Google may debut new music service with Honeycomb

The iTunes shackles may be loosened, as Google could potentially be introducing its own music service with Honeycomb at the end of February.

Hot on the heels of announcing its Apple publishing competitor One Pass, Google will also go head to head with iTunes with a new music content provider. According to Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, Google’s new music service may be wrapped into the Honeycomb OS.

“If you look at Google Mobile services [via Android] today, there’s a video service, there’s a music service – that is, there will be a music service,” Jha reported to The Guardian at Mobile World Congress. It’s been awhile since any talk of a Google music streaming service was discussed, although it’s apparently been in development. Yesterday’s One Pass announcement lends further credibility to the idea that Google is clearly ready to challenge Apple’s hold over the content provider-publisher relationship, and iTunes is part of this.

Billboard also recently released the names of executives believed to be working on Google Music, which includes the likes of VP of engineering Andy Rubin. According to the report, Rubin has personally been in touch with music industry execs and spoken about the service, which would also offer an online store. A music streaming service has allegedly been in the works at Google for awhile, and would defer from the traditional syncing function in favor of cloud storage. The Motorola Xoom should debut at the end of this month, and anyone willing to pony up the hefty pricetag will find out first hand if Honeycomb includes a Google music application.

From the sounds of it, Google really is preparing to take on Apple’s publishing product on all fronts. But seeing as the proposed Google Music service will be packaged with Honeycomb, the rivalry will only play out in the tablet arena for the time being. Sony and Rhapsody have already expressed their, shall we call it displeasure, with Apple – and the company’s new subscription plan isn’t making it any friends. If there were ever a time to challenge iTunes, now is it.

Bloomberg: Sony PSP2 to debut next week, PlayStation Phone at MWC

It’s nothing that runs counter to the ongoing whispers we’ve heard so far, but according to Bloomberg and its pair of sources, Sony Computer Entertainment’s Tokyo event on January 27th is indeed the platform from which it’ll unveil the next PSP, and next month at Mobile World Congress will be where we finally meet — officially, that is — the PlayStation Phone. Next week’s press conference will also reportedly “outline a strategy to use its networked entertainment services to share games, movies and music among handheld products, TVs and other devices.” Not much else to say at this point, so just sit back, relax, and wait for the other guys to do their presentation, first.

Hands on with Verizon debut LG Revolution 4G

We go hands-on with the new LG Revolution at Verizon's CES press conference. The Revolution is LG's debut 4G LTE phone.

Verizon debuted 10 new 4G devices at its CES press conference today. One of the most interesting was the LG Revolution, the manufacturer’s first LTE device. It’s screen can’t match the Super AMOLED Plus display on the new Samsung 4G phone, but it is comparable to the new HTC Thunderbolt and one of LG’s finest looking touch smartphones and proves the manufacturer is really getting its act together and competing with the best.

The most striking thing about the phone is how well it handles the high speeds of Verizon’s network. We visited several media-rich Websites and the phone didn’t appear to miss a hitch. It currently runs Android 2.2, but will be getting the Android 2.3 update before release. The touchscreen is capacitive and rings in at 4.3 inches (the size of the Droid X screen) and the phone can share its 4G connection and become a mobile hotspot for upt o 8 other Wi-Fi capable devices. It comes with 16GB of internal memory, a micro HDMI connector (like a lot of new phones), a 5MP rear camera, and a front-facing camera as well.

My favorite new feature: the phone has a sensor that will lock the touchscreen when the phone is up to your cheek and you’re talking, again making it possible for me to talk with the phone jammed between my cheek and shoulder without fear of accidentally hanging up.

The LG Revolution will launch in the first half of 2011. No pricing has been announced, but it will likely launch for $200-$300 with a 2-year Verizon contract.