RIM is betting the farm on the release of its BlackBerry 10 operating system. Having not released a new phone in roughly 18 months, the Canadian smartphone company has a lot of work to do to make BB10 succeed.
To help its new operating system, RIM has just launched an incentive program for its business customers to upgrade to BB10.
Called the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program, it will offer RIM's larger customers online training and webcasts, as well as free trade ups of licenses and services to the new BB10 platform.
Trading up
Companies already using BlackBerry Enterprise Server will benefit the most, with RIM offering free upgrades to the BB10 server on a one to one basis, between January and December 2013.
"Starting in January 2013 through to December 31, 2013, Research In Motion (RIM) will be offering customers who purchase new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, the ability to trade up their existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses on a one for one basis for free.
"The new license trade up will allow customers to secure and manage their BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
The BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up online tool will be available in January 2013, and will be subject to customers accepting the terms of the Trade Up," RIM explains on its website.
Getting the business market on board with BB10 is one half of RIM's battle with its new BB10 platform. The other half is getting consumers to buy the new range of handsets.
While nothing has been announced yet, it's safe to say we can expect a massive marketing campaign around the globe following the official product launch on January 30, 2013.
Via: Reuters, Ubergizmo
Amazon Appstore downloads have increased in tandem with the amount of Kindle Fire tablets the online retailer is selling.
"App downloads in the Appstore have grown more than 500 percent over the previous year," said Amazon in a press release.
The correlation between app downloads and Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD purchases is more than a coincidence, according to GigaOM.
The rise in Amazon's tablet sales are thought to be one of the main reasons that the Amazon Appstore has experienced tremendous growth over the last twelve months.
Although Kindle Fires are Android-based devices, they cannot download apps via Google Play. Their restriction to the Amazon Appstore is likely to have helped drive numbers up.
More Kindle Fires waiting to be unwrapped
Amazon should be able to maintain its Appstore download growth thanks to strong sales of its tablets on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The Amazon Kindle had its best week ever last month, with Kindle Fire HD becoming the store's No. 1 most gifted item, according to the company.
Amazon doesn't disclose hard numbers, but Cyber Monday, and in particular a $129 deal on last year's Kindle Fire, helped its e-reader line reach its biggest single-day sales record.
Of course, the recent spike in app downloads doesn't account for all of the Kindle Fires waiting to be gifted over the holidays.
The unwrapping of new Kindle Fires around the globe on Dec. 25 should give the Appstore another increase in app downloads in 2013, whether or not there's an Amazon phone.
The iPhone 5 may still be fresh out the oven, but whispers have already begun to surface that an iPhone 5S successor could go into production as early as next month.
The early arrival of the iPad 4 and the iPad mini - just eight months after the release of the iPad 3 in March - has meant that Apple still has the ability to surprise and we could well see an iPhone 5S appear earlier than expected.
iPhone 5S release date
That means the iPhone 5S release date could be Spring 2013.
The Chinese-language Commercial Times estimates that full commercial production of the rumoured iPhone 5S will begin as early as Q1 2013, with the December run only expected to return between 50,000 and 100,000 units.
Such an early release of the iPhone 5S remains unlikely, however. The iPhone 5 has had barely enough time to gather dust on shop shelves, let alone pull in the masses of revenue Apple has still to make from it.
A Q1 2013 release of the 5S would also raise questions over Apple's upgrade process.
But Digitimes reckons the iPhone 5S release date will be a little later, citing predicted sales targets of relevant component manufacturers. "Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013... Component orders placed by Apple, which climbed to high levels prior to the iPhone 5 rollout, will rise again between March and April, the observers indicated."
iPhone 5S rumors
Some sources claim that Apple has is ploughing ahead with the next iteration of the popular handset, due to low yield rates of the iPhone 5 on the assembly line at Foxconn.
Apparently, because of the fragility of the parts used to make the device, many break before they even see the light of day.
The leaked handset has already been referred to as the "iPhone 5S," in keeping with Apple's naming convention for updates to the outward appearance of its iconic device.
iPhone 5S already seen?
It was reported on 6 December that images of a purported next-generation iPhone have surfaced on French website Nowhereelse.fr, revealing an exterior virtually identical to the current iPhone 5 but with slightly different internals.
