New Gadgets - news and more

T-Mobile 4G LTE to launch later this month, early tests show impressive speeds

2013-03-18T17:03:00.001-07:00

T-Mobile announced on Monday that it will be issuing an update for Samsung's (005930) Galaxy Note II smartphone in anticipation of the launch of its upcoming LTE network, which is scheduled to go live at the end of the month. The arrival of the company's high-speed network will come at the same time it launches the 4G LTE-enabled BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, its second LTE smartphone. T-Mobile also confirmed that it plans to launch additional LTE devices in the coming months such as the Galaxy S 4 and an LTE version of the Galaxy S III.

[More from BGR: Apple revival said to start with 'killer feature' planned for iPhone 5S]

Early tests show that the carrier's LTE network may be on par with offerings from Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and Sprint (S) in terms of speed. CNET clocked download speeds in excess of 60 Mbps and uploads speeds above 15 Mbps, although speeds are expected to slow down once the network is available to the general public.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry CEO: Apple stood still and now the iPhone has fallen behind]

T-Mobile didn't reveal which markets will be among the first to get its LTE network coverage.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Another report points to fall launch for Retina iPad mini

2013-03-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

A recent report claims Apple (AAPL) is prepping its second-generation iPad mini for launch ahead of the holidays this year. Following a report suggesting the new Retina-equipped iPad mini could debut as soon as next month, a pair of reports claim the tablet's release is instead slated for sometime this coming fall. CNYes reported on Monday that Apple is aiming for a third-quarter launch, and DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza recently told CNET that the second iPad mini will likely launch in the third or fourth quarter this year. Apple's next-generation iPad mini is expected to feature a new 8-inch Retina display with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution.

[More from BGR: Apple revival said to start with 'killer feature' planned for iPhone 5S]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Computer hacker gets 3-1/2 years for stealing iPad user data

2013-03-18T14:03:00.001-07:00

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - A computer hacker was sentenced on Monday to three years and five months in prison for stealing the personal data of about 120,000 Apple Inc iPad users, including big-city mayors, a TV network news anchor and a Hollywood movie mogul.

Andrew Auernheimer, 27, had been convicted in November by a Newark, New Jersey, jury of one count of conspiracy to access AT&T Inc servers without permission, and one count of identity theft.

The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark was at the high end of the 33- to 41-month range that the U.S. Department of Justice had sought.

Prosecutors had said prison time would help deter hackers from invading the privacy of innocent people on the Internet.

Among those affected by Auernheimer's activities were ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein, prosecutors said.

'When it became clear that he was in trouble, he concocted the fiction that he was trying to make the Internet more secure, and that all he did was walk in through an unlocked door,' U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement. 'The jury didn't buy it, and neither did the court in imposing sentence.'

Auernheimer had sought probation. His lawyer had argued that no passwords were hacked, and that a long prison term was unjustified given that the government recently sought six months for a defendant in a case involving 'far more intrusive facts.'

The lawyer, Tor Ekeland, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. He has said his client would appeal.

Ekeland is also a lawyer for Matthew Keys, a deputy social media editor at Thomson Reuters Corp who was suspended with pay on Friday.

Keys was indicted last week in California on federal charges of aiding the Anonymous hacking collective by giving a hacker access to Tribune Co computer systems in December 2010.

The alleged events occurred before Keys began working at the website Reuters.com. Ekeland on Friday said Keys 'maintains his innocence' and 'looks forward to contesting these baseless charges.

INTERNET TROLL

Prosecutors called Auernheimer a 'well-known computer hacker and internet 'troll,'' who with co-defendant Daniel Spitler and the group Goatse Security tried to disrupt online content and services.

The two men were accused of using an 'account slurper' designed to match email addresses with identifiers for iPad users, and of conducting a 'brute force' attack to extract data about those users, who accessed the Internet through the AT&T servers.

This stolen information was then provided to the website Gawker, which published an article naming well-known people whose emails had been compromised, prosecutors said.

Spitler pleaded guilty in June 2011 to the same charges for which Auernheimer was convicted, and is awaiting sentencing.

Gawker was not charged in the case. In its original article, Gawker said Goatse obtained its data through a script on AT&T's website that was accessible to anyone on the Internet. Gawker also said in the article that it established the authenticity of the data through two people listed among the names. A Gawker spokesman on Monday declined to elaborate.

AT&T has partnered with Apple in the United States to provide wireless service on the iPad. After the hacking, it shut off the feature that allowed email addresses to be obtained.

The case is U.S. v. Auernheimer, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 11-00470.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Martha Graybow and Alden Bentley)

Hacker 'Weev' Gets Three Years in Jail, Just for Being an Internet Troll

2013-03-18T13:03:00.001-07:00

Today in astonishing prison time for computer crimes: Andrew 'weev' Auernheimer has been sentenced to 41 months in jail, pretty much because he handed over some iPad email addresses to Gawker. Yes, that's a very long time for something that might not even be considered a crime. In addition, Auernheimer has to pay $73,000 to AT&T, all allegedly because he obtained 'unauthorized access' to AT&T's information. The feds are using the now all too familiar charge of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization, along with a count of identity fraud - both of which Auernheimer was found guilty of back in November - to back up the three-plus years in prison, which he's appealing. But while the cases of Aaron Swartz and Matthew Keys made them into even bigger heroes because of villainous sounding prosecutions and astonishingly long potential jail times, this harsh sentencing might make a champion out of a guy who, really, is just an expert troll.

