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Large (and bankrupt) UK retailer HMV has confirmed that it is slashing the price of the Wii U to help move stagnant stock.

The company is selling a custom Wii U Premium package, including both NintendoLand and ZombiU at £199.99, effectively a £140 discount from what the console was selling for, even without the zombie game.

HMV says the sale goes live on March 25 and is good as long as supplies last, which could be a while if the company still has as much inventory as expected.

There have been plenty of recent articles showing how little patience retailers around the globe have for the Wii U and its lackluster sales. Executives have allegedly claimed that even price cuts don't work, and Nintendo really needs to "act fast" before it's too late.

Asda, Amazon, ShopTo and GameStop have all already dropped the price of the console in the region by £50.

Zynga has announced this week that it is making its Facebook login requirement for Zynga.com now optional.

Beginning on Monday, gamers will no longer need to have a Facebook account to play the games at Zynga.com and can use new dedicated Zynga usernames and passwords.

Reads the press release:

Starting next week, when you visit Zynga.com you will see a new streamlined signup that lets you create your own account just for playing games. We also wanted to make sure that existing Zynga.com players continue to have the best experience possible so you don't have to start from scratch. All players will have the option to connect with Facebook and keep your game friends and game progress, while deciding what you share with your gaming community.

We thank you for the valuable feedback and hope you enjoy what we believe is a natural evolution of Zynga.com. We've kept a lot of the great features like live Social Stream, Fast Load and Online Presence which lets you see who else is playing right now. Some of your favorite games will be on the new site at launch and we will continue to work hard to bring you more great games and new features over the coming weeks and months.

According to a new client note by Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets, Apple is preparing a low-end iPhone for release this year.

The iPhone will include the 4-inch screen seen in the iPhone 5, but will be plastic and not include a Retina display.

Apple will release at least two phone during the Summer period this year, says the analyst, including the expected iPhone 5S and the low-end device. "With a lower price point, Apple will be able to target a growing and important part of the smartphone market (sub-$400 price band)," reads the note.

This note is certainly not the first time an analyst or other reporter has claimed that Apple is working on a low-end iPhone, aimed at emerging markets. Just last month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the supposed phone would include a "hybrid casing of fiberglass and plastic will make it lighter and slimmer than general plastic casing and easier to make in various colors."

According to multiple sources, the first eight T-Mobile LTE networks will be located in New York, New Orleans, Denver, Las Vegas, Kansas City, San Diego, San Jose and Seattle.

The company expects to have a full rollout to over 200 million users by the end of 2013. Such a rollout would give T-Mobile the third largest LTE network in the U.S., slightly behind Verizon and AT&T, who began their networks in 2012.

Sprint, the third-largest carrier in the nation, has been slowly building their LTE network, as well, and is currently in 67 markets.

T-Mobile is preparing an event in NYC on March 26th, but the carrier is widely expected to introduce the LTE network and also unveil new unlimited, unsubsidized service plans that cost as low as $50 per month.

According to an unofficial tally by MetroStore Scanner, the Windows Store has reached 50,000 total apps.

The service also noted that there has been a large decline in new submissions since November of last year, with averages dropping from 400 to 150 in February before seeing an uptick to 200 in March.

It is unclear whether Microsoft's new rewards program has helped in the growth. The company began offering developers $100 per app for new published apps submitted to either the Windows Phone Store or the Windows 8 Store before June 30th. Each developer can qualify for up to 10 apps per store, for a net total of $2000 in bonuses. All apps must meet standard certification requirements, and the app must do more than just launch a web page. Additionally, you cannot clone existing published apps.

The store offers apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Apple took a rare stance in blaming record companies, movie studios and TV networks for higher prices on digital downloads in Australia, especially when compared to the U.S.

The words came out during an interview by a special Australian parliamentary committee that is investigating price gouging by Apple, Adobe, Microsoft and others.

Recent surveys showed that Australians paid, on average, 50 percent more than U.S. consumers did for the same games, songs, software and hardware.

For example, Justin Timberlake's brand new '20/20 Experience' sells for $10.99 in the U.S. iTunes Store, but $19.99 AUD, which is the equivalent of about $21 USD. Software is even worse.

Tony King, the vice president for Apple Australia, New Zealand and South Asia said digital content pricing was based solely on wholesale prices negotiated by the media companies. "The content industry still runs with perhaps old-fashioned notions of country borders or territories or markets," King added.

HTC has sent out an update on the availability of their upcoming One smartphone.

The company recently announced it had issues acquiring component supplies for their device and therefore would have to delay the phone.

Reads the email:

"HTC has seen unprecedented demand for and interest in the new HTC One, and the care taken to design and build it is evidenced in early reviews. The new HTC One will roll out in the UK, Germany and Taiwan next week and across Europe, North America and most of Asia-Pacific before the end of April. We appreciate our customers' patience, and believe that once they have the phone in their hands they will agree that it has been worth the wait."

Yesterday, the Pentium processor turned 20 years old, a huge milestone for Intel.

The first chip in the line, the Pentium P5, was introduced on March 22nd, 1993, boasting such impressive specs as 66 MHz clock speed, 3.1 million transistors, a TDP of up to 16 W, and a 800nm manufacturing process.

Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors have clock speeds up to 3.90GHz, 1.4 billion transistors, a TDP of up to 77W and a 22nm dye process, making the chips many, many, many, many times more powerful and smaller than their older brother.

Engadget has collected a couple of funny old Pentium videos, including one by parody artist Weird Al Yankovic.

Barnes & Noble, in an effort to boost sales of their flagship tablet, will offer a free Nook Simple Touch e-reader with purchases of the NOOK HD+.

From March 24th until March 31st, the $79 e-reader will be added to purchases made online and in-store. If you purchase from another retailer, like Wal-Mart or Target, the offer is good through the 30th.

"NOOK HD+, with its must-see full HD 9-inch screen, is perfect for experiencing movies, apps, magazines and more, while NOOK Simple Touch is ideal for reading millions of books with crisp, clear text on a portable and lightweight device that's comfortable to hold for hours," reads the statement.

The NOOK HD+ offers a 1080p screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, weighs just 18.2 ounces and costs $269 for the 16GB model or $299 for the 32GB version.

BlackBerry made its return to the U.S. yesterday via carrier AT&T, but it appears consumer demand has not returned.

Shares of the company collapsed 7 percent on Friday after reports showed no demand in stores for the phone, and little excitement by AT&T employees.

AT&T locations around the nation did not even have the Z10 flagship phone on display yet, and Best Buy stores were also reporting weak demand.

Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst added (via Reuters): "This morning we visited and called stores to survey early demand for the BlackBerry Z10. We found no lines, no signage announcing the launch, and clerks told us they had very few pre-orders."

The Z10 is the first phone to feature the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which the company hopes will let them move back into third place behind Android and iOS but ahead of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform.

BlackBerry released the Z10 in Europe in February and has seen relatively strong demand in other markets but it appears that BlackBerry is completely dead to the U.S. market.

The most interesting rumors yet to come out about the secretive Google/Motorola "X Phone" have surfaced.

According to sources, the X Phone will have customizable hardware options that will let users pick the features they want in their smartphone, similar to how computer makers offer different displays, memory, video cards and more.

While there is no hard evidence yet to back the rumors, Motorola's advisor Guy Kawasaki has added some fuel to the fire by posting a video to his Google+ page. (Article after the jump).

The video is about the Porsche Exclusive program that lets would-be buyers design their own cars from a list of features. Kawasaki says "wouldn't it be great if you could personalize your phone like this," as a closing statement.

Check his post here: Google+

Apple has introduced two-step verification for Apple ID and iCloud accounts, strengthening security for its users.

The new system requires that a user verify their identity on a trusted device before they will be able to make changes to their personal information, following similar security systems offered by Google and others.

A verification code will be sent to a trusted device, which then must be provided to login and change Apple ID or iCloud settings, while a recovery key will also be provided to users which can be used in the case of lost passwords, lost devices, and so on.

Two-step verification can help greatly to reduce the chances of account hijacking, and is becoming more common for web services while news of high profile account hacking circulates.

Users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland will be able to use the new system first.

An administrative judge at the International Trade Commission (ITC) has found that Microsoft did not infringe a patent held by Motorola Mobility.

After acquiring Motorola Mobility, Google pushed forward with a patent infringement case against Microsoft related to technology used in its Xbox video game console products.

Of the five patents originally involved in the dispute, four of the claims were dropped. The remaining patent covered technology that allows devices to wirelessly communicate over short distances, and Google sought action from the International Trade Commission (ITC), which has the power to ban importation of infringing products into the United States.

On Friday, an ITC administrative law judge issues a preliminary decision finding that Microsoft did not violate a patent held by the Google subsidiary.

"We are pleased with the administrative law judge's finding that Microsoft did not violate Motorola's patent and are confident that this determination will be affirmed by the commission," said David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, told Reuters.

In less than two months, the BlackBerry 10 mobile OS has reached a significant milestone, 100,000 apps.

Additionally, BlackBerry says a few notable apps that will be available soon are CNN, The Daily Show Headlines, eBay, eMusic, Maxim, MLB at Bat, MTV News, Pageonce, PGA, Rdio, Skype, Soundhound, and Viber.

"The response to the BlackBerry 10 platform and applications has been outstanding," noted Martyn Mallick, vice president of global alliances at BlackBerry. "Customers are thrilled with the applications already available, and the catalog just keeps growing."

As Z10 owners know, some of the more popular cross-platform apps have been available, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp (and let's not forget Angry Birds) but there are plenty others missing. A recent study found that only 33 percent of the top 100 Android and iOS apps had BB10 equivalents.

The Z10 flagship will hit the U.S. tomorrow via AT&T and in the coming weeks from Verizon and T-Mobile.

Six months after it was announced, Pandora is finally available for Windows Phone 8.

Additionally, users will have ad-free listening through the end of 2013, thanks to a subsidy from Microsoft.

The last line is notable since ad-free unlimited listening normally costs $36 per year through a service called "Pandora One." Also, other users are limited to 40 hours per month for free. That cap is not enforced until 2014 for WP8 users.

One exclusive of the new app allows owners to pin their favorite stations to the start screen (as a live tile) and the tile will update the track information for the song is on. However, it appears lyrics and artist bios have disappeared, at least in version 1.0 of the app.