Rapid John
PositionMedia Relations Manager
Joined20 November 2013
Articles2,795
Rapid John has a quarter of a century in programming for Government and Corporate bodies and is proficient in most major programming languages.
BlackBerry Spark

BlackBerry UEM achieves NIAP Certification

BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM) has achieved certification from the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), a U.S. government initiative which oversees the evaluation of commercial cybersecurity products for use in U.S. national security systems.
BlackBerry
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Apple Watch Series 6

EE offers Apple Watch Family Setup at launch

Apple's 15 September event provided a wealth of new products and services, including the new eighth-generation iPad and new 2020 iPad Air, alongside the launch of the Apple Watch Series 6 and affordable new Apple Watch SE. The company also unveiled Family Setup - a new feature built into watchOS 7 that will allow for the setup of multiple Apple Watches though one iPhone.
EEAppleUK
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Amazon Music Podcasts

Podcasts comes to Amazon Music for free

Amazon Music has launched podcasts in the U.K., U.S., Germany, and Japan, across all tiers of service at no additional cost. For the first time, customers will be able to stream top podcasts they already know and love, as well as new, original shows produced exclusively for Amazon Music and hosted by creators
AppsAmazon
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blackberry uem

Saudi Leasing Company Signs Strategic Partnership with BlackBerry

Saudi Financial Lease Contract Registry Company, known by the brand name SIJIL, has selected BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Manager (UEM) and BlackBerry Workspaces for its secure communications needs. SIJIL says it has chosen BlackBerry because of the company's exceptional security capabilities and its industry leadership in secure connectivity technologies.
BlackBerry
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cello android tv

Cello teams up with Google on new Android TV range

Cello has launched their brand new range of smart, Android TVs, developed in partnership with Google. The Bishop Auckland based electronics firm, and last remaining LED TV manufacturer in the UK, worked closely with Google to develop an exclusive range of smart TVs, which come with Google Assistant, Chromecast and Google Play Store all built in to one device, straight out of the box.
AndroidUKTV
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HarmonyOS

Huawei smartphones will fully support HarmonyOS in 2021

At the 2020 Huawei Developer Conference, Huawei Executive Director and CEO of Consumer Business Yu Chengdong announced the launch of HarmonyOS 2.0 and the official open source of HarmonyOS. Yu Chengdong announced that Huawei will officially release the Beta version for mobile phone app developers in December 2020 and that Huawei smartphones will fully support HarmonyOS in 2021.
DevelopersDevices and OSHuawei
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BlackBerry to decommission legacy services January 4, 2022

BlackBerry are to decommission the legacy services for BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 software, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 and earlier versions, with an end of life or termination date of January 4, 2022. The company says they chose to extend service until then as an expression of thanks to loyal partners and customers.
BlackBerry
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BlackBerry AtHoc

BlackBerry providing dedicated EU instances of BlackBerry AtHoc

BlackBerry is now providing dedicated EU instances of its BlackBerry AtHoc service, enabling customers to comply with EU data protection regulations and prepare for the upcoming Public Warning directives by localising personal data in additional data centres located in the Netherlands and France, as well as the existing one in the UK.
BlackBerryUK
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SliceTech and BlackBerry

Sliced Tech to host BlackBerry SecuSUITE in Australia

Sliced Tech has partnered with BlackBerry in Australia to host its secure communications portfolio, SecuSuite for Government. The partnership allows BlackBerry to offer a locally-hosted managed service to Australian government agencies and address data sovereignty concerns.
BlackBerry
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Apple Event Sep 15

Apple holding virtual event on September 15

Apple will be holding a virtual event, focusing on Apple Watch and iPad announcements, from Apple Park on September 15. Apple usually organises a slick event every fall from its Cupertino, California-based headquarters or another location in Silicon Valley but this event will be only online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple
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Prem-Watsa

Prem Watsa ups his stake in BlackBerry by 117.99%

BlackBerry completed its debt refinancing Tuesday, which left Fairfax Financial holding 90% of new 1.75% BlackBerry convertible debt. On the same day, Billionaire investor Prem Watsa, leader of Fairfax Financial Holdings, upped his stake in BlackBerry by 117.99%.
FinancialBlackBerry
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BlackBerry NYSE

BlackBerry Completes Debt Refinancing

BlackBerry has completed the redemption of all of its 3.75% unsecured convertible debentures (TSX: BB.DB.V) (the "3.75% Debentures") on September 1, 2020. None of the 3.75% Debentures were converted into common shares of BlackBerry prior to redemption.
CanadaBlackBerryFinancial
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Connected

Vodafone UK suffering another outage

Vodafone UK is currently experiencing an outage across the United Kingdom today, leaving thousands of customers unable to access 4G internet or make calls. Particular hotspots appear to include London and the south of England, as well as Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.
ConnectedUKVodafone UK
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Virgin Media

Virgin Media launching Broadband plan for Universal Credit claimants

Virgin Media is to launch a broadband-only plan, called “Virgin Media Essential Broadband”, which will be available to those receiving Universal Credit and will come with a speed of 15 Mbps and a fixed price of £15 per month, with no fixed-term contract length and no price changes while benefit payments are being received.
ConnectedUK
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XPeng 7

BlackBerry IPU-03 is an autonomous driving domain controller

BlackBerry has announced the IPU-03, an autonomous driving domain controller developed in conjunction with Desay SV Automotive, has been officially mass produced in the Xpeng P7, a super-long range, high-performance and fast-charging intelligent EV sports sedan from Xpeng Motors, one of China's leading electric vehicle and technology companies.
BlackBerryAutomotiveChina
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BlackBerry

