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Many of you are already familiar with the Xiaomi Phone and its reverence in the MIUI community, but now the Chinese manufacturer has introduced a less expensive counterpart to the original, which is aptly known as the Youth Edition. Priced at 1,499 yuan ($237), this smartphone will sell for a full 500 yuan less than its elder and will retain many of its components, which include a 4-inch, 854 x 480 display, an 8-megapixel camera, 4GB of ROM and a 1,930mAh battery. In fact, the only significant changes are the dual-core 1.2GHz CPU (which is down from 1.5GHz), and 768MB of RAM instead of the original 1GB. Xiaomi will produce 150,000 Youth Edition handsets, which seems like a healthy number, but if you want to stake your claim to one, you'd best join in the pre-registration process, which runs now through May 18th.

Just when you thought you could go on rooting and switching ROMs with impunity, it turns out you can't -- at least, not if you want to continue enjoying your Google Music account. Watchful eyes at XDA Developers have discovered a snag in Google's authorization system, which means that not only is there an upper limit of ten devices that can be authorized simultaneously, but there's also a limit of four de-authorizations per year. Since every time you flash your phone or tablet counts as a new authorization, and since your other devices probably hog a few tickets already, rooters will quickly hit the ten-device limit, at which point they're going to have to think long and hard about their de-auth strategy. Is that a ration of one flash per quarter? But then what happens if you buy a new device in a few months' time? Oh, this is too much.

[Thanks, Aman]

The idea of a smaller iPad has been rattling around the tech rumor mill for many a month now, but the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen? That's sacred surely? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, apparently not. It's reporting that those ever-famous "people familiar with the situation" have told it that Apple has ordered screens that are larger that the ones used in the flagship phone so far. There's no specifics on size, with the sources only going as far to say they are "at least" four inches. Apple, however, has declined to comment -- no surprises there -- but perhaps now is the time to start the office pool. Just hope you don't land on the "4-inch iPad" square.

The Desire C has barely revealed itself as HTC's latest pocket-friendly Android phone, but another device following the same naming convention might also be on the cards. According to BriefMobile, a lower-priced One S variant, currently under the Ville C moniker, will shed the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and use a (presumably cheaper) dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 (MSM8260). That's the same processor found in last year's Sensation, although we're skeptical of that clock speed. Otherwise, the leaked specs match the One S on the important stuff, including a 4.3-inch AMOLED display (with the same qHD resolution), an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera alongside HTC's ImageSense chip and 16GB of storage. Yep, like the One S, there's no option to expand storage, but if the price is right (and it does exist), we might be more willing to forgive that particular shortcoming.

Gartner's latest dispatch reveals a wobbly global trade in mobile phones. Although our love of smartphones continued to blossom, with sales of that subcategory up nearly 45 percent, it wasn't enough to stave off a two percent overall decline compared to the same quarter in 2011. A total of 419.1 million handsets were sold, representing the first hiccup after nearly three years of growth and leading analysts to point fingers at a slow down in the Asia / Pacific region as well as a lack of product launches at the start of the year. Meanwhile, these figures also confirm what was already gleaned from IDC's shipments data: Samsung has knocked Nokia off its 14-year-old perch to become the padrone of the mobile phone market, with a cut of over 20 percent. It also replaced Apple as the number one smartphone vendor, claiming ownership of almost half of that segment. Damn, it feels good to be a pebble.

Be still your beating heart, Samsung has announced that several customers who have already fallen for its incoming flagship's charms will get their pre-orders honored a day early. Unfortunately, it will be limited to those that ordered through its own brand store in Westfield Stratford City in London, but those lucky few will get their very own Galaxy S III at 6pm on May 29th -- half a day before the rest of the UK. We're planning to get our hands on a review model before then, so expect to see our fully-fleshed musings before the end of May.

We know almost too well how smartphones perform in US market share; what we don't usually see is how happy customers are once the shrink wrap's off. Going by a newly-expanded American Customer Satisfaction Index, it's the iPhone that most scratches the itch at a score of 83. Despite having just been added, Apple was noticeably ahead of a three-way tie between HTC, LG and Nokia at 75. You might not want to look if you're a freshly-minted RIM executive: the BlackBerry made its freshman debut on the charts at the bottom, or 69. Big carriers have their own reasons to wince, too, knowing that smaller carriers like US Cellular and TracFone scored higher on the happiness meter than incumbents hiking service fees. While there's definitely some wiggle room for your own experience to have been better or worse, if you were an iPhone owner on a regional carrier in the past few months, you were statistically the most likely to be on Cloud Nine.

