Cheap iPhone to Earn Billions; Sprint Gets Win Phone 8; Pebble Smartwatch Ships Soon

Topping tech headlines Wednesday, rumors of a cheaper iPhone manufactured for emerging countries continued to swirl, this time with an analyst prediction.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster believes there's a 60 to 70 percent chance that Apple will launch a lower-priced smartphone this year, likely with a lesser-quality screen and casing, and possibly sporting a downgraded processor. The analyst predicted a price tag in the $199 range for the off-contract phone, which he said could earn Cupertino about $6.5 billion this year.

Meanwhile, Sprint announced this week that it will begin offering Windows Phone 8 handsets this summer. The company?the last of the big U.S. carriers to latch onto the Microsoft devices?will serve up new handsets from Samsung and HTC, Sprint said at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. The service provider found no luck with its Windows Phone 7 offerings but expects a better outcome from the new lineup.

In other news, Pebble announced Wednesday at CES that its smartwatch will begin shipping to backers on Jan. 23. Dubbed the most successful Kickstarter project in history, Pebble was forced to delay summer shipments due to an unexpectedly large number of pre-orders for its smartphone-compatible wristwatch. Now, CEO Eric Migicovsky expects the device to arrive at Kickstarter investors' front doors in six to eight weeks.

Also making headlines Wednesday:

• Microsoft Bids Adieu to Windows Live Messenger on March 15: Microsoft has confirmed an end-of-life date for its popular Windows Live Messenger chat service, to be replaced with Skype.
• CES 2013: Microsoft Announces 60M Win 8 License Sales: Microsoft Windows CFO Tami Reller announced that the company's new Windows 8 operating system has sold 60 million licenses to date.
• Target Price-Matching Amazon, Best Buy, Others: Target has implemented a new year-round price-matching policy in an effort to curb "showrooming," the practice of scoping out merchandise in a store then nabbing a better deal online later.
• Facebook Opens Registration for 2013 Hacker Cup: Facebook has officially kicked off registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, set to begin at the end of this month and open to all comers worldwide.
• Your Next Smartphone May Have X-Ray Vision: Similar to work being conducted at UT-Texas, a new prototype built by Caltech researchers uses cheap chips to generate terahertz waves able to see through clothes, skin, and more.
• CES 2013: 4K, UHD, and the Future of High-Def: Ultra high-definition is shaping up to be the biggest thing in the HDTV industry.
• Samsung Shows Off Flexible OLED 'Youm' Display at CES 2013: Samsung talked up a new flexible display technology, dubbed Youm, and showed off a prototype device that allows a user to bend the screen back and forth with ease.
• Smartphones Boost AT&T, Verizon to Record Q4 Sales: At CES, AT&T and Verizon execs boasted about their companies' historic fourth quarter device sales.
• Infographic: Who's the Bigger Web Addict, Men or Women?: A new Siteopia infographic shows that women love shopping, while men prefer sports and porn. Are you surprised?
• FCC Chairman Wants to Ease Wi-Fi Congestion: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wants to free up spectrum to help ease Wi-Fi congestion at hubs like airports and convention centers.
• Microsoft's Ballmer Aiming to Bring Basketball Back to Seattle: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is leading the charge to buy the NBA's Sacramento Kings and return NBA basketball to Seattle.
• CES 2013: Dell Offers Cheaper Tablet for Schools and Small Biz: The "Essentials" configuration of Dell's Latitude 10 tablet is made with schools and small businesses in mind.
• 'Arrested Development' Arrives on Netflix in May: Hollywood confirmed this week that the fourth season of cult-classic "Arrested Development" will land on Netflix in May.

For more from Stephanie, follow her on Twitter @smlotPCMag.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414136,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760

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