Microsoft to buy 800 patents from AOL for a cool billion dollars

   

     

       

         


         


       



       

   


   

   

     

       
         
       
       

         
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Microsoft to buy 800 patents from AOL for a cool billion dollars



The patent war is fierce and many companies have decided to extend their patent portfolios by buying patents from others. Microsoft will be doing just that in a deal with AOL.

They'll be buying 800 patents from AOL, who will be left holding 300 more. As part of the deal, Microsoft will also get a non-exclusive license for those remaining patents. The bill will be just over $1 billion for the...
Nokia Lumia 900 tops Amazon charts, Titan II nowhere in sight
Monday, April 09, 2012 6:10 PM


Just two days after it went on sale, the Nokia Lumia 900 managed to climb to the top of the Amazon best seller charts.



The black version of the phone is the one leading the parade, while the cyan edition takes a respectable fifth place. The two Nokia Lumia 900 versions are also easily the two most popular AT&T devices currently available on Amazon.

The Lumia 900 also tops Amazon's...
10,000 to lose their jobs at Sony, no bonuses for execs either
Monday, April 09, 2012 3:47 PM


Sony is on its way to cutting 10,000 jobs in an attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive financial year ending in a loss, according to Japanese newspaper Nikkei.



According to the report, 5,000 of the job cuts will be a result of reorganizing Sony's chemicals and panels businesses. The announcement of the painful step, as Sony's CEO Kazuo Hirai describes it, will be made on April 12.

He is...
Krait-powered LG D1L to come in May with a 4.7 and LTE
Monday, April 09, 2012 3:24 PM


It appears then LG isn't going to be happy with Samsung stealing all the spotlight in May.  All the latest rumors suggest the Galaxy S III will launch in a few weeks, and we now hear that LG is preparing to launch a similarly powerful smartphone next month.

The upcoming LG flagship is reportedly going to be called D1L and is built around a 4.7-inch HD display. It should be powered by the...
Pink Samsung Galaxy Note goes on sale in South Korea
Monday, April 09, 2012 12:58 PM


We got a whiff of this pink Galaxy Note back in February but did not have any concrete launch dates back then. We do now.



Samsung has officially launched the pink Galaxy Note in the South Korean market, although according to The Verge, the phone is not yet on sale anywhere.

Along with the phone you get a matching pink S-Pen and a folding case. Interestingly, though, the phone is...
AT&T launches WP-powered Lumia 900 and Titan II
Sunday, April 08, 2012 9:56 PM


Just as previously promised, AT&T has released the Nokia Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II to its customers.



The Nokia Lumia 900 is a Windows Phone smartphone with LTE connectivity, a 4.3" ClearBlack display of WVGA (480 x 800) resolution and an 8 MP camera with Carl-Zeiss optics. It will set you back $99.99 on a two-year deal or $449.99 without commitment. Here's the product page.

The HTC...
Free Xpress-on covers and discounts for the Nokia Lumia 710
Saturday, April 07, 2012 11:22 PM


Nokia have been busy revitalizing their brand image in the US, originally the with the introduction of their Windows Phone-endowed Lumia 710 and more recently its bigger brother the LTE-capable Lumia 900. It looks as though people are forgetting about the phone that started it all however and as such Nokia have announced a pair deals for owners and prospective buyers of the 710.

For starters,...
Nokia 306 graphic leaks out from a manual, raises questions
Saturday, April 07, 2012 8:22 PM


A graphic, taken from the manual of a prototype has leaked out, showing us the touch screen sporting, Nokia 306. Curiously enough however, there is no information on the OS, which the upcoming Nokia will be running.



The device could be running a Symbian version, due to its support for multiple home screens, along with a status menu, located at the top of the screen. On the other hand, the...
Nokia 808 PureView on pre-order in Italy, costs €600
Saturday, April 07, 2012 7:11 PM


The Nokia 808 PureView and its 41MP monstrosity are expected to hit the stores this May. With the release date closing in, Nokia Italy has started their pre-order campaign for the PureView.

The cameraphone costs €600 while €99 of those you must pay now to reserve your unit.



We assume that other Nokia stores will soon launch their pre-orders as well.

You can check the 808 PureView...
HTC Sensation and Sensation XE reportedly updated with ICS
Saturday, April 07, 2012 7:09 PM


Users from various countries report the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update is already available for their HTC Sensation and Sensation XE smartphones.

The new ROM is about 300MB in size and we suggest doing a backup before applying it.

