RUMOR: WINDOWS 8 PUBLIC BETA TO LAUNCH LATE FEBRUARY

Sources close to Microsoft have revealed that the public Windows 8 beta will be released in late February of 2012.

The timing of the public beta launch has been the subject of much debate in the technology community. It is expected that Windows 8 will be released in 2012, but the exact expected date for the completion and shipping of the forthcoming operating system remains undisclosed. However, knowing the release time frame of the beta itself allows us to better project when the work should be done on the Windows 8 project.

Given the milestones for Windows 7 release to manufacturers, it is estimated that Microsoft will release Windows 8 to manufacturers around August, which give OEMs plenty of time to press DVDs and get the new OS onto hardware and in the supply pipe for the 2012 holiday shopping season.

GOOGLE UNVEILS ENHANCED GOOGLE MUSIC

Google on Wednesday took the wraps off a new and improved music service. Building onto “Music Beta by Google,” Google has launched Google Music, a publicly available cloud-based music services that will be free to users in the United States. Google Music users can add up to 20,000 songs from their local libraries to the cloud and stream them to any number of supported devices over the Internet. “Pinned” albums and songs are downloaded to devices and cached for local playback without the need for an Internet connection. Read on for more.

The service is integrated with the Android Market, allowing users to purchase 320Kbps songs from within the Market starting at $0.99 a track. Features include a curated music section, a recommendation engine, a name-your-own-price self-managed “artist hub” for independent artists, integration with YouTube for artists, music playback from within the Market, auto-transfer of purchases to your online locker, carrier billing (T-Mobile will soon become the first carrier to support carrier billing) and several sharing features that are integrated with Google+, Google’s new social network. Purchased tracks that are shared with users via Google+ can be played once for free, and then users can click through to purchase tracks they want to buy.

NETFLIX EXPANDING TO UK AND IRELAND IN 2012

Well it looks like Netflix's rumored UK launch was a lot more than just a rumor. Today, the company announced that it will indeed expand to the UK and Ireland "in early 2012," promising to offer unlimited streaming on PCs, tablets and mobile devices at a "low monthly subscription price." The company didn't say what that price would be, nor did it offer any details on available content or supported devices, though more details will be announced closer to its launch. We're also expecting to hear more from Netflix during its Q3 earnings conference call later today, when we should find out about the impact of its recent price hike and Qwikster turnaround. Whether or not its foray into the UK can loosen Lovefilm's grip on the domestic market, however, remains to be seen.

AMAZON KINDLE LIBRARY LENDING LAUNCHES

Amazon’s Kindle Library Lending service, first announced in April, is now live in the United States. The service allows Kindle users to borrow eBooks from more than 11,000 participating libraries across the country. Here’s how it works: simply visit the website of a U.S. library with support for OverDrive and then, provided you have a library card, check out a Kindle book by clicking “Get for Kindle.” The eBook will then be delivered to your Kindle via Wi-Fi or USB. Library Lending is supported on any device that has Amazon’s Kindle application installed, which means it is available for multiple platforms including the PC, Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone. There are no limitations to titles borrowed from a library, and users can still view real page numbers and synchronize notes, highlights and more across multiple devices.

APPLE TO HOLD MEDIA EVENT ON OCTOBER 4TH; PROBABLY INTRODUCING iPHONE 5

All Things D is reporting today that Apple's next big media event will be held on October 4th, where freshly minted CEO Tim Cook is expected to unveil the iPhone 5. Sources close to the situation say Cook will be the main presenter at the event, with execs Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall and Eddy Cue playing supporting roles. This would mark the first time that Cook has actually led an Apple event, adding an extra wrinkle of significance to an already highly anticipated occasion. The site's sources went on to say that the next-gen iPhone will be available for purchase "within a few weeks" of the announcement, though All Things D acknowledges that the exact date of its unveiling is still subject to change.

RUMOR: GOOGLE TO LAUNCH GOOGLE WALLET TOMORROW

Google Wallet was first officially announced back in May along with partners Citi, First Data, Sprint, and MasterCard. Using a compatible phone and payment point (MasterCard PayPass) it allows you to pay for things using just your phone–no need to get your card or cash out. Tomorrow, it looks like Google Wallet gets an official launch.

You will be able to take advantage of Google Wallet on Sprint if you own a Nexus S 4G and shop where there’s a compatible MasterCard PayPass point. However, a limited public launch isn’t a bad thing as it will allow for a low level of use to be monitored and tested. If everything goes to plan, we can expect the availability of Wallet across more networks and NFC-enabled phones to increase fairly rapidly.

For the moment this hasn’t been confirmed by Google, but as has been rightly pointed out, it’s the NFC World Congress today and the Nexus Prime is expected next month which will also offer NFC as standard. It does sound like the perfect time to roll this out.

