[BACK-2-BLACK]

Ford doesn?t feel the heat from Apple and Google

Ford doesn�t feel the heat from Apple and Google

By Aurel Niculescu � on August 18, 2015

The second largest US automaker feels no pressure from Google and Apple becoming more involved with the auto industry, according to Christof Kellerwessel, the automaker�s electrical engineering chief.

The senior manager is tasked to shepherd the car entertainment and connectivity technologies besides his duties covering electrical and data networks. He believes Ford will always be able to keep its brand identity independent even as the automaker has more collaborations than ever. Being able to constantly develop new vehicle sis among the hardest businesses but Ford has been always surrounded by hundreds of rivals and has a history of more than 110 years. �We partner with both Google and Apple to integrate Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in the next-generation Sync, which will be introduced in U.S. later this year,� says Kellerwessel. But the company is also always selecting the best partners in the industry for each relevant space � for example Blackberry�s QNX operating system is the basis of the next-generation infotainment system.

Connected cars are the next big thing in everyone�s opinion and Ford has been hard at work to enter the space. The executive says the segment is not only covering the �Internet of Things� but also involves communication among vehicles. And delivering appropriate responses in such a vast space requires many partners � even deals between competing automakers. And it also means they all have to deliver a corroborated, global, approach � involving all regions from North America to Europe or China.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

My boss wants me to work while on my family holiday. Help - Telegraph

OT>

'My boss wants me to work while on my family holiday. Help'

Telegraph Wonder Women's work agony aunt, Louisa Symington-Mills, advises a reader whose boss has asked her to be contactable on a family break. Send your work problems confidentially to [email protected]



I�m about to go on holiday for 2 weeks but have just been caught off-guard by my boss who asked me if I would be contactable and available to work �as there�s lots going on at the moment�. I said yes without thinking, but I�m actually really unhappy at the thought of having to work while I�m away. It could potentially wreck a lot of the plans I�ve made for the break with my family. How can I backtrack?

I can understand why you�re kicking yourself for your knee-jerk response. When you�ve spent weeks, if not months, looking forward to spending some rare time away from the office with loved ones it can feel soul-destroying to find your plans thrown up in the air at the last minute.

Holidays from work are a legal entitlement, and with good reason; health and safety - essentially, your wellbeing - is the ultimate beneficiary.

We are rarely left in peace, however; a survey conducted by lastminute.com in 2014, found that two-thirds of employees had been contacted by their boss while away, and that getting a phone call from work on holiday was more stressful than bungee jumping, or arguing with a partner.

Given stress is one of the biggest cause of long-term sick leave from work in the UK � and therefore a direct drag on business productivity � employers should, in theory, be as keen to avoid contacting you as you are to avoid hearing from them.

� 'I'm a control freak at work. How can I delegate?'

It's not too late

Your boss clearly hasn�t wised up to the benefits of letting you have an actual holiday � and no, it�s not too late to backtrack.

Setting clear boundaries, with a modicum of compromise, is the only way forward here.

You might be thinking that you can pretend the conversation with your boss never happened, and simply ignore the flashing light on your Blackberry or keep your phone on �do not disturb�, but it won�t work effectively. Stress and irritation will build on both sides and you�ll spend your holiday wondering what awaits you on your return. And giving in to your boss�s need for you to work will, obviously, ruin your enjoyment of your holiday and likely cause friction with your family � and may set a precedent for the future.

Once you�ve done the above, you�ll need to talk to your boss again. But your response needs to be more thoughtful this time.

� 'My boss keeps prying into my social life. What can I do?'