RELATED: The iPad Is Turning Everyone Into Expensive Data Superusers

Back in June 2010, the man known as Weev, operating with the organization Goatsee Securities, exposed an AT&T security hole, which made email addresses publicly accessible. Using a program called 'account slurper,' which Weev didn't even write himself, he collected these emails and then sent them to Gawker - just to prove a point, he insisted. Like any good troll, Auernheimer did it to get a rise out of people, telling Gawker's Adrian Chen that he thinks the breach wasn't 'a big deal' and that 'What made it big is the way I presented it.' At a press conference before his sentencing, Auernheimer reiterated that point: 'I'm going to jail for doing arithmetic,' he said. Really, all he did was collect e-mail addresses, something that a lawyer told Chen does not at all break the law. And yet, because of the now famously harsh penalties for 'unauthorized access' in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Weev is facing several years in prison for a felony crime. (In a case of downloading academic papers from JSTOR, Swartz at one point faced 35 years in jail before he killed himself; Keys is facing 25 years for changing some copy on a Los Angeles Times story about a tax deal in Washington.)

RELATED: AT&T Hasn't Lost Its iPhone Dominance Quite Yet

But the case against Weev - and how he obtained said 'unauthorized access' - appears to be even thinner than the one against Swartz. At MIT, Swartz snuck into a closet and created fake account names to game a system. (Still, many argue that he did not deserve felony charges for obtaining access to JSTOR documents by way of the school servers.) And Weev just took advantage of a security vulnerability. He found an 'open door,' as Motherboard's Alex Pasternack explains, and he didn't even use the information for his own gain: 'while they had considered exploiting their score for personal gain, [Weev and his hacking partner Daniel Spitler] acted mostly in the public interest, releasing what they found only to Gawker.'

RELATED: Will Amazon's Tablet Finally Challenge The iPad?

Perhaps like the indictments of Keys and Swartz, the feds want to set an example with Weev. But it's also possibly that he's receiving such a harsh sentence and perhaps undue attention because of his outsize online persona. Wee, after all, is a professional troll. Chen, who covers a lot of these types, called him 'The Internet's Best Terrible Person.' On the evening of his sentencing, Weev was still at it - during a Reddit Ask Me Anything Sunday night he said a bunch of inflammatory things, including another threat to AT&T. That didn't go unnoticed by the jury, which cited his AMA three times in its sentencing letter to the judge in his case. They also pointed to his Encyclopdia Dramatica - a 'satirical' Wiki entry, which describes Auernheimer as an 'eDork' who 'smells of rotting turnips.' Indeed, his own trial may have been his most successful troll yet.

Man gets over 3 years in iPad data breach case

2013-03-18T11:03:00.001-07:00

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - An admitted online 'troll' was sentenced Monday to the maximum prison term under federal guidelines - more than three years - for illegally gaining access to AT&T's servers and stealing more than 100,000 email addresses of iPad users.

Dozens of Andrew Auernheimer's supporters packed the hearing, and clapped when he made a statement castigating the government for what he characterized as an unfair prosecution. The proceeding turned tense at one point when Auernheimer apparently pulled out a cellphone and several U.S. marshals grabbed it from him and held him spread-eagle on the defense table. After a short recess, he was led back into the courtroom in shackles.

Auernheimer, formerly of Fayetteville, Ark., was convicted in November of identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. The counts each carry a five-year maximum sentence, but U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton had accepted federal prosecutors' request to use a range of 33 to 41 months. Auernheimer's attorney had sought probation. The attorney, Tor Ekeland, said he would appeal Auernheimer's conviction and 41-month sentence.

'The one word that comes to my mind the most is disappointment,' Wigenton said as she pronounced Auernheimer's sentence. 'That someone of your intelligence and ability would use his skills in a negative way.'

Outside the courtroom before the sentencing, Auernheimer fumed about U.S.-sponsored drone attacks and referred to the U.S. government as 'malicious tyrants.' In front of the judge he was less strident but no less adamant about his innocence.

'I respectfully say this court's decision is wrong and if you understood what you are doing to the rule of law and the Constitution, you would be ashamed,' he told Wigenton.

Prosecutors say Auernheimer was part of a group that tricked AT&T's website into divulging the email addresses, including those of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, film mogul Harvey Weinstein and other celebrities.

The group shared the addresses with the website Gawker, which published them in redacted form.

Auernheimer and his supporters have claimed he was providing a public service by exposing a flaw in AT&T's system.

'What did the 114,000 iPad users do that was so wrong, to have their personal information exposed to Gawker?' Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater posed to Wigenton. 'He could have contacted AT&T and let them know what was wrong, and they could have patched the hole and then the defendant could have published and got his reputation.'

Prosecutors said at the time of Auernheimer's arrest that he had bragged about the operation online. Court papers also quoted him declaring in a New York Times article: 'I hack, I ruin, I make piles of money. I make people afraid for their lives.'

A second defendant, Daniel Spitler of San Francisco, pleaded guilty in 2011 and testified against Auernheimer last year.

Retina-equipped iPad mini rumored for fall release

2013-03-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

One disappointment with Apple's (AAPL) iPad mini was that it didn't come with the high-resolution Retina display that the company first used in its third-generation iPad models. While many Apple fans were hoping that the company would release a Retina-equipped iPad mini this spring, a new report from Chinese website CNYes suggests that we might have to wait until the third quarter of 2013 to see an upgrade for Apple's smaller tablet. The good news for Apple is that the lack of a Retina display hasn't hurt demand for the iPad mini at all since CNYes says that Apple plans to ship 55 million units this year alone. Given that Apple shipped more than 13 million iPad minis in the fourth quarter of 2012 and that smaller tablets are expected to grow even more popular throughout 2013, Apple likely feels no need to rush a second-generation iPad mini as long as the first-generation model keeps selling well.

[More from BGR: BlackBerry CEO: Apple stood still and now the iPhone has fallen behind]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

BlackBerry CEO: Apple stood still and now the iPhone has fallen behind

2013-03-18T08:03:00.001-07:00

The world got its first glimpse of Samsung's new Galaxy S 4 last week, reigniting the Apple (AAPL) vs. Samsung (005930) argument as the two companies battle for the future of mobile. Apple seemed a bit on edge as it put up its new "What iPhone?" page, and now a third player is looking to strike while Apple is on defense: BlackBerry (BBRY). The struggling smartphone vendor might not pose the same threat to Apple that Samsung does in the near term, but CEO Thorsten Heins used a recent interview as an opportunity to let the world know that Apple's iPhone has fallen behind rival platforms, including his new BlackBerry 10 OS.

