AT&T eyes sale of Palm Pre

AT&T Inc's (T.N) Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on Wednesday that the No. 2 U.S. mobile service would be keen to sell Palm Inc's (PALM.O) high-profile Pre phone at some point in the future.

Pre -- due to go on sale on June 6 exclusively at AT&T's smaller rival Sprint Nextel (S.N) -- is seen as Palm's best hope to win back market share lost to rivals such as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone.

AT&T is the exclusive U.S. provider for the iPhone. In response to a question about the Pre at the All Things Digital conference near San Diego, Stephenson said Sprint currently has the exclusive rights for Pre but added that he would like to sell the Pre one day.

"Would I like to see that on our network some day? Of course I would," said Stephenson. "We obviously talk to all the handset manufacturers. We want a broad selection of devices in the lineup. That's important. Devices right now are what's driving the customer adoption as much as anything."

Verizon to sell Palm Pre, new BlackBerry phones

Palm Inc's (PALM.O) iPhone competitor Pre got an unexpected boost on Thursday as No. 1 U.S. mobile service Verizon Wireless said Pre would be part of its upcoming device line-up, sending Palm shares up 8.8 percent.

Palm is depending heavily on Pre to revamp its own business and regain market share from rivals such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O). Pre is also seen as key to helping stem customer losses at Verizon's smaller rival Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N), which is launching the Pre exclusively on June 6.

Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. mobile service, will offer Pre in the next six months or so, company Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said during a conference webcast.

Verizon Wireless said its phone line-up would also include a new version of the touchscreen controlled BlackBerry Storm from Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO)(RIMM.O) and a new BlackBerry called Tour. Also slated are devices from Motorola Inc (MOT.N) and phones based on Android, the Google Inc (GOOG.O) mobile system.

"Over the next six months or so you will see devices like Palm Pre and a second generation Storm," on the Verizon Wireless network, McAdam said. "You can expect to see us launch a steady stream of new devices from multiple vendors."

Some analysts had worried that Palm was limiting Pre's success by forging an exclusive agreement with Sprint, which lasts at least until year end, as first reported by Reuters in February and confirmed by Sprint on Thursday.

As a result, UBS analyst Maynard Um said Verizon's Pre news was encouraging for Palm investors. But the analyst predicted increasing competition in the advanced phone market, saying that Motorola "could be the wildcard in the smartphone race" as it has the potential to be most aggressive on price.

"However, visibility in an increasingly competitive market is still limited," the analyst said in a research note.

Um also said he expects other new Palm phones based on the same operating system as Pre. For example Randall Stephenson, the chief Executive for AT&T Inc (T.N), the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, had said during a conference on Wednesday that his company would also like to sell Pre but he did not give a timeframe. AT&T uses a different network technology to Sprint.

The comments come ahead of Sprint's long-awaited Saturday, June 6, launch of Pre and the expected announcement of a new iPhone from Apple in the week after that.

Top executives from both Palm and Sprint have said they expect Pre shortages around the launch because of strong demand.

McAdam's announcement was also a boost for Motorola Inc (MOT.N), which has been steadily losing market share and is pinning its hopes on the launch of a new line-up of advanced phones based on Android later this year.

Source NEW YORK (Reuters) -

Sony Ericsson Offers Nintendo-Like Gaming Phone

Sony Ericsson took a step closer to integrating with parent Sony on Thursday by announcing the Aino, a touchscreen mobile phone that synchronizes with Sony PlayStation 3 video-game consoles.

The Aino comes with an eight-megapixel camera and connects to the PlayStation through an included charging stand. It offers wireless connectivity through GSM, UMTA, HSPA and Wi-Fi. The phone also has a microSD card slot.

The handset maker also showed off the Satio mobile phone, which it had previously announced as the Idou. The Satio has an unusual 12-megapixel high-resolution camera and a 3.5-inch touchscreen. It will be the first Sony Ericsson smartphone to use the Symbian Foundation operating system.

Also introduced at an event in London was the Yari, a 4.1-ounce mobile phone built for gaming. It has a slider keyboard and an accelerometer so the user can wave it like a Nintendo Wii controller to interact with games. The phone also has a five-megapixel camera and GPS. It can use GSM, UMTS and HSPA wireless services.

All three phones are expected to become available in the third quarter.Prices were not given

3G Auction a Priority for India's Communications Minister

India's auction of 3G licenses will be a priority, A. Raja, the country's minister of communications and information technology, told the Press Trust of India news agency on Thursday after he was sworn in to the post.

