RIM acquires Paratek to boost BlackBerry

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said on Thursday it has acquired Paratek Microwave Inc, a company whose adaptive radio-frequency technology improves mobile-handset call quality and battery life.

The Canadian smartphone maker did not disclose financial details of the purchase of privately held Paratek, which is based in New Hampshire and funded by a string of venture capital investors including Polaris Ventures and Europe’s biggest chip maker, STMicroelectronics.

Paratek has developed a thin-film material to produce integrated circuits and other components that improve the performance of mobile phones, while cutting down on the number and size of components such as antennas.

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Opera Mini now available through the BlackBerry App World

The Opera Mini 6.5 browser for RIM smartphones is now available in the BlackBerry App World. Until now, this service had to be used through the mobile web version of the Opera.

Touting to be the world’s most used mobile browser, this service claims to have more than 160 million loyalists across the globe. It is even said to deliver a faster web experience on the handset. Apparently, the system maintains the design and layout of the web pages as they would appear on desktops.

“BlackBerry is ranked among top 5 mobile phone brands in India. We are thrilled to extend the Opera Mini experience through the BlackBerry App World,” commented Sunil Kamath, Sales Director for India and SAARC, Opera Software. “India has emerged as the second largest user base of Opera Mini users. This growth is clearly fueled by the shift in mobile usage pattern from enjoying basic features to getting online by using apps such a mobile browsers on smartphones.”


or enhanced reading and a better look at the visuals, the software comes integrated with a handy zoom feature. For BlackBerry users, the easy up and down scrolling by means of hot keys should offer swifter navigation. In addition to this, this browser is said to transfer only 10 percent content to the device, thus saving data usage as well.

For RIM handsets, the Opera Mini 6.5 browser can now be downloaded directly from the BlackBerry App World.

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Wordpress launches application for BlackBerry Playbook

Bloggers using the WordPress platform can now do their thing on BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet, following the release of a WordPress app for the platform.

A description of the app on BlackBerry's AppWorld said the app allows one to write posts, edit pages and manage comments.

"The all new WordPress for PlayBook™ app allows you to write posts, edit pages, and manage comments on the go," it said.

The all new WordPress for BlackBerry app allows you to write posts, upload photos and videos, edit pages, and manage comments. Both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.7 or higher) sites are supported. Download the app and start blogging on the go in no time.

It said both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.9.2 or higher) sites are supported.

The app, now at Version: 2.0.5, was released Feb. 21 and is a 923-kb download.

A separate article posted on tech site Mashable said the app came out shortly after the release of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.

"The application features similar capabilities with those you can find in the WordPress for BlackBerry smartphones, but with a much better resolution, to take advantage of the 1024 x 600 screen on the BlackBerry tablet," it said.

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Netflix tweets "No" to Blackberry - including Playbook

In response to a user who asked about a possible Netflix app for the BlackBerry Playbook tablet, Netflix's Twitter support account replied that the company has no current plans to support BlackBerry devices, including the Playbook. Crackberry.com spotted the tweet, and is encouraging BlackBerry loyalists to voice their outrage.

A lack of apps continues to be RIM's biggest problem, especially now that Playbook OS 2.0 has filled in many of the tablet's missing features, such as a native e-mail, calendar, and contacts apps. Without apps for popular services such as Yelp, Spotify, Kindle, Hulu, and Netflix, RIM will have a tough time convincing consumers that its app store is thriving.

Although Playbook OS 2.0 supports Android apps through an emulator, developers must still submit their apps to RIM for approval. It's not yet clear whether Netflix or other streaming video services will go that route.

Of course, things can change, and sometimes “we don't have any current plans” is just PR speak for “we have plans that we're not announcing yet.” But as it stands, Netflix's disinterest in BlackBerry isn't a good sign.

Netflix has more than 24 million U.S. subscribers, where it offers both a mail-in service and streaming movies and TV shows. It also has also expanded its streaming-only service to Canada and parts of Latin America.

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RIM releases OS 2.0 update for Blackberry Playbook

Research In Motion released a free upgraded operating system for its struggling PlayBook computer tablet yesterday, almost a year later than it first said it would. The BlackBerry maker said the software allows for built-in email, calendar and contacts on the tablet.