Japanese mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, is making a play at the Italian firm Buongiorno, a mobile content provider that boasts two billion customers across 57 countries. The €224 million offer must still be approved by Italian regulators, and would reflect a purchase price of €2 per share for the entirety of Buongiorno's outstanding stock. For its part, NTT DoCoMo hopes the buyout will help bolster its reach outside the home country of Japan, although the purchase is a bit of a gamble just the same. As it stands, Buongiorno's annual operating profit hovers in the neighborhood of €7 million, which means DoCoMo may be in for a bit of a wait before this deal bears fruit. You'll find the nitty gritty details in the PR after the break.

[Raining money photo via Shutterstock]

If you're needing to keep Mike & Mike an arm's length away at all times, ESPN has refreshed its Radio app to help with just that. Now optimized to the iPad in addition to the iPhone and iPod touch, the software allows you to sort your listening habits by sports, teams and athletes that you follow. The free version offers access to podcasts, the 20-minute SportCenter cycle, and offline listening for on-demand content. Currently, the premium version of the app is free as well -- touting custom stations / playlists, live audio pause / rewind, myESPN personalization, alerts / push notifications and a few more gems to keep you well informed on the latest Red Sox debacle. After a "limited time," though, you'll have to shell out $4.99 for the premium app and its 35 ESPN radio stations. What about Android and WP7 devices, you ask? The folks in Bristol claim that apps for those platforms will arrive later this summer.

Among the slew of new Android 4.0 devices unveiled by Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo today were a trio from Panasonic, including the Eluga Power phone we'd seen before and a few new entries in the Eluga V phone and Eluga Live tablet. We've already gotten our mitts all over the Eluga Power's 5-inch screen and 1.5Ghz dual-core S4 CPU at MWC, so this time we'll take a close look into the other two Ice Cream Sandwiched models. The P-06D Eluga V is a 4.6-inch variant (sliding between the Power and original P-04D Eluga) while still packing a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU. The P-08D Eluga Live tablet measures at 10.1-inches, packs DLNA streaming features and slots stereo speakers into a smooth curved edge design. The Eluga V is scheduled to arrive July 6th, while the other two should hit Japanese shelves in January, hit the source link and brink your kanji skills (or translation software) for more information.

It's seldom the case that we get to look at world smartphone market share on a national level, but Kantar WorldPanel has given a rare peek that might give Windows Phone fans some good news to crow about. Even though things haven't always gone well for the Microsoft camp, Nokia phones like the Lumia 800 sparked a minor Renaissance in some countries in the three months leading up to mid-April: Windows Phone was up to between three and four percent in France, Italy, the UK and the US. The Metro interface must also be sehr gut for Germans, which nearly doubled Windows Phone's local share to six percent in that short space of time.

Kantar is eager to point out that it's still mostly a tale of Android and iOS successes, though. Google took extra ground in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US, while Apple was on a tear both on its native soil and in the UK. HTC's upbeat predictions may have played a significant part in Android's continued rise -- the One X cracked the British top 10 list despite having only been in shops for a few days. About the only underdog story not going well in early spring was RIM's, where the BlackBerry's share of the US was cut to a third of its year-ago glory at three percent.

If you aren't already accustomed to Japan's regular deluge of device announcements, brace yourself: NTT DoCoMo just stepped forward with 17 new phones, as well as a mobile WiFi hotspot and a tablet. Throw a stone at the pile of hardware, and you're likely to strike something running Ice Cream Sandwich -- with the exception of the WiFi hotspot and a single handset designed for kids, every device on the list is running Android 4.0. Among the hodgepodge of handsets, DoCoMo is offering ten dual-core devices with screens ranging from 3.7 to 5-inches, a 10.1-inch 1.2Ghz dual-core slate, camera sensors of all sizes (from 8 megapixels to 13, that is) and a curious "Raku-Raku smartphone" that promises the "sensation of pressing actual keys" to smartphone newbies. The lineup's superstars, however, can all be found in DoCoMo's "NEXT" series of smartphones, bolstering the carrier's Xi LTE service with heavy hitters like the Galaxy S III, the Optimus Vu, Sony's Xperia GX and the Tegra 3 touting Arrows X. Hit the source links to check out the smartphone smorgasbord for yourself, or read on for our list of the never-before-seen ICS devices (they're all waterproof!) as well as DoCoMo's official press release.

