Google hasn’t been known as a hardware vendor in the past. That may soon change thanks to the company’s pending acquisition of Motorola, and recent reports suggest Google is already working on a self-branded home entertainment system and HUD glasses. Through a recent FCC filing, it has now been discovered that Google is also planning a “next generation personal communication device.” Details surrounding the mystery device are few and far between, although the filing does confirm bo...

Google is developing a home-entertainment system to stream music wirelessly throughout a users’ houses, The Wall Street Journal reports. The device will be Google-branded, marking a first for the search giant which historically develops software it then licenses to outside vendors. The system will most likely be Android-powered and will allow users to download music and stream it to Google-made speakers or other Web-connected devices in a home or office. The system may also be able to stream other digi...

Google has hired Apple’s former senior director of product integrity for a new secret project, according to a report from VentureBeat. The man in question is Simon Prakash, who worked at Apple for more than eight years. Prakash was responsible for the quality control at Apple, a company that has a long-standing reputation for quality. He will now reportedly be working in Google’s “X lab” on a secret project headed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. It is speculated that the project coul...

A leaked component that is purportedly part of Apple’s unannounced iPad 3 suggests that the tablet may feature a brand new design. The new part is a microphone mic flex cable ribbon that was leaked by TVC-Mall. Unlike the iPad 2, the flex cable in the iPad 3 makes a U-Turn, suggesting additional components have been reconfigured within the iPad 3′s case. Redesigned internal hardware don’t necessarily mean the iPad 3 will will feature a cosmetic redesign, but earlier reports claimed that Appl...

Repairs to Android smartphones cost wireless carriers $2 billion per year according to a new year-long WDS study that tracked 600,000 support calls around the globe. Android’s popularity and the introduction of a number of low-cost smartphones has put a strain on the wireless business model, WDS noted in its report. “Deployment by more than 25 OEMs and lower-cost product coming to market is leading to higher than average rates of hardware failures and, in turn, return and repair costs.” 12.6...

The crew at iFixit has given the iPhone 4S its proper tear-down, revealing the phone’s inner workings and hardware. iFixit noticed that the battery offers an extra 0.5 WHrs over the one found in the iPhone 4, which is likely the reason Apple is able to advertise an additional 1-hour of 3G talk time on the iPhone 4S compared to its predecessor. The phone is equipped with a Qualcomm RTR8605 radio, an Avago ACPM-7181 power amplifier and of course a dual-core 1GHz Apple A5 processor, which has been downcloc...

Foxconn and Quanta Computer, two companies that manufacture Apple products such as the iPhone and iPad, have suggested that there will be “minimal” impact on supply orders following news that Steve Jobs will no longer serve as Apple’s CEO. Reportedly, Tim Cook, who has replaced Jobs as CEO, was already working closely with the manufacturing process while Steve Jobs was out on leave. DigiTimes said that the move could affect Apple’s global brand recognition and the company’s innov...

Things are changing in Waterloo. The summer is drawing to an end and Research In Motion is in the very early stages of the biggest BlackBerry device launch of the brand’s storied history. BlackBerry 7 smartphones — which include new Bold models, Curve models and Torch models — will be sold by more than 225 carriers around the world this year and into 2012. But RIM’s BlackBerry 7 device launch is also significant for another reason, of course: it is the end of an era. (more…)

By now, you’ve no doubt seen the news: Google intends to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. What this will do is not only give Google access to Motorola’s vast patent library consisting of nearly 25,000 patents, but it will also give Google an end-to-end hardware and software strategy with smartphones, tablets and even with Google TV. The thing is, Google didn’t need to buy Motorola. Google could have just licensed the patents from Motorola. Google bought Motorola because it felt l...

Parts for a new white Apple iPod touch have surfaced, courtesy of 9to5 Mac, suggesting that Apple has plans to release a new color scheme when it takes the wraps off its next-generation iPhone in late August or early September. The leaked images show the iPod touch’s digitizer component, although it is currently unclear if the unit is real or not. The Cupertino-based company has already placed orders for the new color scheme and production is slated to begin next month, according to Concord Securities a...

On Wednesday, VIA Technologies and WTI announced that the two have reached an agreement to sell holdings in S3 Graphics to HTC for $300 million. S3 Graphics builds hardware graphics solutions for a number of consumer devices including game consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. VIA will receive $147 million from the deal while WTI will take home $153 million. “The transaction would allow VIA to monetize a portion of its rich IP portfolio, yet retain its graphics capabilities to support the development and sale ...

In the world of computing, no two companies have more history than Microsoft and Apple. In fact, the companys’ history is 10,124 pixels tall. From modest beginnings to IPOs, and later to global domination, Microsoft and Apple are largely responsible for computers as we know them today. Microsoft concentrated on software early and now owns the lion’s share of the global PC market, and more recently, Apple looked to mobile computing to revitalize its business and its market cap. Of course from an i...

Printed circuit board (PCB) suppliers in Taiwan have noticed “disappointing orders” for iPhone and iPad hardware, according to DigiTimes. As a result, the suppliers have cut quotes by 10% on average for the second quarter, noting that there’s no sign of a rebound. The drop in iPhone hardware orders suggests that Apple’s highly anticipated next-generation iPhone is imminent; it’s largely expected that the company will take the wraps off of the device in September. The PCB supplier...

BGR’s Throwback Thursday segment is typically reserved for extinct tech, but this week we make an exception. On June 16th, 1911 — one hundred years ago today — Charles Ranlett Flint merged three companies to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. Headquartered in New York City, CTR manufactured and sold scales, card-punch machines, meat slicers and a variety of other products that have long since been replaced by several generations of improved offerings. CTR changed its name to Internatio...