US GOVERNMENT FILES ANTI-TRUST SUIT AGAINST AT&T/T-MOBILE MERGER

The U.S. government sued to block AT&T Inc. (T)’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market. AT&T shares fell as much as 5 percent.

In the complaint filed today in federal court in Washington, the U.S. is seeking a declaration that Dallas-based AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law. The U.S. also asked for a court order blocking any arrangement implementing the deal. “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low- priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market,” the U.S. said in its filing.

Should regulators reject the deal, which would create the biggest U.S. wireless carrier, AT&T would have to pay Deutsche Telekom $3 billion in cash. It would also provide T-Mobile USA with wireless spectrum in some regions and reduced charges for calls into AT&T’s network, for a total package valued at as much as $7 billion, Deutsche Telekom said this month

HP TO CONTINUE BUILDING TOUCHPAD UNTIL OCTOBER

Hewlett-Packard may have killed the TouchPad, but it’s going to continue manufacturing it for just a little while longer.

With demand for the heavily discounted tablet still running high, HP has decided to produce one one last run before sending it off to a final dirt nap. “HP will be manufacturing a limited quantity of TouchPads with webOS during our fourth fiscal quarter 2011, which ends October 31,” the company said in an update posted to its Next Bench Blog.

Presumably, HP’s upstream suppliers are unhappily sitting atop big piles of component inventory. If the demand is there and the inventory is prepped and paid for, why not produce another run — especially if the company intends to continue to update webOS.
So even in death, the Touchpad lives on thanks to that $99 price point which seems to have ginned up the consumer interest that the $499 device could not.

RUMOR: AMAZON'S 10" TABLET NOT SHIPPING UNTIL 2012

Amazon’s second tablet, initially thought to be scheduled for a late 2011 or early 2012 launch, may not begin shipping to users until after the first quarter next year. According to a report from DigiTimes on Wednesday, Amazon will use manufacturing giant Foxconn to assemble its 10-inch tablets, and mass production is not set to begin until some time in the first quarter of 2012. Depending on when production ramps up, this likely means the tablet will not be released until the second quarter at the earliest.

T-MOBILE TO OFFER SIGNAL BOOSTERS TO HELP STEM SUBSCRIBER DECLINE

T-Mobile intends to offer cellular signal boosters to customers looking to switch carriers due to poor reception at home, according to T-Mobile watcher TmoNews. The move appears to be part of a new program intended to slow service quality-related cancellations, which are apparently a significant problem for the nation’s No. 4 carrier. Beginning on September 7th, T-Mobile will seemingly begin offering in-home signal boosters “when a customer triggers for cancellation of service due to poor in-home coverage,” according to a purported leaked internal memo to T-Mobile staff. The memo also warns that signal boosters should never be offered to customers as an incentive when closing a sale. In order to take the signal booster, which will be free of charge, customers will need to sign a new 2-year service contract and it is unclear if they will be permitted to test the level of improvement afforded by the booster before signing.

APPLE RELEASES iTUNES MATCH BETA FOR DEVELOPERS

Apple released a developer beta of the iTunes Match system this evening. The system is described by Apple as follows:

iTunes Match stores your complete music library in iCloud, allowing you to enjoy your collection anywhere, anytime, on any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or computer.

For the $25 yearly fee, iTunes Match will scan your existing iTunes music library and allow you to access it from any of your iTunes-linked Macs or iOS devices. Songs that already exist in Apple's iTunes music store will be streamed straight from Apple's master copy (at 256kbps bitrate) without a need to upload the songs yourself. Songs that don't exist in iTunes will be uploaded to iCloud. Either way, all your music (up to 25,000 songs) will be accessible from your various computers and iOS devices.

What wasn't clear before is the fact that music can be either streamed or downloaded locally to any of your computers or devices. While the video only shows the service on a Mac, we've confirmed it works the same way on iOS devices. So, essentially, you will have instant access to your entire music library from all of your Macs, iPhones, iPads, or iPod touches for only $25/year. This ability on your iOS devices means your music library won't need to take up valuable space on the device itself, as long as you have some sort of internet connection.

iTunes Match is expected to launch alongside iOS 5 this fall

SAMSUNG TO RELEASE CHATON APP FOR iOS, ANDROID, BB AND BADA

Samsung has promised ChatOn for “all major smartphone platforms,” which appears to mean Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and Bada right now. With Samsung also developing Windows phones, it wouldn’t be surprising to see ChatOn appear there, too. Users will be able to send messages and photos, as well as share calendar items. Samsung’s also going to release a web client for carrying on conversations from any device with a modern browser.

DARPA'S HTV-2 FAILS

The prototype Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2) failed its second test flight after having failed the first one. The HTV-2 disappeared without a trace during the first flight. A video of the second failed flight has been released.

The HTV-2 is an unmanned, experimental aircraft that is designed to drop a bomb anywhere in the world. A Minotaur IV Lite launch vehicle takes the HTV-2 into space and releases it. The HTV-2 then reenters the atmosphere and follows a path until it lands in the ocean. Its top speed is Mach 20, twenty times the speed of sound. To give a sense of how fast the HTV-2 is, it can fly from Los Angeles to New York City in less than 12 minutes.

