News written by Rich Fiscus (September, 2011)

AT&T has asked a federal judge to dismiss lawsuits by Sprint and Cellular South opposing their buyout of T-Mobile USA.

AT&T's deal to buy T-Mobile, once thought almost a sure thing, has been sidelined thanks to an antitrust suit from the Justice Department. Sprint, the smallest of four national US carriers, and regional carrier Cellular South have filed similar suits of their own.

AT&T argues it's actually competition, not a lack of it, the two companies are afraid of. Sprint claims that the loss of T-Mobile as an independent entity would eventually lead to their own demise, resulting in just two national carriers.

Cellular South is arguing the buyout would result in less competition for roaming deals which regional carriers rely on to extend their coverage.

In fact, like so many arguments AT&T has made so far, their claims of competition seem to be dishonest, if not completely false. They argue Sprint fears their ability to become a more formiddable competitor.

Yesterday Verizon Communications filed a challenge to the FCC's authority to mandate net neutrality through their Open Internet rules.

The rules, drafted last December, were officially entered into the Federal Register last week. They will go into effect on November 20 unless a successful legal challenge is mounted between now and then.

Verizon's filing was actually an appeal of a decision from April when they first challenged the rules. The case was dismissed at the time because new rules can't be challenged until after a schedule to put them in place has been set.

A Verizon statement on the lawsuit said:

Today's filing is the result of a careful review of the FCC's order. We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself. We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers.

RIM has no intention of giving up on the tablet market according to an email from a company spokeswoman.

The PlayBook initially sold well after its release in April. More recently lagging sales have led to RIM rethinking plans for a 4G model and drastically reduced prices.

In an email to Reuters, RIM's Marisa Conway called rumors the PlayBook will be discontinued, "pure fiction." She went on to say, "RIM remains highly committed to the tablet market and the future of QNX in its platform."

The rumors she was referring to started with an analyst's note yesterday claiming RIM had discontinued production on the tablet and cancelled development on additional models.

Of course it's hard to imagine what RIM would stand to gain from getting out of the tablet market. Unlike HP, who gave up on their tablet operation last month, tablets are essentially part of RIM's core business.

If they can't get a foothold in the tablet market, it seems unlikely their smartphone business will keep them afloat for long.

Amazon may be looking to move from Android to WebOS for future tablets based on a report from VentureBeat.

Although Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire runs Android, it has been customized to be more of a dedicated client for their various services than an all-purpose tablet. It even has a custom web browser which uses an Amazon service to speed page load times.

According to VentureBeat, "a well placed source" told them Amazon is negotiating buy Palm from HP.

HP bought Palm in 2010, hoping to use their WebOS mobile operating system as the basis for smartphones and tablets. After a half hearted attempt to continue developing Palm's phone business, they launched the TouchPad tablet this July.

After less than two months, facing poor sales and complaints from retailers, HP decided to get out of the mobile device business entirely.

Palm's assets seem like a much better fit for Amazon than HP. Unlike HP, Amazon isn't concerned with turning a profit from hardware sales.

Intel may appear to have moved on from MeeGo, but ASUS isn't ready to ditch the mobile OS just yet.

Intel announced their plan to move on from MeeGo and support the upcoming Tizen mobile OS. Like MeeGo, Tizen is based on Linux.

In reality, the timing of their announcement probably had more to do with taking a shot at Nokia, their former MeeGo partner, who released a phone running the OS just two days earlier. Tizen also happens to have the support of Nokia rival Samsung.

ASUS Technical Marketing Manager Gary Key told PCMag.com reports of MeeGo's demise are greatly exaggerated, or at least premature. ASUS released a MeeGo based netbook, the Eee PC X101, earlier this month.

Key also says he expects Intel to release MeeGo 1.3 on schedule next month.

That's not to say ASUS plans to stick with MeeGo indefinitely. He said:

I actually think it is a good thing as there are some real positives with MeeGo, especially for its intended audience, but with full support from the two Linux foundations and additional technical support from the Hardware Council, it should be a very viable player in the sub-$200 market next year.

Spotify seems to be completely missing the point when it comes to concerns with their new signup system which requires a Facebook account.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced changes to the Spotify client, tweeting, "We're rolling out a new client as we speak where you can temporarily hide your guilty pleasures. It works like a browsers private mode."

In fact, this is just an addition to the option which was already in the Spotify client which already allowed users to turn off sharing via Facebook entirely.

Just 3 days earlier Ek tweeted that the company listens to criticism and makes changes accordingly. But today's announcement is still dismissive of the people who simply don't want a Facebook account.

For some the reason is a general distrust of Facebook, while others simply don't see any benefit to it. But just as importantly, many people don't want to be given an ultimatum telling them to sign up for a third party service whether they want it or not.

Ironically, Spotify's success has been predicated on choice. It allows you to choose not to pay for your music without breaking the law.

Samsung appears to be offering Apple a preliminary settlement in their Australian patent infringement lawsuit over the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

In the Australian suit, Apple is claiming Samsung's tablet infringes on a patent for touchscreen technology. The dispute over two other patents for "selective rejection," which helps the device ignore accidental contact with the touchscreen, have already been settled with Samsung agreeing to drop the feature.

Based on an account of the proceedings from The Wall Street Journal, Samsung's proposed settlement would allow them to release the tablets before a final hearing on the matter.

This should make it possible for them to begin selling the tablet in Australia well before Christmas, perhaps as early as next week.

Details of Samsung's offer, which was presented privately to Apple representatives, weren't discussed in court, it seems likely they are proposing a preliminary licensing agreement.

Samsung has made it clear they have no objection to licensing patents for their devices. They consider it a standard cost of doing business.

A coalition of US privacy and civil rights groups wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook over alleged deceptive trade practices.

The letter was sent by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on behalf of themselves and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American Library Association (ALA), Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), Consumer Action, Consumer Watchdog, PrivacyActivism, Privacy Times & Stanford Law School lecturer Chip Pitts.

They are asking the FTC to examine the harm to consumer privacy caused by a combination of Facebook's new frictionless sharing features and tracking cookies used without the user's knowledge or consent.

The letter contends:

In light of recent changes announced by Facebook that impact the privacy interests of almost two hundred million Facebook users in the United States, we would like to bring your attention to new privacy and security risks to American consumers, the secret use of persistent identifiers ("cookies") to track the Internet activity of users even after they have logged off of Facebook, and the company's failure to uphold representations it has made regarding its commitments to protect the privacy of its users.

Facebook's tracking of post-log-out Internet activity violates both the reasonable expectations of consumers and the company's own privacy statements. Although Facebook has partially fixed the problem caused by its tracking cookies, the company still places persistent identifiers on users' browsers that collect post-log-out data and could be used to identify users.

"Frictionless sharing" plays a leading role in the changes Facebook announced at the recent f8 development conference, and works through the interaction of Facebook's Ticker, Timeline, and Open Graph. These changes in business practices give the company far greater ability to disclose the personal information of its users to its business partners than in the past. Options for users to preserve the privacy standards they have established have become confusing, impractical, and unfair.

Almost since the moment it launched, Apple's iPad has been the best selling tablet in the world. But in Australia and New Zealand, Android tablets are taking a bigger share of tablet sales than you might expect.

Tablet shipments in the two countries doubled in Q2 compared to the previous quarter, reaching 420,000 units. However, sales of Android tablets actually increased threefold according to numbers from IDC.

As a result, Android tablets accounted for 25 percent of the total market. By comparison, iPad sales accounted for 80 percent of the market in North America over the same period.

IDC Market Analyst Yee-Kuan Lau explained the trend, saying:

The market expansion was a combined effort of early adopters refreshing devices purchased last year and new users who were interested in a media tablet as a complementary device, with some waiting for more non-Apple variety. That said, there is still strong demand for Apple's iPad 2 since its launch at the end of March.

A new report from Knowledge Networks suggests Dish Network's strategy of combining pay TV and unlimited streaming could cost Netflix customers.

Currently, according to the report, more than a third of US consumers say they watch a movie or TV show from Netflix at least once per month. That includes both their streaming and disc rental business.

Some of that viewing is coming at the expense of VOD offerings from pay TV services.

However, 20 percent of respondents to their survey who indicated they are watching less VOD in favor of Netflix also said if their pay TV provider offered a similar streaming service, they would be "very likely" to switch.

That could be good news for Dish Network and Blockbuster, who unveiled just such a plan last week called Blockbuster Movie Pass.

Dish bought Blockbuster earlier this year largely to get their streaming service. They are also considered a leading contender to buy Hulu.

Google+ may not be ready to take on Facebook yet, but traffic to the would be contender for the social networking crown spiked immediately after opening to the public.

According to data collected by Experian Hitwise, Google+ traffic grew more than 1000 percent from the week ending September 17th to the week of September 24th.

Interestingly, their data seems to suggest the reason Google chose to end the invitation-only beta and open Google+ to everyone may be that user interest had already started to wane.

According to a Samsung representative, Samsung's decision to enter into a patent licensing deal with Microsoft was intended to protect them from Apple.

The deal, announced yesterday, gives Microsoft and Samsung each access to the other's patents. It was accompanied by a commitment from Samsung to continue producing Windows Phone handsets.

An unnamed source within Samsung explained the company's concerns to the Korea Times, saying, "Samsung knows it can't rely on Google. We've decided to address Android IP issues on our own."

Google has made a push recently to increase their patent pool in an effort to defend Android from patent claims, including a recent agreement to purchase Motorola's phone division for $12.5 billion. But that hasn't stemmed the tide of patent infringement lawsuits, particularly from Apple.

Samsung's deal with Microsoft, as well as a new initiative to develop a separate Linux-based mobile OS with Intel, seem to indicate how fragile the relationship between Google and handset makers might be.

Visa Europe has launched a new Android app which will allow transfers directly from one card holder to another.

The app was announced by Visa Europe Chief Executive Peter Ayliffe in his keynote speech at the EFMA conference in Paris. Right now the app is available only in English and allows transfers in a single currency for Visa and V PAY cardholders within Europe.

Visa promises support for additional operating systems and multiple currencies, as well as payments to and from countries outside Europe in the future.

