Microsoft used "No-Shop" clause to keep Skype from seeking a better deal

Unnamed sources close to the Microsoft-Skype deal told Bloomberg that while negotiating the final $8.5 billion price tag for Skype, the Redmond based tech giant told Skype's investment bankers that the company would not enter into negotiations without a "No-Shop" clause as part of the deal. The clause prevented Skype's bankers from using the Microsoft $8.5 billion bid as a stalking horse to find a higher price from another company.

You would think that Microsoft really had nothing to worry about as not too many companies have a pile of cash rich enough to make such an offer. Skype said that no other company was willing to make a serious bid for at least the $7 billion that the internet phone company was expecting to receive from an IPO. That was the minimum price that Skype was willing to accept. Google was rumored to have been interested in Skype, but was willing to pay no more than $4 billion. Both Microsoft and Skype agreed to the final price in mid-April.

Closing the deal just one month after first approaching Skype, Microsoft is expected to put Skype's VoIP technology on Windows Phone 7 devices, possibly making a last minute rush to include it on the upcoming Mango upgrade. Money Manager Maytt McCormick of Bahl and Gaynor, a firm that runs $3.6 billion and owns Microsoft stock, said, "Microsoft really wanted this. Microsoft right now is trying to do things to keep up with other faster- growing technology companies."

source: Bloomberg

iRobot will use Android tablets to power service robots

When we think of robots, we tend to think about the two major types: high-end robots and vacuum cleaners. Some examples of high-end robots include bomb disposal units, and radiation detecting robots. But iRobot CEO Colin Angle hopes to create a market for mid-range service robots.

And what's better than a robot serving as your daily helper? That robot, named AVA, will be powered by Android tablets! The Android tablet, a Motorola XOOM in this case, will serve as the processing and sensory core, while the iRobot machinery underneath will provide the mobility and physical functions.

Angle explains how the tablet and AVA came together: "We in the robot industry realized this is a fantastic head for a robot...what was missing was the body." With the front-facing camera, microphone, speakers, and accelerometer, the XOOM requires only the body and the programming.

Some keen readers might remember that AVA was initially demonstrated with an iPad at CES. Angle explains that the change was made for features like voice and video chat. "We're tablet-agnostic...Right now, Android has what we need," explains Angle.

iRobot's hope is to sell AVA to developers this year, and enter businesses next year. And once the price comes down, AVA can enter homes, and provide everything from domestic assistance to virtual doctors' visits.

source: CNET

HP Veer 4G Unboxing

At the brink of a near death experience, it seemed that Palm was nearing an untimely death seeing that its lineup of webOS devices were unable to achieve that mass stardom needed to keep it competing healthily. Fortunately for them, they’re now part of a much larger company in HP, and with their mighty presence in the consumer electronics market, they're hoping to experience smooth sailing with webOS once again.

As we near its expected May 15th launch date, the $99.99 on-contract HP Veer 4G is shaping up to be a decent entry to showcase the relevance that’s surrounding webOS once again. Taking a look at its retail packaging, with its familiar white and orange theme, it’s more than evident that it’s an HP product – and not something from Palm. On the front, an accurate image of the diminutive device is splashed right on there to really give a telling of how compact this handset really is. Inside, we’re presented with the usual set of documentation, SIM card, proprietary USB cable, wall charger, and 3.5mm headset adapter. Sadly though, it’s rather a shame to see it side with a proprietary data/power port – as opposed to using the usual microUSB connection. Moreover, you’ll need to be careful to not lose that 3.5mm headset adapter, which engineers could not integrate with the handset itself.

Holding it for the first time, we’re utterly mesmerized by how wickedly compact it is versus most smartphones nowadays. Comparing it to the original Palm Pre, it clearly evident that it's much smaller than its forefather – albeit, its thickness is roughly the same. Advertised as being the size of a credit card, it actually lives up to that remark hands down. However, it’s hard to say right now whether or not we’re fans of its mostly white paneled sides and back cover. Nonetheless, we’re hungry to check out this handset a little bit more in depth – especially when webOS devices in general aren’t released all the time.

Surely we’ll be testing out the device over the course of the next few days to get a better grasp for it, but in the meantime, you can watch our unboxing video below. We’ll have our in-depth review shortly!

