More details, and a new color on the Motorola Flipout for AT&T

Android Central reported more information today on the possibly upcoming AT&T Motorola Flipout. From the information that they received, it seems like a reasonable medium end device.

Here is the information they received,

• The phone runs updated MotoBlur
• Android 2.1.1
• The Widgets are resizeable (Like on the Droid X, and the Droid 2)
• The 2.8 inch 320x240 screen is described as "garbage" 120 pixels per inch
• The body, and build quality are described as "top notch"
• It looks to be a speedy phone, with its OMAP processor running at 720MHz and PowerVR SGX 530 GPU.
• No side-loading apps. It's AT&T remember!
• Google it is, no Yahoo!

I am unsure who they are trying to target with this phone. Verizon launched something similar from Nokia, of course though, it wasn't running Android. Verizon has kept it on the market for awhile now, so it must be doing good. If AT&T ever launches this, it will probably be a nice addition to their smartphone lineup.

Check out the other pictures below. The blue looks pretty nice! Android Central suggests it might have some interchangeable battery covers.

Further claims of smaller iPod nano, new claims of 3G iPod touch and iLife

A mockup of a sixth-generation iPod nano, compared with a second-generation iPod nano

AppleInsider is reiterating recent claims that the next-generation iPod nano, set to be announced at Apple's September 1st media event, will be receiving a smaller, more squared-off design.

People familiar with the matter indicated that the size and shape of the device, revealed this week through photos of third-party cases, will be more akin to the iPod shuffle than the current-generation iPod nano. Even with this small size, however, it is expected to have a traditional iPod dock connector, allowing compatibility with the existing iPod accessory ecosystem.

The new iPod nano is said to utilize a tiny 3cm-by-3cm display that was revealed in its bare form as unknown Apple-branded component earlier this summer. For comparison, the second-generation iPod nano had a screen that was about 3cm by 2.5cm.

The report also mentions that Apple will be devoting a block of its keynote address to introducing a new version of their multimedia application suite iLife. The current version of iLife, iLife '09, was released in earlier 2009, and it appears the company is moving towards development periods of 18 months, rather than every year like previous versions. A report last month claimed that iLife '11 would be released on August 17th, with a redesigned iWeb application and a new "mystery" app. The release, however, never occurred.

Finally, and quite possibly the most interesting part of AppleInsider's report, is that Apple is currently playing around with a 3G cellular-data enabled iPod touch prototype. The company was happy with the success of the Wi-Fi + 3G version of the iPad, so they may have decided to bring the same idea to the iPod touch. It's not expected that this 3G-enabled iPod touch (if it even exists) will be announced at Apple's media event.

You can read all of our predictions for Apple's media event here.

Facebook slammed with class action lawsuit over ‘Like’ buttons

According to Mashable, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook a Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming that the company "commercially misappropriated the names and likenesses of minors without parental consent."

In the suit, David Cohen v. Facebook (case #BC444482), the plaintiffs argue that there have been more than one million instances where Facebook has misappropriated a minor’s name or likeness for profit.

The main part of the lawsuit involves Facebook infamous "Like" buttons and advertisements that include photos in them with the "Like" button. The suit claims that Facebook must gain parental consent before allowing minors to like advertisements for commercial purposes.

“When a teenager sees that their Facebook friends ‘Like’ an ad, it piques their curiosity, making them more likely to click the ad or visit the page,” says Los Angeles plaintiff attorney John Torjesen of John C. Torjesen & Associates. “We believe it is a clear case of exploitation of children for the sake of profits.”

The text of the suit further details, “Facebook encourages the participation of children on its social networking website, stressing the authenticity of the experience of communicating with friends. It then markets the names and likenesses of those children for us by advertisers, representing to advertisers that the use of the name and/or likeness of the child as an endorsement of the advertiser’s product can increase marketing returns by 400% compared to advertising that does not include an endorsement from the name or likeness of a child.”

The class action lawsuit involves any Facebook member who has been affected by the "Like" button on advertisements, including minors “whose names and likenesses were used in a Facebook advertisement or landing page.”

In a statement to Mashable, Facebook denied the alleged claims:

“We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously. The complaint misunderstands the law, it’s intent and the way Facebook works. For example, plaintiffs assert that minors are marketing Facebook through search engines but we do not allow minors to include their profiles in search engines”

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Apple’s TV show rental service could actually offer a month of episodes for $1

Cult of Mac is reporting today that they have been told by a source that iTunes Store customers will have the ability to pay $1 a month and receive all that month's episodes for a specific TV show.

