Pandora has announced that it will be acquiring several of Rdio’s key assets over the coming days for $75 million in cash. Meanwhile, Rdio has filed for bankruptcy and will be shutting down eventually.

The “key assets” in Pandora’s acquisition refers to Rdio’s technology and the staff, most of which will be incorporated within Pandora but the service itself will be shutting down.

According to the Pandora press release, “The transaction is contingent upon Rdio seeking protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. Upon approval of the proposed transaction by the bankruptcy court, Rdio will be winding down the Rdio-branded service in all markets. Pandora is not acquiring the operating business of Rdio, and is acquiring the technology and talent to accelerate its own business strategy.”

Rdio has assured its customers in its blog post that the service will continue operating for the time being until any further announcement.

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Vivo’s upcoming X6 smartphone – which was recently spotted on the website of China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center (TENAA) – will offer split-screen multitasking feature, according to a new teaser posted by the company on its Weibo account.

This means that users of the handset would be able to accomplish two tasks at once by opening two apps side by side (in parallel) – the teaser image (see above) demos the feature by opening a messaging app while a video is being played.

The smartphone – which has also been certified by China’s 3C – has been the subject various teasers and leaks lately, revealing 4GB RAM as well as an e-payment compatible fingerprint reader. Rumors also say that it’ll be powered by a 10-core MediaTek Helio X20 chipset, sport a 6-inch QHD screen with Force Touch, and pack in a 4,000mAh…

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Sony is rolling out an updated camera app for the new Xperia Z5 series of smartphones. The app was first shown off at IFA earlier this year.

The new camera app focuses on simplifying the interface. You can now switch between the four main camera modes – Manual, Superior Auto, Video, and Xperia Camera apps – simply by swiping on the screen. The settings menu is now also more accessible and the various settings in Manual mode can be changed by swiping the sliders on the screen.

The update will be available to download in the ‘What’s New’ application on your…

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Xiaomi has scheduled a product launch event next week (on November 24) in China. Those interested in attending the event can purchase the entrance tickets – which are limited in number (500) and priced at around $30 each – starting tomorrow.

Although there is currently no information about the product that would be launched, it’s reasonable to expect that the much-awaited Mi 5 flagship smartphone – which has been the subject of numerous rumors and leaks till now – will be unveiled. Powered by the SD820 SoC, the handset also recently appeared on Geekbench.

Keep in mind however that we’re just speculating, like we were last month just before the Chinese company’s October 19 event, at which the 60-inch 4K Mi TV 3 was announced instead. Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s co-founder and president Lin Bin posted the following invitation letter for the November 24 event:

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If you’re looking to purchase an Nvidia Shield Android TV, here is some good news: the company is now offering a free Shield Remote (worth $50) with the set-top-box.

This means that for the same $199.99 amount, you’ll now get the Nvidia Shield Android TV, its game controller, as well as the set-top box remote. You can save some more money by purchasing the bundle from Amazon, which is selling it for just $175.

The offer is for a limited time only, although there’s no information yet on when it’ll expire. Meanwhile the company is promoting the offer with the following video:

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According to a report out of Korea, tech giant Samsung’s CEOs have seen their salaries dropping drastically in 2015, something which the report claims is due to the fact that the company’s sales have largely been sluggish this year.

Citing Samsung’s regulatory filing, the report reveals that of the three CEOs, Kwon Oh-hyun – who is also the vice chairman – was the highest paid this year with 3.82 billion won ($3.25 million) salary, down from 6.25 billion won he received last year.

Yoo Boo-keun – who is head of the company’s consumer electronics business division – received 2.34 billion won, down from 3.61 billion won last year. Mobile business chief Shin Jong-kyun saw the largest drop, receiving just 2.28 billion won this year compared to 12.03 billion won in 2014.

It’s worth mentioning that the decrease in overall salaries was due to a drastic drop in incentives, which are usually related to the company’s performance.

The revelation comes over a couple of weeks after there were reports that Samsung is planning to lay off managerial-level workers and executives in an effort to cut more…

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Two new vivo phones, carrying model numbers of Y37A and Y51A, have been spotted listed on the website of China’s Telecommunication Equipment Certification Center (TENAA), revealing most of their key specs.

The listing for the higher-end vivo Y37A reveals that the device is powered by a 1.4 GHz octa-core CPU, and sports a a 5.5-inch (720 × 1280 pixel resolution) TFT display. It has 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable internal memory, and runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

In terms of camera, the handset features a 13MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter. Weighing in at 169 gms and measuring 154 × 77 × 6.79 (mm), the device comes only in white color option.

On the other hand, the vivo Y51A (shown above) is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, and sports a 5-inch (960 × 540 pixel resolution) TFT display. It has 1GB RAM and 16GB expandable internal memory, and features an 8MP camera at the back and a 5MP unit in the front.

Like the Y37A, the Y51A – which weighs in at 157 gms and measures 143.8 × 71.7 × 7.52 (mm) – also runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop out-of-the-box and comes only in white color option.

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In Q3 2015, of the total smartphone industry profits, Apple’s share stood at a whopping 94%, according to a latest report by market research firm Canaccord Genuity. That’s up from 92% last quarter and 85% a year ago.

While Apple’s share speaks for itself, what makes it even more remarkable is the fact that the Cupertino-based company’s contribution to the smartphone market stood at just 14.5% (48 million units). FYI, the average selling price of iPhones in Q3 this year was $670, which translates into a 37% operating margin.

Samsung, which shipped a total of 81 million smartphone units in Q3 (24.5% of the total units shipped in the quarter), was a distant second with 11% share of the total profits. The average selling price of the South Korean company’s phones was just $180 in the quarter.

While the combined profit share of Apple and Samsung exceeds 100%, the net figure comes back to 100% considering the losses reported by other major players – including HTC, BlackBerry, Sony, and Lenovo – in the high-end smartphone segment, the report…

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The first smartphones running the mobile version of Windows 10 are finally on the verge of becoming available. A few hours ago we told you that AT&T is getting ready to sell the Lumia 950, and now Microsoft itself has started taking pre-orders for the bigger Lumia 950 XL.

Unlike its smaller sibling, the XL version won’t be available at any carriers, so if you’re in the US and want one you’ll have to purchase unlocked. The Microsoft store has priced the Lumia 950 XL at $649, and you can pick from black or white.

As previously stated, if you buy a Lumia 950 XL you’re eligible to receive a free Microsoft Display Dock through the Lumia Offers app, while supplies last. The Lumia 950 XL is said to be shipping “by November 25”.

Because it doesn’t have support for CDMA networks, the Lumia 950 XL isn’t compatible with Verizon or Sprint, so your best bet is to use it on AT&T or T-Mobile (or one of the MVNOs operating using these companies’ spectrum).

The Lumia 950 XL has a 5.7-inch QHD touchscreen, a 20 MP rear camera with Zeiss optics and triple-LED RGB flash, a 5 MP front camera, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, and a 3,340 mAh…

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Some think that it’s time for Google to start making its own hardware, the closest we have today is the Nexus series. The Nexus 5X, co-designed by Google and LG, is the mid-range offering and a respite from the 6″ Nexus last year, leaving its sibling to fill the premium, large-screen role.

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