Apple and Google respond to the U.S. Senate regarding location-tracking

Since Apple's recent location tracking scandal, both Google and Apple have been trying to explain or refute their alleged infringements on users' privacy. Today, they got the opportunity to present their cases to a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Apple, which was the first to be implicated in a potential breach of privacy, argued that they aren't really tracking device locations. Instead, they say they are using crowdsourcing to locate cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots. And the "Consolidated.db" file, which prompted the privacy investigation, is allegedly not tracking individual user locations.

Google said that all of their location tracking is optional, and users can choose to turn their location services off. Apple's iOS, on the other hand, was still adding information to "Consolidated.db" even when location services were off. But a recent iOS update has remedied this.

Google further demonstrated their commitment to users' privacy by suggesting that privacy legislation be adapted to the present technological landscape. They point out that a user's data on a remote server isn't protected by the 4th Amendment (regarding search and seizure) in the same way that their physical property might be.

So is this just a dog-and-pony show for the consumer's benefit? We figure that even if Google and Apple are just trying to pacify consumers, it will still lead to an improvement in consumer privacy laws. What do you think?

source: MobileBurn

Music Beta cloud service launched by Google, Motorola XOOM owners invited to dance first

One of the worst kept secrets about the Google I/O conference was that the company will announce a cloud-based music service. And it did indeed - Music Beta will be available to US-based users for now, and it will be free, also for now. The service will be accessible with invites at first, similar to what Google did with Gmail back in the days.

Buyers of the Motorola XOOM tablet on Verizon, however, will be given a priority with invites, rubbing our nose once again at who's the poster child of Android Honeycomb. Music Beta will be specifically optimized for Honeycomb, but handsets with Android 2.2 Froyo and above will be also able to dip in.

The bad part is that Google didn't manage to score license deals with the major labels, citing their business demands as unreasonable, so essentially you will be getting one huge amount of online storage for up to 20 000 of your own songs to stream, and you won't be able to download anything. Still, from the video below it seems that there is some sort of caching service for your most recently played songs, so you can play them even if you are offline, like Google Maps 5.0 caches your route. We are not sure the labels will be ecstatic about this option. Music Beta reminds us of Amazon's Cloud Drive, which also didn't have luck with the music publishers, but it offers only 2000 songs/5GB of space for free anyway.

Now for the techie details - uploads will be handled by dedicated clients for Mac and PC, but the web-based player will be Adobe Flash-based, sorry, iOS. Moreover, Music Beta will be accessible from Android devices only for now, and both online-based and songs in your local storage will be seamlessly integrated in the Android music player, similar to what Google is doing with the Android Gallery and your Picasa photos.

Streaming will be done with up to 320kbps quality, depending on the network strength, and you can create playlists accessible from anywhere you can run your Music Beta account - desktop computer or your Android smartphone and tablet. There is even a service called Instant Mix that can make you a mixtape based on a single song you point it to, pretty neat.

We can finally save on memory cards and external hard drives by moving our music to the cloud, and accessing them from anywhere with an Internet connection. Now where's that invite? If Google Music stays beta the amount of time Gmail did, our music streaming needs will be covered for quite some time pro bono.

Android Market to offer movie rentals

Google's Android OS has quickly matched the seemingly unbeatable iOS. But their one shortcoming has been the lack of music and movie support in the Android Market, to match the established and polished iTunes storefront.

But Android users are one step closer, now that Google has announced a movie rental service through the Android Market. Rentals begin at US$1.99, but new releases appear to be $3.99 each.

In addition to streaming the films, you can also "pin" them, meaning that you can temporarily save them to your device for offline viewing. While it's still no iTunes, the Android Movie Market appears to have a wealth of new releases and old favorites.

But the question remains: Are you really interested in renting movies for your mobile device? Obviously, tablet-owners will get greater enjoyment, but they make up a relatively small segment of the total Android population. So perhaps Google is just planning ahead for when their tablet market share grows.

source: Android Market via Android and Me

Google announces Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Honeycomb 3.1, promises timely updates

After bragging about 100 million activations hit in 2011, and Android Market reaching 4.5 billion downloads to date, at Moscone Center in San Francisco Google announced the newest version of Android - Ice Cream Sandwich.

It's not just bringing over the good stuff like the holographic UI and richer widgets from Android Honeycomb, the tablet version, but adding a few new features of its own.

