Reports that Google has entered a bidding war with Facebook over the social-mapping service Waze may be just a gambit by the company to force a better deal, but there are compelling reasons why Google should make a bid. Read more »
Apple is said to be planning new looks for basic iOS apps that are mostly black and white and uniform in look. Functions like slide-to-unlock will also get a facelift. Read more »
Canalys reports the mobile app gap is still big when it comes to Windows Phone and BlackBerry offering the top titles. But a closer look at the stores shows some skewed results. Ultimately, only you can determine the best app store for your needs. Read more »
Samsung keeps selling each successive Galaxy S smartphone faster than the prior model, leaving little room for any other Android smartphone maker to grab a piece of the profit pie. Should we all just get used to TouchWiz? Read more »
Intel is supplying the processing might for NSN’s new Liquid Apps architecture. The technology could greatly improve the flow of traffic over the mobile internet, but it might also unfairly favor some content over others. Read more »
The HTC First with Facebook Home pre-installed was set to launch in the U.K. next month but that’s not going to happen. EE says Facebook has decided to cancel the launch and focus on the Facebook Home software. Read more »
Amazon is making its Kindle Fire HD tablets broadly available internationally, with preorders shipping in June. The tablets were already available in Europe and Japan. Read more »
The heterogenous network will eventually allow our devices to connect to Wi-Fi and cellular networks simultaneously, but first those networks need to coordinate with one another. Read more »
Voice search will be available as part of an update to Chrome for iOS “in the coming days,” Google announced Wednesday. It’s yet another part of Google’s broader effort to create a layer on top of its chief competitor’s mobile OS. Read more »
Viva Movil launching a line of mobile device stores targeted at Latinos and has tapped Verizon Wireless to be its exclusive partner. The phones and service will be Verizon, but the marketing will be all J-Lo. Read more »
Are you ready for Google to take over the desktop? You’d better be if you use Chrome. With it, Google is making a play to rule the computing world as a back door to a new app economy. Read more »
Sprint has big plans for its digital wallet. It wants to become a “virtual bank” for customers who don’t have checking accounts and a supplemental financial service for those that do. Read more »
Personalized social reader Zite is updating its iOS app with more Google Reader-inspired features, and also added seven new publishers to its publisher program. Read more at paidContent »
Apple started the race for smartphone screen clarity and others are following. Samsung, LG and HTC all beat out Apple’s Retina Display with higher pixel counts, but even they can’t compete against Qualcomm’s new Mirasol display. Read more »
After months of slowing smartphone sales and reduced profits, some HTC employees aren’t waiting for the company’s turnaround. Is it possible that HTC is planning to focus more on Asia over the U.S.? Read more »
Chrome was up front and center at Google I/O, but most of the developments were in services and APIs. If you add them all together, you get a nice vision of how Google plans to dominate the computing world through Chrome. Read more »
The reverse-lookup service is now available to developers who can find a use for it, although users should rest assured that telemarketing operations won’t gain access to this treasure trove of numbers. Read more »
The London-based backend-as-a-service outfit thinks not enough mobile developers are considering the opportunities afforded by opening up their apps’ data to other apps, and it wants to help. Read more »
Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google, for whom serious competition could be just around the corner. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Sprint prepaid brand is testing out a financial services app that allows you to pay bills, transfer funds and cash checks within a mobile app. For physical transactions, Boost is supplying a prepaid Visa card. Read more »
A report on Tuesday from 9to5Mac says Apple is looking to bolster social sharing options in iOS 7 by integrating Vimeo and Flickr. The inclusion could be a subtle way to boost one of its biggest competitor’s rivals. Read more »
Venture capital-backed lithium ion battery startup Amprius is finally moving into commercial production, with an announcement that it has OEM partners in place, and will start making its second-gen batteries later this year. Read more »
Sprint has given into shareholder pressure and raised its bid for Clearwire by 14 percent. Clearwire immediately canceled today shareholder vote, rescheduling for next week. Read more »
Intel could get its largest mobile design win yet: Two different benchmark sites indicate that at the very least, Samsung is testing an Intel Atom chip inside the upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 Read more »
Despite being late to the market, Nvidia is showing it can keep up with the latest technological advances in LTE technology. But like it’s exaggeration-prone competitors, Nvidia is falsely labeling its chip “LTE-Advanced.” Read more »
The platform could give publishers a new tool in their quest to monetize online content. Not only does it let mobile websites issue push notifications, but it also introduces new real estate for ads. Read more »
By the wireless power invested in me, I now pronounce you a couple. Two wireless charging companies combine and agree on a single power standard. That’s great but there’s still much work to be done in this industry. Read more »
The world’s first international MVNO, Truphone is now offering shared plans for business, allowing companies to offer a single pool of minutes and megabytes their employees can use in multiple counties. Read more »
Square has launched an under-the-radar payments service that lets customers transfer cash through email. It’s certainly not a new concept, but it’s another tool in Square’s arsenal as it delves deeper into the consumer market. Read more »
More news from Yahoo on Monday: The company is revamping photo-sharing service Flickr and is also opening a New York City office. Tumblr’s employees, however, will remain at their current office. Read more »
The carrier says by mid-June it will allow use of FaceTime over cellular for its unlimited plan customers. A broader rollout for even more video chat apps is coming by year’s end, however. Read more »
At last week’s Google I/O event, Google Voice news was noticeably absent from the stage, overshadowed by the new Hangouts service, which doesn’t yet support Voice. Hold tight, says Google, it’s coming. Read more »
The iPhone maker has been tweaking its pricing strategy and incentive offerings in markets where smartphone ownership has only recently begun to take hold. In India it’s offering discounts for trade-ins and a cash back offer. Read more »
Still carrying last year’s Galaxy S 3 but pining for the newer model? A software update may appease your desire: Several of the Galaxy S 4 software features are included in this Android 4.2.2 update for the Galaxy S 3. Read more »
Acer’s Iconia W3 is the second coming of Ultra Mobile PCs, only this time, there’s a touch-friendly user interface. The Windows 8 desktop is still the biggest challenge on a small slate; perhaps Microsoft should offer a “Metro”-only license? Read more »
After picking up the MeeGo torch, Jolla’s first phone running the Sailfish operating system is official and can be pre-ordered. It won’t arrive until year-end, however, and faces a huge uphill battle in market dominated by Android and iOS. Read more »
NCR is the top supplier of retail point-of-sale software for U.S. restaurants, so for LevelUp, getting its mobile payments app to work with NCR’s systems for dining transactions is key. Read more »
In case you missed the GigaOm weekly podcasts, here’s a second chance. Two of our shows had special guests to explain new technologies and our wrap-up show is fully dedicated to understanding all of the news out of Google I/O. Read more »
The rise of cloud and big data is altering business models, and in the process shifting corporate hierarchies, too. The chief marketing officer could be a big beneficiary of all this change. Read more »
No new hardware appeared at Google I/O, but a recently released phone debuts as a Nexus-like device. Meanwhile, Google updated Android, without adding further fragmentation issues, through dozens of new services, apps and APIs. Read more »
