Hasta La Gadget!

RIM has announced new updates to its developer program today that it hopes will drive enthusiasm for its BlackBerry 10 platform. One of the big changes to the developer program is that the BlackBerry Dev Alpha program has been expanded to include a new BlackBerry Dev Alpha C test device for developers. The interesting aspect of this particular bit of testing hardware is that is designed for developing using a physical keyboard.

RIM also says that developers testing applications on a BlackBerry Dev Alpha test device can apply for a limited-edition BlackBerry 10 device. RIM promises to swap that Dev Alpha device for limited-edition BlackBerry 10 smartphone after launch. This particular deal has a deadline of January 21, 2013 for app submissions.

Another part of the updated program is that the BlackBerry certification lab is open. Developers can now submit apps for testing and earn the Built for BlackBerry designation. Apps have to be submitted to the BlackBerry World App Store and approved for sale to be eligible for the Built for BlackBerry certification. The certification has to be granted to apps before they can be considered for RIM’s 10k commitment.

The 10k commitment was previously announced and guarantees developers will earn at least $10,000 on their BlackBerry 10 apps. The apps have to be Built for BlackBerry certified to qualify and must have earned at least $1000 over 12 months. RIM has also announced the BlackBerry 10 SDK has been updated as of today and the SDK will come out of beta and move into full launch mode on December 11.

RIM updates BlackBerry 10 developer program is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HP is currently fighting a massive shareholder backlash over the huge $8.8 billion write-down it was forced to take on its acquisition of Autonomy. HP has alleged that there were “serious accounting improprieties” that led it to overpay massively for the company. HP’s shareholders have filed suit in the matter and named the major auditing firms that worked on the deal for HP as defendants.

The new shareholder lawsuit names auditing firms Deloitte and KPMG as defendants in the case. The suit alleges that both auditing firms missed numerous red flags having to do with Autonomy’s accounting practices. The suit also names HP’s board of directors, officers, and former executives alleging breach of duty and negligence for their role in the acquisition.

The suit was filed Tuesday in a federal court in San Jose California. HP CEO Meg Whitman has stated frequently that HP relied on audits of Autonomy performed by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s UK branch last year when it purchased Autonomy for $11.1 billion. HP also relied on KPMG, which HP claims performed audits of Deloitte’s work.

KPMG is denying that it was even hired to do any audit work or oversee Deloitte’s work on the Autonomy deal. KPMG maintains that it was hired to provide limited services with no relation to the Autonomy audit. Deloitte has previously stated that it was not responsible for due diligence on HP’s acquisition and denied any knowledge of accounting improprieties or misrepresentations in the Autonomy financial statements.

[via Reuters]

HP shareholder lawsuit names audit firms that worked on the Autonomy deal is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Rumors of Apple’s HDTV have been floating around for quite a while now, which for those who aren’t familiar, blew the rumor mill’s doors wide open when Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs contained a quote from Apple’s late co-founder at having finally cracked the TV code. At this point in time many have only speculated at what this alleged TV would hold, but in the meantime it seems that some big names have expressed their interest in Apple launching such a device. One of them is Time Warner’s CEO, Jeffrey Bewkes, who told Business Insider that he hopes Apple makes such a device.

Bewkes went on and stated his belief, which has been similarly shared by analysts, that Apple’s strength lies in creating sleek and intuitive user interfaces, and that Apple’s TV could be another one of its market-disrupting products. That being said, it seems that Bewkes also believes that Apple will not be alone in launching their TV and that we can expect “as many interfaces as you can get”, suggesting that there will be more players looking to disrupt the market as well. Since there have only been concept renderings and no concrete evidence of such a device existing, we really do not know what to expect, but if you had to venture a guess, what do you think Apple could introduce to the TV market that will shake things up?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Building New Campus In Santa Clara, iPhone 5 Receives Network Access License In China,

I always think of the tablet market as having two basic segments. You have your high-end segment that Apple owns with its iPad, and then we have the lower end segment where tablet such as the Amazon Fire HD and hordes of Android-powered tablets play. I’ve always thought that the companies trying to break into that high-end tablet market, such as Microsoft, are doing things wrong, especially when it comes to pricing.

I don’t think you can put a tablet on the market with similar or lesser performance selling for the same price or more than the segment leading iPad and expect success. I think this is exactly what Microsoft did with Surface RT. Sometimes it seems Microsoft believes people will buy simply because it’s a Microsoft product. Sources in Microsoft’s upstream supply chain are claiming that orders for Surface RT tablets have been cut in half.

The sources are claiming that the new operating system may not be performing as well as Microsoft expected on the market. Originally, Microsoft predicted that it would ship 4 million Surface RT devices by the end of 2012. However, the software giant has recently slashed that prediction to 2 million.

Demand for Windows RT tablets from other manufacturers such as Asus, Samsung, and Dell is also said to be weak. Sources in the supply chain also say that the Surface RT tablets aren’t expected to perform well for Microsoft in the coming quarter. The sources say that with Surface RT underperforming, Microsoft could be forced to roll out its Intel-based Surface Pro tablets earlier in December than expected. The sources also claim that Surface Pro tablets could see a price cut to help attract customers.

[via Digitimes]

Microsoft Surface RT tablet orders cut in half says supply chain source is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The name “Blackberry App World” does not really have a ring to it and personally I thought it could have been named better. It looks like the folks at RIM have thought the same as well and in a tweet by the Canadian company, they have announced that the Blackberry App World will be no more – instead they are renaming it to Blackberry World, which in all honesty has a better ring to it and just rolls off the tongue a lot better! Interesting in their tweet, they also indicated that in the Blackberry World, they will now be offering music and videos. The official website still reads Blackberry App World so we’re not sure when exactly this new branding will take effect. In any case it certainly seems like RIM is gearing up to launch its Blackberry 10 OS come 30^th January 2013, and this is probably one of steps the company is taking in an effort to relaunch its brand.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BBM Video Headed For BlackBerry 10, AT&T Is Worst Rated Carrier In US,