Ailing phone maker BlackBerry announces plans to stop, well, making phones-- instead such a task will be farmed out to hardware partners, as the company wants to focus on software and security products.

As a result, future BlackBerry handsets will be like the recent DTEK 50, a BlackBerry-branded clone of the Alcatel Idol 4. It also makes the Priv, the first Android-powered BlackBerry launched back in November 2015, the last smartphone produced by the company.

"The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners," CEO John Chen says. "This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.”

An Android update is Nearby—that is, Nearby Google.

Google says "we're introducing a new Android feature called “Nearby,” which notifies you of things that can be helpful near you."

This app turns every Android phone into a beacon transmitter and receiver.

This is an update to Google Play Services and is compatible with Android 4.4 KitKat and newer.

When you are in a location for which there is an appropriate app or web site, a notification will pop up which you can either interact with or swipe away.

And it's not just location that can be used Read more...

HP Elite laptops get a bit more secure with Sure View technology providing an integrated privacy screen, the result of a partnership with 3M to fight "visual hacking" (or people looking over the user's shoulders).

The privacy screen restricts viewing angles to a 70-degree arc directly in front of the display, and cuts 95% of the light directed to the cut off sides. Activating the privacy screen involves a simple press of a keyboard shortcut, and the result should be less cumbersome and less permanent than the stick-on "privacy filters" currently available on the market.

Customers working in languages other than US English should be happy to learn Apple now offers the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard in a number of international layouts, all featuring the same dark gray design of the original.

The languages on offer are British English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Korean and Thai. The localised layouts come complete with differences related to the language in question, such as full support for right-to-left language in the case of the Arabic version. Such adjustments make sense, since iOS 9 already has comprehensive right-to-left language support.