Speaking of Honeycomb, it is getting updated to 3.1 as of this moment, and users of the Motorola XOOM on Verizon can get the update right now. It adds USB host support to Android, for hooking up tens of peripherals like cameras, keyboards and game controllers directly to your Android tablet. Some of the other new features are cosmetic - the widgets can now be customized to stretch vertically or horizontally any way the developers like. Some include new apps, like Movie Studio for video editing, new Movies and Books apps, for renting said media, and a faster browser with new Quick Controls settings. Not to mention that Honeycomb is heading to Google TV as well, if that ever takes off.

Ice Cream Sandwich, in its turn, was just called Google's "most ambitious release to date", and the aim is for it to power tablets, convertible tablets, and, of course, phones. Google will be ramping up its efforts developing the application framework, to avoid fragmentation. Mike Claron from the Android Engineering Team said that Google wants one OS that runs on everything.

To demonstrate the "depth and breadth" of the new APIs, a GPU-based OpenGL demo was made of tracking a human face, and distorting the perspective in real time. And we mean distorting - the app could recognize the place of the nose and eyes, for instance, and played around with the perspective in pretty frivolous ways.

The practical approach to this API was when a camera app was shown, that automatically focuses on the face of the person that is talking at the moment, and it worked pretty neat and fluid.

The biggest news for us, however, was that Google sat down with cell phone manufacturers, carriers and other members of the Open Handset Alliance, and is coming up with strict system how soon after the release of a new Android version handsets will be updated, and for how long will they be supported with new versions. In the case of the abovementioned manufacturers their phones will be included in the timely updates project for at least 18 months after initial launch, provided that the hardware can handle the new versions. Android Ice Cream Sandwich (notice that no numbered version was mentioned), will be hitting smartphones and tablets some time in Q4 of this year.

Yes, this group includes Samsung and Sony Ericsson, to answer your most burning question, but HTC, LG, Motorola, Vodafone, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile are also onboard, hopefully putting an end to the mess that Android updates have become. At the end, each of the attendees were promised to receive the insanely thin, and yet-unreleased Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which will be getting its Android 3.1 Honeycomb update very soon, said Google's Hugo Barra, flashing the audience with one of said tablets.

HTC Inspire 4G is selling for $29.99 through RadioShack until May 21st

When it launched back in February, the $99.99 on-contract price that graced the HTC Inspire 4G was in itself spectacular on so many different levels – even more when it’s classified as a top notch smartphone from HTC’s camp. In addition, as we all know, strictly online retailers like Amazon, Lets Talk, and Wirefly might have the upper hand when it comes to handset pricing, but generally you’re required to stick with a specific plan – and in the event you drop from it, hefty penalties are usually in-bound.  Moreover, pricing is not uniform all the time with their lineup.

Thankfully, RadioShack is pricing the HTC Inspire 4G at $29.99 with a 2-year contract – and best of all, it’s available to new and existing customers with qualified upgrades. Although some will point out its last-generation like specs, especially taking into account the wave of handsets we’re seeing with dual-core processors, it’s still nevertheless an admirable smartphone that’s top notch in so many ways.

For $29.99, you really can’t deny the fact that it’s one alluring price, but it’s definitely nice to see that existing customers can get in with that deal as well. If you're considering scooping up this handset, just remember that this limited time offer is good until May 21st.

via BGR

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is expected to be available in white as well

Back at CTIA 2011, we managed to get a closer look at the impressively thin looking revamped Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 model, but with most devices nowadays, it sports that tried and true black paint job.

Certainly the norm at this point, but increasingly becoming prevalent at the same time, it appears that the Honeycomb flavored tablet will be offered in a white paint job as well. The tablet recently made an appearance over at the Google I/O conference, however, It’s largely unknown at this point on when the pristine white model will ship – albeit, it’s speculated to launch alongside the regular black version in June.

Still, it’s nice knowing that you’ll have two options to side with if you plan on picking up this revamped Galaxy Tab model. Aside from the new paint job, there doesn’t seem to be anything else different about it – but we’d imagine that the two would still come in at the same thickness.

via Electronista

Motorola Gleam brings back old-school flip phone love to Carphone Warehouse

In an age where smartphones completely dominate the landscape, every now and then, we’re able to truly appreciate the advances in cell phone technology whenever we’re greeted with old-school flip handsets.

UK consumers on the other hand have the opportunity of reliving those early days by picking up the Motorola Gleam through Carphone Warehouse. We first heard about the European bound device back in February, but it’s just now starting to make its way to the UK with the acceptable price tag of 49.95 GBP (US$82). With that, you get a stylish clamshell device featuring things like a 2.4” QVGA internal display, external LED matrix display, 2-megapixel camera, FM radio, MP3 support, 3.5mm headset jack, and a microUSB port.