How to go about it

1. Make a list of all the work projects, meetings, client calls that are likely to crop up whilst you�re away, and draw up a plan for how each can be dealt with in your absence. Good delegation is key (and don�t feel guilty � you�ll do your bit to support your colleagues� holiday time as the year goes on), as is showing your boss you�ve thought through different scenarios for how projects may play out whilst you�re away, and how and when others should get involved
2. Get as up-to-date with everything you possibly can be � ideally prepare a handover document, which shares the status of the projects or accounts you�ve been working on, key contacts and next steps - so your colleagues have the information they need close to hand. In the lastminute.com survey, the top reasons why bosses called workers on holiday were 1) to ask where a document is saved; 2) to ask for log in details; 3) to ask about the status of a project. So help yourself, and make sure your co-workers have the details they need
3. Decide what level of contact with the office you are happy to accept. Ok, the ideal would be none at all � but it doesn�t sound like that�s realistic here. Compromising may result in the best outcome for you. Give yourself a 20 minute window to check emails early-evening, and arrange a brief Friday catch-up call with your boss at the end of each week of your holiday. This could be a way of keeping your boss at bay and achieving your own need for rest, relaxation and family time. Importantly, communication outside the agreed times should be for defined emergencies only. That applies to you too � however tempting it may be, stick to your �check-in� window and don�t reply to emails at other times � it�ll open the floodgates.

� Fed up with the daily grind? Working from a tropical island is easier than you think

Be clear

Explain that you won�t be able to continue working as you�d previously indicated due to your existing commitments on holiday. Then provide him with your detailed plan for covering your workload.

Tell him and your colleagues how and when you�ll be checking in by email,or phone, so everyone�s clear. Be clear and firm (practise what you have to say in advance if you need to).

Once your boundaries are marked in the sand � you�ll be able to set out your deckchair and relax.

Good luck.

Louisa Symington-Mills works in private equity as a COO and is founder and CEO of Citymothers and Cityfathers, networks of more than 6,000 parents in City careers. She is The Telegraph's careers agony aunt.

Email your work and business questions to: [email protected]

Louisa cannot print answers to every single question submitted, but she does read all your emails. Please note that by submitting your question to Louisa, you are giving your permission for her to use your question as the basis of her column, published online at Wonder Women.

All questions will be kept anonymous and key details, facts and figures may change to protect your identity. Louisa can only answer based on the information you give her and her advice is not a substitute for legal advice.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY) New Plan Will Help Firm Regain Market Share- Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE:VG), Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company (NYSE:MBT) | Streetwise Report

BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY) New Plan Will Help Firm Regain Market Share- Vonage Holdings Corporation (NYSE:VG), Mobile TeleSystems Public Joint Stock Company (NYSE:MBT)

Posted by: Jim Santiago


Shares of BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY) [Detail Analytic Report] slightly down 0.65% in regular trading session on Tuesday as the firm had showcased the BlackBerry Venice at MWC 2015 back in March. Android users have been thrilled after BlackBerry revealed the Venice smartphone at the MWC. BlackBerry has been speculated to be working with Samsung for making its first Android smartphone, which it expects, will help the firm regain market share. The BlackBerry Venice will provide the whole suite of BlackBerry enterprise services and will also run on BlackBerry 10.3, apart from an Android-based variant. Based on earlier rumors, the BlackBerry Venice will be a slider smart phone with a physical keyboard that can be slide below the display when it is not being used. BlackBerry is anticipated to launch the Venice slider smartphone in November 2015, ahead of the holiday shopping season. The handset is anticipated to be available on T-Mobile and AT&T once it becomes official.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

TRANSLATED

nice Pic , no ? !!!!

BlackBerry - BlackBerry Slider con OS Android, un utente ne descrive l'utilizzo

BlackBerry Slider with Android OS, a user how to use them

As we know are weeks that we talk about a possible BlackBerry smartphone with OS Android. Internet is full of rumors and rumors circulating about this Android smartphone from BlackBerry product that should be the BlackBerry Slider also known by the codename of Venice. It is a smartphone that should be released in November and that for the moment it appeared on the network through a few pictures.



At present there is nothing really special about this device and only those who published the first pictures he wanted to share with us his experience. These claims to have had the hands and the BlackBerry Slider has decided to share his impressions after spending an hour of use.

Before giving way to the impressions we ask you to read the whole thing with interest and take it as a statement by the person who claims to have used this device:

"This morning I got to spend about an hour using the BlackBerry Slider. I have confirmed what I used is the terminal with the final hardware. The software is comprehensive, but not definitive. The device is expected to be announced IFA in Berlin and later released after approvals and certifications of the various carriers.

