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Seton Hall University has announced it is giving all freshman students a new Nokia Lumia 900.

The move is part of Seton Hall's Mobile Computing Initiative and was jointly announced by Nokia, AT&T, Microsoft and the school.

All freshman that are coming in September will receive the smartphones to "support the university's mission of providing state of the art technology tools to enhance the student experience and prepare students for success in a rapidly changing world."

The phone will come pre-loaded with an app called the 'Freshman Experience' which adds "social media integration, direct communication channels with other freshman, academic advisors, housing information and roommates."

"Nokia has a long history of innovation and their partnership with Microsoft allows us to extend the core academic and community resources of the University into the pocket of our students," added David Middleton, Executive Director, Center for Mobile Research and Innovation, and Assistant Vice President of Administration at Seton Hall University. "By providing our new incoming students with the Nokia Lumia 900, Seton Hall University can expand our existing Windows services and infrastructure while providing a unique, high quality, dynamic and engaging mobile experience."

Yahoo has lost share in the search market for the ninth straight month.

The info comes via research firm comScore, who pulls together data on a daily basis for the major search engines in the U.S.

For May 2012, Yahoo's share fell 0.1 percent to 13.4 percent.

Back in August 2011, Yahoo was at 16.2 percent so the decline has been slow but notable.

Yahoo's loss has been Google's gain, as the search giant ate two of those percentage points. Microsoft's Bing took the rest although Microsoft and Yahoo are partners.

Chart:

The new plan will allow Verizon subscribers to share their minutes, texts and data between devices.

Called the "Share Everything" plan, subscribers can share unlimited minutes, texts, MMS, and 1GB data for $50 between up to 10 devices. For $100 you can share 10GB. Of course, there are tons of other charges on there, and it ends up being $250 per month for 8GB for four smartphones, for example.

Possibly more importantly, the new plans will include mobile hotspot services for up to all 10 devices.

Both new and existing customers are eligible for the plan that begins on June 28th.

All new smartphone buyers will need to use the new contract, meaning they will have unlimited voice and texts even if they don't need them.

An advantage of the new plan, especially for a family, is usage controls by the bill payer. For example, if the family has a 10GB bucket, they can limit how many gigs each family member can get, before they are cut off.

For more info, click the picture:

After going into public beta in April, Spotify has now launched officially for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The application is available in the Google Play Store currently, along with new features not seen in the beta.

Full feature list:

Totally new app with full support for Android 4.0
All-new slide-out navigation
Crossfade/gapless playback settings
Widget - control Spotify from the home screen
Folder support - organise and order your playlists
Even more social - check out friends' profile pages and playlists on the go
Artist imagery in high resolution
Related artist view - available for the first time on mobile
'Extreme' sound quality setting for 320kbps listening
Play queue
Last.fm scrobbling
Speed improvements

It appears that Microsoft is charging tablet OEMs $85 to license Windows RT.

Many had speculated that Microsoft would drop the price in order to push Windows tablets, but that does not seem to be the case. OEMs speaking at the Computex event say they are being charged between $80 and 95 dollars, although most were at $85.

Because of this charge, it is highly unlikely that Windows RT devices will be able to match the price of Android alternatives. Android is free to use thus allowing for more flexibility with components and price.

To be fair, Windows RT comes with Microsoft Office included, which is expensive in its own right but the move makes it clear that we won't be seeing sub-$500 Windows RT tablets, at least not at launch.

At Computex, the most commonly cited prices ranged from $549-799.

The State Department has signed a large $16.5 million deal to purchase Kindle Fire tablets and extra content from Amazon.

As part of the 5-year contract, the agency will also get access to an English-language teaching program.

2500 Kindle Fires are the initial order, and it is unclear what the final amount shipped will be.

The tablets will be used completely for educational purposes and will be placed in libraries, educational centers, reading rooms and other locations. Additionally, the devices will "also be used as a tool in the Department of State's English Access Microscholarship Program," reads the GeekWire report.

Finally, Amazon will provide content, customer support, international shipping, protective covers "and the appropriate country-specific power adapter" for each device.

Why Amazon got the deal was because the State Department required text-to-speech, a long-lasting battery and free Wi-Fi.

One of the highlights of today's event was Apple's unveiling of iOS 6 alongside an updated Siri.

The latest iteration of the mobile OS will bring over 200 new features, explained Apple.

Apple has finally relented and allowed Facetime to be used over 3G/4G networks, after originally making it only available via Wi-Fi.

A few of the more notable features include a do-not-disturb mode, set message response for phone calls, and the ability to create a VIP status for people who you want to be notified via alert that their emails are coming in.

To better sync between iPad and iPhone, Apple has consolidated a user's Apple ID and phone number, meaning calls and messages can picked up on either device.

In terms of Siri, the personal assistant will have better responses and be integrated with OpenTable, Rotten Tomates, Yelp, and sports box scores. Additionally, Siri can open apps, update your social networks and speak in different languages like Spanish, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed some facts about the iOS App Store today during WWDC.

There are now over 400 million App Store accounts, thanks to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users.

The store has 650,000 apps, and users have downloaded 30 billion apps since inception.

Developers have been paid $5 billion since the Store's open, added Cook.

App downloads are moving at a very fast pace, since Cook announced in March that the 25 billion milestone had been hit.