[More from BGR: Bitcoin apps soar in Spain - will the Cyprus shocker boost virtual currencies?]

"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 Australian Financial Review in a recent interview. "The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old."

[More from BGR: Galaxy S 4 said to help Samsung overtake Apple]

He noted that Apple was largely responsible for the shift in the smartphone market to touchscreen devices. "They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon," he said. "There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that."

But the problem, Heins notes, is that Apple rested on its laurels. "The point is that you can never stand still. It is true for us as well," Henis said. "Launching BB10 just put us on the starting grid of the wider mobile computing grand prix, and now we need to win it."

This article was originally published on BGR.com

This Is the Most Absurd iPad Theft Ever

2013-03-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

The woman pictured in that 'selfie' shot above is the absolute goofball currently in possession of an iPad belonging to an Arkansas man named Allen Engstrom, and she will make you feel a little better if you've ever had a tablet lifted - and, hey, maybe you can help track her down. Engstrom only knows about this woman because she's been unwittingly posting said selfies to Engstrom's iCloud account. So Engstrom is pushing the photos to Facebook and Twitter to help track down the thief. Well, not exactly a thief. He kind of just lost the thing. Engstrom told ABC 10 News that he left his iPad on a flight from Phoenix to Denver.

About a month later, Engstrom said his wife and son were at the doctor's office when his son held up his iPod and said, 'Mommy, what's this?'

It was a picture of a woman on his iPod.

'We finally figured out that must be the new owner of my iPad,' Engstrom said

The 'track my iPad' application didn't do anything for Engstrom. Neither did physically etching name his name and contact information into the back of his iPad. (That would indicate that it's mysterious and absurd new owner might know it belongs to someone else, and, okay, you could probably call her a thief.) So Engstrom has done the next best thing: viral shaming. He's posted the selfies all over his Facebook account, like so:

RELATED: Amazon's Kindle Fire Is Just the Cheap Tablet You'll Want

Engstrom writes:

Hey cool! This is an actual pic of the wonderful person who stole my iPad. Apparently the pics she is taking of herself are backing up and appearing on my phone. No I'm not kidding, this is really happening

And he's uploaded a few more pictures of late:

RELATED: How Microsoft Learned The Rumor Game From Apple

One more:

RELATED: Amazon's Insecurities Show as It Prepares for Kindle Fire Debut

'Thanks to the response from social media users, Engstrom has begun to piece together some details about the alleged iPad thief. For example, she apparently lives in Phoenix and Engstrom now knows her Instagram user name,' reports Yahoo's Eric Pfeiffer.

Really? According to the most recent Friday-afternoon post on Facebook, Engstrom says he does not know anything about this mystery woman:

We think you can help, people of the Internet. As the BBC pointed out, Facebook turns our (IRL) 'Six Degrees of Separation' into something like 3.74 degrees digital degrees. So basically Allen is about four mutual friends away from his iPad perp. (Or this could be Engstrom playing cool and sneakily plotting his revenge.) And with your help, one man might get reunited with his iPad, or at least track down its selfie-obsessed new owner. Law enforcement optional, but get to work, people!

New BlackBerry Work Space service separates work, personal data on iOS and Android

2013-03-14T16:03:00.001-07:00

There's apparently a new slogan at BlackBerry (BBRY): If you can't beat 'em, integrate 'em. BlackBerry on Thursday announced Work Space, a new feature for its BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 mobile device management platform that aims to "provide complete separation between work and personal data." If this sounds familiar, that's because BlackBerry has already brought this capability to its own devices with its own BlackBerry Balance feature - the difference is that Work Space is extending some of Balance's capabilities to iOS and Android devices. Expanding the reach of its security services to multiple platforms is crucial for BlackBerry, especially as it faces added heat from Samsung (005930), which plans to aggressively market its devices to the enterprise as business tools. BlackBerry's full press release is posted below.

[More from BGR: Samsung keeps its impossible promise]

BlackBerry Previews Secure Work Space Technology for Third Party Platforms

[More from BGR: At the end of 2011, Samsung started morphing Apple into a follower]

Extending BlackBerry's trusted, gold standard security to separate work and personal data on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets

Mar 14, 2013

Waterloo, ON - BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today confirmed its commitment to bringing a solution that will separate and secure work and personal data on mobile devices to third party platforms. Secure Work Space for iOS® and AndroidT will be managed through BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, BlackBerry's multi-platform enterprise mobility management solution which builds upon more than a decade of enterprise and security expertise and is the most widely deployed mobility solution in enterprises today.

An update for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 will soon extend BlackBerry security capabilities for data-at-rest and data-in-transit and provide complete separation between work and personal data. The BlackBerry Secure Work Space solution includes secured client applications for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing for each device that is provisioned via BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

"With BlackBerry® BalanceT technology, we offer the industry's only true compromise-free separation of work and personal data and applications," said David J Smith, EVP, Enterprise Mobile Computing. "With Secure Work Space for iOS and Android devices, we're extending as many of these features as possible to other platforms, critical in today's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) world. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 offers administrators a single, intuitive platform enabling them to effectively and securely manage a variety of devices while protecting their corporate assets and at the same time providing employees the flexibility they desire."

The Secure Work Space solution enables customers to save considerable effort and expense as they no longer need to configure and manage expensive VPN infrastructures to provide mobile device access to data and applications that reside behind their corporate firewalls. With end-to-end enterprise mobility management, a straightforward deployment process, and a global and flexible technical support model, BlackBerry offers a secure and reliable solution as the clear choice for enterprises and governments to support BYOD policies for iOS and Android platforms. Additional applications can easily be secured and added to the workspace, without the need to modify source code.