In order to transfer money, the sender will need to use a Visa card issued by a bank which supports the service and register with Visa. Money can then be sent, via the app, to a Visa pre-paid or debit card.

The recipient will not have to be registered with the service.

Another feature of the new app is access by a Visa card holder to notifications whenever their card is used.

In his keynote address, Ayliffe said:

The way we pay is changing, driven by the rapid uptake of new technologies and growing consumer demand for more flexible payments. Today's announcement is the first in a series of new products and services that Visa Europe will be launching in the coming months to reflect the fundamental shift in consumer behaviour. We are already seeing early adoption of mobile payments, and in the coming months we will see the arrival of mainstream NFC technologies, advanced loyalty and e-commerce services, and ultimately, the launch of a new digital wallet.

Google has dropped a complaint against the US Department of the Interior (DOI) claiming the agency improperly awarded a cloud services contract to Microsoft in violation of a federal law governing the bidding process.

Google's lawsuit stemmed from a DOI decision to exclude their Google Apps for Government service from consideration when they decided to adopt cloud-based services. One of the reasons given at the time was a lack of certification for Google's government oriented services.

When documents related to the bidding process were unsealed, it was revealed they were excluded from bidding on the grounds their Google Apps For Government hadn't been certified.

Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard seemed to take great glee in pointing this out in a Technet blog post, but conveniently missed key details which seem to give credence to Google's claims of preferential treatment for Microsoft.

While it was true Google Apps For Government had yet to be certified, it was based on another product called Google Apps Premier Edition which did have FISMA certification. Microsoft's service also didn't have FISMA certification when it was chosen by the Interior Department.

The media reform organization Free Press filed suit yesterday, asking a federal judge to review the FCC's new net neutrality rules.

When the FCC formally announced the adoption of their Open Internet rules last week, the clock started ticking on a 2 month window for legal challenges before they go into effect.

The complaint from Free Press is notable because it is different from those expected from broadband providers like Verizon, who tried unsuccessfully to have the rules overturned in April. Instead of claiming the FCC has no authority for their rules, Free Press argues they may not set different rules for wireline vs wireless service.

The Open Internet rules exempt mobile providers from some rules applied to services like DSL and cable Internet. Specifically, the new rules would allow wireless providers to prioritize different types of traffic as they see fit.

Like traditional broadband providers, they would be required to disclose such practices to customers and would be forbidden from completely blocking lawful traffic. However, it would be within the rules for them to degrade third party services which compete with their own offerings.

The EU will not be participating in a signing ceremony for the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) intellectual property treat according to a statement from the European Commission.

Earlier this week, the Japanese government released a statement announcing an October 1 signing event which suggested the EU would be among the signatories. In fact, it appears their representative will be one of three mentioned who will not be participating in the ceremony.

Yesterday Out-Law.com reported that a spokesperson for the European Commission corrected the earlier report in a statement:

The EU has not yet completed its internal procedures authorising the signature, therefore it will not be signing ACTA at this event. Neither will Mexico and Switzerland, since they did not conclude their domestic proceedings.

For the EU, the domestic process for signature is that the Council [of Ministers] adopts a decision authorising a EU representative to sign ACTA. Since this required the translation of the treaty in all the EU languages, such decision has not yet been adopted. It may still require a couple of months for the EU to be able to sign ACTA. After the signature, the European Parliament will have to vote its consent of ACTA.

The US Department of Justice has sent Google a request for additional information as part of their scrutiny of the search giant's proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility.

As with any deal of this magnitude, the DOJ must conduct an investigation before it can be finalized. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission may have a say in the matter.

Google Senior Vice President David Drummond announced the DOJ request on the company's Public Policy blog, writing, "Today we received what is called a "second request," which means that the DOJ is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal."

He added that he doesn't believe there is any reason to believe the Justice Department will not approve the sale.

However, that doesn't mean there won't be additional hurdles to clear before everything is said and done. At a US Senate antitrust hearing last week Google's Erich Schmidt faced hostile legislators who accused Google of anticompetitive behavior.

Even though the hearing was focused on their search business, more than one Senator intimated Google uses the Android OS primarily to further their dominance.

With bids for online video service Hulu in, it looks like the competition is coming down to three options, and the leading contender may be no sale at all.

If the sale does happen, the two leading buyers appear to be Dish Network and Google.

According to Business Insider, Google offered $4 bilion with the condition Hulu's current corporate parents would guarantee the current content deals for several years. Dish offered just $1.9 billion, but without the additional demands.

Hulu's owners, which include News Corp and Disney, reportedly want to renegotiate licensing terms after two years. A third owner, Comcast, was forced to give up control of the company as part of their deal to buy Hulu co-founder NBC.

It remains to be seen if any deal can be reached which would satisfy News Corp and Disney. News Corp's Fox Network has already begun delaying the availability of their shows on Hulu by two weeks.

Intel has decided to kill off the Meego mobile OS and partner with the LiMo Foundation in developing a new platform called Tizen.

LiMo is a consortium of companies, including Samsung, whose goal is creating an open, hardware independent, version of Linux for mobile devices. A third partner, the Linux Foundation, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the growth of Linux,

MeeGo, also a Linux-based OS, was originally conceived as a way to combine the efforts of Intel and Nokia, who were each working on their own Linux-based mobile operating systems, Moblin and Maemo.

Although other companies decided to join their efforts, Nokia's decision to jump ship and partner with Microsoft to create Windows Phone devices left MeeGo's future in limbo.

It's likely not a coincidence that the announcement of MeeGo's demise comes less than a week after Nokia released their only MeeGo phone.

Although both operating systems are are Linux-based, there are significant differences between MeeGo and Tizen.

On October 2 Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 will hit the shelves of US retailers. It will be priced at $469 for 16GB of memory or 32GB for $569.

It features an 8.9" Gorilla Glass display with a resolution of 1280x800. It is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core T250S processor.

It can handle up to a 32GB microSD card and also has a USB 2.0 port. For connectivity, it features Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 support.

Rounding out the hardware are both front and rear facing cameras, 2 Megapixels and 3 Megapixels respectively, and a 6100mAh Li-polymer battery.

Embattled would be wireless provider LightSquared has published an open letter blaming the GPS industry for his company's problems rolling out a nationwide LTE (4G) wireless network in the US.

LightSquared has become a subject of debate among US legislators over their plan to use frequencies normally reserved for satellite communication for mobile phone service. Although they have received FCC approval for their service, it was with the condition that they be able to show it won't interfere with GPS equipment.

LightSquared's wireless service would be a wholesale product sold to regional mobile providers, allowing them to expand their networks to offer nationwide coverage.

The original plan was to use two different frequency ranges. That plan was modified when it was determined one of them would interfere with standard GPS communications which use an adjacent frequency range.

Problems remain with the second range of frequencies due to interference with high precision GPS signals used in industries like aviation and agriculture, as well as by the military.

In his letter, LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja wrote:

Samsung has become the latest company to enter into a patent licensing agreement with Microsoft for its Android devices.

Since Android has become a significant player in the smartphone market, Microsoft has threatened to sue handset vendors over a handful of mobile phone related patents. They filed a patent lawsuit against Motorola last year.

Microsoft has also made a lot of noise about supposed infringement by Android itself. For years Microsoft has claimed Linux, which Android is based on, violates a number of their patents. However, to date they have never actually said what patents they are talking about.

In the last few months several companies, including Acer, ViewSonic & HTC.

Neither Samsung or Microsoft has disclosed the terms of the new licensing agreement, although statements from both suggest part of the arrangement was a promise by Samsung to continue building Windows Phone handsets, or at least publicly affirm their support for it.

The latest version of Mozilla's Firefox browser, released yesterday, promises to cut down on the amount of memory it uses.

Poor memory management is perhaps the biggest complaint among Firefox users. With the emergence of Google's Chrome browser, which is notably light on memory usage, has made the issue more pressing for Mozilla developers to address.

The announcement on the Mozilla blog promises:

Firefox manages memory more efficiently to deliver a nimble Web browsing experience. Users will notice Firefox is faster at opening new tabs, clicking on menu items and buttons on websites. Heavy Internet users will enjoy enhanced performance when lots of tabs are open and during long Web browsing sessions that last hours or even days.

One of the new features Microsoft is adding to Windows 8 is the ability to login to your computer using a Windows Live ID.

The primary purpose for this is sharing of Windows settings across multiple computers, all of which would have to be running Windows 8 of course. You can either select settings to share between computers or simply use Microsoft's default settings.

In addition, it will allow you to automatically load Metro style apps purchased from the Windows App Store and automatically login to websites which use Windows Live authentication.

Shared settings will be divided into the following groups:

• Personalize
• Themes
• Ease of access
• Language preferences
• Apps
• Web browser
• Other stuff
• Some passwords

ACTA, the secretly negotiated agreement to strengthen intellectual property laws and enforcement, will be signed on October 1 at a ceremony in Japan.

According to a press release from the Japanese government, signatories will include Japan, the EU, US, Australia, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore & Switzerland.

From the beginning, ACTA has been negotiated in secret with the public and consumer interest groups excluded while entertainment industry lobbyists have actively participating. The secrecy has even extended to prohibiting elected officials from finding out what their own governments were agreeing to.

Despite assurances by the negotiating parties that ACTA would not require changes to the laws of any participating country, every draft of the agreement which has been leaked have shown that to be absolutely false.

In the US, officials from the US Trade Representative's office have defended ACTA by saying it's an executive agreement, rather than a treaty, meaning it wouldn't require changes to the law. ACTA critics have pointed out that this is merely an excuse to avoid having the agreement debated in the Senate.

Amazon has reportedly finalized deals to offer digital versions of magazines from three of the four major US publishers on their upcoming tablet.

Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith have all reached agreements with Amazon. The lone houldout is Time Inc.

Comparing Amazon to Apple, one publisher told AllThingsD, "You've got beauty and design with Apple, which we love. But with Amazon you have marketing, and ease of use. We?re very optimistic."

Ironically, magazine publishers appear to be looking at the opportunity much like book publshers did Apple when the iPad came out. They see an Amazon tablet as a necessary competitor for the iPad.

