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Earlier today, the NYT had a report on Apple's alleged plans for the iPad tablet.

After months of rumor, the paper jumped on the 'iPad Mini' bandwagon, claiming the company will indeed be releasing a smaller 7.85-inch iPad later this year.

All the report would say is they expect the tablet to cost "significantly less" than the current $499 base iPad. This all seemed regurgitated but the report did have one interesting note, regarding Amazon.

Reads the paper: "Amazon is working on a new version of the Kindle Fire, with a larger display, that could compete more directly with the iPad, according to a developer briefed on Amazon's plans who did not want to be identified talking about unannounced products."

The e-tailer is expected to release a second-generation Kindle Fire later this summer.

60 days into the Netherland's and UK's 'experiment' in forcing ISPs to block The Pirate Bay, one ISP says the tactic is completely ineffective in controlling traffic to and from P2P and torrent sites.

Major Dutch ISP XS4All told TF that torrent traffic actually increased after the block.

UPC in the Netherlands says there was only a small temporary blip down before traffic returned to normal.

Another two ISPs, KPN and Ziggo, say volume is exactly where it was before the ban.

In response to the reports, the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) says they are not dissuaded and will "take further steps to deal with illegal sites that line their pockets by ripping off everyone who makes the music we enjoy."

NBC News has announced today that they have acquired 100 percent share of msnbc.com and its digital networks from Microsoft.

The site will be rebranded as NBCNews.com

"Some really talented journalists have passed through the doorway of msnbc.com and taken us to the point where we have something that is an outstanding set of properties, and we value them to such a degree that we decided that we wanted to own them outright," added NBC News President Steve Capus.

Charlie Tillinghast, the site's president and publisher, added that the site will hugely benefit from "proper brand alignment between the TV properties and their Web counterparts -- NBC News and NBCNews.com, MSNBC cable and msnbc.com and TODAY show and TODAY.com."

For the time being, MSNBC will still be the same URL, but will reflect the NBC News home page.

Symantec, the maker of anti-virus software, has confirmed that an update to its popular Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 and Norton anti-virus software for businesses has caused some PCs to be bricked (inoperable) without servicing.

The update, for users with Microsoft Windows XP, caused an instant "blue screen of death," one that could not be fixed with a reboot.

So far, the company admits over 300 corporate customers have been affected and 60 consumer customers have seen the deadly BSOD.

Angry customers say it took Symantec hours to identify the bug, and that the company needed to send their own techs to fix the issue unless customers manually removed the software via a time-consuming process.

The company says the glitch was due to "software compatibility issues that arose after an update was released late on Wednesday." Symantec says it will "compensate" users.

According to the latest figures from Nielsen, two out of every three Americans who bought a phone in the last 90 days chose to purchase a smartphone.

Furthermore, as of June, 54.9 percent of all mobile subscribers now have smartphones, a huge jump from May when the number was at 50.4 percent.

In the mobile OS war, Android leads the pack at 51.8 percent, edging out Apple at 34.3 percent. RIM fell to its lowest figure in a very long time, at 8.1 percent, while Windows Phone came in at just 1.3 percent.

Americans bought up Apple en masse, with the iPhone taking a 34 percent market share with Samsung in second at 17 percent. On a global scale, Samsung still remains in the lead. RIM remained in third at about 9 percent market share.

Microsoft has unveiled a limited-edition "Halo 4" Xbox 360 console.

The system will go on sale when Halo does, on November 6th.

For $400, fans can get a Halo 4-themed console with 320GB HDD, custom sound effects, two skinned controllers, a wired headset and of course, a copy of the game.

The system's "ring" lights blue instead of the standard green, as do the controllers.

Finally, the gamer will receive exclusive DLC and avatar content.

Sprint has launched its LTE network today.

Customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio now have access to 4G LTE speeds if their phone can support it.

Says the company: "To better meet the growing voice and data demands of wireless customers, Sprint is building an all-new, nationwide 3G and 4G LTE network through the Network Vision program. This means that whether a Sprint customer is using a smartphone to share a picture or to check the Web, Sprint 4G LTE will make it faster. Coupling the speed of 4G LTE with the industry's only truly unlimited data plan for smartphones makes Sprint the best choice in wireless. Additionally, the new network provides significant enhancements to Sprint 3G service. Customers will experience better signal strength, fewer dropped/blocked calls, faster data speeds, expanded coverage and better overall performance as the improvements roll out across the country."

Outside of the five metro areas, Sprint expects to launch in more cities soon with a December 2013 expected date for a complete rollout.

After mediocre sales of their first tablet, the Flyer, and its variations, HTC has been working on something special in the tablet space, although they will not disclose what.

Apparently, the company has been waiting "until it had something unique to offer" before launching.

