The first Google Glass units rolled off the production lines yesterday, and the units are nearly ready to make their way to anxious developers who’ve paid Google $1,500 for the privilege to be the first outside Google to don the technology. With the news came details of the specifications of the production model. Glass will feature a display equivalent to a 25″ HDTV viewed from a distance of 8 feet, the camera is capable of taking 5 megapixel images and recording at 720p HD, and there will be 16GB of storage onboard (12GB of usable space). Audio is delivered via a bone conduction transducer, and charging will be handled via the standard microUSB. The one downside is that battery technology has yet to catch up with such a device, and Glass will need to be charged on a daily basis.

Alongside the Glass prototypes, Google also launched the MyGlass companion app, which Glass users will utilize to customize their HUD, as well as full API documentation for developers to study prior to the release of the application development interface. The Android application will let you choose which types of information is pushed to your Glass display, as well as provides information about your unit, including the ability to locate your glasses should you misplace them. Google Glass will also be ad-free to start, though Google may reconsider that notion at a later date.

More information on Glass and the first end-user reviews of the prototypes will hit the wires over the next several weeks, and the technology will likely be a major focus of the Google I/O conference, which kicks off in just about a month.

Via: Engadget, 9 to 5 Google

Speaking exclusively with CNET, Starbucks and Apple yesterday announced an expansion to this program which mitigates the need for printed cards. Starting today, the companies will provide application and book downloads for users of the Starbucks iOS app via the in-app messaging service within the Starbucks application itself. The service will launch with a free copy of the popular Angry Birds Star Wars application, with more books, apps and games to be added on a weekly basis.

“This expansion, of adding apps and books, is the reflection of Starbucks and Apple working together to strengthen the relationship for customers. This is another step in the direction that we’re going to integrate more things into our mobile application.” - Adam Brotman, Starbucks Chief Digital Officer

No word on when or if Starbucks would be bringing similar benefits to Android’s Google Play store. The Starbucks applications are used by over 10 million Android and iOS customers, with over 100,000 such customers taking advantage of the Pick of the Week program per week.

Via: The Next Web

Still, a unified chat service across the Google+, Gmail, Chrome, Android, and iOS is sorely needed, as the service can sometimes feel a bit jumbled across services. Ironically, Google’s choice in name for the unified service, Babel, finds its etymological roots in the Hebrew word balal, which means “to jumble” (via Wikipedia). Babble, the originally rumored name for the unified service, shares a similar meaning, from The Free Dictionary, to babble means ”to utter a meaningless confusion of words or sounds.”

Droid-Life goes on to point out that Babel could be a code-name for the service, and not end up being the final moniker. While I understand the tie in between a chat application and a play on words of the word “babble,” I believe unifying the chat service under the Google Talk name makes a lot more sense, and avoids the negative connotations associated with the word babble. Regardless of what they decide to call the unified chat service, I’m excited to finally have a cross-platform solution for Google Talk, which I use on a near-constant basis.

We should know more about Babel, Google Talk, or whatever they decide to call it at Google I/O in a little over a month.

Just one day after AT&T announced pricing and availability for HTC’s flagship One phone, the company released similar information for the Samsung Galaxy S4. AT&T originally indicated the S4 would retail for $250, though that price point is reserved for the higher-capacity 32GB version of the device. A 16GB S4 will also be available for the standard $200 price point. We’re still without a launch date for the devices, though preorders will be available starting April 16th, with an expected launch date at the end of April.

The chosen price points for the S4 are interesting for two reasons. First, with all eyes on HTC’s One as the company hopes to stage a comeback against the mighty Samsung, The One will offer double the storage as the S4 for the same price. The 32GB HTC One will be priced similarly to the 16GB Galaxy S4, with that added bonus potentially pushing a few customers over into HTC’s camp. Though with cloud storage becoming more and more important, consumers much more often opt for the lower-cost, lower-storage devices (Via: @ryannegri), so who knows how sales will end up panning out.

