Only a couple of days ago we reported that Yahoo was apparently interested in acquiring Tumblr for $1 billion. Tumblr is believed to be ideal for brand advertising as its user base majorly consists of young and creative crowd. Yahoo has recently been on an acquiring spree as it hopes to turn itself around with ex-Googler Marissa Mayer as CEO. The Wall Street Journal claims via Twitter that Yahoo’s board has approved a $1.1 billion cash deal for the acquisition of Tumblr.

It is being said that Yahoo will be officially announcing this acquisition tomorrow at a media event in New York. Obviously it is a bit too soon to comment on how exactly Yahoo plans on using Tumblr and its substantial user base to its advantage. Despite being one of the major blogging platforms out there, Tumblr’s revenues are termed as “modest.” Perhaps we might see a major change in direction with regards to revenue generation? One of the reasons behind this acquisition is believed to be Yahoo’s aim to offer a competitor for Google’s popular Blogspot service, with Tumblr now reportedly securely under its belt, that aim doesn’t seem too far-fetched now.

Much has already been said about the iPad mini 2, though nothing has been confirmed by the company. It is believed that Apple will launch the next generation iPad mini in Q3, 2013. CEO Tim Cook’s statement that the company’s new products won’t be coming until September lines up perfectly with these rumors. The iPad mini 2 display is perhaps something that fascinates the rumor mill, the most. This upcoming tablet will reportedly tout a Retina Display. High resolution Retina Display or not, according to a new report by Digitimes, these displays are going to be developed by three major suppliers: LG, Sharp and AU Optronics.

The report cites Taiwanese supply chain sources, which have proven to be wholly hit or miss in the past, claiming that AU Optronics has been facing issues in manufacturing iPad mini displays. It further claims that due to this, AUO’s future as a major supplier for Apple is undecided. AU Optronics has also reportedly submitted sample panels to Apple for its certification. The other two alleged manufacturers are said to be LG and Sharp, both are thought to have solid yield rates and no production issues.

While Google has already released its Play Music All Access service, Apple’s rumored iRadio service apparently still hangs in the balance. The music streaming service has been rumored since October last year and it is yet to materialize, Apple as always hasn’t said a word confirming or denying its existence. Last we heard about this service, it was claimed that Apple’s negotiations with Warner and Sony labels had hit a snag which was causing the delay, iRadio service is rumored to be announced at WWDC 2013. According to CNET, which cites people familiar with the matter, Apple’s negotiations with Sony over song skipping rates is the major reason behind this delay.

iRadio reportedly works like Pandora does. These rumored negotiations are being done to hammer out a mutually acceptable price for songs that users listen a fraction of, then skip. It is not exactly known what demands Sony is bringing to the table and how Apple is countering them with its own, but one thing is for sure, the Cupertino company can’t afford any more delays if its ultimate aim is to launch a competitor for Google’s latest Spotify like music service. Both Sony and Apple have not commented on these alleged negotiations.

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on June 10th this year. There have already been many rumors regarding the announcements Apple will make at the event, whose tickets were sold out in less than three minutes this time around. Analysts already believe that refreshed models of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro might be released at the event. It is now being rumored that there’s a shortage in supply of MacBook Air to several of Apple’s authorized resellers, giving fuel to the speculation that indeed we are going to be treated to new Apple notebooks at this year’s WWDC.

No design changes have been rumored as yet for the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models. As far as the internal hardware is concerned, it is believed that these new notebooks will tout Intel’s new Haswell processors. There is a precedent to back up these rumors, the current MacBook models were released at WWDC 2012, and if Apple sticks to its traditional timeline of releasing updated models after an entire year, come June 10th there might be a new lineup of Apple notebooks.

It was back in January when T-Mobile announced that it would be offering the LTE edition of Samsung Galaxy S3. Quite a lot of time passed since the announcement but T-Mobile didn’t deliver on its pledge. It is now being reported that 16GB LTE White Galaxy S3 models are being delivered to T-Mobile retail stores across the country, which should start selling them in the very near future.