"The vast majority of smartphones on the market aren't adequately secure for corporate or government work," said Robert Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group. "Currently BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 combined with BlackBerry Balance or Secure Work Space has the only volume solution which has been designed from the ground up to provide the security most IT departments require. With this announcement BlackBerry is expanding beyond their own top to bottom approach to security to address this need on other platforms. With this product BlackBerry is showcasing their security legacy by providing a stronger cross platform security solution than anyone else can in the market."

Closed beta testing for Secure Work Space has already started and general availability will be offered by the end of the second quarter, calendar year 2013. More details will be announced at the BlackBerry Live conference in May, 2013 in Orlando, Florida.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Lots of tech but few breakout hits at SXSW confab

2013-03-14T15:03:00.001-07:00

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - For all the talk of space travel, the wearable gadgets, marketing stunts and lavish parties, something was missing at this year's South By Southwest Interactive Festival: the next 'hot app.'

The brainy tech jamboree held each year in Texas' capital city is known as the place where Twitter soared from obscurity to the world stage in 2007. It's where the location-sharing app Foursquare came out in 2009.

This year, though, chatter focused on hardware rather than software, and on big ideas rather than coming out parties. The most-used mobile app was the festival's own application, which helped attendees keep track of South By Southwest's barrage of panels, talks, meet-ups and parties. The star of the show wasn't the next Twitter but an ever-reluctant Grumpy Cat, whose frowny face has become an Internet sensation. Hundreds of people lined up outside the tent of tech blog Mashable to get a photo with the cat, whose actual name is Tardar Sauce.

South By Southwest appears to be experiencing a bit of Yogi Berra syndrome: 'Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.'

'I don't think it's indicating that there is less innovation,' said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. Rather, he believes there may have been fewer companies breaking out because there's just so much noise that entrepreneurs are choosing not to launch products here.

To be fair, attendance at the interactive portion of this tech, music and film festival has grown each year since it got its name in 1999. Attendance at the interactive gathering hit 30,621 this year. Big brands from Yahoo to Amazon have an increasingly large presence, which can drown out small startups. Chevrolet, for instance, provided a fleet of cars to shuttle attendees between event venues.

Google Inc. made a splash when it showed off new apps for its Google Glass interactive, Internet-connected glasses on Monday evening. Timothy Jordan, senior developer advocate at Google, demonstrated a handful of apps for Google Glass, including a news headline app from The New York Times and ones from Gmail, Evernote and social networking startup Path.

'We are the pioneers who get to decide how this fits into our lives,' he told a packed auditorium of programmers, bloggers, Google fans and tech luminaries. Glass, he said, is about technology that's 'there when you want it and out of the way when you don't.'

Jordan stopped short of letting attendees try out Glass for themselves. Even so, Google - hardly a scrappy startup - was among the most-talked about companies at the event, not just for Glass but for demonstrating a talking, interactive pair of Adidas sneakers that, as it turns out, are not actually going to be sold anywhere.

So is the SXSW breakout a thing of the past for hot startups? Andy Kahl, product strategist at a Web privacy startup, said his company Ghostery got a sudden, unexplained spike of downloads of its privacy tool in March of 2010. The company didn't attend South By Southwest that year, but someone mentioned them during a talk on Internet privacy. After that, the company resolved to go every year. While Kahl believes the festival is still worth attending, he said 'it is fairly difficult to not get lost in the noise.'

The festival's 'noise' includes hundreds of panels, discussions and lectures on topics as wide-ranging as space travel, toddlers & technology and the future of grocery stores. PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel spoke about the future, startups and the concept of luck.

Former Vice President Al Gore talked about the future too, as did Cindy Gallop, the founder of 'MakeLoveNotPorn' who's on a mission to rethink pornography. Gallop, who champions 'real-world' sex in all its funny, awkward glory, asks regular people to submit videos of their sex lives to her website. She charges $5 to view a video and shares half the revenue with those who share videos.

'Gen Y in porn is like Gen Y everywhere else,' she told a giggling crowd. 'Entrepreneurial, challenging the status quo.'

Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley, meanwhile, displayed an impressive number of data-tracking bracelets during his talk and laughed about the scale that tweets his weight every week. Elon Musk of Tesla Motors, SpaceX and PayPal fame talked not just of life on Mars but said that he checks his email while spending time with his five kids.

To attendees like Chris Hwang of the New York-based stock-media startup Pond5, South By Southwest is as much about serendipity and chance meetings as it is about the scheduled events. He'd signed up to a mentoring session with venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers that ended up being canceled - but instead of moving on, the startups began talking with each other.

'Honestly, it's an excuse to come to party, to catch up, make relationships on a happenstance basis,' he said while waiting in a long line to hear Thiel speak. 'You come to get inspired, recharged.'

BlackBerry projected to sell at least 2 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones per quarter in 2013

2013-03-14T14:03:00.001-07:00

We've seen a number of promising signs for BlackBerry (BBRY) lately and now Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski has delivered one of the more bullish projections for the company that we've heard in recent weeks. Per Barron's, Jankowski projects BlackBerry has sold 500,000 BlackBerry 10 smartphones over the past quarter and will sell between 2 million to 3 million per quarter for the rest of 2013. This doesn't mean the company is poised to become profitable again this year, of course, and Jankowski still projects the company to report a quarterly loss of $0.23 per share later this month. However, she does think that BlackBerry will roar back to profitability in 2014, when she expects the company will post revenues of $13.53 billion and a profit of $0.12 per share.

