Calling Dish Network’s rival bid for Sprint Nextel “highly conditional,” Softbank said tonight it is going ahead with its merger proposal for the troubled carrier and expects to close the deal this summer. The satellite TV provider submitted a merger proposal this morning valued at $25.5 billion, a 13 percent premium over the Japanese wireless …

The Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission has reportedly launched an investigation into Samsung on allegations that the phone-maker was paying students to post negative online comments about HTC devices, according to AFP. HTC is one of Samsung’s most staunch rivals. Related stories Best Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 Cases TV in the Bathroom: Technically Doable but a Very Bad Idea Samsung …

The dedicated e-reader market, hurt by the rise of the tablet and large-screen smartphones, is widely regarded as being on the downswing. But that hasn’t stopped Kobo from announcing the limited-edition $169.99 Kobo Aura HD, a “premium” e-reader with a 6.8-inch screen that the company says is the highest-resolution display available in an e-reader today. The specs list the resolution …

NEW YORK — Firefox Mobile OS will launch this summer in five countries, Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs said at the All Things D conference here Monday. Kovacs, who announced earlier this month that he will step down from his post as CEO, said that the new operating system, which is designed for low-end devices, will launch this summer in Venezuela, …

Whitehall wonga watchdogs are to probe the 4G sell-off. The National Audit Office will investigate the £2.3bn raised in the auction of 4G spectrum to see if the government got value for money. The government has drawn stick for the amount earned from phone networks buying airwaves to use for extra-fast LTE Internet connections to mobile phones and tablets. Even …

When Nokia first unveiled its Nokia Lumia 520 this past February, the Windows Phone proved that Nokia could achieve new lows. Related stories Read all about the Nokia Lumia 520 Nokia Lumia 720: Fully reviewed Nokia’s confusing Lumia family tree That’s only when it comes to price, though, not features. As CNET UK discovered while fully reviewing the Lumia 520, …

Why is satellite TV provider Dish Network prepared to take on an enormous amount of debt and a potential bidding war with Japanese company SoftBank for Sprint Nextel? It’s all about the spectrum. Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen is known for being bold and taking risks. But no one in the wireless industry ever thought that he’d be gutsy enough …

The device will begin shipping to the early-access “Glass Explorers” within the next few days. Glass Explorers will get their units any day now. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) Google has made the interesting decision to not wait until enough products are in supply to meet the demand of its Explorer community, but to begin shipping in waves immediately. A letter obtained …

The high-end Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has no marketing budget and no flashy retail stores. And yet it is one of the most successful handset makers in the coveted Chinese mobile market. Speaking here today at the All Things D conference, president and co-founder of the 3-year-old company, Bin Lin explained how the company has grown so rapidly from its …

In the latest twist on the Sprint-Clearwire saga, Verizon Wireless apparently has entered the picture as a suitor for Clearwire’s spectrum. Verizon Wireless has offered to pay as much as $1.5 billion to acquire spectrum leases from networking company Clearwire, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites people said to be familiar with the matter. The move would give …