RIM's new leader Thorsten Heins in further interviews has outlined how he plans to take on competition in the short term. He revealed to Reuters that just 20 percent of BlackBerry owners are using a modern version of the OS, in some cases using BlackBerry 5 or even older. Much of the company's focus would be on getting them to upgrade to new phones, including special carrier deals that could bundle devices together or give carriers phones with bundled apps.
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Schneider Optics was one of many companies at the Macworld iWorld expo showing off its latest accessories. Electronista stopped by the lens maker's booth to check out their latest addition to the iPro interchangeable lens system for the iPhone 4 and 4S. A 2X telephoto lens now complements the company's wide angle and fisheye lenses.
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The Macworld iWorld expo always hosts a number of unique products, and this year was no exception. MacNN was surprised to find no less than three iPhone cases that double as bottle openers. We checked out the Opena case, along with two 'Intoxicase' models offered by Spicebox.
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An AppleInsider report by Daniel Dilger provides some illuminating insight on the recent New York Times article criticizing Apple and Foxconn and the labor practices they and the rest of the electronics industry pursue to keep innovation high and prices low. The newspaper recently reprinted its report in China, soliciting comments for use in the US. What it got -- and subsequently buried -- was charges of its own bias from Chinese workers and management.
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Several successful Kickstarter projects are currently on hand at the Macworld iWorld expo for potential customers to try out, including LandingZone's docking station for the MacBook Air. Electronista initially wrote about the device before it had gathered enough funding to pass through the Kickstarter program, so we were excited to get a chance to see it in person.
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For those who have always yearned to "get in touch with their inner dictator," Feral Interactive has ported over the third instalment in the Tropico city-simulator game series, Tropico 3: Gold Edition for the Mac. Originally developed by PopTop Games, the series is now handled by Haemimont Games and Kalypso Media for Windows and Xbox. The third entry is a "re-imagining" on a grander scale of the economic, political, construction and management simulator.
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8 hours ago | Posted in: iPad apps
Of the numerous app developers that brought their latest offerings to the Macworld iWorld expo, WebIS' updated Pocket Informant utilities captured the attention of many attendees. MacNN checked out Pocket Informant 2 for the iPad, along with the company's cloud services that will eventually enhance the iOS apps.
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Israel has followed Australian footsteps in planning its own national broadband network. The country's Israel Electric Corporation plans a purely fiber-based network that will supply many of the country's homes with at least 100Mbps speeds. They picked fiber with the intention to scale and could theoretically hit 1Gbps in time.
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Mac game maker Aspyr has selected four titles from its catalog for a special month-end sale. From now through the end of January, Prey, Tomb Raider II, Duke Nukem Forever and Neverwinter Nights 2 for Mac will be on sale for $5, up to 75 percent off their normal price. The sale prices are already available for the Mac App Store versions, which require Intel Macs running OS X 10.6.6 or higher. Graphics requirements vary by game.
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9 hours ago | Posted in: industry
IDG World Expo rebranded the Macworld expo using the 'iWorld' label for 2012, an appropriate change as the event continues to evolve. MacNN attended the event to check out the latest products in the Mac and iOS ecosystems, and to see how the event organizers and exhibitors have adapted to Apple's absence.
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Friday signaled the second anniversary of the iPad's introduction and what has since been interpreted as the start of a shift in the entire computing space. Apple's tablet was unveiled this day in 2010 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco by its late co-creator, Steve Jobs. It would only go on sale April 2, but it proved to be polarizing from its unveiling, even for Apple loyalists.
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10 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
An unredacted letter from Steve Jobs to Google head Eric Schmidt in March of 2007 reveals that Google was attempting to recruit an Apple engineer, which resulted in swift repercussions after Schmidt was notified. The letter is part of a court case that alleges that informal "no poaching" agreements between Apple, Google and five other tech companies amounted to a conspiracy to limit opportunities and keep compensation low.
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Just weeks after announcing its first Thunderbolt hard drives, Western Digital appropriately brought the offerings to show off at the Macworld iWorld expo in San Francisco. Electronista took a close look at several of the company's My Book Thunderbolt Duo drives, which were daisy chained to a Thunderbolt display.
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Rambus' litigation campaign suffered a possibly fatal setback Friday after the USPTO pushed word that it had invalidated the final patent out of three the company has been using to sue a large part of the technology industry. Having quietly made the decision on Tuesday, the patent office's appeals board left Rambus without any of the patents it has been using to sue NVIDIA, Hynix, HP, and others. The first two had been scrapped in September.
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Today at Apple's online store save on refurbished items like the 11.6-inch MacBook Air which offers a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB flash storage, now only $699 after a $200 price cut. Or save $300 on the 11.6-inch MacBook Air with a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and 128GB flash storage, now $799.
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Today in the MacNN forums Grizzled Veteran sdilley14 asks other members for good reasons to purchase an Apple TV since they already have a PS3 and a XBox 360. One Posting Junkie has had a "troubling amount of pageouts in Snow Leopard" and has turned to the forums for some guidance.
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ARCEP, the French telecom regulator, has said it is going to inspect low-cost wireless provider Iliad's backbone network to make sure it is compliant with its bandwidth licensing requirements. The action takes place after Iliad's competitors raised complaints about Iliad's network performance and customer service. Iliad, which operates its wireless service under the Free name brand, denied the claims, discounting them as false rumors.
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