Latest news

The Microsoft search engine will now integrate information from the reference library into search results.

Thanks to the partnership, the Britannica results will contain information on the search target as well as links to other sites with more information.

I tested by typing in a well known historical figure, Christopher Columbus, and did not see a single Britannica reference, so I'm not entirely sure how deep the partnership goes.

Supposedly, the results will show a specially formatted result that includes a person's personal summary, date of birth, religion and links to more complete pages like Britannica and Wikipedia.

Britannica will not receive preferential treatment, as results will fall where they normally would.

Popular Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has brought its first LTE phone to the U.S.

The Activa 4G will be available through smaller carrier MetroPCS for $149.

Running on Android 2.3, the device has a 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touch screen (480-by-320 pixels), a 5-megapixel standard camera with LED flash, and a front-facing VGA camera for video chat.

Additionally, the phone comes with a 4GB microSD card pre-loaded with the animated film "Kung Fu Panda 2."

Unfortunately, the rest of the specs are absolutely terrible. The Activa has an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7627T processor, cannot be upgraded to Android 4.0 or higher, and only has enough battery for 4 hours of talk time.

"We are honored to bring our first 4G LTE device to U.S. audiences with the support of MetroPCS' powerful and expansive network," noted Michael Chuang, executive vice president of Huawei Device USA. "MetroPCS is committed to providing customers with advanced, flexible and affordable smartphone options through its no-annual contract services, and is the ideal partner for Huawei's entrance into a new era for smartphones and handsets."

Although both companies declined comment, Samsung is allegedly interested in buying struggling phone maker Nokia.

Analysts were quick to shoot down the rumor. "Samsung is flying at the moment and it is hard to see what it would gain from buying Nokia," Ovum analyst Nick Dillon added. "Any benefit it would gain from Nokia's patent portfolio or manufacturing facilities would likely be outweighed by the complexities of integrating the two companies."

Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, noted: "This is Friday madness. I can't think of a rational reason why Samsung would want to buy Nokia at present."

Nokia, who used to be the top smartphone maker in the world by a long shot, has quickly seen its market share fall to almost zero.

The company has pinned any revival hopes on Windows Phone, partnering with Microsoft to create flagship devices.

Apple has settled with Australian officials over misleading iPad "4G" advertising.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had brought the case against Apple back in March, after the launch of the third-generation iPad.

ACCC has claimed that Apple misled consumers in the nation by advertising the iPad's 4G compatibility despite knowing that Australian tablet fans could not actually use the LTE networks.

Pending a final approval, the settlement is for $2.25 million with Apple also expected to pay all court costs as well, which are over $300,000.

Previously, Apple announced it would give full refunds to any customer who felt misled by the advertising. On its website, the company updated the LTE notes: "The iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G model can roam worldwide on fast GSM/UMTS networks, including HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA. When you travel internationally, you can use a micro-SIM card from a local carrier. You can also connect to the 4G LTE networks of AT&T in the U.S. and Bell, Rogers, and Telus in Canada."

Following a couple days of rumors, a leaked shot of the upcoming Metro-style Hotmail redesign has emerged.

Via the German site WinFuture, the first screenshot is here, showing off a redesign that fits pretty well with the Metro interface we have grown accustomed to through Windows 8 previews.

If accurate, the design shows colorful flat backgrounds and tile-style icons for Mail, Calendar, Skydrive and Contacts.

There is also said to be a full vertical bar that is currently blank and can't be viewed in the shots.

Windows 8 is expected to be released in October.

O2 is the latest ISP to block access to The Pirate Bay.

The move follows last month's UK High Court Order, and O2 is just the latest of the broadband companies to follow the order.

Says a spokesperson: "The main U.K. internet providers were ordered by the high court to block access to specific IP addresses and URLs used by The Pirate Bay website."

At the time of the ruling, BPI CEO Geoff Taylor said: "The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale. Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them. This is wrong - musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else."

Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have already blocked the site. BT is appealing.

Virgin Mobile, the prepaid subsidiary of Sprint, has announced they will begin selling the iPhone this month.

The move will help Sprint reach its $15.5 billion commitment to Apple over the next few years.

Being prepaid, Virgin customers do not have to commit to a contract, but also pay full price for their devices.

Virgin customers will have to pay $649 up front for the iPhone 4S, compared to $200 on most major carriers with contract.

The company will begin selling the device on June 29th, a week after rival Leap Wireless does. Leap will charge less upfront but their monthly fees are higher.

Virgin iPhone plans start at $30 per month while Leap charges $55 minimum.

The music streaming site Last.fm is looking into a recent security breach in which some user passwords were leaked.

Last.fm is just the latest in a string of major password leaks, starting with LinkedIn and eHarmony earlier this week. It is unclear if all three are connected.

