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Looks very nice indeed.

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An ultra-slim D-shaped design for easy portability
Slim bezel with high viewing quality Quarter HD (QHD) 4.3-inch large organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen
Waterproof and dustproof for ease of handling

Using this as a reference model, Panasonic will expand its lineup, aiming at sales of 1.5 million smartphones in Europe next fiscal year. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2016, Panasonic targets global sales of 15 million units, including nine million in Europe, Asia, China, and the United States and six million in Japan (of which five million are smartphones).

The Panasonic Group created the Systems & Communications Company (SNC) in April this year in advance of its reorganization scheduled for January 2012 in order to handle products and services related to system, network and mobile communications. Within this company, Panasonic will maximize its internal resources, including making use of an existing factory in Malaysia. Currently, phones for the Japanese market are manufactured in this factory but now the same factory is also scheduled to manufacture the first global model as announced.

Panasonic will continue to expand its product lineup and increase sales in a speedy process by thoroughly utilizing the Group’s technological assets and development resources as well as its production and sales sites around the world, thereby strengthening development, production, and sales structure and product competitiveness.

 

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At the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday, Canada’s Research In Motion allowed attendees to get their hands on the long awaited OS update to the BlackBerry PlayBook to the show, and gave it a street date of Feb 17 2012.  The 7” tablet was praised for its high spec hardware on release but criticized for the startling omission of a native email, contacts or calendar app, relying instead on third party solutions, or via a tethered BlackBerry handset.

RIM’s President and Co-CEO Mike Lazardis highlighted a number of productivity features that will appeal its core users. He announced that the 2.0 update would include a native unified inbox, pulling together email and social messaging alerts, as has become familiar with BlackBerry’s dedicated user-base the world over.  Additional features for email include ‘tabbed email’ allowing users to write one email whilst referencing another, advanced inbox support for multiple accounts and out-of-office controls, and full rich-text email support for control over fonts and layouts. The calendar app is an expanded version of the mobile app that allows people to see how busy their day is depending on the size of the date, useful for identifying your busy spots at a glance. Native BBM is notable by its omission however, and has been further pushed back.

If this all sounds a bit too much ‘book’ and not enough ‘play’, RIM offered the BlackBerry Video Storefront, a media portal for TV and Film downloads, whilst BlackBerry Remote allows the use of a tethered handset as, you guessed it, a remote, handy for when the PlayBook is plugged into an HDTV via HDMI.

Since its much-hyped launch early in 2011, the PlayBook has never managed to meet the expectation of hype with convincing sales figures.  Estimates put the number between 500,000-700,000 units, which makes the PlayBook a minor player next to Android tablets and the iPad. Substantial price cuts did help increase sales last year, although the effect was something more of a trickle than a flow. Its unlikely that this update will turn charming yet diminutive PlayBook into a market leader, but existing users will be pleased to see they’re loyalty rewarded with a fresh OS update and features that, whilst welcome, should really have been there at launch.

See the full press release after the break, and check out Omio’s deals page for great offers on BlackBerry handsets and the PlayBook.

RIM Previews BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 at CES

Las Vegas (CES 2012) – This week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) will be previewing new features of BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 that will enable customers to stay even more connected and productive in their personal and professional lives.

“BlackBerry PlayBook is already recognised for delivering powerful performance, true multi-tasking, advanced web browsing and HD multimedia in an ultra-portable design,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 we are building on this strong foundation, as well as leveraging our strengths in communications, social integration and productivity, to allow people to use their BlackBerry PlayBook in new ways throughout the day.”

CES 2012 attendees who visit the BlackBerry booth at CES (South Hall 3 Booth # 30326) will get a sneak peek of upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 functionality including:

Advanced Messaging Experience: 

•                     New unified inbox – a powerful unified inbox within the built-in messaging app allows users to quickly manage their personal email and work email accounts as well as the messaging capabilities of popular social networking sites like Twitter®, LinkedIn® and others – all in one place.

•                     Multi-tasking within email – by extending the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s multitasking capabilities to ‘tabbed email’, users are able to reference one email while they compose another.

•                     Rich-text email composing and editing – new features within the Messages app enable users to benefit from full support of fonts, formatting and editing of email threads, offering a robust email experience similar to that of a PC or laptop.

•                     Inbox management tools – allows for powerful inbox search across multiple email accounts, as well as the ability to set out-of-office messages and email signatures directly from their tablet.

Deep Integration of Social Relationships: 

•                     Innovative people-centric calendar – in addition to standard calendar features that help users plan and organise their day, the powerful built-in Calendar app provides the unique ability for users to view their calendar by who they are meeting with that day and review valuable information about that contact. Information is consolidated automatically from social networking sites about that contact and/or their company.

•                     Relationship-centric contacts app – more than just an address book, the new built-in Contacts app serves as a social hub – merging and consolidating information from multiple sources (including email and social channels) into one contact file for each person in their address book.  Each contact file includes information such as recent status updates, conversations, related news articles and mutual contacts that are kept up-to-date automatically.