The HTV-2′s first test flight occurred last year. The flight lasted nine minutes before DARPA lost contact with the aircraft. Despite the failure, the test flight proved that the HTV-2 is capable of flying 3.6 miles per second while maintaining GPS signals.

The second test flight occurred on August 11 of this year. The flight lasted nine minutes before DARPA lost contact with the aircraft following the glide phase. DARPA had 22 stations set up along the HTV-2′s flight path to collect data.

FACEBOOK SHELVES "FACEBOOK DEALS"

Facebook has decided to shelve its Facebook Deals product, a service that was launched to compete with other coupon service providers such as Groupon and LivingSocial. “After testing Deals for four months, we’ve decided to end our Deals product in the coming weeks,” Facebook told Reuters. “We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses. We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses.” Facebook will instead focus on Pages, Sponsored Stories and its Ads product. Facebook announced Deals in November and began testing the service in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. It partnered with aDealio, Gilt City, HomeRun, kgb deals, OpenTable, Plum District, PopSugar City, ReachLocal, Tippr, viagogo and zozi to power the service.

GALAXY TAB 10.1 LAUNCH DELAYED IN AUSTRALIA DUE TO APPLE LAWSUIT

Just a few days after suffering a legal setback in Dutch court, Samsung has now decided to delay the launch of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, amid its heightening patent infringement battle with Apple. In a hearing today, the Korean manufacturer announced that it would refrain from selling or marketing its new tablet within Australia, before September 30th. Samsung made a similar concession earlier this month, agreeing to halt sales of its slates until today's hearing and to provide Apple with product samples at least seven days prior to its Australian launch. The company says it presented the samples on Thursday, but Cupertino's lawyers insisted that the Australian version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 still infringes upon its patents. Samsung, meanwhile, said in a statement that it's preparing to launch a counter-attack down under, telling reporters that it "intends to file a cross claim against Apple Australia and Apple Inc regarding the invalidity of the patents previously asserted by Apple and also a cross claim against Apple regarding violation of patents held by Samsung by selling its iPhones and iPads." The next formal court hearings are scheduled for September 26th and 29th.

TOSHIBA REALIZES THIN IS IN

According to Notebook Italia, Toshiba's expected to announce a new ultra-thin tablet at IFA this week, swapping full-size USB and HDMI ports for micro-USB, micro HDMI, and microSD slots in order to shave off a few millimeters from last year's model, leaving the new device with a sleeker, much more appealing design. The rumored slate is expected to ship with a TI OMAP4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor, an edge-to-edge screen, and a brushed-metal housing. Other specs, including Android version and screen size are a bit thin at this point.

RUMOR: APPLE LAUNCHING A TELEVISION IN 2012

Apple is almost certainly working on a digital television based on its iOS operating system, according to multiple sources in Silicon Valley.

An Apple-based television makes sense in light of Apple’s continued expansion out of the computer industry into the larger consumer electronics market. But is it real?

Multiple reports, as well as sources interviewed by VentureBeat, support the rumor, which is widespread among the gadget industry.

• Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst, predicts that Apple will produce a television in late 2012 or early 2013. In an interview with VentureBeat, Munster cited multiple sources, including component suppliers as well as an internal Apple source, to back up his theory. Munster predicts this will be an actual TV, not just a set-top box, and most likely running a version of iOS. (Note: Munster made a similar claim in 2009, except then he said that Apple would have a TV by 2011. He now says “I think the probability is almost zero that it will be this year.”)
• Venture capitalist Stewart Alsop, of Alsop Louie ventures, lent credence to the “iTelevision” theory in an interview with VentureBeat. Alsop sits on the boards of TiVo and Sonos, follows the hardware industry closely, and says he has heard from multiple sources throughout Silicon Valley that the Apple television project is underway.
• The Wall Street Journal mentioned that Apple is “working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service,” according to “sources familiar with the matter.” That’s typically code for an inside source.
• And Cult of Mac notes that the time may be ripe for Apple to make a television, as high-end TVs have started to dip below the $1,000 price threshold.
• Even former Apple CEO Steve Jobs turned the wheels of the rumor mill in 2010, saying that it made sense for Apple to integrate its technology into television sets.

Apple has been testing the waters with its AppleTV, a set-top box that provides access to movies and TV from iTunes as well as other online video content. The company has a number of partnerships with movie studios and television networks, giving it an impressive content library. And its lightweight iOS operating system seems ideally suited for consumer devices (the OS is already under the hood in AppleTV).

Alsop figures the only thing holding Apple back is the cost of LCD screens, which has been a limiting factor in all of Apple’s iOS products since 2007.

The company initially planned to make a tablet when it started planning a touchscreen-centric computer in the mid-2000s. But, Alsop says, the cost of the display was prohibitively expensive, so Apple instead focused on applying the technology to a device with a smaller, cheaper LCD: The iPhone.

