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BlackBerry has confirmed the new Z30 smartphone runnign BB 10.2, and featuring some upgrades over the previous BlackBerry Z10.

The new Z30 features a larger 5-inch Super AMOLED display (720p), an upgraded Snapdragon S4 Pro dual core processor at 1.7GHz, 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU. Internal storage is also 16GB but can be expanded through the use of a microSD card.

Aiming at business users, BlackBerry has included its new generation of antenna technology that dynamically tunes reception to provide better connectivity in areas of poor signal. The Z30 is also BlackBerry's first smartphone to feature a 2880 mAh battery.

The Z30 is LTE-compatible (no specifics on bands), supports Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.

Another touted improvement is with sounds; the Z30 features stereo speakers that immerse you in your music, videos, apps and games, and makes conversations sound like you're face-to-face, the Canadian firm claims. BlackBerry Natural Sound is new technology exclusive to BlackBerry and part of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 that makes BBM Voice and BBM Video chats sound more natural and realistic.

Other improvements and features include the BaclBerry Priority Hub which organizes your e-mail, messages and social media data by priority, and also the new in-app message preview that allows you yo respond to a message from any app. However, both these new features come from BlackBerry 10.2, which will be available soon as an update for some older BlackBerry devices.

Apple has released iTunes 11.1 to coincide with the release of iOS 7, and the firm's new iTunes Radio service that will rival the likes of Pandora.

iTunes 11.1 delivers iOS 7 device support as the latest iteration of the Apple mobile OS also rolled out today. iTunes 11.1 will be a requirement for devices running iOS 7, so keep that in mind.

The big new feature delivered to the Desktop in iTunes 11.1 - albeit for U.S. users only at this time - is iTunes Radio, an ad-supported personalized radio service that rivals Pandora. For those subscribed to iTunes Match ($25 a year), you will not have to suffer the advertisements.

Like Pandora, iTunes Radio offers custom stations based on artists, genres and other factors.

For Podcast consumers, Podcast Station will also create custom stations featuring your regularly downloaded podcasts. These will automatically update with new podcast and sync the playback position for each across your Apple devices.

You can download iTunes 11.1.0 for Windows (or the 64-bit version), or iTunes 11.1.0 for Mac OS X from AfterDawn.

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available as a free download for both Android and iPhones this weekend.

Once available exclusively on BlackBerry devices, its upcoming availability on alternative platforms was announced earlier this year, much to the delight of former BlackBerry users who have switched to different smartphones in recent years that would like to still use BBM.

BBM will be available from Google Play for Android phones from Saturday, September 21, and then available for iPhones from the App Store on Sunday, September 22.

The app is free on both platforms. Android users will need to be running Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean to get the app, and iPhone users will need iOS 6 or iOS 7 installed.

BBM for Android and iPhone features:

• BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
• More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
• Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
• Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
• Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don't have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.

Google has announced the formation of Calico, a new company that will focus on human longevity, health and well-being, and particularly on diseases and the challenges faced from the aging process.

The new company will be headed up by chief executive Arthur D. Levinson, who is Chairman and former CEO of Genentech and Chairman of Apple.

Specifics about Calico are few and far between, but the upcoming September 30 edition of TIME magazine features a provocative cover asking; "Can Google solve DEATH?" The issue will profile Larry Page and this new venture.

One of the challenges for Calico, it seems, is to analyse how resources should be used on health research to get the best results. Page points out to TIME magazine that with all the exceptional amounts of money spent on cancer research, curing cancer would only add approximately three years to the average life expectancy of human beings. Of course, there are reasons why cancer gets so much attention, it affects us all at some point in our lives through our own health or the health of family and friends.

There are other efforts under-way too that seek to unravel the inner-workings of age-related illnesses and hopefully find ways to drastically delay the effects, halt, or even reverse them. The SENS Research Foundation is an example, also based on Mountain View.

Take-Two is reporting $800 million in retail sales on the launch day of Grand Theft Auto V, blasting analysts expectations out of the water.

Analysts point out the figure suggests between 13 and 14 million copies of the game have been sold on its launch day. By comparison, Grand Theft Auto IV sold 13 million copies in its first year.

When Grand Theft Auto IV first launched, there were far less Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in homes. Five years later, analysts were expecting Grand Theft Auto V to easily outsell its predecessor within the first month - perhaps hitting a billion dollars in retail sales - but $800 million in a day comes as a big surprise.

"We're looking for 23 million units of games sold by March 2014 and we won't change that, but $800 million in the first day is phenomenal," said Mike Hickey, an analyst at the Benchmark Company.

