In a move that is destined to fail, RIM unveiled an upgraded version of its BlackBerry PlayBook, one that has 4G data support.
“We’re excited to bring customers the first BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with support for 4G LTE networks,” said David J. Smith, executive vice president of RIM’s Mobile Computing division.
Launching in Canada next week, the device will also come with 32GB of internal storage. International launches, including the U.S., are expected in the coming months.
The company is said to have sold just 1.2 million PlayBooks since its launch in April of last year. That number is also buoyed by the fact that RIM had to slash prices from $500 to $199 to get them off shelves. By comparison, Apple sold 17 million iPads in the last quarter, alone.
RIM’s 4G PlayBook will have all the same internals as its predecessor and run on PlayBook OS 2.0. There was no word on price.
Result for: AVI
Amazon has announced today the launch of its Instant Video service on the Xbox 360.
With the release of the new app, Xbox Live Gold subscribers that also have Amazon Prime subscriptions will have access to all of Amazon’s 17,000 movies and TV episodes.
Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and gives active Amazon buyers free 2-day shipping on most items and discounted $3.99 shipping on overnight or even same-day.
New to the Xbox is “Watchlist,” which allows you to “manage your queue and purchased content into a playlist from your computer.”
Additionally, you can use Kinect to navigate the app with voice and motion gestures or use the remote if you do not have a Kinect. You won’t be able to purchase content through the app, just yet, but you can use WhisperSync, meaning you can start an episode/movie on your computer/Kindle Fire/etc and finish it on the 360 right from where you left off.
Result for: AVI
Court orders CEOs to “talk.”
Apple chief executive Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sun will meet in federal court on Monday for for court-supervised mediation efforts. Both have been directed to make an attempt at mediation in a case that has caught the interest of the entire industry.
Forcing companies to take a stab at mediation is becoming something of a trend in federal courts, with northern California leading the way. A federal judge in Delaware also ordered Apple and HTC Corp to make a real attempt at mediation.
Both Apple and Samsung accuse each other of patent infringement, and both also deny the allegations. Apple took the first shots at Samsung, claiming that its Galaxy brand of smartphones and tablet PCs slavishly clone the design and functionality of the iPhone and iPad devices.
Over the weekend, a Samsung executive said the company wanted to resolve the issues with Apple as soon as possible.
“There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing,” Samsung mobile division chief JK Shin, said.
If efforts to reach a compromise fail, the case is set to go to trial in San Jose, California, in July.