It appears little will change inside the next iPhone [Image credit: Nowhereelse.fr]
Phones Review suggests that a dual-SIM iPhone 5S could be released, hot on the heels of a rumoured Samsung Galaxy S4.
Nevertheless, it's more likely that the iPhone 5S will hit stores in the latter part of 2013, following the trend set by the iPhone 5 and 4S. It's even possible that Apple will skip the iPhone 5S and hop right on to the iPhone 6.
Needless to say, TechRadar will be keeping a close eye on all the iPhone 5S rumors and will bring you the latest developments as they emerge - on this very page.
Archos has launched the GamePad, the first dedicated Android console for gamers tired of prodding touchscreens.
The GamePad aims to bring traditional control systems to modern mobile games and has a 7-inch 1024 x 600 five-point capacitive screen to accompany its 16 physical buttons and dual analogue sticks.
It'll come packing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device, will have full access to the Google Play store and is available to buy in the UK from today for £129. There's no word yet on international availability or pricing, but more on that later.
The French company said the GamePad will fill the needs of casual gamers who enjoy the ease and relatively low cost of playing mobile games, but don't enjoy using the touchscreen exclusively.
Meeting gamers' demands
"Android device users spend more than 9 hours a month gaming on their devices and yet are not completely satisfied with the touch-screen experience," said Archos founder and CEO Henri Crohas.
"We feel this area of gaming is proven and will continue to grow. With the introduction of the GamePad we are uniquely positioned to feed the demand of gamers who want a better gaming experience on a tablet."
In the engine room, the GamePad has a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage and an SD card slot for an additional 64GB.
Game Mapping
The Archos GamePad also features a unique Game Mapping tool, which allows users to convert titles that weren't made for the physical controls.
The on-screen buttons can be easily mapped to any of the physical buttons as demonstrated in the video below.
The launch of the GamePad is Archos' latest attempt to plant a flag in the niche tablet market.
Just last week it released the 10-inch FamilyPad, which encourages families to gather round, play digital boardgames and watch movies together.
SlashGear is reporting that the GamePad will see a U.S. release next year, but we haven't received confirmation from Archos yet on availability there and globally. We'll update this story as soon as we hear back.
Swiping is fast becoming the new tapping when it comes to smartphone keyboards and SwiftKey Flow is looking to get in on the action.
The Swype system has been established for some time and recently Google introduced its own version with the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update, which signals just how popular this method of text input has become.
In essence SwiftKey Flow is just offering users what's already available, but there are some key advances drawing on the "Flow" name.
Get ready for non-lift off
Current offerings allow you to slide you fingers between the letters for a particular word, but you still have to lift off to start a new word; SwiftKey Flow alleviates this problem.
The "Flow through Space" feature means you need to just slide your digit over the space bar and then go straight onto the next word so your finger never leaves the screen – increasing the speed of typing out a message.
The system is still in beta, so expect the accuracy and next letter/word prediction to improve because early reports suggest it struggles a little with longer missives such as emails.
Is SwiftKey Flow the best swiping-typing option available? It's still too early to say, but SwiftKey does make a damn good Android keyboard so you should probably check it out – we certainly will be.
Archos has launched the GamePad, the first dedicated Android console for gamers tired of prodding touchscreens.
The GamePad aims to bring traditional control systems to modern mobile games and has a 7-inch 1024x600 five-point capacitive screen to accompany its 16 physical buttons and dual analogue sticks.
It'll come packing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device, will have full access to the Google Play store and is available to buy in the UK from today for £129 (USD$207, AUD$197).
The French company said the GamePad will fill the needs of casual gamers who enjoy the ease and relatively low cost of playing mobile games, but don't enjoy using the touchscreen exclusively.
Meeting gamers' demands
"Android device users spend more than 9 hours a month gaming on their devices and yet are not completely satisfied with the touch-screen experience," said Archos founder and CEO Henri Crohas.
"We feel this area of gaming is proven and will continue to grow. With the introduction of the GamePad we are uniquely positioned to feed the demand of gamers who want a better gaming experience on a tablet."
In the engine room, the GamePad has a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal storage and an SD card slot for an additional 64GB.
Game Mapping
The Archos GamePad also features a unique Game Mapping tool, which allows users to convert titles that weren't made for the physical controls.
The on-screen buttons can be easily mapped to any of the physical buttons as demonstrated in the video below.
