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Nokia has been sued by angry investors this week over the sad turn of events in the company's fortunes over the past year.

Robbins, Geller, Rudman & Dowd, the New York-based law firm, is in charge of the class action suit which names the company, CEO Steven Elop and CFO Timo Ihamuotila.

The suit itself claims that Nokia failed to "halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market" and withheld that info from its shareholders. When Nokia first announced Windows Phone devices last October, the company's stock was above $7 per share. As of today, the price is 57 percent lower, at $3.15 per share.

Reads the suit: "Two million Lumias in three months is not encouraging; that's the same number that the Nokia N97 (a product which was a large-scale failure) shipped back in 2009, in first three months. Today, if you bring a hit product to market, 5 million in three months should not be a problem (Samsung Galaxy S2). In addition, 10 million Symbian smartphones shipped was expected, but the 16 per cent gross margin in smartphones says these phones were shipped with big discounts in order to defend market shares."

Microsoft has subtly noted today a fact that might upset some users.

Last month, the company noted that Windows Media Center would be an extra-cost option for Windows 8 buyers, and that it will also require Windows 8 Professional.

In their blog post today, the company had this to say: "Acquiring either the Windows 8 Media Center Pack or the Windows 8 Pro Pack gives you Media Center, including DVD playback (in Media Center, not in Media Player), broadcast TV recording and playback (DBV-T/S, ISDB-S/T, DMBH, and ATSC), and VOB file playback."

If you caught it in there, DVD playback is no longer supported via Windows Media Player, even if you pay up for the Media Center.

Windows Media Player will be included with all versions of Windows 8 but "for optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray."

Earlier today, we reported on the hardware of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III.

The handset maker has listed the "carrier preference" list for the phone on its U.S. signup page, and although it has not been confirmed, the following carriers are listed: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, US Cellular, and C Spire.

Samsung says the device will hit Europe on May 29th and the U.S. and Canada "in June." In Europe the phone will be a Vodafone exclusive for the first 30 days.

More information on the SIII here: Here's the Samsung Galaxy S III

Press shots:

The Discovery Channel has announced its purchase of the internet video service Revision3.

Revision3 produces Web shows about technology, video games, entertainment and other contemporary topics. A few of its most well known shows are "Epic Meal Time," "Tekzilla" and "Film Riot."

The cable network giant, which is valued at $24 billion, will pay about "$30 million" for Revision3 while keeping on all 50 employees.

Revision3 saw its revenue increase by 53 percent in 2011 and video viewership grew more than 350 percent.

Noted Revision's CEO Jim Louderback earlier this year: "We had another amazing year in 2011, and are looking forward to a strong 2012 with our content available anywhere and everywhere. By working with incredibly talented content creators, we have been building a stable of shows that deliver audience numbers as big, or bigger, than most cable shows."

Call of Duty Black Ops II is beating day-one pre-orders for its predecessors.

In fact, the game had 10 times as many day one orders than the original Black Ops I, which was released in 2010. Furthermore, the game is beating out last year's record shattering Modern Warfare 3 by 30 percent.

The game is set for release on November 13th.

Activision Publishing chief Eric Hirshberg noted earlier in the year that he believes the "next Call of Duty will bring meaningful innovation to the series." The exec did not elaborate further but the series has seen some user criticism recently from those who think the series is a lot of "the same" just with a new name and new maps.

2011's Modern Warfare 3 was an unequivocal success, bringing in over $1 billion in sales in just 16 days.

Struggling audio tech licensor Dolby Labs has signed an agreement with Microsoft that will have Dolby products used in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft will use the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and 2.0 channel encoding for Windows 8 PCs and tablets.

OEMs will have to pay a base royalty rate to Dolby for the products once they start shipping the OS in October of this year. OEMs will also have to pay to add the Dolby functionality to optical disc drives.

Dolby told investors last year that Microsoft had not committed to them, but it appears there has been a change of heart.

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Yeaman added: "There will certainly be a shift in the mix of revenue because most of the revenue will now come directly from OEMs where as in the past most of the royalties came from Microsoft and the independent software vendors."

Apple's iPad has regained nearly all of the market share it lost to Amazon in the holiday quarter.

Amazon's Kindle Fire sales slowed down significantly during the first quarter, while iPad sales increased. Apple's market share jumped from 55 percent to 68 percent.

On the other hand, the Kindle Fire's share fell dramatically, from 17 percent down to just 4 percent.

BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis says the drop was expected as Amazon's Kindle products typically only sell very well during the holiday season when they are purchased as gifts.

Says Gillis: "Fatigue is starting to kick in about six months after a product has launched. And it's natural that Amazon is going to tend to be a better holiday play."

Overall, tablet shipments doubled to 17.4 million units in the Q1, from 7.9 million in the same period in 2011.

Just one month after social gaming giant Zynga purchased the developer of the game, 'Draw Something' is already losing popularity.

The game, created by OMGPOP, is one of the most popular mobile games of all time, seeing 50 million downloads in 50 days for iOS and Android.

Traffic tracking organization AppData says after daily active users peaked on April 3rd at 14.6 million, that number has been falling, down to 10.2 million as of today. In the last week, alone, 700,000 users have left the game, and the pace appears to be accelerating.

There is one caveat to the figures, notes AppData, as the number cited is only for users who signed in via Facebook, not those that used an email to register their accounts.