The company did not give an exact figure of users compromised, just saying "a small fraction" of their 40 million users were affected.

Last.fm is asking all users to change their passwords immediately. When you log in, head over to the "settings" page and switch the login details.

As a note, Last.fm says "we will never e-mail you a direct link to update your settings or ask for your password," and that any attempts to do so are from phishers.

According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is shutting out HTC from developing products for the upcoming Windows RT.

Apparently, HTC doesn't "sell enough devices or have ample experience making tablets," says sources familiar with the situation.

The news comes right on the heels of HTC confirming they are seeing shortages from top chipmaker Qualcomm.

Microsoft's latest update, which will finally run on ARM-based chips, is set for release before the holidays.

The upcoming operating system is called Windows RT on tablets, and Windows 8 on desktops.

EA has come out swinging against digital sales platform rival Steam.

Steam, well known for offering games at up to 75 percent off many times over the course of the year, has been a hit with gamers since its inception.

EA, which owns rival service Origin, says you will not be seeing such sales via their platform.

Says Origin boss David DeMartini: "We won't be doing that. Obviously they think it's the right thing to do after a certain amount of time. I just think it cheapens your intellectual property.

"I know both sides of it, I understand it. If you want to sell a whole bunch of units, that is certainly a way to do that, to sell a whole bunch of stuff at a low price. The game makers work incredibly hard to make this intellectual property, and we're not trying to be Target. We're trying to be Nordstrom.

"When I say that, I mean good value, we're trying to give you a fair price point, and occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount, just don't look for 75 per cent off going-out-of-business sales."

Origin is the second largest direct-to-consumer gaming platform, with 11 million registered users. Steam has 41 million.

Earlier this week, Google announced the purchase of the popular MS Office-esque app for Android and iOS devices.

The move comes just a month after Google unveiled Google Drive, their cloud solution that takes over where Google Docs left off, while adding an offline solution.

Reads the release: "Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite.

Quickoffice has a strong base of users, and we look forward to supporting them while we work on an even more seamless, intuitive and integrated experience."

The app itself has been voted a top 5 business app for Android year after year thanks to its strong feature set.

Nintendo has finally confirmed the specs inside the upcoming Wii U.

After a year of speculation, here is the full rundown, via the gaming giant:

Size
Approximately 1.8 inches high, 10.5 inches deep and 6.8 inches long.

Appearance
The new console features a compact design that will make it a natural addition to any home entertainment setup.

Weight
Approximately 3.41 pounds (1.5 kg).

CPU
IBM PowerⓇ-based multi-core processor.

GPU
AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU.

Storage
Wii U uses an internal flash memory. It also supports SD memory cards and external USB storage.

Media
Wii U and Wii optical discs.

Networking
Wii U can access the Internet via wireless (IEEE 802.11b/g/n) connection. The console features four USB 2.0 connectors - two in the front and two in the rear - that support Wii LAN Adapters.

T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the U.S., has had its share of nice phones over the years, especially on the Android side where it was the home of the first ever Android smartphone, the G1.

Once again, the Facebook stock continues to fall apart, leading to more and more investor losses.

After opening on May 18th at $42 per share, Facebook has fallen to $26 today, a 38 percent drop since its IPO date.

We reported last week that CEO Mark Zuckerberg was losing $16 million every hour, with his massive fortune falling from $19.7 billion on IPO day to just over $13 billion today.

Facebook, as a company, started with a value of $104 billion but that has since been torpedoed to its current $56 billion valuation which many believe is a lot more reasonable for the social networking giant, which has yet to find a long-standing working revenue model.

Corning has revealed their "ultra-slim," flexible Willow Glass.

The glass "could revolutionize the shape and form of next-generation consumer electronic technologies," says the company.

Reads the press release: "Corning Willow Glass will help enable thin, light and cost-efficient applications including today's slim displays and the smart surfaces of the future. The thinness, strength, and flexibility of the glass has the potential to enable displays to be "wrapped" around a device or structure."

Notably, the Willow Glass is processed at temps up to 500 degrees Celsius, a condition not possible with older polymer films. The glass can support thinner backplanes for OLED and LCD devices. The company hopes to use the glass in the future to develop curved displays for "immersive viewing or mounting on non-flat surfaces."

Concludes Dr. Dipak Chowdhury, division vice president and Willow Glass program director: "Displays become more pervasive each day and manufacturers strive to make both portable devices and larger displays thinner. Corning Willow Glass provides the substrate performance to maintain device quality in a thin and light form factor. Currently manufacturing in a sheet-to-sheet process, we expect Corning Willow Glass to eventually allow customers to switch to high throughput, efficient roll-to-roll processing, a long-awaited industry milestone."