The launch of the GamePad is Archos' latest attempt to plant a flag in the niche tablet market.
Just last week it released the 10-inch FamilyPad, which encourages families to gather round, play digital boardgames and watch movies together.
TechRadar has reached out to Archos for details on a potential launch in the United States and internationally and will update this story if and when a response is forthcoming.
Now that Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has spilled the beans on plans to bring manufacturing of its Mac computers back to America, its major Asian supplier has confirmed its intentions to do the same - someday.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that Foxconn Technology Group is exploring the possibility of expanding its largely Chinese-based manufacturing facilities into the United States.
"We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there," Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo confirmed without elaborating on specific plans, clients or timing.
The comments come on the heels of an interview today with Apple's CEO in which he detailed a $100 million investment in U.S.-based Mac manufacturing in 2013.
Supply chain growth
Based in Taipei, Foxconn already has U.S. factories in California and Texas to provide partially assembled products for its server clients.
With more than 1.6 million workers globally, the supplier wants to leverage what it calls "high-value engineering talent" in America, compared to the "low-cost labor of China."
Apple may be Foxconn's highest profile client thanks to the iPhone and iPad, but the 38-year old company also manufactures Sony PlayStations, televisions and other products for the likes of Hewlett-Packard Co.
While most of Foxconn's suppliers are also based in China, some key components such as core processors and Corning's Gorilla Glass are already manufactured in the USA.
If you've just bought yourself a new iPad 4 or iPad mini, you'll want to start downloading the best apps straight away. And if you already have an iPad 3 or older iPad, you might want to update it with some new apps.
It's the apps that really set iOS apart from other platforms - there are far more apps available on the App Store for the iPad than any other tablet. So which which ones are worth your cash? And which are the best free apps?
Luckily for you we've tested thousands of the best iPad apps so that you don't have to.
So read on for our best-in-class apps for each major category, followed by some more specific lists of the best free and paid for apps and games.
HTC could well be on the road to recovery after a rocky year, as sales jumped more than 20 per cent in November.
The Taiwanese firm managed to rake in $730 million (around £453 million/AU$698 million) in November, which is 23.3 per cent more than it managed to coin in October.
The firm has launched several new handsets at the back end of 2012, with the HTC One X+, 8X and 8S all helping to boost sales, revenue and popularity of the brand which has been suffering a little of late.
Not all good
A strong November aside, HTC is still dramatically down on revenue in 2012 compared to 2011.
The latest figures show that total revenue for the year is still down a whopping 39 per cent compared to the same time last year, which shows HTC still has some way to go to regain a strong position in the market.
At least these latest figures are strong for HTC and we hope they signal the start of an upwards trend for a firm which makes some beautiful handsets, but has struggled to compete with Apple and Samsung in 2012.
Unless you've done rather well for yourself in life, chances are you'd rather not give your rough-and-tumble litte one a 64GB iPad 4 to play with this Christmas.
Fortunately for parents who want to keep little Charlie happy, there are plenty of solid, affordable tablets available nowadays, which give kids all the fun of having a portable learning and play machine but with much less worry about it being left out in the rain, given a bath with teddy or stuffed in the tumble dryer.
And yes, these tablets are all running Google's Android OS, as it's now become the software of choice for the cheap Chinese hardware makers, and as much as we love our kids, we don't really want to spend any more than necessary on the little... darlings.
But we're not ranking these tablets solely on price.
You might also like... 60 best free Android apps 2012
Some of the best new tablets for kids come pre-loaded with educational software, or feature adaptable, toughened hardware, while others are good choices thanks to offering parental controls that can help limit their use.
Here are the five best tablets for kids you can buy today:
1. Nabi 2
The updated Nabi tablet is by far the best option for kids, and it's relatively cheap, costing just £149 on the high street through the likes of Argos.
This tablet isn't a compromised piece of hardware designed to fleece tiny minds; it's powered by Nvdia's Tegra 3 chipset, alongside 8GB of RAM, a 1024x600 resolution display, and it even manages dual cameras for video chatting.
There's a standalone curated app store - where apps are approved before release - and a parental admin panel, so there's no worry about inappropriate content. Plus, there's a huge educational system in here featuring maths, science and English learning tools.
Also, that coloured bumper is removable, so your kid can whip it off when they come of age and want the tablet to look a bit more like an iPad.
