RIM introduces ‘PlayBook’ – Blackberry tablet

Engadget is reporting today that at Research in Motion's event today, the company introduced its 'PlayBook' tablet computer. The device will sport a a Cortex A9 1GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 7" display, app switching capability, an e-Reader built-in, document editing, and pairing with BlackBerry devices.

The tablet will also be able to shoot 1080p HD video and will have HDMI and USB ports on it, a rear-facing camera, front-facing camera - all in a package that is 9.7mm thick.

The PlayBook is based on QNX's Lazaridis called it "the first professional tablet," and "an amplified view of what's already on your BlackBerry."

[UPDATE: U.S. on November 8th] Microsoft to launch first Windows Phone 7 devices on October 21st

Neowin is reporting that they have received information from sources close to Microsoft that claim the company will be launching the first Windows Phone 7 devices on October 21st.

According to the report, Microsoft will hold several worldwide launch events on October 21st, as well as an event in New York City on October 11th where the company will show off some the devices that will be launching. Windows Phone 7-based devices are set to launch on October 21st in the UK, France, Germany Italy and Spain. It is unclear whether the U.S. will also be part of this October 21st launch.

Microsoft is planning to partner with a big London based radio station in the UK to promote Windows Phone 7. Orange, a long time Windows Mobile partner of Microsoft's, is also expected to be a close launch partner for Windows Phone 7. If you thought you'd heard a lot about Windows Phone 7 recently then prepare to be bombarded with a major advertising blitz from Microsoft shortly. The Redmond based company is planning to go all out on Windows Phone 7 marketing.

Just over this weekend, Microsoft accidentally posted two advertisements showing off the HTC Mondrian running on Windows Phone 7 and AT&T's network.

Finally, Boy Genius Report is noting that they have received information from a Microsoft spokesperson, claiming that Windows Phone 7 will not support Internet tethering. The spokesperson clearly stated: “Windows phone 7 does not support tethering.” There's no question that the lack of Internet tethering on Windows Phone 7 devices will be a deal-breaker for some, especially considering the iPhone and many Android devices can do it.

UPDATE: Engadget is reporting that Microsoft expert Paul Thurrott believies Windows Phone 7 devices will be hitting U.S. retail store shelves on November 8th, about three weeks after the October 21st launch date in other countries.

Microsoft accidentally publishes two ads for HTC Mondrian

Microsoft accidentally published two separate advertisements showing off the Windows Phone 7-based HTC Mondrian smartphone over the weekend. The company has since removed the videos from their YouTube channel, but the folks at WMPoweruser were able to re-upload them to their account for further viewing.

Both advertisements show the device running on AT&T's network and discuss how Windows Phone 7 can help in real-life scenarios.

‘The Social Network’ comes out next week

Next Friday, October 1st, 2010, "The Social Network" (a.k.a "the Facebook movie") will be coming to a theater near you. The Social Network highlights the founding and development of Facebook, including the challenges that founder Mark Zuckerberg came across. The movie carries the tagline of  "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies."

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications (IMDB database)

The Social Network stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Max Minghella, Rooney Mara and Armie Hammer. The film was written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.

So far, it appears critics are enjoying The Social Network, giving the movie an average 9.7/10 rating.

Are you going to go see The Social Network? Let us know in the comments.

Apple files for landscape dock connector for iPad, a little interesting dot on the bezel on patent images

Patently Apple is reporting on a new Apple patent found today that first appeared in China's patent system. The filing goes over the ability to dock an iPad in both landscape mode or portrait mode (like you can now). That means there would be two different dock connectors on the device, one in the landscape positon and the other in portrait.

There were rumors regarding dual dock connectors for the current iPad before it was announced, but those obviously never came true. That being said, it could be that these patents refer the to the current iPad, rather than the possibility of including this feature in a future revision.

On some of the images filed with this patent, there is a tiny dot located on the bezel of the iPad. There are two possibilities of what it could be - a front-facing camera or the ambient light sensor which is already located on the iPad. However, Apple usually does not include an ambient light sensor on their patent images. It's really whatever you want it to be right now.

