Facebook to Buy Skype?

Two reliable sources say Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is talking to Skype about either buying the company or forming a joint venture, according to Reuters.

One of the sources said Facebook is considering a buyout of Skype at a price of between $3 billion and $4 billion. Others pointed out that Skype’s IPO, which has been recently delayed by its new CEO until the second half of 2011, was expected to raise less than that, around $1 billion.

Details of Samsung's 'Alex' Chrome OS netbook leaked, Atom N550 in tow

As we approach the expected mid-2011 launch for a few Chrome OS devices, it seems inevitable that some details are bound to slip out ahead of time -- here's looking at you, Acer ZGB and Seaboard. The latest victim outed by a Chromium bug report is the Samsung "Alex," which sports a 1280 x 800 display (probably at 10 inches as previously rumored; like the mockup above), 1.5GHz dual-core Atom N550, SanDisk SSD P4 of unknown capacity, and 2GB RAM.

YouTube ready to start renting video on-demand movies from major studios?

Sony S1 and S2 dual-screen Honeycomb tablets get official (video)

Sony's hosting a press event in Tokyo today where it just made the first announcement: a pair of Android 3.0 tablets -- yes, the very two Honeycomb slabs we told you about exclusively back in February. The first is the 9.4-inch S1 media tablet (aka, Qriocity focused) with a curved top much like a folded magazine and both front- and rear-facing cameras.

Microsoft announces 350 million Windows 7 licenses sold in 18 months | Microsoft News

Windows 7 is one of Microsoft’s best received operating systems ever, and to underline this Microsoft has just announced they have sold 350 million licenses for the operating system in 7 months.

The OS has also started achieving what so far seemed to be impossible – finally overtake M

Nokia Brings Photorealistic 3D Models Of 20 Entire Cities To Ovi Maps

Users of Google Maps and Bing Maps have enjoyed 3D imagery for a while now, and Nokia is now catching up with the launch of (admittedly very nice-looking) photorealistic 3D models of 20 metropolitan areas from across the globe.

On Maps.ovi.com/3d, you can now explore places in 3D in major cities like London, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, San Francisco and, of course, Helsinki.

Apple Sues Samsung Over Galaxy; Are Other Tablet Makers Next?

In a patent suit filed Friday, Apple claims that Samsung’s line of Galaxy tablets and phones willfully infringe on its own patents. Apple is seeking injunctions as well as actual and punitive damages.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which runs on Android, was released late last year. Apple claims the tab infringes on iPad patents and that the Galaxy S looks and feels a little too similar to the iPhone.

Samsung Plans to Release a 2GHz Dual-Core Smartphone by 2012

Two years have passed since the first 1GHz smartphones hit the market, and Samsung is already looking at the next big milestone in the smartphone gigahertz race: 2 GHz.

Such processor speed, Samsung claims, will narrow the gap between a smartphone and a full-fledged desktop PC, at least when it comes to data processing power.

Dramatic New Video of Japan Tsunami [VIRAL VIDEO]

We’ve seen a lot of footage of the tragic Japan tsunami, but this clip is the most horrifying yet. Entitled “South Sanriku — Tsunami seen from Shizugawa High School,” it’s shot from high ground, but toward the end of the video you can see panicked residents running for their lives.

Microsoft's raw deal for Vista users: IE10 for Windows 7 only

One of the minor "features" Microsoft included in the Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview released earlier this week was reduced operating system support; it will only install on Windows 7, leaving Windows XP and Windows Vista users out in the cold. Microsoft confirmed to Computerworld that this was no accident, with a spokesperson saying "Windows Vista customers have a great browsing experience with IE9, but in building IE10 we are focused on continuing to drive the kind of innovation that only happens when you take advantage of the ongoing improvements in modern operating systems and modern hardware."