In the new iOS 6 beta build released to developers, the YouTube app, which had its place on the iPhone since 2007, is gone. Apparently, Apple’s license for using Google apps is over and the YouTube app will no longer be bundled onto the iPhone. We’ve seen something similar happen with Google Maps, and now the official YouTube app is gone. However, users still have the option of navigating to the YouTube website through Safari, and Google is reportedly working on building another YouTube app for iOS that users can simply download and install. It is unfortunate to see the YouTube app disappear, but at least there are other ways for users to achieve the same experience. Perhaps this is foreshadowing events to come between Apple and Google as each try to differentiate their products from the other. Via [The Verge]  
Buying textbooks is one of the worst parts of the college experience. You can find yourself easily paying $150 for a textbook that you barely use. When the end of the semester rolls around, your campus bookstore will either buy it back from you at a fraction of the cost, or flat out refuse to take it. Those times are gradually ending with digital textbooks and Amazon’s new Kindle Textbook Rental program. Through this program, students will be able to rent textbooks for their Kindle and mobile devices that support the Kindle app. Rentals can last from 30 days to 360 days. If need be, students can also extend their rental period by a single day just in case they need that extra time. Renting Kindle textbooks is much cheaper than buying them outright. The example Amazon gives has a Kindle Edition textbook at nearly $110, but it can be rented for a little over $40. The rental price will increase the longer it remains in possession of the renter. Here’s hoping Amazon a Kindle version of the textbook you’re looking for. Via [Amazon]  
Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Ace Duos back towards the end of May. And well, despite not hearing all that much in terms since, it looks like the Galaxy Ace Duos has recently come available for those in the UK. The handset is the Galaxy Ace Duos, aka the Samsung S6802 and it is selling unlocked by way of Amazon and Mobi-City. The pricing is close across both retailers, however Amazon is a bit higher. As far as the pricing goes, both retailers have the Galaxy Ace Duos available in black or white. The Mobi-City pricing is showing as £199.95, which is discounted from the regular price of £249.95. Amazon has the white model priced at £210.65 and the black model priced at £214.99. Of course, all of these prices are for an unlocked version meaning you will not be tied to any long term carrier commitments. Otherwise, pricing aside — lets get into the specs. The Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos, as implied by the name — is a dual-SIM card handset. The reasoning here, the ability to separate personal and business or even to use two carriers in an effort to make sure you always have proper coverage. The handset is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread along with hardware specs to include a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen display, 832MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 3GB of storage space, a microSD card slot, VGA quality front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. Via [unwired view]  
It looks like Sprint has recently lowered the price of the iPhone 4S. And nicely done, the carrier has cut $50 off the purchase price for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB model alike. Simply put, purchase an iPhone 4S with Sprint and you will need only to shell out $149.99, $249.99 or $349.99. Of course, those prices all assume a two-year agreement on an Everything Data plan. In addition, Sprint will also be waiving the $36 activation fee. All said and done, this seems like a fairly solid deal on a new iPhone. Then again, this sale is going to remain into effect until September 14th and as those following the rumors will likely realize — that is a few days after Apple is expected to announce the next iPhone. Bottom line and our buying advice, this is a good deal and it is a good deal right now. If you are buying a phone because you need one, this is solid. If you considering buying a phone just to get something new and have a current phone that works well, it may be of benefit to wait a few weeks. Via [Sprint] and [GottaBeMobile]  
While we often talk about DVD rental dates being delayed (as compared to the DVD purchase dates), it looks like Sony and Redbox are going to remain on friendly terms. According to the Redbox 8-K Filing, the DVD licensing agreement with Sony Pictures has been extended. Simply put, Redbox users will continue to be able to rent Sony movies the same day they go available for sale. Otherwise, that same filing showed some growth for Coinstar (the parent company of Redbox). Some of the increased revenue and growth came from the installation of new kiosks. And of course, some of the additional revenue came as a result of “growth in number of transactions and transaction size” — or as we like to call it — an increase in rental prices. Via [Engadget]   NBC has received a lot of criticism for the way it's broadcasting the 2012 Olympic Summer games. The tape delays, lackluster commentary and an uncanny obsession with Michael Phelps are bad enough, but its technological approach to presenting the games to us also leaves much to be desired.
I wholeheartedly disapprove of NBC's requirement that home viewers subscribe to some kind of cable or satellite package to watch the Olympics on the internet. The summer Olympics is an event the entire world partakes in every four years. To restrict everything behind a paywall borderlines on villainy to me. To make things worse, NBC couldn't even put together a consistent mobile application for watching the Olympics. The NBC Olympics Live Extra application excels in testing one's patience. I've been using the Android app, and it's very unreliable. At first, I was able to watch some events just fine. Each video loaded an advertisement upon launch, but this didn't bother me. I did begin to get frustrated when the ads became the most consistent feature of the app. The live feed from events frequently fail due to various in-app errors. The ads work just fine though. There were even times when I would get four ads back-to-back with barely a minute of event coverage. I just don't know what to expect when I boot up this application. The last couple updates don't seem to have helped things at all. I'm not the only one experiencing problems. The NBC Olympics Live Extra currently has a 2 ½ star rating in Google Play and a 2-star rating in the Apple App Store. If you’re going to watch the Olympics on the internet, you’re better off using NBC’s Olympic site. I don’t have nearly as many issues there.  