Therefore, if you simply tire using some of today’s modernized smartphones and yearn for something a little bit more laid back, then you just might want to consider picking up the Motorola Gleam for old time sakes.

source: Carphone Warehouse via Mobileburn

Microsoft agrees to buy Skype for $8.5 billion

US software giant Microsoft will buy Internet phone service company Skype for $8.5 billion dollars, the companies announced on Tuesday.

"Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

"Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world."

Report: 49 per cent Indians browse the Internet on their phones

Surprised? In a country that is among the lowest in broadband penetration, a large chunk of internet consumption is through mobile devices.

The data, published by Device Research for Opera, also says not all the traffic is from the metros. The share of mobile Internet users is linked to mobile operators active in the country and the services they offer.

Microsoft in talks to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion

Microsoft is in advanced talks to acquire Skype, which revolutionized telephone calls over the Internet, for $8.5 billion, according to people involved in the transaction.

A deal is expected to be announced on Tuesday morning, these people said, although they cautioned that negotiations could still fall apart.

The acquisition would be Microsoft's largest ever and it is an effort to gain a foothold in the world of voice and video communications. Microsoft would be able leverage Skype's more than 600 million registered users into using its other Internet products like Bing, its search engine, which competes with Google. It may also be used to bolster Microsoft's fledging mobile telephone offering, which lags far behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems. And Skype is likely to integrate into Microsoft's flagship product, Office, as a way for business users to better collaborate.

What to expect from Google I/O

Patience is no longer a virtue. There are still some hours to go before Google's I/O event starts and we already know about the new music service and the additions to the YouTube movie rental service.  But we are hoping Google's saving the best news for later. In anticipation of the event, here's our list of what to expect from the I/O event.

Google Chrome: Not Hack Proof After All

French firm Vupen Security has managed to hack Google Chrome and its sandbox in a contest. Historically, Chrome has been the most difficult browser to hack because of the inbuilt sandboxing technology which theoretically isolates Chrome from the rest of machine, making it less vulnerable to hacking codes designed to cripple web browsers.

In the hack, the company uses a highly sophisticated code to bypass all security features of Google's browser including its sandboxing feature. In the process, the hack even managed to bypass the integrated anti-phishing technologies built in to Windows 7.

According to the company the hack works on all Windows systems, whether they are 32-bit or 64-bit.

Previously, Chrome always survived the Pwn2own hacking contest and Google itself offered a $20,000 prize for a successful hack. Before the Chrome hacking, Vupen Security had managed to hack Safari, which is also based on the webkit engine like Chrome.

Watch how it was hacked in the video below.

Indian brides told to reduce mobile phone use

The Punjab State Commission for Women (PSCW) has some unusual advice for new brides. Too many phone conversations are bad for the state of your marriage, they say. They issued an official advisory last week urging newly married wives "to focus on their domestic life instead of having long conversations on mobile phones".

Commission head Gurdev Kaur Sangha told AFP on Monday that the advisory was designed to prevent suspicion between new couples as they adjust to their new life together.
 

Sony to restore PlayStation Network by end of May

Sony said on Tuesday it aimed to fully restore its PlayStation Network, which was shut down after a massive security breach affecting over 100 million online accounts, by the end of May.

Sony also confirmed that personal data from 24.6 million user accounts was stolen in the hacker attack last month. Personal data, including credit card numbers, might have been stolen from another 77 million PlayStation accounts, said Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka.

YouTube adds thousands of movies for rent online

YouTube is beefing up its roster of movies for "rent" online in the United States to woo viewers away from television and take on booming Internet service Netflix.

"You're spending just 15 minutes a day on YouTube, and spending five hours a day watching TV," YouTube head Salar Kamangar said Monday in a post at the Google-owned video-sharing website.

"As the lines between online and offline continue to blur, we think that's going to change."
In addition to expanding its online movie roster, YouTube was increasing support for "partners" who create amateur clips that are attracting
"TV-sized" audiences at the website, according to Kamangar.

LinkedIn looking to raise $274 million

Professional networking website LinkedIn Corp. hopes to sell its stock for $32 to $35 per share in an upcoming initial public offering. Its IPO may encourage other growing Internet services to make their stock market debuts during the next year.

