Well, it’s official. Samsung Unpacked 2013, “Episode 2,” where the Korean electronics giant will finally unveil the Galaxy Note III, has been scheduled. Samsung has today begun issuing press invites to the event, which will take place on August 4, two days before IFA 2013 kicks off in Berlin.

A leaked user manual for the upcoming LG G2 confirms that it will be one of just a few Android-powered devices that support the nano-SIM. It also appears to debunk the reports that have suggested the handset will feature a fingerprint scanner.

Suddenly, Google is a major hardware company. And a surprisingly great one. But why?

I asked a Motorola executive involved in the Moto X project recently whether Google’s ownership of the company had any effect on their decision to get radical.

By radical, of course, I mean doing things no handset maker had ever done, such as make phones operate hands-free and build them to order in the United States for delivery in four days.

You’ll note that these and other radical attributes of the Moto X are options that would have been available to Motorola with or without Google. After all, the X8 Mobile Computing System that enables hands-free usage is Motorola’s, not Google’s, and was originally developed for Motorola smartwatches.

So why is Motorola suddenly radical now that Google owns the company?

Last week, Koushik Dutta showed off his new phone-to-Chromecast video streaming app which will enable users to “cast” photos or videos stored locally on any Android device directly to an HD TV. And now, less than a week later he is showing off another one of his great inventions which will permit users to stream video, pictures or music from Dropbox to a Chromecast unit, in his brand new Dropbox-to-Chromecast app.

Google has published an official blog post announcing a brand new feature that is a must have for all Android users, called Android Device Manager.