[More from BGR: Samsung was never an underdog - it was a sleeping giant that has now been awakened]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Galaxy S IV rumored to feature SwiftKey's predictive technology

2013-03-14T12:03:00.001-07:00

The Galaxy S IV is expected to be unveiled in just a few hours in what may be one of the biggest smartphone launches of all time. We have already seen Samsung's (005930) latest flagship smartphone in front of the camera and in a variety of leaked images, and new rumors continue to shed light on one of the most highly anticipated devices of the year. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Samsung will utilize SwiftKey's predictive input technology for the Galaxy S IV's virtual keyboard. The technology has previously been licensed by BlackBerry (BBRY) for its BlackBerry 10 platform, which has been praised for its efficient input method, and the keyboard is consistently one of the best-selling apps in Google Play store. Samsung will announce the Galaxy S IV at a press conference tonight at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and BGR's live coverage will begin just before 7:00 p.m. EDT.

[More from BGR: Samsung was never an underdog - it was a sleeping giant that has now been awakened]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

BlackBerry plans security feature for Android, iPhone

2013-03-14T10:03:00.001-07:00

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry will offer technology to separate and make secure both work and personal data on mobile devices powered by Google Inc's Android platform and by Apple Inc's iOS operating system, the company said on Thursday.

The new feature could help BlackBerry sell high-margin services to enterprise clients even if many, or all, of their workers are using smartphones made by BlackBerry's competitors. That may be crucial for the company as it has lost a vast amount of market share to the iPhone and to Android devices, such as Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy line.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said he expects BlackBerry's device management software to gain traction this year, and boost revenue next year.

'Supporting devices with the best, most secure, and easiest-to-use mobile solution should enable RIM to transform into what we believe is an attractive model,' he said in a note to clients.

The offering could help BlackBerry shore up its profitable services business. BlackBerry's shares plunged in December after it said it would change the way it charges for services, cutting fees for customers that do not need advanced security and other enhanced features.

The new Secure Work Space feature will be available before the end of June, and will be managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, the platform that allows BlackBerry's corporate and government clients to handle devices using different operating systems on their networks.

BlackBerry said the feature fences off corporate email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, web browsing and document editing from personal apps and content, which could be less secure.

BALANCING ACT

In a bid to regain market share and return to profit, BlackBerry introduced a new line of smartphones powered by its BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year.

The touch screen version, dubbed the Z10, is on sale in more than 20 countries, while a device called the Q10, with a physical keyboard, will be available in April.

The new devices have a feature called Balance, which keeps corporate and personal data separate. It allows information technology departments to manage the corporate content on a device, while ensuring privacy for users, who can store and use personal apps and content on the same phone without corporate oversight.

With Secure Work Space, 'we're extending as many of these (Balance) features as possible to other platforms,' David Smith, BlackBerry's head of mobile enterprise computing, said in a statement.

BlackBerry's move comes as Samsung, whose Galaxy devices have gained great popularity, attempts to make itself a more viable option for business customers with security features such as Samsung Knox and SAFE, or Samsung for Enterprise.

BlackBerry said Secure Work Space means clients would not need to configure and manage expensive virtual private network (VPN) infrastructure in order to give workers' devices access to data and applications that reside behind corporate firewalls.

'Secure Work Space also offers the same end-to-end encryption for data in transit as we have offered on BlackBerry for many years, so there is no need for a VPN,' Peter Devenyi, head of enterprise software, said in an interview.

SELLING SERVICES

The new feature could also help stem declines in BlackBerry's service revenue. That business has long been a cash cow for BlackBerry because of the large clients that pay to use its extensive network and security offerings.

However, the company has been under pressure to reduce its infrastructure access fees, and opted to do so during the transition to BlackBerry 10. Due to the changes, BlackBerry's service revenue is expected to decline over the course of this year.

Giving its large array of corporate clients the ability to manage BlackBerry devices, along with Android smartphones and iPhones on their networks might encourage both corporate and government clients to continue to pay for and use BlackBerry's device management services.

BlackBerry plans to report quarterly results on March 28.

Last week, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said sales of the Z10 had surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets such as India, where cheaper entry-level phones are typically popular.

On Wednesday, the company said it had received an order for 1 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones - the largest order it has ever had from a single customer - and its shares jumped.

BlackBerry's volatile stock closed up 8.2 percent at $15.65 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, while its Toronto-listed shares rose by a similar margin to C$16.04.

The shares pared gains on Thursday, falling 2.3 percent to $15.29 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq. In Toronto, its shares were 2 percent lower at C$15.72.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Allison Martell; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Lisa Von Ahn and Peter Galloway)

BlackBerry plans security feature for Android, iPhone platforms

2013-03-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry will offer technology to separate and secure work and personal data on mobile devices powered by Google Inc's Android platform and Apple Inc's iOS operating system, the company said on Thursday.

The new Secure Work Space feature will be available before the end of June will be managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, the platform that allows BlackBerry's corporate and government clients to handle devices using different operating systems on their networks.

The move will encourage large customers to continue to use BlackBerry's services to manage devices on their networks, even as employees use them for their personal devices, which could create security breaches.

In the ultra-competitive smartphone market, BlackBerry has ceded ground to rivals like Apple's iPhone, Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy line and other devices based on the Android operating system.

To regain market share and return to profitability, BlackBerry introduced a new line of smartphones powered by its BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year. The touch screen version, dubbed the Z10, is on sale in more than 20 countries, while a device called the Q10 with a physical keyboard will be available in April.

The new devices have Balance, a feature that keeps corporate and personal data separate. It allows information technology departments to manage the corporate content on a device, while ensuring privacy for users, who can store and use personal apps and content on the same phone without corporate oversight.

With Secure Work Space, 'we're extending as many of these (Balance) features as possible to other platforms,' David Smith, BlackBerry's head of mobile enterprise computing, said in a statement.

BlackBerry's move comes as Samsung, whose Galaxy devices have gained great popularity, attempts to make itself a more viable option for business customers with security features such as Samsung Knox and SAFE, or Samsung for Enterprise.