Verizon iPhone may never happen

AppleInsider reported earlier this week that Apple was prepping manufacturing for 3 million CDMA iPhone's.  Then soon after that reported they received word that a Verizon iPhone might not ever happen.

Apple and Verizon are struggling to sign a deal. They are also reporting that they probably won't even get it when Verizon launches their 4G network.

Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets said

"Verizon may not accept Apple's contract terms that risk its Android franchise, which could face significant cannibalization from pent up iPhone demand on its network," Abramsky wrote. "And Apple may not want iPhone to be second banana to Android at Verizon, and may be unwilling to accept less than prime marketing, subsidy support for a Verizon iPhone."

In October, Google and Verizon announced a partnership to distribute the Android operating system. With this partnership, Verizon has really helped grow the platform in the U.S.

Like I mentioned above, AppleInsider reported that Apple was prepping production for a lot of CDMA iPhones, but those could go to other carriers around the world.

They also said we could see a Verizon iPad in 2011, but he said it was not confirmed

Problems already found on Froyo for Droid X

Verizon has confirmed that there is an issue with Froyo for the Droid X. It appears that there is a text messaging issue that isn't really widespread. Apparently the time-stamp on both incoming, and outgoing messages are appearing incorrect. Many of our long-time readers know that I use a Droid X as my daily phone, and I am not experincing any problems with that.

But, my phone is not without problems. I use my phone for a lot, it is my music source when I am away from my iPad, or my laptop. When I am playing a song on my phone, the software on my phone just freezes. According to Verizon, that isn't a known issue with the recent software upgrade.

I read somewhere that there was also an audio problem with it too, I don't remember where it was, but I am not having any audio problems either.

Is anyone having any problems with Froyo on the Droid X?

Apple releases iTunes 10.0.1 with critical bug fixes and Ping sidebar

Apple today released iTunes 10.0.1, addressing several critical bugs with iTunes 10, as well as brining a new feature called the "Ping Sidebar" to iTunes. Ping Sidebar allows you to view your Ping stream directly from your iTunes library, without launching the Ping section specifically.

iTunes 10.0.1 is available for download for Mac OS X users from Software Update, for Windows users here and Windows 64-bit users here.

Adobe, Apple, Google ordered to stop anti-poaching agreements

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced today that it is ordering Adobe, Google, Intel, Apple, Intuit, and Pixar to stop entering "no-poach" agreements between each other's employees. In simple terms, anti-poaching prevents company's from taking each other's employees.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement with six high technology companies – Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar – that prevents them from entering into no solicitation agreements for employees. The department said that the agreements eliminated a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees, and overall diminished competition to the detriment of affected employees who were likely deprived of competitively important information and access to better job opportunities.

These companies have been making agreements between each other for years about not taking each other's employees (like "I won't take your employee if you won't take mine"). However, many believe that this goes against U.S. antitrust laws and an investigation was launched last year by the Department of Justice in the United States.

The DoJ made it clear today that they are not going to tolerate company's making these anti-poaching agreements.

This is a list of the different types of agreements that the six companies made, according to the DoJ:

Beginning no later than 2006, Apple and Google executives agreed not to cold call each other’s employees.   Apple placed Google on its internal “Do Not Call List,” which instructed employees not to directly solicit employees from the listed companies.   Similarly, Google listed Apple among the companies that had special agreements with Google and were part of the “Do Not Cold Call” list;

Beginning no later than May 2005, senior Apple and Adobe executives agreed not to cold call each other’s employees.   Apple placed Adobe on its internal “Do Not Call List” and similarly, Adobe included Apple in its internal list of “Companies that are off limits”;

Beginning no later than April 2007, Apple and Pixar executives agreed not to cold call each other’s employees.   Apple placed Pixar on its internal “Do Not Call List” and senior executives at Pixar instructed human resources personnel to adhere to the agreement and maintain a paper trail;

Beginning no later than September 2007, Google and Intel executives agreed not to cold call each other’s employees.   In its hiring policies and protocol manual, Google listed Intel among the companies that have special agreements with Google and are part of the “Do Not Cold Call” list.  Similarly, Intel instructed its human resources staff about the existence of the agreement; and

In June 2007, Google and Intuit executives agreed that Google would not cold call any Intuit employee.   In its hiring policies and protocol manual, Google also listed Intuit among the companies that have special agreements with Google and are part of the “Do Not Cold Call” list.