Amazon's tablet, believed to be called the Kindle Fire, is expected to be announced at a media event tomorrow.

A new requirement to sign up through a Facebook account isn't sitting well with a number of potential Spotify users.

What has probably made the situation much worse for Spotify is their tone deaf response. CEO and founder Daniel Ek responded to criticism on Twitter yesterday by tweeting, "We want to remove barrier to sign-up and create a more seamless experience. As we think our users are social."

An official statement from Spotify says:

To us, this integration is all about creating an amazing new world of music discovery. As most of our users are already social and have already connected to Facebook, it seemed logical to integrate Spotify and Facebook logins. We already use Facebook as part of our backend to power our social features and by adopting Facebook?s login, we've created a simple and seamless social experience.

Amazon's new tablet, which is expected to be unveiled tomorrow, has been the subject of much speculation since rumors started spreading earlier this year. It will reportedly be called the Kindle Fire.

Combining an account from someone who has actually had the tablet in his hands with other rumors and reports, we can make some educated guesses about Amazon's tablet strategy, at least for the next few months.

MG Siegler of TechCrunch got access to a development unit, which he reports has a 7" display and looks similar to a BlackBerry Playbook. In fact it's apparently made by the same manufacturer and based directly on the same design.

That would seem to suggest Amazon plans to continue focusing on the e-reader market rather than competing head to head with Apple. So does the rumored price of $250, which would make it competitive with Barnes & Noble's Nook Color, another Android-based e-reader.

Unlike Apple, which basically uses services and software to sell hardware, Amazon sells hardware to promote their services. Selling the tablet at cost, or even a sleight loss, makes some sense for them.

The Nokia N9 MeeGo smartphone announced back in June has begun shipping.

The N9 occupies a somewhat strange position in Nokia's smartphone lineup since it doesn't run either Nokia's legacy smartphone OS, Symbian, or their OS of the future, Windows Phone. In fact it's a relic of plans Nokia has all but abandoned, to get back to the top of the smartphone market with an OS of their own.

MeeGo is a Linux-based OS which resulted from a partnership of Nokia and Intel. It was created through a fusion of Nokia's Maemo with Intel's Moblin.

When Nokia announced their partnership with Microsoft to develop Windows Phones, it appeared to be the death knell for MeeGo.

Unfortunately, with a bunch of money already spent on development, Nokia was left with little choice about releasing the N9.

While it doesn't feature a bleeding edge processor or the biggest screen in the industry, the hardware is quite respectable. It has a 1GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, a 3.9" Gorilla Glass display & 8MPx camera with a Carl Zeiss lense and LED flash.

Warner Home Video may be expanding their delayed release window to include brick and mortar rental outlets.

In 2009 Warner, along with the other major studios, implemented a policy of delaying the availability of new releases to kiosks by 28 days. This was intended to improve disc sales.

The delayed release window also includes online rental services like Netflix.

A distributor has told Home Media Magazine that the delayed release window will be extended to include all rental operations starting in November. He said, "Some of the Warner reps have called our key customers to let them know about this upcoming change."

The problem with this move is it ignores the obvious. The DVD boom of a few years ago wasn't sustainable because it was never just about new releases.

It was a perfect storm of replacing decades old technology, the availability of more titles at better prices than ever before, and even multiple releases of many titles.

A Samsung spokesman said the company isn't worried that Apple's lawsuits will cause them to miss tablet sales projections for 2011.

Apple patent lawsuits around the world have already resulted in a delay of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and a ban on sales of the tablet in most of Europe. However, the European ban is specifically against Samsung.

European retailers are still free to sell the tablet.

Samsung's J K Shin says the company expects to increase tablet sales by more than 5 times compared to last year according to Bloomberg. Since Samsung hasn't disclosed their 2010 numbers, it's hard to be sure exactly how many that is.

According to analysts, last year's sales were probably around 1.6 million, which would mean at least 8 million units sold this year if Samsung's prediction is accurate.

That would put them squarely in the lead among Android tablets, but still significantly behind Apple's industry leading iPad.

According to the results of Nielsen survey, Android dominated US smartphone sales between June and August of this year.

While they estimate only 43 percent of smartphones in the US run Google's mobile OS, they accounted for 56 percent of smartphone purchases over the three month period.

New FCC net neutrality rules for US broadband providers are set to go into effect on November 20. The rules were drafted last year, but have been on hold pending an official announcement of adoption by the agency.

In practical terms, there are two rules and an exception which renders their actual effect less than clear. The first rule mandates transparency with regard to network management practices:

Transparency. Fixed and mobile broadband providers must disclose the network management practices, performance characteristics, and terms and conditions of their broadband services

No blocking. Fixed broadband providers may not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; mobile broadband providers may not block lawful Web sites, or block applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services

Gartner analysts are predicting Apple's iPad will finish 2011 with nearly three quarters of all tablet sales worldwide.

Last year, they say, Apple had an 83 percent share. Of course, when you consider they also predict total tablet sales in 2011 to triple last year's numbers, that's certainly good news for Apple.

Android tablets are expected to account for 17 percent of the market in 2011, increasing from just 2.5 million units last year to 11 million this year.

Despite major gains by Android, Gartner says the iPad will be the leading tablet through at least 2015.

Gartner's Robert Cozza said:

Most of Apple's competitors are struggling to meet Apple's prices without considerably sacrificing margins. Screen quality and processing power are the two hardware features that vendors cannot afford to compromise on. They should consider everything else ‘nice to have,’ rather than essential, in order to keep bills-of-materials costs competitive with those of the iPad.

Confirming recent stories about their strategy for fighting Apple patent lawsuits, Samsung has officially acknowledged they plan to be more aggressive in their patent battle with Apple.

Since April, Apple has been filing lawsuits around the world, attempting to get Samsung smartphones and tablets taken off the market. Recent reports have suggested Samsung intends to respond in kind by suing to block sales of the next iPhone, expected next month.

Samsung's Lee Younghee told the Associated Press, "We’ll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on." She accused Apple of "freeriding" on Samsung's own wireless patents.

It appears Amazon's rumored tablet could be unveiled at a press conference scheduled for next Wednesday.

The tablet, which is expected to run Android, could end up being the first serious competitor for Apple's iPad. Since its release last year, no tablet has even come close to the iPad's sales.

Although Apple has shown a willingness to use patent lawsuits to get the most promising competition taken off the market, right now it's not clear they have anything to worry about. If Amazon enters the tablet market, that could change quickly.

Invitations to Amazon's Wednesday press event were reportedly vague. Perhaps they're taking a play from the Apple playbook, figuring speculation among the media and blogosphere will generate more buzz than actual details.

Arguably, Apple has more to fear from Amazon than any other potential tablet maker. Amazon already has cloud services, streaming video, and a successful e-book store to attract customers.

The decision, by Netflix, to increase the price for using both their disc by mail and streaming services isn't just costing them existing customers. According to Chief Financial Officer David Wells it has also resulted in fewer new subscribers.

Replying to a question yesterday at a Goldman Sachs conference, he said, "what we see is the word of mouth did make an impact."

He didn't elaborate on how much new subscriber growth was affected. He also emphasized, "We're still the market leader," but also admitted the continuing trend of subscribers cancelling wasn't anticipated.

In the past, he said, the effect of a price increase had been immediate, followed by a return to growth. That was not the case after the drastic changes announced in July.

"What we saw in Q3," said Wells, "was a spike and then a sort of a steady response through the quarter, so more cancels through the quarter."

Wells also pointed out there has been no international impact. Not exactly a surprise considering Netflix customers outside the US didn't experience any changes.

Blockbuster and Dish Network have just announced a new package called Blockbuster Movie Pass.

This new service will be similar to the combined disc by mail and streaming service Netflix recently abandoned. It offers unlimited movies and games by mail and streaming video, as well as in-store disc exchange at Blockbuster brick and mortar stores.

The catch is it's only available with a Dish Network subscribtion, although they did indicate Blockbuster may be launching a separate streaming service later for non-Dish subscribers at some point.

Another key feature of Blockbuster Movie Pass is the the availability of Blu-ray at no additional charge. Blu-ray discs cost extra for Netflix customers.

The key question is whether Dish Network's assertion that customers would prefer a streaming and disc rental service which is bundled with pay TV. There's no question such an approach is attractive to content partners, particularly Starz.

Recent trends toward cord cutting seem to suggest customers may be less interested.

Apple has the highest customer retention rate of all handset manufacturers by a wide margin according to a new report.

Although down from last year's figure of 95 percent, Apple's retention rate of 89 percent is far better than second place HTC's 39 percent. Half of those who are considering a switch from the iPhone are actually undecided, meaning their retention rate could be as high as 93 percent.

The numbers, which come from a survey conducted by UBS Research, show an even more important trend from Apple's point of view. More than 30 percent of Android users indicated their next phone would likely be an iPhone.

According to the survey results, Samsung's retention rate is unchanged from last year. Not surprisingly, RIM and Nokia are the big losers.

At 33 percent, RIM's customer retention rate is just over half what it was last year. Although interestingly that still leaves them ahead of Samsung. Of course, many Blackberry sales are for use on corporate networks running Blackberry server software.

Nokia's retention rate fell from 42 percent a year ago to 24 percent this year. No doubt this is partly due to Nokia's decision to abandon their Symbian OS.

Blockbuster is expected to announce a new streaming video service at a media event scheduled for later today.

Dish Network bought Blockbuster earlier this year. At the time, Blockbuster's most valuable asset, from Dish Network's point of view, may have been Movielink, the streaming video service Blockbuster purchased from a group of movie studios in 2007.

Despite years of trying to update its brick and mortar business with the addition of online rentals and kiosks, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy a year ago.

At today's media event, called "A Stream Come True," it's likely they will be introducing a subscription streaming service similar Netflix's Watch Instantly.

Given their ownership by Dish Network, it's likely to only be available for subscribers to the satellite service initially, but may be offered to the general public down the road.

Hulu Plus now has 1 million paid subscribers according to CEO Jason Kilar.

The announcement from Hulu's chief executive came at an investor conference yesterday. This milestone matched a prediction by Kilar earlier in the year when they had 875,000 paying customers.

