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The U.S. Department of Justice is prepared to clear the massive bid for Nortel patents from a group of tech giants.

Apple, Microsoft, EMC, RIM and Sony grouped together to outbid Google on the 6000 patents, paying a hefty $4.5 billion. Google had got the ball rolling by offering $900 million for the rights to the patents.

The patents covered a wide range of topics from wireless, data and optical networking, voice, Internet and semiconductors.

Last July, the DOJ let it be known that they were "intensifying" investigations into what the patents will be used for by their new owners. Specifically, the DOJ wanted to know whether the patents were purchased with the sole intention of starting lawsuits against Google over the Android platform. The DOJ reserved the right to place rules and conditions on the sale depending on what the answers are from the companies involved.

Dropbox better hope the report is not accurate.

The WSJ is reporting today that Google is preparing a cloud-drive competitor that will be launched in the coming months.

Such a service would directly compete with Dropbox, BitCasa, Amazon CloudDrive and others that offer cloud storage and syncing capabilities for a price. For example, Dropbox offers the first 2GB free (with ability to get more for free) but then charges $10 for 50GB, or double that for 100GB.

If accurate, the report says Google's service will be free for all Google users, unless they require "a large amount of storage."

The so-called "G-Drive" has been rumored for years, but Google shut down the project in 2008.

There were little other details about the purported service, but it is expected to work exactly like its competitors, although with a little Google "twist."

Microsoft is expected to be releasing the first public beta of Windows 8 at the end of this month.

Microsoft has sent invitations to an official launch event for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, scheduled for February 29 in Barcelona. The timing and location will put it right in the middle of this year's Mobile World Congress.

That's not surprising considering the massive changes in Windows 8 are nearly all designed specifically for tablet optimization. From the Metro UI to advanced power management and ARM processor support, Microsoft is betting heavily on tablets being the next wave of personal computers.

The Indian government will offer the low cost Aakash tablet to students for free, subsidizing the already cheap price.

50 percent of the subsidy will be from the government, with the rest of the subsidy coming from the educational institution where the student attends.

The tablet, which sells in India for 2500 rupees ($40), was created to help "students in higher education and to give them the technological skills" that are needed for 2012. At $40, the tablet is affordable almost everywhere in India, where wages remain low.

Says HRD Minister Kapil Sibal: "We want to give Akash tablets in the hands of every student, then this will be useful. We had a meeting with Bharat Electronics, we are looking for manufacturing all components of the Akash tablet indigenously. Otherwise, it will not be possible to distribute it as widely as planned."

The Aakash has a 7-inch resistive display, runs on Android 2.2, has a 366 MHz processor, 256MB RAM, 2GB internal storage, Wi-Fi, USB slots, SD slot and a tiny 2100 mAh battery.

Microsoft is preparing to show off the Windows 8 Consumer Preview later this month, and with it launch the Windows Store.

There will be a number of launch titles in the Store, says a report, including the mobile blockbuster hit Angry Birds.

The rest of the list is as follows: Hydro Thunder, Toy Soldiers, Reckless Racing, Ilomilo, Rocket Riot, Full House Poker, Tentacles, Crash Course, Ms Splosion Man and Wordament.

Windows 8 will come with the old classics, Pinball and Solitaire, pre-installed.

How the Windows Store works for devs is app makers receive a the greater end of a 70/30 revenue split which moves to 80/20 if you bring in over $25,000 in sales.

Rovio is in a giving mood today, celebrating the birthday of Angry Birds.

The updated app, available in the iOS App Store and Android Market, has 15 new cake-based levels.

Reads the release:

-Party with the amazing expandable orange bird!
-Check out the spiffy new menus and graphics!
-Special birthday achievements make this update a treat!
-As a birthday gift to our fans, all episodes are now unlocked!

Just a few months after its release, the Sony Tablet S has been rooted.

The root access comes via security researcher Dan Rosenberg.

It appears to be a very simple process, as well. Enable USB debugging on your device, plug it into a computer (Windows only for now), and a run a .bat utility created by Rosenberg and you are done.

There is more info on the exploit, the process and notes here: It's Bugs All the Way Down.

Sony's Tablet S has a 9.4-inch screen, a "magazine" form factor, a Tegra 2 dual core processor, dual cameras and Honeycomb 3.x. If you purchase the Wi-Fi-only version you get Honeycomb 3.1 (with Sony UI overlay) and if you buy the more expensive Wi-Fi/3G version you get 3.2 (with similar UI overlay). The tablet comes with either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, DLNA compatibility, an IR port (to use as universal remote), an SD card slot, Sony's Crackle and eReader apps and Sony's "QuickView" tech for faster browsing. Finally, the tablet is the first to be Playstation Certified which means it can play PSX games from the PS Store.

T-Mobile has confirmed today it is indeed having a large Valentine's Day sale on its 4G smartphones.

The one-day sale will be on February 11th and the carrier is making all of its 4G devices free after rebate, if you sign a new contract.

Making the deal even sweeter is the fact that the deal is applicable to both T-Mobile Classic and Value subscribers. Most past deals were only for Value plan customers.

As with most good deals, there appears to be a catch with some of the devices. The HTC Amaze and Samsung Galaxy S II appear to need an upgrade to a 5GB data plan, which is more costly than the "unlimited" 2GB plan. Regardless, even tablets like the LG G-Slate and the Huawei Springboard are completely free after the mail-in-rebates.

The deal will be available at all retail stores and authorized dealers in the U.S.