The hardware is very nice. The building seems to take design cues from Passaporo Silver Edition. The doors of the front-facing speakers are like those found on the new Passport. Some components may be produced by the partners of BlackBerry. BlackBerry is not leaving anything to chance.

The Slider is a bit lighter than a Passport - I compared the thing holding them one in each hand. The slider mechanism feels sturdy. It has no flexible part as the old Torch. BlackBerry has spent a lot of engineering time in the sliding mechanism. When closed, it feels tight as a mobile secure. It takes a bit of force to open the screen by pushing on the lip where the screen meets the body of the phone speaker. The same applies to the closing of the screen. The battery they told be about 3,000 mAh and not replaceable. There is an SD card slot and a SIM card slot that is very similar to that found on the Passport.

The physical keyboard is like a standard keyboard of the Classic or the Bold. When the keyboard is open, the device becomes very long. But it is unbalanced. The keyboard is farthest from the bottom of the device that is the Passport so it's easier to type.

When closed, there is a virtual keyboard very similar to the keyboard of the BlackBerry Z30.

The screen 5.5 "AMOLED is definitely. The black levels are seen very well. It is a gorgeous screen and curves are made better than the Galaxy devices.

Yes, it has Android OS. BlackBerry wanted Android as with the BBM. There seemed to be a sense of deep integration of BlackBerry messaging and had made many features BB10. I saw that you can change the colors of the LED and the vibration of the contact. There are notifications in Android style when you swipe down from the top of the screen.

The gesture BB10 are not present. To reach the center you need to scroll to the bottom left corner. Google Play was. It will obviously release with Lollipop but will be updated to Android M. Obviously I was not allowed to take pictures of that. One thing I forgot to mention is that there are no active frames. The screen has the typical Android buttons. One last thing. The search function works just as it does on BB10. Just start typing and you try everything on the phone. "

That's all. It is statements to be taken with a grain of salt. From the description it may be either fully integrated to Android OS but also a hybridization between BB10 Android and perhaps through the Hypervisor QNX.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

Those photos randomly attach themselves to my posts.

Who am i to complain

Is it Friday yet ?




Who cares !!!

[BACK-2-BLACK]

For all the SE fans who have time to kill .... and a fork....

[Hende Nicolas]

I agree. BlackBerry spent a lot on BB10, from acquisitions to actual R&D, to manufacturing. Frankly, after the PlayBook "with no email" fiasco, BB10 never had a chance with a new phone. BlackBerry would've needed Samsung's or Apple's marketing budget just to repair the brand. The market never gave BlackBerry or BB10 a chance.

To answer Hende Nicolas' Henry Ford quote, today, BlackBerry would probably have to go back to 2012 levels of R&D just to revive BB10 and play catch up again. BlackBerry would have to upgrade Cascades to Qt5.x just to get BB10 back on a current and supported version of Qt and to get up to the level of Qt currently supported by QNX Car2. Cross-platform development tools such as Unity (Gameloft games) and others will have to be updated to current version levels and everything has to be debugged as well. Then they would have to restart developer relations since all existing native apps will probably no longer work or have to be tweaked to work on the updated platforms. Oh, and because this is BlackBerry, time and money will have to be spent re-certifying the new OS with all the various governments. Note too that the certification costs are incurred with EACH MAJOR OS revision that i don't think any other manufacturer routinely incurs! That is a lot of money that has to be spent BEFORE attempting to relaunch BB10 with a marketing program. It would be highly doubtful that 3rd party developers take time and money back porting apps and games to unsupported platforms such as Qt4.x or the version of Unity that BB10 currently supports.

So yes, I believe in BlackBerry's case, BlackBerry is saving a ton of money not promoting BB10 phones. I'm not happy with it, but I'm okay with it because of their current situation and recent past.


Posted via CB10

Lol...once upon a time, it was 'android is crap, eff android, etc'...not it's 'Android isn't so bad after all'...I'd say you couldn't make it up, but I predicted it ages ago. Yawn.