Raja did not specify a timeline for the auction.

The auction has been frequently postponed because of differences between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the floor price for the auction. The Ministry of Finance favored an increase in the floor price to raise more revenue from the auction, according to sources.

Elections to the federal parliament, started in April, further delayed the auction.

Raja, who was minister of communications and information technology before the elections, was sworn in again on Thursday after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was re-elected this month.

No longer dependent on communist members of parliament for its majority in parliament, the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to push through economic reforms in a number of sectors, including communications.

The communications ministry announced in December plans to auction 3G licenses and spectrum by January 16. Both Indian and foreign bidders were to be allowed to bid, though the foreign winning bidders would be limited to a 74 percent stake in companies operating 3G services.

Sony Ericsson introduces Christmas line-up

Sony Ericsson introduced a new phone on Thursday that allows consumers to connect to their PlayStation3 gaming consoles, part of its Christmas line-up and its strongest sign yet of integration with parent Sony Corp.

The world's fifth-biggest handset maker, which has slid down the rankings as the mid-market handset segment has been squeezed, said telecoms operators were hungry for phones that could drive data usage without needing huge subsidies.

"What they are looking for are chances to offer unlimited broadband data tariffs while reducing customer acquisition costs," Lennard Hoornik, Sony Ericsson's global head of marketing, told Reuters.

Sony Ericsson said it would launch a virtual software applications store -- joining a host who have rushed to ape the phenomenal popularity of Apple's AppStore -- and would announce details at next week's JavaOne Conference.

Money-losing Sony Ericsson is in need of new models to renew its offering since the appeal of the years-old Sony-branded Cybershot cameraphones and Walkman music phones has faded.

The Aino phone will allow users to manage media stored on their PlayStation3, much like the PSP mobile console and helping position the video-gaming console as a media hub, but will not allow them to play games or access high-definition video.

Sony Ericsson has rapidly lost market share in recent quarters as demand for so-called feature phones has suffered during the recession. Market expansion has been seen at the high-end smartphone and low-end emerging-markets extremes.

"At last there's a cooperation between a Sony product and a Sony Ericsson phone," said Ben Wood of UK-based research firm CCS Insight. "Previously, it was just branding. We see it as a statement of intent."

Sony Ericsson, a joint venture of Japanese electronics maker Sony and Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson, is battling with deep losses and is expected to need at least 100 million euros ($139 million) in extra funds in the next year.

Sony Ericsson said the Aino, which will allow consumers to access media content from their PlayStation gaming machine on the move, would be available in the fourth quarter, along with two other phones presented at a London event.

The Satio, previously announced at February's Mobile World Congress as the Idou, has a 12-megapixel high-resolution camera, while the Yari contains a Nintendo Wii-like gesture sensor for gaming.

Satio will not go on sale until the fourth quarter, which could mean Sony Ericsson would miss the chance to be first to market with a 12-megapixel camera phone, said CCS's Wood.

Japan university gives away iPhones to nab truants

TOKYO -

A prestigious Japanese university is giving away hundreds of iPhones, in part to use its Global Positioning System to nab students that skip class.

Truants in Japan often fake attendance by getting friends to answer roll-call or hand in signed attendance cards. That's verging on cheating since attendance is a key requirement for graduation here.

Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo is giving Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G to 550 students in its School of Social Informatics, which studies the use of Internet and computer technology in society.

The gadget will work as a tool for studies, but it also comes with GPS, a satellite navigation system that automatically checks on its whereabouts. The university plans to use that as a way check attendance.

Students who skip class could still fake attendance by giving their iPhone to a friend who goes to class. But youngsters aren't likely to lend their mobile phones, which are packed with personal information and e-mail, according to the university.

U.S. universities use the iPhone for various, other purposes. At Stanford University, students have developed iPhone applications in a course. At Duke University, the gadget is used to get around the campus and find information about course listings and other events.

Aoyama Gakuin signed a deal earlier this month with Softbank Corp., the exclusive vendors of the iPhone in Japan.

The number of students using the iPhone is expected to reach 1,000 in the program — the first time the iPhone is being used on such a scale at a Japanese university.

The iPhone will be used to relay course materials, lecture videos and tests. The university hopes students will develop software applications and other lifestyle uses for the cell phone.