A second related point, and perhaps more importantly, is the price difference Samsung and AT&T chose between the different storage options. We’re accustomed to seeing a $100 jump for each storage tier with the iPhone and even HTC’s One, but Samsung will only charge an additional $50 for that extra 16GB of storage. As the cost of storage comes down, will we see this trend continue, or will handset makers and carriers continue to charge through the teeth for extra storage space? Samsung, at least, is making movements in the right direction, and hopefully others will follow suit.

The Galaxy S4 is coming soon to AT&T starting at $200. Will you be choosing the S4 as your next Android smartphone, or are you destined for the (HTC) One?

Via: AT&T

Many feared the delay would push the One’s launch behind that of Samsung’s Galaxy S4, and though the One will still beat the S4 to market by a few days, the company has lost any meaningful first-to-market advantages it may have had over the S4, and HTC will need to pour money into marketing if it hopes to compete with Samsung’s vast pool of marketing dollars.

Preorders for the HTC One on AT&T will begin April 4th at 1PM CST. The final price point for the 32GB variant will be $199.99 with a new two-year contract, and the 64GB model will retail for $299.99. Off-contract pricing has yet to be announced, but we expect it’ll fall in the $550 to $700 range depending on model.

Will you be picking up an HTC One when the device launches in a few weeks?

Update: Sprint will also carry the HTC One starting 4/19. Sprint will only offer the 32GB version of the phone, for the same $200 price point as on AT&T. The 64GB model is an AT&T exclusive.

When Deutsche Telekom announced plans to merge its T-Mobile USA subsidiary with MetroPCS, most expected that the acquisition would go fairly smoothly. The two companies joining forces simply made sense, and gave the combined company a more solid footing against the larger Verizon, AT&T and Sprint networks. But the potential for a deal looks a bit less clear this morning, after Proxy Adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended that the MetroPCS shareholders should reject the merger and continue to operate independently, according to a WSJ report.

If you’ve never heard of ISS, you’re likely not alone. The ISS is an advisory firm which advises big shareholders on how to vote on hot-button issues such as corporate elections and mergers and acquisitions. The report cites two predominant reasons for such a recommendation; shares of MetroPCS are down over 14% since the merger was announced, and the sentiment that MetroPCS will retain too small an equity split in the combined company.

“In light of the negative market response to this transaction (shares are down 14.4% since announcement), the lower equity split than justified by the contribution of PCS to the combined entity, and the potential for PCS to continue to thrive as a stand-alone company, shareholders should vote against this transaction” - ISS Report

While shareholders are not obligated to take the ISS’ advice, a recommendation from the ISS often influences the outcome of shareholder votes. Two large shareholders had already announced their opposition to the deal, perhaps giving more weight to the ISS’ recommendations.

The merger issue will come to a vote on April 12th. All regulatory approvals have already been granted, MetroPCS’ Board of Directors has signed off on the deal, and if the MetroPCS shareholders vote to approve the merger, it will essentially be a done deal and the two companies will begin operating as one unit under the T-Mobile name. We’ll know more in a few weeks.

Via: Wall Street Journal

The move coincides with T-Mobile’s strategy change the company outlined today; the company is moving solely to contract-free, month-to-month plans for its network. Plans start at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text, and 500MB of data, with the ability to add more data for modest fees. The plan that will likely appeal to the most users is the 500MB + 2GB plan, which includes unlimited talk and text for $60. All plans except the $70 unlimited plan include the ability to use your phone as a mobile hotspot to share data with other devices.

These plans could add up to significant savings over the other major carriers over the course of a two-year contract. T-Mobile customers on the 2.5GB plan who purchase an iPhone will pay $2,020 over a two-year period, compared to $3,080 for the 3GB unlimited talk and text plan on AT&T, and $2,600 for the 2GB mobile share plan on Verizon. T-Mobile hopes it can use savings of $500 to $1,000 or more to convince customers to join the nations 4th-largest network.