The price target, set in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, signals that LinkedIn is nearly ready to complete its IPO. The shares are expected to be sold May 18, according to IPO analyst Scott Sweet. The stock would then begin trading under the ticker symbol of "LNKD" on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apple pays compensation over Beijing brawl

US high-tech giant Apple said staff at its flagship Beijing store acted in self-defence when a fight broke out, resulting in injuries to a customer who has since been compensated, reports said Tuesday.

Scuffles broke out at the Apple store in the Chinese capital on Saturday, with crowds jumping queues and smashing the store's glass door as they rushed to snap up the popular iPad 2 tablet computer and the white iPhone 4 handset.

"The Apple Store Sanlitun was closed for several hours on Saturday after a group outside the store became unruly," Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu told AFP in a statement.

Apple topples Google as world's most valuable brand

Technology giant Apple has emerged as the world's most valuable brand surpassing search engine major Google.

The iPhone maker's brand is valued at $153.3 billion, an 84 per cent increase since last year. Meanwhile, Google's brand is now valued at $111.5 billion, a 2 per cent fall from 2010.

ICICI Bank is the lone Indian company to feature in the list of top 100 global brands. With a brand value of $14.9 billion, India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank is ranked at the 53rd position in the league of world's 100 most valuable brands compiled by global brands agency Millward Brown. This is the second straight appearance for ICICI bank in annual BrandZ study.

British queen now wants an iPad

The Queen has asked her staff to buy her an iPad -- and the princes think "it is hilarious".

Prince William and Prince Harry have given the 85-year-old queen a crash course on using the touchscreen tablets, The Sun reported.

She will be able to browse the Internet, download apps and play games on Apple's tablet.

"The queen hadn't seen anything like the iPad before. She was very impressed...For a woman of her age, she is very switched on. It was only a matter of time before she asked someone to go and get her one," a royal insider was quoted as saying.

HP gunning for Cisco in computer network arena

Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Monday unveiled business computer networking gear tailored for modern Internet demands, taking direct aim at Cisco in a multi-billion-dollar market.

HP touted its new FlexNetwork architecture for linking data centers, campuses, and branches as having "phenomenal capability" and being more affordable, efficient and secure than offerings from "incumbents" like Cisco.

"It is a more modern architecture than what is out there," HP executive vice president of enterprise servers David Donatelli said during a webcast press conference rife with comparisons to Cisco products or services.

YouTube founders buy social media tracker

The founders of YouTube on Monday announced they bought a startup that specializes in tracking what campaigns at Twitter or Facebook are doing for companies' bottom lines.

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen did not disclose financial terms of the deal to purchase Tap11.com, which came on the heels of the pair buying popular social bookmarking website Delicious from Yahoo! for an undisclosed sum.
Hurley and Chen, who sold YouTube to Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, said they planned to integrate Tap11 and Delicious with their new San Mateo, California-based Internet company AVOS.
"Our vision is to create the world's best platform for users to save, share, and discover new content," Hurley said in a release.

Google to start a Cloud-Based music player

A month after Amazon angered music labels by starting a cloud-based music player without their cooperation, Google is doing the same thing.

Google plans to introduce its long-awaited cloud music player Tuesday at Google I/O, its developers conference in San Francisco. The service, which it calls Music Beta by Google, will let people upload their music collections to the Internet and listen to the songs on Android phones or tablets and on computers.

Google does not have licenses from the music labels, even though it has been negotiating with them for months to team up on a cloud service. As a result, users of Google's service cannot do certain things that would legally require licenses, like sharing songs with friends and buying songs from Google.

"A couple of major labels were not as collaborative and frankly were demanding a set of business terms that were unreasonable and did not allow us to build a product or a business on a sustainable business," said Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content for Android. "So we're not necessarily relying on the partnerships that have proven difficult."

Now, a video game set in Osama's house

Abbottabad's most famous house is now a playable location in Counter Strike, a popular first person shooter (FPS) multiplayer videogame. Players will experience the operation that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the compound, the map of which can be downloaded as a patch update for the game from the Internet.

Available for both the PCs and Macs, Counter Strike is a team-based game where one team assumes the role of commandoes and the other as terrorists. Each team is tasked with overpowering the opponent in a number of ways such as bombing the opponent's camp, escaping, rescuing hostages and eliminating all the opponent players.

There are thousands of maps available to play on. The most famous among them are dust, an abandoned air strip, an inferno, a nuclear power plant, a rail yard and, of course, Las Vegas. Osama's secret Abbottabad hideout now joins the list of locations.