The price of LCD panels has droped fairly steadily, thanks to increased manufacturing efficiency, so eventually quality screens became cheap enough to make the 9.7-inch iPad economically feasible.

It won’t be long, Alsop predicts, before 15-inch or 19-inch touchscreen televisions running iOS hit the scene, probably in time for the 2012 holiday season. That’s big enough to be a serviceable TV for the kitchen, bedroom or dorm room.

More importantly, iOS will enable Apple to transform the television into something that doesn’t just show videos, but also plays games, runs apps, lets you check your schedule and tweet about what YouTube movie you happen to watching at that moment.

And it could tie seamlessly into other Apple devices, like the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, giving the company an enviable full-circle consumer product line. The vision might look something like what Corning, the makers of Gorilla Glass (widely believed to be the glass used for the face of the iPhone and iPad), predicted in a promotional video it published in February, below.

“You look at TVs in Best Buy and they’re the same damn things that they’ve been building for 30, 40, 50 years,” said Alsop. Although the display technology has changed and the screens are flat and high-resolution now instead of huge, low-res cathode screens, the fundamental act of watching TV is pretty much the same: Sit back and flip the channels.

“Apple will do to television manufacturers what it did to phone makers with the iPhone,” Alsop said

APPLE STOPS RENTING TV SHOWS THROUGH iTUNES, POSSIBLE NEW VIDEO SERVICE COMING

Apple has pulled the plug on TV episode rentals via iTunes, abruptly leaving customers with only the option of purchasing per episode -- good thing you can watch those on your Apple TV streamed from the cloud -- or a Season Pass where available. AllThingsD has a quote from spokesman Tom Neumayr indicating this was in response to customers that "overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows." Making the timing of the move particularly curious are once-again renewed rumors of an Apple HDTV and a WSJ profile of new CEO Tim Cook that indicates the company is "working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service." Like Google, any move depends on its success in negotiating a new delivery model from the networks, who so far have been averse to anything that threatens their existing relationship with pay-TV providers.

LEAK: SONY TABLETS

We've got more info for you on the pair of Android tablets Sony plans to launch next year month, as our source indicates the dual 5.5-inch screened clamshell, thus far codenamed the S2, will launch as the Sony Tablet P. Hardware specs include a weight of 370 grams -- less than the iPad 2's 601 grams, but more than say, a Kyocera Echo at 193g -- 512Mb of RAM, 4GB of storage and a 2GB SD card, with connectivity over 4G or WiFi. Both the Tablet P and the Tablet S will share NVIDIA Tegra 2 processors and 0.3MP (not 3.0MP as we'd previously reported) front cameras, but the more conventional, WiFi-only Tablet S weighs in at 600g, has 1GB of RAM and will be available in 16GB or 32GB versions. There's still no word on price or exact shipping dates (though rumor is it will launch in September) but retailers have reportedly been told to expect more information soon, so stay tuned for further updates.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS GIVE EACH PLAYER AN iPAD WITH PLAYBOOK AND VIDEOS

The NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done away with the playbook...well the paper kind anyway. They have given each of their 90 players iPad 2s filled with plays and videos. "It's crazy how much technology has changed the game," second-year safety Cody Grimm said. "Back in the day, I think probably the whole team had to sit down with a projector and a reel, and watch the film together. They'd have the whole offense in the same meeting room. Now we all have our own iPad. Stuff that we used to come in here to see, we can sit on our couch at home and have access to it 24-7. It's awesome."

The idea to download playbooks on an iPad was hatched by coach Raheem Morris, who used one to watch video of draft prospects with general manager Mark Dominik and player personnel director Dennis Hickey. The people responsible for turning Morris' vision into reality were team director of football technology Chris Wells and video director Dave Levy.

It's also a perfect study enticement for the youngest roster in the NFL, a group of 20-somethings who are gadget-giddy and technologically savvy to begin with.

FEDERAL JUDGE DENIES CLASS ACTION STATUS OF VERIZON LAWSUIT

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has ruled that Verizon customers who take issue with “fraudulent” cell phone charges must arbitrate individually with the carrier instead of filing a class-action lawsuit in court, Reuters recently reported. A group of current and former Verizon Wireless customers originally filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that it was “unconscionable” for Verizon Wireless to require customers to arbitrate any unfair charges in their contracts. According to Reuters, arbitration can often be viewed as favorable for a large company because it can be more expensive for consumers to file charges in courts individually instead of as a group.

LENOVO'S RORY READ JUMPS SHIPS TO BE AMD'S PRESIDENT AND CEO

AMD has finally found itself a permanent CEO. The company today named Rory P. Read to the post, also announcing that he'll serve as President and as a member of the board of directors. Read most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Lenovo, and spent 23 years serving in a variety of roles at IBM prior to that. He replaces AMD CFO Thomas Seifert (now returning to his original role), who had been serving as interim CEO since the departure of Dirk Meyer -- who himself only became CEO in 2008 when Hector Ruiz stepped down. For his part, Read says that he's "very pleased to be joining AMD at this important time in its history," and that "AMD is a true innovator and is uniquely positioned to lead the industry forward, delivering the next big thing both within the PC ecosystem and beyond."