RUMOR: BARNES & NOBLE NOOK COLOR 2 COMING THIS MONTH

The successor to the Barnes & Noble Nook Color will launch this month, DigiTimesreported on Friday. There is no mention if the Nook Color 2 will run Android, as the original did, although we hope Barnes & Noble considers using the more tablet-friendly Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) operating system this time around instead of a the Froyo build, which was designed for use on smartphones. Inventec and Pegatron will assemble the eReaders and supply as many as 2-3 million devices by the end of this year, the report says. TPK Holding will provide the 7-inch color touchscreen panels. DigiTimesalso said that the Nook Color 2 E Ink will supply “e-paper backplanes,” which suggests there will be a new E Ink component to the Nook Color 2, although it is unclear what its role will be at this point.

RUMOR: AT&T VP SAYS iPHONE 5 LAUNCHING EARLY OCTOBER

According to a high-level AT&T source an AT&T Vice President has confirmed to several employees that the iPhone 5 is slated to launch in early October. Additionally, the VP communicated the following to a group of managers: “Expect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days, so prepare your teams accordingly.” Apple is widely expected to announce the iPhone 5 in a late September event with a release set for early October.

PLAYSTATION VITA MISSING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY IN US AND UK

Sony's next-generation portable video game console will not launch in the U.S. until early 2012, Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai told The Associated Press on Thursday. Sony’s PlayStation Vita will become available later this year in Japan, but it will miss the all-important holiday shopping season here in the U.S. and in Europe as well. Some, such as Daiwa Securities Capital Markets analyst Koki Shiraishi, believe Sony’s sales will take a huge hit as a result. “That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” Shiraishi told the AP. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.” When it finally does launch next year, the PlayStation Vita will start at $249 for a Wi-Fi-only model and a 3G-equipped version will be available for $299.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 LAUNCHING IN OCTOBER, NOT SEPTEMBER

Despite multiple reports suggesting Apple and AT&T are each blocking employee vacations and making preparations for increased foot traffic in September, a new rumor suggests the iPhone won’t actually launch until October. The Wall Street Journal blog AllThingsD cites multiple anonymous sources in claiming Apple’s next-generation iPhone will launch in October, possibly even late in the month. “I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch,” one of the blog’s sources said, responding to questions about why AT&T might have blacked out employee vacations in late September. Other sources the blog spoke with said the handset would launch late in the month.

Early reports suggested Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone would be a modest update featuring the same case design as the iPhone 4, but more recent reports say the device could feature a redesigned exterior that is slimmer, wider and longer than the current-generation iPhone.

LAST SPACE SHUTTLE, ATLANTIS, TOUCHES DOWN SAFELY IN FLORIDA

The Atlantis has touched down successfully at runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center bringing and end to an era in space flight. Crewmembers Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus, and Rex Walheim are back on our planet and, traveling at speeds decidedly slower than escape velocity, can officially put a cap onto this historic series of space missions that we, at least, will never forget. In the words of NASA: "Job well done, America."

LEAK: APPLE PLANNING OVERNIGHT SHIFT FOR OS X LION LAUNCH

Apple has reportedly scheduled overnights for Tuesday night in preparation for the OS X Lion launch. According to 9to5 Mac, Apple Store outlets are already equipped with hard drives to quickly install Lion on the show floor computers, and the stores have been sent new posters to outfit the walls with advertisements for the new operating system.

Apple is also expected to refresh the MacBook Air in the imminent future, however it will not be tomorrow. We’re expecting the new notebooks to pack the Thunderbolt I/O port in place of DisplayPort, Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors, and a backlit keyboard.

GOOGLE MAKES PHOTOVINE OFFICIAL; LAUNCHING LATER THIS MONTH

Were you all jazzed up and ready to plant your first Photovine, only to have those gardening dreams crushed by a barren three page teaser? El Goog's Slide team isn't quite ready for you to grab that spade, but it is willing to transcribe your digits for the service's soft launch later this month. Judging by the brief demo, vines begin like a game of photo-sharing telephone: what starts as an innocent photograph of a "warm and fuzzy" pup, can easily transcend into friends sharing an equally snug and furry man. Sound like a party? See the video below.

SPOTIFY NOW AVAILABLE IN THE US

Spotify, the trendy music on demand service that has garnered tremendous media attention in Europe, has finally launched in the U.S. as rumored last week. Spotify announced earlier this month that it would become available in the U.S. “soon,” though open negotiations with Warner Music Group were reportedly preventing the company from setting a firm launch date. Apparently Warner finally came around. The Spotify service lets users stream unlimited music on demand, and also build and share playlists.

For the time being, the free ad-supported version of Spotify that allows streaming to Windows and OS X PCs only is available as an invite-only service in the U.S. Those who don’t want to wait, however, can pay: a premium $9.99 per month subscription will let users stream ad-free music to mobile devices, share playlists and cache music for offline playback. A $4.99 intermediate plan will remove ads from the stream, but it doesn’t support streaming to the company’s mobile apps, which are already available for iOS devices in the App Store and for Android devices in the Android Market.

