Today’s mobile news roundup features Samsung’s Olympics phone, Apple’s e-book lawsuit, Microsoft’s secret weapon, product launches and more.

Samsung to unveil official Olympics phone

It was reported yesterday that Samsung is to unveil a new Galaxy device or a set of Galaxy devices on their May 3 event in London’s Earl’s Court.  And as the launch date nears, more speculations about the event and the Samsung product arises.

Online reports are stating that Samsung is unveiling their new product/s in London because it will be the official 2012 Summer Olympics device.  But aside from that, there are rumors of a simultaneous launch in New York City, Seoul and Dubai for the said product.

The rumored device is said to be the Galaxy SIII, which will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is expected to be NFC capable for contactless payment during the Olympics.  Visa is also a sponsor for the Olympics and this could be Google’s shining moment in NFC technology since they partnered with Visa last year.

Apple needs proof it didn’t conspire to control e-book pricing

Though Apple is still defending that the price of e-books on their store is just right, the iPad maker still has to prove that they did not conspire with the publishing houses.

According to the lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department, Apple and the publishing houses had group meetings in places such as The Chef’s Wine Cellar at Picholine, indication that Apple and the publishing houses did conspire to control e-book pricing.  The only way Apple can get out of this unscathed is to provide proof that they had separate meetings with each of the publishing houses.

“If Apple agreed with each single publisher and can show it talked to them individually and didn’t suggest they collude, then those agreements would be legal,” said Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor and antitrust specialist at the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City. “If Apple in fact orchestrated the agreements, then I don’t think it has a defense.”

Google to bundle MIPS with Android

Google will be boosting support for MIPS-based Android smartphones and tablets as more of these devices are being released.  The company is said to be bundling Android native developers’ kits with a GNU compiler for MIPS devices within weeks.

“Google has started to take notice of the volume shipments of MIPS-based Android tablets,” said Amit Rohatgi, principal mobile architect at MIPS, at the Linley Tech Mobile Conference.

BlackBerry loses top app

YouMail, one of the top apps in the “productivity” category of BlackBerry’s App World store, will be pulling the plug as they see a “steady exodus” of users shifting to Android and iOS devices.

YouMail CEO Alex Quilici stated that this is a bittersweet ending as  BlackBerry “got us our first million registered users and put us on the map as a company.”  But business is business.  Even if they wanted to continue, they “need to focus on where we see growth. And right now, it’s not BlackBerry.”

Microsoft’s secret weapon

And Microsoft will face a similar exodus as RIM if they don’t find a way to steal some market share from iOS and Android devices.  They need to come up with a ploy to gain consumer attention, and it looks like they just might have the thing.

Microsoft’s secret weapon comes with the combination of three key ingredients, which are Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox.  Microsoft is banking on streamlining all of a user’s devices, from PCs to tablets to smartphones and console or any other electronic computing device available.  Microsoft wants to deliver the same experience, the same ease of use to any device.

“People are starting to see the same look-and-feel across the three screens and the cloud,” said Craig Beilinson, director of Microsoft’s consumer marketing. “This is all going to get pretty blurry.”

More Android devices

Asus will be releasing the 10.1 each Transformer tablet in the US on Sunday, April 22.  The new Transformer tablet will run Android ICS.  They also announced a free GPS extension kit or dongle to help boost the device’s signal reception.

HTC is hoping to re-enter the Chinese market as they launch a line of low-end smartphones on April 23.  The smartphones are dubbed as HTC Kewang V, or Desire in English, and will be offered by China Unicom.  The Kewang V features a 4.0-inch touchscreen,  1GHz processor, Android ICS, and priced at 1999 yuan, or US$316, without an operator contract.