Motorola X Phone Launch Set For Late Summer

After unexpectedly confirming the Motorola X Phone during a D11 interview, Motorola has issued a brief press release for the handset, mentioning a launch window for the device.

During the interview, Motorola’s Dennis Woodside told the audience that the handset will be manufactured in the USA in a former Nokia-owned facility that will employ 2,000 people by August.

At the time, we speculated that the phone should be unveiled at some point after that, once mass production has started. Woodside revealed the device would be launched by October, with multiple carriers that have apparently offered a great response to the Moto X.

In the short press release that focuses on the fact that the Moto X is “the first smartphone assembled in the USA,” Motorola says that the handset will hit stores this summer. A specific release date is not provided, but Droid-Life has confirmation from Motorola that we’re looking at a “late summer” launch.

Other important details including complete specs, features and pricing are not official at this time, so we’ll just have to wait for more information. Not even a press image of the device is available.

What we know is that the Motorola X Phone will be a flagship device, an iPhone and Galaxy competitor, and that it will feature contextual awareness capabilities. We also know that three unannounced Motorola handsets have passed through the FCC, all potential Moto X candidates, including the XT1058 (AT&T), XT1056 (Sprint), and XT1060 (Verizon)

Google Calendar App Gets New Update

The Google Calendar app for Android is the latest app from the Mountain View company to receive an update, after the last few weeks have brought us a flurry of news on this front.

Just after the Google Play app has been updated, and to go with the news about the new Gmail update still ringing in everybody's ears, the Calendar app also got some welcome additions.

Most users will likely appreciate the ability to change the colors of the various events in your calendar in order to differentiate them from others at a glance (it looks somewhat similar to the palette in Google Keep).

Adding recurring events also offers more options now, making it easier to set them. Also, the time picker that lets you create a new event has been updated with a new design and a searchable time zone picker has been added to make things more convenient.

The new update is currently rolling out to users, so you should be getting it on your device soon.

HTC One Nexus Experience Confirmed, Available June 26 for $599

Sundar Pichai is on stage at D11 this morning, and right out of the gate announced that they will sell an HTC One “Nexus Experience” through Google Play on June 26 for $599. This device was rumored and denied and rumored again shortly after Samsung and Google announced their “Nexus Experience” edition of the Galaxy S4 at I/O, but over the last week, rumors picked up that HTC would indeed be offering a similar experience on their newest flagship. 

Update: Hugo Barra just confirmed it on Google+ as well, along with the beautiful image of it at the top of this post.

HTC has also announced the device now. We’re looking at the 32GB version of the HTC One, running stock Android, capable of running on T-Mobile and AT&T LTE, for $599 through Google Play. The device is running Android 4.2.2, has an unlockable bootloader, and somehow keeps Beats Audio (even though it’s stock).

Samsung Galaxy S4 To Support Verizon's Upcoming LTE Expansion

The Samsung's Galaxy S4 will be able to support AWS on Verizon when it launches later this year. The phone will require a software update to activate support for the spectrum, which is being used to increase LTE coverage and speed in different areas. Verizon announced that devices with AWS support would ship by July likely before the network itself launches and it's certainly met that deadline.

However, Verizon has taken its time in rolling out the new spectrum. While the company has continued to purchase licenses, it only recently announced that it intends to have some of the AWS spectrum up and running by the end of this year. According to Bloomberg, that launch will begin in major cities, including New York, where network congestion has become a problem as more consumers adopt LTE.

LG Officially Announces The White Nexus 4

LG has officially announced the device is launching May 29 in Hong Kong, making its way around the rest of the world in the weeks to follow.

Spec-for-spec, the white Nexus 4 is identical to the original black model. It still comes with a Snapdragon S4 Pro, 4.7-inch 1280 by 768 True HD IPS Plus display, 2GB of RAM, and of course, stock Android. The only way the two models are different is how they will initially be sold. The black Nexus 4 was released first in the US through Google Play, while the white Nexus 4 will be released first in Hong Kong, and then “will roll out globally in select markets in Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East over the next several weeks.”

Yahoo Willing To Spend Up To $800M To Aquire Hulu

Just a few days prior we posted an article stating Yahoo! was interested in bidding on Hulu. Reports have said that Yahoo! is willing to pay in upwards of $800 million to acquire Hulu, a video streaming site which is currently owned by Disney, Fox and NBC Universal.

The acquisition of Tumblr was to bring Yahoo a demographic; the company is going through a series of drastic changes at the moment. Yahoo has cut services that aren't bringing in much traffic to the site; Yahoo has also released their own search, mail and weather apps for iOS and Android. These are all moves to bringing in more users and the acquisition of Tumblr and Hulu will help that happen.

