Verizon Communications and AT&T are reported to be working on jointly putting up a breakup bid for Vodafone, according to FT’s Alphaville blog. Pegged at 40 percent premium or 240 pence a share, the deal values Vodafone at a staggering $245 billion, which would be the biggest M&A deal ever. (more…)Google+

AT&T could be in talks with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries for a 25 percent stake in Reliance Jio Infocomm, according to Reuters. The deal is pegged at $3.5 billion and could mark AT&T’s re-entry in the world’s third largest telecom market. The deal will help Jio Infocomm in providing a better 4G/TD-LTE platform by using advanced 4G technology and innovations from AT&T. (more…)Google+

During every event and every keynote, Google touts its Android operating system’s openness and explains that with no limitations, consumer’s benefit. While Android is more open than its competitors, it is closed compared to other open-source software such as Linux. Google makes the Android operating system source code available for any company or individual to use and customize to their liking. However, Google’s mobile suite — Gmail, the Android Market, Google Maps and more — is closed ...

Sony Ericsson doesn’t have much of a presence in the United States smartphone market right now. Sure, it released the Xperia PLAY for Verizon Wireless and AT&T earlier this year, but it didn’t make much of a splash. Sony Ericsson’s U.S. position could change soon, though, if it decides to pump out a bunch of high-end smartphones. The latest rumor suggests that the company could release a phone with the model number “LT28at” that will land on AT&T later this year. It repo...

BGR has learned from a trusted source that HTC is preparing to switch up the company’s strategy a bit in 2012. In order to focus getting quality products to market, we have heard that HTC’s release schedule is going to be shockingly quiet for most of the first quarter next year. HTC will also release fewer phones overall in 2012 compared to 2011, we’re told. We’ve also been given exclusive details surrounding several upcoming phones from the Taiwan-based vendor, including HTC’s f...

Following widespread complaints of excessive battery drain thought to be related to a time zone bug, iPhone 4S owners are now beginning to draw attention to a new iPhone bug. According to multiple threads on Apple’s support forum, hundreds of iPhone 4S users are experiencing an audio echo during voice calls when using a wired headset. Users across multiple wireless carriers with various iPhone 4S models report that audio quality on voice calls often depletes after a period of time, and the voice of the ...

When BGR Editor-in-chief Jonathan Geller first reviewed the original Motorola ATRIX 4G in February, he called it “one of the best smartphones to ever be available from AT&T.” Now I have that phone’s successor, the Motorola ATRIX 2. It offers a few improvements over the original, including support for faster data speeds, a slightly larger display and a beefier camera. I’ve been using the ATRIX 2 and a number of its new accessories for a while now; is it as big of a deal as the origi...

Images and details surrounding the unannounced Motorola DROID4 for Verizon Wireless have been published on the web, revealing a potential QWERTY-equipped counterpart for the just-unveiled Motorola DROID RAZR. The phone appears to carry the same shape as the new RAZR, however its slide-out keyboard makes it significantly thicker. Purported specs include a 4-inch display, 4G LTE compatibility for Verizon Wireless’ network, 1080p HD video capture support, an HDMI-out port, a secondary front-facing camera ...

Samsung on Thursday sent out invitations to a press conference in Hong Kong where it is expected to unveil its Galaxy Nexus smartphone alongside Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The South Korea-based electronics giant has not made direct reference to the new smartphone, however a recent teaser video published by the vendor left little doubt that the third-generation Nexus smartphone would be the star of the show. Samsung was initially supposed to unveil the device at its Unpacked event during the CTIA Enterpri...

Well, now that Apple has announced the iPhone 4S, there’s only one other flagship on the horizon that people are eagerly anticipating and that’s the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Codenamed “Nexus Prime,” the Galaxy Nexus is a phone we have scooped on numerous occasions, and now we can paint a complete picture of the device thanks to new information from a trusted source. Here’s what Samsung and Google will unveil next Tuesday:Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich9mm thin4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pix...

It’s official: Apple’s brand new flagship handset, the iPhone 4S, is here. While confusion was sprinkled throughout the industry on exactly what Apple would announce, most seemed to agree that the iPhone 4S would be the smartphone that Apple ultimately would unveil. The iPhone 4S features an upgraded Apple A5 dual-core processor that is twice as fast at executing tasks, and it offers performance up to 7x better than the previous iPhone in terms of graphics. Even with the increased performance of t...

Isis, the joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, announced today that HTC, LG, Motorola Mobility, RIM, Samsung Mobile and Sony Ericsson will introduce NFC-enabled mobile devices that implement Isis’ NFC and technology standards. For consumers who have or purchase smartphones that are not NFC-enabled, Isis is working with DeviceFidelity to add NFC functionality to the mobile device, ensuring a wide range of consumer choice.“Isis’ technology standards provide the direc...