Something to consider before buying the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact for $400 on eBay [DEALS]

Without question the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is one of the best smartphones on the market. Fantastic battery life, great camera, all in a bite-sized package that’s perfect for 1-handed use. Today, the Z3c — in black, white, red, and green — was thrown up on eBay where it’s been marked down to a very reasonable 0. It’s a great deal to be sure, one that’s about cheaper than you’ll find on Sony’s website. But before you grab your credit card, keep in mind this is not the US model (D5803) sold direct from Sony’s US store.

This particular model is the D5833. That means if you’re looking to buy for use here in the states, you should be okay if you’re on AT&T (it seems to supports all of AT&T’s frequency bands), but even then we’ve seen reports of weird IMEI editing tricks that needed to be done in order to fully unlock dormant LTE bands. So, proceed with caution.

If you’re looking to purchase for use on T-Mobile, you’ll want to stick with the D5803 model on Sony’s site. For everyone else in other parts of the world, you’ll want to make sure this specific model plays nice with your carrier’s frequency bands before picking it up. In either case, it is a great deal and probably the best small smartphone you an buy right now.

[eBay]

Google came dangerously close to buying Tesla Motors in 2013

While Google’s work on self-driving vehicles is already nothing short of impressive, think about how awesome Google’s presence in cars could be by now if their 2013 plans had come to fruition. According to Bloomberg, Google and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk came quite close to a deal for Google to acquire the electric car company.

The talks were in the late stages, says Bloomberg, with terms said to be a buyout of the company at its full value of (then) billion, an extra billion to pay withstanding warehousing and manufacturing expenses, and Google’s word that they’d let Elon Musk continue to run the company for at least 8 years or until they’d released a third generation vehicle, whichever came first.

That doesn’t sound like too tall an order for a company that makes the single best line of electric cars available, though its future looked quite bleak at the time with the company struggling to sell enough cars to turn a profit. After butting heads on details, the two sides had gotten as far as a handshake, hammering out a grip of paperwork and going through the typical back-and-forth motions between lawyers, suits and CEOs before these types of deals are closed.

And then Tesla suddenly started selling a crap-ton of cars. They sold so much, and so quickly, that they’d turned a modest profit that same quarter, and there hasn’t been any slowdown since. Tesla even paid off a hefty 5 million loan from the US Department of Energy since that time, and the talks with Google were pretty much dead in the water.
It’s interesting to think about what could have been if Google had gotten their hands on Tesla. The company was already in the early stages of getting their self-driving vehicle prototypes ready for road testing, and they’ve also introduced a software platform for smart vehicles named Android Auto. The biggest consumer technology company in the world having the reigns of the hottest new electric car company would have sent shivers down the spines of automakers like Ford, Chevrolet and General Motors, for sure.Failure to get a deal done doesn’t mean Google and Tesla’s relationship will never produce anything, though. Elon Musk and Google CEO Larry Page remain close friends, and it’s entirely possible that the two could collaborate on a smart electric vehicle for the future (note to Larry: that’s an informal plea to do something with Tesla ASAP). Either way, we’re sure Elon Musk sleeps well knowing he still has full control of a company that gracefully recovered from the brink of ruin.

Will you be buying the HTC One M9 or Samsung Galaxy S6? [POLL]

Today has been a big day for phone announcements. Two devices that will be dominating 2015 have been announced: the HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6. HTC and Samsung make up a large chunk of the Android pie. Most of you will be deciding between these two devices. We want to know which one you will be buying.

The comments so far seem 50/50 on which device is better. The One M9 didn’t change a lot from the M8, but that’s because the M8 was already awesome. The Galaxy S6 is very different from the S5, which is a very welcomed change. These devices are on a very even playing field. Which one will you buy? Will you buy either one of them? Let us know in the poll and comments below!

Deal: Get a $100 rebate when buying a 64GB Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge

Samsung is offering up a nice 0 rebate for folks who buy the 64GB version of their Samsung Galaxy S6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. They call it the “Ultimate Upgrade” because you’re essentially getting a free upgrade from 32GB (32GB units cost 0 less than their 64GB counterparts).

There are some caveats to note:

• US only. Sorry, guys.


• The offer is only valid for devices purchased between June 21st and July 5th, or while supplies last.


• The offer is only valid for devices purchased at full price from carriers or national retailers.


• You can participate in the promotion by either mailing a receipt or sending it digitally.


• You have until August 5th to submit a rebate claim online, or until August 15th to submit it via mail.

Other than that, getting started is as simple as entering your email over at Samsung’s website and going through a simple series of forms. Be sure to take care of that as soon as possible if you’re eligible!

ASUS reveals they’ve thought about buying HTC, and a deal could still happen

Two of Taiwan’s biggest technology buffs could eventually find themselves combine as one unit. ASUS CFO David Chang revealed to Reuters that they’ve talked about acquiring HTC in the past.

The report suggests that all they’ve done is talk about it, though no actual moves were made to try and strike a deal. The CFO also wasn’t coy about leaving open the possibility that they could still be exploring a takeover, though he noted that chances weren’t that great considering ASUS prefers to make moves which foster and promote internal, organic growth rather than picking up someone else’s sloppy seconds.

That HTC has a big, red “takeover” target on its back isn’t all that surprising. The company has been bleeding money for the better part of two years now, with only a couple of narrowly-positive quarters scattered throughout.

Things aren’t going to get any better with the launch of the HTC One M9, either. The company has reportedly cut component orders by a significant margin in the wake of weak sales, and they expect to suffer worse losses than they originally anticipated in their next financial report.

ASUS, on the other hand, has a thriving PC and tablet business, an up and coming smartphone arm, as well as the luxury of being able to fall back on computer monitors, network routers and other miscellaneous tech, all of which have proven to be lucrative areas for the Taiwanese company. Would you want to see this deal go down?