He also promised the company's content investments will reach $375 million in 2011.

Hulu first added a subscription service to their free offerings less than a year ago. They immediately faced criticism over a shortage content.

Since then they have secured exclusive deals to add movies from Criterion Collection and Miramax, as well as expanding their selection of TV episodes.

Google's Eric Schmidt faced accusations of his company illegally rigging search results to favor his company's services at a US Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday.

Although some Senators were clearly on Google's side, the majority made thinly veiled accusations that Google's search algorithms, combined with their dominant position in the search market, violated antitrust laws.

Complaining about the ranking of Google Products listings in their search results, Utah Senator Mike Lee said:

I see you magically coming up third every time. I don't know whether you call this a separate algorithm or whether you've reverse engineered one algorithm, but either way you've cooked it, so that you're always third.

Would be wholesale mobile provider LightSquared says they have a fix for GPS interference problems with their proposed LTE network. Unfortunately their solution raises as many questions as it answers.

LightSquared's plan involves operating a terrestrial 4G network in a frequency range normally reserved for satellite communications. This has raised objections from both private industry and government regulators due to interference issues with a broad range of GPS systems.

LightSquared's network would cause problems for high precision GPS units used by the military, and also in a wide range of commercial applications, including aviation, agriculture & surveying.

Their proposed solution would require GPS users to modify existing equipment to use newly developed hardware which they say is capable of filtering out the problem transmissions.

In a conference call with the media, a company spokesman said, "LightSquared is in active conversations with the government about covering the cost in whatever way we can legally, of retrofitting all the federal government GPS precision devices."

Jon Oberheide of Duo Security has released a video demonstrating two security vulnerabilities which could allow apps to take control of Android devices.

The video was created to generate interest in the firm's upcoming workshop on mobile security at the SOURCE security conference in Barcelona this November.

Last year Oberheide was responsible for exposing a weakness in Google's Android Marketplace, which allowed the remote installation of malicious code from within an app.

The first vulnerability demonstrated in the new video affects all Android devices. It allows an already installed app to install other apps without prompting the user to approve their permissions.

He says this problem can also be exploited by an attack which compromises an otherwise safe app after it has been installed.

The second attack demonstrated would allow an app to gain full control over an Android device by using a Linux kernel exploit which bypasses security permission limitations.

A study from NPD Group suggests Microsoft's marketing efforts for Windows Phone are beginning to generate interest from consumers, but there are still major hurdles to clear before it can be a success.

The study reveals that 45 percent of people who own or are planning to buy a smartphone are considering a Windows Phone handset.

However, the biggest obstacle for the platform appears to be a lack of visibility. The same study showed 45 percent of consumers don't know enough about Microsoft's mobile OS to consider buying a handset running it.

Furthermore, more than 20 percent of consumers who plan to buy a smartphone in the next six months said they aren't interested in Windows Phone because of the time or money they already have invested in another platform, such as Android or the iPhone.

That's good news for manufacturers of Android handsets, which accounted for at least of half of all smartphone sales in each of the last three quarters.

"Windows Phone 7 has a way to go before consumers really understand what it is," said Linda Barrabee, research director for NPD's Connected Intelligence. "But with the right marketing mojo, apps portfolio, and feature-rich hardware, Microsoft could certainly improve its standing and chip away at Android's dominant market position."

Based on the results of a recent survey, Redbox could be the biggest beneficiary of Netflix's decision to increase prices for combined streaming and disc rental plans.

The report, from Minneapolis based Magid Associates, indicates more than half of Netflix customers already rent from Redbox and a significant number of those expect to rent more from the industry leading kiosk-based service.

Magid's Mike Vorhaus pointed the finger at Netflix's limited selection of streaming content. He said, "A major reason that many consumers are not happy with their Netflix service is due to the quality of the content selection in the streaming service."

Since the announcement of their new plans two months ago, Netflix has suffered a series of setbacks.

Almost immediately after the announcement their stock price dropped 10%. It has continued to decline following additional announcements of a larger than expected subscriber decline and, most recently the decision to completely separate disc rental into the new Qwikster brand.

According to a report from content delivery company Pando Networks, South Korea has the fastest Internet speeds in the world with an average download speed of over 17 Megabits per second.

By comparison, German speeds were barely above 5Mbps, which was still better than the US or UK. Those countries had average speeds of 4.93Mbps and 4.79Mbps respectively.

The report is based on data collected on downloads from Pando's content delivery network during the first half of 2011.

Northern European countries were well represented in the top 15, including Sweden (7^th), Denmark (9^th), Netherlands (11^th), Finland (12^th) & Norway (15^th).

Looking at the speed data overlaid on a map, one thing that stands out is how slow Internet speeds are in developed countries with strong content production industries.

On the other end of the spectrum, countries where tech industries dominate the economy, including South Korea and Finland, tend to also have relatively fast Internet service. Japan is something of an outlier, likely reflecting the fact they are representative of both categories.

As we get closer to October, more information (and speculation) about Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 continue to emerge. The latest is a report indicating Apple will hold a media event on Tuesday, October 4.

Don't assume the iPhone 5 will be available immediately afterward. Recent rumors of production delays suggest it may not be ready as soon as Apple had initially planned.

According to unnamed sources cited by AllThingsD, it will be available, "within a few weeks," of new Apple CEO Tim Cook showing off the device.

There has been a lot of speculation that the iPhone 5 will hit stores some time in October. That seems to be confirmed by leaks from mobile carriers indicating a launch date of October 15.

However, if the report of production problems is accurate, it's possible the only new product available on that date could be the rumored iPhone 4S, a new discount version of the iPhone 4 aimed at the budget smartphone market.

In October, Logitech will begin selling a new product to turn your Android or iOS device into a remote control.

The Harmony Link is a small piece of hardware which performs the standard functions of a universal remote. It requires an iPad, iPhone, or Android device running the accompanying Harmony Link app to give it commands via Wi-Fi.

A single Harmony Link can control up to eight devices, and even take commands from multiple tablets or phones.

The iPad Harmony Link app will include a personalized program guide provided by Rovi. The iPhone and Android versions of the app will not have this feature initially, but will be able to control the Harmony Link hardware.

Ashish Arora, vice president and general manager of Logitech's Digital Home Group said:

Our research revealed that many iPad owners are using their iPad on the sofa while watching TV, many of them seeking ways to find out what shows are on. We set out to make this experience easier. Using Logitech Harmony Link and the Harmony Link App, iPad users can browse for what is on television, and with one touch of "watch now" icon next to the show of their choice, they can automatically turn on their TV and other electronics, and tune directly to the show they want to watch.

Cellular South, a regional mobile carrier nearly 900,000 customers in the southeastern US, has joined the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit to block the buyout of T-Mobile USA by AT&T.

Cellular South's criticisms are similar to those expressed by the Department Of Justice and the attorneys general from various states. However, they also add an additional detail of particular importance to smaller providers.

Specifically, they believe the loss of T-Mobile will lead to higher prices for roaming deals, which are essential to carriers who don't have a nationwide network of their own.

Their complaint alleges, "The proposed merger will allow AT&T to increase this influence by eliminating T-Mobile as an independent source of demand for wireless devices and an independent roaming partner."

Parties in the lawsuit are scheduled to meet tomorrow for a conference, at which time the judge expects them to discuss terms for a potential settlement.

If Apple's numerous lawsuits against Android go badly for Samsung, they may already have their future strategy mapped out in the form of Bada.

Announced with little fanfare in 2009, Bada isn't exactly an OS. It's more of a middleware application layer which is tied closely with an embedded OS called Nucleus RTOS.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Samsung has plans to make Bada open source next year. If true, this may be purely a PR move. It's unclear exactly what the value of Bada is to other phone vendors since it only supports a single embedded OS right now.

That means won't run on the standard ARM chips used in most smartphones. This is intentional since it was initially created for emerging markets like China where cost trumps performance. Of course, that might be the point. If Android disappears, Samsung will want a replacement for it in places like the US and Europe. That means developing a new OS, probably based on Linux since Bada is already built to work in a POSIX environment.

Samsung has put significant development efforts into an app ecosystem for Bada. While there isn't a big app selection yet, particularly for the markets Android dominates, it's still not a bad starting point. At the very least, it could be seen as a head start in establishing a developer community.

As the presumed October launch of the iPhone 5 gets closer, signs that Samsung may launch a series of patent lawsuits to block sales of the device continue to surface.

Over the weekend a report came out of South Korea that Samsung is leaning toward a suit blocking sales of the next iPhone in that country. Now it seems they may take the same approach in Europe.

Samsung had no comment on the claim from an unnamed source according to a Reuters article.

From Apple's point of view, the obvious question is what, exactly, do they stand to gain from killing Android?

The iPhone is by far the most successful smartphone on the planet. If they are planning to introduce a discount model based on the iPhone 4, and that seems likely, it stands a good chance of being the number two model.

The hype of a new iPhone is unmatched by any competitor. In fact, you could argue Samsung's Galaxy S II's public visibility was increased more by Apple's legal campaign than anything Samsung could have done.

Google Wallet was launched yesterday exclusively for Sprint customers using the Nexus S 4G Android phone. It is a new payment system which uses Near Field Communication (NFC), enabling your phone to communicate directly with a merchant's point of sale hardware.

Google's initial partner in processing payments for Google Wallet is MasterCard. That means retailers will need to have a MasterCard PayPass terminal installed. Those are currently rare.

Google has indicated they are working on support for Visa, Discover & American Express cards as well.

If your MasterCard isn't issued by Citi, another partner, you will have to transfer funds to a Google Prepaid MasterCard to use them with Google Wallet. You can also transfer funds from non-MasterCard sources.

To find retailers who accept Google Wallet payments, you can use the tool on Google's website or PayPass locators from MasterCard on their website or in their Android app. You can also look for various logos on or around their card processing terminals.

Although Samsung's Galaxy S II has only been available in the US for a short time, rumors are already beginning to surface about its successor, the Galaxy S III.

A report from an anonymous source posting on the 4chan message board claims to list specs for the phone. The information is claimed to come directly from someone at Samsung.

