It’s far too early to be writing it off, of course, but AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile is facing some fairly significant hurdles that could throw a big wrench in the companies’ plans — not the least of which is a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice. Now, according to Blooomberg, AT&T is proactively talking to a number of smaller rivals about selling some of its assets (namely, “spectrum and subscribers”) in an effort to save the deal. While talks are described as “preliminary,” AT&T has reportedly already reached out MetroPCS, Leap Wireless, Dish Network, CenturyLink and even Sprint, although Bloomberg notes that any such sell-off may still not be enough to please the DOJ. As you might expect, all of those companies are remaining mum on the matter.

AT&T reportedly talking to rivals about asset sales in effort to save T-Mobile deal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Sony HMZ-T1 headset hits IFA, we go hands-on (video)

Sony HMZ-T1 headset hits IFA, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a year. Particularly if you’re Sony. The same company that’s staring at a $171 million price tag due to an unforgettable PSN breach and a gamut of bad news detailed in its most recent earnings report is now facing the daunting task of reforming its flagging TV division. ‘Course, Sony’s still moving gobs of panels, but according to Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato, “markets are maturing and price competition is stiff” in advanced nations. Mr. Kato recently spoke candidly with The Nikkei (linked below; subscription required), noting that the company is aiming to turn its TV business “into one that can be profitable even if we do not pursue volume.” In order to do so, the entire platform is being looked at — “no stone will be left unturned” — and he even mentioned that partnerships with other companies will be considered. Oh, and if you thought you’d have to wait a quarter or two to see any changes, have a listen at this: “Even though we haven’t yet decided how to announce the plans, they’ll be implemented immediately.” Attaboy!

Sony’s TV reform to begin ‘immediately,’ could involve partnering with other firms originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re seeing a heavy surge in Microsoft’s relentless pursuit of licensing deals in light of recent patent-infringement claims. Wistron Corp, a spinoff of Acer, is the latest company to make an agreement with Microsoft in a string of lawsuits and royalty clashes that’s spanned the course of two months. While we’ve seen Android suppliers such as Itronix and Velocity Micro come to agreements with the folks in Redmond, as well as others like Motorola and Barnes & Noble becoming courtroom fodder, this is the first time Chrome OS has been targeted. Wistron’s an ODM (original design manufacturer) that supplies other companies with computers, tablets and e-readers using either Google OS, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that it signed up for the Microsoft lawsuit prevention plan. Scant details are available aside from the fact that royalties will be collected as a result. Now that Chrome is involved, it not only shows that Team Ballmer isn’t backing down, it appears to have even more companies in its crosshairs — we just wonder who’s next on the list. Full (albeit brief) PR after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted

Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week’s release of the HP TouchPad, the first device other than a handset to feature webOS, aptly demonstrates the promise and perils of HP’s adopted operating system. The 4:3 tablet provides the large canvas that webOS seemed born to cover. However, like the Xoom and PlayBook before it, the TouchPad suffers from an impoverished app library among other holes. To help share development costs of webOS and expand the market for its developers, HP has warmed to the idea of licensing the Palm-developed operating system.

HP’s willingness to license webOS while continuing to make devices based on the operating system serves up a healthy helping of d

HP CEO Leo Apotheker has already indicated that he’s totally open to licensing webOS to other companies, and he’s now confirmed that HP has, in fact, been in talks with a “number of companies” about that possibility. Not surprisingly, he didn’t get much more specific than that, and went some way to dampen expectations a bit, saying that “there is no time pressure to do this.” According to Bloomberg, however, “three people with knowledge of the discussions” say that Samsung is one of the companies HP has had talks with, and one said that the company is specifically interested in possibly using webOS for its Galaxy Tab tablets. HP’s Jon Rubinstein also dished a bit more on the subject to This is my next, noting that “if someone wants to really invest, and potentially help develop webOS, we’re interested in talking to them,” although he went on to indicate that HP isn’t interested in playing second (or third) fiddle with a company primarily focused on Android or Windows Phone — it’d seemingly have to be webOS first, but not necessarily webOS exclusively.

HP confirms it’s in talks about licensing webOS, Samsung tipped as a possibility originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearly sick and tired of watching all of the fun other companies have been having with their all-in-ones, Toshiba this week announced the DX1215, the company’s first entry in the space for the US market. The 21.5-inch touchscreen desktop has two USB 3.0 ports (and four of the boring old 2.0 variety), an HDMI port, 1TB of storage, and built-in Onkyo speakers. The system ships with a wireless mouse and keyboard, and will be hitting Best Buy’s stores and website exclusively on July 3rd, starting at $930 — just in time for your Independence Day ketchup-covered fingerprints.

Continue reading Toshiba’s 21.5-inch DX1215 all-in-one can accommodate even the largest fingers

Toshiba’s 21.5-inch DX1215 all-in-one can accommodate even the largest fingers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh Google, you didn’t think you were going to have all the mobile payment fun did you? While you’re beta testing in New York and San Francisco some big names across the pond are looking to dominate the entire UK. Vodafone, Telefonica, and Everything Everywhere (a joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile) are combining forces to create a mobile payment and marketing system that will take on Google Wallet and Offers before they even get off the ground in the British isles. The platform will be open to all comers, including Google, (you know, in case it decides to make Wallet a US only affair) and the companies have pledged to keep customer data out of the hands of third parties. The project is still in the very early stages of development, but the mobile providers aren’t dilly dallying — they expect their efforts to bear NFC fruit before the end of the year.

UK mobile companies take aim at Google Wallet, want in on the NFC action originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Industry conferences that include competitions among scores of startups generally don’t look too kindly upon companies producing hardware. Nonetheless, there were quite a few physical products shown off this week at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York. These were either the main offering of companies or complements to their service offering, and judging by their demo platform of choice, the iPhone appears to be a leading agent of disruption — the companies introducing hardware used Apple’s handset to do everything from avoiding stress to measuring its biological impact. Switched On will introduce four such products after the break.

Continue reading Switched On: Devices designed to disrupt

Switched On: Devices designed to disrupt originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 21:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Companies register trademarks and domain names all the time to throw us off the scent, but somehow this one feels different — DotWeekly reports that T-Mobile’s made a bona fide landgrab for the word “SnapPad,” buying up a host of domains and filing the trademark picture above within the span of just two days last week. Needless to say, we’re envisioning a host of potential slates right now, all with magenta trim… and wouldn’t it be fitting if they housed a speedy Snapdragon? We’ll keep you posted.

T-Mobile snaps up ‘SnapPad’ trademark and domains, inadvertently teases tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 20:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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