Google’s Q4 financial results press release contains a bombshell: as of April 4, co-founder Larry Page (on the far right, above) will replace Eric Schmidt as CEO and assume responsibility for day-to-day operations and product development and strategy. That doesn’t mean Schmidt is leaving — he’ll carry on as Executive Chairman and serve as an advisor to Page and co-founder Sergey Brin, focused on external things like “deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership.” As for Sergey, he’ll now “devote his energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products,” with the simple title of Co-Founder.
Schmidt’s clarified and explained the change in a blog post, saying that the idea is to make leading Google as efficient as possible, and that “Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead.” It’s clear the idea is to frame this as a simple organizational shuffle — Schmidt says that he, Brin, and Page “anticipate working together for a long time to come” — but there’s no question that Schmidt’s reign as CEO set a clear tone for Google as the company expanded beyond search and into new markets like smartphones, connected televisions, and operating systems, and we’re curious to see what Page’s style is like. We’re also very curious to hear more about why the change was made — although Schmidt, Page, and Brin have worked together for over 10 years, there’s always been some tension between the co-founders and their CEO, particularly over user privacy. In any event, this is a momentous change both for Google and the industry — we’ll see what happens next.
Whoa, this is kind of out of the blue: on top of the Vibrant 4G that we’ve already had leaked ad nauseam (though he refers to it as a “Galaxy S 4G”), T-Mobile USA CEO Phiipp Humm mentioned at an event this morning that the company is preparing an HSPA+ Sidekick — yes, a Sidekick — albeit with Android slotted in place of the defunct Danger Hiptop operating system. For the record, T-Mobile hasn’t had any Sidekicks in its lineup since the middle of last year, though it does own the Sidekick brand — not Danger / Microsoft — and would undoubtedly love to bring it back to relevance. Coincidentally, Mister Android himself, Andy Rubin, came from Danger — so the Sidekick’s starting to follow him around. Kind of like… you know, a sidekick. Both products are said to be “coming soon.”
Update: After the break, spot a picture of what the Sidekick might look like, likely courtesy of HTC — there’s no mistaking that QWERTY keyboard layout.
We’d be lying if we said we hadn’t been waiting on this feature since the service’s debut. As one reader just notified us (and verified by a number of staffers), Google Voice now lets you port your own phone number into its system — as in, that 10-digit hometown relic you’ve been holding onto as long as you’ve carried a handset can now live in the cloud and grant you freedom to start afresh / forward to your many on-hand devices. Check under phone setting to see if “change / port” is now an option. The cost of porting is $20 and, as you may guess, it’ll terminate your current service plan and probably prompt the carrier in question to charge applicable early termination fees, but that’s pittance for saving your old line for the indefinite future. You know, just in case your seventh grade crush gets the nerve to call and say, “sorry.” Of course he / she will, just give it time.
Update: Google just pinged us to note this feature is still being tested and may not be available to everyone. “We’re continually testing new features to enhance the user experience. For a limited amount of time, we’re making the Google Voice number porting process available to users. We don’t have any additional details to share at this time, but plan to offer this feature to all users in the near future.” We’ve seen it go in and out throughout the day, so yeah, just keep checking.
It’s not often that a carrier and manufacturer team up to beat an estimated launch date, so color us stoked to see Verizon start to push the official Froyo update for LG’s Ally starting this week — a little earlier than the February guidance they’d given before. Of course, the phone had originally been promised an eventual update way back in August of last year… so yeah, we’ve got to credit Ally owners for their patience on this one. Looks like there are some updates to LG’s custom apps and widgets, too, along with bug fixes (instant data reconnection after long calls, for instance), so we’d say this is a build you’re going to want to grab as soon as you can.
Apple’s announcement of Steve Jobs’ medical leave just one day before releasing its Q1 financial results struck us as well-planned yesterday, and here we are: if Cupertino’s record $6 billion profit on a record $26.7 billion in revenue isn’t enough to turn that frown — and stock slide — upside down, well, nothing else will. iPhone 4 sales were predictably strong through the holidays, clocking in at a record 16.2m units, or up 86 percent from last year, while Mac sales went up 23 percent to a record 4.13m and iPod sales were stronger than expected at 19.45m, a seven percent decline. As for the iPad, Apple’s tablet had its second straight dominant quarter, with record sales of 7.33 million — some 3 million more than the Mac. Apple’s financial call with new acting CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer is scheduled to start at 5PM EST — check after the break for our usual liveblog while you’re listening live on Apple’s site.
