The final significant roadblock to Google’s buyout of Motorola has been cleared, as Chinese regulators have just given their rubber stamp. Their approval follows a few months after the simultaneous American and European clearances, and virtually all that’s left now is to formally close the deal and start integrating the two mobile giants. It might still come too late for the combined entity to present a united front at Google I/O, but at least they won’t have any awkward glances at each other across the room. We’re just trying to decide on whether or not Googorola is the best pet name for the loving, $12.5 billion-dollar Android union. Update: Google has since told the AP that the deal will likely wrap up early next week, so Motorola should be part of the family well in advance of Google I/O.

China clears Google acquisition of Motorola, eliminates last barrier to Googorola bliss originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Image: Associated Press]

Nobody could quite predict what would happen in the IPO, and that’s probably what made it so popular a topic. Everybody would love to be an expert – especially in the aftermath of not only the original dotcom bubble, but the more recent economic downturn – and speculating online, in newspapers and on TV and radio about how shares in Zuckerberg’s empire could make not only him and his team rich, but the rest of us too, held an inescapable allure.

That Facebook is, by now, a household name made it all the more wonderful. Sure, if Samsung, or Microsoft, or even Google had their IPO over, there’d be plenty of tech and finance press hyperbole, but Facebook has managed to embed itself into non-techie culture. Your mom knows what Facebook is, though she might not quite understand what Microsoft does or why the new Samsung smartphone is whipping up geek frenzy.

One of the more prevalent questions has been why that excitement Facebook mustered came about in the first place: why, in short, anybody cares. Overlook the addictive frottage of punditry at your peril, however. In that way, the social site is no different from, say, Samsung’s Galaxy S III, or the Apple television: speculating, rumormonging and generally arguing about what-might-be is perhaps more interesting than the actual news itself. In fact, once that news coalesces into something legitimate – shares are sold, products launched – the core cadre of opinionists often move on to the Next Big Thing.

“Facebook already had a bulging wallet; now it has more”

Facebook already had a bulging wallet of money; now it has even more. In itself, that’s not especially interesting. The tech world will really wake up when Zuckerberg & Co. reveals what it will do with all these new billions.

Much has been made of the comparative valuations of Facebook and Apple, with social network skeptics pointing out that Zuckerberg’s site is just a place to share anecdotes and photos of your breakfast, while Apple actually makes products that people buy. It’s a closed-minded view of value, however. Facebook may not have a physical device that you can walk to a brick-and-mortar store and exchange case for – at least, not yet; the Facebook Phone rumors simply refuse to die away completely – but it does have a service that has embedded itself into the lives of millions upon millions of people.

That degree of engagement isn’t going to go away easily. True, it will be perhaps more difficult for Facebook’s board to leverage those users into cold, hard cash – recent stats on just how few people consider ever clicking on a Facebook advert or promotional post have likely given those in charge a few sleepless nights, if the IPO itself wasn’t proving sufficiently insomnia provoking – but it’s certainly not impossible.

TV channels where ticker-tapes dominate the screen will soon move on to fresher financial pastures. For actual users of Facebook, however, nothing is different today, in the post-IPO glow, than it was on Thursday. Their excitement – and, a further orbit out, the rest of the world who will watch as Zuckerberg acquires, challenges or destroys companies, products and services we currently use or own – is still to come. Sixteen billion is a nice, hypnotic number, certainly, but it only really shows its true worth when it’s spent on something.

Facebook’s $16bn IPO means nothing today is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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Friday was a pretty good day for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Not only did Justin Verlander come within two outs of his third career no-hitter in a 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson provided some interesting fireworks for the home crowd before the game even started.

Johnson warms up with a couple hacks, the third swing provides a blooper not unlike the Josh Harrison single that ended Verlander’s potential gem, and then … wham! Swing #5 heads out to the bullpen.

Not surprisingly, Johnson has been a baseball guy for a long time. The former centerfielder grew up in Tyrone, Ga., with a love for the game and didn’t play football for the first time until the seventh grade. “My mom wouldn’t let me play,” Johnson told the Lions’ official website just one day before his BP dinger. “I always wanted to play, but she wouldn’t let me when I was little. She was afraid I’d get hurt.”