Making Your BlackBerry Smartphone and Tablet a Powerful Pair:

•                     Remote control for the BlackBerry PlayBook – new BlackBerry® Bridge™ features allow a user’s BlackBerry® smartphone to act as a keyboard and mouse for their BlackBerry PlayBook – effectively providing a wireless remote control for their tablet. Perfect for pausing a movie when a BlackBerry PlayBook is plugged in to a TV with an HDMI connection, or for using the tactile QWERTY keyboard on a BlackBerry smartphone to compose a message or document on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

•                     Opening content on the BlackBerry PlayBook – BlackBerry Bridge allows you to take documents, emails, multimedia files and web pages found on your smartphone and open them quickly and directly on the BlackBerry PlayBook so you can use the larger high resolution display for an optimised viewing and editing experience.

Improved Mobile Productivity: 

•                     Updated document editing capabilities – updated Documents To Go® functionality makes it easier for users to create and edit documents while on the go. Improvements include: enhanced support for the virtual keyboard, the ability to view and update embedded charts and chart sheets within spreadsheets, a new formula wizard with over 100 functions as well as the ability to edit presentations including text, bullets and formatting.

•                     Print To Go application – this app allows users to wirelessly “print” from their laptop or PC directly to their BlackBerry PlayBook over Wi-Fi®. A digital printout is created on the BlackBerry PlayBook so that users can view, sort and manage their digital printouts as though they were physical sheets of paper. The Print To Go app is the perfect way to consolidate info from various related sources like a hotel web confirmation, an airline boarding pass email, the show event schedule or even a map of the destination city and make them available for quick access on the go.

•                     Increased control and manageability of corporate data – the combination of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and BlackBerry Balance will help to overcome many barriers to widespread tablet deployment, including device manageability and the ability to secure, manage and control confidential corporate information on the device. Plus BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 supports dedicated shelf space inside the BlackBerry® App World™ storefront to allow IT departments to control distribution of enterprise applications and to make those approved enterprise applications easily available to the organisation’s end users.

New Apps and Content: 

•                     Your favorite apps plus thousands more – many exciting new applications built for the BlackBerry PlayBook will be made available on BlackBerry App World with the availability of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. From gaming and lifestyle to business and productivity, RIM is showcasing some of the latest apps available for the BlackBerry PlayBook at CES 2012 including Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Groupon, Thomson Reuters, Zinio and many more.

•                     Video store – a catalog of thousands of movies and TV shows will be available through the integrated BlackBerry Video Storefront* with new releases to be made available for purchase or rent the same day they come out on DVD. Users will be able to begin watching media as soon as they start to download the file, so users won’t have to wait for the entire file to transfer before they can enjoy great entertainment on the tablet’s high resolution display, or on an HDTV via the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s HDMI output.

•                     Enhanced web browsing – the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 browser also includes a new reading view, which is designed to make web sites even easier to enjoy by eliminating page clutter at the touch of a button. What’s left is a cleaner format that is great for reading online news articles, blog posts, or websites that contain heavy amounts of text.

Availability

The BlackBerry® PlayBook OS 2.0 software update will be available as a free download for all BlackBerry PlayBook users and is expected to be available in February 2012.

* BlackBerry Video Store will initially be available in the United States. Support for other countries is expected to be added later this year.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionised the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws.  When used herein, words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”,  ”may”,  ”will”, “should”, “intend,” “believe”, and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by RIM in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that RIM believes are appropriate in the circumstances.  Many factors could cause RIM’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of RIM’s Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov).  These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on RIM’s forward-looking statements.  RIM has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third party products or services.

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Whilst proving popular with folks in emerging markets, the dual-SIM phone has historically failed to fan flames in the hearts of European consumers…nevertheless Samsung is aiming to change this with an Android powered duo scheduled for 2012.

The Samsung Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos are a pair of mobiles with a nice line in dual-SIM functionality.

The Y Duos is a Ginerbread-powered device, packing a 3.14-inch touch display as well as all of the slick Samsung software acoutrements we’ve become used to seeing in their mid-range Android line-up, from the TouchWiz user interface to all sorts of media player love.

As for the Y Pro Duos – if the name didn’t give it away – packs a physical keyboard in its BlackBerry-aping slender form, as well as the modified Android OS.

So, what’s the point of a dual SIM device? Well, it stops you looking like an extra in The Wire for one, wandering around with a pair of handsets if you need two separate phone numbers – for ‘business’ and ‘pleasure’ as it were. These enable you to put both SIMs in one phone, switching between the two at will.

The reason that they’re so popular on other parts of the globe is the ability to have easy access to a dedicated SIM for international calling and the like. Avoic costly calls, texts and data charges, all the while looking cool with a single versatile device.

Russia is the first to receive the Duos…duo in January of 2012, likely followed by a global release soon after. Will the UK finally come around to the idea of doubling down in the SIM stakes? Perhaps these might be enough to change our mind.

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