Latest news

Verizon finally gives an official release date for the first Ice Cream Sandwich device.

The carrier will sell the device for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Outside of being the first smartphone to have the official Android 4.0, the Galaxy nexus will have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED screen with 1280x768 resolution and dual cameras 1.3/5 MP. The phone has a curved design, is 9.47mm thin and has an impressive no-shutter lag camera.

Additionally, the phone has NFC support and Verizon LTE support, which is good for 190 markets and 200 million people. Verizon says average download speeds are 5 to 12 Mbits and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbits.

After months of speculation, Nintendo has finally given an official U.S. release date for its 3DS Circle Pad Pro peripheral.

Starting on February 7th, the accessory will sell for $20. Somewhat surprisingly, Gamestop will be the exclusive retailer for the device, suggesting Nintendo may not be expecting large sales.

There are only a few games currently compatible with the extra nub that the Circle Pad brings, and those include Monster Hunter Tri G, Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, and Resident Evil Revelations.

Last week, Nintendo announced that its Circle Pad Pro would require a AAA battery, much to the dismay of gamers. This week however, those concerns have mainly been put to bed, as it appears the peripheral will work for 480 hours of gameplay on one single battery, giving most casual gamers a year or so before they need to go out an replace the battery, which can cost as low as $1 for a 2-pack.

Microsoft has announced the availability of SkyDrive apps for Windows Phone and iOS.

SkyDrive is Microsoft's cloud service used to store your data including documents, videos, music, photos and more. When you move any file into the SkyDrive, that file is then available from any browser in the world.

Recently, the company updated the service, adding support for HTML5 and CSS3 and now with the addition of native mobile apps, the service seems poised to better compete with DropBox and Amazon CloudDrive.

For Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft explains that "we focused on deeply integrating SkyDrive into the phone itself through the Pictures and Office hubs. For instance, you can share photos stored on SkyDrive by email, text, or IM, use Office apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with SkyDrive files, and even keep your phone's camera roll up-to-date on SkyDrive automatically."

For iOS, the company explains: "We have a long history of supporting iPhone customers with built-in support for Hotmail and with apps like Bing, Messenger, OneNote (with SkyDrive sync), and now Skype. More generally, we believe you should have access to your personal content no matter which device you use. This is why we are excited to invest in HTML5 both on the web and on mobile on [ skydrive.com ] On the iPhone, we've taken the next step by making the new SkyDrive app for iPhone available in 32 languages worldwide. In addition to their OneNote notebooks, iPhone customers can now access all of their files in SkyDrive, create folders, delete files, and share links to folders and files directly using the Mail app."

The case is now in the hands of the presiding judge and jury.

In 2004, the global enterprise software provider sued Microsoft, claiming the company violated anti-trust laws in 1994 by using its monopoly on personal computer operating systems to suppress WordPerfect, at the time the world's most popular word-processing program.

Eventually, WordPerfect's value cratered from $1.2 billion in 1994 to just $170 million when it purchased by Corel in 1996. As expected, Novell is suing for the difference in value, which would be tripled under US antitrust law to over $3 billion in damages.

Microsoft, in its arguments, say Novell lost the market share not because of Microsoft but because they did not make a compatible software for Windows 95 quick enough, allowing the company's own Word to gain traction. MSFT attorney David Tulchin added in the closing arguments: "Novell was late. It was always behind. It was playing catch-up. In the high-tech world where things can move quickly ... the market can kill you."

YouTube purchases RightsFlow.

RightsFlow, the licensing and royalty service provider, has been acquired by YouTube this week for an undisclosed amount. The company helps digital music stores, distributors, labels and individual artists to have proper royalty arrangements, and song licensing.

Says YouTube in a blog post: "By combining RightsFlow's expertise and technology with YouTube's platform, we hope to more rapidly and efficiently license music on YouTube, meaning more music for you all to enjoy, and more money for the talented people producing the music."

YouTube has been accused multiple times of encouraging users to upload videos that include music or TV/movie clips that has not been authorized and labels/studios not compensated for.

As the site has matured, however, their filters and monitoring systems have improved and the site is "cleaner" than ever. It also embeds links to purchase the songs and movies seen in clips right into the description.

Concludes YouTube: "YouTube has had a longstanding commitment to solving the really tough challenges around online copyright--how to manage content rights in a quickly evolving technology world. We've already invested tens of millions of dollars in content management technology such as Content ID and, with over 3,000 major media companies using it, we've come a long way in just a few years. But we want to keep pushing things forward."

The Prada 3.0 is expected in February.

Last month, LG announced the renewal of its mobile phone partnership with high-end fashion name Prada. The two companies had already created two "premium" Prada phones in the past and the original PRADA phone, launched in 2007, was the first touchscreen phone ever, selling over 1 million units.

Today, the companies have launched the LG Prada 3.0, the third smartphone in the premium line. The companies held an event in London to celebrate the release.

The LG Prada 3 (specs via PhoneArena) has a 4.3-inch NOVA display with WVGA resolution, runs on a 1GHz TI OMAP4430 dual-core chip, has a 0.33-inch (8.5mm) thick body, dual cameras 1.3MP/8MP, 21Mbps HSPA+ connectivity, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, and an FM tuner.

