Windows Phones aren't selling very well, but we're not worried

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer was his usual frank self when he met financial analysts yesterday, admitting that the world isn't yet as keen on Windows Phone as he'd hoped. To be precise, AllThingsD reported him as saying: "We haven't sold quite as many as I would have liked in the first year." His cunning plan? Well, that's easy: make it all Nokia's problem. Or, as he put it: "With Nokia we have a dedicated hardware partner that is all-in on Windows Phones." Indeed, the Finnish manufacturer has now staked far more than Microsoft on the success of this "third ecosystem" and, if its imminent Mango handsets fail to turn things around, we may eventually see Stephen Elop standing behind that silent cash register.

Google designing Android for Intel chips

Intel, which dominates the PC market but has struggled to break into smartphones, is getting a hand from Google. Upcoming versions of Android, the No. 1 smartphone operating system from Google, will be compatible with Intel processors, the companies announced at Intel's developer conference on Tuesday.
"We want to make Intel architecture the platform of choice for smartphones," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said onstage. "Every time we have collaborated with Google, good things have come out of it."
The partnership will aid Intel in delivering on its promise to finally release smartphones with its technologies by the middle of 2012.
Google may benefit from accommodating a company that has significant influence in computers, which is the market Google is struggling to break into with its Chromebook project. The two companies already collaborate on that laptop operating system.
"The partnership has been great," said Andy Rubin, Google's executive for mobile development, who took the stage at Intel's conference to announce the deal.
In his keynote, Otellini touted Intel's Ultrabook concept, which the company has been reportedly nudging partners to embrace. The laptop concept facilitates very thin, light and affordable computers with batteries that can last for about a full day on a single charge. They look similar to Apple's MacBook Air, which uses Intel's Core processor.
Otellini also discussed a new processor, slated for 2013, called Haswell. Devices with the chip can remain connected to the Internet in standby mode for 10 days before the battery depletes, he said. Haswell will be tailored to Ultrabooks and tablets running Windows 8, the new operating system Microsoft was showing at the same time at its own conference in Anaheim, California.
"Computing means a lot more than just computers," Otellini said. "Just as computing has evolved, so too has Intel's architecture."
Intel's recent focus on reducing energy consumption, thereby improving battery life, should bolster its efforts in smartphones, analysts say. The company is also working on more compact chips, which it is calling "3-D transistors" because of the unique way the microscopic parts are situated.
Google and Intel did not say which chip will power upcoming Android phones or which manufacturers have agreed to make devices for it. Most smartphones and tablets use chips designed by ARM Holdings, which are popular for their efficiency. The next version of Android for phones and tablets, called Ice-Cream Sandwich, will debut next month or in November, Google has said.

SanDisk working to push SSD power consumption lower, squeeze more juice out of your battery

First things first: we really need to sit down with the tech industry and have a conversation about effectively naming things. Which brings us to our next order of business: SATA DEVSLP. SanDisk is working with other companies, like Intel, Microsoft and Samsung, to develop this new standard which will drive SSD power consumption much lower than current levels. Some drives already support the cornerstone of the standard -- a new super low-power mode that draws only 50mW of juice. SATA DEVSLP would keep the storage in that energy-sipping state the majority of the time, extending battery life for Ultabooks, tablets, or whatever other gadgets may come along. Guess we know one trick Intel plans to use to reach that promised 10-days of connected standby time.

Asus UX31 vs. UX21... fight! (video)

We'd handled ASUS' UX21 back at Computex, but we'd never gotten up close and personal with its larger brother, the UX31 -- until now. We spotted the 13.3-inch aluminum beaut just chilling at the Ultrabook pavilion at Intel Developer Forum. With the same 0.67-inch profile as its smaller sibling, that larger footprint means it's naturally a bit heavier (2.9 pounds), yet it's available with the same Core i5 (or optional i7) innards

Google outbid itself by 33 percent in Motorola Mobility acquisition, SEC filing reveals

Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility is already starting to lose that new car smell, but a fresh batch of financial details has now emerged, providing deeper insight into how the deal actually went down. According to an SEC filing that Motorola Mobility released yesterday, Google made an initial offer of $30 per share on August 1st, but soon raised that bid to $37 per share on August 9th, after Moto and its advisers asked for $43.50. On that same day, Google again raised its offer to $40 per share, even though Motorola wasn't accepting bids from other firms, for fear that a public auction would jeopardize its sale. This 33 percent increase ultimately added some $3 billion to the pot, bringing the final price tag to $12.5 billion. A Mountain View spokeswoman declined to comment on the negotiations, though its aggressive bidding suggests that the search giant desperately wanted the deal to go through. The documents also reveal that patent-related issues were at the forefront of discussions from the very beginning, when Google's Senior Vice President Andy Rubin met with Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha to talk about their mutual concerns, way back in July. According to the Wall Street Journal, these talks eventually convinced Jha that his company would be better off under Google's stewardship, amid fears that Moto could get swallowed by the stormy seas of patent litigation -- anxieties that the exec made all too apparent just four days before the merger was announced.

