AT&T buying $1.9 billion worth of spectrum from Verizon

U.S. carrier AT&T announced Friday that it will acquire 700 MHz spectrum from rival Verizon Wireless in a cash transaction valued at $1.9 billion. The 700 MHz band was originally used to broadcast analog TV channels and in 2008 was put up for auction. AT&T says it will use the airwaves to improve its 4G LTE U.S. network presence...

Google upgrades YouTube Capture with 1080p video uploads

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0sOzdXce6o

When Google in December released the YouTube Capture iOS app, the company instantly goy my attention. I love its sleek design, simplified user interface and the effectiveness of having an app dedicated to recording and uploading video clips to YouTube. It would be a must-have if not for the inexplicable lack of support for 1080 uploads - the software would limit any upload to 720p.

Not anymore. Today, a new maintenance released has been pushed which now lets you upload footage in the full HD 1,920-by-1,080 pixel resolution, along with a few other tweaks. More details right after the break...

Apple rumored to tap Qualcomm’s low-end Snapdragon chip for budget iPhone

The less-pricey iPhone rumor just wouldn't die. Today, Forbes reports that the Cupertino, California firm is likely to use Qualcomm's less powerful lower-end Snapdragon processor for the rumored budget iPhone thought to be targeted to price-sensitive shoppers in emerging markets like China, Brazil and elsewhere where carriers rarely subsidize handsets.

The story has it that such a device would not need the same kind of graphics, video and processing power as premium iPhones do and using Qualcomm's integrated solution could enable the company to integrate the CPU, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on a single chip rather than have three separate chips. As a result, Cook & Co. would be able to minimize costs, a necessity should Apple pursue the rumored $149 price point...

German court finds Apple to infringe Samsung’s 3G patent

A court in Germany has ruled that Apple's iPhone infringes upon Samsung's patents related to 3G wireless technology and has issued an order to stay a German Samsung v. Apple lawsuit. Patent blogger Florian Müeller who follows tech litigation explains that the case will be adjudicated only after the validity of this patent. Apple, of course, is challenging the validity of Samsung's patent, but that will likely take years to resolve...

Google updates Currents app with new look and other improvements

Google has been on fire lately with its iOS apps, displaying a newly-found sense of design that features a clean, simple interface with a large helping of Helvetica Neue. Just look at Google Maps, YouTube, or Google+ and you'll see what I mean.

Today, the search giant has updated its Flipboard-style news aggregation app, Google Currents, with that design, as well as other new features and improvements. Navigation in the app is now quicker, and news stories are much easier to find...

Apple drops supplier after audit finds underage workers

Apple released its latest Supplier Responsibility report late last night, detailing 339 audits focused on the plants and suppliers that help make its hardware. These were internal audits, which are separate from those performed by the Fair Labor Association.

While Apple was quick to point out supplier compliance, an impressive 92%, it also mentioned that it has severed its relationship with a China-based third-party labor supplier after discovering a conspiracy to employ dozens of underage workers...

The Daily Recap – Jan 24, 2013 edition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvNfhojILPU

Welcome to The Daily Recap for January 24th, 2013. Watch our video for a quick look at some of the top stories from the day in less than two minutes. If you missed out on any of today's big news, this is a great way for you to get caught up fast.

For your convenience, you'll also find links to all of the stories listed in today's recap inside...

Apple seeds OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 build 12D58

Earlier today, Apple seeded its latest beta build of OS X 10.8.3 — dubbed 12D58. The release comes with no known issues, though developers are urged to focus on a few areas of interest including: AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, graphics drivers, and Safari.

If you're a registered Apple developer, you can head over to Apple's developer portal and download the full version, or a handy delta update if you're already situated on the previous 12D54 build.

Joypad Legacy turns your iPhone into a retro game controller for Mac and PC

Want to play retro-style games on your Mac or PC, but don't have a controller handy? While we wouldn't recommend using touch screen controls for every game, if you're in need of a quick retro fix you can download Joypad Legacy for your iPhone and quickly play retro games with 'classic' controls.

Joypad Legacy comes in two parts: the first part is the controller app for your iPhone that comes with layouts for NES, GBA, SNES, Genesis, and N64. You'll also need a second piece of software called Joypad Connect, running on your Mac or PC. You can use Joypad Connect to build profiles for the games and emulators you want to play with Joypad Legacy...

Accented characters make iOS passwords stronger, not enough to keep your data secure

There's a suggestion floating around on tech blogs for setting 'unguessable passcodes' in iOS. The idea is to use alternate accented characters, which are hidden but easily accessible by holding down letters on the virtual keyboard. The thinking is these accented characters could be especially effective at thwarting guesses, as English speakers might not even realize that there are accents beneath the keys...

AT&T activates record 8.6 million iPhones in Q4 2012

Following up reports from Apple and Verizon, AT&T has just released its earnings results for the 2012 holiday quarter. And they actually look pretty good. The carrier sold a record amount of smartphones during the three quarter period, and activated a record amount of iPhones. Full breakdown of the results after the break...

Use iFunBox’s ‘Power Saving Mode’ to prevent select apps from running in the background

Want to take a load off your iOS device's CPU, battery life, and cellular bandwidth by preventing certain apps from running in the background? Sure, you could install a tweak like WeeCloseApps, but it doesn't set automatic profiles for app behavior, and it doesn't work on non-jailbroken devices.

Luckily, there's a powerful iOS file browser for Mac and PC called iFunBox, which works on both jailbroken and non-jailbroken devices. Among its features, iFunBox allows users to edit 'Power Saving Mode' profiles. Right click on an installed app and you can set one of three multitasking states: allow background, always background, and kill switch. 'Allow background' is the default state of most apps, while 'always background' is normally applied to music and podcasting apps that you'd want active in the background, and 'kill switch' is applied to power-hungry games...