Sure, for now it's pretty much a "desktop PC" related news item but I'm quite confident that it will have an impact on Windows Phone - soon! As Microsoft's Sam Moreau announced today at the Windows Blog, Microsoft has radically redesigned its upcoming Windows 8 logo. As Moreau explains "the Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations". And the result is a "window", not a "flag" - anymore!

We have heard about the Samsung Galaxy S II refresh before which was called Galaxy S II Plus and it seems it becomes true. German retailer Cyberport has just unveiled that it's stocking the so called "Samsung Galaxy S2 v2" from early March! While the specs in general haven't changed at all, the Galaxy S II v2 is also said to support quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as quadband UMTS/HSDPA+/HSUPA, the v2 is now said to run on a TI OMAP 4430 dual-core 1.2 GHz CPU instead of the original Samsung Exynos dual-core 1.2 GHz. This could be indeed a prove that the Galaxy S II refresh will feature Android 4.0/Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box because TI delivered the silicon reference design for Android 4.0.

Announced late last year it's official now and the divestment of Sony Ericsson is completed. The previously announced divestment of Ericsson's share of Sony Ericsson to Sony, including the broad IP cross-licensing agreement, completed yesterday, on February 15, 2012. This makes the handset maker, formerly known as Sony Ericsson, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. The agreed cash consideration for the transaction is 1.05 billion Euro. Since Ericsson has officially left the join-venture, Sony has announced to rename Sony Ericsson to "Sony Mobile Communications", and further integrate the mobile phone business as a vital element of its electronics business.

Just when you thought you have already heard about Samsung's latest 7" Android tablet, Samsung is going to announce another one or two. Samsung Germany yesterday announced the upcoming launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus N and Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus N WiFi which are said to run Android 3.2/Honeycomb with Samsung's TouchWiz enhancement. Powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, the Galaxy Tab follower will be available with and without 3G. The 3G version supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as dualband UMTS/HSDPA+ up to 21 Mps/HSUPA, while both versions feature Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi b/g/n. The 7" PLS multitouch touchscreen displays 1024 x 600 pixel.

Officially announced yesterday by Vodafone, the HTC Velocity 4G is HTC's first LTE device supporting Europe's 4G bands. Running on Android 2.3.7/Gingerbread and enhanced by HTC Sense 3.5, the Velocity 4G is powered by a Qualcomm APQ 8060 dual-core CPU at 1.5 GHz. As previously confirmed by the GCF, the Velocity 4G supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE as well as dualband UMTS/HSDPA+ up to 14.4 Mbps/HSUPA at 900/2100 MHz, dualband LTE at 800 MHz/2.6 GHz up to 100 Mbps, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi b/g/n. The 4,5"capacitive TFT LCD multitouch display supports qHD ad 540 x 960 pixel. The 8 megapixel autofocus  camera on the back comes with a dual LED flash and allows to record 1080p HD videos. The front facing camera supports 1.3 megapixel.