Posted via CB10

[BACK-2-BLACK]

OT>

Silent Circle?s Blackphone 2 Landing In September | TechCrunch

Silent Circle�s Blackphone 2 Landing In September
by Natasha Lomas

Silent Circle showed off the second generation of its pro-privacy Android-hardened smartphone, the Blackphone, back in March at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow � touting a summer launch for the device.

In the event, it�s still not launched, and the company has now quietly put up a pre-order page on its website, for a September release � sans any price-tag.



The Blackphone 2 updates the original handset in the look and feel department, with an all-glass front and rear, plus a larger full HD display. At 5.5 inches across it�s generous enough although lags behind palm-stretching phablet offerings. Other updates include a 64-bit processor and more RAM.

There�s no further word on the other device Silent Circle has in the works: a tablet, with the unfortunately clumsy moniker: Blackphone+, also announced back in March.

Both devices will run Silent Circle�s PrivatOS: a security focused flavor of Android, and come pre-loaded with pro-privacy apps such as Silent Circle�s suite of secure messaging apps, as well as bundling access to third party pro-privacy services such as SpiderOak secure cloud storage.

The company has pivoted from its initial prosumer target for Blackphone to concentrate more of its energies on serving the enterprise market � chasing a space that used to be occupied by RIM�s Blackberry, and now selling devices, software and services under its �enterprise privacy platform� banner.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

OT>

Will Oracle Finally Put its Tax On Android | ProgrammableWeb

Will Oracle Finally Put its Tax On Android


Jennifer Riggins, Contributing Writer
Aug. 18 2015, 01:51PM EDT

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court dumped the whole proverbial can of worms right on the software world by choosing not to take up the case Google v. Oracle, also known as the application programming interface, or API, copyright case. Oracle has looked at this as a victory and last week updated its 5-year-old lawsuit to include six Android updates and a cease and desist order.

Where does this leave the software industry? Squirming in our rolling, adjustable, back-supporting chairs.

First let�s review where this has gone and where it�s going. You can learn the whole history of this case here, but, in as few words as possible:

• �October 2003: Android Inc. releases a mobile phone platform.
• �July 2005: Google acquires Android Inc.
• �November 2006: Sun Microsystems releases Java as open source.
• �November 2007: Google releases Android platform, built using 37 Java APIs.
• �November 2007: On the same day, Google joins major device manufacturers, wireless carriers and chipset makers in launching the Open Handset Alliance, which works to create open source standards for mobile devices.
• �January 2010: Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems, the assets of which included Java.
• �Oracle and Google never come to any licensing agreement terms, although they were discussed at some level for years, even before Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, and before Sun open-sourced Java.
• �August 2010: Oracle sues Google for copyright and patent infringement, claiming it got Android to market faster over competitors like BlackBerry by using Java instead of writing their own operating system.
• �April 2012: Case gets split into three parts at the District level: copyright, patent and damages. Jury found that Google had infringed, but couldn�t decide whether it was fair use, since Java was intended at the time to be open source.
• �May 2012: Oracle and Google declare a sort of truce on the patent question.
• �May 2012: The District Court finds that yes, Google had infringed in some ways, but that Oracle�s main claim of the copyright issue of the APIs was not valid because: �So long as the specific code used to implement a method is different, anyone is free under the Copyright Act to write his or her own code to carry out exactly the same function or specification of any methods used in the Java API. It does not matter that the declaration or method header lines are identical.� In other words, it decided APIs aren�t copyrightable.
• �Both appeal the decisions made against them.
• �May 2014: U.S. Appeals Court reverses the District Court�s decision, stating that the �structure, sequence, and organization� of APIs is fully copyrightable.
• �June 2015: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Google�s appeal.
• �August 2015: Oracle brings more suits against Google, trying to stop any Android use that involves those 37 APIs that, Oracle claims, Android could not work without.