VERIZON INTRODUCES GOPAYMENT CREDIT CARD READER FOR TABLETS AND PHONES

In partnership with Intuit, Verizon Wireless introduced a mobile payment solution for small and medium businesses called GoPayment. The service will provide customers with a small credit card reader and a mobile application that allows businesses to charge credit cards using a smartphone or tablet. Here’s how it works: a business simply needs to plug the card reader into the 3.5mm audio jack of a tablet or smartphone. Cards can then be swiped and payments are processed immediately. Verizon Wireless says the credit card reader and application are supported on Android, iOS and BlackBerry. The GoPayment credit card reader is free with a GoPayment account and after a $29.97 mail-in rebate. Intuit takes a 2.7% cut of swiped transactions on free GoPayment accounts but customers who sign up for a $12.95 monthly option can pay a lower 1.7% per-transaction rate.

TICKETMASTER AND FACEBOOK TEAM UP FOR SOCIAL SEATING

One of the biggest hassles about buying tickets to a concert is getting your friends to buy when you do. With major arena shows, like Katy Perry or Bob Dylan, for example, there are literally thousands of seats to fill and if you don’t buy you and your friends’ tickets together, there’s a good chance you’ll be sitting across the stadium from each other. But there may be an easier way. Today, Ticketmaster announced that it has teamed up with Facebook to make buying tickets a little easier.

Ticketmaster rolled out its interactive seat maps feature about a year ago, but the company just released a new interactive seating map feature that lets ticket buyers see where their friends are sitting. To do this, you have to connect your Facebook account to Ticketmaster, and then when you get to the part of the ticket-buying process where you have an option to choose your seats, you can look at where your Facebook friends are sitting, as well as anyone else on Facebook who made their seat location public.

Once you buy your ticket, you’ll have the option of making your seat location public to everyone, your friends, or no one. Also, if you’ve already bought tickets to something, you can go back in and tag your seat number. The sat map will show tiny Facebook flags to denote your friends’ seats. You can hover over the flag to see who’s sitting there, which can be creepy if you accidentally make your seat location public and anyone buying a ticket can see where you’ll be sitting.

The interactive seat map will let you buy the closest ticket possible to your friend, but there’s no guarantee that even if you try to buy a ticket a half an hour after your friend that there will be seats nearby. Also, for the shows where pricing is tiered from the cheapo nose-bleed seats to the expensive orchestra seats, you may be upset to find your friends can afford nicer seats than you.

STEVE JOBS STEPS DOWN AS CEO OF APPLE, TIM COOK REMOVES INTERIM FROM TITLE

In a letter to the Apple Board of Directors Steve Jobs stepped down from the CEO position. He will still remain as Chairman of the Board. Steve's letter to the board is below.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Art Levinson, speaking on behalf of the board, said "Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Apple has announced Tim Cook will fill the role of CEO, a position he held as interim CEO while Steve was on sabbatical. “The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

JUDGE SHOOTS DOWN GOVERNMENTS REQUEST FOR VERIZON LOCATION DATA

On Monday a federal judge from the Eastern District of New York denied the US government's application asking Verizon Wireless to hand over 113 days of customer location data. Washington has long debated whether or not the Constitution protects modern day communications that include a third party (like cell phone conversations supported by a carrier company), and non-conversational meta data (like cellular GPS location data). Some say that buying a cell phone and using a carrier's services waives one's privacy rights in that data, while others claim we have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such info under the Fourth Amendment. In making his decision, Judge Nicholas Garaufis held that "the fiction that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by 'choosing' to carry a cell phone must be rejected."

As communications tech continues to change, these questions will likely be revisited. That's why Judge Garaufis went on to say that "in light of drastic developments in technology, the Fourth Amendment doctrine must evolve to preserve cell-phone user's reasonable expectation of privacy in cumulative cell-site-location records."

LEAK: HTC PUCCINI TABLET

According to sources, the Android-based HTC Puccini tablet is currently in testing, and should be hitting the markets in the not-too-distant future. The tablet is expected to have a 1.5GHz dual-core processor is onboard, alongside 1GB of RAM, Honeycomb, 16GB of storage, an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 10.1-inch WXGA touchpanel. Puccini is expected to hit the US next month, however there is no word on pricing yet.

RUMOR: SAMSUNG BUYING HP PC BUSINESS

According to a new report from DigiTimes, Samsung may be eyeing a purchase of HP’s PC division, which would catapult the South Korea-based electronics giant past Dell and into the No. 1 PC vendor spot globally. The report states that Samsung is currently meeting with various leading manufacturers including Quanta and Compal to investigate outsourcing the production of its own netbook computers. Samsung has held similar meetings in the past to no avail, but anonymous source tell DigiTimes that the company may be particularly motivated this time around as it negotiates a deal to take over HP’s PC business and free up space to build the machines in its own factories.

