BlackBerry

Slacker revamps logo, apps, and Web site

SAN FRANCISCO--At an invite-only press event in San Francisco, popular streaming music service Slacker Radio last night unveiled a completely revamped brand. The company's name remains, but Slacker's look and feel have been significantly simplified.

Of course, with the rebrand, Slacker's Web site and product designs have been updated with cleaner, more modern looks as well. Gone are the dark tones, textures, and gradients that crowded Slacker's interfaces in the past. Now, Slacker's multiplatform face is made up of brighter colors, clean lines, and lots of white space, which bring it more in line with … Read more

BlackBerry's Alicia Keys tweets from iPhone, claims a hack

When you've done product launches for Nokia, regularly use an iPhone, and are now creative director of BlackBerry, perhaps one smartphone just looks like another.

Perhaps, though, when you're the new creative director of BlackBerry, it's best to leave your iPhone at home.

Otherwise, bad things might happen. Like tweeting from it. Or having someone hack it and tweet from it.

As the Verge reports, Keys today offered the profound thought: "Started from the bottom now were here," to all of her Twitter followers.

This obvious spontaneity seems to have been sent from a Twitter … Read more

Home Depot iPhone switch short-circuits BlackBerry stock

Shares of BlackBerry dropped 4.6 percent today after Home Depot confirmed a report by AppleInsider that the company is handing out iPhones to about 10,000 employees who were using the BlackBerry. A spokesman for the home improvement retailer did not offer more detail about when the replacement process began, other than to acknowledge that Home Depot was "replacing the current base of BlackBerry technology with iPhone, but these are not the mobile devices used in our stores."

The decision hardly constitutes make-or-break news for BlackBerry, but it comes only a week after the company introduced a … Read more

BlackBerry 10 smartphones won't be sold in Japan

As BlackBerry rolls deeper into the smartphone world with the launch of BlackBerry 10, it looks like some countries will be left off of the map.

The device maker confirmed today that it has no plans to launch any BlackBerry 10 smartphones in Japan.

"We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 in countries where it has already launched," a BlackBerry spokesperson told CNET in an e-mail. "Japan is not a major market for BlackBerry, and we have no plans to launch … Read more

New BlackBerry ad -- that's, um, why they're called mobiles?

I have spent the last few days explaining to those closest to me that, because of my past, I can never become the pope.

I have also told several people I can never climb Everest, turn a snake into a mongoose, or kiss Bar Refaeli.

I attribute this strange burst of negative information to the ad that BlackBerry ran during the Super Bowl.

Should you have missed it, you can't be too disappointed.

However, the company has now released a new ad -- currently running in Canada and the U.K. -- that attempts to insert a positive halo … Read more

BlackBerry Z10 camera versus iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3

BlackBerrys haven't always had the top cameras in the industry, but with the BlackBerry Z10's 8-megapixel camera, things are turning around.

In my tests so far, the Z10's shooter largely succeeds. Over the course of my testing period, I got some really nice outdoor shots, plus some crisp indoor photos of everything from food labels to receipts. Of course, not every indoor picture or portrait turned out great, but I found the images usable overall (check out my Z10 review for even more photos).

So let's see how it compares with two other high-quality smartphone cameras, … Read more

Microsoft's Surface Pro has room to grow

Wednesday's CNET Update wants the best of both worlds:

We're all hunting for the one device to rule them all: the perfect tablet-laptop hybrid. Microsoft's Surface Pro aims to do just that, but it's not quite a laptop-killer yet. Read CNET's full review here, and be sure to compare how the Pro measures up to the competition.

Also in today's tech news roundup:

- Rumor site SamMobile says the Galaxy S4 could be announced in March for an April release.

- BlackBerry's CEO says the Q10 may not hit the U.S. until May or June. … Read more

BlackBerry boasts record early sales for Z10 in U.K., Canada

The BlackBerry Z10 had a nice start, after all.

BlackBerry said it nearly tripled the sales of its best performance over the first week in the U.K., while it had its best first day ever in Canada.

"In fact, it was more than 50 percent better than any other launch day in our history in Canada," BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement sent to CNET.

While BlackBerry hasn't been known to have explosive first-day sales in the manner of the iPhone, the accomplishment is encouraging for a company looking to climb back into the … Read more

Early BlackBerry Z10 sales may not have been so hot after all

BlackBerry may not want to wave that victory flag just yet.

The early word is that sales of the new BlackBerry Z10 in the U.K. have been impressive, with some stores reporting sellouts. But Michael Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said that initial sales may be more mixed than they first appeared.

"Limited initial supply was cited as the reason for early post-launch stock-outs at some carrier stores versus overwhelming demand," Walkley said in a research note issued today.

With the success or failure of the BlackBerry Z10 weighing heavily on the fate of the company, … Read more