Sprint to offer three levels of iPhone service, 'yellow' AppleCare+ repairs will cost $49

Thinking about buying an iPhone 4S from Sprint? Depending on how clumsy you tend to be with mobile devices, you might want to consider adding the $99 AppleCare+ option at purchase, since those Total Equipment Protection plans are definitely out. A Sprint employee wrote in to detail us on upcoming service procedures, which include grouping a damaged device within three categories -- green, yellow and red -- after diagnosis. As you might imagine, green repairs are the easiest to deal with, and include 'minor damage' (i.e. cracked screens are out). These repairs will be handled for free within the first year for all customers, and within two years for those who purchased AppleCare+. Next up, the yellow category covers damage that doesn't fall within green, but is still repairable. Non subscribers will pay $199, while those with AppleCare+ will pay $49. Klutzes beware: you're limited to two yellow repairs, regardless of whether or not the device is in warranty. Finally, the red category is reserved for iPhones that provide little function beyond holding down a stack of papers or propping open your door. You'll need to pay the full replacement cost for red-labeled phones. None of these repairs will be handled in store -- iPhones will be shipped to Apple, though you're welcome to start the process at Sprint. Our recommendation: reach out to Apple directly, since your iPhone is probably headed there either way. And if you want AppleCare, don't forget to buy it at launch.

Samsung confirms Ice Cream Sandwich event on October 19

Just like we'd heard, we'll be getting our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich next week, on October 19th to be precise. Of course we've already had a whiff of what it looks like in a video, and sampling the new Music and Google+ apps gave us another good look. But now we're set to see it for real, and if all goes well we might just get some new hardware out of the deal, too. Will this be the day the Nexus Prime makes us think that flat smartphones are... well... square? We'll be there live to let you know as it happens.

Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot' now available to download

In case you haven't been keeping an eye on the countdown, we thought we'd remind you that Ubuntu 11.10 -- otherwise known as Oneiric Ocelot -- is now available to download (completely free of charge, of course). That brings with it an updated version of the Unity interface that includes features like a new alt + tab switcher and "Lenses" with some expanded functionality instead of the previous "Places" feature -- not to mention full support for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other script languages. Did we mention it also now has its own soundtrack?

Google announces Q3 earnings: $9.72 billion in revenue, $2.73 billion net income, 40 million Google+ users

Google's just announced its third quarter earnings and, as expected, the company's numbers are continuing on the upswing (even beating expectations). That includes $9.72 billion in revenue, which represents a 33 percent jump compared to the third quarter of 2010, along with $2.73 billion in net income, which is up from $2.17 billion a year ago. Somewhat notably, Google also choose to lead off its press release announcing the financial results (included after the break) with the news that Google+ has just passed the 40 million user mark -- the company further notes that "people are flocking into Google+ at an incredible rate." There's not a ton of surprises to be found in the results otherwise, although Larry Page and co. sure seem to be busy hiring new folks -- they've brought on 10 percent more employees in the span of three months (for a total of 31,353 full-time employees as of September 30th).

Update: During the company's earnings call, CEO Larry Page confirmed that there's now 190 million Android phones activated around the world, and 200 million users of the Chrome web browser (although it's not clear how many of those are active users). Page also took a moment to post his remarks to Google+ during the call.

Jawbone's Up wristband warms up at AT&T store, wants you faster, stronger

Jawbone's fitness-obsessed wristband appears to be closing in on the retail finish line. The Up pairs with what appears to be an iOS app, (no news on whether an Android version is in the pipeline), and will pile on the guilt about your disgustingly sedentary lifestyle. You can have the luxury of feeling like a weight loss reality show contestant by scheduling "get up and move" reminders when you've succumbed to watching back-to-back mediocre sitcoms with a Doritos family bag chaser. There's also a sleep tracker and a challenge tab to plot your amazing weight loss journey (or descent to an early demise) against friends and family. It'll monitor what you eat, and even tell you which foods "help you feel your best."

Chinese researchers create ping-pong playing robots, trash talk still needs work

Wu and Kong are the latest additions to a pantheon of robot athletes. Sure, their eye-mounted motion-tracking cameras may not make for the most emotive games you'll ever see, but we can't help but be impressed by all those precision shots. The robot twins were developed at China's Zhejiang University and, we'll admit, compared to getting hustled at pool or being struck out by a baseball robot, there's something a bit friendlier about a game of table tennis with our future oppressors. You can marvel at the duo's bionic backspin in action after the break. We're massive Wu fans.

Sprint explains iPhone 4S unlocking policy: phones will be unlocked, then locked, then unlocked again

Yeah, that makes just as much sense to us as it does to you. Following yesterday's PR debacle, the final word from Sprint appears to be as follows:

"Sprint's policy is to have the iPhone 4S SIM locked to our network domestically and internationally. At launch, the International SIM will be unlocked. We do expect a SIM lock to be pushed to the devices shortly after launch. We will then allow existing customers in good standing to unlock the SIM for international use if needed in the future."

So, if we're reading that correctly, the iPhone you purchase and activate will be unlocked. Then, a SIM lock will be "pushed" to your device. But, if you've been a good, policy-abiding customer, your iPhone can then be unlocked manually by Sprint. Who knows what'll happen if you buy your phone and flee to a non-extradition country before Sprint comes knocking at the door, shackles in hand. Will you be left to live in peace with your newly-acquired international Micro SIM? Will you need to plead your case before a tribunal of mobile carrier overlords? Only time will tell, we suppose, or perhaps further clarification from Sprint. Jump past the break for the complete announcement.

