This Is the Most Absurd iPad Theft Ever

The woman pictured in that 'selfie' shot above is the absolute goofball currently in possession of an iPad belonging to an Arkansas man named Allen Engstrom, and she will make you feel a little better if you've ever had a tablet lifted - and, hey, maybe you can help track her down. Engstrom only knows about this woman because she's been unwittingly posting said selfies to Engstrom's iCloud account. So Engstrom is pushing the photos to Facebook and Twitter to help track down the thief. Well, not exactly a thief. He kind of just lost the thing. Engstrom told ABC 10 News that he left his iPad on a flight from Phoenix to Denver.

About a month later, Engstrom said his wife and son were at the doctor's office when his son held up his iPod and said, 'Mommy, what's this?'

It was a picture of a woman on his iPod.

'We finally figured out that must be the new owner of my iPad,' Engstrom said

The 'track my iPad' application didn't do anything for Engstrom. Neither did physically etching name his name and contact information into the back of his iPad. (That would indicate that it's mysterious and absurd new owner might know it belongs to someone else, and, okay, you could probably call her a thief.) So Engstrom has done the next best thing: viral shaming. He's posted the selfies all over his Facebook account, like so:

RELATED: Amazon's Kindle Fire Is Just the Cheap Tablet You'll Want



Engstrom writes:

Hey cool! This is an actual pic of the wonderful person who stole my iPad. Apparently the pics she is taking of herself are backing up and appearing on my phone. No I'm not kidding, this is really happening

And he's uploaded a few more pictures of late:

RELATED: How Microsoft Learned The Rumor Game From Apple



One more:

RELATED: Amazon's Insecurities Show as It Prepares for Kindle Fire Debut



'Thanks to the response from social media users, Engstrom has begun to piece together some details about the alleged iPad thief. For example, she apparently lives in Phoenix and Engstrom now knows her Instagram user name,' reports Yahoo's Eric Pfeiffer.

Really? According to the most recent Friday-afternoon post on Facebook, Engstrom says he does not know anything about this mystery woman:



We think you can help, people of the Internet. As the BBC pointed out, Facebook turns our (IRL) 'Six Degrees of Separation' into something like 3.74 degrees digital degrees. So basically Allen is about four mutual friends away from his iPad perp. (Or this could be Engstrom playing cool and sneakily plotting his revenge.) And with your help, one man might get reunited with his iPad, or at least track down its selfie-obsessed new owner. Law enforcement optional, but get to work, people!

New BlackBerry Work Space service separates work, personal data on iOS and Android

There's apparently a new slogan at BlackBerry (BBRY): If you can't beat 'em, integrate 'em. BlackBerry on Thursday announced Work Space, a new feature for its BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 mobile device management platform that aims to "provide complete separation between work and personal data." If this sounds familiar, that's because BlackBerry has already brought this capability to its own devices with its own BlackBerry Balance feature - the difference is that Work Space is extending some of Balance's capabilities to iOS and Android devices. Expanding the reach of its security services to multiple platforms is crucial for BlackBerry, especially as it faces added heat from Samsung (005930), which plans to aggressively market its devices to the enterprise as business tools. BlackBerry's full press release is posted below.

[More from BGR: Samsung keeps its impossible promise]

BlackBerry Previews Secure Work Space Technology for Third Party Platforms

[More from BGR: At the end of 2011, Samsung started morphing Apple into a follower]

Extending BlackBerry's trusted, gold standard security to separate work and personal data on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets

Mar 14, 2013

Waterloo, ON - BlackBerry® (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB) today confirmed its commitment to bringing a solution that will separate and secure work and personal data on mobile devices to third party platforms. Secure Work Space for iOS® and AndroidT will be managed through BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, BlackBerry's multi-platform enterprise mobility management solution which builds upon more than a decade of enterprise and security expertise and is the most widely deployed mobility solution in enterprises today.

An update for BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 will soon extend BlackBerry security capabilities for data-at-rest and data-in-transit and provide complete separation between work and personal data. The BlackBerry Secure Work Space solution includes secured client applications for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing for each device that is provisioned via BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

"With BlackBerry® BalanceT technology, we offer the industry's only true compromise-free separation of work and personal data and applications," said David J Smith, EVP, Enterprise Mobile Computing. "With Secure Work Space for iOS and Android devices, we're extending as many of these features as possible to other platforms, critical in today's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) world. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 offers administrators a single, intuitive platform enabling them to effectively and securely manage a variety of devices while protecting their corporate assets and at the same time providing employees the flexibility they desire."

