Alex Allegro

Google’s stock hit an all-time high last week, with a market cap of $255.17 billion and shares hitting nearly $775 dollars. Just a mere seven days after these incredible numbers, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said he planned to sell 42 percent of all the stock he owns in the company. In shares, that comes out to about 3.2 million in total. He currently owns 7.6 million shares. Once Schmidt sells his stock, he’ll have nice big check of about $2.51 billion dollars coming his way. Of course, selling 3.2 million shares of any company will have a huge impact on the stock market. So, it’s likely he will spread out the selling of the stock over the course of the next year.

This sale comes 10 days short of the one-year anniversary of Schmidt’s other big selling. On Feb. 18, 2012, when the shares were about $604, the chairman decided to sell $1.5 billion dollars worth of Google stock. At the end of that selling, Schmidt had about 0.9 million shares less of Google than he has today (6.7 million to today’s number, 7.6 million).

Schmidt today owns 2.3-percent of Google.

HTC’s CEO holding what a appears to be an unreleased M7

This morning, the folks over at UnwiredView claimed to have a spec list of two unannounced HTC phones said to launch sometime after HTC’s Feb. 19 M7 announcement. The first phone, named the “M4”, is said to be a mid-range phone, being a step-down from the M7 and a step-up from the G2. Its specs are displayed in the chart below.

UnwiredView’s alleged M4 spec chart.

The chart shows the device to have a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch HD display, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP camera. With phones in the ‘low’ 4-inch range nowadays light on specs, HTC seems to want to turn that around with the M4.

The second phone UnwiredView claimed to have the specs for is the G2. The G2 is a budget-phone that, if the charts are to be believed, won’t even launch with Jelly Bean but rather Ice Cream Sandwich. Since the M4 is supposedly launching with Jelly Bean, one can infer it will never get an upgrade to Jelly Bean if the G2 launches with ICS.

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While all signs point to HTC launching these two devices at MWC, UnwiredView claimed these phones won’t launch at February’s press event or MWC—but rather much after.

It’s been hinted about by CEO Larry Page, rumored about by the Wall Street Journal, and now it’s been mentioned in a new job listing on Motorola’s website. The top-secret X-Phone would be Google’s first collaboration with Motorola since it purchased the handset company in August 2011. The phone was mentioned this morning in a job listing described as “Senior Director of Product Management for Motorola, X-Phone”. The listing has now removed all mention of the X-Phone, but it is still available to see and apply to.

While the phone is rumored to be a continuation of the Nexus line, even possibly replacing the Nexus 4 come I/O this year, CNET claimed the ad listing—judging by the blurb from the listing that quotes “product customization requirements”— implies it will be a carrier-customized device. CNET also said the X-Phone is not the only device launching by Motorola soon, because multiple products are on the way  if the bullet point “high level schedule for future products” means anything. One thing is for sure, though. Rarely do rumored names turn out to be official. So, with such a generic name like ‘X-Phone’, you can bet the final product will have a much more creative name.

PhoneArena claims to have the first photo of a white Nexus 4. The picture shows just the back of the device, and it is the only proof we have a unicorn version of the phone existing. A white Nexus 4 wouldn’t be a huge surprise, though, as both the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus launched in black and later in white. It’s unclear at the moment if, like the previous Nexus, the body will be white with a black bezel or if it will follow the footsteps of the iPhone and Galaxy S line and be entirely white. PhoneArena has no rumored launch date for the device, as it could just be quietly added to the Play Store or formally launched at I/O in May.

UPDATE: Vietnamese website Tinhte posted a huge gallery of the white Nexus 4. It looks as though the white covers the back and sides of the phone, but the front bezel is black. Check out just a few of the images below.

If for some reason you had your hopes up high for a Nexus 4 on contract, today is your lucky day. Best Buy has started offering the hot-selling phone on a two-year contract with T-Mobile for $199.99. The device retails unlocked at $299.99 for 8GB or $349.99 for 16GB from the Google Play store, and it comes with HSPA+ 4G (no LTE) just like the T-Mobile version. It’s no surprise that you’ll save tons of money in the long run when buying the device from the Play store outright for $299.99 without a contract. However, if you’d like to save money up front, signing a two-year contract for the device isn’t a bad choice either. The device has a 3- to 5-day wait before it starts shipping, while the Play store has both models of the phone in a “Sold Out” status. If you’re dying to get your hands on this phone, and don’t mind signing a contract, head on over to the source link to get your hands on one.

Update: Wirefly has the same setup for $149. It is still not better than getting one off contract, though.

Source: Best Buy