In Other News: 14/05/2013.

• The guys at T3 have suggested that the Blackberry Playbook may not get BB10 after all with Thorsten Heins saying that:
  "We’ve talked about PlayBook numerous times now, the pure hardware play is not really making a lot of sense, now I have to think of BlackBerry 10 as a platform not just as a product... So going forward we will focus on that future view of tablet (whatever that constitutes) I want to focus on the future, and that’s where I’m going to spend our R&D money money on."
  Sorry Playbook customers, there's nothing confirmed, but that update you were promised might not happen!

• Apple are in the process of adding the Samsung Galaxy S4 to their patent infringement claims against Samsung!
  Foss Patents via PhoneArena.

• Firefox 21 has been released for desktop, an update which builds on the social features of the browser. Facebook integration is bettered and is now joined by features from Cliqz, Mixi and a msnNOW. Do Not Track settings are now improved and there's a new thing called Firefox Health Report, which tracks crashes and recommends performance enhancing changes. Firefox for Android also got updated bringing with it open source fonts, better HTML5 support, an improved UI and more media management abilities.
  Via Engadget.

• The Surface RT is getting an update which helps boost the speaker volume on the tablet, while the Pro Surface has Wifi stability and other fixes on the way!
  Via TheVerge.

• If you want to watch Google's Keynote from I/O tomorrow then you can catch it here!
  
• Pintrest has... Social sharing service Pinterest has updated its mobile app with a few new features this afternoon. The new Pinterest version 1.5 lets you send a pin to a friend, mention friends in comments (like many social networks) and receive push notifications when someone likes, comments on repins your items -- a feature added to the web-based Pinterest a few weeks back. In-app searching has also been improved with search term suggestion. You can grab the latest version of Pinterest from the Google Play link above. Alternatively, hit the Play Store app to get updated if you've already installed an earlier version. Pinterest has also been updated to version 2.4 on iOS devices.
  Via AndroidCentral.
  
• The white Nexus 4 has turned up on video! The guys over at TechView somehow got their hands on it and you can see it being fondled in the video below!
  TechView Via AndroidGuys.

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Thorsten Heins confirms Blackberry are still looking into tablets, but only if they're profitable!

   Now some of you might think that the title is slightly strange; why would any company sell a product if it wasn't profitable? Well perhaps that is a question for Amazon who sold their Kindle Fire at a £2 loss per unit! But, that's slightly different from Blackberry's position because Amazon were easily able to recoup the cost of that and make their profit from the sale of content for the Kindle Fire's, but Blackberry don't have such a fortunate position because their ecosystem isn't quite big enough to give them the same returns just yet.

   Indeed, you might remember that RIM, as they were, wrote off $485 million because of unsold inventory of the BlackBerry PlayBook. That essentially meant that nearly half a billion dollars of money was wiped away because Blackberry Playbooks couldn't be sold at a high enough price to recoup the expenditure from making them.

   So this has naturally left Blackberry hesitant when it comes to tablets. Thankfully that does not mean the company has dismissed them altogether. Instead, Blackberry's CEO, Thorsten Heins, said, in an interview with Reuters, that he is still committed to creating tablet devices:

   “I’m not getting out of the tablet business, I’ve asked my teams to build another one, but I need to make money from it. If the hardware doesn’t provide the margins I need, then it makes no sense in doing it”

   As we move forward into 2013 Blackberry will need to seriously consider offering a tablet solution to remain relevant. Unfortunately though, the reality is that any device they offer will have to compete in a world filled with iPad's, Kindle Fires and Nexi, all of which have their own specific area of speciality and any BB10 tablet would have a hard time finding a niche in that market. Blackberry would even have a problem in their ethereal business market which is now dominated by iDevices.

   We'll leave you with this from Thorsten Heins though, because the reality is that there is a much bigger picture for the Canadians at the moment than simply offering a new tablet. He said:

"Mobile computing is not going to be decided in the next quarter ... We have got to figure out as an industry how we get there. All I know is that I want us to be a leader there."

    Hopefully BB10 will be enough for us to see see you when we're there too Thorsten!
Via Reuters.

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BB10: What we've got to look forward to!

   RIM's upcoming BB10 is a very hot topic at the moment. There actually seems to be a sense of anticipation for what the future of Blackberry will hold, something which has been missing for quite a while from Blackberry launches! So we've seen lots of leaks of the 'Z10', pictured above next to an iPhone 5 and we supposedly know quite a bit about it, but the software is the main story here so lets start with that!

THE SOFTWARE!

Apps!

   RIM drummed up app support by offering devs $100 for app submissions last week.This added another 15,000 submissions in 37 hours, bringing the launch total to somewhere around 70,000 apps, the largest amount of apps to support any platform launch ever! You can see some of the culprits which will be available above, but there are plenty more and RIM expects that the vast majority of the 'big' apps will be available on launch! There's even the suggestion that Skype could be coming too!

Social Network Integration!

   With BB10 RIM will be bringing their new BB10 hub, which will be the centre of your messages, emails and notifications. By the looks of it there will be lots of integrated options too!

