Inside Wateen

Google Suggests New Nexus Phone May Be Here for the Holidays

Bloomberg via Getty Images

So a lot happened yesterday. But somewhere, all amid Google's I/O conference in San Francisco, Google executive Andy Rubin (who happens to be the head of Android) suggested that the next Nexus device might be coming in time stuff your stockings.

Asked about the Nexus brand, Rubin pointedly said, "The Nexus has been the thing that we used to set the bar, and there's always going to be new ones coming out in the market

San Francisco announced yesterday that it will be placing free electric-vehicle chargers around the city, the SF Examiner reports. The chargers will be available in 20 city-owned garages, including the garages at San Francisco International Airport. They're not meant to be electric car owners' sole source of power, but to let them refuel when they're not at home, since the currently available electric cars (like the Nissan Leaf) can only travel 100 miles or less without a recharge. The new stations will be free to use through 2013.

The emergency broadcast system got an upgrade today as a new text-alert system was unveiled at the World Trade Center site by the heads of the FCC and FEMA, along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The new system, called PLAN, will allow officials to send alerts to compatible phones in the event of a national or regional emergency. It will be rolled out first in New York and Washington, D.C., before coming to the rest of the country next year.

Faced with tough competition from tablets, Asus may strike back with a dirt-cheap netbook.

Digitimes' unnamed sources say Asus is planning an Eee PC netbook for less than $199 (not pictured), but it's not clear what the company would sacrifice to get the price that low. Those enrolled with online universities, take note!

Did you illegally download a copy of The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone's old-school macho get-together fight-fest from last year? If so, watch your inbox: You're likely one of the more than 23,000 file sharers being sued for doing so by the US Copyright Group in what is now the largest BitTorrent downloading case in US legal history.

At last, we can put the Google Music rumors to bed, because Google has finally launched the darned thing. But you can't try Google Music yet, because the service is invite-only. For now, just imagine a web-based version of iTunes. You store all your songs online, and then they're accessible from any Flash-equipped web browser, along with Android phones and tablets.

Yesterday The New Yorker unveiled a new deal that allows print subscribers full access to their lovely iPad app. The oddity that caught everyone's eye was their pricing model: for the app-only version, The New Yorker currently costs $59.99 for a one-year subscription, while the print version plus the app is a whole twenty bucks cheaper at $39.99.

Microsoft just bought Skype for $8.5 billion. Not to get too personal, but that's many, many billions more than I make in a year. But unlike buying a human writing machine like yours truly at an affordable price, Microsoft is paying $8.5 billion for something called Skype. Here's what it's getting.

Remember Kazaa?

Sony hasn't updated its PlayStation blog since last Friday, May 6, though we've heard bits and pieces through official (as well as unofficial) channels suggesting the PSN as a whole could remain in the fetal position through May 31 (Sony now denies this, though in that sense that the PSN's up date could be sooner, could be later).

BEIJING: A Chinese grandmother aged 65-year-old from Beijing has amazed everyone after her energetic, Michael Jackson-inspired dance routine on television show, 'China's Got Talent'.

Bai Shuying has become China's latest sensation after displaying her dance moves in the first episode of the new season.

LOS ANGELES - "Thor" kicked off the summer movie season by smashing the competition at the box office with a $66 million opening weekend.

The 3-D action picture from Paramount, based on the Marvel comic, was by far the No. 1 movie, according to Sunday studio estimates.

ISLAMABAD: A ten-day "PNCA Drama Festival 2011" will start here from May 10 to 19 at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) with participation of various theater groups.

The groups will perform during the festival with their new plays based on social issues and providing the residents of twin cities with quality entertainment experience.