"Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said the software maker had considered building its own smartphone to compete with Apple and Google but decided it was a 'bad idea' after a weeks-long cost and market analysis. As part of that exhaustive internal analysis, he said, Oracle had pondered at one point buying Blackberry-maker RIM and Palm." So, Larry (likely after consulting with his best friend Jobs) decided to try to extort money from Google instead - which isn't working out either. Did you analyse that, too, Larry?

Say what you want about Twitter - pointless, annoying, noise, useless - at least the company has its heart in the right place. Twitter just announced the Innovator's Patent Agreement, a promise not use their or their employees' patents offensively. In a world where yesterday's innovators are today's patent trolls - Apple, Microsoft, Oracle - this is a big deal.

"Although the Transformer Prime is not a professional GPS device, as part of our unwavering commitment to customers we are offering all Transformer Prime owners a free external GPS extension kit, called a dongle, which may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience. We are pleased to announce this offer as part of our commitment to customer service, but it does not replace, alter or amend any existing warranties you may have." Wait, wait, wait - this wasn't a joke? This is for real? Wait, what?

"RIM, the troubled maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, is in talks to hire a financial adviser to help it weigh strategic options, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. A decision to work with at least one bank could come in the next few days, said one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the deliberations are private. RIM would prefer an agreement to license its mobile-phone software, and its next choice is a strategic investment, one person said. RIM doesn't plan to sell itself, the person said." So, anyone interested in licensing BlackBerry OS? Anyone...? What if they throw in a free beer...?

While many won't understand the significance of this, this really is kind of a big deal. After accidentally stumbling on the source code for the original Prince of Persia, its creator, Jordan Mechner, has released it as open source. It took some magic to get the code, written in Apple II assembly, off the 23-year old disks. Prince of Persia created an entire genre and left an impression on the games industry that lasts to this very day. Having the original code out and about is huge.

While I was fast asleep, Microsoft unveiled the SKUs for Windows 8 - and we're in for a surprise. Yes, after years and years of fully deserved mockery for releasing 343 versions of each Windows release, the company has seen the light and reduced everything to just four - of which only two, Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, will be freely available in stores.

"Abstract ideas, laws of nature, and mathematical formulas can't be patented under US law, and both Google and Verizon want the US Supreme Court to better define the bounds of that legal tenet as it applies to Internet technologies. Google and Verizon recently filed a joint amicus curiae brief in the case of WildTangent v. Ultramercial, asking America's highest court to formally clarify that an unpatentable abstract idea, such as a method of advertising, can't magically become patentable subject matter by simply implementing it over the Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also filed an amicus brief in the case similarly asking the court to assign understandable boundaries to patentable subject matter." This should be fun.

Yes! The first batch of Raspberry Pi boards is finally shipping out to customers around the world. It's been a long journey (ugh), but at least we'll be seeing reviews and videos now. My Pi is still on backorder, so no review on OSNews just yet.

Finally. Samsung has sent out the invites to a press event in London, May 3. This is going to be the launch of the successor to the highly successful Galaxy SII, and unlike with many other phone makers, very little is known about this new flagship device. As a very satisfied Galaxy SII/CM9 owner, I can't wait to see what Samsung has cooking for this one. It better shoot pink lazors.

"The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The threat to the freedom of the internet comes, he claims, from a combination of governments increasingly trying to control access and communication by their citizens, the entertainment industry's attempts to crack down on piracy, and the rise of 'restrictive' walled gardens such as Facebook and Apple, which tightly control what software can be released on their platforms." That governments - east and west - are trying to destroy the open web, that we know. As for Facebook and Apple... Well, all I know is that it is completely and utterly impossible to check what information Apple has about you. Unlike Google (more here) and to a lesser degree Facebook, Apple provides zero means to see, export, or delete the information they have on you, associated with your Apple ID or otherwise. In 2012, that's just sinister.

Not being content with the state of open source graphics drivers for Linux, a developer working for Texas Instruments has reverse-engineered his competitor's (Qualcomm) driver and written an open-source Snapdragon driver. With being tainted by legal documents at Texas Instruments, the developer who is also involved with Linaro, had no other choice but to work on an open source graphics driver for his competitor in his free time. The open source Qualcomm Snapdragon/Adreno driver is called Freedreno.

"Unfortunately, Cameron's declaration that the 'free flow of information' can sometimes be a problem, then an aberration, seems to have turned into a pillar of the UK government's 2012 agenda. Despite declaring early on in his term that internet freedom should be respected 'in Tahrir Square as much as Trafalgar Square', his government is now considering a series of laws that would dramatically restrict online privacy and freedom of speech." The United Kingdom's crippling nanny state culture reaches the web. A country in deep financial problems, facing pervasise social unrest, censors the web to prevent riots. Sure Cameron, make it so.

When I ask you to name the technology world's most secretive company, you'd most likely respond with 'Apple'. However, there's one other technology company that, while substantially smaller than the Cupertino giant, is quite possibly even more secretive: Valve.

AppleInsider, once one of the better Apple news sites, is rumouring that Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted at Valve's HQ. Considering all the rumours Valve is working on a console (more fuel for the flames), this could potentially be interesting. As much as AppleInsider's story is being spread across the web - can anybody actually verify AI's story? It cites no sources, and could, for all we know, be completely made up. Anyone...?