Baseball was something Johnson did from a much earlier age. “I know more baseball history than I know football history,” he said. “I’ve always been a Ken Griffey fan … [Fred] McGriff was my dude. He had long arms and used to have his own baseball camp — I remember all of that.”

Johnson was contacted by the Tigers and asked to throw out the first pitch of the Pirates game, with the added perk that he could grab a bat as well. He did the same in 2007, and he’s the second Lions player to do so this season — quarterback Matthew Stafford (a pitcher in high school) had the honor on April 22.

Johnson remembers pitching as well (“My best pitches were slider and cut fastball — cut fastball was my best”) but he really wanted to knock one out of there.

The man known as “Megatron,” quite possibly the best receiver in the game, recently agreed to a huge new contract — $132 million over eight seasons, with $60 million guaranteed. It’s a testament to his ridiculous talent and work ethic that his own coach, Jim Schwartz, has said that Johnson may be underpaid.

“Calvin’s one of those guys that, and we’ve said this about a few guys in our building now, that whatever you pay him is not enough,” Schwartz said at the presser announcing the deal.

Of course, he didn’t have to pay to get into the park, but if he did, Johnson would have had enough scratch to treat the receiver buddies he took along.

“Me and the fellas get to go to the game. We’ll have a good time. We get to meet the team, that’ll be fun.”

“I love hitting home runs,” he said very prophetically, just a few hours before he did just that. He then gave a signed football to manager Jim Leyland, who may have wondered if Johnson was available to hit clean-up.

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It turns out that Lawrence Taylor didn’t even know his own Super Bowl ring was up for auction.

If you missed it, Taylor’s Super Bowl XXV ring went on the auction block on at SCPAuctions.com earlier this week. Now it turns out that it was Taylor’s son was the one that put the ring up for auction.

Jay Glazer of FOXSports spoke with Taylor who didn’t know if was for sale. Taylor says that it was his son that did it, and that he can do whatever he wants with it.

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Amazon is reportedly meeting with advertisers to pitch the idea of welcome screen ads on its popular Kindle Fire tablet. The retail giant is asking $600,000 for prime placement on the slate, according to a report from AdAge. Amazon currently offers its entire range of Kindle eReaders with advertisements that appear on the devices’ screen savers. Customers who opt to purchase a Kindle with ads enjoy discounts of between $30 and $50 off the purchase price of the devices; if Amazon carries the same model over to its Kindle Fire, the end-user cost of the tablet could drop by as much as 25% to $149. Following an explosive launch quarter that saw Amazon’s Kindle Fire take an estimated 14% of the global tablet market after less then two months of availability, the tablet’s market share reportedly tumbled as Apple’s $399 iPad 2 extinguished Kindle Fire demand. With rumors surrounding a $200-$250 “iPad mini” heating up, an ad-supported Kindle Fire with a reduced price tag may help keep Amazon’s 7-inch tablet in the running.

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Hot off the heels of the One X and EVO 4G LTE spending some prolonged time at customs, now another member of HTC’s sensational family appears to be feeling the rigorous effects of the ITC. According to a recent email acquired by TmoNews, it looks as if the Magenta carrier is delaying shipments of the HTC Amaze 4G in the US, saying it’s facing “an unforeseen issue with receiving the product from the manufacturer,” and that it doesn’t know when the handset will be up for grabs again. What’s also interesting here, however, is T-Mobile going as far as recommending Sammy’s Galaxy S Blaze 4G as a substitute — which, let’s face it, can’t be good news for HTC. Here’s to hoping this all gets sorted out relatively soon. In the meantime, you can check out the aforementioned email in its entirety at the source below.

T-Mo delays HTC Amaze 4G online orders due to ‘unforeseen issue,’ has other recommendations originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Will adjust limits for countdown in a few days” SpaceX tweeted, after the launch at 4:15AM Eastern was cut short at the last minute. No specific explanation for what happened to the fifth engine has been given.

However, the firm is keen to point out that today’s result should not be considered a failure. “We aborted with purpose” SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told MSNBC. ”It would have been a failure if we had lifted off with an engine trending in this direction.”