T-Mobile also announced that the HTC One and Galaxy S4 will be coming soon to T-Mobile, though the carrier did not announce pricing and an exact availability date for the One. The Galaxy S4 will launch on May 1st, though again no pricing information was presented. We expect the pricing for the One and S4 to fall in line with that of the iPhone 5.

More information on T-Mobile’s new rate plans can be found on T-Mobile’s website. Are these new plans enticing enough to get you to consider switching?

Via: TMoNews

Speaking with the press, HTC Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Ho outlined the marketing department’s bold new direction, which begins with retiring the company’s modest “Quietly Brilliant” advertising campaign. While the campaign highlighted the innovations coming out of HTC’s labs, Quietly Brilliant failed to sink its teeth into the competition, leaving HTC with minimal sales and looking up at the behemoth that Samsung became. It was soft, and the consumer needed HTC to play hardball.

HTC’s learned its lesson. The new advertising campaign will get aggressive, and will pit the HTC One against the new Samsung Galaxy S4, arguably HTC’s biggest competitor in the first half of 2013. While ad spots have been few and far between for the yet unreleased One, we’ve already been given a taste of what’s to come.

At the Galaxy S4 launch earlier in March, HTC sent agents to the NYC launch event armed with hot cocoa in the cold outdoor waiting line and the HTC One for the press to test out. On Twitter, the ads were even more combative, with HTC mocking the Galaxy S4 using the hashtag #theNextBigFlop.

Ho noted that HTC is planning to spend 250% more on digital marketing in 2013 than it did in 2012, and doubling its marketing efforts in traditional media channels. So we should be seeing many more ads out of HTC’s marketing team this year with the One than we did with the One X of 2012, which could right HTC’s sinking sales ship. According to The Verge, HTC will focus its efforts around the themes of “bold”, “authentic”, and “playful” in its upcoming ads, highlighting various features that fit into these broad theme categories.

Whether the ads will pay off remains to be seen, though with a compelling product and an increased focus on highlighting the One’s strengths against the competition, HTC will likely turn some heads in 2013. And, perhaps a few wallets as well.

The Z10 boasts the following features:

• 4.2″ 720p display with 355 ppi
• 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon processor
• 16GB onboard storage, expandable by 64GB via a microSD slot
• 2GB RAM
• 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p recording
• 2 megapixel front camera with 720p recording
• 1,800 mAh battery

Those interested in the Z10 can head to AT&Ts retail or online stores today. The Z10 will cost you $199.99 with a two-year contract, or $549.99 off-contract. Will you be picking up a BlackBerry Z10?

Despite the standard wristwatch falling from popularity in recent years, smartwatches are potentially destined to be big business over the next few years. Arguably the best efforts in this industry have come from lesser known manufacturers like Pebble, which took the smartwatch world by storm with its record-setting Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign with over 85,000 backers.

There’s been enough buzz in this emerging market to turn heads from the major manufacturers as well. Apple is allegedly working on an iWatch running the company’s iOS operating system, and Samsung has recently suggested it too is working on a smartwatch. Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Google is working on a smartwatch of its own, and that the company’s Android unit is working on the project, instead of the X Lab which created Google Glass. As The Verge notes, this could mean that Google sees the smartwatch as a more immediately viable product, and one that could see the light of day as soon as Google I/O in May 2013.

Google declined to comment on their smartwatch efforts, but has previously filed for patents related to such a technology. A patent filed in 2011 describes a smart watch with a dual-screened flip-up display, tactile UI, and onboard camera akin to the Google Glass project. And if Glass is any indication of the type of design we might see in an eventual Google smartwatch, the company could just have a winning product on its hands.

I, for one, can’t wait to get my hands on a Google-built smartwatch, and will be looking forward to potentially seeing such a product later this year.