Google and Verizon offer give and take over net neutrality
After last week's excitement when the New York Times boldly but inaccurately claimed that Google and Verizon were cutting a sweetheart deal over internet traffic the truth has turned out to be less dramatic but potentially more worrying for US consumers and net users. Instead, Google and Verizon have announced a joint policy proposal, intended as a framework for the future regulation of US internet provision. In a nutshell the two companies are putting forward a system of regulation that suits them both, as you might expect. One cynical way of reading this is to think of Google and Verizon as two syndicates carving out a piece of the action: Google gets a commitment to net neutrality over the standard, wired internet that people access via computers at home or at work, while Verizon gets far weaker regulation on wireless networks accessed via smartphones.
The Guardian

Skype plans to raise $100m in New York flotation
The internet phone service Skype plans to raise up to $100m (£65m) through a Wall Street flotation, although the company's prospectus revealed today that the firm is facing a potentially embarrassing investigation by US authorities for alleged sanctions-busting in Iran. Based in Luxembourg, Skype provides low-cost calls through cyberspace and is adding millions of extra users every week at the end of June, it had 560m registered users, of whom 124m made calls in the average month. Skype provides free calls between its users but charges a fee for connections to landlines and mobile phones. It reported underlying earnings of $115m in the six months to June, on revenue of $406m.The public offering is expected to allow various holders to sell, although the company is yet to provide details. Founded in 2003 by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs, Skype was owned by the US online auction company eBay from 2005 to 2009. But eBay sold a 70 per cent stake in November to a group of venture capitalists for $2bn.
The Guardian

Cartoons trump news on S.Korea smartphones
Cartoons are more popular than news with South Korean smartphone users, especially during the tedious morning commute, according to a survey seen Monday. The cartoon application got an average of 372,000 hits a day compared with 280,000 for news and 275,000 for weather, said the survey by LG U+ (formerly LG Telecom). The country's third-largest mobile operator said the data came from an analysis of its 170,000 smartphone users in July.Cartoon viewing nearly doubled from 6 to 8 a.m. compared with other times of the day as more people "assuage boredom in subways and buses during the morning commute", said the company in a report.
The Independent

Texas Instruments signs up for ARM's Eagle processor
Texas Instruments has announced that it is the first company to licence ARM's 'Eagle' Cortex A series processor core, as it extends its plans for smartphones and mobile internet devices.
TI is the fourth biggest chip manufacturer in the world, and has signed up with British company ARM to use the Eagle processor for its OMAP family primarily focused on portable devices like smartphones and MIDs. "Building on its rich heritage of collaboration with ARM, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today confirmed that it was the first company to partner with ARM in the conception and definition of the next generation ARM Cortex-A series processor core (also known as "Eagle") to be announced later this year," announced TI.
Tech Radar

Facebook hiring games boss
Facebook is hiring a dedicated games boss, to deal with games publishers and development studios, indicating the increasing importance of gaming to the social networking giant. Facebook now has over 500 million active users and gaming has become increasingly popular on the network, with titles such as Zynga's Farmville demonstrating the huge potential of casual gaming. Google recently invested in casual gaming company Slide in a $182m deal, with Facebook clearly not planning on being left behind in the casual gaming market.
Tech Radar

Lenovo Hands FOTA Task to Red Bend
Lenovo Group has chosen Red Bend Software’s vRapid Mobile solution to enable firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates on its new line of LePhone Android-based smartphones. LePhone is Lenovo’s first smartphone built to push information and services such as e-mail, news, music and video to mobile consumers. It is sold exclusively by China Unicom, one of the country’s largest mobile service providers.
Mobile Marketing Magazine

Taiwanese manufacturers take advantage of booming Indian mobile market
Taiwanese manufacturers are developing mobile phone products specifically for an Indian audience in a bid to tap into the country's booming market. According to the Taiwan Economic Times, Taiwanese IC chip developer MediaTek Inc.and handset contract assembler Arima Communications Inc are tapping into India's markets through LG, while handset maker Inventec Appliances Corp has also signed a deal to sell its handsets through an Indian telecoms company.
Tech Eye

One in six UK page views are Facebook
Facebook now accounts for one in six of all page views in the UK. This was the conclusion of a new study by research firm Hitwise, which showed the social network was responsible for 16.73 per cent of the page views from our shores. However, despite this seemingly untouchable dominance, it was still only the second most visited site in the UK, with Google taking the crown at 9.59 per cent of all visits.
IT Pro

RIM launches entry-level Curve
BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is adding another phone to its growing handset portfolio, the BlackBerry Curve 3G. The BlackBerry Curve 3G is designed as an entry-level handset for new smartphone users. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and dedicated media keys to access music. It also features a camera with video capabilities and an expandable memory up to 32GB.
Mobile News

First robot able to develop and show emotions is unveiled
When Nao is sad, he hunches his shoulders forward and looks down. When he's happy, he raises his arms, angling for a hug. When frightened, Naohe cowers, and he stays like that until he is soothed with some gentle strokes on his head. Nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps, except that Nao is a robot the world's first that can develop and display emotions. He can form bonds with the people he meets depending on how he is treated. The more he interacts with someone, the more Nao learns a person's moods and the stronger the bonds become.
The Guardian