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BlackJet, the Uber for private jets, takes off

SAN FRANCISCO--In an era of "Entourage" and a well-publicized fleet of planes personally owned by Google's top execs, the private jet has never before seemed as accessible to so many.

The truth is, of course, that just a tiny fraction of the population will ever set foot on any plane other than a commercial airliner, but traveling by Gulfstream has become romanticized in popular culture, and as that's happened, there's been a rise in the number of companies aiming to provide a more efficient, and more affordable way to fly private.

Into that new environment … Read more

Apple lands $159M government contract for iPhone, iPad

BlackBerry devices typically have been the go-to phones for government accounts, but that seems to be changing. Apple is increasingly getting into the lucrative business contract game.

The New Zealand Police announced today that it has sealed the deal for 6,000 police officers to get an iPhone and 3,900 officers to also get an iPad, according to The National Business Review. The contract is for 10 years and the police force expects to spend around $159 million on the initiative.

Apparently, the New Zealand Police chose Apple products over BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft after surveying its officers, who … Read more

Ex-BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie dumps entire stake

Jim Balsillie, the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, has sold off his entire stake in the company, according to a regulatory filing.

A year ago, Balsillie was one of the largest individual shareholders in BlackBerry (formerly known as Research In Motion) with 26.8 million shares in the company. But in a document filed today, BlackBerry disclosed that Balsillie no longer holds any shares in the company.

Balsillie and fellow former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis stepped down last March amid shareholder criticism over the way the company was being run and a stunning drop in its share price. Current CEO Thorsten Heins … Read more

NASA data may have uncovered galaxy's youngest black hole

Black holes are created when a supernova explosion destroys a massive star. Scientists have discovered dozens of black holes, but all of them are already formed. So, when scientists recently saw different distorted remains of a supernova, they knew it something special.

What the scientists believe they observed was the infant phases of a black hole, or the youngest black hole ever recorded in the Milky Way galaxy.

Caught on film by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the "remnant," or W49B, is seen as a vibrant swirl of blues, greens, yellows, and pinks. As seen from Earth, it … Read more

Slacker revamps logo, apps, and Web site

SAN FRANCISCO--At an invite-only press event in San Francisco, popular streaming music service Slacker Radio last night unveiled a completely revamped brand. The company's name remains, but Slacker's look and feel have been significantly simplified.

Of course, with the rebrand, Slacker's Web site and product designs have been updated with cleaner, more modern looks as well. Gone are the dark tones, textures, and gradients that crowded Slacker's interfaces in the past. Now, Slacker's multiplatform face is made up of brighter colors, clean lines, and lots of white space, which bring it more in line with … Read more

BlackBerry's Alicia Keys tweets from iPhone, claims a hack

When you've done product launches for Nokia, regularly use an iPhone, and are now creative director of BlackBerry, perhaps one smartphone just looks like another.

Perhaps, though, when you're the new creative director of BlackBerry, it's best to leave your iPhone at home.

Otherwise, bad things might happen. Like tweeting from it. Or having someone hack it and tweet from it.

As the Verge reports, Keys today offered the profound thought: "Started from the bottom now were here," to all of her Twitter followers.

This obvious spontaneity seems to have been sent from a Twitter … Read more

Home Depot iPhone switch short-circuits BlackBerry stock

Shares of BlackBerry dropped 4.6 percent today after Home Depot confirmed a report by AppleInsider that the company is handing out iPhones to about 10,000 employees who were using the BlackBerry. A spokesman for the home improvement retailer did not offer more detail about when the replacement process began, other than to acknowledge that Home Depot was "replacing the current base of BlackBerry technology with iPhone, but these are not the mobile devices used in our stores."

The decision hardly constitutes make-or-break news for BlackBerry, but it comes only a week after the company introduced a … Read more

BlackBerry 10 smartphones won't be sold in Japan

As BlackBerry rolls deeper into the smartphone world with the launch of BlackBerry 10, it looks like some countries will be left off of the map.

The device maker confirmed today that it has no plans to launch any BlackBerry 10 smartphones in Japan.

"We are in the process of launching BlackBerry 10 globally in key markets and we are seeing positive demand for the BlackBerry Z10 in countries where it has already launched," a BlackBerry spokesperson told CNET in an e-mail. "Japan is not a major market for BlackBerry, and we have no plans to launch … Read more

New BlackBerry ad -- that's, um, why they're called mobiles?

I have spent the last few days explaining to those closest to me that, because of my past, I can never become the pope.

I have also told several people I can never climb Everest, turn a snake into a mongoose, or kiss Bar Refaeli.

I attribute this strange burst of negative information to the ad that BlackBerry ran during the Super Bowl.

Should you have missed it, you can't be too disappointed.

However, the company has now released a new ad -- currently running in Canada and the U.K. -- that attempts to insert a positive halo … Read more

BlackBerry Z10 camera versus iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3

BlackBerrys haven't always had the top cameras in the industry, but with the BlackBerry Z10's 8-megapixel camera, things are turning around.

In my tests so far, the Z10's shooter largely succeeds. Over the course of my testing period, I got some really nice outdoor shots, plus some crisp indoor photos of everything from food labels to receipts. Of course, not every indoor picture or portrait turned out great, but I found the images usable overall (check out my Z10 review for even more photos).

So let's see how it compares with two other high-quality smartphone cameras, … Read more