If the leak is genuine, it looks to be an impressive unit:

• 2GHZ processor
• 1.5GB RAM
• 32GB storage
• 4.65" Super AMOLED display
• 1280×1024 resolution
• 10 Megapixel camera
• FullHD (1080p) video recording @ 60fps

The results of a study by Harris Interactive seem to indicate the adoption of e-book readers is leading to people in the US buying and reading more books.

The numbers include both dedicated e-readers, like the Kindle, and tablet computers with e-reader apps.

Half of all the people surveyed indicated they read the same number of books per year as in previous years. That number is essentially the same for those with and without e-readers.

The difference comes in people who read more or fewer books than before. 35% of respondents with e-readers said they read more books than before, compared to just 16% of those without.

Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of people using e-book readers are reading less, compared to nearly a quarter of non-e-reader users.

It will be interesting to see if the trend continues in the future. Although the survey indicates 15% of people are likely to purchase an e-reader in the next year, that number isn't broken down between dedicated e-readers and tablets.

With even Barnes & Noble apparently moving toward tablets, it's entirely possible they won't. However, for many e-reader buyers a tablet is simply not an option financially.

The iPhone 5 may have bigger hurdles to overcome than competition from Android. There is a report that significant production problems could force Apple to push back the launch date.

The most credible reports for Apple's planned launch of the next generation iPhone, primarily based on sources inside mobile carriers both in the US and Europe, say it should be here by the middle of October.

A new story from 9to5 Mac says production delays on one assembly line could delay the launch for a short time, and even lead to shortages of the much anticipated phone for a few months.

They say reports that millions of iPhones have already been produced actually refer to a new bargain version of the iPhone 4, which has been rumored for some time.

If accurate, this could be good news for manufacturers of high end Android phones. A shortage of iPhones over the Christmas season could boost their sales significantly.

Google Executive Chairman Erich Schmidt will defend his company's business practices in a US Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing later this week titled, "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?"

Google has come under heavy fire over the last few years over allegations that it abuses its position as the leading search engine in the US and various other parts of the world. Schmidt will be one of two Google representatives at Wednesday's hearing, and the only one who is actually an employee of the search giant.

Google initially resisted requests for Schmidt and Google CEO Larry Page, who replaced Schmidt in that position, to appear at the hearing. Page, who is in court today working on a potential lawsuit settlement with Oracle, will not be attending.

After his testimony, the committee will hear from a panel mostly representing companies critical of Google. They include Nextag CEO Jeff Katz, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, and former Assistant US Attorney General Thomas Barnett, who represents Expedia.

A settlement conference between Oracle and Google in the multi-billion dollar lawsuit over Java patents will take place today with the CEOs of both companies in attendance.

The suit was filed last year by Oracle following their purchase of Sun Microsystems, the creators of Java. It alleges Google willfully infringed on Sun patents and copyrights.

The meetings are part of a court effort to force the two sides into reaching a settlement. Oracle's Larry Ellison and Larry Page of Google were ordered to attend the conference personally by US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal earlier this month.

They were also instructed to make themselves available for additional conferences which could be required between now and the end of the month.

At the heart of the suit is Android's Dalvik Virtual Machine, which is a core component of the OS. The Dalvik VM is based on an open source implementation of the Java VM developed by the Apache Software Foundation.

If their lawsuit is successful, Oracle could be entitled to a license fee for every Android device sold and each copy of the Android SDK distributed. The SDK is used both for app development and end user device management.

If you were hoping to get one of the last TouchPads at the fire sale price of $99.99 or $199.99, your chances just got a little smaller unless you are an HP employee.

After a HP announcement last month that they will discontinue the TouchPad, the initial production run sold out quickly at the highly discounted prices. Soon after, they announced plans to produce just 200,000 more in order to fulfill contracts with suppliers.

In an email recently leaked to TechCrunch, HP employees were told they will get exclusive access to the additional stock:

After a thorough review of options, I'm pleased to share that starting at 9:00am (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, September 28^th, HP employees in the United States will have one last chance to buy an HP TouchPad through the Employee Purchase Program on a first come first serve basis. Pricing will remain the same as it has been during the wind down process -- $99.99 for the 16GB TouchPad, $149.99 for the 32GB TouchPad...while limited supplies last.

Recent lawsuits filed by Samsung against Apple may be a sign of a new strategy for defending their smartphone and tablet business based on recent comments.

Beseiged by lawsuits from Apple around the globe, Samsung filed a lawsuit of their own last week in France. The suit alleges violations of 3G related patents.

They also filed a countersuit in Australia, on similar grounds, as a response to Apple's lawsuit there. That suit has resulted in delays to the launch schedule for Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1.

According to a new report, Samsung plans to continue on the offensive when the next iPhone comes out. A Samsung executive, speaking off the record, told The Korea Times, "Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents."

Although South Korea is a relatively small country, high smartphone penetration rates make it an important one to compete in. The country's two biggest mobile carriers have accounted for more than 3 million iPhone sales.

Intel CTO Justin Rattner demonstrated an experimental ultra low power processor which is so efficient it can be powered by a solar cell the size of a postage stamp under a light workload.

The CPU, which they are calling a Near-Threshold Voltage Processor, consumes less power by drastically reducing the voltages used to represent a 0 or 1. The name refers to the threshold at which a transistor begins conducting current.

The voltage representing a 1 on the chip is extremely close to that threshold.

Intel's core business revolves primarily around chips built for speed, rather than energy efficiency. But like all processor vendors they are having to adapt to a new world where smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices will be the dominant hardware for every day computing.

Nowhere is this more apparent than their recent work with Google to ensure Android will support Intel processors.

The Near-Threshold Voltage Processor is purely a research unit, but they hope the technology could eventually help them reduce power consumption by 80% in future products. In the long term their goal is a reduction to as low as 0.001% of current levels.

Seven states have joined the Department Of Justice antitrust lawsuit opposing the purchase of T-Mobile USA by AT&T.

Citing concerns over a lack of competition, the attorneys general of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington threw their support behind the suit.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said:

We must do everything we can to encourage innovation and job creation. In vulnerable upstate communities, where concentration in some markets is already very high, and in New York City’s information-intensive economy, the impact this merger would have on wireless competition, economic growth, and technological innovation would be enormous.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed changes to the rules governing Internet privacy for children under the age of 13.

Among other things, the existing rules, which went into effect in 2000 after the passage of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, require online service operators to obtain parental consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from children under 13 years of age.

A review of COPPA provisions is required by law every 5 years. The previous review, in 2005, resulted in no proposed changes.

This time around the FTC is recommending several changes, such as expanding the definition of "personal information" to include geolocation data and tracking cookies. They also want to reduce restrictions on certain types of data collection to make it easier for children to use services like social networks.

The commission also proposes the adoption of electronic scans of signed consent forms, video-conferencing, and use of government-issued identification for obtaining parental consent to collect information.

This would be offset by eliminating the option for consent via email, which is available to operators when collecting information only for internal use.

A plan by a company called LightSquared to offer wholesale mobile phone service throughout the US appears to be stalled indefinitely due to technical and political problems.

Extensive testing by various government agencies, in cooperation with LightSquared, has shown their signal to interfere with GPS reception.

Although LightSquared statements in recent months have claimed the problems are solved, testimony in front of a US House Of Representatives sub-committee yesterday painted a different picture.

The problem stems from the location of the frequencies licensed by LightSquared. They are in an area of the spectrum normally reserved for Mobile Satellite Service.

In fact until last year, when the company (known at the time as SkyTerra) changed ownership, that was exactly what they did. The original business involved selling satellite based data services.

Low power terrestrial transceivers operating on the same frequencies as their satellite service were used to supplement the signal.

Under such a system, a dual mode device is used which can switch to a terrestrial connection when satellite service is not available. As required by law, this was authorized by the FCC.

Next week, France's Archos will begin taking pre-orders for new line of low priced Android tablets with prices from $299 to $469.

The new tablets will run Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). The Archos 80 G9 features an 8" screen, while the screen on the 101 G9 measures 10".

The entry level Archos 80 G9 8GB will be the first model available, with a dual core 1GHz TI OMAP processor and 8GB of flash storage. They will begin taking orders on September 20.

Other models will have 2.5GHz dual core OMAP CPUs with either 16GB of flash storage or a 250GB Seagate Momentus hard drive. All models will include a USB port.

Unlike other tablets, like the iPad, the new Archos tablets will be upgradable to use 3G data connections with the purchase of a USB adapter. They will also have built-in Wi-Fi and also Bluetooth.

Archos G9 tablets will be in stores some time in October.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the G9 series is the included suite of multimedia apps. Archos was known for their portable media players long before they began making Android devices.

Although the screen resolution will only be 1024x768 for the 8" models or 1280x800 for the 10" version, both will be able to play 1080p video and include HDMI output. Video standards supported include MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) up to High Profile@L4.2.

A group of 15 members of the US House Of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama yesterday asking him to support AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile USA.

In their letter, they parrot AT&T's claims that the deal will result in thousands of jobs being created and increased investment in high speed data networks across the country. Those would be excellent reasons to approve the buyout.

But do they have any basis in reality? If you believe AT&T's promises to investors the answer would be no.

The letter claims:

the merger will engender new private investment to deploy wireless high speed Internet access services to 97% of the U.S. population. Coverage of this magnitude will necessitate an additional $8 billion investment from AT&T over and above its current industry leading capital investments.

Google is continuing their patent buying spree, acquiring more than 1,000 patents from IBM.

This is the second such deal between the two companies this year. Google bought 1,029 patents from IBM in July.

A partial list compiled by SEO by the Sea, includes patents related to scripting, phones, wireless, and web search.

You can find all the patents using the US Patent and Trademark Office's search page.

In recent months Google has spent billions of dollars buying patents in response to attacks on Android around the world by companies like Apple and Microsoft. They have gone so far as to buy Motorola Mobility primarily to acquire their patent portfolio.

As Android has become a serious threat to the iPhone's dominance in the smartphone market, Apple has engaged in a campaign to remove competing devices. Samsung's phones and tablets, in particular, have been targeted by Apple in countries including the US, Germany, Australia, and Japan.

