News

• BlackBerry CEO trumpets management, marketing at user conference

  It took two hours for three BlackBerry executives to announce four items: a routine software update, a new low-end qwerty smartphone aimed at overseas markets, a new feature for BlackBerry Messenger, and Messenger's extension to iOS and Android.

• BlackBerry Messenger is expanding to iOS and Android

  BlackBerry's free Messenger service is being expanded to work with iOS and Android devices, the company announced today at its BlackBerry Live event.

• Upbeat BlackBerry launches new Q5 qwerty smartphone

  The annual BlackBerry Live conference was kicked off Tuesday with the launch of a new 3.1-in. qwerty smartphone, the BlackBerry Q5, that's slated to go on sale this summer in emerging markets, but not in the U.S.

• Canadian Tire CTO impressed with BlackBerry Q10's long battery life

  Canadian Tire began issuing thousands of BlackBerry Q10 smartphones to corporate employees in Toronto on Monday after rolling out Z10 models weeks earlier.

• Samsung smartphones, tablets running Knox get U.S. Defense Department approval

  Samsung said Friday that its smartphones and tablets running its Knox security and management software have been cleared for use on the U.S. Department of Defense network.

• BlackBerry 10 cleared for use on US Department of Defense networks

  The U.S. Department of Defense has cleared BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets for use on its networks, amid reports that the department may also clear devices from Samsung Electronics and Apple.

• BlackBerry CEO unfairly mocked for questioning tablets’ dominion

  BlackBerry CEO Thorstein Heins mentioned in a Bloomberg interview Tuesday that he thought that "In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore." He was quickly denounced for ignoring the iPad, not owning up to the failure of BlackBerry's own PlayBook tablet, and in general for "trashtalking" tablets and "being hopelessly out of touch."

• 'Dual personality' could morph into Jekyll and Hyde for Samsung and BlackBerry

  BlackBerry and Samsung have separately launched security and management software with dual-personality features for their latest Z10 and Galaxy S4 smartphones, both designed to meet the demands of a growing BYOD marketplace.

• For first time, smartphone sales top other mobile phones in first quarter

  Six years after the sale of the first iPhone and 14 years after the first BlackBerry email pager was unveiled, smartphone shipments have outnumbered sales of other types of mobile phones.

• Q10 with qwerty keyboard seen as lure to majority of BlackBerry's 76M users

  BlackBerry needed to produce an updated qwerty device for its faithful base of 76 million subscribers, but it remains to be seen whether the Q10 will make serious inroads in reversing BlackBerry's decline.

• U.S. carriers expected to ship BlackBerry Q10 in late May

  The BlackBerry Q10 with its physical keyboard is expected to be available from major U.S. carriers in late May at a suggested price of $249 with a contract.

• Unity readies cross platform game development tool for BlackBerry 10 with open beta test

  Unity Technologies will soon extend its cross-platform game development tools with an open beta trial targeting the BlackBerry 10 OS. It is inviting developers to register now to be among the first to get access.

• BlackBerry says report of high Z10 returns is 'false'

  BlackBerry's recent launch of the Z10 smartphone and the upcoming Q10 qwerty device were intended to put the company back on solid ground, but BlackBerry seems to be defending itself from a new crisis every week.

• BlackBerry calls broker's report of high Z10 returns "absolutely false"

  BlackBerry Friday branded as "absolutely false" a brokerage's report claiming that "in several cases, returns are now exceeding sales" for the company's new Z10 smartphone in the U.S.

• BlackBerry Q10 pre-orders start in Canada; no word on U.S.

  Several Canadian retailers and wireless carriers began taking pre-orders for the BlackBerry Q10 qwerty smartphone, although there was no word on when the phones would be available.