All four major cell phone carriers have now signed on to the U.S. federal government's Wireless Emergency Alert system. That new new wireless SMS based emergency alert service is set to go live this month. The new service will cover 97 percent of active mobile users, with a "point-to-multipoint system" that targets at-risk subscribers. The service will include alerts from the National Weather Service, FEMA, FCC and Department of Homeland Security. It works by sending location-based messages of 90 characters or less to nearby handsets in the event of an imminent meteorological or other threat. The mostly opt-out service will also accommodate AMBER and Presidential alerts.

Thanks for the tip, Str8Aro!

Source: Engadget

There are a couple of pieces of new intel that may be a bright spot for HTC. Their newest problem is that two of their most popular new flagship devices, the One X and the Sprint version of that, the EVO 4G LTE, have been held up by U.S. Customs because of an ITC import ban from December due to an infringement on a patent from Apple. We shared this with you previously, but new info has come to light suggesting that HTC may be able to get buy afterall, and bring the phones to the U.S., even if they will be a little bit late.

First, according to a new report from SlashGear, these two HTC phones actually do not infringe upon the Apple patent. Apparently, HTC purposefully excluded the feature from the U.S. version of these phones that would cause any infringement in the first place. Apparently, the International version still has the infringement, but for some reason the phone is being held up at U.S. Customs to make sure the issue is resolved.

The second bit of news, seems to indirectly confirm the first bit of news. Best Buy recently sent out an email to Sprint customers who pre-ordered the HTC EVO 4G LTE. In the email, they indicated that the phone has been delayed, but that it will now arrive on May 23rd, instead of May 18th. This is a mere 5 day delay, and seems to point to the likelihood that the phones will make it through Customs afterall. You can see a picture of the email above.

Thanks to our tipster, RobKort, for the Best Buy part of this story!

Source: SlashGear and AndroidCentral

A new Android tablet maker has just entered the battleground that is the world-tablet market. This new challenger hails from India, and is called "GoTech." They are debuting two new fighters for the arena. One is called the FunTab Fusion and the other is called the FoneTab. No details on these tablet warriors are known at this time, other than pricing. The FunTab Fusion will sell for Rs 3,999 ($217 U.S.), and the FoneTab will sell for Rs 6,999 ($380). It will be interesting to see how well this new competitor fares!

Source: IndiaTimes

How many of you folks out in the wilds of Android-land are rockin' with Ice Cream Sandwich? A better question might be, how many devices are sporting the new OS? Or, an even better one... what devices are supposed to be getting ICS sometime soon? Engadget did a great job of compiling a list that answers the last two questions. We are sharing it here with you. Only you can answer the first question by sounding off in the forums if you already have ICS.

Here's the list: (This list is definitely not 100% exhaustive as it doesn't include some of the lesser known brands like Ainol, ZTE, etc., but it represents the biggest or most notable manufacturers at the moment.)

Source: Engadget

The smoke still hasn't settled on the nuclear bomb that Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo dropped yesterday, but there is now a new way to express your frustration. There is now an online petition to stop Verizon from eliminating unlimited data plans for their customers. It is over at Change.org and we have included a link below for you. One could easily make the argument that even if millions of people sign the petition, Verizon may still follow through with their plans to "axe" unlimited data plans, so what point would their be in signing it.

However, even if that is true, one of my favorite quotes from Wayne Gretzky, the famous hockey player, seems appropriate. He said, "100% of the shots you don't take, don't go in." To put it in perspective, you never know what might happen in life if you try, but you absolutely do know what will happen if you don't try... nothing! Now is your chance to be a part of an avalanche that may make a difference.

Here is your chance to let your voice be heard!

Online Petition to Stop Verizon From Killing Off Unlimited Data Plans

Here's a news piece that we didn't quite get to yesterday with all the bigger news that happened. It's a good thing that Google may be planning to refocus the Android ecosystem and gain better control of it, as we reported just yesterday. Because, these two graphical representations clearly indicate how bad of a problem the Android fragmentation problem has become. In the past, Google wanted us to believe that there was no problem and that the setup simply resulted in greater diversity. However, as you can see in the pics, that diversity may be going a bit too far, as there are literally thousands of different Android devices out there, and at some point Google may need to reign that in. Regardless, whether you want to call it fragmentation or variety, the study that was the source of these pics brought out some interesting facts.

