July 10 - 01:40pm EDT   Nominally a Sprint exclusive, the Palm Pre has been successfully hacked to work with Verizon, one owner claims. In a demonstration video, the owner shows himself calling a Verizon number to authorize the device; visible in one corner of the Pre's screen is what appears to be the proper carrier identifier. The hack is said to be relatively complex, involving multiple steps, such as getting a recognized MEID number. [full story]

July 10 - 01:35pm EDT   AT&T stores to get Sony Ericsson C905a on the 19th The 8.1-megapixel Sony Ericsson C905a will soon become available at wireless provider AT&T, BGR recently reported. This would be the first 8.1-megapixel phone from AT&T, and the second expected appearance of the C905a in North America after a parallel T-Mobile leak. The leaked photo of the AT&T-branded handset reveals a front-facing camera as well, though whether it makes it to the production version is questionable; AT&T so far doesn't believe it can support two-way video calls. [full story]

July 10 - 12:50pm EDT   Family Software has released its latest parent control and web filtering application for the iPhone and iPod touch, iNet SafetyBubble. The program offers mobile phone users an alternate web browser that can be customized to block out websites, while monitoring Internet activity. Parents have the ability to block websites individually or by category, and are given over 50 different categories to choose from. Parents can also go online and view real-time activity reports or change the current protection level. [full story]

July 10 - 12:35pm EDT   Taiwanese PC maker MSI has introduced the 14-inch CR400 notebook, which is the first of a new Classic series of portable PCs that will also eventually include the 16-inch CX600 and CR600 along with the 17.3-inch CX700 and CR700. The series will be marked by high-end design and quality builds, MSI claims. The CR400 has a uni-body design with 45-degree angled edges and is coated in MSI's Color Film Print that reveals new patterns depending on the angle at which it's viewed. [full story]

July 10 - 12:20pm EDT   Jonathan Ive, the often quiet and reserved head of Apple's design team, discussed the company's drive for success with a group of about 700 Londoners including a BusinessWeek writer. He suggested other companies should not attempt to copy Apple's success, and instead believes companies should define their own "raison d’être" -- the French saying, which means "reason for being". He went on to say the reason for Apple's strong following is a testament to the company's belief that a business should focus on the quality of its products. [full story]

July 10 - 12:20pm EDT   A tip regarding Palm's future webOS 1.1 update hints that the smartphone OS is about to receive a significant upgrade, particularly for business users. The new firmware described by PreCentral should give the Pre and future Palm phones much requested Microsoft Exchange features such as support for company-initiated remote wipes, requiring a PIN to unlock the phone, forcing a certain complexity of PIN, and automatically locking the phone when it goes unused for a certain amount of time. All of the additions are considered essential for the phone, which has seen unusually high interest from corporate buyers and to compete against the iPhone in the workplace. [full story]

July 10 - 11:30am EDT   In a recent interview, Rupert Murdoch has denied rumors of News Corp. developing its own e-book reader. When prompted on the possibility of the development of such a device, the CEO responded to the Wall Street Journal by saying he "[doesn't] think that's likely" to occur in the near future. Murdoch did, however, expand on it, hinting News Corp. is involved in talks with hardware manufacturers on wireless readers for books, newspapers or magazines. [full story]

July 10 - 11:20am EDT   An image has surfaced today that appears to confirm plans to give the BlackBerry Onyx its recently rumored optical trackpad. The photo (pictured), which also shows the Curve 8520 on the right, supports notions that RIM is phasing out trackballs not just on entry-level phones like the 8520 but also high-end upgrades and likely all non-touch phones. Leaks have supported beliefs that the Onyx will replace the Bold for AT&T and other GSM carriers. [full story]

July 10 - 10:50am EDT   Google CEO Eric Schmidt as part of his presentation at the Allen & Co. conference later on Thursday revealed that he had initially resisted both Chrome the web browser and eventually Chrome OS. In addition to discussing the possible conflict of interest with Apple after the unveiling of the full operating system, Schmidt told those gathered that he had originally wanted to avoid Chrome, and the OS as a result, after being soured by the early browser competition that eventually gave Microsoft's Internet Explorer the lead. It wasn't until company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page showed a promising demo of Chrome that the chief executive eventually agreed to move ... [full story]

July 10 - 10:00am EDT   Both Sprint and Verizon have said late Thursday that they're working to add Wi-Fi to their smartphones to address a significant gap in their networks. Talking to FierceWireless, Sprint business product marketing head Jeff Clemow says his carrier decided months ago to require that all its smartphones use Wi-Fi and will soon put the requirement into effect. As a consequence, a 2010 version of the BlackBerry Tour will add Wi-Fi to the existing EVDO Rev A-based 3G it depends on so far; it only ships without due to a need to get the Tour to stores. [full story]