NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — India will delay banning BlackBerry services pending a 60-day security test, the country’s home affairs department said Monday.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has been in talks with the Indian government for the past several weeks. They are locked in a battle over how much access the country’s government should have to RIM’s encrypted e-mail and messaging services.

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Earlier this month, India said it would block BlackBerry services starting Tuesday unless RIM, based in Canada, made the messages sent through them available to the government.

India’s Ministry of Home Affairs posted a short, cryptic statement on its website Monday saying the BlackBerry maker agreed to “certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies.”

RIM (RIMM) shares rose 1.8% in afternoon trading.

The Indian government is worried that RIM’s strong encryption makes it possible for terrorists to exchange messages over the network without being monitored. But RIM has pointed out that other messaging services in India also use heavy encryption, and says its BlackBerry network shouldn’t be singled out.

India’s Department of Telecommunications said it will “study the feasibility” of providing local BlackBerry services only through a server in India. A report is expected in 60 days, and the Ministry of Home Affairs will review the situation at that time.

India’s decision came after a meeting with country’s home secretary, Shri G.K. Pillai, representatives of security agencies, and the Department of Telecommunications.

According to news reports, RIM avoided being banned in Saudi Arabia after it agreed earlier this month to provide some access to the country’s government. To top of page

Source: CNN

Fuzzy rumors about Steve Jobs’ next move in the TV market been swirling for the better part of a year, but the picture snapped into focus on Tuesday.

A report by Peter Burrows, a veteran BusinessWeek reporter now writing for Bloomberg Businessweek, lays out the details of what sounds like a credible scenario. According to Burrows:

* Apple (AAPL) is set to begin a new service that would let iPad, iPhone and iPod owners rent current TV programs for 48 hours at 99-cents apiece. Currently movies can be rented from iTunes, but TV shows must be purchased.
* Apple is said to be in “advanced talks” with News Corp. (NWS) and “talks” with CBS (CBS) and Disney (DIS) to get access to their content. That would cover three of the four major networks (Fox, CBS and ABC). Time Warner (TWX) might also make its older programs available. NBC, which is in the process of being acquired by Comcast (CMCSA), was conspicuously absent from the report.
* Apple is also planning to unveil a $99 version of its three-year-old Apple TV set-top box. Earlier reports suggested that the new device would run the same operating system as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and be optimized for streaming, rather than downloading, video content.
* This is all supposed to happen at a special event on Sept. 7, at which time Steve Jobs will also unveil a new version of the iPod touch with a higher-resolution screen.

Jobs has apparently abandoned its efforts to convince the TV networks to let him repackage their programming into a $30-per-month “best of TV” subscription service. Such a service would have jeopardized the networks’ chances of getting higher retransmission fees from TV-system operators, according to RBC Capital’s David Bank, the only source named in Burrows’ piece.

Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, made two bold predictions Saturday about the rumored update to what Steve Jobs calls his “hobby” — an Apple-branded gateway to the vast wasteland of American television. The product Engadget has been calling iTV, according to Rose, 1) is coming in September and 2) will “change everything.”

Never mind that Rose, who claims to have inside information about such things, has a mixed record as an Apple (AAPL) prognosticator. He was right about the iPod nano, but spectacularly wrong about the first iPhone, which according to him was going to have two batteries, a slide-out keyboard and run on both AT&T’s (T) and Verizon’s (VZ) networks.

Here’s what Rose says about iTV:

iOS TV apps: He expects to see an iPhone/Pad like marketplace for television applications with apps for video sharing, streaming and recording, interactive news apps, games, etc.
a la carte (app) stations: “With Apple’s iAds, content producers (e.g. ABC/NBC/etc.) can directly monetize and distribute their content,” which according to Rose will eventually destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry. “Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill,” he cheerfully predicts.
.Me Picture/Video sharing: “At $99 your parents, grandparents, and friends will have an iTV. Sharing pictures/videos from your iPhone will happen with the push of a button.”
The iPad as “one big badass remote control”: The iPad, he says, will be the preferred input device for the iTV.

A spirited discussion ensued on Rose’s blog. It wasn’t until about 6:30 p.m. Saturday that a commentator named Brad pointed out the fatal flaw in the “changes everything” argument.

“It isn’t outside the realm of possibility,” Brad wrote. But: “If this does kill the satellite/cable content end of things, say goodbye to reasonable monthly unlimited access rates.”

