Google and Asus are said to be “making headway” on a cheaper Nexus 7 that’s expected to launch as early as the first quarter of 2013. O-Film Tech, a touchscreen maker based in China, has reportedly been tasked with producing its display, which is to utilize “glass-film-film” (GFF) technology that will help cut production costs.

The European Commission’s Vice President for Competition Policy, Joaquín Almunia, has confirmed that it will charge Samsung “very soon” in an antitrust patent case after the Korean electronics giant broke competition rules by filing patent-infringement lawsuits against Apple. Samsung has been under investigation since January for a possible breach of antitrust rules, and earlier this week, it dropped all of its injunction requests against Apple in Europe.

Anyone remember that FCC complaint we showed you last week? The one filed by a consumer against Verizon for blocking Google Wallet? Anyone remember the official response by Verizon? No? Let me refresh your memory.

Samsung has vowed to patch a major vulnerability discovered in its Exynos kernel that could allow certain Android devices to be wiped or bricked by a malicious application. The flaw was discovered earlier this week, and the Korean company promises to release a software update to address it “as quickly as possible.”

On Tuesday, Chinese gadget maker Huawei confirmed it would be announcing the Ascend D2, a new Android-powered smartphone, at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. But you don’t need to wait until then to see it, because the device has already been revealed in a number of leaked photographs, courtesy of the Chinese FCC.