Empty stores greet Blackberry Playbook

TORONTO/NEW YORK: Research In Motion'sPlayBook tablet computer launched in almost empty stores on Tuesday, in a far cry from the frenzy that accompanies the debut of anything from rival Apple. 

At an Office Depot in Midtown New York, just three PlayBooks, RIM's answer to the Apple iPad , left the shelves in the 20 minutes after the store opened, a store employee said. 

"It's going to be a tough sell to the consumer," BGC Partner analyst Colin Gillis said of the PlayBook, a sleek but flawed gadget that doesn't yet offer the secure email that is the trademark of RIM's ubiquitous BlackBerry. 

The stakes could not be higher for RIM, whose security-focused BlackBerry once reigned supreme in financial, corporate and government circles. 

RIM has struggled to compete since Apple's iPhone and a slew of devices running Google's Android entered the smartphone fray, and early reviews panned the WiFi-only PlayBook for lacking email and organizer applications -- the gadget needs a BlackBerry to access those. 

In a likely blow to RIM, key U.S. carrier AT&T said it will not support the BlackBerry Bridge function that lets the PlayBook mirror a BlackBerry smartphone. 

AT&T, the second largest U.S. carrier, said it was still testing the secure software that lets existing BlackBerry users get email and other services on the larger PlayBook screen without incurring additional fees. 

"We just got the app for testing. Before we make it available to our customers we want to make sure we deliver the type of experience our customers would expect," AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said. "We have to test this app." 

RIM shares were down 2.2 percent at $53.62 on the Nasdaq. The stock is up some 14 percent since RIM unveiled the PlayBook in September, despite a recent slip from a peak above $70. Apple's shares are up some 17 percent in the period. 

Slow burn likely 

The PlayBook launch was a stark contrast to the frenzy when Apple launched its iPad 2 a month ago and consumers lined up overnight to buy the gadget. 

Apple, which established the tablet market a year ago, sold almost 15 million iPads in 2010; RIM is expected to move 3 million PlayBooks in a similar window in 2011, according to 18 analysts polled by Reuters. 

Analysts say RIM should stay in the hunt with the PlayBook despite a likely slow start, as it overhauls its creaky platform with the QNX operating system it acquired last year. The Canadian company expects large businesses to buy PlayBooks in "the tens of thousands." 

Gartner, a research outfit focused on technology, estimates one in 10 touchscreen devices sold in 2015, or some 30 million, will be powered by QNX, which will likely also find its way onto RIM's smartphones in the next 12 months. 

That would place it third behind Apple at almost half the market and Android at just under 40 percent, leaving little room for Hewlett-Packard's soon-to-launch WebOS tablet and completely ignoring a possible Windows tablet platform. 

Retailers say solid pre-orders suggest there will be pent-up demand for a capable alternative to the iPad. 

"Based on those numbers coming in, we expect it to be successful," said Steve Coffin, operations manager at a Future Shop big box store near Toronto's financial district, dismissing the absence of lines of eager shoppers and highlighting strong pre-orders.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/hardware/Empty-stores-greet-Blackberry-Playbook/articleshow/8034446.cms

Preview: New Zealand vs Zimbabwe , 18th Match

This may not be the David vs. Goliath encounter that we have come to see many times over the past few days. New Zealand have endured torrid form off late, being walloped by Bangladesh, India and then Pakistan while Zimbabwe troubles too have not been much less. The African side however, need not look farther than the Ireland-England game for inspiration after the minnows' stunning win against the English. Canada too produced a superb performance to trouble Pakistan. Is another upset on the cards? 

New Zealand 

After rather disastrous World Cup preparations, New Zealand got off to a flyer, skittling Kenya out for an embarrassing 69 before romping home in just 48 balls. Hamish Bennett was the undoubted star in that match with some hostile bowling. In their next encounter, an emotionally charged battle against Australia, they lost to the rivals. Nathan McCullum was one of the few players to have a good outing with the bat, top scoring with a fifty while the rest struggled to come to terms with the pace Brett Lee and Shaun Tait produced. 

Their batting was woefully exposed against pace in that match, and Zimbabwe could do well to use that to their advantage. Their batting on recent occasions has depended heavily on the lower order or individual brilliance, but it would be the ideal opportunity for them to work as a team against Zimbabwe. 