Pic via Tmo News:

The Phoenix Suns have become the first NBA team to license Android tablets across all the company's operations.

In an agreement with Verizon Wireless and Samsung Mobile, the Suns will use the Galaxy Tab 10.1 as playbooks on the court (and off) and also in their business operations.

The press release says the team will "utilize the tablet throughout US Airways Center on game-nights for more effective activation related to Suns partner initiatives, as well as showing prospective Suns ticket holders an interactive view of seats from anywhere in the arena."

Adds Suns President Brad Casper: "Our organization has always placed a priority on remaining at the forefront of digital innovation within the sports industry. Utilizing the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network to integrate the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 into our daily operations is yet another great digital milestone for the Suns."

Sprint, after spending billions on bringing the iPhone to their network, has taken a larger than expected loss for the Q4 2011.

The company confirmed it paid $15.5 billion to Apple for a four-year commitment on the iPhone, the first of which, the iPhone 4S, went on sale in October.

During the quarter, which ended at the end of December, Sprint activated 1.8 million of the smartphone. Rival AT&T activated 7.6 million and Verizon did 4.3 million during the same period. Making Sprint's number much more impressive (for the carrier) was the fact that 40 percent of the activations were from customers that were new to the company.

Contract-based subscribers jumped 161,000 for the quarter, a rare gain for the carrier which makes most of its money from contract-free customers.

While the jump in subscribers and activations was certainly nice for the carrier, it came at a very steep price. The company saw a quarterly loss of $1.3 billion, their largest in 3 years. Losses related to the iPhone came in at the equivalent of $350 per phone sold.

Damian Dinning, Nokia's imaging chief, has confirmed that the upcoming Lumia 900 will not have a 12MP camera, as rumored.

The rumors began when AT&T posted a pre-order page implying a 12MP camera version of the phone would be made available, as well. The new version was to be called the 'Lumia 910,' read the page.

For now, it appears we can put that rumor to rest, as Dinning bluntly stated that the device "doesn't exist."

The Lumia 900 has 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 1.4GHz single-core processor, Nokia's ClearBlack technology, LTE support, an 1830 mAh battery, 512MB RAM, 16GB internal storage and an 8MP Carl Zeiss camera with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm). The phone also has a 1MP front facing camera.

Reports claim the device will cost just $99 with contract, a potential "game changer" for the smartphone platform which has struggled to make an impact against iOS and Android.

Over the last year, perhaps no Samsung products have gotten as much attention as their Android phones, but their success in the TV market is no less striking.

Samsung has been the worldwide leader in TV sales for several years. Unlike Japanese rivals such as Sony, they have also turned a tidy profit in the process.

It appears their strategy to continue that dominance will involve new models ranging from the high end units they showed off at CES last month to low end TVs to capture the budget segment. Reuters reports Kim Hyun-suk of Samsung's visual display division, indicated the new budget models would be ready in just a few weeks:

We've been preparing to introduce cheap models and have been studying to optimize production costs and retail prices," he said. "Those (cheap) models will be ready for sale in one or two months."

Most likely this is part of Samsung's plan to spend more than $40 on manufacturing facilities this year. Their focus is expected to be on mobile processors and displays. While lower end products don't have the best profit margins, they could be the key to success in expanding markets like China.

As Microsoft continues to extensively cover minute details about changes in Windows 8, they seem unwilling to address important questions about differences between the ARM and x86 versions.

Considering ARM support is a cornerstone of their strategy for tablet support, which in turn is the primary focus of Windows 8, this has raised suspicions about Microsoft's plans. It appears to suggest the answers would be do more damage than the rampant speculation about their ulterior motives already has.

The two biggest unanswered questions are whether WoA (Windows on Arm) will be restricted to Metro Style apps and why disabling Secure Boot on ARM devices will be forbidden. Last month we explored how restricting WoA to Metro UI and the Secure Boot requirement could be used to create a walled garden ecosystem similar to Apple's iOS devices.

Windows Phone is already built around a walled garden. Given the iPad's incredible success, it seems logical Microsoft would copy this approach for tablets as wee, but maybe that doesn't mean abandoning the desktop UI. In fact, yesterday's post to the Building Windows 8 blog talked about optimizations for desktop programs on SOC (System On a Chip) architecture, which is dominated by ARM processors right now.

Sony has confirmed today that it will not be making the UMD import program for the PS Vita available to North American fans of the handheld.

The UMD Passport Service, available in Japan, allows users to transfer their PSP games to the Vita and into their SEN accounts, for a fee ranging from $6 to $31. The only problem with the system is that many big name games from developers like Capcom and Square Enix were not made available and were likely never going to be made available.

Regardless, the news should be sad for many gamers, especially those that owned the PSP and large game collections on the now defunct UMD disc standard. Without repaying fully for their games through the PSN Store, most Vita owners will not get a chance to play their old collections on the new device.

Sony's PS Vita will reach North American shores on February 22nd, priced at $250.

Current lifetime sales are at just 535,000 units in Japan, and sales appear to be weakening by the week.

Microsoft and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) have released a customized version of Internet Explorer 9.

The browser launch comes in time for Safer Internet Day 2012.

In the browser, children can report cyberbullying and inappropriate images very easily. Additionally, minors can "seek help" on a large range of topics easily, as well.

CEOP content will be prominent, as will internet safety search sites. The browser is aimed at parents who can not always monitor the content their kids are viewing.

More info here: ThinkUKnow