Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

Two curious and awkward press events this week put the spotlight on the unveiling act. Yesterday, after a short period of global intrigue, J.K.

With bandwidth-heavy streaming apps such as Netflix, HBO Go, and Pandora out on the market, users are consuming more data than ever before on their smartphones. According to a new report by Nielsen out today, average U.S.

A survey of developers at Apple's WWDC shows they all love the platform.

Microsoft's Steve Sinofsky showed off Windows 8 at AllThingsD's conference Wednesday night . It's all flashy and color, with Windows Phone 7-like dynamic homescreen "panels" from its Metro UI which contain updating information available at a glance from the apps they relate to.

Microsoft doesn't receive a lot of accolades in the press--or even much coverage at all --but when it comes the company's legal team, Microsoft sure does deserve a round of applause.

1. No sooner Google reveals Wallet , than a lawsuit about mobile selling pops up. It's from PayPal , complaining that Google's mis-appropriated secrets form inside PayPal's own mobile payments business, secrets it gained by hiring two former PayPal executives: Stephanie Tilenius (head of Mobile payments at Google, and the person who presented Wallet) and Osama Bedier

Microsoft just revealed its Windows Phone 7.1, a hotly anticipated update to its smartphone OS that boasts more than 500 new features. But it's not due on new phones until the fall--perfectly timed to coincide with the next iPhone arrival.

1. After the repeated and damaging hack attacks on its network, Sony has yet to bring key parts of its online systems back up. Now it looks like the PlayStation Network and Qriocity service will remain off for a longer interlude --maybe as much as six weeks in total, though Sony itself is uncertain.

1. Just as Sony confirms it's about to put parts of the PSN back online finally, a hacker group has said it's poised to launch a third wave of digital assault on Sony's online presence as punishment for its weak security. Sony's making moves to offer free ID and hack protection to US users affected by the previous breaches, but a third wave of attacks would be very bad news for Sony--which has already spent plenty of money fixing the earlier ones.

Rovio's incredibly popular Angry Birds game is about to take the next technological step with the Magic edition for Nokia phones. The secret here?

It's down to the final four in the U.S. nationals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup, in which student entrepreneurs develop apps and other products using Microsoft software. They all got there with a little help from what Microsoft called "academic evangelism." Alex Ryu, now a senior at Penn, was doing an internship in the healthcare field in India when he noticed two things: that many women forgot to come in for certain appointments, and that mobile technology was ubiquitous, even in rural areas.

Microsoft has revealed some statistics to buff up the PR image of its Windows Phone 7 platform--and some of them are fairly impressive. But MS has been economical with the data it's willing to share. In a post on its Windows Team blog , Microsoft is setting out the "numbers that matter" after a year of Windows Phone 7's existence.

1. Amazon has just pulled the veil from its music locker-in-the-cloud system only to run into organizational and potential legal trouble. It's Sony Music this time , angry that Amazon's use of cloud streaming to clients is denying it potential royalty income.

Amazon just revealed its own specially curated version of the Android Marketplace, but has chosen to label it the "Appstore." Apple , in turn, has now sued Android for trademark violation. The move is a not-so-subtle shot across Amazon's bows. The suit was filed last week, but has emerged at more or less the same time as Amazon's official unveiling of its Android Appstore--Amazon's version of the free-for-all Google Android Marketplace that, on launch, contains 3,800 apps

It's International Women's Day--and in fact it's the hundredth such event. Google 's