Phones

iOS developers using the Unity engine for their apps and games no longer have to pay the $800 licensing fee.

Clearwire's Board of Directors has approved a revised offer from Sprint to acquire a remaining 50% stake in the company. Sprint had previously offered $2.97 per share, or $2.2 billion, for the wireless broadband wholesaler. After several shareholders voiced their concerns about the sale, Sprint decided to raise its offer to $3.40 per share. The revised bid valued Clearwire at $10.7 billion and represented a 14% premium over the original bid. The board is recommending shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition when they meet on May 31st. Clearwire's press release follows below.Continue reading...

Apple’s voice assistant Siri hasn’t faced a lot of competition since its release, but now that Google Now is available for iOS, there’s a little bit of insecurity in the air. There are some users who prefer Siri, while others are adapting to the search recognition offered by Google Now. It’s also possible for iOS users to use both with the latest Googiri Cydia tweak that enables users to get answers to their queries from Siri. All the user has to do is to say ‘Siri’ before making any request to Google Voice search. There’s also an option to disable Google Search and use the text-to-speech feature entirely with Siri. After downloading and installing the tweak, a new menu is going to appear in the stock Settings app. There will be two main toggles, followed by the option to donate to the developer and other credits. The first toggle is for making the tweak active or inactive. The second toggle ‘Send All To Siri’ can be used when users want Google Now to transfer all queries to Siri. Turning the second toggle off requires users to say ‘Hey Siri’ or ‘Siri’ before making any query in the Google Search. There are also words in the menu that can be said to transfer any queries to Siri from Google Search. Turning on the second option doesn’t require users to say anything. All the queries said out to Google Search are dealt by Siri automatically. Check out the video demo to see it in action: Googiri is a new concept and a free download from Cydia Store. It’s available at the BigBoss repository and will be a great addition for those who want to combine the voice recognition power of Siri and Google Now. The toggles are simple and easy to use. Let us know if you give it a try. This article, Googiri: Team Up Siri & Google Now Voice Recognition, was originally published at simonblog.com.

A Motorola XT1056 recently passed through the FCC showing support for Sprint’s LTE bands.  Judging by the model number, we might assume this is one of the rumored XFON (X Phone) devices slated for arrival in the near future. With this model we now have three seemingly confirmed XFON devices to look forward to. Already known are AT&T’s XT1058 and Verizon’s XT1060 so this just leaves T-Mobile as the lone “big” carrier to be on board. Unfortunately are no new details to add to the mix for the XFON projects; specifications thus far point to a mid-to-high end experience with a 720p HD display dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. Motorola and Google have been talking a big game of late as it pertains to devices that really “wow” us. Based on the early reported specs we have to think these need a little more under the hood. If not in hardware then we’ll definitely need more in the software and experience department.  Then again, these could just be the last line of products getting pushed out before the real drool-worthy stuff shows up. Whatever happens with the X Phone / XFON we get the sense that it will fail to deliver entirely. After all, there’s always something else to look forward to. Why doesn’t it have ‘X’ or do ‘Y’? Ugh, why did they only put ‘Z’ in there? Sounds like every other smartphone release on the planet… Via Engadget The post Sprint’s XFON may have passed through FCC appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Life at HTC is apparently worse than any of us initially suspected. After over a year of disappointing quarters, followed by manufacturing woes of their latest flagship, the One, the company is reportedly in “disarray.” A report out of The Verge last night paints a picture of a company who has lost key members of [...] HTC Reportedly in “Disarray,” Key Staff Members Take... Click the post title to continue through and join the conversation!

Cricket today announced that it will start selling the Samsung Galaxy S 4 on June 7 for $599.99. A financing option starts with a $59.99 down payment, plus monthly payments.

With the first round of announcements behind us, the only thing that's clear in the inevitable and perpetual Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4 battle is that there is no clear winner. Microsoft finally unveiled its next-generation video game console on Tuesday and once all the dust settled, Anandtech's Anand Lal Shimpi took a step back and laid out everything we know about these two beastly consoles. Lal Shimpi's analysis is extensive and thorough, as always, but it boils down to this: Based on what we know at this point, Sony has the edge in terms of specs and raw power.Continue reading...

Monthly payment installments and Cricket's unique Muve Music services are part of the prepaid carrier's plan to lure new customers. Originally posted at CTIA 2012

Ready for some more 4G LTE love, AT&T customers? That's precisely what your carrier has got for you today, as AT&T has announced that its LTE network is now available in several new markets across the U.S. The full rundown of cities that've recently joined AT&T's Club LTE is as follows: New markets Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif. Ventura-Oxnard, Calif. Elizabethtown, Ky. Outer Banks, N.C., includes Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo (Roanoke Island), Nags Head, Rodanthe, Southern Shores and Wanchese. Anderson, S.C. Laramie, Wyo. Expanded markets Jersey Shore, now includes Asbury Park, Atlantic Highlands, Bradley Beach, Brick, Hazlet, Highlands, Keyport, Little Silver, Long Beach Island (including Ship Bottom, Beach Haven, Harvey Cedars and Barnegat Light), Manahawkin, Middletown, Monmouth Beach, Neptune, Redbank, Sea Girt and Tuckerton. AT&T has steadily been growing its LTE network footprint, rolling out some new coverage every couple of weeks or so. This latest batch of newly-lit LTE markets looks to be peppered throughout the country, meaning that AT&T customers in several different parts of the U.S. are getting their first taste of their carrier's LTE connectivity. Any AT&T customers that are still without LTE access shouldn't fret, as the big blue operator has named many other markets that'll be gaining LTE service this summer. Stay tuned and I'll give you a shout once the next batch of cities go live. Via AT&T (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)

The ailing Japanese giant Sony could spin off its entertainment business amid heightened competition from the consumer electronics giant Apple and the South Korea-based conglomerate Samsung, Reuters reported Wednesday. The news gathering organization writes the CEO Kazuo Hirai confirmed Sony’s board will discuss a proposal by U.S. hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb to spin off up to twenty percent of its movie, TV and music division because Sony has “fallen behind powerful rivals” such as Apple and Samsung in terms of both profitability and innovation…(...)Read the rest of Sony could spin off entertainment biz to better compete against Apple and Samsung "Sony could spin off entertainment biz to better compete against Apple and Samsung" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. Make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.