Now that we have had a full day to sit on this oddly spread announcement from Samsung that they would be selling a “developer edition” Galaxy S3 to Verizon customers, we thought we would share some thoughts on it. It’s a move that we have seen from companies like Motorola in the past, but is it a move that will actually benefit anyone? Is it just a PR move? Will it make for a robust ROM community? Let’s talk about it. 

There is buzz going around this morning, all surrounding the above screenshot that Google released to show off the widget in the newly launched Google I/O application. Whether all of these people need to go take a break from their computer screens or this is what Jelly Bean could come to look like, let’s go over what has people so curious. 

Yesterday Microsoft unveiled their new tablet, Surface. A reimagination of the original Surface concept, Microsoft’s new tablet combines Windows 8 with a slew of ideas borrowed from multiple devices. Does Microsoft’s latest foray into the hardware space threaten Apple, Google, or Amazon?

This weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend a ton of time with a big group of friends and family (30-50 people) thanks to a graduation celebration for my brother. During that time, smartphones and wireless service were brought up quite often (since that’s what I do for a living), leading to some interesting conversations around Verizon’s new Share Everything plans. What I gathered over the last 4 days, was that these plans benefit very few people, and that no one I talked to had suggested to Verizon that this become an option, as was suggested through their announcement. 

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In late May Paul Miller of The Verge detailed his visit to a rally put on by various groups of Orthodox Jews about the dangers of the Internet. The article itself is a good read, but the video of the event is incredible. In the video Paul talks with a number of Orthodox Jews about their views on the Internet, but one man in particular, Eytan Kobre, an editor for Mishpacha Jewish Family Weekly, had some particularly fascinating things to say about how the Internet should be viewed.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Google’s purchase of Motorola and the rumor that Google will partner with five manufacturers for the Nexus project. There seem to be signs that things are changing around the way Google controls Android. Google needs the phone manufacturers and the carriers to ensure that handsets get into consumers’ hands, but the tug of war between OS vendor, OEM, and carrier hasn’t been pretty. 

Today, Kellen, Tim and I have been geeking out over Microsoft’s press conference to start the Electronic Entertainment Expo, otherwise known as E3. Near the end of their presser, while listing off all the new things coming to the Xbox 360 to keep you centered around it, they showed off “Smart Glass,” a feature they hope to implement into their tablets and phones (albeit WP7 devices) that I think is the way that games should be done on mobile devices. 

I know what you are thinking, “What kind of crack are you smoking? You really think another locked down Motorola RAZR variant can help them crawl out of the Android gutter?” Yep, I actually do believe that, but only if some very specific things happen at launch. One of which we haven’t seen in a long, long time from this company, but maybe will now that Google is in charge.

Motorola has had a rough year and a half, but with the DROID RAZR HD, they have a chance to do some big things. Sure, the Galaxy SIII may be out before it and will gobble up all sorts of market share, however, this phone has a chance to be Moto’s best in years if done right. Here are my thoughts.