   From the picture on the right we know that there will at least be Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Talk options! This is a great start and hopefully the integration will work as nicely, or better, than Microsoft's People Hub!

For a lot more in depth details on the OS this post from TechRadar is well worth checking out! It goes into an insane amount of detail, but remember there are still some things missing because the OS isn't final in this review!

THE DEVICES!

The all touch Z10!

   Blackberry devices have previously dabbled with touchscreen technology, but for the most part they were confined to the trusty track ball, which would inevitably break, and so with the arrival of BB10 it's refreshing to see a full-touch device from RIM. 

   This particular device is shaping up to be a nice bit of kit as well. So far we're pretty sure there will be: a 4.2" screen with a resolution of slightly more than 720p (1280x768p), a 1.5Ghz dual-core A9 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage which will be MicroSD expandable! On top of that's there will be 4G LTE compatibility, 2 and 8MP cameras on the front and rear of the device respectively and an 1800mAh battery, which should be enough to get you through most of the day! We would like to see a 4.5" device just to push RIM into the 'large phone' territory, but 4.2" is a good start! There's also a funky bobbly back, which seems to disagree somewhat with the sleek fronting of the device, pictured right. There's a hands on (in German) available here, which will run you through in a bit more detail!

The Blackberry Playbook.

   It's easy to forget that RIM's little loved Playbook is also getting this update! It was the first device to give us an idea of what we could expect when BB10 came around and thankfully RIM will be giving their early adopters something to shout about at long last! Incidentally, you can still pick these tablets up really cheap and with good storage options too! (A 64GB version will cost you £150 in the UK!) For those prices and with a set of specs which will be considered low to mid-range this year it is still a good purchase!

   So if you're in the market for a cheap tablet, don't just dismiss it as a member of the crowd!

The N-Series.

Z10 and N-Series pictured together!

   The N-Series is interesting because this is a relic from the past that RIM insists on continuing. To be totally honest we're not sure whether this genuinely is something that consumers and business users are after or just RIM being sentimental and continuing where they left off! 

   We also are severely lacking in information about these too. We do expect these to take much more of a backseat role while the Z10, or whatever it ends up being called, will take the limelight! Incidentally the N-series device, on the right of this photo, reminds us quite a lot of Palm's old Pixi!

   Just in case you want to see more of BB10 in action then Blackberry has tonnes of informative videos on their YouTube page here! Blackberry also took the time to sit down with Forbes during CES and there's a really nice demo of some of the cool features coming to RIM's new smartphones, which you can see in the video embedded below!

Sources:

BB10Believe.

Crackberry (1) (2) (3).

Reuters.

Engadget.

DigitalTrends.

PhonesReview.

BB10apps.

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03/10/2012

RIM release Playbook OS 2.1!

   RIM and their Playbook in particular are interesting entities. The Playbook's themselves are great little devices and they are selling extremely cheaply at the moment. But, RIM has also had a good track record with their updates too! Every time the company has promised some improvements they have arrived, if slightly late a couple of times.

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24/07/2012

Has MobileFun outed the design for the next iPhone.

   It really is that time of year again folks; iPhone rumours are front and centre of every tech website at the moment. And today MobileFun have helped add a bit of fuel to the fire, with their 'leak', from secret sources, of the new cases for the forthcoming iPhone.

   The changes that the new cases show are; a taller version of the current iPhone but keeping exactly the same width, a new connector port and the headphone jack moved to the bottom of the phone.

   And the main thing, it's a case for a 4 inch phone! So finally Apple will be joining in with the big boys with a bit of luck!

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 banned throughout Europe.

   Samsung got a little bit of respite last week in the British courts after the judge ruled that Apple would have to apologise and publicly state that Samsung didn't copy the iPad with the 10.1" Galaxy Tab.

   But, it seems that as far as the wins for Samsung have gone, with German courts today ruling that the 7.7 did copy the iPad. But, as you can see there's a slight conflict here; British courts have ruled that there was no infringement, whereas European courts went a different way. Today's sales injunction is in direct conflict with a UK court ruling earlier in July. 

   This seems to be so confusing for all parties; not even Samsung knows where they stand at the moment! We don't think this will impact Samsung too badly even if the ban does stand because the Tab 7.7 has such a high price and low demand. The company has said to Slashgear today that they would like to point customers in the direction of the Galaxy Tab 2 (the 7incher) because of the lower price point and more support! Win Win!

In other news:

• Samsung's court dates with Apple may cost the North Koreans $2.5 billion if the South Korean's are found guilty of wilful IP infringement!
• Apple has claimed that the design of the iPhone and iPad is worth an extra $24 per device! An interesting claim but that's what's been filed with the Californian courts.
• And to conclude the Apple news; the company is reported to be working on some revamped designs for the companies iPod touches and nanos!
• Android is supposedly lacking in developer interest by 16% when compared to iOS according to IDC.
• RIM has promised a sneak peak at BB10 for their most loyal and dedicated customers.
• The LTE packing BlackBerry PlayBook is due on July 31st for $550!
• Talking of LTE, the UK rollout has been pushed back again! OFCOM has announced the auction of spectrum won't begin until 'early 2013'! Talk about holding us back for no apparent reason!

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