Here is a breakdown of some of them: ("The study uses stats from customers who have downloaded the OpenSignalMaps application.")

• There are 3997 devices running on Android
• Samsung products are the most popular, followed by HTC
• The Galaxy S II is the most popular Samsung device ("The Galaxy SII (GT-i1900) had 61,389 of its users downloading the application in the last half a year.")
• Samsung grabbed 40% of the market (which seems to match up with other similar studies and marketing data.
• "Interestingly, the study showed a higher percentage of ICS devices than the official Google data. ICS was adopted by nearly 8% of users as of April 2012."

It's fascinating to see all these strange devices that mot of us have never heard of, like the Concorde Tab (a hungarian 10.1 inch device). This really shows just how many small companies world-wide have been jumping on the Android bandwagon. What do you think of these stats?

Source: OpenSignalMaps

Here's an interesting little tidbit of info that we missed a couple of days ago. It seems that Samsung has several devices with a wide variety of names coming in the future. According to reports, Samsung just filed for six new patents for Galaxy devices, with a wide assortment of interesting names. Several of these names are evocative of the Olympics, which is not surprising since Samsung's own Galaxy S III is the official smartphone of the London 2012 Olympic Games. These new names would suggest that some of these devices will be coming out this year. Here's a list of the names:

• Galaxy Lunge (Serial No. 85621870)
• Galaxy Forge (Serial No. 8561866)
• Galaxy Wield (Serial No. 85621864)
• Galaxy Mission (Serial No. 85621859)
• Galaxy Rivet (Serial No. 85621854)
• Galaxy Victory (Serial No. 85621853)

Sound off what you think these devices might be, and what you think of the interesting name choices.

Source: Fusible

For the last couple of weeks, Oracle and Google have been locked in a legal battle in San Francisco to determine the outcome of Oracle's claim that Google violated Oracle's copyrights and copied several lines of Java code when Google created the Android OS. It now seems as if things are close to a temporary resolution, and the two sides may have a pseudo-truce. The proceedings have been very complex, but we will attempt to break it down to its simplest terms.

• Oracle sues Google over copyright infringement of 37 Java APIs, and also claims that 9 lines of Java code were stolen. (Oracle must prove that this infringement and theft occurred, that the Java code was in fact copyrightable, and that "fair use" was violated, meaning that Google profited from it and it hurt Oracle in the process.)
• The Jury comes back agreeing that some of Oracle's copyrights were likely infringed upon, and that the code was lifted, but that Oracle could not prove "fair use."
• Oracle’s attorney, David Boies, argues that his client was entitled to “some portion of Android revenue” as compensation for the infringement.
• Judge Alsup, (who also happens to be an amateur programmer and code-jockey himself), retorts with “There’s no way you could make that argument,” he said to Boies Tuesday afternoon. “You’re one of the best lawyers in America — how can you make that argument?” The judge basically came to the conclusion that it makes no sense for Google to have intentionally taken the time to steal those 9 lines of code, when it would have simply been faster to create it themselves, and that it was merely a coincidental accident that the code was the same.

Now, things have come to a partial conclusion, although a final ruling has not been handed down just yet. Here's a quote from the original story on Wired.com with the final details,

Boies eventually suggested that Oracle would concede those damages if Judge Alsup ruled against the APIs’ copyrightability, and on Wednesday morning, both sides signed an agreement reflecting as much. Oracle will now only pursue full damages if Judge Alsup rules that the 37 Java APIs in question were copyrightable at all.

But this is not be the final chapter in what has been a rollercoaster of a case. If Alsup rules the APIs are in fact copyrightable, Oracle will get a new jury and argue for full damages. If the 37 APIs are ruled not copyrightable, Oracle agreed it will just take “statutory damages” — a standard amount — that doesn’t exceed $150,000 per claim. Oracle has clearly indicated that it will appeal such a decision as well.

Hanging over either scenario is Google’s motion for a mistrial based on the incomplete verdict, which would mean the entire copyright portion would start from scratch. Google filed for a mistrial, citing the Seventh Amendment and previous case law, since the jury hadn’t answered all questions only moments after the jury returned the verdict, but Judge Alsup has yet to rule.

Both the copyright and patent proceedings have contained advanced details of Java code and underpinnings. To the surprise of the court, after he admonished Boies, Alsup then disclosed that while he had coding experience in other languages, he had learned some Java programming to be better educated for

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