There’s still no confirmation from the carrier itself and it is rumored that stocks will be limited. This seems to be an obvious fact given that T-Mobile is already carrying the Galaxy S4, Samsung’s latest LTE compatible flagship smartphone. T-Mobile is expected to price LTE Galaxy S3 models substantially lower than the S4, because it obviously doesn’t make much sense for someone to pay exactly or close to the same amount for a device that has been succeeded by a new one. There is absolutely no difference in the specifications or internal hardware of a T-Mobile LTE Galaxy S3 as compared to an original S3, save for the fact that the former supports T-Mobile’s nascent LTE network. [Image via Tmonews]

Right on the heels of a very successful Google I/O conference during which Google has shows on stage that Chrome was becoming as good on mobile as it is on desktop, the company also launched a new television ad that I’ve seen a couple of time on live TV since. It is true that with 750M active users, it’s hard to argue that Chrome isn’t experiencing a meteoric rise. However, shortly after the new ad came out, Microsoft has allegedly build a spoof that capitalizes on what many end-users think: that everything Google does is used to spy on us, in order to sell more ads.
Read full post →New Google Chrome Ad Spoofed By Microsoft

Dell introduced us to its XPS 18 back in March of this year as the company’s newest all-in-one (AIO) computer, which at the time, we were impressed with its ultra-thin 18.4-inch display. In fact, the entire computer fits within the display making it quite an AIO to use as you don’t have to worry about setting up a mini tower somewhere on your desk, instead, just finding a spot for the display and you’ll be good to go.

During our hands-on time with the XPS 18, Dell made sure to emphasize its intention was to provide a true AIO experience and doesn’t want its users to think the product is just a rather large tablet. Instead, Dell wants us to consider the XPS 18 as a “mobile” computer that you can easily move around your home and not one that you would take with you to the park or across the U.S. when traveling. But if you’re looking for a desktop replacement, is the XPS 18 the kind of machine you would want instead of buying an actual desktop PC? That’s one of the factors we’ll be looking into of our review of the XPS 18. So, without further ado – let’s take a look at what Dell has to offer, shall we?
Read full post →Dell XPS 18 Review

The Sony XPERIA Z Tablet is going to hit U.S shores by month’s end, but Sony has just announced that its flagship tablet could be unlocked and loaded with a stock Android OS for developers who want to take the stop to unlock and flash the tablet. Previously, Sony had done the same thing with its XPERIA Z smartphone, and it is only logical that the  XPERIA Z Tablet gets the same treatment.
Read full post →Sony XPERIA Z Tablet With Stock Android And Unlocked, For Development

Earlier this week, NVIDIA announced the pre-order timeframe of its SHIELD Android mobile game console powered by Tegra 4, and that was supposed to be next Monday for retail partners like Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers. Good news: the retail partners have decided to move the pre-order to… now. This was confirmed this morning by Jason Paul who manages SHIELD at NVIDIA.

It’s not clear why this happened, but it is possible that retailers were worried that hardcore SHIELD fans may pre-order mainly through NVIDIA since those who opted for the official notification could order first, I’m just guessing. In any case, that’s a good news for those who couldn’t wait. If you haven’t taken a close look at SHIELD, now is a great time to read our hands-on review.
Read full post →NVIDIA SHIELD Pre-Orders Hit Sooner Than Expected

Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox will be unveiled on May 21, which means they probably have a lot planned to be announced that day not only for its newest Xbox video game console, but also its games ecosystem, such as it reportedly giving its Microsoft Points system the axe. It seems that isn’t the only change Microsoft has planned as the company is reportedly planning to prepare its Xbox 360 for the next-generation Xbox.

Yes – that does seem like a line out of Inception, but according to The Verge who spoke to a source familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans, a new dashboard update will enter public beta in late June or early July that will offer changes to the system’s UI and updates that will prepare users for the next-generation Xbox. The UI changes will be refreshed alongside smaller Live Tiles and will possibly be tweaked to provide lighter or darker themes.
Read full post →Microsoft Updating Xbox 360 Dashboard To Prepare For Next-Gen Xbox [Rumor]