ANDROID OS GETS BOOST AT THE EXPENSE OF iOS

Millennial Media reports a sizable swing in smartphone usage for the first time in several months, with Android usage on the firm’s network increasing from 54% in June to 61% in July. Android’s lead as reported by Millennial’s Mobile Mix report now extends through its eight consecutive month, and Apple’s iOS again finds itself a distant No. 2. While iOS has declined slowly but steadily over the past few months on the Millennial ad network, July saw Apple’s OS drop six points to 21%. IOS lost just one point in each of the previous two months. RIM’s BlackBerry platform dropped one point to 14% in July, Symbian slid one point to 2% and Windows Phone stayed flat at 2%.

TOYOTA TACKLES THE NURBURGRING TO CAPTURE THE EV SPEED RECORD

Toyota is taking to the Nurburging this week in an effort to capture the electric vehicle speed record. The current record is nine minutes, 1.388 seconds for the 12.9 miles of the Nordschleife course. Toyota's electric vehicle's power comes from two electric motors pushing it to a top speed of 174 MPH (260 kmph). These motors utilize lithium-ceramic batteries to help save weight.

The company hopes breaking the record will show racing fans just how far electric cars have come ,and help remove some of the stodgy plodding stigma, with GM Ludwig Zeller saying, "Many people are still dreaming of an electric future for motorsport; at TMG we believe this is much closer than some think."

GOOGLE BEGINS BETA TESTING FIBER DEPLOYMENT IN STANFORD

A lucky user at Reddit is reporting that Google's fiber internet connection is up and running in the Palo Alto, CA area. The mouth watering speeds he is claiming are free to all students and faculty at Stanford. No word on when the Kansas Cities deployment will be lit up.

RUMOR: APPLE TO INTRODUCE REDESIGNED MAC BY END OF 2011

Apple may be working on an entirely new Mac product, according to macotakara.jp. The website cites an “anonymous Apple supplier” who says that Apple is working on a new Mac family that will be “absolutely different” from what the Cupertino-based company currently offers. It is unclear what “absolutely different” parts the computers will have, but we suspect it could involve an entirely revamped industrial design and upgraded internal hardware.

Apple most recently updated its MacBook Air and Mac mini lines and also introduced a sub-$1,000 iMac for education. However, we have yet to see an updated Mac Pro, which was originally rumored to launch in August with Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors. Apple typically doesn’t announce new Macs during its iPhone or iPod events, so we’re not sure we’ll hear about this in September either.

RUMOR: CHEAPER iPHONE 4 DEBUTING WITH iPHONE 5

The latest news coming out of Korea is that Apple is busy having two new smartphones manufactured. The first is a cheap model of the iPhone 4 that will only include 8GB of on-board storage. Coupled with iOS 5 and iCloud it makes sense that Apple can get away with less local storage to save on costs. It also offers the company a way to target other markets that can’t afford the higher price of the older iPhone 4 models.

It is expected this new, cheap model could be offered for $150.

MICROSOFT GOES AFTER WEBOS DEVS WITH FREE PHONES AND TRAINING

If you are a WebOS developer the last few days have not been easy, but the good news is that WebOS has received some much needed media attention. As the old saying goes, "It doesn't matter what they are saying about you as long as they spell your name right."

In other good news (depending on your outlook) Microsoft, via Senior Director of Windows Phone 7 Development, Brandon Watson, is reaching out to published WebOS developers and offering them free Windows Phones, plus all the necessary tools and training to convert them to Windows Phone developers. According to Watson he has received over 600 emails inquiring about his offer as of Sunday night.

WHAT DID WE LEARN FROM THE HP TOUCHPAD?

HP announced they are getting out of the consumer hardware business last week. The surprising move came just 2 years after HP paid $2.4 billion for Palm and its WebOS software and just 10 years after buying competitor Compaq for around $25 billion. The purchase of Compaq made HP, at the time, the largest computer company in the world. After just 10 short years they managed to squander that title and their consumer hardware market has slid into oblivion.

What is amazing is that HP has inadvertently shed light on post-PC era and the problem many companies are having as they take on the current hardware leader Apple and its ubiquitous iPad. A lot of critics and tech pundits have lamented that lack of apps leading to HP’s decision to pull the plug on its Touchpad, however what has happened in the last 3 days has proved that to be inaccurate. HP has a vibrant WebOS App Catalog suite for both the Pre series of smartphones but also the Touchpad. The WebOS had a loyal following and dedicated community as well. So what did HP show the rest of the companies chasing Apple? Price point!

Since Apple introduced the iPad, other companies have been trying to duplicate its success most notably with Google’s Android OS. Android has done a good job of creating a number of apps for its App Marketplace and all the tablets combined still trail the iPad. So why are Android tablets trailing Apple’s? There are a few reasons such as marketing, fanboydom, etc., however there is one that is most telling and has come to light with the HP announcement, price point!

