Verizon has said today that Samsung's first LTE device, the Droid Charge, will be available on April 28th.

The Droid Charge runs Android 2.2, has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1GHz processor, an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and a 1.3MP front-side camera.

Samsung has pre-loaded Flash and the Samsung Media Hub, offering up movies and TV shows for rental or purchase.

Verizon says LTE users should have down speeds of 5-12Mbps and upload speeds of 2-5Mbps.

The Droid Charge will also feature mobile hotspot, allowing up to 10 devices to connect to the LTE. For now, Verizon is offering that feature for free.

Starting next week, the Charge will cost $300 with two-year contract, and it comes with free $25 credit to Samsung Media Hub.

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Apple reported its latest quarterly earnings and both revenue and profit soared year-over-year (YoY).

Revenue grew 83 percent to $24.7 billion, and profit jumped 95 percent to $6 billion.

The iPhone was, by far, the biggest revenue driver, with sales jumping to 18.6 million, over 100 percent growth YoY.

iPad sales, on the other hand, sputtered, falling well below analyst expectations at 4.7 million units sold.

Worries of the Japanese tsunami disaster affecting the top or bottom line were quickly assuaged, with COO Tim Cook saying revenue would drop just $200 million and that the supply chain is still intact, with no delays.

When speaking of iPad 2 sales, Cook said the demand was "staggering" and that the company "sold every one that we could make."

As expected, iPod sales fell for the 10th straight quarter, down to 9 million, or down 17 percent YoY.

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As of the end of last month, Sony has shipped 50 million PS3 units worldwide and it appears that most of those consoles have been sold to consumers.

Additionally, Sony has sold 8 million Move motion control systems as of April 3rd.

The PS3 launched in late November and the Move was released in September 2010.

Including PSP owners, the PlayStation Network has 75 million registered accounts, with over 40 million expected to be active.

Sony is about 3 million units behind the Xbox 360, which had a one-year head start and has seen extremely strong sales since the release of the Kinect motion control system.

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In just 20 days since The New York Times raised its controversial pay wall, the newspaper has signed up 100,000 subscribers.

All online readers get access to 20 stories per month for free, and some free articles via the Time's mobile app. $15 gets you unlimited access to the site and the phone app. $20 gets you online access and unlimited use of the iPad app. $35 per month gets you unlimited access to everything the Times offers.

If you are a print subscriber, you have unlimited access to everything, as well.

The New York Times says the numbers "meaningfully exceeded expectations" but encouragement remains muted until retention rates can be calculated after the initial promotion period, which does include a starter trial at an introductory 99 cents.

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Sony has acknowledged today that a few features of the PSN have been down since last night and that it may be a "day or two" until the service is fully functional again.

The PlayStation Store is inaccessible to U.S. and European gamers, with many getting the error: "The server is currently down for maintenance."

Sony has not given a reason for the downtime.

The PSN has over 70 million registered users, with 40 million or so expected to be active accounts.

If 'Anonymous,' the hacking group which took down the PSN earlier this month with DDoS attacks is to blame, they have not taken credit. The group stopped their attack after seeing it was affecting PS3 gamers more than it was Sony.

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Hulu, in their ongoing efforts to not embrace smartphones and tablets, has blocked access to the site for BlackBerry PlayBook owners.

Tablet owners headed to Hulu.com for free, streaming TV are now greeted with:

We notice that you are trying to access Hulu from your BlackBerry browser. Right now, this device is not supported.

Happy owners had been able to use the site for the last two days since the device's launch.

In the past few years, Hulu has blocked access to the site from the PS3, Google TV and Android devices, each of which originally had the ability to stream the content.

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Finnish consumer board balks at Sony's killing of OtherOS functionality, and thinks the consumer electronics giant should pay up.

A Finnish man purchased a PlayStation 3 (PS3) console last year for €268.90. At the time of purchase, the product was being presented with capabilities to install an alternative operating system, such as a Linux distribution.

However, it is well known now that Sony decided to axe the popular "OtherOS" functionality, citing security concerns. Consumers who had previously purchased the console would see the functionality disappear after installing a firmware update.

Choosing not to install updates in an attempt to preserve the OtherOS functionality would cripple other functions of the console, such as online features, and could block out newer game titles.

The man at the center of the case in Finland, which was brought to the Consumer Complaints Board, lost the ability to use an alternative operating system after an update was installed from a new game. He was seeking €150 in damages for the removal of the OtherOS feature.

The CCB said that the removal of OtherOS crippled console features that were present at the time of purchase, and agreed that consumers should be compensated. It recommended that the manufacturer and seller of the console pay €100 jointly to compensate the man.

The CCB does not have the power to enforce its ruling, but the opinion of the CCB in Finland is considered by the courts in a dispute.

More info (in Finnish): Uusi Suomi

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