Cult of Mac used the example of the show Big Bang Theory. If customers pay $1 a month, they can rent all the episodes from the Big Bang Theory that ever existed, as well as new episodes. You have to continue to pay the $1 per month however. $1 each month, $12 a year and you can get all of the episodes from your favorite TV show.

It's been previously reported that Apple was planning on making a TV show rental service for the iTunes Store that would cost $1 per episode rental.

Unknown HTC-branded device heading to Verizon Wireless

Boy Genius Report is noting that they have received images of what they are claiming to be an HTC smartphone, that sports features from the EVO, but has a Nexus One-style body to it. The casing of the phone is made of brushed aluminum. Boy Genius Report's source says "It [unknown device] makes the Droid 2 look like a kids toy."

The unknown HTC device also sports a 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a kickstand, 4.3" display, 3.5mm headphone jack, a front-facing camera, and the HTC Sense UI (which means Android OS too).

There isn't a release date or name for the device yet.

Android 2.2 for HTC Droid Incredible begins rolling out

The Android 2.2 update (a.k.a. "Froyo") for the HTC Droid Incredible on Verizon Wireless has officially begun rolling out today, August 27th.

Verizon confirmed the update would be rolling out today, yesterday, along with installation instructions and details on the update.

Keep in mind that the update is a over-the-air update, meaning it may take time to show up on your device, and once it does begin installing, you won't be able to use your device.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sues Apple, Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Yahoo!, YouTube

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has sued a laundry list of companies over patents he claims he owns.

Allen is suing Apple, Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Yahoo!, and YouTube over technologies he claimed he patented about a decade ago. Allen didn't develop the software himself, just patented it.

Mr. Allen wasn't available for comment, according to a spokesman, who said Mr. Allen's lab created the technology that he wants to mark as his own. "Paul thinks this is important, not just to him but to the researchers at Interval who created this technology," said the spokesman, David Postman. "We recognize that innovation has a value, and patents are the way to protect that."

The lawsuit was filed by Allen's Interval Licensing LLC and lists four patents that all of the companies involved in the suit are using in their own products.

One of the patents describes the ability to show similar products to what the consumer is already searching for, something social networking sites are heavily based on.

The second patent describes the ability to locate articles written that are related to a specific subject. The two other patents involve stock quotes, news updates, or videos/images to show up on the user's screen.

Interestingly enough, Microsoft and Amazon are both missing from the list of companies involved in the suit. We can guess why Microsoft is missing (even though it's guaranteed they use some of those patents as well), but Amazon is based in Allen's hometown, which is the most likely cause of leaving them out.

Neither Allen nor any of the companies involved in the suit have been available for comment at this time.

iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch to be released on September 1st

We've just received word that iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch will be released to the general public on September 1st, the day of Apple's media event.

iOS 4.1, featuring bug fixes and performance improvements from iOS 4.0, has been in testing since mid-July with developers and has gone through 3 beta's. Apple hasn't seeded a new build of iOS 4.1 to developers in a month, hinting that development is finished. There probably won't be a gold master edition of iOS 4 since Apple usually doesn't release those with maintenance releases.

We've also been told that Game Center, one of the most touted features of iOS 4 will finally makes its way to the general public, after being in testing since April when the first build of iOS 4.0 was released.

According to our source, iOS 4.1 will be released on September 1st for download for the iPhone and iPod touch. iOS 4.1 for the iPad will receive its first developer build release on the same day, but the general public won't see a release for some time.

Stick with It's All Tech throughout the day on September 1st for continuing coverage.

YouTube launches movies section for residents in UK

YouTube has launched a new Movies section for United Kingdom residents, with 400 free movies available right now. The section was launched for U.S. residents back in April 2009. Titles include HOME, Alice in Wonderland, The Best of the Three Stooges, and Night of the Living Dead.

With the launch of the Movies section in the UK, YouTube continues to become a direct competitor with Hulu.

New details on next-generation iPod touch and nano

iLounge is reporting today that they have heard new details regarding the iPod touch and iPod nano from a source.

They claim that the next-generation iPod touch will not have the same tapered backing as the past two-generations have had. The report claims that the next-generation iPod touch will have a backing similar to the first generation iPod touch (flat), but with some minor modifications. The report also claims that there is a rear-facing camera on the next-generation iPod touch, but it's unclear whether there will be a LED flash like the iPhone 4, or a microphone like the current-generation iPod nano.

iLounge is also noting that the 3cm x 3cm touch screen display that leaked last month will be included in the next-generation iPod nano, not the shuffle as originally expected.