Melissa Weber, Queens NY Teacher Arrested for having Sex with 14yo Student

Melissa Weber, 27, a middle school social studies teacher in Queens New York is accused of having sex on 7 different occasions with one of her 14 year old students.

The incidents allegedly started on or around April 13 and continued for about a month. The boys mom was encouraged by friends and members of the school’s PTA to investigate after they told her they suspected inappropriate behavior between Weber and her son.

The boy’s mother found out Melissa Weber’s phone number and checked her son’s cellphone, finding that there were literally hundreds pf phone calls and text messages between the two. Some of the text messages from Weber warned the teen boy to not tell anyone about their relationship and near the end when Weber feared getting caught, one message simply said “Erase your phone.”

Weber, of West Babylon, New York is awaiting an arraignment hearing for the charges of statutory rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. She could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

[Source: New York Post]

Kavya Shivashankar

Kavya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old girl from Kansas, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2009, outspelling 11 other finalists. The word that gave her the win was "Laodicean." Ahem, to be honest with you guys, this is a new word for me, this is the first time for me to meet this word. The meaning of the word is "lukewarm or indifferent, esp. in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea."

Kavya, a sweet smiling girl brought home $40,000 and a big trophy. Wow, I have about 10 years in my hand to prepare my little boy for a contest like this :)

Noemi Letizia, the mistress to 72 -year-old Italian PM and billionaire Silvio Berlusconi. He denied having an improper relationship with Noemi Letizia. The 72-year-old said he would resign if caught lying about it.

Political scandals in Italy are not uncommon like Noemi Letizia and the PM. News comes that finally the wife of PM Silvio Berlesconi, Beronica Laro, wants a divorce to the billionaire tycoon and head of the Italian government after knowing about Noemi Letizia. Now, meet the girl who was the last straw in the long suffering Italian saga, Noemi Letizia.

Noemi Letizia has been quoted as saying she calls Berlusconi “papi” or “Daddy” and has been photographed sporting a gold and diamond necklace the premier reportedly gave Noemi Letizia as a birthday gift.

Noemi Letizia: Pictures of Noemi Letizia

Noemi Letizia, the mistress to 72 -year-old Italian PM and billionaire Silvio Berlusconi. He denied having an improper relationship with Noemi Letizia. The 72-year-old said he would resign if caught lying about it.

Political scandals in Italy are not uncommon like Noemi Letizia and the PM. News comes that finally the wife of PM Silvio Berlesconi, Beronica Laro, wants a divorce to the billionaire tycoon and head of the Italian government after knowing about Noemi Letizia. Now, meet the girl who was the last straw in the long suffering Italian saga, Noemi Letizia.

Noemi Letizia has been quoted as saying she calls Berlusconi “papi” or “Daddy” and has been photographed sporting a gold and diamond necklace the premier reportedly gave Noemi Letizia as a birthday gift.

Naoemi Letizia Pictures below

ROLAND GARROS 2ND ROUND: RAFA NADAL VS TEIMURAZ GABASHVILI

After a day’s rest and a ‘full-on training session’, Rafa will return to his beloved French Open clay courts today in the last match of the day. The World No.1 will face Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round of the tournament, in front of hundreds of fans who will be waiting for him at the Suzanne Lenglen stadium.

Yesterday afternoon, Rafa trained for a couple of hours under a dull Paris sky, and prepared himself for his second meeting against the Russian. The pair met for the first time at the beginning of the season at the Miami Masters Series event, which Rafa won in straight sets: 6-2, 6-2.

Against Gabashvili, Rafa expects to play better than he did in the first round because he felt “he was standing around more than usual, and that extra hundredth-of-a-second [wasted] could change things [drastically],” said Rafa, “I’ve played short, without a real game plan and without consistency. I have to [make sure] I play more inside the court and that my shots hurt more.”

“I trust and hope [my presence at] the tournament is long, so that I can adapt, get better and have a better feeling,” concluded Rafael.

Now, let’s not forget that today is also a very exciting day for soccer fans, who like Rafa, will be following closely tonight’s Champion’s League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.

Rafa of course, is very excited about it and as he shared with his fans yesterday on his blog, he hopes he can watch it “on-site after my match,” depending what time he finishes. Otherwise he will watch it “at my hotel with my team and other players staying there as well”.

And for those who are wondering, Rafa will be supporting Barcelona. “I like ManU a lot and I always play with them at Play Station but Barcelona is Spain so I will cheer for them.”