Hulu owners 'terminate sale process', won't sell to anyone

After all the speculation over who would buy Hulu, the company just announced on its blog that the answer is: no one. While that's been out there as a possibility, it's still a surprise after Hulu's long summer. Things started with a surprise bid from Yahoo back in June, followed quickly by an invitation for more offers. Ultimately however, the networks that own the site have decided keeping it to themselves is the best option -- we'll see what that does to its growth and future plans.

Google Translate for Android gets v2.2 update, adds more language support for speech-to-speech

Let the voice recognition battle begin! Siri's already thrown the first punch in the soon-to-be dicey (albeit very consumer friendly) voice service wars, but don't count Google out just yet. The folks over at Mountain View are doing their best to strike back, adding extra functionality to the Google Translate app for Android. So, what's new in this version 2.2 upgrade? The company's expanded the app's previously limited speech-to-speech repertoire with support for an additional 12 languages, accessible via the alpha-tagged Conversation Mode. And to prevent you from any awkward (and potentially hilarious) moments of unintended translation, there's now a post-edit ability to keep those two-way foreign exchanges PG. Alright, so it's not quite the hands-free, HAL-like cyber assistant update we'd like it to be, but there's always Ice Cream Sandwich for that -- we hope

DNAnexus Raises $15 Million, Teams With Google To Host Massive DNA Database

It was only a few years ago that 23andMe and other personal genomics companies began to fulfill the futurisitic promise of allowing consumers to test their own DNA for hundreds (rather than hundreds of thousands) of dollars. And now it won’t be long until these screens become far more exhaustive, with such tests comprising your entire genome, rather than just specific portions of it.
Society still has plenty of thinking to do when it comes to the privacy and ethical issues involved — but from a straight logistical perspective there’s another thing we need to consider: every person’s DNA sequence represents a huge chunk of data spanning hundreds of gigabytes.
Today a company called DNAnexus is announcing that it’s raised $15 million from Google Ventures and TPG Biotech to help help scientists and genome-related services host and manage this data. Also participating in the round are First Round Capital, SoftTech VC, K9 Ventures, and Felicis Ventures. As pat of the deal, Google Ventures partner Krishna Yeshwant will be joining the company’s board, as will TPG Biotech partner and managing director Geoff Duyk.
In addition to the funding, the company is also announcing a key partnership: it’s's teamed with Google to give a long-term home to the Short/Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database. This immense dataset, which spans 400 terabytes at this point, includes publically available whole-genome sequences that scientists can use for research purposes. The data has previously been housed by the government at the NCBI, but federal cuts mean that organization can no longer shoulder the burden, which is where DNA Nexus and Google are stepping in.
I spoke with CEO Andreas Sundquist for some time about the longer-term vision of DNAnexus. Sundquist says that DNAnexus wants to provide the underlying infrastructure for managing our DNA in the future. At this point it’s still unclear what that will entail — we don’t know, for example, whether our doctors are going to be managing our DNA profiles, or whether consumers will be responsible for them. But either way, DNAnexus wants to help power these databases and services.
Of course, when you’re looking to host the world’s DNA profiles, privacy is a major concern. Sundquist says that the the company has a heavy focus on maintaining both security and privacy, with an approach that uses Google’s underlying technology as a base and expands beyond it. I’m guessing that if this does take off, we’ll see further government-mandated security measures and audits.

AwayFind Raises $800,000 In Seed Funding, Now Available For Google Apps

Email productivity tool AwayFind announced today that it has closed its seed round of $800,000, led by 500 Startups and CAP Ventures, with participation from several angels, including Ben Lilienthal, Anton Sutton and Amir Banifatemi.
The company is also launching its new product for business, available now in the Google Apps Marketplace. This new service includes an integrated Gmail gadget, new subscription plans starting at $10 per month and instant alerts.
In case you’re unfamiliar with AwayFind, the company serves the oddly overlooked, but insanely practical need to address the “email overload” situation. Instead of constantly checking your inbox for important messages, AwayFind lets you configure when and how to alert you of urgent emails, using notifications that are sent out through SMS, phone calls (yes, old school calls!) or smartphone apps running on the iPhone or Android devices.
Obviously, the target market for AwayFind’s revenue monetization options is the business customer, which is why today’s Google Apps offering makes sense. This more professional-grade service includes an administration control panel that enables I.T. to provision AwayFind for Google Apps users, check on account issues and manage the system. And as before, AwayFind uses oAuth for Google Apps email checking, and is fully PCI compliant.

Maide Turns Your iPad Into A 3D Controller

The best demos are the ones that extend your sense of what’s possible a little, and Maide‘s did just that. I usually think of iPads as display devices that also support input; but Maide Control uses the tablet almost exclusively for input, which vastly expands the potential richness and repertoire of the interface. They’ve targeted 3D design and modelling as their initial market, aiming to replace dedicated 3D mice from companies like 3DConnexion, but I can see variants being used for things like strategy games and media editing too.
It’s a simple notion: the app connects your iPad (wirelessly) to a big monitor used for 3D design, and then you use multi-touch gestures to zoom, pan, and rotate around that design, and to sketch, add, edit, and erase. It’s pretty easy to use, too — even I, who failed first-year drafting as an engineering student, found it slick and semi-intuitive. You can hook up multiple iPads to the same design to collaborate, and I expect they’ll eventually let users add and customize a personal palette of input/editing options.