Motorola Mobility’s shareholders have overwhelmingly voted to approve Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of the company. During a special stockholders meeting today, about 99 percent of the shares voting today approved adoption of the merger agreement, the company said. Those shares represent approximately 74 percent of the company’s outstanding common shares. “We are pleased and gratified …

Just last week, HTC CEO Peter Chou indicated that the company was working to bring a third tablet to market in the new year. Fast-forward a few days, and now we know its name, hardware specifications, and even what it looks like (spoiler alert: it’s a big, flat rectangle). Bearing the code-name HTC Quattro, details indicate an evolved Android tablet …

Nokia’s Lumia 800 has given Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS a new lease of life, contributing to a definite boost in the number of good apps being released for the platform  in recent months. Here’s our choice of 16, although like our iPhone roundup, we’ve deliberately left out Facebook and Twitter, which are already likely to be on your mobile. But …

Huawei announced that it will begin shipping its next Android handset, the Honor, in December to select markets. Powered by Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and running the latest build of Huawei’s custom software, the handset features a single-core 1.4GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera, 512MB RAM, and 4GB internal storage. Obviously, it’s not the most advanced smartphone on the market, but one …

Great news for Samsung Galaxy S2 owners — the 4.3-inch smart phone will be getting Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich. Confirmation came via Samsung UK, which tweeted, “Good news – the Galaxy S2 will be receiving ICS.” Samsung Galaxy S2 owners will be relieved to hear their relatively recent smart phones won’t be left behind, and will be blessed …

Here’s a little secret: an LED TV is just an LCD TV with a fancy backlight. While it usually provides a thinner design and improved energy efficiency, an LED backlight doesn’t necessarily provide better picture quality. In fact, sometimes LED TVs perform worse than their non-LED cousins. But they never cost less. With those facts in mind, here’s a quintet …

To judge from the LND630 we checked out earlier and the LND550 reviewed here, Samsung’s low-end LCDs are pretty dang good. These non-LED-based models managed deeper black levels than like-priced competitors, and largely avoid the uniformity problems associated with those razor-thin LED-based sets–while costing hundreds less. The LND550 falls short of the color accuracy of its step-up brother, and we …

Every year, retailers tempt consumers with too-good-to-be-true deals designed to tempt them into the stores and buy…something else. Chances are, these deals are too good to be true. Before you head out to join the mad rush, here are some so-called “deals” to avoid. ‘Refurbished’ If you’ve heard of the brand, chances are that doorbuster deal TV is a refurbished …

Donald Bell joins us on the show today to discuss The Google Music Service, a Nexus launch date, and the biggest tablet you’ve ever seen! All of that and more on this week’s episode of Android Atlas Weekly for November 16nd 2011. Now playing: Watch this: Ep. 73: We eat Ice Cream Sandwiches 52:05 Podcast Your browser does not support …

LOS ANGELES–Chatting with rapper Busta Rhymes about smartphones, his sons, and the business of online music distribution isn’t how I had intended to spend part of my afternoon. Yet the artist made a surprise appearance at the Google Music launch in LA this afternoon and graciously granted CNET an interview. Rhymes joins other artists, like Coldplay and The Rolling Stones, …

Verizon Wireless plans to roll its 4G LTE network into an additional 14 markets and expand its coverage in four cities tomorrow, as the carrier hopes to press its speed advantage further. The company will have covered 179 markets across the country with its super-fast wireless network, by far the most widespread 4G coverage out of any of the carriers. …

Good news if you have a Sony Ericsson Xperia handset — the company announced today its whole Xperia range will be getting Ice Cream Sandwich in the near future. It hasn’t said exactly when the update will be pushed out, but confirmation is enough to sate our appetites for now. “We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the …

Cox Communications is shutting down its wireless phone service, the company announced late Tuesday. The cable provider said that it will stop selling its wireless service to new customers starting Wednesday, November 16. But it will continue offering the service to current customers until March 30, 2012. The company is offering current customers a $150 credit for every line that …

Nokia is planning a Windows 8 tablet for next summer — and a bigger brother for the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone too. The tablet teaser was revealed by Paul Amsellem, Le General Manager du Nokia en France. He let slip that we could expect a Windows 8 tablet from the Finnish company in June 2012. Our Gallic confrère also …

Nearly one month has passed since Samsung and Google took to the stage to debut the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich, and here in the States, we still don’t know much about carrier support or release dates. However, our friends to the north will have their choice of carriers, as three of Canada’s service providers have already signed up …