(Pic via Cnet)

Apple has updated their MacBook Air line, as expected.

The 11 and 13-inch models will add Ivy Bridge processors, moving in line with ultrabook rivals.

For $999, you get the 11-inch model with a 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, 64GB flash storage, and 5 hours of battery life.

At $1099 you get the same specs with double the flash storage.

Moving to the 13-inch model, for $1199 you get a 1440 x 900 display with a 1.8GHz dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, the HD 4000 and 128GB of storage. For $1499, you get 256GB storage.

Connectivity-wise, Apple has added USB 3.

Overall, nothing special here.

(Pic via Verge)

Today at their annual WWDC event, Apple has unveiled their new line of MacBook Pros.

The new computer will be just 0.71-inches thick, the thinnest Pro model yet, says the company.

Most importantly, the 15.4-inch device will have Retina Display, by far the "the highest resolution" of any notebook on the market, at a hefty 220 pixels per inch. The resolution is 2,880 x 1,800.

Apple has updated each of the native apps like Mail, Safari, and iPhoto to take advantage of the new resolution. Third-party devs are doing the same.

The specs are pretty decent, with i7 quad-core processors up to 2.7GHz, up to 16GB of 1,600MHz RAM, 768GB of Flash storage, a GT650M, USB 3/USB 2 ports, an SD card slot, HDMI, a backlit keyboard, multitouch trackpad, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0.

Verizon has begun selling the Sony SmartWatch and accessories.

Available for $150, the watch connects to Android 2.1+ devices via Bluetooth and gives users a chance to read messages, emails or access social networks from their wrists.

There are also 60 "mini-apps" available, including a music player and some games.

Full spec list:

Dimensions: 1.42 X 1.42 X 0.3 in
Weight: 0.55 oz

Display: 1.3" OLED display, 128 x 128 pixels

Compatibility: BluetoothTM 3.0 and AndroidTM 2.1 or above Connectivity: Standard USB charging

Battery life: Up to 4 days

Language support for: English, Spanish, French, Chinese (Traditional), Portuguese, Swedish, Russian, Danish, Polish, Japanese, Czech, German, Modern Greek, Dutch

Notifications: Display notification or vibration

Apps: All events (displays in chronological order), Messaging (SMS/MMS), corporate E-mail (for SonyTM and Sony Ericsson Android phones), Gmail (for all other Android smartphones) Calendar Notifications, FacebookTM, TwitterTM, Music Player, Call handling (call, mute, reject, or answer and send pre-defined SMS), Pre-defined SMS, e.g. missed calls – I'm busy, messaging - call me, email – ok, Battery strength, Find phone, and Weather widget. Plus lots of apps on AndroidTM market.

Last week, HBO announced that its popular HBO GO service is now available to Amazon Kindle Fire owners.

HBO Go is a streaming service for desktops and mobile devices that allows HBO subscribers to watch on-demand original content on "the go."

The service includes full seasons of popular shows like True Blood, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and classics like Sopranos and The Wire.

"We are thrilled to offer HBO GO to the growing community of millions of Kindle Fire owners," said Aaron Rubenson, Director of the Amazon Appstore. "The HBO GO app will offer instant access to HBO's incredible lineup of shows. Kindle Fire owners already download and use apps and games frequently on their devices, and we expect that only to increase with the addition of HBO GO and all of its popular content."

The Kindle Fire is the most popular Android-based tablet of all-time and Amazon's top selling product.

Android boss Andy Rubin has noted that daily Android activations are now at 900,000.

The activations include tablets and smartphones.

It had been rumored for weeks that Rubin was planning to leave Google but the exec but those to rumors to rest stating bluntly he has "no plans" to leave.

A recent study showed that developers still much prefer iOS, due to much less fragmentation. 69 percent of devs said they preferred iOS to Android, although that number has been falling in the past years. Additionally, it appears iOS devs make more money with Android devs earning just 24 cents for every dollar they'd otherwise be making on Apple devices.

Android has severe fragmentation, making it harder for developers to make apps that work across all versions of the operating system.

Tonino Lamborghini, founded by the son of the famous automaker, has announced its latest line of "luxury" mobile devices aimed at the Russian market.

The company unveiled three phones and one tablet, although only one of the phones runs on Android.

Dubbed the Lamborghini TL700, the phone runs on Android 2.3, has a 3.7-inch WVGA sapphire crystal display, a 5 MP rear camera, a VGA front-facing camera, 4 GB of internal memory and a small 1,400 mAh battery. It is unclear what processor is in the device, but it said to be from Qualcomm.

While the specs are terrible by current standards, the device comes with a 90,000 RUB/$2,750 price tag. Why? The phone has a case made of gold and a back plate of crocodile skin.

The tablet, the Lamborghini L2800 has a 9.7-inch 1024 × 768 pixels sapphire crystal display, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage capacity, a MicroSD card support and a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm processor. Just like the phone, the tablet runs on Android 2.3.

Wow, another year has passed. Our site is now officially thirteen years old, a teenager in normal years, a grandparent in Internet years.

This year, I simply want to thank all of our staff members, moderators and users for keeping this site alive and kicking for all these years. These have been great years and I expect many more great years to follow.

Thank you.

-Petteri Pyyny, CEO
AfterDawn Oy