How much Olympics is too much Olympics? The BBC aims to find out at this year's London 2012 games, by offering up "the most comprehensive coverage ever," a list that includes 2,500 hours of coverage via the broadcaster's site and up to 24 live HD streams. Live coverage will be offered up for every sport and each sport, athlete, venue and country will have its own page on the site. The BBC will also be providing a free mobile app, a mobile browser site and apps for connected TVs -- 3D and Super Hi-Vision coverage is a bonus. Check out an explanatory video about the new video player after the break, as well as some scheduling information in the source link below. And maybe think about a training regimen to get ready to watch this summer's games.

Mobile payment system Isis continues to rack up passengers on its merry bandwagon, gaining support from local merchants in two cities for its NFC wallet service. The carrier-based program announced that hundreds of merchant locations in Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah are entering the Isis fold -- joining national entities such as Coca-Cola and Macy's in its initial list of partners. The selection of participating local businesses runs the gamut from cafes and restaurants to a country club and the Utah Jazz. The platform has already corralled support from handset makers, point-of-sale terminal purveyors and credit card companies such as American Express. Expect some Mortal Kombat action for your mobile purse strings between Google Wallet and Isis once the latter launches this summer. In the meantime, check out the obligatory PR after the break.

It was only last week that we learned of the varied battery life of ASUS' phone that would be a tablet that would be a laptop. Now, a further trickle of its performance might has passed our way, giving us insight into the real-world chops of its dual-core S4 processor and companion Adreno 225 GPU. The tests, carried out by the fine folks over at Netbooknews, highlight the device's strengths across a swath of the usual benchmarks, putting it just below AT&T's One X variant in Quadrant with a score of 5,057 and Sunspider at 1,917ms. The company's hybrid did, however, manage to eke out a victory against its similarly CPU-equipped smartphone rival in Vellamo, as well as NenaMark 1 and 2, coming in at 2,554 and 60.4fps / 60.5fps, respectively. We'll have our own comprehensive review of the PadFone ready for your eyes in the days to come, but for now, sate your appetites with these various nuggets.

We've just received a statement from HTC indicating that two of its flagship devices -- the One X for AT&T and the EVO 4G LTE for Sprint -- have been delayed at customs due to an ITC exclusion order that was handed down last December at Apple's behest. That order was set to go into effect on April 19th, and it looks like HTC's two new stateside superphones are the first to feel Apple's the government's wrath. Here's HTC's take on the matter:

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

We've reached out to HTC for clarification on the delay and to find out if this will affect the launch of the EVO 4G LTE, which is expected to hit the shelves this Friday, May 18th. Stay tuned for updates.

Update: While HTC doesn't have any additional information to share at this time, we've also contacted AT&T and Sprint for comment. Let's just hope that the issue can be resolved in a timely manner.

Spectrum is the new oil. Or, so it would appear given all the backbiting that's overtaken the wireless industry as of late. One company, however, is perched advantageously to benefit from these squabbles and that's Cox. In separate filings to the Commission dated today, the cabler's begun the official process of seeking approval to transfer portions of its 700MHz holdings in the A and B blocks -- acquired during an FCC auction back in 2008 -- to U.S. Cellular and AT&T, respectively. Barring any (Big Red) opposition, this exchange would put eight licenses in AT&T's fold and four in U.S. Cellular's that would enhance existing voice and date service, while also aiding in LTE buildout across southern CMAs. All three parties still have a ways to go before these deals pass regulatory approval, but if the recent state of the wireless union's any indication, one of the three primary carrier colors is bound to rear its nay-saying head.

Hand firmly grasping hat? Good. The Wall Street Journal is reporting on quite the bombshell today, noting that Google is about to cause its carrier partners in the States all sorts of grief -- indirectly, of course. Just weeks after placing its heralded Galaxy Nexus on sale for $399 unlocked, the report states that said move is only the beginning of a new initiative. Likely to be formally revealed at Google I/O, the mega-corp is planning to partner with a variety of OEMs (rather than just one at a time) in order to have up to five Pure Google (read: Nexus) devices available at once. Better still, the whole stable will ship with Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) and will be sold directly from Google in unlocked form to consumers in America, Europe and Asia.

The move is significant in a myriad ways. For one, more unlocked Nexus devices means more choice when it comes to carrier selection. Furthermore, the move is likely to quell fears that certain partners may have about Google making Motorola Mobility its favorite after a $12 billion acquisition. Not surprisingly, Google's not commenting on the matter, but sources "close" to the situation say that the company's hoping to have the 5.0 cadre on sale by Thanksgiving -- you know, just in time for Black Friday and the looming holiday shopping season. We're all guessing that this will address the growing "app situation" head-on; by making a push to eliminate carrier-infused bloatware (while also providing early Android OS access to more partners), we're hoping that the whole "skinning" dilemma is addressed, too.

