In Other News: 08/03/2013.

• Blackberry's Thorsten Heins has said that his company won't target the emerging markets with '50, 60 dollar phones,' because that's 'not Blackberry'. This is a interesting remark, we would have expect Blackberry to target every possible customer they could find, but apparently they can still afford to be picky!
  Via Bloomberg.

• HTC are reportedly having trouble making those Ultrapixel cameras for their HTC One's. There are supposedly huge problems creating the voice coil motor (VCM) and compact camera module (CCM), both of which have yields of  between 20 and 30%! Unfortunately that will mean that there will be a limited availability for quite a while and that means HTC are literally being kicked while they're down!
  Via AndroidAuthority.

• Samsung's Galaxy S4 is rumoured to have an amoled material called “green PHOLED” in its screen which produces a new green-yellow colour and it supposedly makes the panels 25% more efficient than standard amoled panels. SamMobile also believe that there will be 'floating touch' capabilities which will let you use your finger as a cursor to hover over icons and give you sneak peeks into galleries and things like that!
  Via SamMobile.

• Dishonoured's chief designer, Christophe Carrier, has said that the 8GB of RAM which is helping drive the PS4 is 'a joy' and 'something [they, the developers,] have been waiting for'! Do we reckon Nintendo and Microsoft took the hint?
  Eurogamer Via Bit-Tech.

• The Nexus brand continues to expand its reach and today the Nexus 7 has landed in South Korea! The Nexus 7 may be getting refreshed soon, but this means that the next version will definitely come to the country!
  Via AndroidCentral.

• WhatsApp have confirmed that their app will be landing on BB10 devices next week!
  Via Crackberry.

• EA has told their affiliates to cease promotion of SimCity until further notice! This is likely down to the unexpected demand which caused server crashes and download failures amongst many other problems!
  Via Slashgear. 

• Google may see their Maps solution banned in Germany after the Judge said he is 'inclined' to  ban the service because of Microsoft's patent which allows for a "computer system for identifying local resources and method therefor".
  Via T3.

• The rumour mill for the next iPhone is cranking up already and one key feature will supposedly be wireless charging!
  Digitimes Via T3.

• Motorola have announced that they are cutting another ten percent of their workforce! That means that another 1200 jobs will be going because Motorola still believes their costs are too high.
  Via WSJ.

• Pandora's President, CEO and Chairman, Joe Kennedy has announced that he will resign from his leadership post after the company announced another quarterly loss.
  Via TheVerge.

• As Pandora lost their CEO so have AVG! J R Smith has confirmed he will step down from his post, which he's held since 2007, when AVG find a successor.
  Via Reuters.

And finally, have you ever wondered how little you can pick up a smartphone with a full 1080p screen? Well if you're lucky enough to live in China you can get a Neo N003 complete with its 5-inch screen and quad-core processor for a mere 899 Yuan or $144 (£95), which is absolutely bonkers!

Via PhoneArena.

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German government buys 5,000 Blackberry Z10's.

   Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) this week confirmed that they have struck a deal with Blackberry. The purchase will see the Canadian's providing 5,000 of their shiny new Z10's which will be put to use with the BSI's employees.

    We can speculate that one of the main reasons why Blackberry devices were chosen is because of the great new 'Blackberry Balance' which lets employees separate their work and home environments on the phone, so this is the perfect phone for the new 'bring your own device' culture.

   Naturally because this is the Office for Information Security all of the phones will have an added layer of security, in this case they will all be using Secusmart technology, which adds extra security measures such as data encryption with secure voice and text messaging.

   Perhaps this is the first sign that BlackBerry and more specifically their BB10 operating system will be enough to win back a few of the enterprise customers which the company has relied on in the past. But, let us not forget that Blackberry will need to have a lot more deals like this to make BB10 a success and they'll need a fair few normal consumers to pick up the Z and Q10's, but every little helps right?
Via AllThingsD.

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