HTC Sensation XE gets official, packing 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and Beats Audio

The rumors can be laid to rest, because HTC has officially announced its Sensation XE handset, replete with some upgraded specs and Beats Audio. Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, this Android device features a 4.3-inch touchscreen with qHD (540 X 960) resolution and boasts a larger 1730mAh battery that promises prolonged run times. As the first smartphone produced under HTC's partnership with Beats Audio, this special edition Sensation also ships with a special pair of Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, along with an 8GB or 16GB microSD card and remote control that allows users to flip through tracks of take calls without ever reaching inside their pockets. Once these headphones are plugged in, the phone will automatically activate a Beats-optimized sound profile that, according to HTC, will deliver fuller bass, sharper vocals and broader range. The Sensation XE is slated to launch in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East sometime this month, though price and a possible North America launch date remain unclear.

Broadcom buys NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7b in cash, hopes to add more processors to lineup

You've probably never heard of NetLogic Microsystems, but you can bet that its technologies may very well end up in your next smartphone, tablet or vehicle. Broadcom has just announced its intentions to pick up the aforesaid company for a cool $3.7 billion in cash, with the "definitive merger agreement" already approved by the boards of both. According to Broadcom, the deal will extend its portfolio with "a number of critical new product lines and technologies, including knowledge-based processors, multi-core embedded processors, and digital front-end processors," and according to a televised CNBCinterview with president and CEO Scott McGregor, he's hoping to extend Broadcom's reach in the automotive industry. His view? We're getting dangerously close to streaming television (and more) to a serious quantity of motorcars, but beyond wild aspirations, there doesn't seem to be too many hard plans being made public.

Intel reveals January 2012 Gingerbread arrival for the Atom E6xx

Intel wants a piece of the smartphone market -- bad. The company has made no bones about its attempts to break into that booming space. Despite big talk, however, it hasn't really given smartphone manufacturers something they can work with. A new promotional video for its pint-sized Atom E6xx series, however, reveals that chipmaker may be taking a step in the right direction, highlighting a January 2012 date for bringing Android 2.3 to the processor. Keep in mind, of course, that this isn't a smartphone chip that we're talking about here -- the primary applications as outlined by Intel are retail, fitness equipment, digital signage and in-vehicle systems. Still, perhaps it marks a next step in the company's push toward your mobile devices, or moreover, a shift for Android into more non-mobilethings

Angelbird's PCIe-based SSD: it's real, it's shipping, it's 800MB/s

Remember that 1GB/s PCIe SSD system from Angelbird we covered a year ago? Well, the company just let us know it's finally available. The performance claims are more modest than we saw in the beta phase, but we're not distraught: the new benchmark is 800MB/s reads and 750MB/s writes, achieved with a $3000 setup including four 240GB SSD modules mounted on a Wings PCI-e card with a 32GB SSD built-in. Need to hold something back for groceries? You can't reduce the number of SSDs without slowing everything down, but four 60GB drives on the cheapest Wings Lite PCIe card ought to satisfy most thrill seekers for just under a grand.

Wacom Cintiq 24HD images break cover, we start practicing our stick figures

We've been all giddy since the Cintiq 24HD waltzed through the FCC last month... and now, we have even more reason to be excited. Although unconfirmed, signs continue to point to a 24-inch HD display (1920 x 1200 supported) -- upon which Wacom has implemented a stand that appears to allow the user to customize their viewing angle based on the task at hand. According to CG Everything, the peripheral is said to boast 2048 levels of pressure sensors with a 60-degree tilt sensor, 92 percent Adobe RGB color saturation, 190 nits of brightness, 550:1 contrast ratio and a 13ms response time.

Pentax crams 18x optical zoom into Optio RZ18 point-and-shoot camera

Guess what, amateur shooters? The superzoom just got shrunk. Pentax has just outed a new compact that touts a downright impressive 18x optical zoomer (25-450mm equivalent), with the snooping lens married to a 16 megapixel sensor, a smattering of shake reduction technologies and a 3-inch HVGA LCD 'round back. Moreover, you'll find a nine-point autofocus system, face detection algorithms, an SDXC card slot and an HD video mode capable of snagging 720p clips at 30 frames per second. It's all set to ship next month in black, white and orange for $299.95

Ford / Bug Labs partnership makes SYNC look like old news

It's a big day for the forward-thinking folks at Ford. Over in Frankfurt, the American auto giant showcased electric bike and cloud car concepts, and several timezones away at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, the company talked up its new partnership with Bug Labs. The result is OpenXC, a platform that promises to deliver increased integration for third-party software and hardware, like new audio interfaces, safety products and environmental sensors, plugged into Bugs' hardware and software modules. According to Ford, OpenXC makes developing for Ford vehicles far simpler than before, while lowering the cost and installation difficulty for car owners interested in adding on to their vehicles.