If you’re overwhelmed by the panoply of tablets out there (and who wouldn’t be?) CNET’s Harry McCracken helps cut through some of the clutter with a thoughtful analysis of the various operating systems now challenging (or no longer challenging) Apple’s iOS and the iPad. READ MORE
RIM’s tablet problems are beginning to have a ripple effect on the industry. The Canadian company has decided to scale back production of the slow-selling PlayBook. Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese firm that manufactures the devices, has had to lay off about 1,000 workers and reports are that 800,000 PlayBooks are simply “gathering dust.” READ MORE
Beleaguered BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is facing criticism from a small Canadian investment firm that has called for the company’s breakup. The board of merchant bank Jaguar Financial recently received a letter from Vic Albioni, head of the bank, in which Albioni demanded “transformational change” in RIM’s product development practices and corporate structure. READ MORE
After a rocky summer, Research in Motion appears to be righting the ship. And consumers will have one big surprise with the release of new smart phones: some of the devices will play Android apps. But there’s a catch: the new smart phones won’t hit the market until 2012. READ MORE
During the “Arab spring” uprisings, the West decried the ruling regimes’ practice of shutting down or severely limiting protesters’ access to social media. But that’s exactly what the U.K. government recently proposed: to ban social media during times of “civil unrest, disorder, or rioting.” However, after high-level talks with companies such as Research in Motion, Twitter, and Facebook, they are doing a quick about-face. READ MORE
You would think that Research In Motion’s tablet, the PlayBook, would accommodate email as nicely as the BlackBerrys handle it. Not so, and BlackBerry had to go back to the drawing board to fix the problem. Next month it will issue an update that corrects the situation. READ MORE
Text messaging might soon wind up as a dead technology, destined for that smoky gray place of yesterday where VCR tapes, record players, and rotary phones lie in great mounds. READ MORE
BlackBerry users rejoice. You may still cling to that phone for its easy-to-use email, but as soon as next week possibly, you’ll be able to access Research In Motion’s new music service, exclusively for BlackBerrys. READ MORE
In spite of concerns about BlackBerry’s decline, Research in Motion has launched a new cloud-based management system tailored for SMBs, reports InformationWeek. BlackBerry Management Center is a free, web-based service that provides a simple way to manage and protect BlackBerry smartphones remotely. READ MORE
In an apparent attempt to narrow Apple and Google’s lead in the smartphone market, Research In Motion this week announced the launch of three new touchscreen versions of its phones. They include the first touchscreen version of the Bold, a new version of the Torch slider phone, and a touchscreen-only BlackBerry. READ MORE