All tablet manufacturers have priced their products at the same price point, or close to it, as Apple’s in the misunderstanding that is the “sweet” spot for tablets. It is….for Apple! HP was only in the tablet market for about month and upon entering did what every other company did, priced the Touchpad around the iPad price point. Within a few weeks they dropped the price $100 to help boost sales, which it did, but not enough for HP to continue. When the word got out that HP Touchpads could now be purchased for as little as $99 they flew off the shelves and it is almost impossible to find one. What drove this sell off? Price point!

While it would not be good business to sell quality tablets for less than it costs to manufacturer them, companies need to understand that simply blindly following another company does a number of things, or doesn’t do them as the case may be. One, it just makes the following company a perpetual number 2 since all they are doing is following. Second, it decreases innovation since all future products are really coming from one company with all others just replicating the same thing. Other tablet manufacturers need to understand that in order to effectively compete with Apple’s iPad they need to give consumers a reason to pick their product over the hype of the iPad AND aggressively price their offerings to entice consumers to purchase their products.

RIM LAUNCHING REDESIGNED BLACKBERRY APP WORLD AUGUST 22ND

RIM is prepping to roll out a brand spanking new BlackBerry App World. Scheduled to launch Monday, version 3.0 features a retooled interface for quick perusal of apps, games and themes -- if the beta release is any indication. Another added feature is the My World storage folder that keeps all of your downloads on the home screen and lets you wirelessly reinstall them should you accidentally delete one or upgrade devices. Sure, there are rumblings that the BB music service will be a part of this release, but as Reuters reported, that announcement isn't expected until early September.

RUMOR: BLACKBERRY MUSIC SERVICE TO COST $5 PER MONTH FOR 50 SONGS

According to All Things D the rumored Blackberry Music Service (BBM), that we reported on earlier this week, will cost $5/month for access to 50 songs. The BBM will run on top of the messenger service. Earlier reports have RIM in discussions with the big music houses and reportedly have already secured a deal with at least one of them.

The BBM is seen as a way for RIM to break out of the enterprise market, which they at one time dominated but in recent years have seen the iPhone and Android overtaking it, and into the consumer market.

TEH GAY GEEK TURNS 1!!!!

One year ago I started this blog and had no idea what I was doing nor what to expect. The past year has been very interesting. There have been a number of times I thought about not posting for a day or quitting all together, but it seems every time I would think about that we would get a new twitter follower, or our page views would increase. I realize there are a lot of tech sites out there and I want to thank each of you for your continued support.

What would you like to see change about Teh Gay Geek? Do you want product reviews? More rumors? More frequent updates? Tell us so we can make this site a premier tech site on the internet for everyone!

One Year Stats:

20,758 Visitors
28,218 Pageviews
Visitors from 149 countries

Browser:

Firefox - 33.15%
Chrome - 27.80%
IE - 19.38%
Safari - 15.04%
Opera - 1.62%

Thank you for a exciting first year!

HP TOUCHPAD PRICES DROP SIGNIFICANTLY

In a memo sent to HP affiliates, the company issued the declaration to begin liquidating TouchPad inventories, with a price cut of $300 or more:

HP will be lowering the price of the TouchPad beginning Saturday 8/20/11. This is the lowest price ever for the TouchPad so please post it as soon as it goes live.

16GB TouchPad- $99; 32GB TouchPad - $149

The pricing may be set to go live tomorrow, but that hasn’t stopped some retailers. Best Buy Canada and Future Shop have already implemented the new pricing, and we expect others will follow through shortly.

APPLE FOUND TO BE MANIPULATING IMAGES IN SAMSUNG LAWSUIT AGAIN

Dutch technology news site Webwereld on Friday uncovered new images that suggest Apple may again be tampering with photographic evidence used in its case against Samsung. In this instance, it appears as though an image submitted to a court in the Netherlands intentionally misrepresents the South Korea-based company’s Galaxy S II smartphone. While the Galaxy S II is both wider and taller than Apple’s iPhone 3GS, the image Apple submitted as evidence shows a device that is exactly the same height as the iPhone that appears next to it.

This past Monday, we reported that Apple may have altered the dimensions of an image of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in an effort to make it look more like the iPad when submitted as evidence to a German court. While that instance seemed extremely dubious — Apple’s legal team actually presented an image where the physical proportions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 were altered to match the iPad — the Galaxy S II image seen above appears to just be reduced in size. The accusations are serious nonetheless, and Samsung’s legal team is undoubtedly examining the images in order to determine whether or not to take action.

FACEBOOK'S LIKE BUTTON DECLARED ILLEGAL IN GERMAN STATE

Germany has a long tradition of using laws to protect its citizen’s privacy. Home owners, for example, can ask Google to pixelate their houses in Street View (maybe so that their garden gnomes can stay incognito?). Facebook’s facial recognition feature has also come under fire in recent weeks.