Their bowling delivered the goods in emphatic fashion against Kenya but could not repeat the performance against a red hot Australia. They have a good mix of pace and spin to trouble the top teams, but are very inconsistent. Talisman and captain Daniel Vettori has often been the lone fighter for New Zealand with consistent performances and New Zealand will want the others bowlers to contribute too. 

Zimbabwe 

Zimbabwe will come into the game with more confidence than the Black Caps after they thumped the Canadians in the previous match with Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and Ray Price doing the bulk of the damage for the African side. 

From the batting front, Zimbabwe seemed to have a settled line up with Brendon Taylor, Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine and captain Elton Chigumbura capable of taking the game away from the opposition. They will, however, have a much tougher task against NZ. 

Ray Price, a bowler who has a run up that matches menacing fast bowlers at times, is Zimbabwe's most attacking option. The left armer bowls with great discipline and is at his threatening best when bowlers try to go after him. Zimbabwe will be reliant on the spinner to give them quick wickets as they aim to get their second win under their belts. 

Head to Head 

New Zealand and Zimbabwe have played each other 28 times before and the Kiwis have come out on top on 19 occasions and have been part of a tie once. Zimbabwe have won 7 times. One match was called off. 

Quotes 

Ross Taylor: As a batting unit we need to step up and score about 300-330 which is the par score in this tournament. We are all very talented. We are getting out there in the middle and just getting ourselves out. It's frustrating but we know we are not far away from that one good performance. 

Ray Price : It is very important for us (the win against Canada). But you try not to think too much of that because in cricket if you think about the results then you forget about what you are supposed to do and control the areas you are supposed to bowl at.

Source:-http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37536/preview:-new-zealand-vs-zimbabwe--18th-match/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CricbuzzFeed+(Cricbuzz:+Cricket+Scores+and+News)

CPM plans privilege motion over Mamata's Rly Budget 'lies'

Ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, railway minister Mamata Banerjeemay face a privilege motion in Parliament.

A Rajya Sabha member has accused her of misleading the House while presenting theRailway Budget for 2011- 12 .

The CPM is likely to approach Parliament's privileges committee as it claims the minister quoted " fraudulent numbers" while making claims about target achievement.

Participating in the discussions on the railway Budget in the Upper House, CPM member P. Rajeeve said Banerjee had used " fraudulent" figures in at least four instances.

He urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to check the claims made in the Budget and suggested that the standing committee on railways should also verify her claims.

Using the mid- term review of the finance ministry, Rajeeve, who represents Kerala in the House, countered Mamata's budgetary claim that 700 km of new lines have already been laid.

"According to the mid- term review, only 59 km of new lines had been laid till September 2010. I request the minister to table in the House the details of the new lines laid to prove how she achieved the herculean figure of 641 km of new lines in less than six months," he said.

The Left MP also challenged Mamata's claims on electrification, doubling and gauge conversion, using the finance ministry's statistics.

Rajeeve said the CPM was considering the possibility of moving a privilege motion against the minister. " Tabling such fraudulent figures is a fit case for breach of privilege. The minister has misled the country and Parliament.

We will see how a privilege motion could be moved against her," he added.

The MP also challenged the total passenger earning figures quoted in the explanatory memorandum of the railway Budget.

"On page 15 of the explanatory memorandum, it is stated that both the revised estimates for traffic receipts and the Budget figures are Rs 26,126.47 crore. I want to congratulate the railway minister for her ability to predict accurately the volume of passengers who use the Indian railways and their travel plans so as to determine the exact amount that could be incurred under that head of accounts," he said.

Rajeeve said the minister told Parliament that the loading target was decreased by 20 million tonnes. " It is admirable that the minister was still able to ensure that receipts of Rs 62,489.33 crore could be achieved under goods earnings, which was the exact figure budgeted for 2010- 11, as is indicated in the explanatory memorandum under the revised estimates for traffic receipts," he said.

The target set in the previous Budget for installing optic fibre structures was not yet accomplished, he added.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/131414/top-stories/cpm-counters-mamatas-railway-budget-lies.html

Bangladesh look for spin to hustle Windies

Bangladesh take on the West Indies in a must-win World Cup match on Friday hoping the barren wicket in Dhaka finally provides help to the home team's spinners. 

