenenbaum violated. Tenenbaum appeals the award, claiming that it is so large that it violates his constitutional right to due process of law. We hold that the award did not violate Tenenbaum's right to due process, and we affirm."

Massive Spanish wireless carrier Telefonica has announced today that it will be backing Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.

When asked why, the company responded they hope to end the "current duopoly of Android and iOS." As part of their backing, the companies have signed a 12-month "enhanced marketing agreement" that will see a major increase in advertising for Windows Phone 8 devices in the UK, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile.

Additionally, the company has pledged to "provide customers with a more personal smartphone experience like Windows Phone offers." By backing the number three player in the market, Telefonica hopes to "dilute the polarisation of installed base in operating platforms."

The carrier will be working closely with Nokia, HTC and Samsung to ensure "the availability of high-quality devices," as well.

Motorola's upcoming flagship device, the X Phone, has been leaked again in a new report.

The device, which is expected to launch on August 1st, has now been seen on Sprint, and is likely to be available for all the rest of the major U.S. carriers, as well.

Rumored specs for the device are mid-range: 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core 1.7 GHz Snapdragon chipset, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory.

The device is going with the code of Motorola XT1056 for Sprint, and XFON for AT&T.

Despite what we know, the phone is expected to have features not yet seen on an Android device, but so far those features are unknown. We should know more later this summer.

The crowd-funded Android-based console, OUYA, was launched yesterday.

Raising over 8 million dollars in funding via Kickstarter, the company called BOXER8 (since renamed to OUYA) has been manufacturing the low-cost ($99) and open home console, and since AfterDawn was a part of the crowd funding, we got the console a bit beforehand. So let's take a look.

OUYA is an Android based gaming console that is packed into a tiny 3-inch cube. Underneath the shiny cover, it is powered by the quad-core 1,7GHz Tegra 3 T33-P-A SoC, and packs 1GB DDR3 SDRAM.

OUYA outputs to a display via HDMI (v1.4), up to full 1080p with stereoscopic 3D support. For connectivity, it sports a USB 2.0 port, and a microUSB port. For network/wireless connectivity, OUYA has a standard Ethernet port, Wi-FI (802.11 b/g/n) and support for Bluetooth 4.0 (which provides controller connectivity).

One controller is bundled with the OUYA, powered by double A batteries. The controller is wireless and uses Bluetooth. You can have four controllers attached to OUYA.

BitTorrent has attempted to clarify the position of the company and the BitTorrent protocol with regard to Internet piracy.

Responding to media reports about the piracy figures for the previous season of Game of Thrones, BitTorrent took to its blog to clarify something important; there is no "BitTorrrent Piracy Record," because that happens outside the BitTorrent ecosystem.

"We don't host infringing content. We don't point to it. It's literally impossible to illegally download something on BitTorrent," wrote BitTorrent's Matt Mason.

"To pirate stuff, you need more than a protocol. You need search, a pirate content site, and a content manager. We offer none of those things. If you're using BitTorrent for piracy, you're doing it wrong."

It's understandable that the company would react this way, given that it is a legitimate business providing legal content. Over two million pieces of licensed, legal content are available to download over the BitTorrent protocol.

While "Game of Thrones" has been touted as something of a champion in the Internet piracy scene, BitTorrent insists that the real Kind is a show called Epic Meal Time, which is legally available and boasts 8,626,987 downloads.

Samsung has made its Galaxy S4 LTE-A smartphone, designed to work with LTE Advanced networks, official.

The world's first LTE Advanced-capable smartphone also comes loaded with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor with 2.3GHz Quad Core CPUs, proving a significant performance improvement over the original Galaxy S4, launched only around two months ago.

LTE-Advanced networks promise twice the download rate of LTE networks, and over ten times the rate provided by 3G networks.

The announcement of the new LTE-A capable Galaxy S4 coincides with the launch of South Korea's first LTE-Advanced network, delivering download speeds up to 150Mbps.