Overall, the specs put the phone in line with other mid-low-high-end Android devices on the market.

Nokia is launching the Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises edition smartphone, in honor of the upcoming film.

The extremely limited edition phone (only 40 will be made) are being released now, a day before the movie's 7 minute prologue is played with IMAX screenings of the latest Mission Impossible.

Each phone has a Live Tile for the movie and has the batman logo etched in the back.

The phones come in a special matching package, as well.

T-Mobile is getting the first Nokia Windows Phone 7.5 device to hit the U.S., on January 11th.

The Lumia 710 will sell for just $50 with contract.

Nokia and T-Mobile are having a party tonight to officially announce the product launch.

The Lumia 710 has a 3.7 inch TFT screen, runs on a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor, has 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and a 5 MP rear camera.

There is no word on when the flagship Lumia 800 will be headed to he U.S.

Here is today's list of 10 cent apps from the Android Market.

Last Tuesday, the Android Market started an excellent promotion, offering 10 days of 10 popular apps for 10 cents.

Android's promotion is in celebration of 10 billion apps being downloaded from the market.

Stronger day for games, today, in my opinion.

List, available now from here or via your Android phone/tablet:

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard, Intel is falling behind in the processor market thanks to their failure to compete in the lucrative mobile device segment.

While Intel has continued to concentrate primarily on performance, says Richard, consumer interest has largely shifted to convenience and mobility. As a result, the SoC (System on a Chip) processor has become increasingly important.

In a research note this week he wrote (via CNET):

As an example, there is nothing leading edge about Apple's A5 processor. However, the performance of an iPad is perceived by users as better than a PC. This is because the product has a longer battery life, instant on, and a fast internet connection. The A5 processor is not faster than an Intel processor but instead has a large number of IP blocks that execute different functions with lower power and typically more quickly than a general purpose CPU (Intel).

New legislation being proposed in California could substantially change the cost of providing textbooks to college students.

The bill would mandate the creation of new textbooks to be offered for 50 different undergraduate courses. Electronic versions of the textbooks readable on computers and mobile devices would be available for no charge, with print versions costing around $20.

The textbooks would all be published under a Creative Commons license.

"There's a clarion call from students and middle class families to make higher education more accessible and affordable," said California Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg. "Open source digital textbooks can bring real relief of nearly $1,000 a year to each college student."

Dr. Larry Green, Lake Tahoe Community College professor already uses a free textbook in some of his classes. He said of his experiences with it:

Choosing to adopt the open digital textbook for my students spares them thousands of dollars in textbook expenses, and the book's academic quality is comparable, if not better, than the pricey versions offered by publishers.

While much of the focus on smartphones revolves around their use for gaming and media consumption, according to a report from Verve Wireless, the majority of smartphone owners also use them for shopping at least once per month.

According to Verve, 81% of smartphone users have purchased at least one product after researching it on their phone and 75% use their phones to find out more about products while they are in a store.

Price comparisons, they say, are the most popular category of shopping related activity, followed by looking up product information and reviews.

Greg Hallinan, Chief Marketing Officer of Verve Wireless said:

The results substantiate what our advertising partners have known for a while, that mobile is an essential part of any retailer's advertising plan. There is a growing demographic of consumers who rely on their mobile device to help them make decisions in the aisles of brick-and-mortar stores as well as while shopping online. The advertiser who meets them there will win the sale.

Apple TV may be the most unusual product Apple has produced since Steve Jobs returned to the company in the 1990s. Not unusual as a product, but more in the company's approach to it.

To put it simply, Apple can't seem to figure out how to boost sales to the level of their other products, but they apparently don't want to get rid of it either.

It's not that Apple TV doesn't do well in the market. Market researchers at Strategy Analytics predict Apple's set-top box will be the top selling Internet set-top box this year according to CNET. They say it will account for nearly a third of the market.

That's impressive considering the lead other companies, most notably Roku, had in the market. What's not so impressive is the number of units in question - around 4 million. Many companies would be happy with those numbers. Those companies are not Apple.

Presumably what keeps the Apple TV box around is the assumption many people have that video will ultimately be just another data service. If you buy into that, it's only logical that Apple needs to have a way to leverage that market.

Google purges apps that sent premium SMS messages with victims handsets.

Google has removed several cloned games uploaded by developer Logastrod that included malicious code. Logastrod used popular gaming titles in the attack, presenting them as free downloads from the Android Market.

In reality, when a user downloaded them to an Android device, they started sending SMS messages to premium line numbers, potentially costing the victim a lot of money.

The list of cloned games, according to Sophos, is as follows:

EU regulators request more information from Google.

The European Commission, tasked with overseeing and enforcing competition rules in the European market, revealed that it has halted its review of Google's proposed $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility. The regulators have requested more information from Google.

The deal requires approval from regulators on both sides of the pond, with the Department of Justice in the United States also set to probe it. Google will acquire over 17,000 patents from the deal.

"The European Commission has asked for more information, which is routine, while they review our Motorola Mobility acquisition," a Google spokeswoman said. "We're confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we'll be working closely and co-operatively with them as they continue their review."

Analysts expect that the European Commission will sign off on the deal, with the only real potential sticky part being concerns over whether Google will favour Motorola Mobility over other manufacturers of smartphones that run the Android operating system.