Hasta La Gadget!

Rogers and Canadian bank CIBC struck a deal for NFC-based mobile payments back in May, long enough ago that it was starting to fade out of the public consciousness. The alliance may be near refreshing our memory with a commercial launch in the cards. MobileSyrup has reportedly scored internal documents that has the two launching their e-commerce collaboration on October 15th under a slightly catchier Suretap name. Unfortunately, the text also suggests that the initial launch will require at least as much hoop-jumping from customers as for the original Google Wallet plans. Avoiding a traditional wallet will demand a BlackBerry Bold 9900 or Curve 9360 on Rogers, a CIBC MasterCard, nearby stores with PayPass terminals, a CIBC app and now a special NFC-enabled SIM card — a set of criteria that disqualifies almost everyone, especially when there’s supposedly a $50 ceiling on transactions. It remains a step forward for mobile payments in a country that has had very few options to start with, but we’d only anticipate widespread adoption once there’s a much wider selection of devices and banks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM

Rogers, CIBC may launch Suretap NFC-based payments on October 15th, require a unique SIM originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM’s BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone has apparently been prematurely demonstrated on video, with a rep in Mexico whipping out his unannounced handset to show off the upcoming OS. While so far RIM has only demonstrated its two generations of Dev Alpha hardware, the BlackBerry L-Series unsurprisingly resembles the full-touch smartphone in Hola Telcel‘s video.

Several leaks have hinted at the L-Series before, with the hardware being caught in the wild back in September for instance, but RIM has resolutely refused to talk specifics. All the Canadian company will say is that it has both full-touch and QWERTY models in the pipeline, and that they’ll target the mid- to high-end market, with BlackBerry 7 still being kept on for budget devices.

That QWERTY phone, the BlackBerry N-Series, is still the source of some mystery, though with RIM pushing screen resolution – the Dev Alpha models have a 1280 x 768 panel, for instance – we can guess that even with a smaller display, it will still be pixel-dense. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a considerable period for an official launch of either, with analysts predicting it won’t be until March that BlackBerry 10 phones hit shelves.

RIM has proved reasonably aggressive with taking down leaks about the new phones, so we imagine this video won’t be live for long (and the rep in question might find himself facing some awkwardness at work). There’s more on BlackBerry 10 in our hands-on report with the latest Dev Alpha B device.

[via N4BB – Thanks James!]

RIM’s BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone caught in video demo is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Welcome to Wednesday evening, everyone. Today Samsung sent out formal invites to its upcoming Galaxy Note II press event in New York City, and we were told that HTC will be backing out of the US tablet market, at least for a little while. RIM is trying to lure developers into BlackBerry 10 with a new “$10K Developer Committment,” in which RIM says it will give developers $10,000 if their app reaches $1,000 in sales. RIM also opened up app submissions for BlackBerry 10 developers today, and we heard that the rumored LG Nexus 4 smartphone may be making its debut on October 29.

Microsoft showed us the retail packaging for Windows 8 today, while eBay gave us a look at its incoming redesign and launched a brand new same-day shipping app for iOS. Huawei may be facing a ban in Canada after US lawmakers suggested the company could potentially help China with espionage, and like so many other companies these days, PayPal has updated its policy to prevent disgruntled users from taking it to court.

Today’s Canadian launch of the DROID RAZR HD suggests that we may soon see it launch in the United States, and NASA’s new satellites that are powered by the HTC Nexus One will be heading into space next year. Earlier today we heard that Microsoft Office will be coming to Android and iOS next year, but it wasn’t long after that rumor hit before Microsoft was saying that there wasn’t any truth to it. Gearbox said today that the freshly-released Mechromancer DLC and the rank reset bug in Borderlands 2 have nothing to do with one another, while we learned that Wing Commander designer Chris Roberts is making a new space MMO.

Dishonored developer Arkane Studios said today that it wasn’t pressured by Bethesda to include multiplayer in the game, while Rovio released a brand new Bad Piggies-themed update for Angry Birds. A new Twitter study gives us a much closer look at the differences between male and female tweeters, and TweetDeck has been updated with a new theme and adjustable fonts. Finally tonight, we have a pair of original articles and a review for you to look through. Chris Burns discusses why AT&T’s new partnership with IBM will give the cloud the boost it needs, and why the Galaxy S III Mini proves that Samsung’s hero branding is working. He also gave us a review of the new Lenovo IdeaTab A2109, so be sure to have a look at that.

That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the rest of your night folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 10, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In a move that essentially means RIM is ready for business, BlackBerry App World has begun accepting submissions of BlackBerry 10 optimized apps today. This event marks one of the more important steps that must be taken before BlackBerry 10 may be released in the real world, and RIM is projecting themselves as a group that’s ready and willing to start this engine with a bang. The announcement includes suggestions for developers to get in early so that their app may be featured in the first wave of “preferred carousel placements” at the launch of the operating system in early 2013.

Of course this event doesn’t definitely reveal the final date that BlackBerry 10 will hit the market, but it’s nearly as good when it comes to being a developer. If you plan on dedicating yourself to the BlackBerry universe, you’ll have already made plans to get in on this touch-heavy operating system update in BlackBerry 10. If you’re ready, now’s the time to jump in head-first.

Included in this update is a new set of options in the BlackBerry App World Vendor Portal, that being both a new Family called “BlackBerry 10″ and a new device called “All Touch.” You’ll want to select these both if you’re sending out the good faith in a new app for the futuristic operating system coming early next year. You’ll have also been using the Beta3 Develop SDK launched just this September 27th if you want to do this all correctly.

Also of interest for those of you not intimately familiar with the BlackBerry universe – this submission portal also once again reminds us that the BlackBerry PlayBook will likely continue to work with its own separate operating system made specifically for its unique tablet size. At this time there are no public plans for another BlackBerry tablet other than the PlayBook – though with touch-heavy excellence on the horizon, there’s always the possibility.

[via BlackBerry Devblog]

BlackBerry 10 app submissions open today is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier in the morning, there was an analysis that BlackBerry 10 will miss its January 2013 release date, settling instead for a launch that will happen sometime in March 2013, which is just a couple of months after that (although as we mentioned, the two months could be crucial when it comes to the fast paced world of consumer electronics, especially smartphones and their operating systems). Jefferies’ Peter Misek is not exactly the role model when it comes to having the ideal track record for positive analysis on RIM.

Other mass media has also taken his proverbial bait, so to speak, making it sound as though it is clear and true that BlackBerry 10 is delayed, instead of being just speculation, resulting in RIM’s already beleaguered and battered stock to take a hit. RIM has so far formally acknowledged that BlackBerry 10’s release will happen in Q1 2013, so having it roll out in March which still falls under the Q1 window is technically not a delay, but rather, falls in line with RIM’s expectations. Words are surely important, as well as the way things are presented, don’t you think so?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 released, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform gaining on RIM over in Europe,