BlackBerry said Secure Work Space meant clients would not need to configure and manage expensive virtual private network (VPN) infrastructures that give the devices access to data and applications that reside behind corporate firewalls.

'Secure work space also offers the same end-to-end encryption for data in transit as we have offered on BlackBerry for many years, so there is no need for a VPN,' Peter Devenyi, head of enterprise software, said in an interview.

SERVICE REVENUE

The new feature could also help stave-off declines in service revenue. That business has long been a cash cow for BlackBerry because of the large clients that pay to utilize its extensive network and security offerings.

However, the company has been under pressure to reduce its infrastructure access fees. Late last year, it said it would do so during the transition to the BlackBerry 10 platform.

As a result of the changes, BlackBerry's service revenue is expected to decline.

Giving its large array of corporate clients the ability to manage BlackBerry devices, along with Android smartphones and iPhones on their networks may encourage corporate and government clients to continue to pay for and use BlackBerry's device management services.

BlackBerry plans to report quarterly results on March 28.

Last week, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said sales of the Z10 had surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets like India, where cheaper entry-level phones are typically popular.

On Wednesday, the company said it had received an order for 1 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones - its largest ever to a single customer, and its shares jumped.

BlackBerry's volatile stock closed up 8.2 percent at $15.65 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, while its Toronto-listed shares rose by a similar margin to C$16.04.

Shares of BlackBerry were up a further 0.4 percent at $16.71 in trading before the morning bell on Thursday in the United States.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)

Trade panel delays decision on Apple, Samsung patent fight

2013-03-13T15:03:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Wednesday that it would delay a decision on allegations that Apple infringed upon patents owned by Samsung Electronics in making the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad.

An administrative law judge at the ITC had said in a preliminary ruling in September that Apple did not infringe the patents. The full ITC said it would review the matter. If the full ITC reversed its internal judge and found Apple guilty of infringement, the ITC could order its products banned from the U.S. market.

The ITC said it would now issue a decision on May 31. It requested filings on questions related to the effect of banning the Apple products on the public interest and whether there were acceptable substitutes for the Apple products if they were to be banned.

Apple has a parallel complaint filed against Samsung at the ITC, accusing Samsung, a major Apple chip provider as well as a global rival, of copying its iPhones and iPads. An ITC judge said in that case that Samsung infringed on four Apple patents.

Apple and Samsung have taken their bruising patent disputes to some 10 countries and four continents as they vie for market share in the booming mobile industry.

Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker, while Apple is in second place, according to Gartner Inc, a technology research company.

The case at the International Trade Commission is No. 337-794.

(Reporting By Diane Bartz; editing by Andrew Hay)

Amazon drops Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to $269 in the U.S., LTE version now only $399

2013-03-13T13:03:00.001-07:00

Amazon (AMZN) on Wednesday expanded availability of the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablet to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan, while also announcing a price cut for both the Wi-Fi and 4G LTE versions of the slate in the United States. The Wi-Fi only version will be available for $269, down from $299 at launch, while the 4G LTE version will see a price drop of $100 to $399. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is equipped with an 8.9-inch 1920 × 1200 pixel resolution display, 1GB of RAM and a 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 processor. Amazon's press release follows below.

[More from BGR: Samsung keeps its impossible promise]

Amazon Launches Kindle Fire HD 8.9" in Europe and Japan; Introduces New, Lower Price

Largest-display, highest-resolution version of Amazon's best-selling tablet now available in Europe and Japan

[More from BGR: SimCity PR nightmare escalates]

New, lower price for Kindle Fire HD 8.9" in the US - starting at just $269 for Wi-Fi and $399 for 4G

SEATTLE-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Mar. 13, 2013- (NASDAQ: AMZN) - Amazon today announced that Kindle Fire HD 8.9" - the large-screen version of its best-selling tablet - is now available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. With the expansion of Kindle Fire HD 8.9" to Europe and Japan, Amazon also announced it is able to lower the price of Kindle Fire HD 8.9" in the US, with the Wi-Fi version now starting at $269 and the 4G version starting at $399.

"We're thrilled with customer reaction to Kindle Fire HD 8.9". Customers tell us they love our large-screen version of Kindle Fire HD for web browsing, email, gaming, watching TV shows, reading magazines, and more," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "As we expand Kindle Fire HD 8.9" to Europe and Japan, we've been able to increase our production volumes and decrease our costs. Across our business at Amazon, whenever we are able to create cost efficiencies like this, we want to pass the savings along to our customers."

Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is the highest-resolution, largest-display Kindle Fire. Designed for entertainment, it is perfect for web, apps, movies, games and magazines. Features include:

Large 8.9" display has the highest resolution of any Kindle Fire (1920×1200, 254 ppi), with rich color and deep contrast; ideal for movies, apps, and gaming.

Custom Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers for crisp, rich sound.

Over 23 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, and audiobooks.

The most popular apps and games.

Ultra-fast web browsing and streaming with built-in dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi.

Front-facing HD camera for taking photos or making video calls.

Exceptional battery life - Kindle Fire HD 8.9" gets 10 hours of battery life.

Easy-to-use e-mail, calendar, and contacts for work or home, including Gmail, Hotmail, Exchange, and more.

New Amazon-exclusive features like X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Textbooks, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice and Whispersync for Games.

Kindle FreeTime, a free, personalized tablet experience just for kids and exclusively available on Kindle Fire. Parents can set daily screen limits and give access to appropriate content for each child.

"Buy Once, Enjoy Everywhere" with Amazon apps available on the largest number of platforms so customers can use their Amazon content on any of their devices.

Amazon's top-rated, world-class customer service.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Amazon cuts price of larger Kindle Fire HD

2013-03-13T12:04:00.001-07:00

SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon says it is cutting the price of its Kindle Fire HD with the 8.9-inch screen in the U.S.

