Samsung Galaxy mini 2 goes up for pre-order in the UK

Samsung's recently announced Galaxy mini 2 S6500 is now available for pre-order at an online retailer in the UK. The entry level Galaxy will cost you £179.95 (€215) without contract.

As you can see above, availability date is yet to be known. We reckon however, that it won't be long before the handset finds its way in people's pockets.

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Sony Ericsson’s Xperia S Impresses at CES

By Aldo Panessidi

No doubt, Nokia cell phone Lumia 900 made quite an impression at CES, but another (non-Samsung and non-Apple) smartphone contender made waves as well.  That is Sony Ericsson’s Xperia S. Taking the approach of tailoring and optimizing software to the hardware, Sony has taken the familiar and effective Gingerbread OS and made a device that runs incredibly smoothly and also has the look and feel of a great smartphone.

Like the Nokia Lumia handsets, the Sony Xperia S smartphone is made of a single piece of high density polycarbonate which feels substantial and appears chic and modern. It also serves as a great frame to the 720p screen that uses the Sony Bravia Engine and fuses the LCD glass to bring down reflections. 

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Sony MT27i Pepper shows up in a press shot

We've seen this one in blurry shots back in January, sporting a Sony Ericsson logo. Today, the Sony MT27i Pepper emerged in a press shot, proudly wearing a Sony logo, with Xperia Smart Tags by its side.

As you have probably guessed already, the Smart Tags clearly suggest that the device will sport NFC connectivity when launched. The rest of the rumored specs include a 1GHz dual-core CPU and NovaThor U8500 chipset, 3.7" screen with resolution of 480x854 pixels, and 5MP snapper.

Given the nature of the leaked image, we can reasonably expect that the Sony MT27i Pepper will get officially unveiled sooner, rather than later. Naturally, we will keep you posted on any new findings, related to the device.

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'Kony 2012' director answers critics of video

The director of a video sensation that calls for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of a Ugandan militia group, agreed on Friday with skeptics who have called the film oversimplified, saying it was deliberately made that way.

The 30-minute YouTube film called "Kony 2012," which by Friday had been viewed on YouTube more than 58 million times, aims to wake up the world to atrocities committed by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, including kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.

Filmmaker Jason Russell's nonprofit group, Invisible Children, tapped 12 influential policy makers and 20 celebrities with popular Twitter accounts, including Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie, to spread the video. Since then, the company owned by powerful producer Harvey Weinstein has contacted Russell to buy the film.

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Hacker combined online attacks with petty crime

A computer hacker-turned-FBI informant known as "Sabu" combined daring online attacks against governments and major companies with a life of petty crime and drugs, according to a copy of his plea agreement.

The court document, made public late on Thursday, describes how authorities agreed not to charge the hacker, whose real name is Hector Monsegur, with a variety of crimes he allegedly committed as long as he obeyed the terms of his plea deal.

Monsegur, 28, was arrested at his small apartment in a Manhattan housing complex on June 7, 2011 and two months later pleaded guilty to 12 computer crimes, prosecutors and the FBI said this week in announcing charges against him and five others.

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EXCLUSIVE - Google leans on developers to use payment service

Google Inc (GOOG.O) has been pressuring applications and mobile game developers to use its costlier in-house payment service, Google Wallet, as the Internet search giant tries to emulate the financial success of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iOS platform.

Google warned several developers in recent months that if they continued to use other payment methods - such as PayPal, Zong and Boku - their apps would be removed from Android Market, now known as Google Play, according to developers, executives and investors in mobile gaming and payment sectors.

Developers say the Internet search giant is trying to simplify consumer payments, hoping apps-buying will rise and offset their higher costs. Google's payment service charges a higher cut per transaction than some rivals'. But the move also suggests Google is using its powerful position in the mobile apps market to promote an in-house offering.

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Facebook co-founder buys New Republic magazine

Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook and a former online strategist for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, has purchased a majority stake in The New Republic, the magazine said on Friday.

Hughes, 28, will become publisher and editor-in-chief of the nearly 100-year old magazine which covers American politics.

He is also expected to apply his expertise in digital technology in his new role.

The New Republic currently publishes a daily Web magazine. The New Republic did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction or the exact size of the stake.

Hughes co-founded Facebook in 2004 at Harvard with his then- roommates Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz.

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Intel Atom-packing Orange Santa Clara benchmarked

Intel are serious about getting into the mobile phone business with phones like the Orange Santa Clara. The Intel Atom Z2460 chipset however drew some ridicule for its single CPU core.

Early benchmarks show, however, that the single (but HyperThreading-capable) core packs a lot of punch. A lucky CeBIT visitor had a chance to run a couple of browser-based benchmarks, which are easier to access than dedicated apps.

Orange Santa Clara vs. iPhone 4S in BrowserMark

The Santa Clara scored nearly 90K on BrowserMark, beating an iPhone 4S by a slight margin.

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