Microsoft is trying to persuade HTC to make new smartphones that run both Android and Windows Phone, and it’s willing to cut or eliminate its own license fee to make it happen. The software giant is hoping the move will encourage consumers to try out the Windows Phone platform and eventually make the switch to it — but could the scheme backfire?

Google is in the process of rolling out a pretty nifty update for its Chrome Beta app for Android, which includes an improved autocomplete experience for payments, the ability to create Web App shortcuts, and much more.

Samsung has today unveiled Shape M7, a $400 wireless speaker that hopes to compete with the Sonos. It connects to your smartphone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or NFC, and there’s a handy companion app that makes setup easy on Android and iOS devices.

It has taken almost 16 months, but Google’s current Jelly Bean operating system has now reached almost half of all Android-powered devices. It boasts a bigger share than its predecessor, Ice Cream Sandwich — and Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which is the second-most popular version of Android with a 28.5% share of distribution.

Had BlackBerry’s cross-platform BBM launch gone as originally planned, we’d all be BBM-ing each other on Android and iOS by now. Of course, that didn’t happen, and so we’re not. But the Canadian company is still working hard to deliver BBM to its rivals.

Earlier this week BlackBerry promised that it was “100% committed to bringing BBM to Android and iPhone,” and it just resumed beta testing on Android with a brand new release.