Reviews of the game are by far mostly positive at this time, with gamers praising the beautiful Los Santos city, the three-main-character storyline and open-ended gameplay.

Rockstar Games has release the iFruit app for iOS devices, allowing you to interact with your GTA V world from your mobile device.

"iFruit hooks directly into your experience of Grand Theft Auto V with some fun activities to further postpone the need for real social interaction," its description reads.

With iFruit, you can keep up to date on the latest GTA V news, login to the Rockstar Games Social Club, stay connected with LifeInvader and launch other Rockstar Games apps.

A "Los Santos Customs" app lets you customize vehicles from your phone, or even create and reserve custom license plates for both Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. You can choose from paint jobs, window tints, smoke colors, wheels, hoods and spoilers. Upgrade your engine, brakes, exhaust, suspension, and accessorize with new lights, horns, tires and body armor.

In the "Chop the Dog" app, you can interact with Franklin's canine sidekick in Grand Theft Auto V. Pet him, feed and water him, play fetch and tug-of-war, teach him tricks. Too much or too little of an activity, however, will cause Chop to become unhappy, and nobody likes an unhappy Rottweiler, Rockstar warns.

NVIDIA has revealed the Tegra Note tablet platform, utilizing Tegra 4 and NVIDIA DirectStylus technology, in tablets starting at $199.

You may recall NVIDIA demoing the Tegra Tab at Computex in June, which was an early version of Tegra Note. Tegra Note is a complete tablet platform designed by NVIDIA, and will be brought to the market as physical products by its hardware partners.

The new platform goes beyond NVIDIA's Project KAI, which was a Tegra 3 reference design intended to direct the building of low-cost, high quality tablets that are powered by Tegra 3. Google's Nexus 7 was one of the hardware products that resulted. Tegra 4 goes beyond Project KAI by delivering a complete platform, not just the hardware, but also suggests retail prices starting at $199, as did Project KAI.

Of course, the actual price of a tablet based on Tegra Note depends entirely on the third part manufacturer.

In terms of specs, Tegra Note dictates...

• Processor - Tegra 4 mobile processor with quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and 72-core GeForce GPU
• Display - 7-inch HD IPS LCD display (1280 x 800)
• Camera - Rear 5MP and front VGA webcam
• Storage - 16GB storage with microSD expandable up to an additional 32GB
• Audio - Front-facing "HD Audio" stereo speakers with a unique bass-reflex port
• Stylus - Chisel and Brush tips for natural writing and broad strokes
• Peripherals - Micro HDMI connector to drive big screen TV videos and gaming
• OS - 100% Android with latest version of the OS
• Software Updates - Over-the-air software updates directly from NVIDIA
• Battery Life - 10 hours HD video playback

Tegra Note-based devices will roll out in the next few months from NVIDIA partners, including EVGA and PNY Technologies in North America; EVGA, Oysters and ZOTAC in Europe; Colorful, Shenzhen Homecare Technology and ZOTAC in Asia-Pacific; and XOLO in India. HP, ASUS, Toshiba, Kobo and Xiaomi have already announced Tegra 4-based products too.

Internet radio service Pandora has gotten an important court decision in its favor as it seeks to stop music publishers from narrowing a license that lets it stream their music.

Universal, EMI and Sony had sought to withdraw new media licensing rights from the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) so that they could negotiate directly with services like Pandora on the licensing of new media.

Pandora went to court, seeking a ruling that the withdrawal by publishers would not affect the ASCAP license, and that the existing antitrust consent decree requires that the publishers license all works through 2015.

ASCAP responded that Pandora was aware that, at any time, the content decree could be narrowed. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote sided with Pandora in summary judgement.

"ASCAP argues that 'ASCAP repertory' refers only to the rights in music works that ASCAP has been granted by its members as of a particular moment in time," the judge wrote. "Pandora argues that 'ASCAP repertory' is a defined term articulated in terms of 'works' or 'compositions,' as opposed to in terms of a gerrymandered parcel of 'rights.' Pandora is correct."

A day after the launch of Grand Theft Auto V for Xbox 360 and PS3, a petition to bring the blockbuster to PC has hit 440,000 signatures.

The amount of people adding their names to the petition has significantly increased since the game launched yesterday. It had hit 200,000 in July, and was up to 350,000 just before launch. Now the petition is at around 442,000 signatures at the time of writing.

It needs 58,000 more to hit a target of 500,000 signatures.

Signatories add their name to an open request to Rockstar Games to consider bringing GTA V to PC.

"To:
Rockstar Games
Please release GTA V on PC. GTA games have been a large part of so many people's lives and it's a big shame not seeing the newest iteration of the game being released on the most powerful platform. Things like modifications have always been a HUGE part of PC gaming and modded GTA is some of the most insanely fun times you can have.