You asked, and we’ve delivered! Once again, Engadget has teamed up with the brilliant eBoy to bring you a super-duper limited edition T-shirt which will wow and delight family and friends alike. As you can see from the image above, the new shirt is based on our CES / reader meetup graphic that’s been doing the rounds on the site, featuring nearly all of the Engadget crew toying with some real (and not-so-real) tech. The eBoy crew tells us this is their most color-heavy shirt ever produced (a 9+1 process), which is pretty nifty. We think it’s a nice companion to our CES 2011 coverage, and makes a wonderful addition to any fashion plate’s wardrobe. The shirts come in small, medium, large, and extra large, and can be had for $30US (plus $10 shipping) — but really, can you put a price on looking good? If you’d like to order, follow along after the break and use our fancy PayPal e-commerce system. Also, we ship WORLDWIDE!
Update: The last time we had shirts, they sold out in about 30 minutes. We have more this time, but still a very small quantity. If you want one, we suggest you get in fast.
Update 2: Extra large is sold out!
Update 3: We’re sold out of everything! If you didn’t find your size, there may still be some available on the eBoy site — check it out HERE!
It’ll probably be subject to an additional fee as usual, but Verizon and Apple have just revealed that the new CDMA iPhone 4 will act as a mobile WiFi connection for up to five devices. It’ll come with an iOS-specific version of the Verizon 3G Mobile Hotspot that folks have been enjoying on their Droids for many moons now. That should allowing for laptops, tablets and the like to get online via iPhone without a pesky cord, and almost certainly make the long-verboten iPhone – iPad tethering connection finally attainable. Joy to the world!
Update: Verizon called it an app, but getting hands-on we can see that’s not the case at all — Personal Hotspot is built right into the CDMA iPhone 4′s build of iOS 4.2.5. Perhaps we’ll see it migrate to other devices as well?
We’ve waited and waited, and now Apple and Verizon have made a million dreams come true: the iPhone is coming to Big Red. After talking up his new LTE network a bit, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed a CDMA (non-LTE) version of the iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon Wireless next month. Talks started way back in 2008, and the phone has been in testing for a year — it sounds like they wanted to get this one right. Current Verizon customers will be able to pre-order on February 3rd for the standard $200 price for the 16GB model on a two year agreement, $300 for the 32GB version — everyone else can order on February 10th (see it compared with AT&T’s iPhone 4). Just to clarify and put any wild rumors to bed, the phone is Verizon 3G (EV-DO) only, no 4G data or GSM roaming. It’s not a world phone or an AT&T + Verizon phone, it’s just a Verizon phone.
Outside of Verizon connectivity, the phone is basically unchanged, although Verizon’s CDMA network doesn’t support simultaneous voice and data as with the GSM version. It does have the new antenna design we were hearing about last week, but that’s just because CMDA requires a different configuration of antennas. (Apple says they didn’t go LTE just yet because first-gen chipsets would force unwanted design decisions, and customers want a Verizon device now.) That slight modification also equates to a slight bump in where the volume buttons and mute switch — a new case might be required. Software-wise the big innovation is five user WiFi hotspot functionality, something that’s standard on Android phones, while Apple has kept the iPhone only able to tether directly to one computer.
Well, here we are: the Wall Street Journal says Verizon will indeed announce the iPhone at its mysterious Tuesday event, according to “a source familiar with the matter.” That’s all the info the Journal has, but we’d say that all but seals it at this point — and you know we’ll be there live when it happens.
P.S. And just like that, Apple’s managed to once again be one of the biggest stories at CES with zero presence here. That’s what, five years in a row now?
Update: All Things D has it on good authority that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be making an appearance at this here event. Of course, even they can’t confirm it 100 percent, but where there’s smoke…
Let the speculation commence: Verizon’s just sent out invites for a mysterious press event on Tuesday, hosted by Verizon Wireless President Lowell McAdam at New York’s Lincoln Center. That’s right — a huge event in New York after CES. Obviously the natural speculation is that this will be where the long-rumored CDMA iPhone makes its appearance, and it definitely feels that way — but we suppose it could also be any number of other things, and it’s definitely odd that Verizon’s in charge and not Apple. Either way, we’ll be there live to let you in on the scoop, so keep it locked right here.