With all the big announcements coming out of Microsoft this week in conjunction with their BUILD developer conference, perhaps none is bigger than the accompanying changes to Internet Explorer 10.

Windows 8 users will have two different interface options for IE 10 - the standard desktop version and a new Metro style version. In addition to the use of Metro, this new variant of IE is also different in another significant way.

Rather than using plug-ins like the Flash Player to render content on web pages, it will rely on HTML5. This is similar to the approach taken by Apple for Mobile Safari on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky wrote on the Building Windows 8 blog:

Running Metro style IE plug-in free improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Plug-ins were important early on in the web’s history. But the web has come a long way since then with HTML5. Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style UI.

Netflix is lowering projections for subscriber numbers in Q3 by 1 million.

The change is due to customer reaction to the price increase for combined disc rental and streaming plans, which was announced during their Q2 earnings call. The price of Netflix's lowest tier DVD plus streaming plan was doubled from $7.99 per month to $15.98.

Their original prediction of 12 million subscribers to the new combined disc and streaming plan hasn't changed. However, estimates for streaming only and disc only plans have been reduced by 200,000 and 800,000 respectively.

The revised projections were revealed in a letter to shareholders from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells.

Clarifying statement he made earlier in the week, Microsoft Windows Division President Steven Sinofsky, told analysts programs written for older Windows versions won't be compatible with Windows 8 on ARM processors.

During Tuesday's keynote address at Microsoft's BUILD conference, Sinofsky mentioned that the applications being demoed would run on either the x86 or ARM architecture.

ARM processors are typically used for devices like phones and tablets where low power usage is more important than speed. Windows has been primarily (except early versions of Windows NT) been written for x86 chips.

At Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting yesterday, Sinofsky was asked how legacy applications would be able to run on ARM processors, to which he responded:

I don't think I said quite that. I think I said that if it runs on a Windows 7 PC, it'll run on Windows 8. So, all the Windows 7 PCs are x86 or 64-bit. We've been very clear since the very first CES demos and forward that the ARM product won't run any x86 applications.

AMD set a new world record for CPU speed, overclocking one of their upcoming 8 core FX chips to a speed of 8.429GHz.

The blazing fast speed was achieved by cooling the CPU to -180 degrees centigrade using liquid nitrogen cooling.

The achievement, which tops the prior record of 8.308GHz, was officially recognized by earlier this week by Guinness World Records. They presented an award to the company at an AMD technology showcase in San Francisco, Calif.

Although that's not particularly useful for the typical consumer, AMD also managed a significant speed boost using air and water cooling.

AMD's Simon Solotko wrote:

Even with more conservative methods, the AMD FX processors, with multiplier unlocked throughout the range, appear to scale with cold. We also achieved clock frequencies well above 5GHz using only air or sub-$100 water cooling solutions.

Steve Ballmer continues to insist Windows Phone can be the number three platform in the smartphone market.

In a presentation at Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting, Ballmer said, "I think we're in absolute good shape in order to be a very strong third ecosystem in the smartphone world."

He appears to be pinning his hopes on Microsoft's primary partner in the platform, Nokia, who hasn't released a single Windows Phone handset yet, and will likely be concentrating on European markets initially.

He said of the partnership:

With Nokia we have a dedicated hardware partner who is all in on Windows Phone. They're working with us in exactly the way we described, to try to get into new markets, find new price points, take a look at new hardware design. They're all in on Windows. They're not doing something with Android, or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Boom, our innovation interests are completely aligned.

New Terms Of Service for Sony's PlayStation Network make it nearly impossible for their customers to sue over any future data breaches.

The TOS changes were rolled out as part of a consolidation of Sony online services into Sony Online Services. The new terms affect both PSN and Sony Entertainment Network customers.

The TOS sets out a dispute resolution process designed to make it as difficult as possible for Sony to be sued by users of their online services:

If you have a Dispute with any Sony Entity or any of a Sony Entity's officers, directors, employees and agents that cannot be resolved through negotiation within the time frame described in the ?Notice of Dispute? clause below. Other than those matters listed in the Exclusions from Arbitration clause, you and the Sony Entity that you have a Dispute with agree to seek resolution of the Dispute only through arbitration of that Dispute in accordance with the terms of this Section 15, and not litigate any Dispute in court. Arbitration means that the Dispute will be resolved by a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury.

The Symbian OS accounted for less than 40% of smartphones in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in July of this year. That would be good news for other vendors, but represents a major drop for the market leader.

Symbian was running on more than half of all smartphones in those countries just a year earlier.

That's not good news for Nokia, whose CEO recently told an interviewer his company expects to convert the company's existing Symbian customers to Windows Phone. If Android's ascension in the market continues, that won't be much of a feat.

Nokia has put nearly all their eggs in Microsoft's basket, betting on Windows Phone to put them back on top in the smartphone industry. Even after the iPhone's introduction, their Symbian phones continued to sell well.

The addition of even more serious competition from Android phones, particularly from Samsung and HTC, combined with missteps in Symbian development led to the freefall they have experienced in recent months.

Samsung has gone on the offensive in their ongoing patent war with Apple over smartphones and tablets. They are suing Apple in France over the iPhone and iPad.

The new suit revolves around three Samsung patents related to 3G technology.

Perhaps taking a shot at Apple, a Samsung spokesman told Agence France-Presse, "The complaint focuses on three technology patents, and not on the design of the tablets."

Apple's suit against Samsung in Germany, which has resulted in a ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 by their subsidiary in that country, is based on alleged violations of a Community Design Patent which appears to cover all thin tablets with rounded corners sold in the EU.

In addition to the new lawsuit in France, Samsung has appealed the German ruling.

As rival broadcast networks Fox and ABC continue to fight online viewing in order to prop up relationships with their traditional partners, NBC appears to be moving in the opposite direct. Late last week they updated their iPad app to offer live access to their programs as they air.

Vivi Zigler, President, NBCUniversal Digital Entertainment said:

We are thrilled to offer our fans full episodes via our NBC.com app. Now the app truly reflects the deep fan experience that we have created online at NBC.com. And our fans are going to love the latest update to the NBC Live app which now offers them more content, better access and a unique social television experience.

A picture of the Samsung Windows 8 tablet rumored to be unveiled at Microsoft's BUILD conference later today has appeared online.

Stories about the tablet surfaced last week. It's an obvious move considering Microsoft's focus on promoting Windows 8 as a legitimate tablet OS.

The picture was posted by by a Chinese blogger to her Weibo page. Analysis from MobileTechWorld suggests it may be the recently introduced Samsung Slate PC Series 7, which is powered by an Intel i5 processor.

Alternatively, the article suggests, it could be an nVidia powered variant of that design using the Kel-El quad-core CPU.

In the aftermath of Google's announcement they will be buying Motorola Mobility, the Android patent situation has received the lion's share of attention. But could the set-top box business they get in the deal end up being the real prize?

While Android may be Google's highest profile project right now, in recent years they have increasingly focused on video.

Since the beginning of 2010 they have introduced Google TV, purchased a DRM company specifically for video distribution, acquired HTPC software vendor SageTV, and even started renting movies via YouTube, leading to a companion service available through the Android Market.

But if you want to be a major player in online video distribution, it takes more than a bunch of services. You need a direct pipeline to your customers' TVs.

Smart TVs, game consoles, and dedicated internet set-top boxes are part of the equation, but a large segment of the population either doesn't want or can't afford those devices. Many of those people are already using one or more Motorola cable boxes, or something similar from another company.

Apple has asked a federal court to temporarily delay a patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola Mobility pending the completion of Google's takeover.

Apple's lawyers claim the acquisition agreement with Google results in Motorola Mobility losing their standing to sue because they have already given up control of the patents in question, as well as their right to negotiate binding legal settlements. They say this means any decisions or settlement in the case could be challenged by Google.

According to a report from FOSS Patents, the filing states "[W]ere Apple to prevail in this case, it risks an attack on its victory on appeal by a third party, whether Google or another Android smartphone manufacturer, contending that the judgment should be overturned due to a lack of prudential standing."

Among other arguments, Apple lawyers cite a case in which Google lawyers argued against the standing of a shell company suing for patent infringement damages. In that case Google argued the company which controls the patents must bring the suit.

Researchers are predicting mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, will dominate Internet use within the next four years.

The latest forecast from International Data Corporation suggests the number of mobile Internet users will grow by more than 16% per year, spurred primarily by tablet adoption, while PC based browsing will decline.

"Forget what we have taken for granted on how consumers use the Internet," said Karsten Weide, research vice president, Media and Entertainment for IDC. "Soon, more users will access the Web using mobile devices than using PCs, and it's going to make the Internet a very different place."

IDC's report shows the importance of recent lawsuits around the world which could have long lasting implications for consumer choice in both hardware and service providers. If AT&T has their way, the US will lose T-Mobile, the mobile Internet provider who has been instrumental in promoting both the Android smartphone OS and higher speed data networks.

Attempting to block the move through an antitrust lawsuit, the Justice Department claims this would eventually result in a further reduction to just two nationwide mobile carriers.

If you want to know why so many people think the PROTECT IP censorship bill is so dangerous, you don't have to look any further than how the RIAA misuses current laws to attack non-infringing content.

DMCA takedowns submitted to Chilling Effects show the RIAA claiming links posted to Twitter pointed to infringing content when in reality they were direct links to a label owned website.

Chilling Effects is a clearinghouse of DMCA takedown requests, many of which are submitted by companies like Google and Twitter. It is run by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in cooperation with several prestigious law schools from across the US.

PROTECT IP's proposed blacklist starts with the assumption complaints from organizations like the RIAA are honest and fully informed when they claim a given piece of content is infringing. The reality is very different.

Music industry organizations have a history of problems distinguishing official content from unauthorized. They've even been known to make DMCA claims over content not owned by their members.

The FBI is looking into the hacking of NBC News' Twitter account on September 10.

Hackers took control of the account on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Tweets were made by the hackers claiming the site of those attacks had once again been targeted.

"Breaking News! Ground Zero has just been attacked. Flight 5736 has crashed into the site, suspected hijacking. more as the story develops," read the first tweet.