When RIM launched the PlayBook last April it said would add the critical features within 60 days, but later pushed that back to the summer and then to October and finally to February. The PlayBook received negative reviews because it launched without an email programme.

The PlayBook OS 2.0 software update is available as a free download. It also allows users to use their BlackBerry's as a keyboard and mouse for the Playbook.

The Playbook is RIM's first effort to branch out from its smartphone base and capture a portion of the tablet computer market. The tablets however haven't been selling well, forcing the company to sell them at a deep discount.

In December, the tablets that originally cost USD 500 were selling for USD 200, below the cost of making them. RIM wrote off USD 485 million worth of inventory. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said they sold 150,000 Playbook tablets last quarter. That number pales in comparison to the top-selling iPad, of which Apple shipped 15.4 million units during its most recent quarter.

Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis stepped aside as RIM's co-CEOs last month. Thorsten Heins became the new chief as the once-iconic maker of the BlackBerry smartphone confronts the most difficult period in its history.

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RIM finally brings Email in Blackberry Playbook

Research in Motion, the company that introduced wireless email to the world, on Tuesday finally brought email to its tablet computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The email application is one of several additions to the second version of the PlayBook's operating system, which became available as a no-cost download early Tuesday morning. There was considerable surprise last April that the PlayBook, the company's answer to the Apple iPad, initially could send or receive emails only by being connected to a BlackBerry phone.

The much-delayed upgrade that corrects that omission also allows the PlayBook to run some apps developed for devices that use Google's Android operating system. And it includes some novel features for automatically integrating information and messages from social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with its email, calendar and contact apps.

With the software upgrade, owners of BlackBerry phones will also be able to use the familiar keyboard on their handsets as a physical keyboard for the PlayBook through a wireless connection.

While several analysts welcomed the arrival of the new operating system, they were also skeptical that it would make RIM a significant force in the tablet computer market or inspire consumers to wait for a new, and also delayed, line of phones that will use similar software.

"It probably puts a couple of fingers in the dike," said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, a unit of the Royal Bank of Canada. "While many of the updates are nice, albeit late, there isn't much to differentiate it from Android and iPad tablets."

Tero Kuittinen, a senior analyst at MGI Research, said that the changes would not be sufficient for the PlayBook to compete successfully with the third generation of the iPad, which is expected in March, or devices like Amazon's Kindle Fire.

"Nothing matters anymore; it's over," he said. "It's going to be fairly impossible for RIM to do anything."

While the new software plugs the biggest gaps in the PlayBook, it nevertheless failed to bring all of the features found on BlackBerry phones to the PlayBook. Most notably, the upgrade lacks BlackBerry Messenger, RIM's instant messaging service.

Several RIM executives, including Thorsten Heins, the new chief executive, have repeatedly said that BlackBerry Messenger was one of the most popular and important features on its phones. The company has been vague about the reasons for its continued absence on the PlayBook.

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Atlast BlackBerry finally sets up server in Mumbai

After much controversy, BlackBerry has finally set up its server in Mumbai following intense pressure from the government to provide a mechanism for lawful interception of its messenger services and Nokia has been asked to follow suit.

During a high-level meeting at the Union Home Ministry recently, officials of the security agencies were informed that Canada-based Research in Motion has installed the servers in Mumbai.

The servers have been inspected by a team of officers and permission for direct linkage for lawful interception was expected to be issued shortly, a presentation made at the meeting held in the office of the Home Secretary said.

About the Nokia Push Mail, the Department of Telecom also prescribed a similar policy as in the case adopted by the BlackBerry, the presentation said.

The government and BlackBerry manufacturers were in a logjam over its services in India as security agencies had raised a red flag over its operations citing non availability of method to intercept its messenger service and enterprise mail.

However, there was a climbdown by the government on intercepting mail sent through BlackBerry Enterprise Services (BES) which decrypts the messages and sends it to email server of the service provider where it remains stored in decrypted form. Then the message is pushed to the BlackBerry device in encrypted form. (More) PTI SKL ZMN 02201643 NNNN

The DoT secretary informed that currently there are about 5000 Enterprise Servers for BES. Director Intelligence Bureau Nehchal Sandhu noted that these are communications between the employees of the enterprise only and, therefore, are not of "high concern" for security or Intelligence agencies.

