beat

Verizon looks to be inching closer to announcing a 5-inch HTC smartphone, with pictures of said device surfacing over the weekend.

The handset will be known as the HTC DLX ("deluxe") and should arrive in time for the Thanksgiving shopping season, according to Android Central.

The source of the photos advised that the HTC DLX comes with 16GB internal storage and a 2500mAh battery, both matching previous rumors. Decked in the same red and black of the Droid Incredible series, the forthcoming device will boast a full 1080p HD display and quad-core processor. In fact, the DLX should … Read more

Seattle residents now have the option of following the local police department on Twitter. In a first-of-a-kind program, the city's authorities are launching a new initiative that involves cops translating the news they get on the streets to tweets.

Dubbed "Tweets-by-beat," this program attempts to replace the police blotter that normally runs in local papers with a tech version of basically the same thing, according to the New York Times. When residents follow the department on the social network, they'll get routine tweets of the up-to-the-moment crime happenings in their neighborhoods.

"Liquor violation -- intoxicated … Read more

Game developer Majesco's newly released NBA Baller Beats attempts to revive the nearly extinct rhythm video game genre -- and it doesn't involve playing a mock musical instrument, but rather bouncing a ball in front of your television.

To play Baller Beats, you merely need to bounce a basketball (or any similar-shaped ball) to the rhythm of a chosen song. A crescendo of icons float down a virtual track, instructing you to perform up to 20 different moves, such as dribbling the ball with a certain hand, or between legs, or performing a pass fake.

The game also features an eight-player multiplayer mode, as well as various difficulty settings and unlocks. The $59 Baller Beats also includes a real full-size Spalding replica NBA basketball, perfect for losing control of and destroying something breakable in the living room. … Read more

As I told you last week, HTC is hoping to put its slumping Android fortunes, by mounting a comeback. And just as it is in sports, a lot of people (myself included) love to play Monday-morning quarterback and toss out suggestions.

Sometimes these suggestions quickly turn into rumors and half-truths that need official clarification, which is the exactly the case with recent whispers that HTC would drop Beats Audio technology from its future Android devices in an effort to cut costs.

While HTC had to sell back part of its stake in Beats Electronics and it has stopped bundling Beats headphones … Read more

Once a dominant player in the Android space, HTC now struggles against the likes of Samsung and Motorola.

It's a sad state for a company that gave us the first Android phone in 2008 with the T-Mobile G1. Yet, after disappointing financial results, HTC is now in the unenviable position of discussing a comeback.

A company-wide e-mail from CEO Peter Chou recently leaked to the Internet, casting light on what HTC views as a hindrance to success. In a word, it's bureaucracy. Politics and internal regulations, and not just Samsung, are standing in the way of realizing bigger … Read more

Great Britain's Olympic team has been given a friendly reminder to clamp down on athletes wearing the wrong brand of headphones, after medal-chasing Olympians were spied sporting non-sponsor Beats by Dr. Dre cans.

The bass-heavy Dr. Dre brand shipped batches of its headphones to hotels where British athletes were staying, the Associated Press reports.

The Beats brand is not an official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics, and as such officials were none too pleased about the company's publicity ploy. British Olympic Association spokesperson Darryl Seibel said team leaders have been reminded of "the importance of protecting … Read more

File this one under M.W.A.: Marketers with attitude.

Organizers of the 2012 London Olympics are peeved at Beats Electronics, makers of the headphones that are ubiquitous in major U.S. cities, according to The Guardian and other British publications. Without the company ponying up the money to become an official sponsor of the games, Beats' headphones still managed to find their way onto the ears of Olympic athletes, who during the games are some of the most watched people on the planet.

That makes them very valuable human billboards.

Officials from the International Olympic Committee are looking into … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- 'People' defend Chic-fil-A on Facebook.

- Chick-fil-A cashier fired for racist receipts.

- Old records outsell new ones for the first time.

- Circuit City's in-home TV calibration is a total scam.… Read more

HTC's abrupt change in course on Beats Electronics is more about HTC's internal troubles than anything involving the audio company, sources close to the negotiations told CNET.

Last August, Beats, a maker of popular headphones that was co-founded by rapper and music producer Dr. Dre and music impresario Jimmy Iovine, sold 50.1 percent of the company to the Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones and tablets for $300 million. On Saturday, HTC said in a prepared statement that it was selling half of that stake back for $150 million.

But in the year since taking majority control of the … Read more