Latest news

Popular mobile messaging app WhatsApp is rumored to be in negotiations with Google over a buyout, one that could cost the search giant $1 billion.

Supposedly, the talks began five weeks ago, but WhatsApp is playing "hard ball" while trying to get the most money out of the deal.

While Google Talk and Google Hangouts are part of the Google suite, there has been very little innovation in the space for the company, allowing smaller startups to move in.

WhatsApp remains the leader in the market, but rivals like LINE are quickly joining them, including newer features and poaching customers. WhatsApp costs $0.99 for one year of service and is available on Android and iOS and Windows Phone as a cross-platform messaging service. The service processes billions of apps per day and is always a top 5 paid app in all 100 countries it is available in.

HTC has confirmed that their new Facebook Phone, the "First," will actually run stock Android underneath the Facebook Home user interface.

Perhaps more notably, Facebook Home can be disabled with a few clicks, leaving you with a stock Android phone if you ever get sick of Facebook experience.

HTC has not built a device without HTC Sense (or other overlays) since 2010's G2.

The company says the device has a 4.3-inch display, a Qualcomm 400 Snapdragon dual-core processor, 16GB internal storage and 1GB RAM. The phone has a larger 2000 mAh battery and dual 1.5MP/5MP cameras. As explained by Facebook at the launch event on Thursday, Facebook Home "brings your News Feed to the surface, for access to important social updates without opening up additional applications."

More information here: Facebook and HTC unveil "Facebook Home" for the HTC First

Retailers in the UK have begun taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone, the second BB10 device to be made available by BlackBerry.

The device will not be cheap. An unlocked model will sell for £579.95, but O2, Orange, Vodafone and EE will each have versions if you prefer to get on a two-year contract.

For example, TNW says O2 has unlimited calls and texts with 1GB of data for £32 per month while other carriers are more expensive. EE has the only LTE network in the UK, and their similar plan starts at £41 per month.

The device will be available by the end of the month.

Q10 devices are notable due to their full QWERTY keyboards and small 3.1-inch touchscreen. Under the hood is a dual-core TI OMAP 4470 1.5GHz, 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage (microSD slot can expand another 32GB).

Nokia has expanded their Nokia+ Music subscription service to Windows 8 and Windows RT devices.

The update will give PC and tablet users a new way to stream unlimited music, if they do not want to use the alternatives like Last.Fm, Rdio and Pandora.

Nokia+ is a mix of the services, focusing on playlists that work like Pandora does. You type in the genre, artist or song and the service mixes a station for you. You can also import your own music and play from your own collection.

For $3.99 per month, the service also offers unlimited skips, offline playback, and 256kbps streaming quality.

Samsung has announced quarterly earnings guidance this week, saying they expect $7.7 billion in profits for the Q1 2013, a large 53 percent jump year-over-year (YoY).

While still massive, the profit will be slightly smaller than the company's fourth quarter record of $8.3 billion and break Samsung's five quarter streak of new records.

The company will announce the earnings later this month.

Seeing a slight dip was expected as the Galaxy S4 is not ready for launch until later this month, meaning there should be a strong sales bump in the Q2.

Samsung sold over 70 million smartphones during the quarter, according to estimates.

Dell has unveiled their Linux version of the Alienware X51 slimline desktop PC, running on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

The console has base specs of a 3.3GHz dual-core Core i3-3220, 6GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 645 GPU with 1GB of GDDR5 RAM. That model will cost you $599.

At the high-end, you can upgrade to a Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 660 with 1.5GB of RAM for $1,049.

As a "slim" model, the PC is 12.5 inches high, 12.5 inches long and 3.74 inches wide.

By moving to Linux, you can save $100 off the base model compared to the Windows 7 equivalent.

Dell says you can play 90 games with the gaming PC, thanks to Steam for Linux, which is a disappointing number compared to the almost 2000 games available for Windows PCs.

Samsung has announced a Wi-Fi-only version of their Android-based Galaxy Camera.

Galaxy Cameras offer Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD panel, a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 16MP BSI CMOS sensor with 21x optical zoom. Former models had included an HSPA+ chip for 3G, as well as the standard Wi-Fi. Because the camera ships with Android, users have access to all 700,000 apps in the Google Play Store, as well.

The previous model cost $499 and required a monthly data plan. The new model will cost $450 and not require any data.

"The Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi blends cutting-edge digital imaging technology with Samsung's latest line of class-leading Android devices," added Ron Gazzola, VP of Marketing for the Digital Imaging division of Samsung Electronics America. "Focusing on features that simplify the user experience, the Galaxy Camera Wi-Fi offers an intuitive approach to feature-rich photography, without the need to be constantly connected."

Google may have inadvertently leaked the next site for its Google Fiber initiative.

