Wireless speakers are often the best way to enjoy the music you have stored on your smartphone or tablet, but like other electronics, there are some places you wouldn’t want to take them — such as the beach or the lake. Filling them with sand and water will kill them incredibly quickly.

That’s not a worry with the NUU Splash, however, because it’s both dust and water resistant.

A day after AT&T announced its “best-ever” quarter for smartphone sales, rival operator Verizon Wireless is doing exactly the same thing. The carrier has announced that it expects to have reached a record 9.8 million sales during the fourth quarter of 2012, and it’s attributing that success to the popularity of the iPhone.

The Chameleon Launcher from Teknision gained a lot of attention when it first made its debut on Android tablets, and you’re one of those who has adopted it as your primary tablet launcher, you’ll be pleased to know it’s soon coming to your Android smartphone. Teknision has published a new demonstration video that showcases the upcoming smartphone launcher, alongside some new features that are on their way to Chameleon in the future.

Google has filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission to drop a patent complaint against Microsoft that sought to prevent the company from using video compression technology on its popular Xbox 360 console. The move follows an antitrust settlement Google made with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission earlier this month, which said the company must license patents used in standards to other parties.

Just look at that picture. Smartphone vendors are finally make Android handsets beautiful. This is the Grand S, the latest flagship smartphone from Chinese gadget maker ZTE, and it’s the world’s thinnest smartphone to offer a full high-definition, 1080p display. It also packs a quad-core processor, and a 13-megapixel camera.