While I would have loved to have listened to that hourlong debate, I think it is slightly better that SCOTUS did not take the case because I believe Google would have lost with this particular court, which would have found that the intent was obviously for profit. If the high court had taken it, then its ruling would be at a constitutional level, which would mean unequivocally that APIs and software in general are absolutely copyrightable.

In the end, the Supreme Court deciding not to take the case was a smaller victory for Oracle, but not the final battle or blow. Last week, while the final outcome of Oracle�s first lawsuit against Google is still being determined, Oracle decided to keep momentum going by filing another complaint, this time against the six most recent Android version updates, since the platform is still standing on the basis of those same 37 Java API packages.

But Oracle went even further this time to use the headline-dominating word that the Android operating system has effectively �destroyed� Java�s own marketability.

�Android will still not work without these Java API packages,� Oracle wrote, asking for an undisclosed sum of money � that I�d bet is much higher than the more than $7 billion that Oracle bought Sun for � as well as this time for a full stop of all Android infringement on this code, effectively stopping my Android device and yours.

So what could all this mean? Google clearly took a shortcut to market over its competitors by continuing to use the Java APIs. The question, particularly given the open source nature of Java, is whether or not that was �fair use.� The true essence of an API is to encourage interoperability between not only internal software but with external partners as well. The API is what makes our phones smart and will soon be what connects every aspect of our lives as the Internet of Things becomes a bigger deal. When you say an API is copyrightable against fair use, that goes against the core value of the API economy, which stands on compatibility and interoperability across platforms and resources.

Plus, when you tell a company like Oracle or Cisco that it can enforce copyright over products that were previously, at least in some way, open source, as was the original intent behind Java, you allow the big guys to just get bigger, further monopolizing the market. They gain an unfair advantage, which leads to less choice in the marketplace where smaller players would have impossible barriers to entry. In other words, without fair use of APIs, their less innovative legacy becomes a legacy we all have to bear, and the end user experience will be the biggest loser of them all.

But don�t lose hope yet, my friends, because the concept of fair use is decided completely on a case-by-case basis and may depend on the judge and jury for the outcome. However, this case probably won�t be tried again until mid-2016, so keep on innovating and integrating until told otherwise.

[smart548]

That's a really big OT, but I find it hilarious (and of course interesting at the same time)..



Posted via CB10

[BACK-2-BLACK]

Benzinga Market Summary (BZSUM), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) - Mid-Day Market Update: Tuesday's Top Shorted Stocks | Benzinga

Mid-Day Market Update: Tuesday's Top Shorted Stocks
Jon Kashat , Benzinga Staff Writer



The Dow Jones Industrial Index dwindled 0.21 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 0.28 percent, the NASDAQ Composite declined 0.53 percent, and the U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.17 percent in Tuesday�s mid-day session.

The following were some of the top short-interest ratio stocks in the session:



BlackBerry Limited
BBRY 1.18%
had ~105.01 million short interest shares, above its average daily volume of ~7 million shares.

[Corbu]

OT:
Apple CarPlay Review: Siri?s Finally on the Right Road - WSJ

[Munx]

It appears the value of our free call option on the hardware business may be quickly eroding. As the reveal date approaches more and more people have a clear line of sight to the product, launch plans, positioning and partnerships. One can assume that virtually all of this information is in the possession of market participants and the lack of a material move in the share price is pointing to a phone that may not be as important for the company as I had hoped.

Of course efficient markets are BS and we may also be playing a bit of a waiting game (participants waiting on the rest of the field), but my general sense is less chance for a large move around this device launch.

I still believe it will be a net positive and will drive exposure and business to the company, but short term gap up potential is diminishing. Here's to hoping I am very very wrong.

Posted via CB10

[BACK-2-BLACK]

Is BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Working on Two Android-Powered Phones?

Is BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) Working on Two Android-Powered Phones?

By Ruchi Gupta - August 17, 2015

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has all along been rumored to be considering Android-powered smartphones. Given early reactions, analysts believe that making Android phone would enable BlackBerry to sustain its presence in the handsets business. If indeed BlackBerry is working on an Android phone, there could actually be two such phones in the making according to leaks.