The company posted a press/business leader invite for an upcoming joint event in the city, leading to much speculation as to whether the city would be next to get the fast Internet offering.

Google's invite read: "The City of Austin and Google will make a very important announcement that will have a positive impact on Austinites and the future of the city."

The event is set for Tuesday at 11 AM.

Google Fiber offers easily the best deal for Internet and TV in the U.S. but is so far only available as a pilot in Kansas City.

While BlackBerry has officially launched the Q10 (part of the N-Series) and the Z10 flagship (part of L-Series), there has been little stated about their R-Series.

Today we have the first picture of the BlackBerry 10 Curve, part of the R-Series.

The phone is rumored to have worse specs than the Z10 and Q10 (including less RAM) but will include the full keyboard familiar to BlackBerry Curve owners.

Perhaps most notably, the phones will be part of BlackBerry's affordable line.

According to Reuters, former News Corp. president Peter Chernin has bid $500 million for Hulu, the popular online video streaming company.

The site is a joint effort between Disney and News Corp, but the owners have been looking to buy each other out or sell the company since last month.

Chernin is certainly familiar with Hulu as he helped create the site in 2007 and is a former board member. He now runs media holding company The Chernin Group in which he has passive stakes in tech companies like Pandora.

Hulu has over 3 million paying subscribers and generated revenue of $700 million last year from ads and monthly subscriptions.

Retailers have begun slashing prices on various iPads, implying a new, updated version of the tablet is coming in the near future.

Wal-Mart has cut the price of the popular iPad Mini (16GB Wi-Fi) to $299 from $329. The device was launched in September.

Best Buy slashed the price of the third-generation (early 2012) iPad by 30 percent, a large clearance. The 16GB+Wi-Fi version is down from $449 to $314 and the 64GB model is down to $454.

The company says a lot of stock is already sold out, but some stores still have stock.

While the price cuts certainly suggest a new model of the iPad is coming soon (or at least an updated Mini), Wal-Mart denied that was the case: "Some have asked us if we think this signals the possibility of a new iPad to be released. That is not the case. Walmart's move is due to consumer demand and our commitment to providing the best price, not potential new product introductions."

Microsoft has responded to the outcry following one of their employee's comments on Twitter.

Earlier in the day Adam Orth, creative director at Microsoft Game Studios, began tweeting about defending "always-on" practices such as DRM used by gaming companies. His tweets seemed to suggest that the upcoming Xbox Next/Xbox 8/Xbox 720 would use such practices.

Microsoft was quick to respond to the claims: "We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."

T-Mobile has begun taking pre-orders for the iPhone today, making it the last major carrier in the U.S. to do so. The phone goes on sale April 12th.

The carrier will offer the iPhone 4, 4S and 5, and the iPhone 5 will be compatible with the company's 3G, 4G HSPA+ and LTE networks.

Thanks to the company's new "Uncarrier" plans, the iPhone 5 will sell with two options. You can purchase the device at full price at time of purchase, or purchase it for $99 upfront and pay out $20 a month for 24 months, for a total of $579 over two years.

If you want an iPhone 4 or 4S, the installment plan cost is just $15 or $70 down with a $15 or $20 monthly charge, respectively.

T-Mobile also notes that the iPhone 5 will support "HD Voice," which the company defines as high definition voice calling with background noise reduction.

After being vague for months, Netflix has announced the official debut date for the fourth season of the cult classic comedy Arrested Development.

The series will be available starting May 26th, and will actually feature 15 new episodes, compared to the 13 previously revealed.

Subscribers in the U.S., UK, Canada, Ireland, Latin America and the Nordic regions will have access starting 12:01 AM Pacific Time.

Unlike broadcast TV, the entire season will be available at the same time, allowing fans to marathon if they so choose to.

We've made a huge mistake. There are actually 15 NEW episodes of #ArrestedDevelopment launching on @netflix May 26

-- Netflix Canada (@Netflix_CA) April 4, 2013

HTC and Facebook unveiled Facebook Home today, an Android-based user interface that highlights "the Facebook experience."

The HTC First will be the first (no pun intended) smartphone to include the software, and it will be available exclusively through AT&T in the U.S.

HTC says the device has a 4.3-inch display, a Qualcomm 400 Snapdragon dual-core processor, 16GB internal storage and 1GB RAM. The phone has a larger 2000 mAh battery and dual 1.5MP/5MP cameras.

As explained by the social networking giant, Facebook Home "brings your News Feed to the surface, for access to important social updates without opening up additional applications."

Additionally, Facebook Home includes; Cover Feed, a constant, fresh stream of photos and updates directly from your news feed and is always present as soon as you wake up your phone; Notifications that appear right on your home screen; Chat Heads, the mobile messenger that lets you jump in and out of conversations while you multitask; App Launcher, which lets you view your favorite apps and post right to Facebook from the same spot