The game has been used in a number of global gaming competitions since it's launch in 1991. One of these is the World Cyber Games where India is an active participant.

Conman hoodwinks woman on Facebook

A female resident of Kuala Lumpur lost $363,000 to a con artist on Facebook, reports Malaysian newspaper The Star.

The con artist claimed to be a British citizen and asked for the victim's bank account details in order to cash in $1.4 million from his contact with Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company. He told the victim that he could not afford to pay the stamp duty charges and insurance fees, which were required to get his agreement approved.

Later, the victim approached the police after realizing that she had been duped. Six male suspects were arrested. Of these, two were Nigerians, two were Bangladeshis and two were Malaysians.

So far investigators have only managed to recover about $5,000 in cash, 18 ATM cards, seven cell phones and a laptop.

Reports of frauds using phishing messages are common, but social networking sites now seem to be the new breeding ground for scams of the sort. On sites like Facebook, users are more active and readily share personal information. 

Twitter hits new high with Everest "tweet'

A renowned British climber has taken Twitter to a new high, firing off the first "tweet" from the peak of world's tallest mountain.

Kenton Cool used the terse text message to plug a slick new Galaxy S II smartphone made by Samsung, the South Korean consumer electronics giant that backed his ninth ascent to the top of Mount Everest.

"Everest summit no 9! 1st tweet from the top of the world thanks to a weak 3G signal & the awesome Samsung Galaxy S2 handset!" the mountaineer said in a tweet sent Thursday.

Nepal telecom carrier Ncell installed a mobile signal receiver at the base of Everest late last year, but it had been unclear whether its range extended to the peak.

A blog post at Cool's website dream-guides.com proclaimed the Samsung Everest climb a success and promised more details as Cool made his way back down.

72 million live YouTube streams for royal wedding

The wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton attracted 72 million live streams on YouTube in 188 countries and over 100 million views on the big day itself, the Google-owned video-sharing site said Friday.

"Though half the globe was still in darkness, YouTube users from across the world got wedding fever," YouTube said in a blog post.

YouTube said the top five countries watching live streams of the royal wedding on the site's Royal Channel were Britain, the United States, Italy, Germany and France.

"The total streams on April 29, 2011 reached 101 million as romantics around the globe tuned in to watch the fairytale ceremony, the procession and the final balcony kiss," YouTube said.

YouTube also said there have been 37.7 million page views of the official royal wedding website from 13.7 million visitors.

Samsung GALAXY Gio Review

This is a global GSM phone. It can be used with T-Mobile USA and AT&T, but without 3G.

Introduction:

Samsung announced a quartet of low- to mid-range Android smartphones in January, and the Samsung Galaxy Gio was in the mix there – an Android 2.2 phone with a 3.2” display, and 800MHz processor. With the four humble handsets, Samsung demonstrated that it is not only shooting for the stars with phones like the Galaxy S II, but also considering the mere mortal, price-conscious cell phone shoppers. Did it succeed to strike the fine features/price balance with the Samsung Galaxy Gio? Read on to find out...

Internal flyer adds more credibility for Gingerbread "coming soon" to the T-Mobile G2

Back in early April, we heard wind of the possibility of Android 2.3 Gingerbread coming to the T-Mobile G2 some time in the summer, but we haven’t seen enough things pointing to that reality.

Fortunately though, a leaked internal flyer being circulated amongst T-Mobile employees indeed presents more credibility to the software update’s eventual reality. Both the carrier and HTC seem to be indicating the inevitable truth of Gingerbread coming to the beloved T-Mobile G2, but as its stands for far, there is no specific time line for its arrival except for the tag line that it’s “coming soon.” Nonetheless, that should still ease some of the worries for handset owners.

Either way, it’s now clear that the software update is indeed coming for sure, and knowing that the handset is running the stock Android 2.2 Froyo experience, there should be no reason why we can’t see it in the very near future.

source: TmoNews

T-Mobile contest will award two winners with a free G2x & trip to the E3 Expo

With today’s modernized and fully equipped top shelf smartphones, they’re starting to bridge that gap still owned by mobile consoles when it comes down to gaming. However, as we continue to see innovation spurring in the industry, there is no doubt that smartphones will rule the mobile gaming landscape.