The company said Wednesday that the version with Wi-Fi-only access is now $30 less, at $269. The version that can access '4G' cellular networks was cut by $100 to $399.

Buyers of the 4G version can buy a data plan for $50 for the first year.

Amazon.com Inc. also said it began sales of the 8.9-inch model in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.

Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle, said the expansion allows the company to boost production volume and cut costs. Amazon has said it makes slim to no profit on each device, aiming to make money when customers buy books, videos and other items from Amazon.

Amazon cuts price of largest Kindle Fire tablet

2013-03-13T11:04:00.001-07:00

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it cut the price of its largest Kindle Fire tablet, part of an effort by the world's biggest Internet retailer to get the device into the hands of as many consumers as possible.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 inch Wi-Fi tablet will now be priced at $269 in the United States, down from $299. The 4G wireless version now starts at $399, compared with $499 before, Amazon said.

Amazon is launching its larger tablet in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. Dave Limp, president of Amazon's Kindle business, said the company has increased production of the devices in conjunction with the overseas launch. The cost of making the tablets has fallen with greater economies of scale, letting Amazon cut prices, he said.

'Whenever we are able to create cost efficiencies like this, we want to pass the savings along to our customers,' Limp said in a statement.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Leslie Adler)

Supply orders indicate BlackBerry Z10 has been an 'unqualified success' so far

2013-03-13T09:05:00.001-07:00

As we've said before, BlackBerry's (BBRY) goal with the Z10 isn't to catch up with iOS and Android overnight but to simply live to fight another day. And based on some recent supply checks conducted by analyst Paul Peterson of boutique research firm BlueFin, it seems that BlackBerry has gone a long way toward achieving that goal. Per Barron's, Peterson has written a research note claiming that it "appears that [BlackBerry] management is confident that the BB10 launches will be an unqualified success" because orders to suppliers for the Z10 handset have shown a "significant surge in orders in the past 30 days."

[More from BGR: SimCity PR nightmare escalates]

Even better, Peterson reports that "some suppliers are seeing 6-month order coverage that is several orders of magnitude larger than the previous 6 months, with some suppliers believing that they can get back to 2011 revenue levels if the present forecast levels hold up." While we won't know for certain how well the BlackBerry Z10 is doing until BlackBerry releases some actual sales figures, this certainly is an encouraging report for the company.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Samsung's smartphone marketing Death Star spent $402 million in U.S. last year

2013-03-13T07:03:00.001-07:00

One of the reasons Samsung (005930) has all but crushed its rival Android vendors has been a series of first-rate advertisements backed up by its Death Star-sized marketing budget. Per The Wall Street Journal, new research from advertising research firm Kantar Media shows that Samsung spent $402 million in 2012 marketing its smartphones in the United States, topping even Apple (AAPL) with its similarly enormous $333 million U.S. marketing budget for the iPhone. No other smartphone company studied by Kantar even came close to matching Samsung and Apple last year: HTC (2498) spent $46 million, BlackBerry (BBRY) spent $39 million and Nokia (NOK) spent $13 million. And given that Apple and Samsung are currently the only two smartphone vendors turning a consistent and sizable profit at the moment, we shouldn't expect that either company will ratchet down its advertising budget anytime soon.

[More from BGR: Google's most exciting mobile service is coming to the iPhone before most Android phones]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Google's most exciting mobile service is coming to the iPhone before most Android phones

2013-03-13T06:04:00.001-07:00

Google's (GOOG) most exciting and innovative mobile service is currently only available on 15.5% of Android devices, but it will soon be accessible to nearly every iPhone and iPad user on the planet. A leaked promotional video picked up by Engadget reveals that Google Now, the Android feature that presents users with useful information driving directions, weather reports and traffic information before they even know they need it, will soon be available on the iPhone and iPad as a downloadable app. The video was pulled shortly after it was discovered on YouTube, but a copy can be viewed below.

[More from BGR: HTC's March production problems may carry a dreadful cost]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Apple's iPad to fall behind Android as tablet war grows

2013-03-12T15:03:00.001-07:00

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shipments of tablets running Google Inc's Android will overtake the iPad this year for the first time, research house IDC predicted on Tuesday, as Apple Inc cedes more mobile market share to hard-charging rivals around the globe.

A growing variety of smaller and cheaper Android tablets from Google to Amazon.com Inc will catch on this year with more consumers and chip away at Apple's dominance since the first iPad launched in 2010, International Data Corp said.

iPad and iPhone shipments are expected to keep growing at enviable rates, but arch-rival Samsung Electronics and others have hurt Apple with a combination of savvy marketing, greater variety and rapid technology adoption.

On Thursday, Samsung takes the wraps off the fourth generation of its flagship Galaxy, the smartphone that helped the South Korean giant knock the iPhone off its top ranking for part of last year.

A growing perception that the company co-founded by Steve Jobs may be losing its competitive edge has weighed on its shares, which have lost more than a third of their value since hitting a high in September.

IPHONE COULD GO WAY OF BLACKBERRY?

In the latest criticism from Wall Street, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek on Tuesday compared Apple to Blackberry saying the iPhone is now on the defensive against Samsung's devices.

'Historically when handset makers fall out of favor (e.g., the Razr, Blackberry, HTC) they fall faster/further than expected,' Misek said.

Now, IDC says Apple may begin losing some its lead on tablets as well, though it remains the top seller among manufacturers.

iPad shipments are expected to account for 46 percent of the tablet market in 2013, down from 51 percent last year, IDC said. Devices running Android are expected to grow their market share to 49 percent this year from 42 percent last year.

Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon.com Inc's Kindle, which uses its own customization of Android, made major inroads with consumers last year. In November, Apple launched its own foray into smaller-sized tablets with the iPad mini.

'One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond,' IDC said in a press release.

APPLE REVS GROWTH SLOWS

Last month, Hewlett-Packard Co announced the launch of the Slate 7 tablet powered by Android, a centerpiece of that company's effort to expand from the shrinking personal market into mobile.

