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Dish Network won't try to beat SoftBank's US$21.6 billion bid for Sprint Nextel, apparently clearing the way for the Japanese service provider to buy Sprint.Dish set off a bidding war for the third-largest U.S. mobile operator in January, and in April its offer for Sprint rose to $25.5 billion. But last week, when SoftBank sweetened its own offer, Sprint said Dish's plan couldn't be carried out and gave the company until Tuesday to submit its "best and final" offer. Sprint said it had cut off talks with Dish and requested its aggressive suitor destroy Sprint documents it had obtained in the due-diligence process.In a statement Tuesday, Dish said Sprint had made it impossible to submit a new bid."While Dish continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint, the decisions made by Sprint to prematurely terminate our due diligence process and accept extreme deal protections in its revised agreement with SoftBank, among other things, have made it impracticable for Dish to submit a revised offer by the June 18th deadline imposed by Sprint," Dish wrote. "We will consider our options with respect to Sprint, and focus our efforts and resources on completing the Clearwire tender offer."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MDP benchmarks: prepare for ludicrous speed -

As we are heading into the final two quarters of 2013 during which a new generation of mobile devices is going to be launched, and many of them will be undoubtedly powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chip. We knew this [...] Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.

Whatever you think of Kanye West, the release of his sixth album is a big deal. I'm totally biased, I've already listened to the album probably two dozen times, and "Blood on the Leaves" is an early favorite. Read more...

It’s entirely possible that money really does make the world go round, but we reckon it’s probably beer that keeps it lubricated. Sorry to do two boozy ones in a row but it’s true. We like beer. And we’re not alone. As the summer finally arrives...

Heavy texters who are joined at the hip with their smartphones could see that figure of speech become more literal in the future, as Intel has suggested it is working on wearable devices."We're looking at novel display devices," said Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner at Bloomberg's The Next Big Thing Summit this week.Rattner said that Intel is starting to build such devices internally and confirmed that it has experimental devices in the labs that could stream short messages like texts."Particularly if you think of how much texting goes on today, wouldn't it be nice if you could just glance at your wrist and see the message traffic?""[This is] as opposed to 'you have to pull out your phone and you have to be very public about it.'"Winding the smartwatch batteryIntel may be poised to take on the emerging wearable computing market, Rattner pointed out."[It] requires a complete rethink of how you design systems and how you program systems.""One of the challenges we see, and something that we're giving a lot of attention to - not surprisingly - is how does the silicon change if you're going to wear technology."As the executive for the world's No. 1 semiconductor company, he estimates that devices worn all day long will have to be ten times more efficient than cell phones."That's where we're doing a lot of work."Intel's rivalsIntel already has up-and-running rivals in the wearable technology field. Google Glass, for example, has already released to developers in the form of Explorer Edition glasses.Even more closely linked to what Rattner is talking about, the Pebble Watch streams messages from phones, and Apple could dominate the space with a similar iWatch without even trying.But the first sign of Intel's progress in this area comes from its next-generation chip technology, Merrifield, which incorporates sensors that understand environments to save battery life.This energy-efficient 22nm Silvermont chip could be the key to Intel gaining marketshare over its rivals who already have a foot or wristhold.Here's what we think the Apple iWatch could look like.

The latest move in the standoff between Softbank, Sprint, Dish Network and Clearwire has been made, as Dish stated today it will not submit another bid for Sprint. This comes after Sprint sued to stop Dish from buying Clearwire, which the satellite company called an attempt to deflect attention from its own unfair dealings. If you'll recall, Dish Network jumped in with a $25.5 billion offer to buy Sprint, but after Japanese carrier Softbank improved its proposal slightly, Sprint put Dish on a deadline to respond. That time limit expired today, and Dish is choosing to consider its options on Sprint, while focusing on completing the Clearwire deal. Filed under: Mobile, Sprint Comments Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, Dish Network

Okay PRISM. It's enough already. Erosion of privacy! Whatever. Apathy is setting in. But actually we should probably all be putting some thought into what we're doing with our private information. Maybe you're already trying to. But it can feel like the walls have eyes no matter where you go. Prism Break is a guide to opting out.Read more...

Two accelerators find signs of a particle that nobody can explain by @j_timmer

Amazon announced on Tuesday that it has launched social Birthday Gift cards for Facebook friends.  The unique aspect to Amazon's digital gift cards on Facebook, aside from the ability to attach messages, is that any of the recipient’s Facebook friends...