We're coming to you live this morning from the beautiful Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, where Verizon is going to talk to us about ... something. Given the context of the CTIA venue, it's entirely possible we'll just be getting an update on Verizon's network capabilities -- and possibly an update on when to expect Voice Over LTE. Or, perhaps we'll actually get some new hardware. 

Only one way to find out -- it's liveblog time!

The show kicks off at 2 p.m. EDT, and 11 a.m. PDT. (OK, technically things get going at 10 after, but we're nothing if not early.)

Join us after the break as we bring it to you, live.

$54.99 down payment or $599.99 outright

Arriving fashionably late to the Galaxy S4 party is Cricket, with today's news that it'll carry Samsung's latest smartphone from June 7. The prepaid carrier is offering the Galaxy S4 for $599.99 up-front or on a payment plan with a $54.99 down payment. Naturally, you'll need to pair the device with one of Cricket's service plans, which start at $45 per month. Not a bad deal for one of the top Android phones of the moment, if you're in a Cricket coverage area.

More details in the presser after the break.

Source: PR Newswire

HTC 'Desire 200' gets certified in Taiwan, 'Desire 600' spotted in benchmarks

HTC looks set to restore the "Desire" brand for upcoming entry-level phones, according to details spotted across the web. The first comes from Taiwan's NCC certification body, which recently saw new entries for a "Desire 200" handset alongside the model number "102e" -- a number previously tied to the rumored entry-level "G2" device. That phone was said to pack a 3.5-inch HVGA screen and 512MB of RAM.

Meanwhile, references to a "Desire 600" have cropped up in the GFXBench benchmarking utility. Apparently a dual-SIM phone, the Desire 600 in question appeared to be running Android 4.1.2 on a 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor with an qHD display.

The Desire line has gone from signifying the best of HTC's line-up to a budget range associated with mid-to-low-end hardware. Last year saw the launch of the Desire X and Desire C in these two categories. Since no official announcement has been made, we'd take this info with a pinch of salt. For its part, HTC seems mostly focused on the high end of the smartphone spectrum, with its HTC One handset.

Source: VR-Zone(Chinese), GFXBench, via: UnwiredView

The good news is that the wait is nearly over. The blasted #tm13 teasers shall soon cease (hey, we cut way back a few weeks ago) and we'll finally take the wraps off this thing. 

That said, we've got one last teaser for you. We'll be announcing the whole shebang next week, unless someone decides to leak it first, breaksclusive-style. And we'll be kicking the whole thing off the first week of June, with a small gathering of friends in New York City -- and you're invited. Plus, we're giving away a free trip to the party. We'll have full details at the Mobile Nations #tm13 site, so peep it for more. (And if you've already signed up for the e-mail alerts, you're already entered.)

And strap in, because we're changing the conversation.

Company surpasses IBM to take number two spot on BrandZ list

Google has been ranked as the world second-most valuable brand, on the 2013 BrandZ list of top global brands. The list, published by research agency Millward Brown Optimor, puts Google's brand value at $113.669 billion, well behind Apple's $185.071 billion. This year Google creeps ahead of IBM, last year's number two, which now sits in third place with brand value estimated at $112.536 billion.

Google and Apple are placed above big names like McDonalds (4), Coca-Cola (5), Microsoft (7) and Visa (9). Other big Android names on the list include Samsung at number 30, having jumped a whopping 25 places, and Verizon, which dropped three spots to number 12. China Mobile maintained its number 10 spot, with estimated brand value of $55.368 billion.

Google's jump from third to second shows steady growth, but Apple clearly remains the company to beat, retaining the title of most valuable brand by a significant margin. Samsung's meteoric rise of to thirtieth is also noteworthy, and likely has a lot to do with the success of its Android-based Galaxy smartphones over the past year.

Check the source link down below for the full list of top 100 brands.

Source: Marketing Week; via: PhoneArena

Carrier will likely wait for compatible iPhone

Vodafone UK will wait until September to launch its 4G LTE services, according to reports. British national newspaper The Guardian reports that Voda will miss the originally-targeted summer launch window for its LTE network, which runs on 800MHz and 2600MHz airwaves purchased as part of the recent 4G spectrum auction.

The Guardian quotes Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao as saying "We want to be able to launch it when it's really ready. End of the summer means when there is going to be a good commercial window for launching it." That likely means the operator is waiting for refreshed iPhone hardware from Apple. The current iPhone 5 model sold in Europe supports LTE on 1800MHz, the frequencies used by rival EE, but not the 800MHz and 2600MHz that Vodafone will be using. (Most 4G Android phones sold in the UK support all three bands.)