2. Arnova ChildPad
Arnova's kid-themed tablet is a little heavier on the customisation than the Nabi 2, although it's based around Google's Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google, so dad will know it's a pretty modern device.
It's much less powerful than the Nabi, though, running Android 4.0 on a single-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM.
The 7" machine's display runs at a low 800x480 resolution, but as it'll only be running Angry Birds for 16 hours a day that's no big deal breaker.
Apps are a little light, with Arnova using the AppsLib database rather than Google's Play Store - which means you can filter apps so that only age-appropriate ones are downloadable.
3. Kindle Fire
This one comes with the security of Amazon's locked-down ecosystem and hardware, which already offers more of a curated, walled-garden approach to app distribution than Google's roguish Play Store.
Kindle Fire's also rather cheap, giving kids a 7" tablet that runs smoothly on its upgraded 1.2GHz dual-core processor.
The key thing here is the peace of mind mum or dad's poor credit card gets from Amazon's new Kindle FreeTime software, which lets admin users control access to Amazon's bewildering array of content, even going so far as to specify a daily time limit for use.
So it won't be daddy saying no, it'll be Amazon saying no. Bad Amazon.
4. Kurio 7
Beneath the chunky, colourful case sits a relatively generic Chinese Android tablet, offering Android 4.0.3 for dad to tinker with once the kid's asleep, a 1GHz processor, 4GB of storage space and 1GB of RAM to make multi-tasking possible.
What you're paying for here is the chunky anti-shock cover that should see it survive a few trips down the stairs, plus support for multiple profiles and time management controls to reassure parents that bedtime means bedtime, not downloading Jason Statham movies off the internet until 4am.
The 7" display's a little low quality at only 800x480 resolution, and at around £150 the Kurio is expensive given the rather low-spec tech inside, but the custom kids' OS and wide range of parental controls make it a decent choice if you need something that can be locked down; whether that's for your kid's own safety or as punishment.
They'll behave better (hopefully) if you threaten to take YouTube away from them.
5. Lexibook Junior Tablet
If your kid is so young it can't differentiate between brands, operating systems and onboard camera resolutions, you may still be able to fob it off with a cheaper, sturdier option.
The £129 Lexibook Junior Tablet looks like some sort of toy that ought to come with a yellow plastic hammer to control it and a handle to wind it up rather than a battery, but it's actually a proper tab that runs Android 4.0 beneath a totally custom interface.
Lexibook has stuck on stacks of learning apps and games, with karaoke options, cartoons and more, pre-loaded for your kid's amusement.
The camera app uses a comedy face-warping tech that'll provide hours of fun, and the rubberised case is chunky enough that it can also be used as a sledge.
The rumors of Sharp being saved by an investment from Qualcomm turned true Tuesday, as the U.S. technology company has made a deal to become a minority shareholder in Sharp.
Back in November, it was thought Qualcomm and Intel would both offer support to the struggling Sharp, however Tuesday's announcement revealed Qualcomm, through its Pixtronix subsidiary, as the only investor.
As part of the deal, Qualcomm has offered to invest up to $120 million (UK£74.5, AUD$114.5) in Sharp, with $60 million (UK£37.2,AU$57.2) due by the end of 2012.
There is currently no timetable for the other half of the investment to be paid, but Qualcomm will not provide more cash unless Sharp can prove profitable by the end of the fiscal year.
Low-power rescue
Qualcomm's investment in Sharp provides the Japanese manufacturer with the capital to continue work on its indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) displays, and Reuters reported the two will work together on developing the technology.
Sharp's IGZO LCD screens provide a low-power solution for tablets and smartphones, requiring power only when in use, rather than constantly being active.
The Aquos Pad will be the first device to use an IGZO display, and the 16GB 7-inch tablet is due to arrive in Japan by the end of this year.
Sharp and its partners, such as Apple, have been secretive about whether or not the IGZO displays will be utilized in iPads and iPhones in the future, but technology that improves battery life and screen resolution could help revolutionize the next wave of touchscreen devices.
It's also worth pointing out IGZO LCD technology may not just be limited to smaller screens, and the screens could possibly make it onto television sets down the line.
Qualcomm's investment is a major deal, and could prove to inject life back into the fledgling Sharp as 2013 begins. The company announced in September that it would lay off almost 20 percent of its workforce by 2014.