Microsoft recently snubbed the company, not giving it a license for the upcoming Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro.

That being said, the new tablet will certainly run Android 4.0 or 4.1 but it is unclear what the killer new "unique" feature is.

Struggling smartphone maker RIM will have to pay $147 million in damages after losing a patent suit to Mformation Technologies.

The jury upheld claims that RIM violated patents taken out in 1999 by Mformation.

Most of the software involved relates to "software that allows companies to access employees' mobile phones remotely for upgrades, password changes or to delete data."

To get the $147 million, the judge in the case calculated the fine as $8 for every BlackBerry sold since 2008, when the claims were initially filed.

The case will also likely force RIM to pay royalties on future sales and international sales, as well.

"We believe [the patents have] been fundamental to the success of Research in Motion," added Amar Thakur for the plaintiffs. "Mformation created the mobile device management category in the late 1990s and was innovating in this area well before most of the market understood the fundamental importance of wireless mobility management."

Nokia has slashed the price of their flagship device, the Lumia 900, in half for the U.S. market.

The popular Windows Phone device has only been on the market for three months and came to market already discounted at $99.

As of today, the Lumia 900 will sell for just $49 with contract from AT&T.

"This move is a normal strategy that is put in place during the lifecycle of most phones," Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson told the WSJ. "It allows a broader consumer base to buy this flagship device at a more accessible price."

AT&T recently announced that the phone would be receiving firmware update 7.5 and a new colorway, pink.

Although unconfirmed, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil a beta version of the upcoming Office 2013 suite.

The company has a news conference planned on July 16th, but industry sources are the ones claiming it will be the new Office.

As anticipated, Office 2013 will have deep integration to the upcoming Windows 8, and the beta will most likely work with the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview to give users a look into both before buying.

In the past, Microsoft has launched the final product 28 weeks after the public beta. If this is true, the expected release will be January 2013.

Windows 8 and its Metro UI will launch in late October with a range of price tags. Additionally, the company is releasing Windows RT for ARM-based tablets, Windows Phone 8 for smartphones and Windows 8 Pro for Intel/AMD-based tablets.

The XMBC team made a surprise announcement today, letting the world know that Android will be getting its own version of the popular media center.

Reads the blog post:

We have been keeping a little secret.. the kind that is so much fun to share when the time comes.

Today we announce XBMC for Android. Not a remote, not a thin client; the real deal. No root or jailbreak required. XBMC can be launched as an application on your set-top-box, tablet, phone, or wherever else Android may be found.

The feature-set on Android is the same that you have come to expect from XBMC, no different from its cousin on the desktop. Running your favorite media-center software on small, cheap, embedded hardware is about to become a hassle-free reality. And as Android-based set-top-boxes are becoming more and more ubiquitous, it couldn't be a better time. In fact, primary development was done on a Pivos XIOS DS set-top-box. And that is no coincidence, you will notice that Pivos is now listed as an official sponsor (more on that later). XBMC is stable and works great there, as well as on various tablets and phones. Though with Android, as many of you probably know, that is only the beginning of the story.

Major retailers are all showing encouraging signs for launch sales of the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

GameStop, one of the largest gaming retailers in the world, says it has already sold out of its first two allocations of the device. Sam's Club and Staples also listed the tablet as sold out on their respective websites.

Google began shipping all pre-orders this morning.

The Nexus 7, built by Asus, was announced in late June during the company's I/O event.

Google's first tablet has a 7-inch 1280x800 HD (216 ppi) back-lit IPS display, is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC and comes in 8GB or 16GB models. Additionally, the device is the first with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Additionally, the tablet has a large 4325 mAh battery for 8 hours of use, has built-in NFC, GPS and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.

Last week, we reported that a recent filing by Sony with the FCC showed off the upcoming launch of a new model(s) of the PS3.

The CECH-4011A, CECH-4011B and CECH-4011C appear to be somewhat slimmer than previous models and will include new internal components.

Today, leaked pictures from the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications seem to show off the new console.

In the pictures, the PS3 has a ridged texture and a top-loading drive, removing the more expensive slot-loading drive.

The site also states that the three models will have 16GB, 250GB, and 500GB of storage. The 16GB version will compete against the 4GB Xbox 360 and may retail for as cheap as $150.

Last month, Google CEO Larry Page missed several important events, prompting the media to become concerned as to whether there was something seriously wrong with him.

The executive told employees that there is "nothing seriously wrong with me," but an unspecified condition that affects his vocal chords seems to still be affecting him.

Page did arrive for work this week, still not fully recovered, but healthy enough to run a meeting.

Says Eric Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman: "He's still recovering. Larry is doing much better. He was in the office on Monday. Larry ran the meeting. He is talking, but talking softly."

Page is still expected to miss the company's' earnings and conference call next week.