Leaks cite that BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is working on two new smartphones, possibly for release this year. However, it remains unclear whether the two phones would all run Android or only one would.

BlackBerry Venice

BlackBerry is reportedly working on a smartphone called Venice, which is said to come with a slider. Rumors have linked Venice device to Android with some sources saying that the device will run Android Lollipop. The slider in Venice is expected to allow for implementation of both software keyboard and physical keyboard.

Leaked photos allegedly showing BlackBerry Venice have revealed a device that is fitted with an 18-MP primary camera, curved edge displays and Android Interface.

The device is also rumored to have a 5-MP front camera and is powered by Snapdragon 808 chip, giving processor speed of 1.8GHz. Further rumors cited that BlackBerry Venice has a 5.4-inch display and boasts 3GB of RAM.

Physical keyboard in a slider

The physical keyboard in Venice is expected to come in the form of a slider, which BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)�s CEO, John Chen, had previously hinted about at the MWC.

BlackBerry Prague

Besides the Venice, there have also been reports about BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) working on another handset called Prague, which further compounds confusion about Android adoption by BlackBerry.

With Venice and Prague said to be new smartphones in the works, it is been difficult to say exactly which of these device will run Android. Some have cited that BlackBerry might favor its BlackBerry 10 OS in Venice and make Prague its first Android smartphone. However, with reports that Prague is more like BlackBerry Z3, it doesn�t look likely that the device would come with both software and physical keyboards as have been rumored.

Without a physical Keyboard, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) might not excite Android fans who covet button keyboards, which means there may not be meaningful gains for the company.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY), Facebook Inc (FB) Go after Google's Web Dominance

BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY), Facebook Inc (FB) Go after Google�s Web Dominance

August 17, 2015 By Victor Alagbe �

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is pushing its software pivot and the firm is making inroads into the services industry. News has it that BlackBerry has partnered with PayPal to allow BBM users send and receive money via PayPal directly inside their BBM apps. This mirrors Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) recent move to set up a peer-to-peer money transfer service within its Facebook Messenger app.

Last week, BlackBerry and PayPal announced that they�ve created a new service called BBM Money. BBM Money allows BBM users on BB10 devices, Android and iOS connect their PayPal accounts to their BBM app. To send or receive money within BBM via PayPal the user only needs to tap the PayPal icon within BBM to run payments.

Everybody has declared a war on web

All the tech firms are rolling out services that make it easy for users to run make payments right inside their messaging apps without the need to use the web. Facebook announced a Peer-to-Peer payments feature for its Messenger app sometime in March. The service requires users to link up their debit cards with their Facebook account in order to run payments. To run the peer-to-peer payment service, users will need to tap the �$� icon and the money is transferred within seconds.

A couple of months ago, Apple launched its payment service called Apple Pay. Apple Pay is not tied to a messaging service in the same way that Blackberry and PayPal have packaged their payment services. However, it allows for in-app and in-store tap-to-pay option that removes the need to use the web or whip out your debits card to buy something on the Internet.

Samsung also has a similar service named Samsung Pay on it smartphones. Google is also in the mobile payments scene as it plans to rebrand its Google Wallet service. The search giant has purchased Softcard (a payments app) and it is working on a payments division of its own. Google, of course, relies on the web. Facebook and BlackBerry are going around it to deliver services right to users.

BlackBerry�s obvious edge

BlackBerry might be a relatively new entrant into the mobile payment space, but the firm has what it takes to succeed in the market. To start with, BlackBerry�s BBM app has been licensed to run iOS and Android phone in addition to native BlackBerry phones. Hence, the firm can offer its payment service to users across different mobile OSes.

Secondly, BlackBerry�s name is synonymous with mobile security and the strong brand recognition will allow users trust it with their financial details. The firm has mentioned that BBM Money payments will be processed inside the firm�s secured servers.

The wallet wars are already on, but this is one war that BlackBerry is well-positioned to win. Whether the firm, along with Facebook and Apple, manages to do serious damage to Google at the same time remains to be seen.

