In Other News: 16/05/2013.

• EA have told Kotaku that their company is no longer producing any games for the Wii U. EA spokesman, Jeff Brown, said that, "We have no games in development for the Wii U currently." EA's ex-CEO, John Riccitiello, had previously promised an"unprecedented partnership" but it seems that that won't become a reality any longer!
  Via TheVerge.

• Blackberry have confirmed that when their BBM app goes cross platform that tablets of both iOS and Android varieties will not be able to use the app initially!
  Via TrustedReviews.

• If you missed Google's keynote at I/O yesterday then head to this link here to catch up if you have a spare three and a bit hours!
  Via Phandroid.

• Angry Birds Rio has landed on Windows Phone! The app will be available for both versions of the platform and is priced at $0.99!
  Via PhoneArena.

• Sony's Xperia Tablet Z for NTT DoCoMo in Japan has started getting a new software version with the build number 10.1.E.0.265. According to DoCoMo there is only one change and that's touch panel improvements, but there's no specifics! The update is about 840MB in size so do this over WiFi!
  Via XperiaBlog. 

• Sega has announced that the OG Sonic the Hedgehog game for Android! The game which debut in 1991 will cost you $2.99 (USD and AUD), £1.99 or €2.69 depending on where you live and that's not a bad price for full 60fps gaming and a remastered soundtrack!
  Via TNW.

• YouTube Live has expanded to all of the channels on the website with more than 1,000 subscribers! That's good news for people who don't like watching people stream on Twitch!
  Via TheVerge.

• Android app piracy is still a really big problems with some games seeing piracy rates around 95% which is absolutely crazy!
  Via Slashgear.

And finally, Microsoft have confirmed that the ad you see below is actually from the company and that it was internal and was leaked. The idea is that the phone they're showing how Google does their business, but obviously it's designed to promote Microsoft's offerings, but that doesn't make it less interesting and it has a little bit of a point!

Via TheVerge.

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BBM to come to Android and iOS this summer!

   Blackberry have today confirmed that their popular messaging solution BBM will be going cross platform! With the messaging service set to arrive on both Android and iOS this summer!

   There are only a couple of remits which have to be filled for you to be able to make use of the free app and they include having a device running iOS6 or higher or Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher! After that there's not much more to know other then the fact that Blackberry want to start to bring features across bit by bit. They said they plan to begin "with messaging and groups, but we'll bring voice, screen share, and of course, channels later on." With the ultimate aim of maknig the BBM experience on the other platforms as fully featured as possible!

   Wow, we definitely weren't expecting that when we tuned into the stream! Heins said that, "It's time, to bring BBM to a greater audience" and that's definitely what this will achieve! WhatsApp, Kik and others will have a tough job on there hands adding in the extra features which BBM will have, but we do wonder whether or not Blackberry have missed the IM boat here?

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04/07/2012

RIM in for more pain after carriers make some demands!

   The same week RIM announced their planned saviour, BB10, was delayed and they posted another loss, the company has also heard rumblings from carriers that they're not overly content either. 

   Bloomberg has claimed that carriers like AT&T and Verizon have requested that RIM reduces the cost of subscriptions to Blackberry services such as BBM. Understandable the Canadian co. is reluctant to do this because this sort of service accounts for more than a third of RIM's income.

   RIM has essentially refused to comment on the debate officially, instead saying; “RIM intends to continue generating a revenue stream from the services we offer”. That's all their spokesperson, Nick Manning, would say and unsurprisingly both AT&T and Verizon declined to comment.

There's still something 'smart' for the QWERTY lovers coming from Samsung!

   While Blackberry devices may be struggling to gain some market share right now thankfully not every company on the planet is avoiding qwerty devices with a barge pole.

   Now this definitely isn't going to be rivaling your best friends new Galaxy S3 on the spec front, but if you must have a hardware keyboard this is going to be an appealing little device. The screen is a 3" QVGA touchscreen, 2-megapixel camera and a poultry 4GB of internal storage. Although, thankfully there's also a microSD slot and a solid 1,200 mAh battery. The WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 should be great to keep you connected.

   There's two interesting features here that have caught our attention; the first is that this phone runs a Touchwizzed version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, so it's relatively up to date on the software front. But there's also said to be an LTE version of the phone coming, which is a surprising addition given that we expect this phone to be squarely aimed at the low to mid-end range. Unfortunately we don't know what sort of processor will be powering the show and we don't have any details on price points, but as soon as we hear we'll be sure to let you know!

One of HP's unreleased WebOS beauties!

   We've all been witnesses to the untimely demise of the beautiful WebOS operating system. But, before the axe came down on the smooth little system it seems HP had plans for a full touch device! 

   The image above was sourced by WebOS Nation and it appears to show a 3.6" device with an uncanny resemblance to the Pre's and Veer's of this world. It was supposedly codenamed WindsorNot and it's just a shame this device never made it to market, we do have a soft spot for WebOS over hear at TTF!

In other news:

• The stock of Apple's iMac's has dropped and we know what that means! refresh inbound!
• Thankfully the UK courts have seen sense and have thrown out Apple's case against HTC over slide to unlock patents. It looks like the US is taking a much harder line on 'essential' technologies to the rest of the world.
• Samsung has signed a deal with Qualcomm to produce 28nm chips for the company.
• The YouView set top box will be coming to the UK in the next couple of months!
• Google's Galaxy Nexus has been temporarily banned after their collaboration with Samsung in the courts failed to convince Judge Koh to change her mind. But, alas Google has promised the device will be available again in no time!
• It's come to light today that Sony have been working on the PS4 since 2012 and apparently the work continues!
• Bloomberg have today claimed knowledge of iPad Mini production!
• Is the next Xbox set to follow the Windows 8 naming scheme? Or is it set to be called Xbox infinity? Either way Microsoft has bought up the website Xbox8.com.

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