How is your grandmother going to watch those iPhone videos — or anything else — without the unlimited Internet access her local cable monopoly or functional equivalent provides?

Source: TECH FORTUNE

The BlackBerry Torch shares many common components with the existing BlackBerry Storm 2 and the Bold 9700, according to a teardown report released Tuesday by iSuppli Corp.

The bill of materials cost for the Torch is $171.05, which means that the $99 price that Amazon is selling the Torch for undercuts the Torch’s manufacturing cost in a big way. The estimated manufacturing cost is $12. The Torch sells for $199.99 direct.

iSuppli found that the iPhone 4 came with a BOM cost of $187.51, the firm said; the iPhone 4 costs $199 and $299, depending on whether consumers choose the 16- or 32-Gbyte model.

Not surprisingly, iSuppli found that RIM leveraged components found in its other phones, noting that the Torch shared Radio Frequency (RF), power amplifier and power management subsystems with the Bold 9700, or that they were nearly identical. In terms of specs and size, the Torch’s display is very similar to that of the BlackBerry Storm2 9550, and the accelerometer is the same.

iSuppli identified the most expensive subsystem in the Torch as the LCD and touch screen display module section, at a price of $34.85, representing 20.4 percent of the product’s BOM. Second is the memory subsystem, which costs $34.25. In third was the electrmechanical components, which cost $23.35, or 13.7 percent of the BOM.

Source: PC Magazine

Here’s how Daring Fireball’s John Gruber sees events unfolding:

The device code named N92 (the iPhone 4 was N90), now in being tested in-house by Apple (AAPL) engineers according to Gruber’s sources, reaches device verification test (DVT) level this fall, which is when the secret prototypes go out for field testing. (See Gizmodo here.)
Apple unveils a new iPhone in January, perhaps at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, built around the CDMA protocol required to run on Verizon’s current wireless network. Lines form around the block. Apple sells millions.

At Apple’s developers conference in June 2011, Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone 5. This is either one phone that serves both AT&T and Verizon (or better still, all four U.S. carriers), or two phones, a GSM iPhone for AT&T (T) and a CDMA iPhone for Verizon (VZ). Prices range from $199 to $299.

In July, the new iPhones hit the streets. The iPhone 3GS is retired and the iPhone 4 sells for $99. Lines form around the block. Apple sells millions.
Apple waits until Verizon and AT&T have more broadly deployed their LTE (long-term evolution) networks before it introduces an LTE iPhone.

Source: CNN Money

Source Photo: PC Mag Online

Research in Motion (RIM) unveiled its first BlackBerry with both a touchscreen and a physical slide-out QWERTY keyboard at a New York City press event on Tuesday. The phone is also the first BlackBerry to run 6 OS. The Torch 9800 will debut August 12 on AT&T for $200 with a two-year contract.

Slider Design

Like the Palm Pre, the Torch has a vertical slide-out keyboard. From what I can glean from images of the Torch, the keyboard looks fairly similar to the keyboards found on the BlackBerry Bold models with sculpted, ergonomic keys. A little thicker than some of the other top-line smartphones out right now, the Torch measures 4.4 by 2.4 by 0.6-inches thick. The 3.2-inch 360-by-480 capacitive touch display comes equipped with multitouch (for zooming in and out), which will be supported in the browser and photo gallery.

[See Related: RIM BlackBerry Torch 9800: A Visual Tour]

The front face of the phone has four buttons familiar to BlackBerry users: Talk, Menu, Back and Power/End. These buttons flank the square optical touchpad, which can be used for navigation in addition to the touchscreen.

Finally, RIM has caught up with the rest of the smartphone pack and upgraded the BlackBerry camera to a 5-megapixel camera. BlackBerry camera’s generally have pretty dismal photo quality, so hopefully the Torch steps up its game. The camera also has a flash as well as autofocus, image stabilization and geo-tagging.

BlackBerry 6 OS: Major Upgrades

From what I’ve seen of 6 OS, I can safely say that BlackBerry users will be pleased with this update. The whole user interface gets a facelift with crisper icons and visuals, new graphics, animations and transitions. There’s also a new homescreen with multiple views based on content type (all, favorite apps, downloads, media, etc.) as well as universal search.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of BlackBerry 6 OS is the WebKit browser. One of the biggest weaknesses of the current version of the BlackBerry platform is its clunky, hard to navigate browser. Webkit is the same technology behind Apple’s Safari browser on the iPhone’s OS. The Android Web browser as well as the Symbian S60 browser are also built around Webkit.

