BlackBerry to lay off 300 Waterloo-based employees

 BlackBerry has laid off 300 more employees based in their Waterloo, Ontario headquarters, as part of the 4,500 layoffs expected while the company prepares to be acquired.

“As previously mentioned, we are in a period of transition and we must focus on enhancing our financial results to be in a better position to compete in this current mobile environment,” said a BlackBerry spokesperson in an emailed statement to the Financial Post.

BlackBerry has trimmed more than 7,000 jobs since 2011 as it attempted to restructure and refocus its product line to better compete with popular handsets from Apple and various Android OS vendors like Samsung and HTC.

4,500 employees are expected to be let go for the next three quarters as the company reels from a recent almost $1 billion loss.

Source: Financial Post

Video: White BlackBerry Q10 demoed at Rogers preview event

We were just at the Rogers Centre where the BlackBerry Q10 was previewed on the eve of its Canadian launch during the Toronto Blue Jays vs. Boston Red Sox game (Score was 7-9 in favour of Toronto!).

We got to check out the BlackBerry Q10 which is launching in Canada today and we also got a quick and dirty demo of the white version of this much awaited smartphone. Rogers is one of the carriers that has been taking pre-orders of the Q10 and they have a limited time exclusive with the white version.

Click to read more ...

Video: RIM's BlackBerry Dev Alpha device demoed

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Although they are is still six to seven  months away from being launched, Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 devices are expected to look and feel a lot like the above  Dev Alpha Device. Currently running a modified version of the PlayBook OS, the Dev Alpha device was seeded to developers to keep them interested and give them a platform to develop on. Featuring a 4.2 inch screen, a quad band HSPA + radio (no LTE), front and rear facing cameras as well as a generous 16GB of storage, a microSIM and a sealed-in battery. This is pretty exciting hardware for 2012 but will it evolve into something competetive for 2013? That really is the question.

Video: Gadjo C Sevilla for Canadianreviewer.com

Waterloo's Terepac uses nanotech to define the "Internet of Things."

Here's a great Canadian Innovation story when it seems we need it the most. Waterloo-based Terepac Corporation, a pioneer in the world’s tiniest digital electronics, has launched the TereTag which allows virtually any object to become part of the “Internet of Things”.

Click to read more ...