As for rival networks, O2 is said to be targeting summer "at the earliest" for its 4G switch-on. Three UK has built its "Ultrafast" brand around DC-HSDPA and its upcoming LTE offering, but says it's in "no rush" to launch the latter, which it's currently targeting for switch-on in Q4.

Source: The Guardian

Departures include VP of Global Communications, Chief Product Officer, Asia CEO

Update 2: HTC has confirmed the departure of Lennard Hoornik, and says CFO Chialin Chang will take over in the interim. Engadget is also reporting that Head of Global Digital Service Elizabeth Griffin will be leaving HTC later this week. Meanwhile, The Verge's Chris Ziegler tweets that he's "catching wind of a bunch more departures."

Update: CNET reports that HTC Asia CEO Lennard Hoornik has become the latest HTC exec to part ways with the company, following two months of leave.

Original story: HTC's Chief Product Officer Kouji Kodera has left the company, The Verge is reporting. Kodera's exit is the latest in a string of top-level departures at the struggling smartphone maker, including VP of Global Communications Jason Gordon, who announced his exit late last week.

In recent months product strategy manager Eric Lin has also called it quits, and The Verge reports that global retail marketing manager Rebecca Rowland and director of digital marketing John Starkweather have also left. Writing on Twitter this Monday, a vocal Lin advised friends still working at HTC to "leave now," adding, "you'll be so much happier, I swear." Across the Atlantic, HTC EMEA President Florian Seiche recently departed for Nokia.

Sources for The Verge suggest that the U.S.-based marketing departures could be the result of new CMO Benjamin Ho moving key decision-making away from the company's Seattle office and back to the Taipei headquarters. The site also quotes a source singling out the ill-fated HTC First for criticism, describing it as "a disaster." The "Facebook phone" recently had its price cut from $99 to 99 cents on-contract amid disputed reports that carrier partner AT&T may have decided to drop the handset.

On the other hand, sales of the flagship HTC One appear to be picking up. Production capacity is set to double this month to keep pace with "strong demand," according to recent comments from HTC North Asia president Jack Tong. However the One will continue to face fierce competition from Korean giant Samsung, whose Galaxy S4 is expected to hit its 10 millionth unit shipped this week. And HTC's financials remain precarious following early component supply issues with the HTC One.

Only time will tell  how HTC will be able to meet the challenges it's facing, however we can be sure this series of high-profile departures is unlikely to help matters.

via The Verge

The first- and third-largest South Korean handset manufacturers make deal to strengthen partnership

Samsung announced today that it is acquiring a 10-percent stake in rival handset maker Pantech, one that will set the worlds largest handset manufacturer back a mere $47.6 million. While known more for making lower-end and spec devices for carriers here in the states, Pantech is actually quite a large company and the number three seller of handsets in its native South Korea. But this deal is likely less about taking a position in a smaller rival company and more about furthering a partnership for handset components that has already been established.

Like many large companies, Samsung and Pantech alike make many of the components needed for handsets on their own to reduce costs. For everything else, they need to buy from an outside source and in this case, Samsung and Pantech already have a standing partnership in both semiconductors and display technologies that will grow with this new investment. If Samsung plans to continue buying and selling components with Pantech, a small investment like this makes sense for such a large company.

Source: Yonhap News Agency; Via: TNW

Miss it live earlier today? Fear not, the recorded version is now available for everyone to watch

Just in case you missed it, the folks over at All About Android on the TWiT network were nice enough to have our very own Phil Nickinson on for their weekly show tonight. All of the fun and Android talk went down earlier today live, but fear not as the recorded version has just been put up to watch. Phil joined Jason Howell, Ron Richards and Gina Trapani to talk about Google I/O, Google Glass and everything else that has happened in the last week.

Swing on over to the link below to watch or download the full hour and half of Android goodness.

More: All About Android Episode 110 on TWiT

The darker side of the HTC One reaffirms the device's status as the most attractive smartphone on the market today

If you thought the HTC One was already the most handsome smartphone on the market today, you'll want to do yourself a favor and check it out the"Stealth Black" variant, available on both Sprint and, as of last week, AT&T. HTC is onhand here in Vegas showing off the darker side of the One and we've got to admit we're pretty smitten. Its aluminum finish is sleek, stylish, and dare we say "stealthy", though you'll notice it does appear to show blemishes, and especially fingerprints, more easily than its silver brother. Whichever flavor you prefer, we still stick by our guns and say that you'll have a hard time going wrong with HTC's flagship. Some more glamour shots can be found after the break.