It was followed by another reading, "Flight 4782 is not responding, suspected hijacking. One plane just hit Ground Zero site at 5:47."

The Twitter account was disabled just minutes after the first tweet appeared according to MSNBC.

Hackers likely gained access via an email attachment sent to Ryan Osborn, the director of social media for the network.

The hack was allegedly the work of a splinter group from Anonymous and LulzSec known as The Script Kiddies. The same group is believed to have been behind a similar hack of the Fox News Twitter account earlier this year.

The power struggle between Michael Arrington and Ariana Huffington over control of the TechCrunch blog has ended with Arrington leaving to concentrate on his new venture fund.

According to a statement from AOL, "Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund."

Editorial control of TechCrunch was wrested from Arrington earlier this month by Huffington, who runs The Huffington Post. Both content providers were purchased last year by AOL.

At issue was the venture fund mentioned in AOL's statement.

Arrington fought back, citing an earlier promise of editorial control. He demanded AOL either return control to him or sell TechCrunch back to its original investors. He threatened to discontinue his association with the website.

They apparently decided his presence wouldn't be required.

Today they named Erick Schonfeld, who has been with the blog since 2007, as Arrington's replacement. They also indicated more editorial changes would be coming in the next few months.

In an interview last week, Nokia's CEO seemed more interested in sowing the seeds of uncertainty about Android than explaining exactly why his company's decision to back Windows Phone makes sense.

Stephen Elop, who has also held prominent executive positions with Macromedia, Juniper Networks & Microsoft, told a Chinese interviewer Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, "creates a great deal of uncertainty for the Android ecosystem that I'm sure is of great concern to many of the Android participants."

While it's true Android manufacturers like Samsung and HTC are concerned about Google's decision to buy Motorola Mobility, so far Google appears to remain a good partner. If anything, Microsoft's apparent preferential treatment of Nokia seems like more of a barrier for those companies than anything Google has done.

He repeatedly emphasized the Motorola acquisition as a key to Nokia regaining their previous market position, saying:

I think particularly with the uncertainty around Android created by the Motorola acquisition and so forth, it's clear that the formation of the Windows Phone ecosystem as another ecosystem that can compete - in large part because Nokia made a commitment to that ecosystem - I think it's the case that some of those other vendors are now in a position where they also have options in terms of how to balance their efforts, which I think is good for the industry and certainly good for Nokia.

Smartphones now account for more than half the mobile phones sold in western Europe according to numbers released by IDC.

The figures represent sales for the second quarter of 2011. It is the first quarter in which smartphones outsold regular feature phones in the region.

Android dominated smartphone operating systems, representing 52% of that market segment. This was largely due to the success of Samsung, who became the top phone vendor, surpassing Nokia.

Samsung accounted for approximately one third of all phones, with sales of 13.9 million units. This is an improvement from the same quarter in 2010 when they sold 10.8 million phones accounting for 25% of the market.

By contrast, Nokia's sales dropped from 16.2 million in 2Q 2010 to just 9 million in 2011. Their market share fell from 37% to 21%, still making them the number two phone vendor.

Apple's share of the market nearly doubled from 6% in 2010 to 11% in 2011. Of course, unlike either Samsung or Nokia, Apple doesn't sell feature phones.

HTC and Research In Motion rounded out the top five, accounting for approximately 3% each.

Looking just at smartphones, Samsung improved to a 22% market share compared to just 4% a year earlier. Apple was close behind, capturing 21% of smartphone sales.

The latest tablet oriented Windows 8 feature to be unveiled by Microsoft is a new fast startup mode.

Fast startup mode is basically a hybrid of a cold boot and resuming from hibernation. This new startup mode looks to be the default for Windows 8, assuming hibernation hasn't been disabled.

When you boot your computer, a set of processes for the operating system, called the system session, are started. When you login another set of processes, called a user session, is started.

When Windows 7 (or earlier versions) shuts down it first closes the user session and then the system session. When you boot the computer, the system session must be initiated again and all the associated processes initialized.

Team TouchDroid, one of the groups working on getting Android running on the HP TouchPad, has disbanded after being caught taking credit for work CyanogenMod developers.

CyanogenMod is a community ROM which runs on a wide variety of Android devices. CyanogenMod developers have made significant progress toward getting Android up and running on the TouchPad, which includes writing touchscreen drivers.

Those drivers were used to enable multitouch on the HP tablet in the video we reported on earlier this week.

fnj00 of Team TouchDroid apologized for the incident on their website, writing:

I am the site host and was the guy you saw in all the videos under the account fnj001. I would first like to say to the community and team CM I am sorry for all the drama that has unfolded over the past few days/weeks and would like to clear it all up with the community and CM. I am doing this fully on my own will without any backing from whats left of team-touchdroid.

A new court ruling has upheld the ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.

The injunction was originally granted last month, and was extended to include the new Galaxy Tab 7.7 which has yet to even hit the market.

Just as with the earlier ruling, the injunction applies only to Samsung and not retailers. That means retailers are free to sell their remaining stock.

It does, however, apply to sales in most other EU countries by Samsung's German subsidiary. That was also included in the original injunction, but later reversed.

What makes this something of a symbolic gesture is the fact Samsung's European distribution center is located in the Netherlands, rather than Germany. Apple has filed a separate case there, where they have also requested a preliminary injunction.

Sales of the Nintendo 3DS are up 260% in the US following a mid-August price cut.

This mirrors a similar trend in Japan, where a similar price drop resulted in the second best week ever for 3DS sales.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, sales don't necessarily translate to profits, and it appears the new price means losing money on every 3DS sold. That likely explains the rumored redesign for the handheld next year, which could be announced as soon as next week.

The 3DS was always a risky proposition for Nintendo, who has long ruled the handheld market despite often competing with systems boasting significantly better hardware. The DS platform has historically even been able to successfully compete with standard consoles, including the XBox 360, PS3, and even the wildly successful Wii.

One of the reasons for all that success was a competitive price, an advantage the 3DS didn't share when it launched.

Vestel, the company that just showed off their TV with a built-in BitTorrent client, will be selling an Android powered set-top box featuring a subscription game client.

The client will connect to an all-you-can-eat subscription service called GameTanium, provided by Exent. The games will run on Android smartphones and tablets as well as the set-top boxes.

It will even be possible to use another Android device as a game controller for the box.

"The point is to let consumers play wherever they want to be entertained," Exent CEO Zvi Levgoren told VentureBeat. "This is the next big domain for gaming entertainment."

He added, "We can take advantage of both the accelerometer and the touchscreen as controls for Android games," Levgoren said. "It is a very intuitive user experience that maintains the original game play and control."

139 tech entrepeneurs are sending a letter to US legislators warning that PROTECT IP would stifle innovation and job growth.

PROTECT IP is a bill being considered in the US Senate, with a companion bill expected soon in the House Of Representatives. It would create a government controlled blacklist of websites ‘dedicated to infringing activities’, requiring ISPs to redirect DNS requests for those sites so they can't be reached from inside the US.

One of the key complaints in the letter is that PROTECT IP would break the DNS system, a key component of the Internet.

We heard the same criticism two weeks ago from Paul Vixie, who said an important DNS security measure called DNSSEC won't be implemented if PROTECT IP is signed into law. Vixie told us under PROTECT IP DNSSEC, "will never be commercially viable."

The letter primarily focuses on the standards set out in PROTECT IP for determining what constitutes a website ‘dedicated to infringing activities’.

It points out some lessons about the history of copyright and technology, saying:

Historically, overzealous rightsholders have tried to stop many legitimate technologies that disrupted their existing business models and facilitated some unauthorized activity. The following technologies were condemned at one point or another - the gramophone (record player), the player piano, radio, television, the photocopier, cable TV, the VCR, the DVR, the mp3 player and video hosting platforms. Even though these technologies obviously survived, many individual businesses like DVR-maker ReplayTV and video platform Veoh were not so fortunate - those companies went bankrupt due to litigation costs, and sold their remaining assets to foreign companies.

Microsoft may be planning to unveil a tablet running Windows 8 at next week's BUILD conference in Anaheim, California.

BUILD is a Microsoft event oriented toward helping hardware and software developers prepare for the upcoming Windows 8 OS. Considering most of the changes from Windows 7 appear to be tablet related, this would be a logical move.

Reports out of South Korea indicate Microsoft will be showing off a Samsung tablet at the conference.

Samsung is already producing Windows Phones, and is also generating considerable interest in the tablet market. Their profile as a tablet maker has gotten a big boost from Apple's onslaught of international lawsuits attempting to take the Galaxy Tab off the market.

For their part, Microsoft is desparate to gain a foothold in the tablet market which so far has been dominated by Apple's iPad. Samsung makes sense as a partner for this effort given their experience both making their own tablets and smartphones and providing components for Apple.

Add Japan to the list of countries where Apple is suing Samsung to get competing products taken off the market.

It is the latest development in Apple's campaign of patent and trademark related litigation which began in April. Apple has gone after Samsung in the US, Australia, throughout the EU & South Korea.

As in other countries, Apple wants to ban the import of Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Perhaps not by coincidence, the lawsuit, which was filed last month, comes shortly before the much anticipated of the next iPhone. Depending on which reports and rumors you believe, that will occur either this month or in October.

Even if Apple eventually loses the lawsuit, a temporary injunction would improve Apple's position in Japan at the best possible time.

Despite being generally quite successful in Japan, Apple has not been able to work out any kind of deal with NTT DoCoMo, the country's largest mobile carrier, to sell the iPhone or iPad. Samsung, on the other hand, has such a deal to sell their Galaxy phones and tablets.

A new report highlights several security deficiencies in modern automototive electronics systems.

The report was released by McAfee in partnership with embedded security firm Escrypt and mobile/embedded software company Wind River.

According to the report, potential risks range from tracking a vehicle's location using RFID tags embedded in tires to remotely disabling critical systems via Bluetooth. It cites research being done at the University of California, San Diego, which shows critical safety components can be hacked remotely using a program they call CarShark.