BlackBerry Provides Further Details of Proposed Debt Refinancing

BlackBerry has provided further details regarding the proposed refinancing of its outstanding US$605 million principal amount of 3.75% unsecured convertible debentures, which mature on November 13, 2020. BlackBerry announced the proposed refinancing on July 22, 2020, and intends to complete the transaction on September 1, 2020.
FinancialBlackBerry
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OnwardMobility

New BlackBerry 5G smartphone coming in 2021

Despite it's many failures with their smartphones, it would appear that BlackBerry have not given up on producing smartphones. In a surprise announcement Wednesday, Startup OnwardMobility announced agreements with BlackBerry and FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn, to deliver a new 5G BlackBerry Android smartphone with physical keyboard, in the first half of 2021 in North America and Europe.
BlackBerryAndroid5G
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Samsung Pay Card

Samsung Pay Card now available in UK

The new Samsung Pay Card, powered by Curve, and in conjunction with Mastercard, is now available in the UK. The Samsung Pay Card is a digital card that allows Samsung Pay Customer keep all of their Mastercard and Visa branded credit and debit cards in one place.
FinancialSamsung
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5G

Ofcom confirms 5G Spectrum Auction in January 2021

Ofcom has confirmed plans to auction important airwaves to help improve mobile broadband and support the rollout of 5G. Ofcom manages the UK’s airwaves – or spectrum – a finite resource that is essential for wireless services including mobile phones.
5GConnectedUK
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Cybersecutity

AttackIQ Launches Preactive Security Exchange

AttackIQ has launched its Preactive Security Exchange (PSE), an objective and trusted platform on which security vendors can demonstrate the value and efficacy of their products, as well as identify opportunities to improve solutions.
News
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Huawei Webinar August 6

Huawei hosting Developer Webinar on August 6

Huawei is hosting an hour long seminar for developers on 6 August focusing on how online retailers, businesses, and developers can utilise Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) innovative technology to get the most out of a rapidly evolving online retail landscape.
DevelopersHuawei
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COVID Alert

Canada launches COVID-19 exposure notification app

Canada has launched a nation-wide exposure notification app to help inform Canadians when they may have been exposed to COVID-19, part of a broader effort to contain the virus as businesses and public spaces reopen across the country.
AppsCanada
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Broadband

Major UK networks suffering Internet outages

BT, EE, Sky, PlusNet and TalkTalk are currently suffering a mass broadband outage. Users complained they were unable to get online through their WiFi connections amid what appeared to be a widespread outage.
ConnectedUK
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FCC

FCC classifies Huawei and ZTE National Security Risks

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially designated Chinese telecommunication providers Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, a decision that officially prohibits American phone companies from purchasing their equipment with government subsidies.
USHuawei
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ee smart router

EE launches Smart WiFi home broadband service

EE today launched a new Smart WiFi home broadband service, designed to boost the WiFi coverage in every room of a customer’s home. The new Smart WiFi home solution includes a new Smart Router, Smart WiFi Discs and inclusive 4GEE WiFi Mini.
EEConnectedUK
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BlackBerry

BlackBerry elects nine nominees to board

BlackBerry has announced that the nine nominees listed in the company's management proxy circular dated May 8, 2020, for the company's annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 23, 2020, were elected as directors
BlackBerry
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Contact Tracing Apps

Canada to Begin Testing Contact Tracing App

While several countries in Europe have already released contact tracing apps using Apple-Google technology, Canada has announced that it has developed a new national contract tracing app that will also use the Apple-Google Exposure Notification API.
BlackBerryNewsCanada
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O2

O2 first to launch an LTE-M network

O2's 5G network is now live in areas of 60 towns and cities across the UK, beating its original target. The milestone comes at the same time that O2 reaches 10,000 sites for its first-to-market LTE-M (Long Term Evolution, category M1) network.
5GConnectedUKO2
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BlackBerry AtHoc

BlackBerry AtHoc Expands Leadership Position in Crisis Communications

BlackBerry today announced that its FedRAMP-authorized BlackBerry AtHoc crisis communication system continues to expand on its leading position within the U.S. Federal Government with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) using BlackBerry AtHoc for secure crisis response.
USBlackBerry
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WWDC 2020

Lineup for WWDC 2020 revealed

Apple today shared the WWDC20 lineup, including keynote and Platforms State of the Union timing, and information on how developers can learn about the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, and engage with Apple engineers.
DevelopersApple
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Coronavirus

Huawei launches HMS Core Contact Shield to track COVID-19

Huawei has launched its own API to track the COVID-19 virus. While Apple and Google cover the majority of phones in the world, there are still users whose mobiles do not have access to the services of Google or Apple. This is why Huawei has been working on its own API, HMS Core Contact Shield.
DevelopersHuawei
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Huawei-5G

Huawei publishes open letter to UK public

Huawei has published an open letter to the UK, noting that it was “as committed as ever” to working with network operators amid a fresh probe into its role in the country’s 5G networks.
Huawei5GUK
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EE

EE and BT to re-open stores from 15th June

EE and BT are planning to re-open its retail stores from the 15th June as part of a phased roll-out. After an enormous amount of hard work, a range of measures will be enforced in stores to make customers and colleagues feel safe.
EEUKBT Group
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iOS 13.5 brings COVID-19 Exposure Notifications

Apple has released iOS 13.5, which includes improved Face ID recognition of protective masks and support for the Exposure Notification API that it co-created with Google to support public health authorities in their contact-tracing efforts to combat COVID-19.
Devices and OSApple
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BlackBerry Radar

BlackBerry Radar Expands Channel Ecosystem

BlackBerry announced today that BlackBerry Radar continues to grow its distribution reach with more than 12 new channel partners having signed on in the past six months including two within Mexico
BlackBerry
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