The latest target of Germany’s privacy advocates is Facebook’s ‘like’ button („Gefällt mir,“ in German). Thilo Weichert, the head of the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, argues that Internet sites based in his state that use the ‘like’ button are illegally sending this data to Facebook, which in turn uses it to illegally create a profile of its users web habits.

Weichert argues that data from any user who clicks the ‘like’ button – including those who are not Facebook users (which seems to be the crux of the problem for Weichert) – is immediately transmitted to a server in the United States. Weichert told German newspaper FAZ that his concern is that “Facebook can track every click on a site, how long I’m there, what I’m interested in.”

According to the Independent Centre for Privacy Protection’s press release, Facebook uses this data to create “a broad individual and for members even a personalised profile. Such a profiling infringes German and European data protection law. There is no sufficient information of users and there is no choice; the wording in the conditions of use and privacy statements of Facebook does not nearly meet the legal requirements relevant for compliance of legal notice, privacy consent and general terms of use.”

German websites based in the state of Schleswig-Holstein have until the end of September to remove Facebook‘s ‘like’ button or face a fine of up to 50,000 Euro.

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.

RUMOR: SPRINT IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE CLEARWIRE

Bloomberg is reporting Clearwire is currently in talks to sell its business to Sprint, and perhaps secure the funding it so desperately needs for a network build out. According to several insider sources, the third place wireless carrier's considering a joint investment (amongst other options) with Comcast, Cablevision and Cox, that would give the cablers a bundled high-speed, wireless broadband competitive advantage, and Sprint an LTE boost in its battle against AT&T and Verizon's rival 4G networks.

None of the players in this rumored takeover have yet to comment on the purported transaction, although the business gossip has had quite an uplifting effect on Clearwire's shares.

RUMOR: RIM IN TALKS TO CREATE MUSIC SERVICE

According to both CNET and Reuters, "sources with knowledge" revealed that RIM is in negotiations with "the four largest record companies" to launch a service that would "run on top of BlackBerry Messenger." What that means, exactly, is anyone's guess at the moment, but word is the mobile phone maker has already signed one label, and is close to snagging two more. The sources are saying the music service will be announced September 5th.

RUMOR: ANDROID 4 "ICE CREAM SANDWICH" PHONE COULD LAUNCH IN OCTOBER

Google’s third-generation “Nexus Prime” smartphone, which will likely be the first Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” phone to hit the market, will launch in October according to a new report from Korean-language Electronic Times. This new report from Electronic Times reaffirms several specs reported earlier, such as the device’s 720p Super AMOLED HD display, and it narrows our fall release time frame to October.

The report also claims that the Prime will be powered by a 1.5GHz processor, jibing with earlier report stating the device would employ an OMAP4460 chipset. The site also notes that the Prime’s display will include a 4.5-inch panel with a PenTile layout.

CELL PHONE RADIATION MAY MAKE YOU STERILE

First it was brain tumors, now researchers are saying cell phone radiation can make men sterile. According to an article in the latest Journal of Andrology, recent reports have suggested there is a “possible link between cell phone use and semen quality.” One study performed on rabbits found that those who were exposed to a mobile phone emitting at 800MHz for 8 hours a day over 12 weeks had a decrease in sperm concentration just six weeks into the study. Sperm motility, or how properly a sperm can swim towards can egg, began to falter in the tenth week. Similar results were found in rats and mice, too.

Clinical studies have concluded that cellular use is “associated with decreased sperm concentration, motility, morphology, and viability.” According to Dr. Sandro La Vignera from University of Catania, exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (EF-EMR) “reduces testosterone biosynthesis, impairs spermatogenesis, and damages sperm DNA.” Despite the evidence, however, the author concludes that more studies are still necessary.

HP KILLS TOUCHPAD, WEBoS AND PHONES; SPIN OFF OR SELLING COMPUTER BUSINESS

In a shocking announcement HP has said it is exiting the tablet computer and smartphone business and either selling or spinning off its PC division. The most immediate impact to consumers is the end of the Touchpad, which was just launched a month ago, and HP branded smartphones, notably the Palm series.

The announcement was a surprise especially considering HP paid almost $2 billion just two years ago for WebOS owner Palm. WebOS has been praised by the tech industry, but generally ignored by consumers.

HP will continue to sell servers and business equipment while it ramps up to become a software and services business.

VERIZON WIRELESS 4G LTE NOW AVAILABLE TO HALF OF US POPULATION; AT&T NOT SO MUCH

Verizon Wireless on Thursday announced that its lightning fast 4G LTE network now covers more than half of the U.S. population. We have repeatedly called Verizon’s LTE network the fastest cellular network we’ve ever used, and the fact that the carrier has been able to roll it out so quickly with only a few hiccups is nothing short of impressive. ”In eight short months we’ve introduced our 4G LTE network to more than half of the U.S. population, while continuing to offer the nation’s most reliable 3G network coast to coast,” said David Small, chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless, in a statement. “This matters to millions of Americans because they can take advantage of faster 4G LTE speeds both at home and when they travel throughout the country – today and in many more markets to come this year. Each new market and expansion is significant as it brings us closer to delivering on the promise to bring our 4G LTE network to more than 185 million Americans by the end of 2011.”

