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BlackBerry CEO likes tablets, just not as they are

ORLANDO, Fla.--OK, so is BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins a fan of tablets, or isn't he?

Heins, who made waves last month when he said he didn't see a place for tablets in five years, made some seemingly contradictory comments on tablets when he spoke on Tuesday during a Q&A session with the media while at the BlackBerry Live conference.

"We believe in a single element of mobile computing: one on your hip," Heins said.

Roughly 15 minutes later, Heins said BlackBerry was looking at the future of tablets and investing R&D … Read more

BlackBerry Messenger expands to Android, iOS

ORLANDO, Fla. -- More news rolled out of BlackBerry Live 2013 today, including the company's plans to offer BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS devices.

The BBM platform will hit these products by summer, but best of all, the service will be offered as a free download. The BlackBerry CEO sounded very excited about the move, a first for the service. He said, "It's a statement of confidence. We are confident time is right for BBM to be independent."

Those are bold words indeed and certainly a great tactic to lure users back to BBM. The … Read more

BlackBerry Q5 handset becomes reality at BlackBerry Live

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Here at BlackBerry Live 2013, the long-rumored BlackBerry Q5 handset became legitimate. The midrange device will sport a design reminiscent of the old Curve models but use materials less pricey than what's in the current Q10 flagship.

That means the BlackBerry Q5 boasts a full QWERTY keyboard but won't sport the premium keys you'll find on the Q10. Instead, the Q5's buttons are flatter and more bubbly, not chiseled typing surfaces expertly angled for message-punching perfection.

Indeed, when I was able to spend some time with the Q5 after BlackBerry Live's keynote … Read more

BlackBerry Live by the numbers: 120,000 apps available

ORLANDO, Fla. -- BlackBerry needs to convince developers that they aren't wasting their time working on its platform.

So what better way to state its case than by throwing out a few impressive statistics? BlackBerry spent the better part of Tuesday morning during its BlackBerry Live conference attempting to drum up support and enthusiasm for its platform.

Oh, and the venerable handset maker also used the occasion to unveil its BlackBerry Q5 phone, a device intended for emerging markets that will arrive sometime this summer.

Here are the highlights from BlackBerry on how well it's doing:

Number of … Read more

BB 10.1 and Skype come to BlackBerry Z10

ORLANDO, Fla.--At BlackBerry Live 2013, the phone maker announced that it would roll out BB10.1 software to its Z10 handset. The upgrade will also include access to the Skype video chat application.

BlackBerry also handed out the Z10 device to attendees here at the BlackBerry Live show so many folks no doubt will be able to enjoy the fresh infusion of software. Stay tuned as he get hands on with our upgraded Z10.

The 404 1264: Where we try and stay Glassy (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Public's first reaction to Google Glass summed up by SNL.

- Can you really make money online by playing competitive games?

- Busting online piracy group has led to increase -- in piracy.… Read more

SNL mocks Google Glass (because, well, who isn't?)

When someone tries to shove progress in your face, it can be disconcerting.

When someone tries to shove progress on your face, they might not have imagined that your face is a little more precious than they thought.

Recently, the chorus of those who believe that Google Glass might go the way of other seemingly clever inventions like the Segway has become greater than the choir behind an "American Idol" finalist.

Inevitably, perhaps, "Saturday Night Live" thought this would be the perfect time to offer its own shot in the eye.

So here is Fred Armisen … Read more

YouTube goes to Washington

Google's popular video channel and its public policy group have teamed up to provide members of Congress with feature-enhanced video channels today.

Citing an increase in public interest in streaming video from their elected representatives, Google has offered to improve the YouTube channels of all 535 members of Congress for free. They will be able to share via YouTube, e-mail, and social media live-streamed and archived videos such as the first hour of the recent Rand Paul filibuster, embedded above.

Google's content partnerships head honcho Robert Kyncl and vice president of Public Policy and Government Relations Susan Molinari … Read more

LivingSocial hacked; 50 million affected

Daily deals Web site LivingSocial is the latest database target for hackers, who have compromised the personal information of more than 50 million people.

In internal LivingSocial e-mails obtained by AllThingsD, the unknown culprits appear to have made off with the names, e-mails, birthdates, and encrypted passwords of what appears to be the vast majority of LivingSocial customers.

The Washington, D.C.-based site, owned in part by Amazon, claims around 70 million customers worldwide. The company's divisions in the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand remain unaffected because they are hosted on different servers.

To put this breach … Read more