[BACK-2-BLACK]

BlackBerry Chooses PayPal for Peer-to-Peer Money Transfers | LowCards.com

BlackBerry Chooses PayPal for Peer-to-Peer Money Transfers

Written By John Oldshue
Posted on August 18, 2015 by John Oldshue

In an effort to catch up with modern technology, BlackBerry has created a money transfer platform on its BBM app that allows users to send money to one another through their phones. The company announced PayPal will be the financial firm in charge of payment processing for the transfers.

To take advantage of the new peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer option, users simply have to link their PayPal accounts to their phones on the BBM app. A "Send Money" icon will appear on the app, and a user can send money to anyone linked to the network. The application does not require the use or availability of the PayPal mobile app, which also allows people to send money between accounts through their phones.

The peer-to-peer transfers are currently only available through a beta version of the app in Canada, but will likely be expanded to other countries in the next few weeks.

BlackBerry has long struggled to keep afloat with the rise of other smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy lines. Nevertheless, the launch of new devices like the BlackBerry Passport has reignited a small flame of followers for the longstanding mobile brand. BlackBerry devices are still used by government officials, despite a scare last year that threatened to cost the company a huge portion of their business. The Obama administration tested Samsung devices, but they decided to stick with BlackBerry for the time being.

[Munx]

BlackBerry Venice confirmed for November release on all four national US carriers. https://t.co/l5jFCGKLjO

Tick tock...

Posted via CB10

[Bacon Munchers]

Hey Fellas!

Been swamped, and just taking some time away from the stock beat-down.
Man! I was perusing the thread catching up. All I can see is things are going as planned at BlackBerry HQ, no matter what the market thinks.

What is really interesting is all the fiasco with the competition. Seems like we keep hearing bad news on their behalf (Apple watch a flop, MOBL dying, Samsung new phones flopping and Obama says no, this hack, that breach, Google potential lawsuit over billions, etc. ). Further, it seems that BlackBerry is covering all their bases, powering ahead on all fronts and this new PayPal partnering could potentially bury the competition due to BBMX. Ha, I'll bet when Apple signed the licensing, they never saw that one coming. I'll also bet that those dough-head nay-sayer analysts are slapping their melons. This could easily put BBM back on the 100M roadmap.

I see blue skies ahead. Too bad we are the only ones who know it at the moment. Wish I had more to invest.

[Corbu]

OT:
Waterloo?s Kik a newly minted 'unicorn' with $50M investment from China - BNN News
http://www.wsj.com/articles/tencent-...ive-1439928079

[q649]

BlackBerry Venice confirmed for November release on all four national US carriers. https://t.co/l5jFCGKLjO

Tick tock...

Posted via CB10

For all the hate the front page articles have for an Android-Berry, I can't help but think this could open a huge new market. Hopefully they aren't rushing the phone, it's got to be stable upon release.

[chrysaurora]

I've been reading the posts but not commeting because, well, stock is moving sideways and there isn't much news. At this point, I am just eagerly waiting for the Slider.

Android + Hub + Touch Sensitive Physical Keyboard + White body is what I am waiting for!!

[helopilot06]

If an android phone is good for sp awesome. But I still hope they find it in their hearts to give us bb10 lovers a pure blackberry version. Even if it comes at a premium I'd still take that over android. Once you Get used to gesture based bb10 going back to android seems like a step back to the stone age.

On the stock side I'm wondering if I should wait till Friday to jump back in for more of halo and bbry as the Chinese markets seem to be intent on getting us some continued discount pricing...

Posted via crackberry10 on my new Z30!

[Variante Alta]

OT Alert:

Thanks M+8 for your thoughts...I like both BlackBerry (I remain long here) and HALO...in the end I actually put some money on PSDV - I like the outlook and the prospect of significant share value growth if the Analysts are to be believed ($8-10)...best to all - hope you're doing well.

Posted via CB10

[BanffMoose]

Posted via CB10

[W Hoa]

Oh oh....BGR with a positive comment on BlackBerry

Could BlackBerry be back? Gorgeous leaked phone to run Android

BlackBerry Android phone leaked picture shows physical keyboard | BGR