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Sprint announced on Friday that it will be expanding its smartphone leasing program to cover the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4. Beginning today, new and existing individual and business customers can purchase the LG G3 for $15 per month or the Galaxy Note 4 for $25 per month with zero down payments through the Sprint Lease program.
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Samsung on Wednesday announced that it will be repurchasing $2 billion worth of its own common and preferred stocks to increase shareholder value through securing share price stability. Samsung investors have become increasingly worried in recent months as the South Korean electronics maker has faced declining Galaxy smartphone sales.
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo11JJgj1cU]

Google today announced that it’s launching a new initiative dubbed Made with Code that hopes to inspire girls to learn code and support computer science programs. While announcing the new program, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki noted in a blog post today that “fewer than one percent of high school girls express interest in majoring in computer science.” Here’s what girls that sign-up to participate will get through the program:
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Google is allowing potential Explorers to try Glass before they shell out the $1,500 to actually buy the device, according to a Reddit user by the name of clide. He posted various images of a home try-on kit, as well as the above email he received from the Glass customer support representatives.

Spencer Kleyweg of GoogleGlassFans called the above number and received the following information about the program:
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Update: Google has confirmed on Google+ that it does plan to open the Explorer program in the US for a period of time on April 15th.

Google has been slowly opening up its Google Glass Explorer Program to more people, but it’s about to let anyone in the US join the program and purchase Glass, at least for one day. TheVerge posted the document above showing what appears to be an upcoming Google Glass “Explorer Program Expansion,” or at least a proposal for one, that would see Google selling Glass for the usual $1500 through Google.com/glass to anyone in the US that wants one. That opposed to the waiting list that Google is currently taking sign ups for. 
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Earlier this year, HTC announced a new HTC Advantage program that offered premium support to its customers at an added cost. According to a new report, Google may soon launch something of its own that offers a premium Android support and sale experience. Android Police reports that Google is planning to launch a new “Android Silver” program that will work with customers to help solve issues they have after they purchase an Android device.

According to the report, Android Silver will only be compatible with select devices, chosen by Google. The qualifications for the program are stringent and include the fact that a device “run the latest version of Android with no or very limited customizations” in order to qualify. Google will only support 5 handsets at a time and they will not be ones sold be Google. Instead, the company plans to focus strictly on carrier partnerships for Silver.

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Google today announced that its launching a new education initiative that will see students taking “virtual field trips” using Google+ video chat Hangouts. Google explains that it’s now allowing teachers to sign up for the field trips through a program called Connected Classrooms.

Teachers are already using Google+ to make learning more relevant, collaborative and accessible—from exploring a world-class art museum to staging a play to venturing into space. Connected Classrooms aims to make it easier for teachers to access exciting educational content to share with their students. In addition to the virtual field trips, teachers who visit the Connected Classrooms site will have the opportunity to join a Google+ Community with other educators to collaborate on field trips and share best practices for using digital tools in the classroom.

The first locations featured as virtual field trips will include the Seattle Aquarium, the Minnesota Zoo and the Solar Impulse hangar. Google is also partnering with over 20 organizations to that will help organize the field trips, some of which include National Geographic, Matilda the Musical, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 
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Facebook announced today that it’s starting a beta program for its Android apps that will allow users to sign up to test and provide feedback on the latest build of the app before its released to the public.

Facebook is the most-downloaded app in the Play Store, so we need to make sure it works for everyone, no matter their amount of RAM, network conditions, or version of Android they might be using. Factors like data costs and network speeds are especially important to users, and we want to make sure we’re always optimizing their experiences. With so many use cases to solve, testing becomes crucial to ensuring positive, consistent experiences across Android.

While Facebook noted that it has been providing a beta of its Android apps to partners such as Qualcomm, HTC, Ericsson, Sony, Huawei and MediaTek over the last six months, starting today all users can now sign up to become beta testers.

If you’re interested in signing up, go join the newly created Google Group called Facebook for Android Beta Testers and allow your device to download the latest beta by selecting “Become a Tester” on Google Play. There’s also a Facebook For Android Beta Testers group on Facebook. 
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Microsoft is not stopping on its mission to sign patent licensing agreements with just about every Android vendor around from Samsung to Acer, and over 10 others. As of its latest agreement with LG, the company now collects royalties from over 70 percent of all Android smartphones sold in the United States. According to a deal with HTC inked in May, that figure could be as much as $5 per device sold. Now, Microsoft is apparently in talks with Pantech, South Korea’s third biggest smartphone vendor, for a similar licensing agreement.

Pantech confirmed the discussions to Yonhap News (via The Next Web):

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You might be familiar with Big Nerd Ranch from their iOS development programs detailed on 9to5Mac, but you might not know the guys and gals at the Nerd Ranch also run an Android Bootcamp. Well, your first introduction to the program could be this Thursday, December 15 when the instructors of the course will be holding an open Q&A with those interested in learning more about Android development.

To join the conversation, tune in on the Big Nerd Ranch Facebook wall or tweet questions with #BigDroidRanch. One participant will get a $750 credit to attend the Big Nerd Ranch in January when the next Android Bootcamp begins. You can start tweeting and posting your questions now and instructors will be live on Thursday at 3-5 p.m. ET to answer them. If you’re interested getting into Android development, swing by the their website to read more about the program.

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