Latest news

While Samsung and Google have postponed their Nexus Prime event next week in an apparent show of respect for Steve Jobs, that didn't stop some screenshots of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich from being leaked.

Crunch has 7 shots of the upcoming firmware, and it looks fantastic.

The software update is supposed to blend 3.0 Honeycomb (tablets) with 2.3 Gingerbread (smartphones) while adding new features.

Eventually, the software should integrate Google TV.

Check the pics here, as the world waits for the official launch of the software:

YouTube has now launched its movie rental service in the UK, the third such region to gain access.

Earlier this year, Google introduced the rentals to Canadian and U.S. users.

For now, there are 1000 different titles including indies and big-ticket films.

Rentals will be somewhat expensive, however, costing £2.49 (USD $3.87) to £3.49 (USD $5.42) for a 48 hour window.

The movies are synced with your YouTube account so you can access it anywhere with Internet during that two day period.

Furthermore, Google says you can access the movie through Google TV devices, Honeycomb tablets and "some" Android phones.

Adds YouTube (via Crunch)

We've got some cracking films to keep everyone entertained through the upcoming winter months and beyond. From blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Reservoir Dogs, to new releases such as Hanna, Fast Five, and Red Riding Hood, and even British classics like Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Sony's offer to buy Ericsson's stake in the two companies' joint handset operation for a reported $1.3 billion may hint at plans for smartphone content offerings.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications was founded 10 years ago as a joint venture between the two companies, combining the handset divisions from both. They are currently engaged in scheduled negotiations over the company's future.

One analyst believes Sony's intent is to create better synergy with their other divisions. According to Reuters, JP Morgan's Yoshiharu Izumi said, "Up to now Sony's products and network services have all been separate. Unifying them would be positive."

Sony is the only company in the world to be a major player in nearly every aspect of movie, television, and music production, as well as selling nearly every type of device you might use to consume their content.

Despite that apparent advantage, they have generally done a poor job of creating synergies between those different divisions for content distribution. For example, Sony lagged significantly behind Microsoft in offering movies and TV shows through their game consoles.

An Australian judge may rule on Apple's request for a preliminary injunction barring sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 next week.

Since April of this year, Apple has waged a campaign of lawsuits around the world seeking to ban the sales of various Samsung products, claiming they infringe on touch screen patents and "slavishly copy" designs for the iPhone and iPad.

It was speculated the ruling could come this week after arguments were wrapped up on Tuesday. According to Reuters, it is now expected next week, perhaps as early as Monday.

Last week Samsung offered a temporary licensing agreement with Apple which would have allowed them to release the tablet with minor modifications, but still utilizing some of the disputed technology. Apple turned down the deal, saying they prefer to "maintain the status quo."

Reactions to a Q3 earnings estimate released today illustrate just how important the tablet and smartphone markets are to Samsung. Strong sales in those categories have partially offset reduced revenue from displays and memory by the electronics giant.

As of today, the iPhone 4S is available for pre-order US carriers AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. If you prefer, you can also buy directly from Apple.

Pre-orders will be delivered on October 14, the same day as the official US launch. Prices start at $199 for the 16GB model. For $100 more you can get a 32GB version, and the new top of the line model with 64GB of storage costs $399.

Of course, the release of a new iPhone normally means discounted prices for the previous model are on the horizon. Currently AT&T and Verizon are both selling the 8GB iPhone 4 for $99, the 16GB model for $149, and the 32GB model for $199.

Those prices will likely drop some time after the iPhone 4S is actually available. AT&T is currently giving away the iPhone 3GS with a 2 year contract.

In fact, while Apple has been criticized for failing to add a low end phone to their lineup, market research from earlier this year suggests the previous year's model fills that niche already. At that time, sales of the iPhone 3GS in the US were second only to the iPhone 4.

Thanks to its Intel Insider tech, Best Buy's CinemaNow has now added 1080p HD films to its digital download catalog.

The films will be from Warner Bros. and Fox.

Intel Insider "is a hardware-based security technology in second-generation Intel Core processors, which is the fastest-shipping Intel product with more than 75 million units shipped to date," says THR.

Reads a statement from Warner Bros. Digital Distribution:

CinemaNow and Intel are making secure HD content distribution a reality on the personal computer.

The partnership with Intel and Best Buy's CinemaNow to bring HD digital downloads of our movies to the PC will expand our reach to millions of devices in the U.S. and potentially more around the world.

Sony is said to be near a deal to buy out Ericsson's half of the joint smartphone venture Sony Ericsson.

The company is looking to reunify its brand, one that has been split in past years.

Tablets, gaming devices and consumer electronics have been sold under the Sony name while smartphone and media players have been sold under the Sony Ericsson brand.