Knowing that, T-Mobile is holding a contest where they’ll be awarding fantastic prize packages to ten lucky people who can prove to be the most diehard of gaming fans. In order to qualify, you’ll need to upload a 15 second or less video to T-Mobile’s Facebook page showing the world why you classify yourself as the ultimate gamer and how you would make the perfect correspondent for the carrier.

Obviously, contestants with the top ten most rated videos will each win prizes, with the top two banking the grand prize package of getting a snazzy T-Mobile G2x and a free trip to the E3 Expo being held in Los Angeles from June 7th through the 9th. Moreover, they’ll be the name and face for T-Mobile for the event since the two winners will have the prestigious duty of hosting gaming challenges and conducting interviews.

So if you think you have what it takes to win it all, be sure to check back on May 15th to upload your video.

source: T-Mobile via TmoNews

Microsoft buys Skype for the staggering $8.5 billion, to use it in Windows Phone 7 and Kinect

If you've never used Skype, you might say that Microsoft just paid $8.5 billion for some glorified chat software. Even if you've used Skype, you might still say the same, that's how many eyebrows Microsoft's biggest acquisition to date raised. Rumors about the deal were floating around for a few days, reaching a crescendo level yesterday.

Microsoft announced today that it will buy Skype from its majority owners, among which is also the Canada Pension Plan, that acquired it in 2009 when Ebay parted with a large stake in the company.

Ebay's idea was to use Skype for buyer-seller communication, but quickly figured out that people prefer the no-hassle anonymity more than direct contact when selling or even buying stuff online. It sold 65% of it for $1.9 billion, after acquiring Skype for $2.6 billion. With Microsoft's purchase for the staggering $8.5 billion, Ebay even makes a bit of money on the whole, parting with its remaining percentages.

What's more interesting, though, is what will Microsoft do with Skype to justify that it just shelled out $8.5 billion for the service, assumed its debt, considering it has chat software, both consumer and enterprise. After all, Skype lost $7 million last year, on more than $800 million of revenue. It was also plagued by patent lawsuits, but that has obviously been resolved in one way or another. So that leaves Microsoft buying Skype for said patents, for its video chat capabilities, and for its established network of 170 million users, coupled with its brand recognition.

The Redmond software giant's clarification is that it will integrate Skype with Xbox 360 and Kinect for video chats, with the Windows Phone platform, as well as merge it into its corporate communication software Lync and Microsoft Outlook for real-time communication.

Do these intentions warrant the hefty $8.5 billion price? It remains to be seen, but there is obviously something brewing in CEO Steve Ballmer's head, after quietly taking over Nokia from the inside and after buying Skype, and we have the feeling cloud and mobile are a big part of Microsoft's future strategy.

Microsoft says it will continue support for Skype on other platforms, like iOS and Android, but now that it owns the service, it might as well throw crumbs at the competition, and keep any current or future aspects of Skype's functionality for itself.

source: Microsoft

HTC Trophy dummy put on display at a Best Buy store, hints at inevitable release

The HTC Trophy is one of the worst kept Verizon secrets - we all know it's nearing release, but now we have yet another indication this is the case - a Verizon-branded dummy of the handset has appeared in a Best Buy store.

While it would be a bit far-stretched to say this is a definite proof that the handset is to be launched soon, it shows something is in motion, which, if we take a look at the bigger picture, only confirms our suspicions that there is a high probability the HTC Trophy is to be launched on May 12 by Verizon.

The HTC Trophy is to be the first WP-powered Verizon handset. It will offer a 3.8-inch TFT screen with WVGA resolution, 1GHz processor, 5MP camera with HD recording capabilities and 16GB built-in memory among other goodies.

You are also invited to check our Upcoming Verizon Phones page to be sure you are well informed what's coming from Big Red!

Hundreds of thanks to Thump3rDX17 for the tip.

New photos of BlackBerry Monza available, different buttons on the front showed

A new photo shows that the BlackBerry 9860 Touch Monza (a.k.a. Monaco), one of the most leaked upcoming phones by RIM, has different buttons on the front than the ones we have already seen thanks to a previous leak.

It's yet unknown whether the handset will launch with the buttons showed in the pic below or with the ones we have seen before this leak.

Rumors claim this phone will be released with a 3.7-inch WVGA display (if true, it will be the biggest screen on a BlackBerry handset), 5MP camera capable of HD 720p video recording and the latest BlackBerry OS 7.0 (the second image kind of proves it), while a mighty 1.2GHz processor is said to power the phone.

source: BlackBerry OS