Stories by Al Sacco

Windows Phone Mango: 10 things you need to know

I was fortunate to sit down this morning with Microsoft's Paul Bryan, Windows Phone senior director of product management and enterprise experiences, to discuss the new software at the company's offices in Cambridge, Mass.

10 best Android tablet apps for news junkies

CIO's gadget guru Al Sacco spotlights 10 great applications for your Android tablet that will keep you up to date on news, sports, entertainment, stocks and much more. These apps look great and perform even better -- and most are free.

PlayBook: New details on Bridge, bluetooth security

Research In Motion's (RIM) popular BlackBerry PlayBook tablet may not ship with native e-mail and personal information management (PIM) applications just yet -- they're expected this summer -- but thanks to the BlackBerry Bridge application, consumers and enterprise users alike can securely access their mail, calendars, contacts, etc., using PlayBook tablets.

BlackBerry PlayBook battery life weakened by OS update

Earlier this month, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) released a significant OS update for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that enabled a new PlayBook video chat application, as well as BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) functionality via RIM's BlackBerry Bridge application. But the OS update seems to have had an unintended effect on

BlackBerry Mobile Voice System 5.1: New enterprise features

Research In Motion (RIM) made a number of significant announcements last week, for both its consumer and enterprise customers, at the first annual BlackBerry World Conference in Orlando, Fla.--formerly known as the Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES).

RIM, Microsoft announce partnership with focus on Bing

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) and software giant Microsoft on Tuesday announced a new pact under which the two companies will partner to offer a variety of Bing related services to BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet users. Bing is Microsoft's Web search offering, and it's one of the top three search engines along with Google and Yahoo Search, according to Hitwise.

First look at BlackBerry PlayBook native email, PIM apps

Research In Motion (RIM) showed off the upcoming native e-mail and personal information management (PIM) apps for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet for the first time this morning, including calendar and contacts, at its annual BlackBerry World Conference in Orlando. And the company says the native PlayBook apps should be available sometime this summer.

BlackBerry mobile conferencing app connects with one click

Frequent "teleconferencers" with BlackBerry smartphones take note: Research In Motion (RIM) today released a beta version of its new BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing application. With the app, which integrates with the BlackBerry OS, RIM handheld users can quickly and easily invite other BlackBerry users to a teleconference, add new teleconference info to their mobile calendars and connect to conferences with a single click. In addition, the software helps you quickly reconnect to an ongoing conference if you're ever disconnected.

Android battery: How to make your Google phone last longer

Google Android smartphones excel in many areas; a wide variety of quality hardware options; slick software interfaces; valuable and entertaining applications; endless customization possibilities; etc.

Amazon Cloud drive: 7 key facts

Amazon.com beat Google and Apple to punch this week with the unveiling of its hosted consumer-storage service, Amazon Cloud Drive, and Web-based music-player, Cloud Player.

Android apps: 9 best, free social networking choices

Share, save and savor all things social with these nine free Google Android apps, hand-picked by CIO.com's mobile maestro, Al Sacco.

Android security: Six tips to protect your Google phone

Google's Android Market mobile software shop was hit last week with its first major malware attack.

Images and video of the "first dual-touchscreen smartphone"

When you think of cutting-edge smartphones, "Kyocera" most likely isn't one of the first company names that come to mind. But that could soon change if today's unveiling of the Kyocera Echo, the world's first smartphone with two touch screen displays, at least according to Sprint, is any indicator of things to come.

BlackBerry PlayBook tablet: 10 key features and facts

Anxious to get your thumbs on Research In Motion's (RIM) first BlackBerry tablet, the PlayBook?

BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express for Domino available

Research In Motion's (RIM) free BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Express software should become available today to organizations that employ IBM's Lotus Domino mail server and associated infrastructure, according to the BlackBerry-maker. BES Express is a no-cost, "slimmed down" version of RIM's full BES with many of the same security safeguards and mobile connectivity options, but fewer IT control policies for corporate BlackBerry administrators.