ICS has been available in Germany and the Nordic region since March, while Malaysian users also got the update two weeks ago.

Since the beginning of April...
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 preview: First look
Friday, April 06, 2012 10:23 PM


The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 dispels any doubt about the return of the stylus - the S Pen transforms the tablet into something that will appeal to artist and business types alike. It's a very different experience, one that other tablets cannot match...
Samsung estimates huge Q1 profit for 2012
Friday, April 06, 2012 8:36 PM


Samsung estimates its operating profit at 5.8 trillion won, which equates to roughly $5.15 billion, which is nearly twice what they posted in Q1 of 2011.

Keep in mind that these numbers reflect sales across all Samsung divisions. Its estimated that 60-70% of these numbers came from handset sales. They'll look to bolster those numbers even more in Q2 and Q3, at which time they'll hopefully...
Is this Nokia Lumia PureView? We hope not
Friday, April 06, 2012 3:41 PM


What we have for you here are two leaked slides, which allegedly show a concept design and the actual specs of the upcoming Nokia Lumia PureView. It should be the Windows Phone twin of the Symbian-based 808 PureView.



According to those slides, the Lumia PureView should pack a 4.3-inch HD screen, a dual-core 1.5GHz Krait processor, Adreno 320 graphics, a 41MP camera sensor - same as on the...
Unaudited HTC report for Q1 2012 shows big drop in revenue
Friday, April 06, 2012 3:12 PM


HTC was on the rise - in 2011, the company posted a record second quarter and an even better third quarter. Then in the final quarter of last year there was a sharp 25% drop in revenue, bringing them down to levels comparable to their Q1 2011 performance.

It still pulled off a successful year overall - revenue for 2011 was up 67% compared to 2010 - but they're not starting off this year very...
Android 4.0.4 update causing network issues on Galaxy Nexus
Friday, April 06, 2012 11:21 AM


Looks like it is trouble in paradise for Galaxy Nexus owners again. After updating to the much awaited Android 4.0.4 update that started rolling out last week, users are now noting that the phone loses signal once it goes into sleep mode.



This happens usually when there is no application running in the background when the phone goes into sleep. The processor speed drops below a certain...
Did HTC accidentally show us the EVO 3D successor?
Friday, April 06, 2012 1:35 AM


Official product videos are hardly on top of our list for upcoming smartphone leaks, but stranger things have happened, right? A curiously looking prototype has made an appearance in the freshly announced HTC EVO 4G LTE promo clip, and made us wonder if we didn't accidentally (or not?) catch a glimpse of the HTC EVO 3D's possible successor.



As you can see above, the dual-camera layout of...
Motorola RAZR MAXX got a price tag in the UK
Friday, April 06, 2012 1:08 AM


We are reasonably confident that more than a few people have gotten excited a couple of days ago, when Motorola announced European availability of the Motorola RAZR MAXX. With a 3300mAh battery under its hood, the smartphone is nothing short than an endurance benchmark in the smartphone realm.

Thanks to the UK retailer Clove, we also have a price tag for the Motorola flagship.



As you...
Pantech launch Vega Racer 2 for South Korea, LTE and more
Thursday, April 05, 2012 10:19 PM


Pantech has unveiled the Vega Racer 2, an Android smartphone, with a 4.8" 720p HD display, dual-core Krait processor (probably clocked at 1.5) and LTE on board.

The Vega Racer 2 also sports a glass-ceramic body, which Pantech claim is a world's first on a smartphone.



The Vega Racer 2 comes to replace its predecessor - the Vega Racer.

The device is set to become available across...
Asus Padfone goes on pre-order in Taiwan, will launch April 20
Thursday, April 05, 2012 7:47 PM


One of the most curious devices of this season is getting ready to hit the shelves. Just as promised, Asus will be delivering its Padfone droid phone/tablet/netbook later this month with pre-orders in Taiwan set to start tomorrow.

Taiwanese customers will be able to book themselves a shiny new Asus Padfone for NTD 17,990 ($610). The tablet shell costs an extra NTD6,990 ($240), while the tablet...
Samsung I9300 to have a 4-inch 720p AMOLED display
Thursday, April 05, 2012 12:32 PM


PocketDroid has uncovered some more dirt on this I9300 that we keep seeing every other day, and the one we're pretty sure by now is not the Galaxy S III.



The latest bit of information talks about some of the specs of the device. For starters, the phone is said to have a 4-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution, AMOLED display. No mention of the sub-pixel arrangement has been made but we are willing...