The 10-year pact between the companies comes up for renewal this month, but it appears unlikely it will be renewed if Sony can get a good price.

A deal could be valued at as high as $1.3 billion, dependent on Ericsson's telecoms patents.

The joint venture lost an astounding 836 million euros in 2010.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced its new line of Kindle e-readers, including Touch models and their long-awaited tablet, the Kindle Fire.

Perhaps equally as notable was the pricing on the devices, including a new low, $79, for the new Wi-Fi Kindle (non-touch). The price is so low because the device includes Amazon's "special offers" ads, ads that scroll when the device is turned on and during screen savers but never during reading or shopping.

Amazon has noted today that users can pay up to have those ads removed permanently, for the price of $30 (the difference in price of the non-special-offers Kindle).

The process is easy and can be done from your Amazon account page. Hit the "Manage your Kindle" tab and then the "Manage your Devices" option. From there simply unsubscribe from Special Offers and you will be charged $30.

Removing the Special Offers is only available on the brand-new keyboard-less $79 Kindle and the $99 Kindle Touch.

Western Digital has introduced its updated TV Live set-top box today, this time adding support for Spotify.

For Spotify, premium subscribers can stream 15 million songs in 320 kbps quality.

The 802.11n Wi-Fi device also has streaming access to Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, YouTube and many other channels. As in the past, the WD TV Live will play a wide variety of file formats, notably MKV, in full 1080p.

Additionally, WD has shown off their updated WD TV Live Hub, a similar set-top box that also includes 1TB of internal storage. The Hub will require ethernet, however.

Although it won't hit retailers until later this year, the Intel Core i7-2700K processor has already been overclocked to 5GHz, with just air cooling.

The processor used in the experiment was an engineering sample chip used by Intel's partners.

To overclock to such an extreme, the vCore of the CPU was pushed to 1.384V while its multiplier and BCLK clock were set at 50x and 100MHz, respectively, says Soft.

The upcoming Core i7-2700K was built by Intel to replace the flagship Sandy Bridge 2600K.

At its base, the new CPU will have a clock speed of 3.5GHz.

Sony has confirmed it has secured financing from Abu Dhabi to fund their bid for EMI, the fourth largest record label in the world.

Backed by the Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala, the company should be able to better compete against other serious bidders which include UMG and WMG, the largest labels in the world.

The current owner of the label is Citigroup, which was forced to take over the company after the old owners could not pay their debts.

Citi is looking for $3 billion for the label.

EMI has labels like Capitol and Virgin, and notable artists like Coldplay and the Beatles.

Popular music streaming service Rdio has now gone free and without ads.

Anybody using a free plan will have a meter of how much free music they can stream a month, which then refills on the 1st of the next month.

Strangely, there is no set amount of music available. It varies based on how much you listen in a given month.

Just like rival Spotify, the free plan gives access to the desktop version of the software and mobile access will cost a premium.

If you want a premium subscription, its $5 per month for unlimited browser/desktop access and $10 for unlimited browser/desktop, smartphone/tablet streaming and wireless sync for offline listening.

For families, friends, etc, there is a special $18 for 2 or $23 for 3 deal available.

Sources are posting the alleged specs of the upcoming Samsung Nexus Prime, set for launch on Tuesday.

If accurate, the device will be a Verizon exclusive and come with Ice Cream Sandwich, the first device to do so.

Additionally, the ultra-thin 9mm device will have a large 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD display.

The phone will be powered by a Texas Instrument's 1.2GHz OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 and 1GB RAM.

32GB integrated storage is standard, as are dual cameras (1.3MP/5MP). The device will be LTE 4G capable and will include WiFi a/b/g/n and NFC (with Google Wallet already installed).

We will report on the event next week.

HTC is working on an emergency patch to send to affected Android devices.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that a recent HTC update for its Android phones had left the devices wide open for attack and the leak of personal info. More info here: HTC under fire for smartphone privacy vulnerability

Says HTC:

In our ongoing investigation into this recent claim, we have concluded that while this HTC software itself does no harm to customers' data, there is a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application.

Following a short testing period by our carrier partners, the patch will be sent over-the-air to customers, who will be notified to download and install it. We are working very diligently to quickly release a security update that will resolve the issue on affected devices.

In April, the Department of Justice approved Google's $700 million purchase of ITA Software, the world's largest flight data company.

As part of the approval, Google had to accept certain restrictions, however. One of the major restrictions was that Google must continue to license ITA software to airfare sites "on commercially reasonable terms" and must promise to continue enhancing the software "in a manner consistent" with ITA's development over the past decade.

Google must also use an internal firewall that will block the company from gaining "competitively sensitive information" off of ITA customers.

Today, a U.S. judge has cleared the purchase, as Google has satisfied all the necessary requirements.

U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins says the agreement is now in "the public interest."