Apple is expected to grow its revenue by $26 billion in its fiscal year ending in September, just over half of the $48 billion increase in revenue it saw the year before, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

A group of suppliers that depend on Apple for more than half of their business saw its sales slump 31 percent in February compared to January, according to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White, who does not identify the companies in the group.

Shares of Cirrus Logic, which gets three quarters of its revenue from selling audio chips to Apple, have fallen 23 percent this year, including a 2.89 percent drop on Tuesday.

Many component suppliers to Apple, like Qualcomm and Toshiba, also do significant business with Android device manufacturers.

'The open ecosystem at Android has allowed there to be more suppliers. As a chip guy, I always want to have as many irons in the fire as possible because the ride at the top tends to only last five years,' said RBC analyst Doug Freedman.

Underscoring the increasing opportunity in mobile for Apple and its competitors, IDC also raised its 2013 tablet shipment forecast to 190.9 million units, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units.

Last year, global tablet shipments grew to 128.3 million units, up from 72 million in 2011, according to IDC.

In the smartphone market, which reached 545 million units shipped last year, Apple has already fallen behind Samsung.

Samsung is likely to sell 290 million smartphones this year, up 35 percent from 2012, according to Strategy Analytics. Apple's smartphone sales are projected to reach 180 million this year, up 33 percent.

IDC said tablets running Microsoft's Windows 8 platform would grow their market share from 1 percent last year to 7.4 percent in 2017.

Tablets running the Windows RT operating system, which is not compatible with older software that runs on Windows, will see their market share stay below 3 percent through 2017, IDC said.

'Consumers aren't buying Windows RT's value proposition, and long term we think Microsoft and its partners would be better served by focusing their attention on improving Windows 8,' IDC said.

(Editing by Andrea Ricci and Andrew Hay)

Apple has 25 percent chance of missing outlook: analyst

2013-03-12T10:03:00.001-07:00

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has a 25 percent chance of missing its quarterly revenue forecast as iPhone sales slow and Samsung launches its highly anticipated Galaxy S4 smartphone, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said.

Misek, who has previously raised red flags when Apple cut orders to suppliers, cut his iPhone sales estimate for the quarter ending March to 35 million from 37.5 million.

He cut his target price on Apple's stock to $420 from $500. Misek, who has drawn comparisons between Apple and fading handset makers such as BlackBerry and Motorola, had a price target of $900 on Apple shares in August.

'When handset makers fall out of favor they fall faster/further than expected,' he said in a research note.

Apple's stock was down 1.8 percent at $430.20 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Misek said he expected Apple to report second-quarter revenue of $41 billion, at the low end of the company's own forecast of $41 billion to $43 billion.

Analysts on average expect current quarter revenue of $43 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Apple missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for the quarter ended December 31 and disappointing holiday sales reinforced fears it was losing its dominance in smartphones.

The launch of the iPhone 5S may be delayed, said Misek who is rated four stars out of five by Thomson Reuters StarMine for the accuracy of his earnings estimates on Apple.

'Apple's suppliers are having problems with the new casing colors leading to a push out from Jun to Jul-Sep after Apple hoped to pull forward the update,' he said.

(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

Apple's iPads to fall behind Android tablets this year: IDC

2013-03-12T08:03:00.001-07:00

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shipments of Apple Inc's iPads will fall behind the growing variety of tablets running Google Inc's Android platform for the first time this year as smaller-sized devices catch on with more consumers, research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said on Tuesday.

iPad shipments are expected to account for 46 percent of the market in 2013, down from 51 percent last year, IDC said. Devices running Android are expected to grow their market share to 49 percent this year from 42 percent last year.

IDC also raised its 2013 tablet shipment forecast to 190.9 million units, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units. It did not say how many tablets shipped last year.

Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon.com Inc's Kindle, which uses its own customization of Android, made major inroads with consumers last year. In November, Apple launched its own foray into smaller-sized tablets with the iPad mini.

'One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond,' IDC said in a press release.

Last month, Hewlett-Packard Co announced the launch of the Slate 7 tablet powered by Android, a centerpiece of that company's effort to expand in mobile devices and reduce its dependence on the shrinking personal computer market.

IDC said tablets running Microsoft's Windows 8 platform would grow their market share from 1 percent last year to 7.4 percent in 2017.

Tablets running the Windows RT operating system, which is not compatible with older software that runs on Windows, will see their market share stay below 3 percent through 2017, IDC said.

'Consumers aren't buying Windows RT's value proposition, and long term we think Microsoft and its partners would be better served by focusing their attention on improving Windows 8,' IDC said.

(Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Champagne out, ebooks in as Britain updates inflation basket

2013-03-12T07:03:00.001-07:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Champagne is losing its fizz for British consumers who would rather be curled up with a book downloaded onto their eReaders, according to government statisticians.

The Office for National Statistics, which bases its monthly calculation of inflation on 700 goods and services priced in 150 areas of the country, said sales of books for digital devices represented a 'significant and growing market'.

Statisticians update the basket of items every year so the contents accurately capture changing trends in spending.

The annual rejig also shows what British consumers are eating and drinking - and what they are not.

With Britons perhaps not having much to celebrate as the country flirts with its third recession since 2008, champagne has been taken out, and it has been replaced by sales of white rum, which the statistics office said was increasingly popular with young drinkers.

Blueberries, continental sliced meats and packaged stir-fry vegetables have all made their debut in the basket.

On the Do-it-yourself front, self-assembly kitchen wall units are being added to the basket, while basin taps make their exit.

As well as ebooks, Britons are increasingly buying digital television recorders. These devices, which allow people to record and rewind live television, have replaced standard Freeview receiver boxes.

In another sign of the times, packs of disposable contact lenses are also entering the basket, replacing pairs of soft contact lenses.

(Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by John Stonestreet)