BlackBerry maker RIM launches new operating system for PlayBook

Research In Motion (RIM), makers of BlackBerry smartphones, on Friday launched a new operating system (OS) for its PlayBook tablets with additional functionalities, including the ability to run Android-based applications.

The BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will add advanced messaging features, increased social integration and better browser, among other things, Research In Motion (RIM) Manager, Carrier Product (India), Ranjan Moses told reporters here.

The new OS also supports Android applications like Pool Break Pro. This will enable developers create applications for Android and make the same applications available to PlayBook users as well.

The new OS is available as a free update for existing users and the new devices will have the new OS in-built. BlackBerry Playbook is available at an offer price of Rs 19,990 for the 64 GB model.

In December last year, the Canadian giant had 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 burgeoning demand for tablet PCs in India.

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

According to analysts, sales in the tablet PC segment in India are expected to touch one million units over the next 12 months. With 3G (high-speed internet services) being rolled out aggressively, the opportunity has only expanded, they said.

Since the launch of Apple's iPad in the country, the tablet market has been witnessing huge competition, with more and more new contenders launching their devices.

Your Android, Windows, iPhone or BlackBerry smartphone is the next target of hackers

Hackers are out to stymie your smartphone. Last week, security researchers uncovered yet another strain of malicious software aimed at smartphones that run Google's popular Android operating system.

The application not only logs details about incoming and outgoing phone calls, it also records those calls. That came a month after researchers discovered a security hole in Apple's iPhones, which prompted the German government to warn Apple about the urgency of the threat.

Security experts say attacks on smartphones are growing fast - and attackers are becoming smarter about developing new techniques. "We're in the experimental stage of mobile malware where the bad guys are starting to develop their business models," said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder of Lookout, a San Francisco-based maker of mobile security software. Wrong-doers have infected PCs with malicious software, or malware, for decades.

Now, they are fast moving to smartphones as the devices become a vital part of everyday life. Some 38% of American adults now own an iPhone, BlackBerry or other mobile phone that runs the Android, Windows or WebOS operating systems, according to data from Nielsen.

The smartphone's usefulness, allowing people to organize their digital lives with one device, is also its allure to criminals. All at once, smartphones have become wallets, email lockboxes, photo albums and Rolodexes.

And because owners are directly billed for services bought with smartphones, they open up new angles for financial attacks. The worst programs cause a phone to rack up unwanted service charges, record calls, intercept text messages and even dump emails, photos and other private content directly onto criminals' servers.

Rumours of 'BlackBerry Cyclone' to take on Apple TV

BlackBerry company Research In Motion (RIM) is rumoured to be toying with the idea of entering the home entertainment business .

If it is true, this will be the second major departure for the Waterloo-based RIM from its core business of smart phones where it ruled the market till last year. Last April, RIM unveiled its PlayBook tablet - the first non-BlackBerry product - to challenge Apple's iPad.

Now it is rumoured to be working on a media box to match Apple TV .

"We have confirmed with one of our source's RIM is working on just that a media hub. The media hub's code-name is 'BlackBerry Cyclone','' Nerdberry web site has reported.

According to the report, the 'BlackBerry Cyclone' will be Wi-Fi-enabled and connect to your home TV via HDMI. It will also have Netflix, YouTube and access to media devices on the WiFi network.

"We are hearing the release of the 'BlackBerry Cyclone' will be later this fall. We are waiting for more info to come in at this time. This is going to be a great product for streaming media,'' the web site has said.

Apple has not only beaten the BlackBerry company in the smart phone market but also become the undisputed leader in mobile computing with its iPad.

RIM's efforts to take on the iPhone with its BlackBerry Storm and the iPad with its PlayBook tablet have failed to make any dent on Apple's supremacy in the mobile computing market.

It remains to be seen how much of a challenge the rumoured 'BlackBerry Cyclone' will pose to Apple TV.

At its annual shareholder meeting this week, RIM also announced to unveil seven new models of BlackBerry in the coming months to replace its aging handset line-up.

Bu the announcement failed to revive RIM stock which - at $27 - has fallen more than 50 percent this year, reducing its market worth to just $14 billion. 

Apple pushes BlackBerry to third spot in smartphone market

There is more bad news for slipping BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM). According to the latest smartphone market data, BlackBerry is at third place as Google Android and Apple iPhone have further increased their share in the US.

Market research leader ComScore reported on Tuesday that Google Android devices have carved out as much as 38.1 percent of the market share during the past three months.

During this period ending May, Google Android ranked as the top operating system with 38.1 percent of US smartphone subscribers, up 5.1 percent, ComScore said.

Apple bumped BlackBerry from number two position with 26.6 percent of the market share, up 1.4 percent.

BlackBerry was relegated to the third rank with 24.7 percent, slipping 4.2 percent during the period.

The share of Microsoft also shrank to 5.8 percent, down almost two percent, the report said.

In its precipitous fall in the American smartphone market, BlackBerry has lost its top position in a matter of months. Just last October, it was the top-seller with a market share of more than 33.5 percent.

By January, its share had fallen to 30.4 percent. Since then, it has been all downhill for RIM. With its aging handset line-up expected to be replaced only next year, the BlackBerry company, based at Waterloo near Toronto, has little chance of bouncing back.

On the Toronto stock exchange, RIM stock continued to hover around $27, sliding 46 cents Tuesday. The stock has lost more than 50 percent of its value since January and is at its lowest in six years.

RIM is currently valued at about $14 billion, down from $83 billion in June 2008 when its stock touched the $150-mark.

In the handset market, RIM was pushed to the fifth slot (by Apple), with its share shrinking to 8.1 percent from 8.6 percent three months ago. Apple gained 1.2 percent to control 8.7 percent of the handset market.

Samsung remained the topper in the handset market, with a share of 24.8 percent, followed by LG (21.1 percent) and Motorola (15.1 percent). 

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