Mobile

RIM won't show off BlackBerry 10 phones this year

BlackBerry fans hoping to get a peek at the next-generation phones will have to wait until early next year.

Research In Motion won't be showing off its two BlackBerry 10 phones this year, Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told CNET in an interview.

RIM has a lot riding on the success of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform. The company is pinning its hopes on BlackBerry 10 to reverse its market share losses, slumping revenue, and continued losses. But a lot of that has do with generating interest in the phones themselves.

The company plans to show off more of … Read more

RIM CEO: Confident BlackBerry 10 will take share from rivals

Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins has no shortage of confidence, boasting to investors that he believes BlackBerry 10 will take market share away from his rivals.

The new platform will also attract consumers new to smartphones to, Heins said during the company's quarterly conference call.

RIM's BlackBerry 10 smartphones will target mid-tier consumers and higher when they first launch, but Heins hinted at a lower end version some time next year.

"We're working on a concept for the entry level," Heins said during the company's quarterly conference call today. "You might see … Read more

Google launches Field Trip app for Android

Google today launched a new app for Android called "Field Trip" that offers information based on your specific location, including local history, restaurants and architectural highlights.

Touted as "your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world," the app runs in the background and pops up automatically when it detects nearby points of interest.

The app can be tweaked to show more or fewer notifications, as well as personalized to show only specific topics and information sources.

Field Trip learns your preferences based on your thumbs-up-or-down feedback and reads information out loud when … Read more

AT&T;'s MiFi Liberate LTE is first touch-screen hot spot

What would you say to an LTE hot spot that connects up to 10 Wi-Fi devices and comes with a 2.8-inch touch screen?

The MiFi Liberate, made by Novatel Wireless, uses the screen to offer easy access to management menus directly from the device. Icons that smartphone and feature phone users are accustomed to pressing lead you to data usage, connection details, and settings.

The Liberate will offer 11 hours of continuous use on its battery, AT&T says, and comes compatible with networks in more than 200 countries. We don't have any pricing and availability just … Read more

Grim times for RIM: BlackBerry maker records $235M Q2 loss

It didn't take long for the high of Research In Motion's BlackBerry Jam to wear off.

Fresh off its developer conference, filled with cheery rhetoric from the leadership team and a demonstration of the capabilities of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system, the company posted a fiscal second-quarter loss of $235 million, or 45 cents a share. That's a reversal from the profit of $329 million, or 63 cents a share, it posted a year ago.

Its revenue plunged 30 percent to $2.9 billion from $4.17 billion a year ago.

The results reflect the harsh … Read more

Nokia Lumia 920 pricing abroad will have little effect on U.S. cost

High global prices for the Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumia 920 are causing a stir for outlets reporting U.S. dollar equivalents ranging from $643 to $860 in Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden -- but U.S. buyers considering the phone have little cause to worry.

Although international price tags are said to be 10 percent to 25 percent higher than that of high-end rival Samsung Galaxy S3, according to pricing information gathered from German, Italian, and Swedish Web retailers, Nokia's U.S. pricing is guaranteed to cost less than 50 percent of those fees.

Deals with carriers, which … Read more

Bank of America tests QR code mobile-payment service

Bank of America is testing a new mobile-payment service that lets customers use their Apple or Google smartphones to scan pictures to pay for things.

The bank is testing technology developed by a company called Paydiant. The solution uses Quick Response or QR codes. The way it works is that users use their smartphones to scan the QR code, which unlocks the users' bank information stored in Bank of America's network to complete the transaction.

The QR codes could be displayed at the register in a store when a customer is checking out, or a restaurant could print the code on the check, allowing patrons to scan their bills right at the table and pay without ever handing over a credit card or cash.

Because the technology doesn't require any special hardware on the device, it can be used with any smartphone running Apple's iOS or Google's Android software.… Read more

Google's Schmidt talks Apple patents, dances 'Gangnam Style'

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt says his company and Apple are friendly, despite some evidence to the contrary.

Speaking to reporters in South Korea today, Schmidt said Apple "is actually a very good partner" of Google's. According to the Korea Times, which was first to report on his comments, Schmidt went on to say that his company and Apple "are literally talking all the time about everything."

Before long, however, the conversation turned to Apple's ongoing legal war with Android vendors, including Samsung and Google-owned Motorola. Schmidt didn't say too much, according to … Read more

Samsung teases Galaxy Note 2 launch party on Oct. 24

Just one look at the stylus in Samsung's Save the Date invite we received today will tell you all you need to know: it's time for the U.S. to get the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (II) "phablet."

That's my educated guess, anyway, considering that the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet is out in the world, and since Samsung will want to put great marketing and sales efforts behind their latest phone in a category they're aggressively pioneering.

The Note 2 smartphone has a 5.5-inch screen, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, an 8-megapixel … Read more

Apple patent roundup: Siri and flexible displays

Apple has been on a patent tear as of late, and it doesn't appear the company will slow down anytime soon.

The iPhone maker has filed for a patent related to "electronic devices with flexible displays." According to the filing, which was first discovered by Unwired View, it'll allow for mobile devices to feature flexible screens that can match the case design of a respective device.

The patent application, published today, describes a method by which Apple could place a speaker or microphone under the screen. In addition, a keyboard could be modified to handle the … Read more