Signal Strength

The European Union's regulatory body has unconditionally approved Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility in a deal that could be worth about $12.5 billion.

The European Commission also said today it would monitor Google's and its rivals' use of patents to make sure that the deal complies with EU antitrust rules.

"We have approved the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google because, upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues," Joaquín Almunia, Commission vice president in charge of competition policy, said in a statement. "Of course, the Commission will … Read more

Thanks to Google Android, there are more tablet choices on the market than you can shake a stick at. But with a weak supply of apps to choose from and some buggy software, are these iPad knockoffs worth it? Or should consumers just pony up a few extra bucks and buy the iPad?

With the iPad 3 just around the corner, Ask Maggie tackles this question helping one reader decide if a low-cost Android option is better than a higher-priced iPad. Ask Maggie also helps a devoted iPod Touch user decide if he should get an iPhone as his first … Read more

Why does it take so long for Motorola to update its smartphones with the latest Android OS updates? Blame it on the hardware, said Christy Wyatt, vice president and general manager for Motorola Mobility's enterprise business unit.

At a roundtable discussion with reporters this week in New York City, Wyatt explained that making sure a new release of Google's software works on every variation of a Motorola smartphone takes time, especially with devices launching in multiple countries.

Motorola is not the only Android manufacturer that has been slow introducing Android upgrades. Samsung, HTC, Sony, and LG have also … Read more

Joining a carrier Wi-Fi hot spot on your smartphone or tablet will soon be as simple as turning on your device. That means no more scrolling through lists of available Wi-Fi networks, and no more typing passwords to join networks.

Wireless carriers all over the world have been turning to Wi-Fi to alleviate network congestion, but the onus of actually getting on those networks has been on individual subscribers. A set of new standards being developed will soon change that.

The IEEE technical standards body is developing 802.11u and the Wi-Fi Alliance has developed its Hotspot 2.0 initiative … Read more

LightSquared, the hedge fund-backed company planning to build a nationwide wireless broadband network to compete with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, is asking the Federal Communications Commission to set stricter technical rules for GPS devices.

Today, the company, which has invested billions of dollars to build a wireless broadband network that will blanket the U.S., filed a document with the FCC asking the agency to begin a rule-making process that will enforce strict standards on GPS devices, so that these devices will not inadvertently receive signals that are coming from adjacent spectrum bands.

For more than a year, … Read more

When people hear that a graffiti artist who took Facebook stock instead of cash for paintings he did at Facebook's headquarters will soon be a millionaire after the company goes public later this year, it's hard not to wonder if there is any way you might still be able to cash in on Facebook's riches.

Unfortunately, for most common folk, participating in Facebook's IPO isn't an option. But once the stock starts trading on the public market, eventually regular people will be able to buy shares. It's hard to say at this point whether … Read more

As Facebook prepares for its $5 billion initial public offering here in the U.S., European representatives are meeting with student activists from Austria regarding complaints the group has filed over how the company handles private information.

On Monday, Richard Allan, Facebook's European director of policy and a former member of Parliament in Britain, and another California-based Facebook executive are meeting with Max Schrems and other student activists from the group Europe v. Facebook, which filed complaints against Facebook with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) in August and September.

Facebook makes money through advertisements on its site. And … Read more

Watch out Netflix, Verizon Communications is getting into the video streaming business.

Today, Verizon announced a deal with Coinstar, the company that owns the Redbox DVD rental business. Redbox allows people to rent movies through kiosks it owns in grocery stores and other retail locations. As part of the new joint venture, the companies will develop an on-demand video streaming service. The companies will introduce the new service in the second half of 2012, they said in a press release.

Verizon will own 65 percent of the new joint venture, and Redbox will own the rest.

So far, neither Verizon … Read more

Verizon customers may have more 4G LTE Google Android smartphones to choose from than subscribers on any other U.S. carrier, but when it comes to a Microsoft Windows Phone devices, forget it.

The pickings for Windows Phone smartphones are pretty slim when it comes to Verizon Wireless and even No. 3 carrier Sprint Nextel. So what are interested consumers to do? Ask Maggie offers some advice and some predictions on when these carriers will offer more devices using Microsoft's mobile OS.

The long wait for a Verizon Windows Phone with 4G LTE

Dear Maggie, I'm a Verizon … Read more