HTC CEO: Sense for Windows Phone 7 won’t be ready at launch

FierceWireless is reporting today that HTC CEO Peter Chou has stated in an interview that the company will not have a version of Sense UI available for Windows Phone 7 when it launches later this year.

"Initially, we don't have time to bring things on top of that," he said. "But over time we will innovate on top of that to provide some HTC experience."

When asked whether Taiwan-based HTC would at some point in the future introduce its Sense UI onto WP7, Chou hedged.

"I don't think we would do complete Sense UI on Windows Phone 7," he said. "However, I will say that we will innovate differently to improve the experience and to get some HTC unique and differentiated experience on Windows Phone 7 in the future."

An HTC spokesperson has given some clarification the Chou's comments:

"In the long term, with the Sense experience, we are looking for ways to enhance the user experience using HTC innovation. ... Sense, by definition, is a way for HTC to improve the user experience in both big and small ways--which we will certainly work to do with Windows Phone 7 devices. But, if this does not include a fully revised user interface, that does not mean that it doesn't have a form of the Sense experience--it may just be expressed in ways that do not include the interface."

Sense UI for Windows Phone 7 was first revealed earlier this month, sporting 3G graphics and general improvements to the already feature-filled Windows Phone 7 OS.

It's not clear at this time when HTC will ship Sense UI-based Windows Phone 7 devices.

Target to begin selling iPad on October 3rd

The Associated Press is reporting today that Target has confirmed they will begin selling the Apple iPad in all six models beginning on October 3rd.

The nation's second-largest discount chain says it will start selling touchscreen tablet computer Oct. 3. The iPad will be covered under the retailer's 5 percent discount for store credit-card holders, which rolls out Oct. 17. Target hopes the combination of the hit device and the discount will bring in shoppers during the holidays.

When Target begins selling the iPad, it will be the largest retail store chain to sell the device, something that will get Apple even more exposure.

Target will carry the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB models of both the Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G models of the iPad.

Blockbuster files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Engadget is reporting that the once huge video store has finally filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. We have been expecting it for awhile.

Blockbuster has filed for "pre-arranged" chapter 11 proceedings. Under this plan, their debt should be reduced from $1 Billion to about $100 million. As of right now, all of their 3300 stores will remain open, but Engadget's tipster mentions that up to 1000 stores could be cut before this is over with.

Blockbuster mentions that everything is still business as usual during their bankruptcy. Blockbuster's competitor, Movie Gallery (Hollywood Video, Game Crazy, and Movie Gallery) have already gone through their bankruptcy, and have closed all stores in the process.

HP Slate gets shown on video

Engadget is pointing to a video on YouTube which appears to be showing off the unreleased HP Slate tablet computer. The video shows the hardware of the device, as well as running a version of Windows 7. Despite the device booting in roughly 30 seconds, navigating using your finger doesn't appear to be as smooth as it should be on Windows 7 (especially compared to the iPad).

From the video, we can see that the device has an 8.9" display, two camera's, and will allow users to use a stylus or their finger to use the Slate.

It does seem a bit surprising that the HP Slate is still running Windows 7, despite the acquisition of Palm earlier this year and all the rumors of webOS coming to HP products.

Verizon CEO says they have to “earn” the iPhone

The Associated Press is reporting that Verizon Wireless CEO Ivan Seidenberg is continuing to state that there is currently no deal between Apple and Verizon that would bring the iPhone to the Big Red soon. That being said, Seidenberg did state that the company's soon-to-be-rolled-out 4G/LTE network will intrigue Apple to bring the iPhone to their network.

Speaking to an investor conference Thursday, Seidenberg said nothing about an iPhone for the company's current network, but said he hopes Apple Inc. will come around and allow Verizon to sell the phone for a new network it's building. The "4G" network hasn't yet opened for service and won't be complete next year.

All Things D is noting that Seidenberg also stated Verizon still has to "earn" the right to carry the iPhone.

