Google's growing influence in the mobile industry is clearly proving worrisome to some established device makers and operators, a few of whom put up a united front against the search giant during a round table at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Wednesday.
Apple held on to its huge lead in global mobile phone applications last year due to its simple billing system but will give up much of that ground by 2014, market research firm IHS Screen Digest said in a report.
Smartphone makers, not personal computer firms, are best positioned to make tablet PCs because of close links between external design and operating systems, a researcher in Taiwan said on Wednesday.
Research In Motion (RIM) announced plans for two new versions of its PlayBook tablet at the World Mobile Congress on Monday -- although it hasn't even begun selling the two models it has already announced. PlayBooks for LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and 3G HSPA+ networks and will go on sale by the end of year, joining the Wi-Fi and WiMax models that RIM plans to begin selling next month.
Pricing for the new HP TouchPad hasn't been announced, but it looks like Research In Motion's 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook will cost $500. That rumor comes after Twitter user Ben Shipley posted a screenshot that shows what appears to be an internal Office Depot webpage of the PlayBook with a $500 price tag. The page also says the PlayBook is coming to Office Depot stores in Week 17 (presumably of 2011), suggesting a late April launch. Shipley once worked for Office Depot as a Regional Project Specialist, according to his Facebook page. It's not clear whether he is still employed with the big box retailer.
Microsoft and RIM are making moves to assist application developers building for the vendors' respective handheld platforms, with Microsoft updating developer tools for Windows Phone and RIM upgrading a simulator for the upcoming RIM PlayBook tablet.
SAP on Monday announced the 2.6 release of its SaaS (software-as-a-service) suite Business ByDesign, which contains a highly anticipated SDK (software development kit) that partners will use to create extensions and add-ons.
Research In Motion's BlackBerry WebWorks Application Platform lets developers use standard Web tools to create applications that work like native programs on RIM's smartphones and PlayBook tablets, company officials said Thursday.
Eastman Kodak's patent claim against Apple and Research In Motion concerning camera-phone image previews is invalid, according to an initial determination by a U.S. International Trade Commission administrative law judge.
Last week's Consumer Electronics Show was indisputably dominated by tablets. Almost a year since Apple redefined portable computing with its iPad, competitors launched attempts to cut the Cupertino company's lead. Taken together, the announcements at CES provide a much clearer picture of the likely evolution of the tablet market in 2011 and provide consumers a few tips on what to look for and when to buy.
Research in Motion said Monday it will work with Indonesia's carriers to filter out pornography websites as soon as possible for BlackBerry subscribers.
After hearing so much about RIM's PlayBook it was good to get the opportunity to take this one for a spin, and while I certainly see what the fuss is about the device still faces hurdles ahead.
Sprint Nextel will sell a WiMax version of the Research In Motion PlayBook tablet beginning this summer, the companies announced on Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Better news about the economy and online spending capped off by strong quarterly results and robust forecasts from Oracle and Research In Motion helped fuel markets this week to new highs.
Research In Motion may have high hopes for its PlayBook tablet but it looks like the device will not go on sale until the end of the first quarter, according to comments from executives during RIM's earnings call Thursday.