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BlackBerry CEO: Samsung security will never be 'top-notch'

Samsung Electronics will never be able to offer "top-notch platinum" security because of the inherent open nature of Android, according to BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins.

Because Android is open source, it is the most susceptible to attacks such as malware, Heins said yesterday in an interview with CNET in New York City. In comparison, he added, BlackBerry 10 was designed from the ground up to be a secure platform.

"You don't know how many keys you've given to the main door of your house because it's open software," he said about Android. "… Read more

BlackBerry's U.S. launch: Turning point or last gasp?

OK, BlackBerry, it's go time.

After several delays, broken promises, and doomsday prognostications, BlackBerry's next-generation smartphone, the BlackBerry Z10, hits U.S. stores tomorrow.

For a company still eyeing a comeback in the brutally competitive smartphone business, the U.S. launch of the device represents a particularly critical turning point. Despite the BlackBerry falling from grace here, the U.S. is still the device's largest market, representing 20 percent of total subscribers, according to an analyst. A successful launch that attracts old and new users alike could provide BlackBerry with the fuel to turn itself around. But … Read more

BlackBerry has 'exciting' flagship phone planned for holidays

BlackBerry is cooking up something CEO Thorsten Heins says he's "very excited about": another flagship smartphone that may hit during the holidays.

"There's one new product I'm really excited about, but I can't really share it," Heins told CNET in an interview today.

Heins confirmed that the company would have a midtier device later this year, and another "exciting" device for the holidays, although he wasn't 100 percent sure it would hit by year's end. He said there would be three to four BlackBerry 10 devices this fiscal … Read more

Google wants to 'Keep' your notes

Google wants to "Keep" your notes.

Yesterday Google introduced Keep, the new mobile and Web-based note-storing service that looks to take aim at products like Evernote. Boasting a simple, easy-to-use interface, Keep will work with Google Drive so that all notes are synced across different platforms. Users can edit their notes from either their phone or the Web and the information will be saved everywhere. You can also use voice dictation and photos to help enhance each note you take.

The BlackBerry Store has topped 100,000 apps, 30,000 of which were just added in the last … Read more

BlackBerry store tops 100,000 apps, up 30,000 in 7 weeks

BlackBerry's app store now has more than 100,000 apps, just in time for the launch of its BlackBerry Z10 smartphone.

The Canadian smartphone maker said developers have created more than 30,000 new apps over the past seven weeks since it unveiled its new operating system and devices.

Today, BlackBerry 10 customers can download Amazon Kindle, OpenTable, and The Wall Street Journal. CNN, The Daily Show, eBay, eMusic, Maxim, MLB at Bat, MTV News, Pageonce, PGA, Rdio, Skype, Soundhound, and Viber will be available in the coming weeks.

"The response to the BlackBerry 10 platform and applications … Read more

BlackBerry 10 erroneously reported as not secure enough by U.K.

Updated at 3:30 p.m. PT This article, originally headlined "BlackBerry 10 deemed not secure enough by U.K.," previously reported the U.K.'s Computer Experts Security Group had determined that the new operating system did not meet its standards. At the time of its publication, the CESG was unavailable for comment, so the article relied on the reporting of The Guardian. We have since learned that report was inaccurate. We have received comment from the CESG that indicates BlackBerry 10 has not yet undergone required testing. We have included the group's statement in this … Read more

T-Mobile changing the contract game

CNET Update will pay you Tuesday for a smartphone today:

Google Reader is shutting down in July, and its demise can impact citizens who have Internet access restricted by their government. The Change.org petition to keep Google Reader has about 12 percent of its signatures from people living in countries that have Internet censorship. People in Kazakhstan and China have left comments urging Google to keep the Reader tool because it's the best way to access banned websites and uncensored news.

Also featured in Tuesday's news roundup:

- Next week, T-Mobile is expected to announce a new way to pay for smartphones … Read more

BlackBerry's Heins: Apple's iOS is a little long in the tooth

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins thinks it's about time Apple starts innovating again.

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review in an interview published today, Heins acknowledged that Apple "did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market [and] they did a fantastic job with the user interface," but he thinks the company might have become too complacent.

"History repeats itself again I guess ... the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don't innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly," Heins told AFR. "The user interface … Read more

BlackBerry plans Z10 launch event

BlackBerry issued invitations this morning for a March 21 event in New York to launch its new Z10 smartphone and BlackBerry 10 OS.

That timing would place the event the day before the Z10 is scheduled to land in AT&T stores and be available to the carrier's customers. AT&T, which started preorders this week, is the first U.S. carrier to release the device, which runs on the new BlackBerry 10 OS.

With promised performances by Janelle Monae, Young the Giant, and DJ Z-Trip, the event should be more party than press conference. BlackBerry Global … Read more