SPOTIFY FINALLY COMING TO US

The music streaming service that has won over the collective heart of Europe is finally making the puddle jump that we've been waiting for. Spotify just threw up a US landing spot, inviting eager Americans to jump in line for a table at the party. Meanwhile, we just received confirmation on our own end that things are finalizing for testing here in the States, and we'll be sure to report back just as soon as our credentials clear. We should note, however, that there's still no definitive time table to report, but it's fairly obvious that those final record deals are close enough to done to call this thing a victory.

RUMOR: SPRINT iPHONE CLOSE TO LAUNCH

Unidentified sources tipped 9to5Mac that Sprint customers may be in for a summertime surprise. According to their report, the iPhone 4 is in the late testing phase on Sprint, and could see a launch within months. They claim the device looks like the current model of the iPhone 4, which means it could be the rumored “iPhone 4S,” or stopgap iPhone to get consumers from the iPhone 4 to an eventually redesigned iPhone 5.

The report is based on even more rumors that Apple has ordered Sprint-compatible CDMA cellular towers be installed on their campus. Apple did the same with Verizon towers when testing the Verizon-compatible model of the iPhone 4 for months before eventually releasing it, and the acquisition of the towers was one tip that analysts used to predict an eventual Verizon iPhone.

According to the report, the phone is also being circulated around Sprint’s own R&D team, and there may even be a 4G variant of the device in the works, but the model closest to release is a standard 3G iPhone 4. They also point to open job listings on Apple’s website for cellular engineers in the Kansas City area, which also just happens to be where Sprint’s headquarters are located.

DUKE NUKEM FOREVER GOES GOLD, RELEASING IN JUNE

Back in January, Gearbox Software released a Duke Nukem Forever trailer, and our inner 13 year-old -- only a lascivious gleam in his father's eye when the game was first announced! -- thrilled to its potty humor, gratuitous violence, and mosaic-obscured lady parts. We were skeptical about the promised May release date, since DNF has long been gaming's answer to Chinese Democracy, and sure enough that got bumped to June 10 (international) and 14 (North America). But now the game has gone gold, meaning real-life physical copies, rather than just one of gaming's longest running vaporware jokes.

DUKE NUKEM FOREVER DEMO COMING JUNE 3RD

If you’ve been following the Duke Nukem Forever saga for the last decade or so, you were more entertained than surprised when Gearbox delayed the launch of the game one last time in March from the original May launch dates to June 14th in the United States and June 10th internationally. If you’re still skeptical the game will ever appear at all, Gearbox has something to help you keep the faith: a demo, slated for June 3rd.

In a brand new video, Gearbox President Andy Pitchford says that the launch dates are for real this time, and the decades-long Duke Nukem Forever saga will soon come to an end. First, Gearbox will unveil a demo of the game on June 3rd that members of the First Access Club will be able to download and play to get a taste of what the full game will look and play like.

If you’re not already a member of the First Access Club, you can still become one by purchasing the Borderlands Game-of-the-Year edition, or by pre-ordering Duke Nukem Forever from select retailers around the globe. At this point, only First Access Club members will be able to play the demo. Gearbox hasn’t said whether or not they’ll make the demo available to anyone else, or make it freely available once the game is officially released.

If you want to get your hands on a demo code, you can visit the game’s official site to see a list of the select retailers you’ll have to pre-order from. In the United States, you can buy from Amazon or GameStop, in Canada you’ll have to buy from EB Canada, and in the UK you can order from GAME, Play.com, TheHut.com, or Zavvi.com. When Duke Nukem Forever is officially launched, it’ll be available for Windows, XBox 360, and PlayStation 3.

RUMOR: AT&T REP STATES iPHONE 5 NOT COMING IN SUMMER

Apple may not comment on rumor, speculation, or future plans, but it does inform its partners of what to expect in the near future. And it seems AT&T has now been told there will be no June or July iPhone 5 launch.

An AT&T customer noticed that his eligibility for a smartphone upgrade had moved back 5 months without any notice from AT&T as to why. As any customer would do, he phoned AT&T to find out why it had happened. Surprisingly, the customer rep he spoke to at AT&T had what seems to be some definite information regarding the launch, or lack thereof, of the iPhone 5.

The reason given to the customer was that Apple “has informed” AT&T that there will be no new iPhone launch in June or July. There is also no confirmed date for the arrival of the iPhone 5, so the eligibility date has been pushed back to account for this.

RIM ANNOUNCES BLACKBERRY OS 7

The BB OS 6.1 update that grew too big for its name has just been made official by RIM as BlackBerry OS 7. Its ambassador into the wide world of smartphones will be the newly minted BlackBerry Bold Touch, which is expected to arrive "this summer."

The user experience is promised to be both easier and faster, voice-activated searches are available for content both on your phone and the web, and the browser has been "significantly enhanced" with new features like a JIT (just-in-time) JavaScript compiler and HTML5 Video support. BlackBerry Balance is also part of the new OS, allowing you to compartmentalize your personal and professional lives into neat and separate piles of content.