Dec
23

Investors shed shares of Blackberry maker

Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion slumped more than 16 percent Friday with future revenue coming into question and a declining number of subscribers.RIM's stock jumped initially Thursday when the Canadian company released better-than-expected third-quarter results and a stronger cash position.Shares reversed course during a conference call later, when executives said that the company won't...
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RIM’s biggest problem: It’s still scrambling to catch yesterday’s hottest mobile app

The moment I first realized that RIM (RIMM) was truly in enormous trouble was back in 2010 when I heard then co-CEO Jim Balsillie downplay the importance of apps. Yes, you read that correctly. Balsillie actually told attendees at a Web 2.0 summit in 2010 that the Internet itself was the most important “app” for mobile devices and contended that the “Web needs a platform that allows you to use your...
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Apple has achieved its highest ever smartphone share in U.S.

According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Apple’s (AAPL) smartphone market share in the United States recently reached an all time high. In the past 12 weeks, the company is said to have captured a 53.3% share of the United States smartphone market. Apple’s increased market share comes in the wake of the iPhone 5 launch, although things aren’t quite as good for the company overseas....
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Nokia, RIM settle old disputes in new patent pact

 Nokia Corp. and Canadian smartphone rival Research In Motion have agreed on a new patent licensing pact which will end all existing litigation between the two struggling companies, the Finnish firm said Friday.The agreement includes a "one-time payment and on-going payments, all from RIM to Nokia," Nokia said, but did not disclose "confidential" terms.Last month, Nokia sued the Blackberry maker...
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Fan-made tweak gives Apple a blueprint for better multitasking in iOS 7 [video]

In recent years, Android has continued to get better and better with new and useful features. At the same time, iOS has become rather stagnant and in many ways has fallen behind. iOS 6 did bring new features, but its subsequent updates also introduced a slew of issues. What’s most disappointing about iOS is that it still doesn’t allow users to quickly adjust basic things such as brightness, Wi-Fi,...
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Newtown shooting cranks up Canada's gun-control debate

Though the massacre in Newtown, Conn., last week has drawn sympathy from all over the world, it has a particular resonance in Canada.The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 26 victims dead, including 20 children, comes just a week after the 23rd anniversary of Canada's own "Montreal Massacre," which reshaped the country's gun laws. Moreover, it occurred even as Canadians recently renewed...
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Palestinians begin returning to Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.Refugees have started returning to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria after fighting between rebels and government-allied forces sent them fleeing, but the status of the Palestinian refugees, along with hundreds of thousands of others displaced by the Syrian conflict, remains a top concern for observers outside the country.The Associated...
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Lessons from the Maya prophesy – whether the world 'ends' or not

Through a clearing in the jungle, visitors catch their first glimpse of the ancient Maya ruins of Yaxchilan in Mexico's southern Chiapas state. Stubborn vines have penetrated the walls of the Maya temple of the underworld. Bats hang in the cool vaulted ceiling and spiders scurry around the structure where ancient nobles once meditated and prayed to their gods.Here, like across the Maya civilization,...
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Syrian rebel infighting could take dangerous turn if Assad falls

In recent weeks, a number of opposition fighters in Aleppo have come to see the fall of the Assad government as only a matter of time. But bringing down the unpopular president may be easy in comparison to unifying an opposition that at times seems held together by little more than members' shared hatred of President Bashar al-Assad.Without him, its often unclear what will hold the disparate armed...
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Pressure mounts on Obama to change tactics on Iran

Arguing that further sanctions "are unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear pursuits," a group of Iran experts and senior former officials are calling on the White House to pursue realistic, "serious, sustained negotiations" with Tehran that they say are the best chance to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.The letter to President Obama, from 24 signatories whose professional careers have often been marked by dealing...
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