Today’s mobile news roundup features Google’s rumored cloud service launch today, Samsung’s growing trail of clues for their May event, Nokia’s poor credit rating and more.

Google Drive today?

According to some sources, the much awaited Google Drive or GDrive, Google’s consumer cloud service, will officially launch today.  This will coincide with last week’s report that Google is ready to unveil the cloud service this week.

The source told Reuters that the service will be available in both free and paid versions.  Google Drive is said to incorporate search capabilities in addition to storing files.  You’ll be able to stash away photos, notes and other documents in the cloud and access them from any Web-connected devices.

“Google Drive will work with sophisticated image search technology to let consumers sift through a wide variety of document types, which could include the likes of Adobe PDF files and photographs,” the source said.

The service will initially come with 5GB free storage, which can be upgraded up to 100GB for a monthly fee.

Samsung reveals next device with app

Aside from leaving a trail of breadcrumbs on the web, Samsung finally revealed what device will be featured in their Unpacked event on May 3rd at London’s Earl’s Court.
The Unpacked app found on Google Play has the following description:

“samsung mobile unpacked galaxy s3 unpack SAMSUNG MOBILE UNPACKED”

Yeah, Samsung’s unveiling the Galaxy S3 at their May event.  But the question is, will that be the only device unveiled?  If you want to be find more about the event visit TheNextGalaxy website and sign up so you can be one of the first to know the latest news about Samsung’s new device.  By the way, if you search for “tgeltaayehxnx” or went to “tgeltaayehxnx.com”, you’ll be asked to enter a code to be redirected to the official site.  If you haven’t figured it out, the code is “thenextgalaxy.”

Nokia’s credit rating plummets

After a lacklustre Q1 financial report, Nokia suffers another blow: a negative credit rating.

Fitch Ratings, a global rating agency, and Moody’s Investor Service, the bond credit rating arm of the Moody Corporation, both gave the Finnish company negative ratings.  Moody stated earlier this month that they believe the structural challenges faced by Nokia are not easy to address and that the decline is a cause for great concern, since Nokia’s Mobile Phones segment is still the core income generator for the Nokia group in 2011.  Fitch’s sentiments weren’t that different from Moody’s.

“Nokia’s profile is no longer commensurate with an investment grade rating” Fitch stated.  “The launch of the new Lumia phone with AT&T, and the potential launch of new Nokia products later in the year, could be positive for Nokia’s credit profile. However, there are also numerous negative potential factors which could delay or fully impede a recovery.”

CFO Timo Ihamuotila already addressed the low credit rating issue when the Moody rating went out.  The CFO assured investors that the company is doing everything in order to turn things around.

“We are quickly taking action to position Nokia for future growth and success” Ihamuotila insisted.  “Nokia will continue to increase its focus on lowering the company’s cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position.”

Android update kerfuffle

If you’re super excited to finally be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, before you update your device, better make sure it’s already bug-free.

Reports surfaced that a lot of Galaxy S II, HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid, Samsung Fascinate and other Android device users who updated their OS to the latest compatible version experienced a lot of trouble after the update.  Some reported a loss of signal, battery drain, memory shortage, deleted contacts, random shutdowns and startups, delayed messages, and more.

The updates are delivered by carriers or the phone manufacturers by air or when you connect your device to a computer.  And while you can opt to not update your device, many Android users just let the update happen.  Unfortunately, the updates aren’t flawless.

The OS gets updated to fix bugs or introduce new features, but the problems start when OEMs and carriers modify the platform to inject some of their own features.  Google updates the Android platform from their end, but the update may not jive with the tweaks made by the OEMs or carriers, causing problems for the Android devices.