Zynga purchased OMGPOP last month for $180 million and recently announced it would be selling advertisers the option to have their brand name as part of the game.mments.

Facebook profiles serving as proof of identity.

The bouncers have reportedly asked people to show them their Facebook profiles on their smartphones if they suspect that a fake I.D. is being used.

"I kind of just logged onto it [Facebook] and showed him the screen and then he didn't question it any further," Charlotte Neal, 20, told BBC's Newsbeat. "When it happened the first time I didn't really think anything of it. Then I thought, 'Hang on, is this really how you're supposed to check how old I am?' But I was out and I wanted to get in the club so I just agreed."

The Newsbeat website also mentions other similar reports througout the UK. It brings up some questions about basic privacy rights, and how they must be balanced with ensuring that a minor does not trick his/her way into a nightclub using a fake ID card.

One doorman questioned by Newsbeat said that there is a fine of £5,000 for a bouncer who is found to have left an underage individual into a nightclub. "Why is it so wrong for people to have to prove the ID is actually them? If you're not doing anything wrong you shouldn't have a problem," he said.

DoJ revealed executive will enter guilty plea.

Woo Jin Yang, senior sales manager at Hitachi-LG Data Storage, agreed to plead guilty in a price fixing case, the Department of Justice announced earlier this week. He was accused, along with others, of rigging bids for optical disc drives sold to Hewlett-Packard Co between the years 2006 and 2009.

His guilty plea to four felony charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, means he will serve a six month prison sentence and pay a fine of $25,000.

Three other executives are awaiting sentencing for their part in the crime. Hitachi-LG Data Storage was ordered to pay a $21.1 million fine in November 2011.

Sales of XPS 13 Ultrabook surpass expectations.

Ultrabooks are a new category of notebooks that combine a thin, sleek form factor with high performance. The category is being pushed heavily by Intel, which has seen a dominance of rival microprocessor technology in tablet PCs.

Dell's XPS 13 Ultrabook went on sale on February 28. According to the company, sales of the device have already more than doubled the company's internal forecast. Furthermore, the Ultrabook is enjoying demand from both consumers and large corporations.

"Since we started shipping it to customers, XPS 13 has exceeded our expectations," said Dell product marketing director Alison Gardner. "With this product, we went aggressive with the forecast."

Gardner did not share the actual sales figures for the product. Starting at $999, the XPS 13 Ultrabook is quite expensive, and highlights the challenge that Untrabook makers face trying to keep their products as thin and light as possible while not sacrificing performance.

Redmond says no to sexual content.

The firm is to tackle applications containing adult, or borderline adult, content from its Windows Phone Marketplace, enforcing guidelines that have been in place all along.

"Specifically, we will be paying more attention to the icons, titles, and content of these apps and expect them to be more subtle and modest in the imagery and terms used," wrote Microsoft's senior director for Windows Marketplace, Todd Brix.

"This is about presenting the right content to the right customer and ensuring that apps meet our standards."

Microsoft will contact developers of apps that violate the service guidelines over the coming days. The move follows policy set by Apple for its own App Store, and is seen by analysts as a move to reassure parents that the Windows Phone store is safe for kids.

Nokia jumps into worldwide patent brawl.

The Finnish handset maker has targeted HTC, Blackberry-maker RIM and Viewsonic for failing to pay licensing fees for use of its intellectual property. The firm said that the cases involved more than 45 separate patents relating to power management, application stores, navigation and data encryption.

"We have already licensed our standards essential patents to more than 40 companies," said Louise Pentland, Nokia's chief legal officer. "We'd rather that other companies respect our intellectual property and compete using their own innovations but, as these actions show, we will not tolerate the unauthorised use of our inventions."

Nokia has previously had success in forcing Apple to pay to license its technology, but it has stayed relatively quiet as other smartphone makers have torn into each other in court rooms around the world.

Nokia's latest lawsuits were filed in the US Federal District Court of Delaware, the US International Trade Commission and Germany's Regional Court in Dusseldorf.

Target to further distance itself from Amazon.

The Internet e-commerce giant used to run Target's website for years until a legal battle forced that relationship to end last year. Target now views Amazon as a serious competitor (which has learned a lot about its business) and has been moving to distance itself from it.

"Target is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder wrote in an email to Reuters. "We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of e-readers and supporting accessories."

Target does not see e-readers from other firms as a threat to its business, while Amazon's Kindle devices are heavily linked to its online retail business. Wal-Mart confirmed that it will continue to sell Amazon's Kindle products in its stores.

Apple products have been advertised more aggressively in Target stores recently.

Judge reads certain portions of sealed 2011 Google document.

He had been quizzing attorneys of both Google and Oracle - which has accused Google of violating of copyright violations relating to the Java programming language - when he revealed that the Android mobile platform resulted in a net loss for Google in every quarter of 2010.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup had sealed an internal 2011 Google document which included profit and loss numbers for Android throughout 2010. Alsup did read certain parts of the documents aloud in court on Thursday, but did not disclose specific loss figures for Android.

Google does not publicly disclose financial information related to the Android platform.

Google denies violating patents held by Oracle, and also has questioned whether Oracle can even copyright certain parts of the Java programming language. The trial kicked off last month and is expected to last around eight weeks.