Today in Tech: Can BlackBerry still cut it?

“It is not thicker, don’t believe all the junk that you read.”
— Apple Senior VP Phil Schiller supposed response to reports that the white iPhone 4 is thicker (9 to 5 Mac)

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  Some Research In Motion investors reportedly sold shares late last week based on growing general concern that the current BlackBerry product roadmap, including the Torch and PlayBook, won’t cut it in this increasingly competitive mobile market, resulting in shares dropping 14% last Friday on the Nasdaq. It’s expected that the company will unveil updates to its BlackBerry operating system and BlackBerry Bold smartphone this week. (Wall Street Journal)
• Nearly two weeks after Sony shut down its PlayStation Network (PSN) due to a security breach in which a hacker made off with 77 million users’ information, the company announced parts of PSN will be up and running later this week. In addition, execs are offering a small goodwill gesture by offering 30 days free on PlayStation Plus, a service that gives users access to more game content and beta trials. But that doesn’t mean they’re off the hook: Congress just sent Sony a letter requesting detailed information about the brouhaha. (CNN and New York Times)
• Samsung’s first quarter profit dropped a whopping 30% to $2.6 billion due in large part to its TV component business being in the red and semiconductors being less profitable. The company expects the second quarter will also see a profit decline, with earnings picking up later in the year.  (Wall Street Journal)
• A closer look at Jack Dorsey’s twin startups, Twitter and Square. (Business Insider/Silicon Alley Insider)

  

• Intuit’s mobile payment service, GoPayment, which uses a credit card reader to transform mobile devices into credit card transaction devices, is dropping the transaction fee ($0.15 per transaction) for swiped and key-entered Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards. It’s a big boon for users, but a move that reminds us of Square’s relatively recent decision to do the same a few months ago. (TechCrunch)
• Why major moviemakers are shortening the theatrical window and streaming movies to consumers’ TV sets just 60 days after theatrical release. (Variety)
• AppleInsider reports that new iMacs, sporting the second generation of Intel’s Sandy Bridge chips and Thunderbolt input/output connectivity, could hit as soon as early this week. (AppleInsider)
• Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff on the resurgence of that decades-old art form, the music video. (paidContent)
• Immediately after the The White House Correspondent’s Dinner, the Oval Office released this parody trailer of the award-winning film, The King’s Speech, via YouTube. How funny you find it will probably depend on personal taste and political leanings, but props for the inventive sampling Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” (All Things D)

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