Researchers suggest just how far this sort of attack could go:

Going one step further is to combine the CarShark attack and weaknesses of Bluetooth implementation in cars. Once the attacker guesses the Bluetooth PIN, the attacker could mount the CarShark attack. Other wireless devices like web-based vehicle-immobilization systems that can remotely disable a car could be manipulated in these situations as well. The immobilization system is meant to be a theft deterrent but could be used maliciously to disable cars belonging to unsuspecting owners.

LG, Philips and Sharp are teaming up to create a single framework for developing Smart TV apps.

Smart TVs offer a variety of internet connected content options, such as web browsers and clients for streaming services like Netflix Watch Instantly.

The idea behind this plan is to attract developers for smart TV apps by making it possible to reuse code across different brands. The three companies will release a SDK combining HTML5, CE-HTML & HbbTV.

A beta version of the SDK is planned for early October.

"This cooperation is nothing less than a watershed in the brief history of Smart TVs," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Entertainment Company.

They also issued an open invitation for other TV manufacturers to participate in the initiative.

Based on the latest MPAA claims, every person in the US who downloaded a movie illegally last year kept an average of $2,000 out of the economy.

That figure is based on claims from an infographic they released recently, suggesting illegal downloading in the US cost removed $58 billion from the economy.

The most obvious problem with their figures is the claim that money is being removed from the economy. In order for that to be true, money which would otherwise have been spent on movies can not be spent on anything else.

After firing CEO Carol Bartz and replacing her temporarily with CFO Timothy Morse, Yahoo! is looking for a change of strategy moving forward.

Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board mentioned it in passing in an official statement:

We have great confidence in his abilities and in those of the other executives who have been named to the Executive Leadership Council.

I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.

The federal judge hearing the antitrust lawsuit brought by the US Department Of Justice opposing AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile wants both sides to discuss a settlement.

On Monday Judge Ellen S. Huvelle ordered that "the parties shall be prepared to discuss the prospects for settlement," at a status conference scheduled for September 21.

It's hard to imagine how any deal could be worked out which would address Justice Department concerns that reducing the number of major US mobile carriers by one quarter would be bad for consumers in almost every way possible.

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile & Sprint are the only national carriers in the US. Of that group, Verizon and AT&T lead Sprint and T-Mobile in revenue by a wide margin.

Many people, including Sprint executives, are worried that the loss of T-Mobile as a competitive force would ultimately result in reducing that number to just two.

Progress on Android for the HP TouchPad appears to be moving along quickly. Team-Touchdroid member fnj001 has created a video demonstrating multitouch support.

Work on Android for the TouchPad began almost immediately after HP announcement they would be discontinuing the tablet and sell the remaining stock at a bargain basement price of $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB version.

The two models previously sold for $399 and $499 respectively. That was already a$100 price cut from the original price when the tablets debuted in July.

Almost two weeks ago, a CyanogenMod developer showed off a rudimentary Android installation running on a TouchPad.

Even at $99 there is a distinct lack of value for a TouchPad running its native WebOS. Although it showed a lot of promise, the lack of apps and general unfinished feel of the OS were among the primary reason for the poor sales which plagued the TouchPad from the beginning.

On the other hand, once a fully realized Android ROM is available, those same tablets become arguably the best bargain in the tablet world.

On Monday Netflix began offering their Watch Instantly streaming service in Brazil.

It is part of a bigger plan to roll out the service in Latin America and the Caribbean.

By September 12 Netflix streaming will have been introduced in more than 40 additional countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela & Mexico. The new markets also mean adding interfaces in Spanish and Portuguese.

Interestingly, Netflix's announcement suggests the price in some countries will be set in US, rather than local, currency. In Uraguay and Paraguay, for example, the price will be the same price ($7.99) charged in the US.

Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings said:

We are excited to be bringing Netflix to Latin America and the Caribbean. People throughout the region are online in ever-greater numbers and they love movies and TV shows. We are proud to bring them the Netflix experience of instantly enjoying as many movies and TV shows as they want, when they want for one low price.

Sony is putting a former US government official in charge of cyber security, effective today.

Philip Reitinger, was previously director of the U.S. National Cyber Security Center. He has also held positions in both the Justice and Defense Departments and at Microsoft.

His job with Sony as Chief Information Security Officer will make him responsible for cyber security throughout the company.

This, of course, comes months after multiple serious data breaches. The biggest attack targeted the PlayStation Network and resulted in personal information, including credit card numbers and CCV codes, being stolen.

Another compromised details of several million Sony Online Entertainment customers.

Making matters worse. Sony tarnished their reputation further with multiple bungled attempts to get their services back online.

No doubt they hope Reitinger's reputation will improve stockholder and consumer confidence. Given the company's size, any actual change will no doubt take a lot of time, effort, and money.

GameStop may soon start selling the full range of iOS mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad.

Currently speculation revolves around the video game retailer getting into the iOS market when the new iPhone is released later this year. That would make sense considering the amount of buzz every iPhone release gets.

According to 9to5Mac, GameStop announced thir plan privately at a trade show last week.

The GameStop website seems to confirm the rumor. There is already a page saying:

Did you know that GameStop now buys your old iPod, iPhone and iPad devices?

Trade them in at GameStop for in-store credit. Perfect for trading toward games, accessories, systems and more. Bring in your old iPod, iPhone or iPad and a Game Advisor can assist you. Plus, you’ll score PowerUp Rewards points on every item traded.

Sprint has filed a lawsuit attempting to block the sale of T-Mobile to AT&T. The suit names AT&T, AT&T Mobility, Deutsche Telekom, and T-Mobile as defendants.

Deutsche Telekom is the corporate parent of T-Mobile.

Sprint claims the deal would result in less competition, harm to smaller wireless carriers, and increased costs to consumers:

a combined AT&T and T-Mobile would have the ability to use its control over backhaul, roaming and spectrum, and its increased market position to exclude competitors, raise their costs, restrict their access to handsets, damage their businesses and ultimately to lessen competition.

Google's Chrome web browser continued to steadily gain market share in August according to the latest figures from Net Applications.

Although Chrome is still far from the dominant browser with just a 15.51% share, it is slowly catching up with Firefox, which dropped slightly to a share of 22.57%. Internet Explorer remains the market leader with a bigger share than Chrome and Firefox combined.

Perhaps more notable is Internet Explorer 9's improvement to almost 8% of the market because of the fact it isn't compatible with Windows XP.

Google will be killing off ten projects, most notable of which are Google Desktop & Google Pack.

Google Desktop is designed to enable searching data stored on your computer, including files, email, music, photos, and even web & chat history, using the company's proprietary search algorithm.

Google came under fire in 2006 for adding a remote search feature which stored personal information and files on Google servers to be accessed from other computers.

More recently Google Desktop has faced competition from the search features built into both Windows 7 and OS X. It will be discontinued on September 14.

Several other projects are also being shuttered, including Aardvark, Fast Flip, Image Labeler, Notebook, Sidewiki & Subscribed Links. Most include features which have already been integrated into other products, such as the Chrome web browser.

Google Maps API for Flash and Google Web Security are being discontinued, but existing customers will still be supported.

Google Pack is also being dropped, although individual applications from Google and their partners will continue to be available through the Google Pack website.

Two phones running Windows Phone 7.5, previously codenamed Mango, have officially been introduced to consumers at HTC events in London, Paris, Madrid & Berlin.

The HTC Titan and HTC Radar both feature dedicated camera buttons, allowing you to use the camera without unlocking the phone first. The also offer 720p video recording.

Microsoft's Achim Berg, head of Windows Phone marketing, responded to recent analyst predictions that the platform would capture 20% of the smartphone market by 2015. Berg optimistically suggested to Bloomberg that Windows Phone could achieve that as soon as next year.

He also downplayed Windows Phone's poor performance to date:

This is a completely new platform, it takes time. It took time with Android, it took time with Apple. We have to show that we’re very capable and that we have the fastest and easiest phone.

In this week's guide spotlight, we will look at the process for converting subtitles ripped from a DVD in SUB/IDX format to the BDN XML format used for Blu-ray authoring.

Both DVD and Blu-ray use bitmap based subpictures for subtitles. In fact the two formats are extremely simmilar, so once you've extracted your DVD subtitles (see our guide for Extracting Content From DVD), the process for converting them is quite simple.

For converting you can use a program called BDSup2Sub, and our DVD to Blu-ray subtitle conversion guide.

You can watch the videos below for a better idea of what the guide covers. All three videos are also included with the guide.

The basic process is simple. First load the extracted subtitles, then check for any errors, and finally save to BDN XML format:

With Windows 8, Microsoft is attempting to walk a fine line between making the OS more tablet friendly and retaining all the standard functionality Windows users expect.

In the latest installment of the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky tackles the question of how the new tile based Metro interface will co-exist with the traditional Windows desktop.

Metro borrows heavily from Windows Media Center and Windows Phone 7. Rather than replacing the standard Windows desktop, the two will co-exist side by side, allowing the user to use both.

This fits with Microsoft's goal of making Windows 8 a viable competitor in the tablet market. The bigger question is whether that objective is realistic and what, if any, Windows 8's UI changes make.

If you want to use Windows on a tablet, Metro is certainly an improvement over the traditional Windows desktop. A focus on simple apps with simple interfaces fits what mobile users have become accustomed to from the iPhone, Android, and even Windows Phone 7.

According to researchers at Parks Associates, consumers are not only showing a preference for on demand streaming video over other alternatives, but also paying close to $50 per subscriber to access premium services.

That trend isn't likely to reverse itself any time soon, considering the growing tablet market and demand for increased access to content across platforms and at any location.

Estimates from the NPD Group's Connected Intelligence division suggest demand for access via Wi-Fi hotspot or even across mobile data networks, could equal demand for access in the home.

The broad appeal of subscription services is coming, in part, at the expense of a la carte rental and purchase services. Apple recently got rid of their $0.99 TV show rentals.

DVD and Blu-ray sales and rentals have been stagnant for some time, with Blu-ray adopters generally failing to make up for lower DVD revenue. At the same time, consumer willingness to drop pay TV subscriptions in favor of internet options is on the increase.

The logical move at this point would be to concentrate on helping online services profit in the new marketplace to make the transition profitable for everyone.