Apple is holding a media event on September 1st where they are expected to announce a new iPod line, and you can read our predictions here.

Dell drops plans for a Windows Phone 7 device?

Engadget is reporting that Deutsche Bank analyst, Jonathan Goldberg, believes Dell has dropped all plans for developing a Windows Phone smartphone, meaning the only partners still working a Windows Phone 7 device are HTC, Samsung, and LG.

It's not clear why Dell dropped plans for a Windows Phone 7 device, but it could be because of their recent Android devices, and they're moving away from Microsoft in the mobile department.

Nothing has been confirmed at this time, and Dell has not responded to any emails yet, but we'll be looking out for a response.

Meanwhile, TechCrunch is reporting that Goldberg also believes Microsoft will spend over $500 million to advertise Windows Phone 7 and take over the mobile market.

Gmail bug makes some users spammers

Sophos is reporting today that a bug in Gmail this week caused duplicate messages to be sent from some user accounts. According to the report, some messages were sent over and over again over a period of a few days.

Google claims that the bug affected less than 2.5% of all Gmail users, but that's still a relatively large compared if you look at Gmail's user population now (more than 176 million).

According to a post on Google's forum by an employee, the issue has been resolved, stating “No more duplicate emails should be going out at this point and new messages you send out now should not be affected by this issue.”

Were you affected by this issue? Anyone you know?

Blockbuster to file for bankruptcy next month

The LA Times is reporting that what used to be an extremely popular movie rental service, Blockbuster, is planning on filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy next month. According to the report, Blockbuster executives met with the six major movie studios to let me know of the bankruptcy filing.

Blockbuster is hoping to use its time in Chapter 11 to restructure a crippling debt load of nearly $1 billion and escape leases on 500 or more of it 3,425 stores in the U.S. Maintaining the support of Hollywood's film studios during the process will be critical so that Blockbuster can continue to rely upon an uninterrupted supply of new DVDs.

Blockbuster has lost a total of $1.1 billion since the beginning of 2008 and has been severely hamstrung in efforts to grow its business due to interest payments on $920 million in debt. Earlier this month the company announced that most of its debt holders had agreed to a forbearance on interest payments until Sept. 30, during which time it would attempt a recapitalization.

As mentioned, Blockbuster has had an extremely hard time over the past few years, especially with online movie rental services like Netflix and soon to be Redbox seeing the light of day.

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Internet Explorer 6 turns nine years old today

Internet Explorer 6, sometimes considered the first attempt at an actual web browser from Microsoft, turns 9 years old today, August 27th, 2010.

On August 27th, 2001, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 6 to the public, shortly after the completion of Windows XP. Internet Explorer 6 was the default web browser in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It was also made available for download for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2000. Internet Explorer 6 SP1 was eventually released soon after, followed by SP2 and SP3.

Internet Explorer 6, while the first real attempt at a web browser, was far from that. IE 6 has been constantly mocked for its lack of security and support for modern web code and design. It's often made appearances in "worst tech products of all time" lists, and some analysts even label it as the "least secure software on the planet."

Despite all of its criticism, IE 6 still holds a strong 7.2% browser market share, even though websites like Facebook and Google are dropping support for it in multiple services.

In March of this year, Internet users from across the globe gathered together to hold a funeral service for Internet Explorer 6, and Microsoft even sent a letter.

From It's All Tech to you Internet Explorer, happy birthday!

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H.264 video standard permanently declared royalty-free

MPEG LA, the firm that is responsible for overseeing the licensing of several Internet media standards, announced today that broadcasting content using the H.264 video standard will remain royalty-free for the entire duration of the license. It's been rumored recently that, once the current license comes to an end in 2016, the standard would gain royalty fees.

MPEG LA announced today that its AVC Patent Portfolio License will continue not to charge royalties for Internet Video that is free to end users (known as "Internet Broadcast AVC Video") during the entire life of this License. MPEG LA previously announced it would not charge royalties for such video through December 31, 2015, and today's announcement makes clear that royalties will continue not to be charged for such video beyond that time.

H.264 is the video coding standard that is used by many large companies on the Internet, including Apple (who owns several patents regarding the video format). This announcement also continues pushing H.264 to become the standard video format for HTML 5.

