Apple Retail Store coming to Waterloo, ON this Saturday

An Apple Retail Store is opening up in the middle of RIM country. The Apple Retail Store Conestoga will be up and running on 550 King Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 5W6 this Saturday August 13th. Doors open to the public at 9:30 a.m.

RIM cuts 2,000 Jobs, COO Morrison retires

This is the unfortunate news we all knew was coming. RIM has announced that it is cutting 2,000 jobs from its global workforce. Announced in a statement today, the BlackBerry maker stated that the 2,000 jobs represent 11 per cent of its total workforce.  RIM's lack of new smartphone releases in the recent months and the slow but steady sales of its PlayBook tablet have impacted the company's bottom line.

The company also announced that its chief operating officer, Don Morrison, is planning to retire, and that Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of chief operating officer for product and sales. 

"We thank Don for his outstanding service to RIM. We understand and respect his decision to retire after successfully dealing with a serious medical challenge and we wish him a quick recovery," stated Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEOs at RIM. "Don's presence at RIM will be missed, but our senior management and sales teams had already stepped up to manage Don's responsibilities since the commencement of his medical leave and we're confident in the ability of those teams to continue Don's tradition of success going forward."

Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO (Product and Sales). All product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams, are being consolidated under Heins' direction.

BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac now available, works with PlayBook

RIM today released the BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac which works with the PlayBook. The Desktop software is an easy way to transfer and sync media (music, pictures and videos) between your Mac and the PlayBook. File transfer to the PlayBook is already possible through a wireless file sharing but the desktop software is more media specific plus it charges the PlayBook as you sync back and forth.

Review: BlackBerry Convertible Case

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Of all the 7" inch tablets we've used, the BlackBerry PlayBook is the one we're most confident using without a case. The rugged rubber rear case, all around solid construction and grippy squarish design makes it possible to carry the PlayBook easily but after a while you do look for a functional case that's also protective.

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