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RIM’s PlayBook to take on iPad from April 19

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By Alastair Sharp

TORONTO |
Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:05pm EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion’s long-awaited tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, will go on sale in North America on April 19 at a base price of $499, matching the pricing for Apple’s latest iPad.

RIM, which releases quarterly results on Thursday, said it will sell the PlayBook through retailers and wireless carriers in the United States and Canada, and Best Buy said it was already accepting pre-orders.

The Wi-Fi-enabled PlayBook will compete against the iPad and other devices. It will come in 16 gigabyte, 32 gigabyte and 64 gigabyte versions priced at $499, $599 and $699 respectively.

RIM said the PlayBook will be sold in 20,000 retail outlets, including AT&T, Verizon, Radioshack, Sears Canada and Wal-Mart, as well as Best Buy. That’s much more than the number of North American stores stocking Apple’s device.

But with no word on distribution plans outside North America, RIM will still be chasing Apple, said James Cordwell, an analyst at Atlantic Equities in London.

“Everywhere else in the world there is pretty much no other choice but the iPad 2, as of this Friday. Half of the tablet market is overseas,” he said.

RIM unveiled the seven-inch tablet computer in September. It will be able to stream a high-definition video to a television screen via a HDMI cable, while allowing users to run other applications at the same time.

The first version of the PlayBook pairs with a BlackBerry smartphone for added features and connectivity rather than having its own cellular connection. It can also share connectivity with other smartphones.

“The price may be high but RIM have a unique advantage in the Playbook’s positioning as a companion device that addresses an existing customer base,” said CCS Insight’s Geoff Blaber.

“The big question is the Playbook’s appeal to those not already part of the BlackBerry world.”

Versions that connect directly to cellular networks are due later in the year.

Shares in Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, were 0.4 percent higher at $61.95 on the Nasdaq.

RIM’s tablet will also compete with tablets from Samsung, Motorola Mobility and Hewlett-Packard.

SALES NUMBERS ARE KEY

Apple sold nearly 15 million iPads in nine months of 2010, two or three times as many as analysts had predicted. It is expected to sell 30 million or more this year, which would generate close to $20 billion.

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RIM’s PlayBook to take on iPad from April 19

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GM cuts unnecessary spending after Japan disaster (AP)

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NEW YORK – GM said Saturday it is cutting unnecessary spending companywide as it assesses the impact of production disruptions from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The move will help the automaker preserve cash as it deals with the financial implications from shortages of parts made in Japan, a company spokesman said. The cost-cutting effort, which includes travel, took effect last week and will be in place for an undetermined period.

The news follows General Motors Corp.’s announcement Friday that two of three shifts will be canceled at a plant in Eisenach, Germany on Monday and Tuesday. Another plant in Zaragoza, Spain will remain closed Monday. The plants produce the Corsa compact car.

In the U.S., GM said Thursday it will halt production at its pickup plant in Shreveport, Louisiana, next week.

“The whole industry is still in the process of figuring out what the implications are from the disaster in Japan,” said GM spokesman Klaus-Peter Martin.

On Friday, Honda Motor Co. said it expects to resume auto and motorcycle production in Japan on Wednesday. But in an e-mail Thursday to U.S. dealers, it said it can’t guarantee when production will return to full capacity.

The carmaker also asked dealers to suspend May orders for Japan-made vehicles because they may be needed to fill existing orders that have been delayed because of disruptions. Typically, dealers order cars six weeks in advance.

More than 80 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. are made in North America. Models sold in North America but made in Japan are the Fit, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Insight, Acura TSX, Acura RL and a small number of CR-Vs.

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GM cuts unnecessary spending after Japan disaster
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Honda suspends May orders from US dealers (AP)

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NEW YORK – Honda is suspending May orders for Japan-made vehicles from U.S. dealers following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The carmaker told Honda and Acura dealers an e-mail Thursday vehicles produced in May might be needed to fill existing orders that have been delayed due to the disruption. Typically, dealers order cars six weeks in advance.

Honda Motor Co. said Friday it expects to resume production in Japan on Wednesday. But it said in the e-mail that it can’t guarantee when production will return to full capacity.

More than 80 percent of Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. are made in North America. Models sold in North America but made in Japan are the Fit, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Insight, Acura TSX, Acura RL and a small number of CR-Vs.

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Honda suspends May orders from US dealers
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Few radioactive particles on U.S. west coast: sources

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By Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA |
Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:19am EDT

VIENNA (Reuters) – Minuscule amounts of radioactive particles believed to have come from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected on the U.S. west coast, two diplomatic sources said Friday.

The level of radiation was far too low to cause any harm to humans, they said. One diplomat, citing information from a network of international monitoring stations, described the material as “ever so slight,” consisting of only a few particles.

“They are irrelevant,” the diplomat added.

Another diplomatic source also said the level was “very low.”

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), a Vienna-based independent body for monitoring possible breaches of the test ban, has more than 60 stations around the world, including one in Sacramento in California.

They can pick up very small amounts of radioactive particles such as iodine isotopes.

“Even a single radioactive atom can cause them to measure something and this is more or less what we have seen in the Sacramento station,” said the first diplomat, who declined to be named.

Asked if they were believed to originate from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, which has leaked radioactivity since being damaged by last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami, he said: “That is the obvious assumption.”

The CTBTO continuously provides data to its member states, but does not make the details public.

A Swedish official, also citing CTBTO data, told Reuters on Thursday that low concentrations of radioactive particles were heading eastwards and expected to reach North America in days.

Also Thursday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said radioactivity would disperse over the long distance and it did not expect any harmful amounts to reach the country.

The New York Times earlier said a CTBTO forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume showed it churning across the Pacific, and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting southern California late Friday.

Radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the west coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall; editing by Tim Pearce)

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Microsoft to phase out unsuccessful Zune player

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SEATTLE |
Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:51pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is not planning any more versions of its unpopular Zune digital media player, but is to continue offering music and video using the same software online, through its Xbox game console and on its Windows phones.

The decision not to further develop the handheld device effectively ends Microsoft’s 4-1/2-year bid to unseat Apple Inc’s iPod, which revolutionized the portable music market in 2001.

“We have nothing to announce about another Zune device,” a Microsoft spokesman said in an emailed response to questions about the Zune. Bloomberg earlier reported that the company had decided to stop producing them.

He said Zune devices would still be supported in North America, and that Zune software would play a part in Microsoft’s other offerings.

“Our long-term strategy focuses on the strength of the entire Zune ecosystem across Microsoft platforms, and we remain committed to providing a great music and video experience with the Zune service.”

Microsoft’s two Zune player models are still available, at discounted prices, on the company’s shopping website. The 16 gigabyte version costs $170 and the 32 gigabyte version costs $200, one-third cheaper than a comparable iPod Touch.

The devices, which have a small but devoted fan base, play music and video downloaded via the Zune Marketplace, Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iTunes.

Many technology experts regard the Zune as a superior product to Apple’s iPod, but analysts agree that it came five years too late to unseat Apple’s commanding lead in the music market.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Gary Hill)

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