Hasta La Gadget!

Despite a shaky track record, it seems HP is keen to stay involved with the smartphone market—with one of its execs insisting that it’s planning to release a handset. At some point.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In a March interview, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, whose company’s smartphone ambitions led to his vacating a board seat at Apple, claimed that he didn’t use either an Android phone or iPhone. Rather, he uses a Blackberry, citing his affinity for its keyboard despite a number of Android models released over the years integrating physical thumb keyboards.

RIM devices had keyboards even before they had email; the feature was part of the BlackBerry’s predecessor, the RIM Inter@ctive Pager. Indeed, tactile feedback was so valued by the company that it tried to integrate it into the touchscreen with the BlackBerry Storm. In reviewing that phone for The New York Times, David Pogue noted, “A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel.” Imagine such a thing.

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HTC has announced that there are some delays holding up production of its new flagship phone, the One. The company claims it will attempt to fulfil pre-orders by the end of the month, but the device may not appear in stores until some time in April. More »

Blackberry is one of several to sign on a celebrity to help push its platform, having recently announced that Alicia Keys is its new Global Creative Director with the launch of Blackberry 10. All was well for a couple weeks until tweets surfaced under Keys’ Twitter account from an iPhone, her previous handset of choice. According to the singer, she was hacked.

According to the New York Times, more than one tweet was present on her Twitter account from the iPhone, as well as images recently taken with Instagram, which you won’t find on any Blackberry handset. All of the activity has since been deleted, but it nonetheless makes her response to the issue seem less plausible than it would have if only one iPhone-sent tweet was present – that she was hacked.

As you can see in the screenshot above, Keys says that she did not send out the “Started from the bottom now were [sic] here” tweet, instead blaming it on being “hacked.” Her spokesperson has a different angle to the story, however, insinuating that Keys’ posted those tweets before officially “breaking up” with her iPhone.

Said Keys’ spokesman Rhett Usry: “The Internet is buzzing with speculation as to the exact time Alicia Keys ‘broke up’ with her previous smart phone. After a transitional period, she’s officially an exclusive BlackBerry 10 user today.” Which is it? We’ll never know, but the moral of the story is either to keep your Twitter password secret, or be careful when using a handset other than the one you’re supposed to exclusively represent.

[via The Verge]

Blackberry’s celebrity director Alicia Keys tweets with iPhone, blames it on hacker is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’ve rarely had to use a handset with my smartphone, maybe that’s because I don’t talk much on it, and most earphones tend to have built-in microphones, so they are perfectly capable of acting like handsets. However, if you talk a lot on your phone, and like the feeling of an old-school handset, check out this funny-looking one, shaped like a banana.

The Banana Radiation-Proof Handset does exactly what its name says, protect your brain from harmful cellphone radiations – all while looking like a monkey’s favorite fruit. It connects via a 3.5 mm audio jack to a bunch of different phones, including iPhones, Motorola and Blackberry phones. Yes, this banana goes well with Apples and Blackberries.

It’s available in 8 different colors over on Amazon and costs $21.99(USD). It’s definitely something fun to give in a gift exchange or as a prank – or to your pet monkey who knows how to use a phone.

[via Fancy Crave]