The Digital Home

AOL is starting off the week with a bang -- and a billion-dollar jolt to its financials.

The company today announced that it has inked a deal with Microsoft that will see the online firm sell 800 of its patents and their related patent applications. In addition, Microsoft will be granted a non-exclusive license to the patents that AOL retains. The deal will cost Microsoft $1.056 billion in cash.

After the deal is done, AOL will hold 300 patents and patent applications related to advertising, search, and other technologies. It has also agreed to sign a license to use … Read more

Five people in southern China have been charged for their involvement in allegedly removing a boy's kidney in return for offering him cash to buy an iPhone and iPad.

According to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua (by way of Reuters), a 17-year-old boy last April had his kidney removed so he could buy an iPhone and iPad. The defendant who arranged the transplant allegedly received 220,000 yuan (about $35,000) for bringing the boy to a surgeon, who was also charged, along with the person's cohorts. The boy, who now suffers from renal deficiency, received 22,… Read more

Although Facebook says that a vulnerability allowing someone to access another user's account only affects jailbroken iPhones, two reports say that's not the case.

U.K. app developer Gareth Wright and The Next Web have separately confirmed that the issue, which originates from Facebook's iPhone application, actually affects any iPhone, and not just those that have been jailbroken.

Wright announced his findings earlier this week. He claims that Facebook's iPhone application includes a vulnerability that fails to encrypt log-on credentials when a user accesses the social network from its mobile application. Wright said that he then … Read more

Apple's new iPad has had its fair share of problems, and it appears another one might need to be added to the list.

An increasing number of new iPad owners have been complaining on Apple's forums about trouble connecting to 3G networks from their tablet. Based on the growing thread, the issue appears to be widespread across Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia. Only a few people in the U.S. have said that the device is having trouble connecting to 3G.

"When I travel with my iPad, e.g. taking it on a train, it loses … Read more

Add another one to the growing list of rumors surrounding a Google-branded tablet.

The Verge today is reporting, citing sources, that Google has decided to delay the launch of its tablet until July "at the earliest." The Verge's sources say that the device was slated to launch in May, but the search company decided to push it back to improve its design. Google also wants to try to lower the tablet's current price point of $249.

Google has been rumored to be working on a tablet for months now. According to The Verge, the device will, … Read more

For LG, the key to mobile dominance has nothing to do with nice-looking devices, and everything to do with future-thinking ideas.

Speaking today to Korea's iNews24, LG Mobile Managing Director Kwon Bong-suk said that his company is currently in the preparation phase of developing a "thinking smartphone" that LG believes could put the company over the top and cause apparently dumb devices to lose out.

The mobile chief didn't provide too many details on how the device would act, but did say that it could, for example, adjust its built-in alarm clock based on external factors. … Read more

As HTC continues to stumble in the face of increased competition in the mobile market, Samsung seems to be doing just fine.

Samsung disclosed early estimates for first-quarter sales today, approximating that it generated 45 trillion won (about $40 billion) during the period. In addition, the South Korea-based company said that its operating profit hit about 5.8 trillion won ($5.1 billion). Samsung didn't disclose its net profit.

The strong showing in the quarter just ended would dwarf the first quarter of 2011, when sales hit 37 trillion won and operating profit could only muster 2.95 trillion … Read more

YouTube last year allowed video creators to convert their clips to 3D. Now, they're giving ordinary viewers the chance to do so.

The online video site today announced that when users access certain 1080p 3D videos from the site, they'll be given a 3D option under the Quality settings pane. Upon clicking it, the video is automatically converted to 3D, which will require users to don their favorite 3D glasses to view it.

In order to get the 3D effect to work, YouTube analyzes a host of video components, including "color, spatial layout, and motion to estimate … Read more

Apple has been on a patent frenzy as of late.

According to Patently Apple, which follows the company's intellectual property, Apple has filed for a patent that relates to how SIM cards are removed and replaced in devices, and how the cards are kept safe from harm in the process. The blog says that Apple is trying to patent a "plunger"-like system for ejecting a SIM card, and use nonconductive material to safeguard the SIM. The patent includes a host of other embodiments that attempt to achieve the same goal.

Apple has been focusing quite heavily … Read more