Would you swap your iPhone for a Windows Phone?

(Credit: Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

It's the weekend, the time when you can wear your favorite sloppy shirts, stained shorts, and wedgie Skechers.

It's also the time that you can take a look at your iPhone or Android machine and see if you really love it anymore.

Microsoft, you see, believes your smartphones are baloneyphones. So this weekend, in all 14 Microsoft stores, it's holding a "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenge.

This is not an invitation for you to bring your favorite ham or bacon to the shop in order to have it perfectly sizzled. Instead, it's Microsoft's entertaining attempt to prove that Windows Phones are simply faster.

It works like this: if your phone is demonstrably faster, you get $1,000. Well, actually a "Hunger Games" Special Edition PC, worth $1,000.

If it isn't, you get the chance to swap your beloved gadget for a brand new Windows Phone. And you won't even have to sign a contract.

Well, not a phone contract, but Microsoft would like you to sign on the dotted line in order to appear in a future ad. (I have embedded an example of a previous challenge.)

iPhone 5 rumor roundup

After unveiling a marginally improved iPhone 4S in 2011 instead of a radically different iPhone 5, Apple has returned to its development labs to cook up (no pun intended) the next iteration of its popular phone. In 2012, we're fairly certain that the real iPhone 5 will roll out of Apple's gates and that the device should be a bigger leap forward than the 4S was.
That's why after taking some time off at the end of last year, we've resurrected CNET's iPhone 5 rumor roundup to cover the new tidbits from 2012. So join us again in watching the rumor mill churn. We'll add to it until we get the real thing, and please let us know if we've left any gossip out.
March 23, 2012
Perhaps it'll be equipped with a new dock plug
Aside from more LTE rumors (this time coming from iMore), new iPhone 5 rumors are surmising that the upcoming device will come with a new dock plug. This time, it may be smaller to make room for the device's other components.
March 21, 2012
It might get a 4.6-inch screen
For those who have been dissatisfied with the iPhone's usual 3.5-inch screen, Reuters reported that the new iPhone may get a bigger display, as a South Korean media outlet says Apple is putting in orders with suppliers for a 4.6-inch Retina Display. This may allow the company more room to update the chips inside the new iPhone, perhaps adding the A5X, for example.
February 3, 2012
It's still going to be expensive
Citigroup analysts who met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer reported that Apple did not feel the need to make cheaper phones. During the meeting, Oppenheimer suggested that the company will keep making "great products," and believed customers will still be willing to pay for them. Furthermore, the iPhone 5 is rumored to offer both LTE and TD-SCDMA, which is a 3G standard used in China.
February 3
Apple has its sights on June?
As reported by the Chinese newspaper Commercial Times, Apple may be going back to June as its go-to release month. Last time, the iPhone 4 was released in October, but rumor has it that the iPhone 5 may be coming to the Worldwide Developers Conference, which is scheduled for June 10 through the 15.

Google+ Hangouts now calling any phone

Video chatting in Hangouts is busting out of Google+.
Video calls among two or more Google+ users was the big draw when Hangouts launched, but now Google has flipped the switch the allow Google+ users to make phone calls to almost any phone number, not just within the Google+ ecosystem. That means that users will be able, for example, place a voice call from their computers and reach friends or family on their land line or cell phone.
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Google Voice puts voice mail in your ICS call log
Google Voice newbies, start here
The feature is limited to outbound calls and cannot accept incoming calls to your Google+ account. It's also currently desktop-only, and isn't compatible with Google+ on mobile apps.
Calls to phone numbers in the U.S. and Canada are free, and callers can buy credit to dial out to international lines.
To place a call, click the "Invite" button in Hangouts, then the "+telephone" link. After entering the number, hit "add." The dialer currently stores one number at a time.
The Google Voice platform powers the entire operation, though the feature bears the Google+ Hangouts name. You can similarly place calls to land lines and mobile phones using Google Voice's integration into Gmail.
Calling out with Hangouts is a third high-profile experimental feature that Google has pulled into the mainstream product, along with screen-sharing and support for Google Docs.