There was no evidence of turn on the Sher-e-Bangla stadium pitch in the first two matches where Bangladesh lost a high-scoring game to India by 87 runs before beating Ireland by 27 runs. 

But frontline spinner Abdur Razzak said the wicket being prepared for Friday's game looked as if it will favour the slow bowlers. 

"It did not happen in the first two matches, but I think this one will help us," the left-armer said. "It will give us a good chance to beat the West Indies." 

With one win each from two matches, another defeat could ruin either team's chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals from the tough Group B. 

The pool, which includes India, South Africa and the Netherlands, was thrown wide open when Ireland stunned England by three wickets on Wednesday after Kevin O'Brien struck the fastest ever World Cup century. 

West Indies manager Richie Richardson rubbished suggestions that his team will struggle to cope with unfamiliar conditions in Bangladesh, where they have not played since 2002. 

The three senior pros in the current squad -- Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul -- are the only survivors from that tour. 

Richardson, who led the West Indies to the semi-finals when the World Cup was last played in the Indian sub-continent in 1996, said pace could play an equally prominent role. 

"In this part of the world, the wickets have a reputation for favouring spinners," he said. "But at the end of the day if you are good enough as a seam bowler or fast bowler you can do well in any conditions. 

"It's all about assessing conditions, assessing the pitches and making the adjustment." 

Richardson was buoyed by his team's emphatic 215-run win over the Netherlands in New Delhi on Monday where fast bowler Keman Roach grabbed 6-27, including a hat-trick. 

"My target is to win every single match and lift the World Cup," he said. "I am very confident we can do it. We are playing positive cricket and the guys are improving every day." 

The West Indies will be inspired by their 99-run victory over the Tigers in the Super Eights round of the previous World Cup in the Caribbean, with Sarwan leading the way with 99. 

If spin comes to the fore on the slow wicket in Dhaka, the West Indies will hope towering left-armer Sulieman Benn, who claimed 3-28 against the Dutch, will deliver. 

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said the West Indies will feel the absence of star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, opener Adrian Barath and wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh, who were all ruled out with injuries. 

"Those injuries will make this game very difficult for them," Siddons said, adding the home team will have a distinct edge in the match. 

"They have a few match-winners like we do. But I am confident our match-winners will blow their match-winners away. 

"But we need to play good cricket. This is a big match for us since a quarter-final place will be at stake."

Source:-http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/37547/bangladesh-look-for-spin-to-hustle-windies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+CricbuzzFeed+(Cricbuzz:+Cricket+Scores+and+News)

Steve Jobs launches Apple's iPad 2

Belying all rumours of him being extremely ill, Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs CEO on Wednesday night launched second generation iPad 2. ( iPad 2 launch: Apple's shares climb 1.4% ) 

Jobs made his presentation after he was given a standing ovation by a hall full of journalists and analysts from across the world who were probably happier seeing him on stage than iPad2. 

But the new iPad almost stole Jobs' thunder. With price tags beginning at $499 for the 16 GB model, it runs on a new processor A5 which will double the speed and graphic display by nine times. At $899, the highest priced is the 64 GB model with WiFi and 3G. 

Jobs pointed out iPad 2 will have as many as five models that are priced below $799 tag that its just launched rival Xoom from Motorola bears. 

Almost as if inspired by Jobs who is said to be battling severe illness and has shed a lot of weight off late, iPad 2 is a lot thinner than the current iPad (one third), even thinner than the iPhone 4. 

It bears two cameras at back and front for video conferencing; a HDMI port; a smart microfiber case cum stand that is also used to clean it; and will come in both black and white variants. 

iPad 2 will start shipping from March 11 across 26 countries that doesn't include India. In US, both AT&T and Verizon will retail it with bundled data plans. 

Jobs took potshots at all rivals who he said were flummoxed by the success of iPad and could only try to follow what has come to be "best-selling gadget ever". 

"A lot of people have tried to copy this, said Jobs while making reference to sales figures of rivals such as Samsung which claims to have put out more advanced tablets in the market following iPad's launch a year ago. 