Google: 1 million Gmail calls made in first 24 hours

Yesterday, Google announced that they integrated popular VoIP service Google Voice into Gmail. Today, Google tweeted via their Twitter account that over 1 million calls have been placed from Gmail in the first 24 hours.

We've had a chance to use Google Voice and let me tell you, it's pretty sweet. Call quality is relatively good for VoIP and setup is extremely easy, and the best part, it's free!

So, what are your thoughts on Google Voice in Gmail? Have you had a chance to use it?

Google reveals refreshed Realtime search

Google launched a Realtime search service in December of 2009, and since then, have been making small changes to it. Today, the company announced that they will be releasing brand-new features for their Realtime search, such as conversation view, a new domain, and Google Alerts for updates.

The new Realtime search is available at google.com/realtime. Conversation view organizes tweets from oldest to newest and are threaded to show the conversations. Conversation view includes replies and re-tweets. Another new feature is the ability to search nearby realtime updates. Users can also chose a customer location for their search results. Google has also introduced Google Alerts for their new Realtime search. To enable it, scroll down to the bottom of the results page, and click the "Create an email alert for [term]."

Google is still rolling out the changes, so if you can't access the website or some of the new features, give them a few hours.

Apple releases firmware update to address freezing issues on latest MacBook Pro models

Apple today released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.9, addressing issues with freezing and crashing at startup or while using the computer, for its latest MacBook Pro 15-inch and 17-inch models.

This update is recommended for all 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro mid 2010 models. The update resolves a rare issue that may cause the system to freeze during startup or intermittently stall during operation, and it improves compatibility with external displays.

The MacBook Pro EFI Update will update the EFI firmware on your MacBook Pro. Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source. When your MacBook Pro restarts a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update. It will take several minutes for the update to complete. Do not disturb or shut off the power on your MacBook Pro during this update.

The update weighs in at 2.16 MB and requires Mac OS X 10.6.4.

Official: Droid Incredible receiving Android 2.2 update tomorrow

Verizon Wireless has just posted a new support document for the HTC Droid Incredible, detailing the Android 2.2 (a.k.a. "Froyo") update for the device. The update is set to begin rolling out OTA tomorrow, August 27th.

The Android 2.2 update brings:

• Improved web browsing with Flash Player 10.1 pre-installed
• 720p video recording
• 802.11n Wi-Fi support
• Better recent application management
• Enhanced browser performance with pages that are JavaScript heavy
• More screen rotation capabilities
• Main stream widget
• Text message widget
• Automatic application updates
• Improved security
• Improved battery life
• Better contact management
• Improved signal display
• Visual Voicemail over Wi-Fi
• Better calendar views
• Backup Assistant PIN retrieval
• Visual Voicemail through Bluetooth car kit
• Improved music application
• Updated People app
• Better Microsoft Exchange support
• "Save to People" option in Visual Voicemail
• Call a number back from text messages
• Improved CityID app
• 3G mobile hotspot support
• Skype Mobile support

For full notes on the update, click here. For installation instructions for the update, click here. Stick with It's All Tech tomorrow for further information on when the update begins rolling out.

Leaked next-generation iPod nano case design shows smaller form factor, iPod touch case shows rear-facing camera

Earlier today, we reported that claims from a Kaufman Bros. analyst were released, where he states Apple will be releasing a new iPod nano with a smaller form factor.

Now, iLounge is pointing to a Chinese website that is showing off cases that are apparently designed for Apple's next-generation iPod nano and iPod touch. The case comes from case manufacturer X-Doria.

The iPod nano cases show a more squared off design as oppose to the current tapered edges design. Due to the fact of a more squared off design, it is possible that the next-generation iPod nano will no longer sport a widescreen, but will include a square, touch-enabled display.

The nano 6G case features an open strip on the rear - perhaps for a camera or built-in clip - as well as what appear to be volume buttons and a larger button on the top side while a Dock Connector and headphone port are along the bottom.

If this leak turns out to be the final design of the next-generation iPod nano, it would bring it much closer to the iPod shuffle, whose future is unknown at this time.

The next-generation iPod touch cases show a camera hole on the rear of the device, including flash. It was rumored earlier this year that the iPod touch would be gaining a rear-facing camera, but recent rumors are claiming that it will be a front-facing camera instead. The iPod touch cases do not include a front cover for the device, so there is no evidence whether there will be a front-facing camera or not.

Apple is holding a media event on September 1st where they are expected to announce a new iPod touch and iPod nano. You can read all of our predictions here.