"We don't feel like we have an iPhone deficit. We would love to carry it, but we have to earn it. I can't speak for Apple."

Mark Zuckerberg now richer than Steve Jobs

Forbes is reporting that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has surpassed Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs in the richest people in the world list.

Zuckerberg is now worth $6.9 billion, just a short five years after starting Facebook, one of the most popular websites in the world. Steve Jobs is worth $6.1 billion, which isn't that bad if you think about it.

This year, Zuckerberg, 26, added $4.9 billion to his fortune–vaulting to #35 on the Forbes 400 with an estimated fortune of $6.9 billion. Why the jump? Recent private equity investments in Facebook valued the firm at around $23 billion–more than triple its 2009 value of $7 billion. Illiquid private shares in secondary markets point to an even richer valuation. (See Quentin Hardy’s feature In Zuckerberg We Trust)

Jobs has a net worth of $6.1 billion–$1 billion higher than 2009–placing him at # 42 in the list of America’s richest. Still, he couldn’t keep up with Tech’s new whiz kid.

In somewhat related news, Zuckerberg donated $100 million to the Newark, New Jersey school district today, but no one really knows why since he didn't grow up there, nor does he currently live there.

LG Vortex is sporting Bing too!

The LG Vortex has been leaking out a lot lately. Verizon has fallen in love with Bing.
Bing has been made available on the Samsung Fascinate, HTC Merge (Unreleased), and now this (Unreleased).

Engadget Mobile can confirm that this device will launch with Froyo, and no FM radio. They note that it has a 600 Mhz processor, which is probably the same as the one found in the LG Ally.

No idea when, or even if this thing will ever launch. Personally, I think it would make a good low end device to help compliment their higher end devices. [Engadget Mobile]

[UPDATE: back up] Facebook is down

Facebook is currently experiencing downtime for many users over the past few hours. Yesterday, the social network was down for some time due to a third-party networking provider, but it appears today the issue has to do with DNS servers.

As far as API's and Like Buttons made by Facebook - it appears those are down also.

Facebook has stated to sources that, “We’re currently experiencing some site issues causing Facebook to be slow or unavailable for some users. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. This is unrelated to yesterday’s outage.”

It appears that the issues began happening at around 2:30 PM EST and 3:30 PM EST. At that time, only 38.46% of users were able to access Facebook, but experienced longer load times.

It's not clear what exactly is causing the issues, and we'll provide an update if we hear something.

UPDATE: Around 5:00 PM EST, Facebook went back up. You may still experience slowness when loading pages, however.

Googles launches Google New – keeps you informed about everything Google

Google has launched a new website today, entitled "Google New," which allows people to track all of the changes and new products that Google announces.

Google announces changes or new services on what seems to be a weekly basis now and this website is designed to keep users informed about everything that's going on at Google.

You can head over to google.com/newproducts/ to check out all of Google service changes.

Netflix announces $7.99 a month video streaming in Canada

As we reported yesterday, Netflix.ca has officially launched today for people in Canada who would like to use Netflix's video streaming service.

Canadian Netflix customers can pay $7.99 a month and will receive unlimited video streaming. As expected, the service does not include DVD's by mail.

Users can stream their content to any Internet-connected computer, set-top box, supported HDTV's, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

Netflix Canada is also offering a one-month free trial of the service. Xbox 360 users can expect to see an update later this year that will support Netflix Canada.

Apple preparing 3 million CDMA iPhones for December manufacturing

AppleInsider is reporting today that Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro is claiming that Apple is planning an initial production run of 3 million CDMA iPhones in December of this year. The CDMA iPhone, which has been rumored for a few years now, would allow Apple to end the device's exclusivity with AT&T in the U.S. and add carriers like Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

Analyst Jeffrey Fidacaro with Susquehanna Financial Group said in a note to investors on Wednesday that checks with overseas suppliers indicated Apple is prepared to build 3 million CDMA iPhones in December, keeping the device on track for an early 2011 launch. That would put total GSM and CDMA iPhone production for the quarter at between 21 million and 22 million.

A date of when Apple may begin selling the CDMA iPhone has not been released at this time.