"Many have said this is the most successful consumer product ever launched. Over 90% market share... our competitors were flummoxed," quipped Jobs. 

Pooh pooing another rival Google Android's Honeycomb operating system, Jobs said they had only 100 apps to show on it. In contrast, Apple iPad had 65,000 apps just for photography alone. 

"We recently paid out over $2 billion to developers in total. They have earned over $2 billion from selling their apps on the App Store," said Jobs. 

Apple also shipped out 100 millionth iPhone recently. 

The presentation was attended among others by Apple's COO Tim Cook and design head and Jobs' friend Jony Ive who according to unconfirmed reports is believed to be having a 

tussle with the company's board regarding his impending relocation to London. 

Times of India had earlier reported that the much-hyped tablet was accidentally listed on Amazon hours ahead of its official launch before being pulled down. 

Interestingly, while Apple usually gives a makeover to each of its products in a year's time, there is buzz that the company might actually upgrade the just-launched iPad 2 with a far more advanced third generation tablet by the Fall this year itself. 

According to The Economist, however, iPad could see a dent in its market share this year despite projections that Apple could sell 40 million units in 2011 as against 15 million it sold in nine months of 2010. 

Other tablet manufacturers, especially those based on Google's Android operating system, are expected to erode Apple iPad's market share which stood at 90% of total tablet sales last year. Here are 10 most expected tablets to watch out for in 2011 . 

What may be worrisome for Apple is the speculation that by 2015 the company's market share could fall below 40%, said the magazine. 

This year is likely to see a huge number of Android-based tablet PCs flooding the market, with almost every mobile and PC maker jumping in the fray with their alternatives. 

Industry watchers claim that of these, the ones that are most likely to pose a challenge to iPad will be RIM's Playbook and Motorola's Xoom which has just been launched in the market. 

Read more: Steve Jobs launches Apple's iPad 2 - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/Steve-Jobs-launches-Apples-iPad-2/articleshow/7614734.cms#ixzz1FVXO85o0

Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 for Rs. 14,990 in India

Bangalore: The Samsung Galaxy Ace S53830 has hit the Indian market at a cost of 14,990. The smartphone, which was to be launched as Galaxy Cooper, is being sold on the Flipkart.com.

It has a 3.5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and operates on Android 2.2 (Froyo).

It is powered by 800 MHz processor. Other features like 5 MP camera with auto focus, geo-tagging and LED flash and Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP are also present. The phone has an internal memory of 150 MB, expandable up to 32 GB (MicroSD). If we look at the connectivity, the phone has GPS, 3G and Wi-Fi with DLNA.

The 1350mAh Li-Ion battery has a talk time of 11 hours on 2G while the talk time on 3G is up to 6 hours and 30 minutes. The approximate stand-by time for 2G is 640 hours and 420 hours on 3G.

Along with a good mix of features and affordable cost range, the smartphone, which is similar in looks with iPhones, seems to be a good buy. However, the video recording of the phone might be dissatisfying as the maximum resolution captured is just QVGA (320x240) at 15 fps.

Source: Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 for Rs. 14,990 in India - Tech Products news

Smartphones exploding thanks to Android: IDC - Technology news

San Francisco: Smartphone growth is exploding around the world, as Google's open-source Android operating system drives prices down, according to a study released by market research firm IDC.

The study found that smartphone sales reached 101 million in the fourth quarter, up 87 percent from a year earlier. Smartphones sales for 2010 were 302 million, up 75 percent on the year.

"Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst.

He called the Android operating system the "cornerstone" of the smartphone strategy for many vendors and the biggest challenger to Nokia's Symbian OS, the market leader.

Nokia was still the market leader with 33.1 percent, down from 39 percent the year earlier. 

Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, also saw its share decline from 19.9 percent to 16.1 percent. Apple's share rose from 14.5 percent to 15.7 percent.

The most impressive gains were made by Samsung, whose Android-powered phones sold 23 million units compared to 5.5 million in 2009, more than doubling its market share to 7.6 percent. HTC also saw impressive gains, selling 21.5 million smartphones, up from 8.1 million in 2009, to increase its market share to 7.1 percent from 4.7 percent.

Source: Smartphones exploding thanks to Android: IDC - Technology news