We had known that AT&T was planning to launch their shared plans in late-August, and well, it looks like we now have an exact date. AT&T has confirmed the Mobile Share Plans will be available beginning on August 23rd. The carrier has broken down the details and the pricing and are even offering a Mobile Share Planner tool that should help give you a better idea of how much data you are going to need. In terms of the pricing and the plans — these are similar to what we have seen with Verizon Wireless and the Share Everything Plans. Simply put, the AT&T Mobile Share plans all come with unlimited talk and unlimited messaging. From this point you pick the amount of data you want to share (across your account) and which devices will be on the plan. You can include up to 10 devices with basic and messaging phones coming at $30 per device, laptops, netbooks and mobile data cards coming at $20 per device and tablets coming at $10 per device. The smartphones begin at $45 per device, but that drops based on the amount of data you choose. The data pricing breaks down as follows; - 1GB for $40 with smartphone at $45 each
- 4GB for $70 with smartphone at $40 each
- 6GB for $90 with smartphone at $35 each
- 10GB for $120 with smartphone at $30 each
- 15GB for $160 with smartphone at $30 each
- 20GB for $200 with smartphone at $30 each
Additionally, these plans include Mobile Hotspot use at no additional cost (for compatible smartphones and tablets) and additional data is priced at $15 per GB. With that, follow the via link below for a bit more… Via [AT&T] 
 
Lately I've been feeling very nostalgic for older episodes of The Simpsons. My local Fox station rarely shows episodes from the show's best years, and my digital lifestyle doesn't make watching the box set DVDs I own very convenient. To make things worst, The Simpsons has managed to steer clear of Netflix. That's why over the weekend I set out to pack my Kingston Wi-Drive with Simpsons episodes so that I could stream them to my mobile devices without sacrificing my internal storage. The first thing I did was download DVD Shrink. This is an older piece of software, but it's free and gets the job done. It also chews through the encryptions that were placed on my DVDs. One of the best things I like about DVD Shrink is that it lets you remove unneccesary bulk from the final converted file. For example, The Simpsons DVDs contain secondary camera angles, subtitles and audio tracks in multiple languages. I was able to remove everything except English audio. The ripped video files were around 800MB each. 800MB is large for a 23-minute video in standard definition. This wasn't a problem because the file had to be converted anyway. DVD Shrink rips videos into VOB format. I needed to convert those files to MP4 format using another free program called WinX Free VOB to MP4 Converter. In the end, each episode of The Simpsons was around 260MB each. I was able to put multiple episodes onto my Wi-Drive and stream it to my connected devices with no problems. The videos are letter-boxed, but I’m fine with that because it’s the default aspect ratio of the videos. If you’re like me and have trunk filled with DVDs, you should consider ripping them. Not only does this create backups just in case the discs become damaged, but you can also move them onto your favorite mobile devices with ease.  
Those looking to upgrade to a Samsung device may want to check out their trade-in program. According to the details being touted by Samsung, those upgrading to a new Samsung smartphone can get up to $300 from the trade-in of an older device. Of course, as we often see with these types of trade-in programs — the amount you get will vary widely depending on what you have to trade-in. The nice part here, Samsung is offering this option for those who are planning to buy as well as those who have already made a recent purchase (provided they purchased something from Samsung). “Upgrading is simple. You’ll get a quote, purchase a new Samsung smartphone, and mail in your old phone within 30 days. Then you’ll get a check mailed to you for your refund. If you’ve already purchased a new Samsung smartphone, have the proof of purchase handy.”
Otherwise, the trade-in program is being done along with Clover Wireless, which for those who may not be familiar with the name — they are have been in business for more than 20 years and are a certified, audited and registered ISO 14001 reseller and recycler. But perhaps more important for some, Clover Wireless employs a zero tolerance landfill policy. Via [Samsung on Facebook]  
The folks over at SamMobile have recently posted some details about Jelly Bean. More specifically, about which of the Samsung handsets would be getting an update to Android 4.1 and roughly when that update could be expected to arrive. But that being said, included with these details was the specific mentioned that they have yet to be confirmed by Samsung. Needless to say, it looks like Samsung will be updating the Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III along with the Galaxy Note and (once announced) Galaxy Note II. A further breakdown of the timeline for update places the Galaxy S III towards the end of Q3 with the remaining devices getting updated sometime in the fourth quarter of the year. Needless to say, we still need a confirmation from Samsung before we get super excited. Via [SamMobile]  | |
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