I hope you consider the release of GTA V on PC as it'll make many people very happy!
Sincerely,
[Your name]"

Interested in GTA V on PC? Then sign the Change.org petition.

Rockstar Games has advised owners of Grand Theft Auto V on Xbox 360 not to install the Play disc on the console's hard disk drive.

The Xbox 360 copy of GTA V is spread across two discs. The first disc acts only as an install disc, and cannot be "manually installed" in the same way that other Xbox 360 games can be. Once the install is finished, the gamer is prompted to insert Disc 2 to continue, and after a few moments the install will be complete.

This second disc is the Play disc you need to insert to launch the game. Unlike Disc 1, you can manually install the second disc in the same way that you can manually install any other Xbox 360 games. However, if you are doing that to boost performance (as is the case with other games), then Rockstar is advising you to hold off.

"For optimal performance, we recommend not installing that disc," Rockstar Support said on Twitter on Monday just ahead of launch, promising more details after the launch.

The issue probably arises from the HDD being used to retrieve data from the installed Play disc, and the installed Disc 1 simultaneously, which might make using the DVD drive for the Play disc the optimal choice.

Either way, there doesn't seem to be any reports yet of performance problems from installing the disc, but the game has only been out over the past day.

YouTube has revealed that its mobile apps will get a new Offline Viewing feature this November.

The feature was announced on the YouTube Creator's blog. It will allow YouTube users to store videos on their devices for a temporary period, so they will not need an Internet connection to view the videos.

"This upcoming feature will allow people to add videos to their device to watch for a short period when an Internet connection is unavailable," The YouTube Team announced.

"So your fans' ability to enjoy your videos no longer has to be interrupted by something as commonplace as a morning commute,"

This is part of an effort at YouTube to maximise the way users of its mobile apps enjoy videos and channels.

The popular phone leaking @EVLeaks has posted the first picture of the upcoming Kindle Fire HD, which unfortunately appears to look exactly the same as its predecessor.

As with past models, the 2013 edition of the tablet will have large bezels and a similar form factor and shape.

Amazon had been expected to unveil the tablet this month, but may have pushed the launch to not compete directly with new offerings from Microsoft, Samsung and Sony. Apple is also expected to show off its latest iPad Mini next month.

Previous reports had claimed Amazon will be releasing three new tablets, including a 7-inch model with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and powered by a Snapdragon 800 Qualcomm aimed directly at the Google Nexus 7 FHD.

Another upcoming Kindle pic.twitter.com/qx3Zf9fHOt

-- @evleaks (@evleaks) September 15, 2013

According to multiple sources, Nokia has delayed the launch of the Lumia 1520 'phablet' following Microsoft's purchase of their handset division.

The phone maker had been expected to unveil the device this month, possibly alongside a Windows RT tablet.

Now, the launch event has been pushed back until at least October, say the sources. Both companies will still operate separately, so it is unclear what has caused the delay.

The Lumia 1520, from what we know via leaks, features a massive 6-inch screen with 1080p resolution, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB RAM.

On the back, a 21MP PureView camera will "take a dual shot consisting of a 16MP picture and a 5MP one for playing around with and sharing." 32GB internal storage is standard but there is also a microSD slot.

Microsoft has refreshed its Bing search engine, giving the design an overhaul, all the way down to its logo.

Lawrence Ripsher, Bing general manager of user experiences, says the new look shows that Bing is "no longer just a search engine on a web page," but an experience that integrates as part of Microsoft's new "One Microsoft" strategy to unify all of its brands.

Among the new features are "Page Zero" which is a beefed-up version of the auto-fill suggestions well known by all search engine users. Says the company: "We are introducing Page Zero, a new function in Bing that helps a user get an answer or take an action before they even seethe first results page. We do this by showing key tasks associated with the query while they're typing. This not only provides important information and services to them quickly, but enables them to see what kinds of things they can explore on Bing and across the Web. For example, if you type Katy Perry, we understand what you're looking for before you've even searched and give you a quick glance of who she is and suggest other popular search tasks associated with the singer."

Adobe has announced its quarterly earnings today, showing strong subscriber growth for its cloud-based bundled services.

Subscribers for Creative Cloud, the subscription-based version of its popular software bundle, also crossed the one million mark for the first time ever, after adding 331,000 subscribers in the third quarter.

CFO Mark Garrett says the company will top that figure in the fourth quarter, after closing more corporate contracts during the quarter than during the entire first half of the year.

Adobe began its move to a Web-based service last year, moving away from physical, licensed software.