The mission was an important – and much delayed – one for SpaceX, as it was intended to demonstrate that, with the aid of the six astronauts and cosmonauts currently on the International Space Station (ISS), a private, unmanned craft could successfully dock with the orbiting platform. SpaceX and NASA intend to use the ship to run supply missions among other things, now that the Space Shuttle has been officially retired, with a $1.6bn contract already agreed upon for twelve missions.

SpaceX’s next opportunity for the launch is Tuesday, May 22, at 12:44AM Pacific. The company has been forced to delay this test flight on several previous occasions, citing final tweaks of the rockets and software as the primary cause for postponement.

SpaceX test flight to ISS aborted is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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Any website can post “offseason grades” for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn’t know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That’s right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse’s mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, Cardinals quarterback (at least for now) Kevin Kolb breaks down the Arizona Cardinals’ offseason moves.

KEVIN KOLB: Howdy folks. Don’t mind me. I’m just tyin’ a few flies, polishin’ up the outboard motor, gettin’ ready to hit the lake. Goin’ fishin’ right after we’re done. It won’t take long, ‘cuz the Cardinals didn’t do much this offseason.

We didn’t get a new quarterback for one thing. Sure, the team chased Peyton Manning, but that was one big river bass with a lot of fight in him. So the quarterback job is mine to lose. And don’t you worry, I’m gonna lose it.

It’s not that John Skelton is any better than me: he may have led just as many fourth-quarter comebacks as Tim Tebow last year (four), but only city slickers and TV blowhards in fancy suits pay attention to those cow chips. I just have no idea what to do in the pocket. So the third or fourth time I roll to my right and get dragged down by Aldon Smith or somebody, Coach Whisenhunt’s gonna decide it’s time to cut some fresh bait.

I know Larry Fitzgerald’s happy about our new second receiver, Malcolm Floyd. Floyd liked to hit the honky-tonks in college, but he’s a big guy, and when he wants to be, he can be as fast as a boar gettin’ flushed by three hound dogs.

We also have a new guard, Adam Snyder, who will take over for Rex Hadnot. Wanna hear something funny? Hadnot was the only Cardinals offensive line starter who didn’t recover a fumble last year. That doesn’t mean my blockers, like Levi Brown and Brandon Keith, are heads-up athletes. It just means I fumble a lot: eight times last year. So this year, I’m gonna drop back, see Fitzgerald double-covered, forget all about Floyd, roll right thinkin’ that I’m Cam Newton or somebody and can outrun Bruce Irvin or Trent Cole, get hit, fumble, and Snyder’s gonna be there to fall on it. Then Skelton can lead the comeback.

That’s about it for the major moves. We didn’t do much on defense, but Sam Acho and Patrick Peterson had fine rookie years and look like they are gonna be keepers. Other than Floyd, we didn’t do much in the draft. We didn’t even have a second round pick, because the Cardinals traded it to get … me. Sometimes I worry that I might be part of the problem. Then I think, heck, it’s not my fault you traded so much for me. It’s not my fault you paid me so much, then paid my roster bonus this offseason. Then I just take my boat out to the other side of the lake, drop a line, listen to the dragonflies buzz, and reckon I’ll just enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Tanier’s Team Reports:
Indianapolis Colts | St. Louis Rams | Minnesota Vikings | Tampa Bay Buccaneers| Cleveland Browns | Washington Redskins | Jacksonville Jaguars | Miami Dolphins | Carolina Panthers

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

Any website can post “offseason grades” for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn’t know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That’s right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse’s mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why.

(For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator).

In this segment, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll breaks down his team’s offseason moves.

PETE CARROLL: What an awesome day! The sun is shining! The birds are chirping! Let me give a shout out to all the folks at The Circle Perk coffee shop for working so hard to keep all of us energized! And to all the crossing guards making sure kids get to school safely! And to the Seattle-area sewer workers: you guys are the thin line that separates good citizens from their own filth, and I cannot thank you enough!

Fans really need to get amped about our three-way quarterback battle. The front-runner is Matt Flynn, who got America totally stoked in that awesome Packers-Lions game in Week 17. Next, there’s rookie Russell Wilson, who is short but fiery. Isn’t that right, Russell?

RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrrrr…

PETE CARROLL: I love this kid! He’s like a feral cat! And finally, there’s Tarvaris Jackson, the Taylor Hicks of NFL quarterbacks. You don’t like him, you keep expecting him to lose, and then bang! He finds a way to win a starting job, if not many games.

But enough about the offense. Let’s talk defense!! We are going to have one of the best front sevens in the NFL!! Defensive tackle Jason Jones had a great, if quiet, season for the Titans last year. First-round pick Bruce Irvin may have seemed like a reach, but that is only because West Virginia had this crazy idea that a 245-pound speedster was a good fit at defensive end. I like my defensive ends Red Bryant-sized! When I am not being enthusiastic about everything, you can find me in my office drawing up creative defenses, and Irvin is going to be everywhere the offense doesn’t expect him to be!!!

Irvin and Wilson had awesome rookie camps. In fact, all of the rookies had awesome camps, as did our parking lot attendants and the people who work so hard to make sure the office wastebaskets are clean enough to guzzle energy drink out of!! Let me dedicate my Song of the Day to the rookies: “Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine! That’s right: I’m a 60-year old man who listens to Florence + the Machine!!! Nicky Minaj, too! And don’t forget Ke$ha, who is tiny and has a nasty attitude, just like Russell Wilson!!!

RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrr…

PETE CARROLL: Excellent growling, buddy!! Sure, not everything is mega-awesome just yet. We have work to do on the offensive line, where newcomers Frank Omiyale and Deuce Lutui will compete for reps. Lutui is a vegan now. How cool is that!?!? He’s a 340-pound vegan, which is why we have converted two of our practice fields into quinoa farms. We also signed Alex Barron, who was famous for his false starts when he played for the Rams. I am not sure where he fits, but if he becomes an Extreme Juicer or militant locavore, I will make sure he has a place on this roster!!!!!

Okay, it’s time for my Pilates, then yoga, some transcendental meditation, a frozen yogurt, a brisk jog around the lake while jamming to Adele, and two hours of Happy Days reruns!!!! You guys have been an ultra-super audience!!!!! I love the 12^th man!!!! I love the Seahawks!!!!!! I love America!!!!!! I love life!!!!!! This is going to be the best football season ever!!!!!!

I have to go now. Russell Wilson is gnawing on Tarvaris Jackson’s leg, and Lutui is grazing in the rhododendrons.

Tanier’s Team Reports:
Indianapolis Colts | St. Louis Rams | Minnesota Vikings | Tampa Bay Buccaneers| Cleveland Browns | Washington Redskins | Jacksonville Jaguars | Miami Dolphins | Carolina Panthers | Arizona Cardinals

View full post on Shutdown Corner – NFL – Yahoo! Sports

By AP

The Bengals signed cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick of Alabama to a four-year contract on Friday, the first time in nine years that they’ve reached a deal so quickly with their top pick.

Kirkpatrick was the first of Cincinnati’s two picks in the opening round, going 17th overall. He’s expected to compete for a starting job. Leon Hall, the Bengals’ top cornerback, is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and is expected to be ready for the season.

It’s the second year in a row that the Bengals have signed their top pick before the start of training camp. The club had a history of holdouts until a rookie salary cap was instituted under the collective bargaining agreement last year.

Receiver A.J. Green, the club’s first-round pick in 2011, signed a day before training camp opened.

Kirkpatrick’s signing is the quickest by a first-round Bengals pick since 2003, when the club reached an agreement with quarterback Carson Palmer before the draft. The Bengals were free to negotiate with Palmer because they had the top overall pick.

”It’s great for the club and great for Dre to have him signed this early,” coach Marvin Lewis said. ”Contracts can be a distraction for young guys drafted high, but now he can put all that behind him and focus on making himself better and making us a better team.”

The Bengals traded Palmer to Oakland during last season in exchange for a couple of draft picks, including the 17th overall choice that they used on Kirkpatrick. They used their own pick to get Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler, who hasn’t yet signed.

Cincinnati now has six of its 10 picks under contract.

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