And keeping with the trend of social network integration we’ve seen on other platforms, like HTC Sense for Android for example, BlackBerry 6 will have a “social networking feeds” app that will combine status updates from Facebook and Twitter. You’ll also be able to chat with your friends via a slew of different messaging services like Google Talk, BlackBerry Messenger and AIM within one seamless application.

RIM’s CTO David Yach assured attendees at today’s press conference that BlackBerry 6 OS will work with all previous BlackBerry applications. RIM is releasing new APIs that will let app developers integrate BlackBerry 6 OS features into their apps, like the universal search feature for example.

Can the Torch compete with the slew of enticing Android offerings, like the Motorola Droid X or the HTC EVO 4G? And how does it stack up against the iPhone 4, also on AT&T? Stay tuned for a closer look at the Torch 9800 and BlackBerry OS 6 as well as a full review once we have the device in house.

Apple iphone 4

July 29, 2010

Copyright Office of the U.S. Library of Congress had introduced two critical exceptions to the DMCA, which makes it legal for users to jailbreak and unlock their iPhone in the US. However, Apple is singing another tune. Although Jailbreaking of the iphone is legal, you may void the original warranty to your iphone. I advise my readers to proceed with caution. However for those of whom are fearless, there are many sites that offer step-by-step instructions on how to jailbreak your iphone. Because we love our iphone that way it is we will not provide instructions. You may google “jailbreak iphone”.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Two weeks after a “stunned” Apple announced to the world that it had found a major software glitch in the iPhone’s signal-strength display, Apple plans to hold a press conference to discuss the iPhone 4.

The gathering will take place Friday at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. An Apple spokesman declined to divulge any further details of the event.

IPhone customers are still waiting for the software update that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) promised to release “within a few weeks” to address the way iPhones display the bars used to measure signal strength.

But Apple’s headaches continue mounting: On Monday, Consumer Reports’ product testers issued a damning report concluding that the iPhone 4 has a hardware design flaw that can cause calls to drop. There’s an easy fix — put the phone in a case or cover the gap between the phone’s two antennas with a bit of duct tape — but Consumer Reports said it would not recommend the phone until Apple released a free solution for the problem.

Apple has refused to comment on Consumer Reports’ findings, and has previously denied that the iPhone 4 has any hardware flaws. CEO Steve Jobs’ now-famous response to a customer complaint that holding the phone the wrong way could interrupt reception was “just avoid holding it in that way.”

The iPhone 4 was Apple’s most successful product launch in its history. The company sold 1.7 million phones in just the first three days, and the device remains sold out through most retailers. Even as it slapped the phone with a “not recommended” label, Consumer Reports said that the iPhone 4 was, aside from its antenna defect, the best smart phone on the market.

-CNN’s Augie Martin contributed to this report. To top of page

“Consumer Reports’ engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there there is a problem with its reception,” the magazine said in a blog post on its website. “When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side — an easy thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal.”

Apple acknowledged the problem earlier this month, claiming that the issue was a software glitch, not a hardware problem. The company said the formula it used to calculate how many signal bars to display was incorrect, exacerbating the apparent decline in signal strength for customers in weak signal areas.

But Consumer Reports said its study called into question Apple’s “optical illusion” claim: It tested the iPhone 4 along with several other AT&T phones, including the iPhone 3GS, in a controlled signal environment. None had the signal-loss problems that the iPhone 4 demonstrated.

The review said electrically bridging the gap between the phone’s two antennas appears to be the cause of problem. The magazine suggested covering the gap with a non-conductive material like duct tape as an “affordable” solution.

“It may not be pretty, but it works,” the magazine said in its blog.

Consumer Reports noted that the iPhone 4 otherwise ranked highest on the list of smart phone ratings that it released Monday. But the magazine said it will not recommend Apple’s new device until the company unveils “a permanent — and free — fix for the antenna problem.”

As an alternative, Consumer Reports said it continues to recommend the older iPhone 3GS, which is still available from Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500).

Apple said it will release a free software update in the next several weeks to fix the software glitch. It will use a new formula recommended by AT&T (T, Fortune 500), the iPhone’s exclusive carrier, for calculating how many bars to display. Apple said it will also make the first three bars a bit taller to make them easier to see.

Still, the company has not admitted to any hardware issue. Apple sells a $29 “bumper” case, which the company suggested in late June as a possible solution to the reception issue.