"However, it was decided to obtain list and location of the servers from telecom service providers," the presentation said.

RIM representatives had explained that BlackBerry mobile device sends the encrypted email which is sent to BES located with the service provider.

The government had said the onus of giving access to security agencies to monitor the information on these smart phones lies with the service providers.

According to the licensing conditions, the service providers are liable to put in a mechanism to allow security agencies to intercept any conversation or message of any subscriber whenever required.

As telecom service providers like Airtel, Vodafone, RCom, the Tatas and the government-run BSNL and MTNL are offering BlackBerry services, it is the responsibility of these operators to ensure that the security agencies get access to all services they offer.

RIM has its operations in 175 countries.

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Blackberry PlayBook sold out completely in India @ 50% Offer - RIM extends festive offer by a week

Within days of slashing prices of its PlayBook tablet PC by almost half, Blackberry-maker RIM has said the device is sold out in retail outlets across the country, which has prompted it to extend the festive offer by a week.

"We are pleased to see the excitement and overwhelming response to our limited festive season offer on BlackBerry PlayBook. I believe that the 16-GB and 32-GB version of the PlayBook is completely sold out in the retail channels," Research In Motion Managing Director India Sunil Dutt said.

Buoyed by the huge response, the company has now decided to extend the offer by a week, he said.

The company sold more than 12,000 devices in just four days since the offer was announced on December 28 and distributors -- Redington and Ingram -- are waiting for new stock to come in.

"This limited festive offer has propelled a huge surge in PlayBook purchases in the last few days. We have sold over 12,000 PlayBooks across the country within these four days of the offer period, which ended on December 31, 2011," the distributors said.

Fresh stock is coming in to cater to the demand of customers for the extended offer period of one more week, they added.

Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) has slashed the price of its PlayBook by more than half to Rs 13,490 for the 16-GB version to cash in on the festive season and rising demand for tablet PCs in India.

A tablet PC, though smaller in size, has PC-like functionalities.

"BlackBerry continues to be an aspirational brand and we have seen a huge uptake in the market across the country for PlayBook during this offer period," Dutt said.

RIM, known for its BlackBerry series of phones, had introduced PlayBook in June in the Indian market.

The 16-GB version of the PlayBook is available at a more than 50 per cent discount from the regular price of Rs 27,990. Prices for 32 GB and 64 GB versions were also cut. The 32-GB version was available at Rs 15,990, while the 64-GB model was priced at Rs 24,490 under the offer.

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RIM slashes over 50% Price on Blackberry Playbook Tablets in India till December 31, 2011 - Playbook 2012 Newyear Offer

Canadian BlackBerry maker Research in Motion ( RIM), battling tough competition from Apple's iPad, is offering over 50 percent discount on its PlayBook tablets under a limited festive season offer till Dec 31.

A company spokesperson Wednesday said the 16 GB model of the PlayBook can be bought for Rs 13,490 in the Indian market instead of its regular price of Rs 27,990.

While the 32 GB model is available for Rs 15,990, the 64 GB model is being offered for Rs 24,490 against their regular prices of Rs 32,990 and Rs 37,990 respectively.

The smartphone maker has been struggling to gain significant market share since April when it launched the tablets. It has been able to sell 800,000 units of the device globally in the first nine months of financial year 2011-12.
So if you are planning to buy one, then go for it before December 31 because the prices will go back to their original form starting Jan 1, 2012.

As per the new offer, the 16 GB version of PlayBook will now cost around Rs 13,490, instead of the earlier price of Rs 27,990. While the 32 GB model is available for Rs 15,990, the 64 GB model is being offered for Rs 24,490 against their regular prices of Rs 32,990 and Rs 37,990 respectively.

The 16 GB version of the tablet was earlier being offered by some online retailers at Rs 26,000 with free BlackBerry Curve smart phone.

The Playbook tablet has a 7-inch LCD multi-touch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution. Powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor, the device sports a 3 megapixel front-facing and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera.

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Tags: Blackberry Playbook Tablet price in India.

