The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced a $50,000 bounty to kill robocalls. Anybody who dreams of becoming some sort of a John Connor, you know, the robot-killing hero from the Terminator movie franchise, may join the contest sponsored by the U.S. government.

The Wikipedia defines robocall as “a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot…” Robocalls are usually used by politicians and marketers to deliver their messages. Public-service and emergency service organizations also use robocalls on certain occasions.

Most of the time, however, robocalls are as much loved as phone calls from your friendly internal revenue officer or root-canal appointments.

Data from the FTC reveals that the agency has closed down companies that were generating some 2.6 billion telemarketing calls since 2009, when such calls were declared illegal. The agency, however, admits it cannot trace or prevent about 59 percent of marketing calls because the cretins doing them use an interlocking web of automatic dialing machines, caller ID spoofing, and VoIP technologies.

The agency’s Robocall Challenge calls for entries (groups of up to 10 people), ideas or technology that can send robocalls to where they can do no harm, or annoy people.

Lumia 920’s Budget-Friendly Price

Local Windows fans might have to wait a while longer for Nokia’s latest flagship smartphone, the Lumia 920. In the United States, however, the device will become available soon. And it is likely to be cheaper, too, compared with the other high-end smartphones from Apple and the Android camp.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, for example, is selling the Lumia 920 for $149.99 on a two-year AT&T contract.

The Nokia handset, however, is not the most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone. HTC Corp.’s Windows 8X smartphone takes the honor with its $99.99 price, under the same contract terms.

Hello, Android 4.2

Online search giant Google is set to announce the latest version of its mobile operating system, Android 4.2. The company, however, said that the software won’t be the so-called Key Lime Pie. Instead, it will be referred to as Android 4.2+.

Scheduled to share the limelight would be several devices designed to run on the new OS, such as the Nexus 10, a high-end tablet from Samsung, and the Nexus 4, the first Nexus phone from hometown rival LG Electronics.

An updated version of the Nexus 7 tablet, which was released in July, will also be among the featured gadgets.

ICE for Apple

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced its decision to drop Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone platform for Apple’s iPhone. Last week, ICE said it purchased $2.1 million worth of iPhones for its more than 17,000 users.

Other U.S. government agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, dropped RIM’s smartphone months ahead of ICE’s iPhone shift.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.