Though it hasn't been officially announced, AT&T's likely has a new Pantech LTE phone in its reasonable future. The P8010 just got approved by the FCC, and its next-gen radio offers support for no less than four LTE bands: the 700 / 1700 frequencies used by AT&T, as well as 850 / 1900. What's curious about the latter pair of bands is that they're the same ones used by the largest GSM carrier for its HSPA+ / WCDMA needs, suggesting that AT&T's planning ahead for possible refarming of its spectrum. Aside from this hefty nugget of info, the federal docs don't give much else away, aside from a well-detailed diagram showing the back of the phone -- complete with its microSD and micro-SIM slots -- and the usual smattering of compatible GSM / EDGE and 3G radios. According to preliminary benchmark results, however, the P8010 will likely be a step up from the Burst, sporting a 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor, qHD display and Ice Cream Sandwich. To sneak a peek at the docs yourself, head to the source.

It's a moderately good day to be an Oklahoman. Wireless subscribers living near Oklahoma City or Tulsa will be among the first to reap the benefits of a new collaboration between Cox Communications and Verizon Wireless that bundles services from both companies, letting customers sign up for packages that include video, internet and voice services from Cox, and wireless service from VZW at a discounted rate. They'll also be eligible to receive debit cards valued at $100-400 if they make the switch to a co-sponsored bundle. You can head over to select retail outlets from either company to sign up, or hit up the source links past the break for more info.

If you were one of those who jumped on last week's pre-order, chances are you're eagerly waiting for this Virgin-branded Optimus Elite to show up at your doorstep today. For those who decided to wait it out, however, you'll be happy to know LG's Gingerbread slab is now up for grabs at "major" retail shops in the States as well as Virgin Mobile USA's site. The contract-free flavor of the Optimus Elite carries a $149.99 price tag, which isn't a bad deal when you take into consideration its NFC and Google Wallet capabilities -- that said, its biggest trait's likely to be that lack of a two-year commitment. So, hit the source link below if you'd like one of these for yourself, or you could always take a quick road trip to one of your favorite stores.

Those who've liked Firefox for Android but have been clamoring for a native version can rest easy, as there's now a truly optimized version waiting for you in Google Play. Mozilla's new Firefox 14.0 beta now looks like, and importantly runs like, a full member of the Android family. Making the leap also affords it Flash support, a new starting page with top sites, secure Google searches and a slew of load time and responsiveness upgrades over the creakier, XUL-based version. Beta status should still trigger a moment of pause if you're not ready to accept a few bugs, but if you've got Android 2.2 or later, you're welcome to give Firefox a shot.

The Galaxy S III may rock an impressive battery life, but if Panasonic has its way, even greater benchmarks could be on the horizon. The company is ready to start making samples of a new ReRAM microcontroller, and -- like Sharp and Elpida -- it could start mass production as soon as next year. Here's a little refresher: ReRAM is a new kind of memory with re-write speeds far superior to NAND because it doesn't need power to hold onto information. Panny's chip will initially be used in simple devices like fire alarms, but the tech could eventually find its way into our TVs and even smartphones and tablets. But seriously, are we even capable of living in a NAND-free world?

T-Mobile's going through some more growing pains as it continues through the process of restructuring. Less than two months after announcing it would close down seven call centers and cut a total of 3,300 jobs, CEO Philipp Humm has sent out another memo discussing that the company is ready to take the "second essential step" by announcing a new structure -- unfortunately, it means another round of layoffs is coming sometime this week. Humm gives no details on who will be affected, nor does he go into specifics on the new organizational structure that apparently is resulting in the loss of jobs. Head below the break to read the full message from the CEO.

Update: Reuters is reporting that 900 T-Mobile employees stand to lose their jobs as a result of the most recent round of layoffs.

We get the impression that Facebook is on a big mobile photo sharing kick: just weeks after it bought Instagram for a cool billion, the social network has just hired the staff behind Lightbox. The two-man team of Nilesh Patel and Thai Tran is bringing its mostly Android- and HTML5-focused knowledge over to Facebook, where it's hoping to reach many, many more people. You'll have to wait awhile to see what the Lightbox team brings to Facebook's ever more mobile platform, but you'll also want to hurry if you want to keep anything hosted on Lightbox: the service shuts down on June 15th. As a consolation for the shutdown, the startup's code is being posted to GitHub so that the fruits of its efforts live on in open-sourced form.