calling

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Apple patents game controller.

- Check out Shellrazer, out now and available for everyone.

- Spelunky is a 2D platform game for Xbox Live Arcade and PCs that demands patience and a lot of time.

- The Verge has bad news about your favorite game.

- Subscribe to Polygon's gaming podcast The Besties, featuring Russ Frushtick. … Read more

Skype has come under fire this past week for allegedly letting the U.S. government use its service to spy on its users. The online call service company is now saying that's simply not true.

"Some media stories recently have suggested Skype may be acting improperly or based on ulterior motives against our users' interests," Skype Chief Development and Operations Officer Mark Gillett wrote in a blog post today. "Nothing could be more contrary to the Skype philosophy."

Skype serves 250 million active users a month and supported 115 billion minutes of calls in the … Read more

Apple reports its third fiscal quarter earnings just after the close of trading today, and will hold its usual conference call with analysts shortly thereafter.

Read: What to look out for in Apple's results

Join CNET at 2 p.m. Pacific for live coverage of that call, where Apple is expected to go into more detail about the results. The company also fields questions from Wall Street analysts, weighs in on key issues, and occasionally even announces new product details.

You can follow along below. Just bookmark this page and tune in later today.

Quick housekeeping note: I'll be taking the day off tomorrow, so I'll see you back here on Wednesday. Here's a great freebie to tide you over until then!

Talk is cheap, right? How about this: For a short while, talk is free.

Vonage Mobile (Android|iOS) is a voice over P app that lets you make free calls (and send free texts) to other Vonage app users.

You can also use it to call landline and mobile phones -- but normally this costs money. For a limited time, however, you can use Vonage Mobile to make free calls to landline and mobile phones.… Read more

NQ Mobile Vault is the simplest application I've seen for keeping text messages, call history, contacts, photos, and videos private on your mobile device. Celebrities, pay attention.

Basically, Vault creates an encrypted, password-protected space on your device, in which you can store photos, videos, text messages, and call history. It's easy to move items into and out of the space, and you can even permanently delete them, if you'd like.

Once you create your password, there are a few ways to start using Vault. First, within the app, you can pull up all of your messages and … Read more

The world's first update to Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean, was pushed back by Vodafone Australia because the new iteration of the operating system wasn't up to the country's standards for emergency phone calls.

The update was supposed to give Nexus S users with the carrier the latest version of Android. The Next Web first reported on the issue.

"We've just been advised that the roll-out the of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update to Vodafone Australia customers has been delayed," the carrier said in a blog post. "At this … Read more

Is multiplayer gaming actually causing more harm than good?

Speaking to Wired U.K. in an interview published yesterday, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said multiplayer games tend to be played for much longer than single-player titles. Therefore, gamers are spending less time shopping for other titles, thus reducing the industry's overall revenue.

Pachter went on to tell Wired U.K. that a typical single-player campaign generates $2 of revenue per hour per user -- a measure, apparently, of total play time divided by the game's cost. However, when one takes the same calculation and applies that to a … Read more

Today, the mobile virtual-network operator known as GreatCall announced its latest cell phone for the elderly: the Samsung GreatCall r220.

Also known as the Jitterbug Plus, this feature phone looks a lot more modern than older Jitterbug models.

In addition to a big keypad and a clear user interface, several emergency and wellness services tie in with the handset. One is 5Star Urgent Response. When you're in an emergency situation or feel unsafe (for example, while walking to your car at night in an empty parking lot), you can call a live agent, available 24-7. The agent can then … Read more

Skype for Windows Phone received an update today that makes some minor improvements to smooth the experience for users of the VoIP service Microsoft acquired last year.

The changes to the app include enhancements to the contact list, which now displays all contacts that have at least one phone number in the list. You'll also now be able to edit a phone number using the dial-pad before making a call.

The release comes with some minor bug fixes as well. An issue that would end a Skype call if another incoming call or a calendar notification came up has … Read more