One man's trash is another man's treasure: Deutsche Telekom could finally exit the U.S. market

With its attempted purchase of Sprint potentially in jeopardy, SoftBank is actively considering buying T-Mobile US as a fall-back plan. Sprint and SoftBank seem confident that its current deal will go through, however a few billion extra dollars from Dish may be enough to force Sprint's hands into taking the more profitable deal -- and SoftBank is reportedly ready to move right on down the line to the next U.S. carrier it can buy, T-Mobile. After its merger with MetroPCS, T-Mobile (now T-Mobile US) is a publicly traded company, making its former parent company Deutsche Telekom now just a majority shareholder. According to three sources to Reuters, the Japanese carrier is returning to talks previously held between it and Deutsche Telekom pertaining to buying its stake in the U.S. carrier.

Just as Deutsche Telekom wanted, this structure makes it a much simpler proposition to sell off its 74-percent stake in T-Mobile US to another company, such as SoftBank, if it wants a final exit from the U.S. At its current valuation T-Mobile US is worth about $15 billion, or $5 billion less than SoftBank currently has on the table to buy Sprint. The numbers work out, and it's no secret that DT has had one foot out the door for some time now -- SoftBank could just be the final piece to make everyone happy.

Source: Reuters

Galaxy S4 variant infused with Galaxy Camera DNA

We've seen the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and Galaxy S4 Active, and next up could be the Galaxy S4 Zoom. The device has been rumored for the past several weeks, and supposedly combined Galaxy S4 Mini-level internals with a 16-megapixel rear shooter and 10X optical zoom capabilities. If it exists, it's an interesting twist on the "cameraphone" concept, as we discussed in a recent editorial.

Today brings us our first possible look at the actual hardware of the S4 Zoom. The Samsung rumormongers at SamMobile have published the shot above, which looks like a Galaxy S4 infused with some Galaxy Camera DNA. There's an S4-like front, complete with speaker grille, a zoom lens around the back and dedicated camera key (without a zoom rocker, oddly.)

We'll have to wait and see whether this will be the device to complete Samsung's "Premiere 2013" line-up. We'll be on the ground in London on June 20 to find out -- in the meantime, share any theories down in the comments.

Source: SamMobile

Action Launcher today has dropped Version 1.8 on us in Google Play, bringing with it a few welcomed improvements. You're now able to choose which widget you want associated with a Shutter action (that's the one where you swipe an app icon to open its widget), which gives you far better control over what's being shown. It also lets you associate any widget with any icon, whether or not it actually is supposed to have a widget. Neat trick.

And because of the way that works, you're now able to use Shutters with Ice Cream Sandwich devices. More backward compatibility is always a good thing.

Look for the Action Launcher update in Google Play any time now (hit the link above, or just go to Google Play, where it should be listed as a Featured App soon), and be sure to check to the changelog and demo video after the break.

Larry Page, chief legal officer Drummond pen post in response to recent reports of government snooping

Google's chief executive this afternoon weighed in on the reports from The Guardian and The Washington Post that have created a bit of a firestorm over personal liberty versus anti-terrorism efforts. Parsing Larry Page's post, which is co-authored with Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, you get the following:

• First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers
• Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process.
• Finally, this episode confirms what we have long believed—there needs to be a more transparent approach.

Read Page and Drummond's full explanation on Google's official blog.

No more battery life worries, next generation of controllers will charge your device as you play

MOGA has just announced that it will be unveiling the second generation of its popular mobile gaming controllers, dubbed the "Power Series", at the E3 gaming show next week. Building on the success of the original MOGA Pro controller, these second generation controllers have improved ergonomics and Bluetooth radios, but are still compatible with a wide range of devices from Android 2.3 and up as well as Windows Phone 8. MOGA's "S.M.R.T. Lock" arm ensures that your device will connect safely and securely to the controller as well, even during intense gameplay.

The smaller, more portable of the two second-gen controllers features a completely redone design with clickable joysticks, new D-pad and shoulder buttons. On top of the enhancements in the physical controls, what sets these apart from their predecessor (and competitors) is the new "MOGA Boost" feature, which will charge your device as you play with the controller. This is a big deal to take away some of the battery worry associated with high-end mobile gaming, and we'll be interested to see how much battery life users can expect.

On top of our continuing Talk Mobile coverage of mobile gaming this week, we'll surely be seeing more about MOGA and other new mobile gaming-related products from E3 next week.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition and HTC One Google Edition are on their way.   We now have more than one device coming that will run Android in its native form, with no OEM changes in sight.  No Sense, no Touchwiz, for better or worse.  What does this mean?  Should one of them be your next device?  These are questions that have been asked by many, but don't have a definitive answer. The discussion has been happening in the forums, though, with many members weighing in on the issues.

First paws-on image

We've been hearing rumors of a 6-plus-inch Sony handset for a few months now, with the codename 'Togari' being closely linked with the alleged phone. Today brings some more nuggets of pre-release info surrounding this elusive device. Sources for VR-Zone suggest that the device will come to market as the Xperia ZU -- a good enough name, considering Sony's quickly depleting the rest of the alphabet. Purported specs include a 6.44-inch Triluminous 1080p display and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU, which could make the ZU one of the first Snapdragon 800 devices to come to market.

Meanwhile an early alleged photo of the device has emerged, showing a small kitten balancing on its 6.44-inch screen. (For scale, we imagine, though we sincerely hope that stacking animals on unannounced smartphones will become the next Internet trend.) The shot seems to originate from the SEBBS forum on Chinese site it168.com, along with claims that the device will measure in at just 6.5mm thin. That certainly fits with earlier rumors surrounding the Togari.

Finally, Sony Mobile Germany has scheduled an event for June 25, leading to speculation that the 'Togari' -- or Xperia ZU -- will become official before the end of the month. That said, Sony's got lots of stuff in the pipe, including the 'Honami,' which is rumored to pack a 20-megapixel Cyber-shot camera.

Source: VR-Zone, Esato; via: PhoneArena

If Apple opens up to third-party keyboards, it could allow the iPhone to borrow one of Android's top features

With Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) kicking off next week in San Francisco, speculation is rampant that popular third-party keyboard makers on Android may be courted over to that other ecosystem if Cupertino opens up a proper keyboard API. Following Apple CEO Tim Cook's statements at the recent D11 conference, and a follow-up this week from All Things D, the time might be right for Apple to open up just a tiny bit, and finally allow developers write keyboard apps for the iPhone and iPad.

The new Gmail turned on contact images, but that doesn't mean you have to stick with them

We took a look at the latest update to Gmail the other day in a broad sense, but there are so many small changes in this update that we think a few warrant extra attention. The most noticeable change comes by way of new contact images next to emails, which are turned on by default. The issue is that not everyone has a contact image associated to each person that will send them mail, meaning there are often big, randomly-colored letters next to the emails instead. We wouldn't disagree if you thought this was a waste of space and looked a bit cartoonish, so here's how to turn them off.

From the main Gmail inbox view, head to your settings (via your phone's hardware menu button or the action bar menu), then select "General settings" from the first view and uncheck the box labeled "Sender image". Back out to your inbox view and you'll now get a wider view of your emails without distraction. Unfortunately this means you can no longer hit the images as a way to select multiple messages; you'll now have to initiate that multi-selection with a long-press on any email in the list instead.

Stick around after the break for a video walkthrough of how to turn on and off the new contact images, and a clear explanation of how navigating the interface changes slightly when you do so.