blackberry

New BlackBerry 10 OS looks great, but trips on kinks

Let me start by saying this: I really wanted to fall in love with BlackBerry 10 OS. Overhauling and reinventing a mobile operating system is a tremendous undertaking, and one that deserves respect for the blood, sweat, and tears that go into designing and coding an entire platform from the ground up. In this case, it's based on QNX, a version of which also powered the BlackBerry PlayBook. You expect a few bobbles here and oversights there, and if there's one thing that the beleaguered handset maker needs right now, it's a break.

In many ways, RIM'… Read more

RIM sheds old name, becomes BlackBerry

Adios, RIM. Research In Motion is no more.

At the BlackBerry 10 launch event in New York City today, CEO Thorsten Heins announced that the venerable RIM moniker has been retired for simply, BlackBerry. "Our customers use BlackBerrys, our employees work for BlackBerry," Heins said before a packed house.

With its name change comes a change to the company's ticker symbol. On the Nasdaq, the Canadian handset maker has retired RIMM in favor of BBRY.

The move is not so surprising. BlackBerry's customers were largely unaware of what "RIM" meant and what it stood … Read more

RIM's BlackBerry 10 launch: Join us Wednesday (live blog)

Research In Motion will finally formally unveil its BlackBerry 10 operating system and the first BlackBerrys running on the platform on Wednesday.

The launch event, which comes after years of delays and half-starts, kicks off at 7 a.m. PT. CNET's Brian Bennett and I will be bringing you the news live from New York, while Sarah Tew will be capturing photos at the event.

You can tune into the live blog here:

CNET's live coverage of RIM's BlackBerrry 10 event on Wednesday

There's a lot riding on the success of BlackBerry 10, which represents a … Read more

What to expect in the next BlackBerry

Wednesday's CNET Update gets a glimpse of the future:

Today's tech roundup looks at the leaked specs of the BlackBerry 10 L-Series all-touchscreen smartphone. TechRadar reports it got the specs from official training documents at Research In Motion. It's expected that all will be unveiled by RIM at an event later this month.

There are also rumors out about Nintendo and Sony. Reports say Nintendo is changing its corporate structure to combine its handheld and console teams into one. And Sony's vice president of home entertainment hinted that we may see a PlayStation 4 by the … Read more

BlackBerry Curve 9315 budget phone coming to T-Mobile

All eyes may be on RIM and its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 devices but that hasn't stopped the company from announcing that its budget handset is coming to another U.S. carrier. Slated for T-Mobile and expected to cost an affordable $49.99 (after mail-in rebate), the BlackBerry Curve 9315 will ship nationwide by January 23. … Read more

'Sources' out BlackBerry Z10 as RIM's first new smartphone

A comeback phone needs a catchy name, and for Research In Motion, the handle in question could be the BlackBerry Z10.

Previously it was known by its "L-series" alias, but unnamed sources have now outed the product name of RIM's next BlackBerry smartphone, according to Unwired View.

In addition to learning RIM's new name for the all-touch device, these sources allegedly also supplied documentation in the form of the promotional material pictured here.

Rumors also point to a second phone that will feature a full QWERTY keyboard in the kind of layout most synonymous with BlackBerry … Read more

The 404 1,182: Where we take 12 steps to financial freedom (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Jill gives us 2012 year-end tax tips: four benefit changes.

- "Fiscal cliff" primer: Breaking down the plans.

- Alan Simpson goes "Gangnam Style."

- The Fiscal Cliff Huxtable.… Read more

BlackBerry 10 goes 'gold' for developers

Today, faithful BlackBerry developers can stop tinkering around with prerelease tools and dig into the real thing: the BlackBerry 10 OS software developer kit has gone gold.

RIM today released the final tool set and APIs for software-makers to start coding in earnest for the finished product.

Gameloft is RIM's most high-profile public partner win so far, though many more titles from familiar consumer brands are sure to come.

RIM will unveil its new vanguard of BlackBerry 10 smartphones on January 30, in a multi-city global launch.

BlackBerry Messenger 7 lets you make phone calls via Wi-Fi

Research In Motion users can now text or talk with their BlackBerry Messenger contacts via version 7.

A new voice feature in the latest version allows you to make free phone calls to your BBM contacts over a local Wi-Fi connection. Beyond calling someone initially, you can start off the conversation by texting and then switch to a voice call if needed. You can also tell when your BBM contacts are available for a voice call.

RIM kicked off the new BBM voice calling through the app's beta last month and said the feature received a positive response from … Read more