Splash News

Things are not looking up for the PlayBook. Research in Motion (RIM) has been struggling to sell its debut tablet since the device hit shelves in April. Lately, RIM seems to have gotten desperate, slashing the tablet’s price from $500 to $200, and offering it for free to those who buy its BlackBerry Enterprise Server software. The sales cuts may not have been enough. Electronista  has cited multiple reports that Best Buy dropped orders for the BlackBerry PlayBook over Thanksgiving weekend and pulled the unit from its listings.

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LG has revealed the handsets it intends to upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), and it’s a fairly short list. The Optimus Black, Optimus 3D, Optimus 2X, and Optimus LTE will be the first handsets to get the upgrade. U.S. dwellers will hope that the LG Thrill 4G will be on that list, as it is simply a renamed version of the Optimus 3D. We’re also wondering why the G2x isn’t on the list, as it has specs that are comparable to the other devices. 

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The European Union wants to replace a mishmash of national laws on data protection with one bloc-wide reform, updating laws put in place long before Facebook and other social networking sites even existed.

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TAIPEI (Reuters) - HTC's promise of "competitive" new models early next year may not be enough of a strategy shift to convince investors it can regain the innovative streak that catapulted it from an obscure contract maker to the world's No.4 smartphone brand. HTC's Desire, Sensation and Wildfire models have lost ground to Apple Inc's iPhones and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy line-up, prompting calls for a change of tack in a fast-moving and fickle market. ...

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Last week, HTC cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter of 2011 by 23 percent due to increased competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung. However, speaking with Reuters, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Winston Yung seemed quite optimistic about the future, arguing that HTC’s 2012 sales will still be almost double what they were in 2011. The company will also (and this isn’t any surprise) announce competitive new models for 2012 including more LTE devices.

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Police in Los Angeles have backed off the downtown protest encampment after protesters surged into the streets to head off a threatened crackdown early Monday morning. The cops had pushed back a deadline for protesters to leave the downtown Los Angeles streets or face arrest from 4 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., PST. According to the Associated Press, they've arrested at least three people so far after declaring the gathering an unlawful assembly at 4:50 a.m. ...

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Apple is purportedly preparing to release a 15-inch version of its increasingly popular line of ultra-thin and light MacBook Air laptops in the first quarter of 2012, reports DigiTimes. New 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models are also expected to debut.

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The first Black Friday for the Kindle Fire was a good one, according to Amazon.

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Online gaming firm Nexon Co said on Monday it would raise up to 98 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in an initial public offering this month, pushing ahead with its planned listing even as a massive hacking attack threatens to dampen excitement for the stock. Nexon, founded in South Korea in 1994 and now based in Japan, said in a statement on Monday that it had set the price range for the IPO at 1,200-1,400 yen per share, compared with a 1,360 yen tentative price announced earlier this month. ...

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The father of an Ohio man found dead after answering a Craigslist help-wanted ad said Sunday his son sought the job in order to better provide for his three boys.

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