AT&T on the other hand has just started deploying its LTE in a limited number of markets.

GAME DEVELOPER CRYTEK TO MAKE ITS GAME ENGINE FREE

Games developers are being spoiled for choice recently with the engines they can experiment with and use free of charge. Unity is free to use, Unreal Engine has gone free to use, and now today Crytek has announced the rather delicious CryEngine 3 is now free of an up front payment too.

Of course, the free model these engines work on means they only remain that way as long as your project is non-commercial. Want to sell the game you made? Then Crytek, as with the others will want some cash in the form of a standard licensing agreement. But until that point you have free access to the code base and tools, meaning you can learn without spending a dime.

RUMOR: APPLE TO INVEST $1 BILLION IN SHARP LCD FACTORY

Apple may invest $1 billion in a Sharp LCD factory to ensure adequate production of screens for its iPhone and iPad, according to MF Global FXA Securities analyst David Rubenstein. Apple typically buys its LCD displays from Samsung, LG and Chimei Innolux, although recent reports have suggested the iPhone maker has boosted its orders with Samsung after LG failed to meet iPad 2 display requirements.

Apple’s recent legal battles with Samsung in the United States, the European Union and Australia could be why the company is looking to invest in other manufacturers. “If the situation escalates into a state of war, this could mean a huge shift in orders,” a source told Reuters, suggesting that Apple could give larger orders to Elpida Memory and Toshiba.

Sharp is expected to provide the LCD displays for Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone, which is expected to launch next year.

VERIZON TO PULL HEALTH BENEFITS OF STRIKING WORKERS ON AUGUST 31

After disagreements over new contracts, 45,000 Verizon workers, or roughly 25% of the company’s workforce, went on strike on August 7th. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers refuse to pay a $100 monthly premium on their health benefits and do not agree with other contract terms, but now they may have no benefits at all. Verizon is threatening to pull all health benefits from any employees who are still striking on August 31st.

Verizon has already filed a lawsuit against the Communications Workers of America accusing the union of harassment and sabotage, and it has been granted injunctions against picketers in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The unions aren’t happy: “We feel the company is exercising any means possible to make our members suffer in hopes of breaking our units,” president of CWA Local 2204 Chuck Simpson told reporters.

Formal talks between the workers and Verizon are ongoing, and Verizon said it sent letters out to give strikers enough time to find alternative benefits.

AT&T DROPS MESSAGING PLAN OPTIONS FROM TWO TO ONE

Confirmed by multiple sources and just recently AT&T, the wireless carrier is trimming its individual messaging packages from two to one on August 21st. The Messaging Unlimited plan for $20, which means the $10 bundle that offers 1000 messages is being retired.

If you aren't keen to do much communicating within 160 characters, you'll be left with no other choice besides the pay-per-message option at twenty cents each (thirty cents for MMS). Fortunately, the Family Unlimited Messaging is left unscathed, continuing to offer all-you-can-eat texts for $30.

FIREFOX 6 NOW OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE

You may have caught wind of one sly fox unofficially popping up over the weekend. Well, as we reported, that fox, specifically Firefox 6, is now officially ready for your downloading pleasure. If you're a diehard Mozilla fan, or just an armchair browser expert, you're probably already hip to the new Firefox rapid refresh cycle that's seen three releases in the past five months.

If your browser has not updated, or to see which version you are using, click the Firefox button in the upper right and select Help and About Firefox.

APPLE RELEASES OS X LION UPDATE

Apple on Tuesday released OS X Lion 10.7.1 to Mac users. According to Apple it

The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

• Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
• Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
• Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
• Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.

The update can be downloaded immediately from the OS X update utility.

TABLETS NOT SELLING WELL FORCING PRICE CUTS, UNLESS YOU ARE APPLE

While Apple’s iPad continues on its warpath, other tablet makers are not finding it quite as easy to offload their Android and Windows slates — which is understandable, considering they’re doing it wrong. While Apple managed to ship 9.25 million iPads last quarter and some retailers are still having trouble keeping inventory in stock, other consumer tablet vendors are reportedly having a difficult time pushing their wares past retail channels and into the hands of end users. Even the success stories among tablet vendors are exhibiting less-than-stellar sell-through, with companies like ASUS, creator of the popular Eee Pad Transformer, said to have left nearly 30% of the 700,000 tablets it shipped between May and July on store shelves. As a result, tablet vendors like Samsung, Motorola and HP will be forced to lower their prices in an effort to bolster weak sales, DigiTimes reports. HP has already offered two limited-time sales on its TouchPad tablet since it launched just last month, and now the company has permanently shaved $100 from its tablet’s price tag. Motorola also recently lowered the price of its XOOM tablet, leaving the 32GB model priced evenly with Apple’s 16GB iPad. DigiTimes says its sources are anticipating two more waves of tablet price cuts this year, one in September and another approaching the holiday season.