RIM Could Open Up BlackBerry Network To Others

The Q1 earnings news from RIM of layoffs and a delay in its next generation of handsets has unsurprisingly led to some rumors from the usual "people familiar with the situation," according to Reuters. The options reportedly being considered by the board probably also won't shock you, like the possibility of following former co-CEO Jim Balsillie's plan to open up its network to others and / or sell it outright. 


An alternative path comes from Microsoft and Steve Ballmer, who has reportedly been putting a full court press on the folks in Waterloo to pull a Nokia and bring their arms to the Windows OS camp. That choice is reportedly less attractive because it would mean giving up technology independence, but we'll see how long that feeling lasts if future earnings projections remain similarly dismal.

Nokia Acquires Imaging Firm Scalado

This morning, Nokia has announced that it has acquired imaging firm Scalado for an undisclosed price. Nokia will be picking up everything including their specialists, intellectual property and technology from the company and will be incorporating them into the company sometime in Q3 2012.

Scalado has been working with Nokia for the last 10 years but they've also done work with HTC and most recently RIM on their upcoming BlackBerry 10 and it's new camera functions. That is certainly interesting because RIM itself is in dire straits and they just lost what many considered to be a key partner for re-igniting their brand. Of course what RIM already had in motion with Scalado will probably remain but the Waterloo company should start looking elsewhere for future camera development.

The good news here of course is that Nokia is clearly aiming to get some of the best camera functions on Windows Phone. Currently, HTC is in a bit of a renaissance with their ONE series which focuses heavily on cameras and media capabilities, giving Nokia and others a run for their money.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Scalado's know-how pays off on future Windows Phone 8 devices.

Nokia Lumia 900 Now Rumored To Be Hitting AT&T On April 22nd

When Nokia unveiled the Lumia 900 back at CES, the company gave us the full spec rundown on the 4.3-inch Windows Phone and said that it would be made available on AT&T here in the U.S. However, Nokia declined to offer details on just when the 900 will actually be launching and how much it'll cost when it does. We've heard a couple of times in the past that the Lumia 900 will be hitting AT&T in March, but a new report from BGR suggests that the wait may be a tad longer. According to a "trusted source" speaking to the site, AT&T is now aiming to release the Lumia 900 on April 22nd. BGR claims that the 900's previously-rumored $99.99 price point is still going to happen.

Skype Exec Confirms Windows Phone App 'Coming Soon'

Who doesn't love a little bit of old fashioned synergy? Speaking to a Microsoft representative in the Microsoft CES booth holding a Microsoft microphone, VP of products for Microsoft-owned Skype, Rick Osterloh, made mention of the VoIP service's plans to make its way onto Microsoft's mobile operating system. Says Osterloh, "We're working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon." 

Verizon Confirms All Future Smartphones Will Feature LTE

Verizon made it clear that it plans to equip all of its future smartphones with LTE as it tries to move more customers off its 3G CDMA network. The largest phone carrier in the United States is putting new LTE requirements in place for all smartphones, hotspot devices, tablets and netbooks, including devices from Research In Motion and those running Microsoft’s Windows Phone, according to CNET.

Big Red also confirmed some other plans which include support for Windows Phone devices and global GSM/WCDMA roaming capabilities on new 4G handsets. Support for global roaming has been in Verizon’s sights for awhile, but has yet to be implemented, with the company’s new plan for this year that will no longer be the case.

“The LTE phones work globally in over 40 countries that currently use CDMA technology,” Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told Phonescoop. “For the new LTE phones to provide global roaming voice and data in non-CDMA countries, we are working on a few network enhancements so we can provide customers with the best voice and data roaming experience. We anticipate this capability to be available this year, likely the first half of the year.”

AT&T Unveils The HTC Titan II: Windows Phone, 16MP Camera, 4G LTE

AT&T invited Steve Ballmer onto the stage to talk about AT&T and its upcoming lineup of LTE Windows Phone handsets. These phones will be the first LTE handsets to land in the US and include the high-end HTC Titan II. Other  phones include the Nokia Ace and the rumored Samsung Mendel.

The Titan II is the next version of the Titan, one of the first handsets to launch with Windows Phone Mango. The Titan II will have a 4.7-inch WVGA display, 1.5 GHZ Snapdragon processor, 4G LTE support, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 16-megapixel, wide-angle front-facing camera with 720P HD recording.