Hasta La Gadget!

Looks like our pals at Research In Motion are taking the company name literally this week — they’ve got a pair of patent applications target ads to automobiles and pedestrians on the street by dynamically changing their information density. By taking a page out of Google’s book and measuring the relative position of GPS-equipped phones (or using traditional sensors should that fail), RIM wants to create digital billboards that automatically add details the slower traffic gets. In one example, a “Road House Restaurant” could display only the name and exit number of the joint in giant letters when traffic moves quickly, but pitch that delectable pecan pie more thoroughly when it’s stop and go — but RIM’s thinking a bit further than that, suggesting that when vehicles are particularly slow, you could pull out your phone and get a coupon by photographing a projected QR code. The future, ladies and gentlemen.

RIM tries to patent billboards that adjust to roadside traffic originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM has yet to officially announce the upcoming Style 9670 flip, but the leakfest continues today with a handful of new videos — professionally-produced ones this time — that show off key features of the UI and how to use them. Unlike the Torch, the Style lacks a touchscreen — it just wouldn’t be prudent in a clamshell form factor — which means we’re seeing just what it’s like to navigate the finer points of BlackBerry 6’s user interface with an optical pad (and secondary display) alone on a larger, portrait-oriented display. We’re hopeful that RIM’s new platform has a certain… well, a certain “something” on non-touchscreen devices that the Torch lacks, but time will tell, we suppose. Follow the break for the full video series.

Continue reading BlackBerry Style 9670’s UI demoed in leaked official videos

BlackBerry Style 9670’s UI demoed in leaked official videos originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We probably shouldn’t have been too surprised when the Indian government yesterday announced that Research in Motion had offered a proposal–an attempt to work with the government’s request for increased access to the information stored on its citizens’ smartphones for “law enforcement” purposes.

Principled stands are all well and good, but at the end of the day, RIM is a company and companies exist to make money, right? And India, after all, is a huge potential market for any consumer electronics manufacturer. In a statement yesterday, Indian government announced that the BlackBerry manufacturer had, “made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies.”

The aforementioned “proposals” come after an ultimatum by the India government, which threated to shut down BlackBerry support if RIM didn’t comply by August 31st.

The question then, ultimately, is whether RIM will be forced to make similar concessions in other countries. The India kerfuffle, after all, came on the heels of similar threats by the United Arab Emirates, which threatened to block services after October 11th. Within a few days, Saudi Arabia was threatening its own block, if RIM didn’t meet its request by August 6th (though the latter did, ultimately, grant the company an extension).

It was facing an August 31st deadline before India banned BlackBerry service in the country, but it looks like RIM has now managed to avoid that scenario — at least for a little while. According to India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, “RIM have made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalized immediately,” and that “the feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter.” Details are still a bit light beyond that, but India’s assessment will apparently come after 60 days, and there’s still no guarantee that we won’t end up back at square one at that point. Interestingly, India is also still raising complaints about Gmail and Skype, with it now saying that it wants Google and Skype to set up servers in the country that would give it greater monitoring capabilities.

RIM averts BlackBerry ban in India… for now originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s felt almost as if the BlackBerry smartphone rumor mill has been a little too quiet — dare we say burnt out — since the Torch hit the scene (BlackPad notwithstanding, of course). That’s all changed with a pair of interesting leaks care of Boy Genius Report. Behold a successor to the Bold 9700, the R020. The tri-band UMTS / quad-band EDGE device is gonna disappoint some with the same 624MHz clockspeed and 2.44-inch 480 x 360 screen, but it does have twice the RAM (512MB), a 5 megapixel camera with AF and flash, and of course runs on BlackBerry 6. If the purported leaked slides are correct, a device of such magnitude should be launching in the October timeframe. Looking to the CDMA side of things — which means likely both Verizon and Sprint — we’ve got a 9670 “Oxford” (at least by codename) flip phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera, 360 x 400 internal display (240 x 320 for the external), usual amenities like WiFi and GPS, and the hip new BB6. No touchscreen on either phones, as far as we can tell, but perhaps that’s a blessing for those that fret smudged screens.

BlackBerry Bold R020 and 9670 Oxford flip outed? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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