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RIM Blackberry to launch a free aptitude test app for students

Research In Motion(RIM) Blackberry will provide free aptitude test application on its BlackBerry phones for students in India in partnership with content providers Ipomo and mobile operator Vodafone. "We are looking at the way a student can utilise his time for productive work on mobile phones.

Hence, we have decided to give students Aptitude Competition for Excellence (ACE) applications free so that he can utilise his time to prepare for competitive exams," Hitesh Shah, Director - Commercial Relationship India, Research In Motion told PTI.

The application and content of ACE has been designed by Ipomo for BlackBerry users, Shah said, adding that initially the content for the test will be available for select examination and grades. It will be expanded and updated gradually. The three partners are running Aptitude Competition for
Excellence (ACE 2011) program in Karnataka and will start it in Pune from January.

"We are going to organise another series of ACE in Pune from second week of January. After completing ACE test in Pune, we will provide access to application on pan-India level. We will not charge anything for the application and content," Shah said. Today, the three partners jointly announced the first set-of ACE 2011 winners, one each from three different colleges from Bangalore and Mysore.

Around 300 Students from over 40 engineering and management colleges competed against each other using BlackBerry smartphones to answer the test, Shah said. Under the programme, the three partners will jointly provide scholarship worth Rs 1 lakh to the winner, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 to first runner-up and second runner-up.

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RIM Facility Center in India to spy on Blackberry Users

Research In Motion Ltd. has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government carry out lawful surveillance of its BlackBerry services, according to people familiar with the matter, but the move hasn't fully satisfied India's appetite for access to messages on the popular smartphones.

Last year, India threatened to shut down BlackBerry encrypted email and instant messaging services because it couldn't wiretap them. The government put the onus on Waterloo, Canada-based RIM to come up with solutions. Several government-set deadlines have passed and, though India still isn't happy with its surveillance capabilities, it is no longer threatening to shut down the service.

RIM partly assuaged India by setting up the small Mumbai facility earlier this year to handle surveillance requests from India. India can submit the name of a suspect its investigators want to wiretap, and RIM will return decoded messages for that individual, as long as it is satisfied the request has legal authorization, according to the people familiar with the matter.

The Mumbai facility handles lawful intercept requests for consumer services including the BlackBerry Messenger chat service, these people say. India saw the move as a positive step, but would prefer an arrangement where it has the ability to decode messages itself, so that it can conduct surveillance without disclosing the names of suspects to RIM.

India still has no method to intercept and decode BlackBerry enterprise email, which is used by corporate customers and features a higher level of encryption than consumer email and instant messaging. BlackBerry has repeatedly said it doesn't have the keys to unlock enterprise email messages—security is one of the service's key selling points.

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RIM to launch Blackberry Curve 9360 with Airtel in India for Rs 19,990

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Price in India:

Canadian firm Research In Motion (RIM) on Tuesday launched its new BlackBerry Curve smartphone in the country, priced at Rs 19,990.

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Blackberry Curve 9360 - Technical Specifications:

BlackBerry Curve 9360 sports the new Blackberry 7 operating system, GPS and Wi-Fi support, memory support up to 32 GB and 5MP camera with flash and video recording.

The device also comes with built-in support for NFC (Near Field Communications), a new technology that enables many capabilities, including the ability to pair with other NFC-enabled accessories.

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Launch in India:

"The BlackBerry Curve series has been extremely popular in India and we are excited to launch the all new BlackBerry Curve 9360. It provides an ideal upgrade path for our existing Curve customers as well as the millions of feature phone users in the Indian market," RIM Director Marketing India Krishnadeep Baruah told reporters here.

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Special Feature and Security:

The handset comes with another feature called BlackBerry Protect which allows users to back up their personal data and help locate misplaced handsets using GPS.

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Tie up with Bharti Airtel:

The company has also partnered with telecom operator Bharti Airtel for selling the device.

Blackberry Curve 9360 - Trail offer for new users:

Under the partnership, Airtel would offer two months of free trial usage period for new users.

They would get Rs 299 BlackBerry plan of Airtel for free for two months and can make local calls for 20 paise per second and free SMS service to any one BlackBerry number of choice for one year from the date of purchase.

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