Rumors

Apple could be on the verge of giving users the option to rent television shows from its iTunes Store.

Citing "people familiar" with discussions between Apple and News Corp., Bloomberg reported Tuesday that 99-cent TV show rentals are being talked about. Users would have to watch the shows within 48 hours of purchasing the rental, according to the report.

The rental system sounds very similar to the one Apple uses for movie rentals on the iTunes Store, where users have a specified amount of time to watch the rented media before it expires.

Bloomberg also says Apple is … Read more

Oracle taking on the 'open' in Android, the G1's soon-to-be sibling, and Honeycomb. You read that right. Plus we discuss the somewhat confusing world of personal and corporate Gmail co-existing on your Android phone. Today's special guest, Senior Writer for HowStuffWorks.com, Jon Strickland!

Gizmodo has acquired a few new pictures of the unique, square-shaped Motorola handset that first popped up back in April. Although the details are light, this time around we're getting a glimpse of where the phone will land. If the images are to believed, the tiny MotoBlur smartphone will debut with AT&T in the near future.

Motorola announced a European variant of this phone back in June under the name Flipout. If you'll recall, the phonemaker has a history of releasing the same phone with different names, depending on the carrier. For instance, the Cliq is … Read more

The rumored Android PSP gaming phone from Sony Ericsson isn't just potentially good news for PSP fans--it's necessary news. In case you haven't noticed, the PSP is being edged out of the handheld market thanks to the success of the App Store as a gaming platform for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, and the continued but diminishing popularity of the Nintendo DS. Not even a furious Marcus can stop it.

The next generation of handheld gaming is nearly upon us, and it favors change: Nintendo's 3DS adopts 3D gaming and throws in a 3D camera; … Read more

eBay's PayPal is in talks with Google to about adding its payment service to Android devices, according to a Bloomberg report Friday.

If the discussions to use PayPal for Android application purchases go well, the service could be available on smartphones with Google's software by the end of this year, according to Bloomberg's unnamed sources.

Android app purchases currently are made using a credit card or Google's own competitor to PayPal, Google Checkout. PayPal is already available as an application for accepting and making mobile payments on several mobile platforms, including Android. The reported description of … Read more

Two new Android devices from HTC, the Lexikon and Bee, surface on the Internet this week.

Even though there aren't any images to go with the specs, we can get a good feel for what the Taiwanese handset maker has up its sleeve.

First up is the Lexikon, which comes with an 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of internal memory. The Android 2.2-powered device also features a 3.8-inch display, a 5-megapixel camera, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The Bee, on the other hand, sounds like an earlier Android handset, with its 528MHz processor, 384MB RAM, and … Read more

Google releases an expanded voice control app for Froyo, A PSP/Android hybrid gaming device, and the first Android Trojan (if you live in Russia). Plus Justin reviews SwiftKey, and we cover all of the Voice commands achievable with the new Google app.

The Dell Streak only become available this week, but Android geeks are already foaming at the mouth over the next offering from the PC giant. You may recall that we covered a trio of unannounced Dell smartphones back in April known as the Smoke, Flash, and Thunder. Of the three handsets, the Android 2.1-powered Thunder sounded the most impressive with a 4.1-inch OLED touch display, an 8-megapixel camera, and an "integrated Web video Hulu app." It was due for an October release followed by an LTE version due next year.

Thanks to a couple of anonymous … Read more

Apple is reportedly testing a version of the iPhone with CDMA chips.

At least that's what Daring Fireball's John Gruber says. He cites "a few little birdies" when reporting late Wednesday that the prototype in testing is codenamed "N92."

N92 is "certainly not in production," but is currently at the engineering verification test level, or EVT, according to Gruber. That's one level below DVT, or device verification test. And that is itself a level below an actual product currently being manufactured.

Now, as we know, Verizon operates a CDMA network. Does … Read more