Hulu is only as valuable as the content licenses that are signed over with the company; the exclusive content is why Hulu's users pay their monthly subscription fee. Services like Hulu are very popular among the cable cutting portion of society that doesn't want to pay for channels that they won’t watch.

Samsung Hosting Galaxy And ATIV Brand Focused Event On June 20

Samsung today announced that it's got a "Premiere 2013" event planned for June 20, less than a week after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference wraps up. The gathering, which is taking place in London and will kick off at 19:00 BST (1:00 p.m. EST), will be focused on Samsung's Galaxy and ATIV brands.

Source: Samsung

Yahoo Reportedly Places Bid To Buy Hulu

Add one more name to the Hulu bidding war Yahoo!, which just announced plans to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion, has made an offer on the video website as well.

The Web giant submitted a bid for the video site this morning, according to a person familiar with process. Other people looking to buy all or a piece of Hulu include:

• Directv,
• Time Warner Cable,
• William Morris Endeavor, along with with PE backer Silverlake,
• KKR,
• Guggenheim Digital,
• The Chernin Group

As AllThingsD reported earlier this month, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer and COO Henrique De Castro have met with Hulu’s team recently for a get-to-know-you; Yahoo! had previously tried to buy a large stake in French video site Daily Motion, but that bid was stymied by the French government. Yahoo! declined to comment.

The question, as it always is with Hulu, is what its owners News Corp., Disney and Comcast are actually willing to sell, and at what price. The three media conglomerates provide the site’s most valuable programming, primarily via shows that have already aired on their broadcast networks. Disney and News Corp. have been at odds about the best way to manage the site for some time; Comcast gave up its management rights as a concession to Federal regulators a few years ago. (News Corp. also owns this website.)

In 2011, Hulu’s owners put the company up for sale and were looking for a bid of at least $2 billion; in exchange, they would offer content licenses that would run for two to three years. But they ended up pulling the site back off the sales block after a few months.

Last month, former News Corp. COO Peter Chernin submitted a starting bid of $500 million, with the understanding that he would be willing to pay more for extended licenses. Bloomberg first reported on the KKR and William Morris Endeavor/Silverlake bids today.

Hulu hasn't had a formal M&A process, but had asked prospective bidders to make an offer by Wednesday. That deadline apparently isn't a firm one, so it’s worth wondering if the field will grow more crowded before this over.

Google Considers Waze Acquisition

Bloomberg reports that Google is considering making an acquisition offer for mapping company Waze. Numerous reports over the past few weeks have claimed that Facebook is also eyeing an acquisition of the maps firm.

Google Inc. (GOOG), maker of the Android operating system, is considering buying map-software provider Waze Inc., setting up a possible bidding war with Facebook Inc., people familiar with the matter said. Waze is fielding expressions of interest from multiple parties and is seeking more than $1 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The Palo Alto, California-based startup might also remain independent, instead seeking to raise a round of venture capital financing, the people said.

Waze’s price-tag is current said to be around $1 billion.

Google’s potential bid would likely create a bidding war with the Menlo Park-based social network. Bloomberg reiterates that Apple is not in discussions with Waze. Rumors from earlier this year claimed that Apple was eyeing an acquisition, but many of those claims were immediately debunked. 

OtterBox Aquires Rival Casemaker LifeProof

OtterBox, which makes the top-selling protective case for smartphones, has announced the acquisition of LifeProof for an undisclosed amount.

News of the acquisition comes one day after a lawsuit filed by OtterBox against LifeProof for patent infringement was dismissed. OtterBox told the North Carolina Business Report that the acquisition was not related to the lawsuit or any settlement. Headquartered in San Diego, LifeProof also makes protective cases and accessories for smartphones and tablets.

Over the next 30 days, OttberBox will beginning incorporating the LifeProof brand into OtterBox’s product lineup. More information about product availability and alignment will be available after that period. OtterBox currently has about 650 employees worldwide, while LifeProof, which was founded in 2009, employs about 250 people, who the companies say will remain in their San Diego location “for the foreseeable future.”

“Our strategy is to utilize our combined brand momentum, and world-class talent to create a great customer experience that generates OtterBox brand ambassadors for life,” Thomas said in the acquisition announcement.

In addition to its extremely durable smartphone cases, which are designed to withstand drops, water immersion and debris, OtterBox also makes protective coverings for other mobile devices such as tablets, as well as screen protectors and accessories. LifeProof’s cases are designed for people with very active lifestyles (or who are especially accident prone around mountains, concrete and bodies of water).


Source: OtterBox