The Secure Work Space solution enables customers to save considerable effort and expense as they no longer need to configure and manage expensive VPN infrastructures to provide mobile device access to data and applications that reside behind their corporate firewalls. With end-to-end enterprise mobility management, a straightforward deployment process, and a global and flexible technical support model, BlackBerry offers a secure and reliable solution as the clear choice for enterprises and governments to support BYOD policies for iOS and Android platforms. Additional applications can easily be secured and added to the workspace, without the need to modify source code.

"The vast majority of smartphones on the market aren't adequately secure for corporate or government work," said Robert Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group. "Currently BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 combined with BlackBerry Balance or Secure Work Space has the only volume solution which has been designed from the ground up to provide the security most IT departments require. With this announcement BlackBerry is expanding beyond their own top to bottom approach to security to address this need on other platforms. With this product BlackBerry is showcasing their security legacy by providing a stronger cross platform security solution than anyone else can in the market."

Closed beta testing for Secure Work Space has already started and general availability will be offered by the end of the second quarter, calendar year 2013. More details will be announced at the BlackBerry Live conference in May, 2013 in Orlando, Florida.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Lots of tech but few breakout hits at SXSW confab

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - For all the talk of space travel, the wearable gadgets, marketing stunts and lavish parties, something was missing at this year's South By Southwest Interactive Festival: the next 'hot app.'

The brainy tech jamboree held each year in Texas' capital city is known as the place where Twitter soared from obscurity to the world stage in 2007. It's where the location-sharing app Foursquare came out in 2009.

This year, though, chatter focused on hardware rather than software, and on big ideas rather than coming out parties. The most-used mobile app was the festival's own application, which helped attendees keep track of South By Southwest's barrage of panels, talks, meet-ups and parties. The star of the show wasn't the next Twitter but an ever-reluctant Grumpy Cat, whose frowny face has become an Internet sensation. Hundreds of people lined up outside the tent of tech blog Mashable to get a photo with the cat, whose actual name is Tardar Sauce.

South By Southwest appears to be experiencing a bit of Yogi Berra syndrome: 'Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.'

'I don't think it's indicating that there is less innovation,' said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards. Rather, he believes there may have been fewer companies breaking out because there's just so much noise that entrepreneurs are choosing not to launch products here.

To be fair, attendance at the interactive portion of this tech, music and film festival has grown each year since it got its name in 1999. Attendance at the interactive gathering hit 30,621 this year. Big brands from Yahoo to Amazon have an increasingly large presence, which can drown out small startups. Chevrolet, for instance, provided a fleet of cars to shuttle attendees between event venues.

Google Inc. made a splash when it showed off new apps for its Google Glass interactive, Internet-connected glasses on Monday evening. Timothy Jordan, senior developer advocate at Google, demonstrated a handful of apps for Google Glass, including a news headline app from The New York Times and ones from Gmail, Evernote and social networking startup Path.

'We are the pioneers who get to decide how this fits into our lives,' he told a packed auditorium of programmers, bloggers, Google fans and tech luminaries. Glass, he said, is about technology that's 'there when you want it and out of the way when you don't.'

Jordan stopped short of letting attendees try out Glass for themselves. Even so, Google - hardly a scrappy startup - was among the most-talked about companies at the event, not just for Glass but for demonstrating a talking, interactive pair of Adidas sneakers that, as it turns out, are not actually going to be sold anywhere.

So is the SXSW breakout a thing of the past for hot startups? Andy Kahl, product strategist at a Web privacy startup, said his company Ghostery got a sudden, unexplained spike of downloads of its privacy tool in March of 2010. The company didn't attend South By Southwest that year, but someone mentioned them during a talk on Internet privacy. After that, the company resolved to go every year. While Kahl believes the festival is still worth attending, he said 'it is fairly difficult to not get lost in the noise.'

The festival's 'noise' includes hundreds of panels, discussions and lectures on topics as wide-ranging as space travel, toddlers & technology and the future of grocery stores. PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel spoke about the future, startups and the concept of luck.

Former Vice President Al Gore talked about the future too, as did Cindy Gallop, the founder of 'MakeLoveNotPorn' who's on a mission to rethink pornography. Gallop, who champions 'real-world' sex in all its funny, awkward glory, asks regular people to submit videos of their sex lives to her website. She charges $5 to view a video and shares half the revenue with those who share videos.

'Gen Y in porn is like Gen Y everywhere else,' she told a giggling crowd. 'Entrepreneurial, challenging the status quo.'

Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley, meanwhile, displayed an impressive number of data-tracking bracelets during his talk and laughed about the scale that tweets his weight every week. Elon Musk of Tesla Motors, SpaceX and PayPal fame talked not just of life on Mars but said that he checks his email while spending time with his five kids.

To attendees like Chris Hwang of the New York-based stock-media startup Pond5, South By Southwest is as much about serendipity and chance meetings as it is about the scheduled events. He'd signed up to a mentoring session with venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers that ended up being canceled - but instead of moving on, the startups began talking with each other.

'Honestly, it's an excuse to come to party, to catch up, make relationships on a happenstance basis,' he said while waiting in a long line to hear Thiel speak. 'You come to get inspired, recharged.'

BlackBerry projected to sell at least 2 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones per quarter in 2013

We've seen a number of promising signs for BlackBerry (BBRY) lately and now Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski has delivered one of the more bullish projections for the company that we've heard in recent weeks. Per Barron's, Jankowski projects BlackBerry has sold 500,000 BlackBerry 10 smartphones over the past quarter and will sell between 2 million to 3 million per quarter for the rest of 2013. This doesn't mean the company is poised to become profitable again this year, of course, and Jankowski still projects the company to report a quarterly loss of $0.23 per share later this month. However, she does think that BlackBerry will roar back to profitability in 2014, when she expects the company will post revenues of $13.53 billion and a profit of $0.12 per share.

[More from BGR: Samsung was never an underdog - it was a sleeping giant that has now been awakened]


This article was originally published on BGR.com

Galaxy S IV rumored to feature SwiftKey's predictive technology

The Galaxy S IV is expected to be unveiled in just a few hours in what may be one of the biggest smartphone launches of all time. We have already seen Samsung's (005930) latest flagship smartphone in front of the camera and in a variety of leaked images, and new rumors continue to shed light on one of the most highly anticipated devices of the year. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Samsung will utilize SwiftKey's predictive input technology for the Galaxy S IV's virtual keyboard. The technology has previously been licensed by BlackBerry (BBRY) for its BlackBerry 10 platform, which has been praised for its efficient input method, and the keyboard is consistently one of the best-selling apps in Google Play store. Samsung will announce the Galaxy S IV at a press conference tonight at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and BGR's live coverage will begin just before 7:00 p.m. EDT.

[More from BGR: Samsung was never an underdog - it was a sleeping giant that has now been awakened]


This article was originally published on BGR.com

BlackBerry plans security feature for Android, iPhone

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry will offer technology to separate and make secure both work and personal data on mobile devices powered by Google Inc's Android platform and by Apple Inc's iOS operating system, the company said on Thursday.

The new feature could help BlackBerry sell high-margin services to enterprise clients even if many, or all, of their workers are using smartphones made by BlackBerry's competitors. That may be crucial for the company as it has lost a vast amount of market share to the iPhone and to Android devices, such as Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy line.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said he expects BlackBerry's device management software to gain traction this year, and boost revenue next year.

'Supporting devices with the best, most secure, and easiest-to-use mobile solution should enable RIM to transform into what we believe is an attractive model,' he said in a note to clients.

The offering could help BlackBerry shore up its profitable services business. BlackBerry's shares plunged in December after it said it would change the way it charges for services, cutting fees for customers that do not need advanced security and other enhanced features.

The new Secure Work Space feature will be available before the end of June, and will be managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, the platform that allows BlackBerry's corporate and government clients to handle devices using different operating systems on their networks.

BlackBerry said the feature fences off corporate email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, web browsing and document editing from personal apps and content, which could be less secure.

BALANCING ACT

In a bid to regain market share and return to profit, BlackBerry introduced a new line of smartphones powered by its BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year.

The touch screen version, dubbed the Z10, is on sale in more than 20 countries, while a device called the Q10, with a physical keyboard, will be available in April.

The new devices have a feature called Balance, which keeps corporate and personal data separate. It allows information technology departments to manage the corporate content on a device, while ensuring privacy for users, who can store and use personal apps and content on the same phone without corporate oversight.

With Secure Work Space, 'we're extending as many of these (Balance) features as possible to other platforms,' David Smith, BlackBerry's head of mobile enterprise computing, said in a statement.

BlackBerry's move comes as Samsung, whose Galaxy devices have gained great popularity, attempts to make itself a more viable option for business customers with security features such as Samsung Knox and SAFE, or Samsung for Enterprise.

BlackBerry said Secure Work Space means clients would not need to configure and manage expensive virtual private network (VPN) infrastructure in order to give workers' devices access to data and applications that reside behind corporate firewalls.

'Secure Work Space also offers the same end-to-end encryption for data in transit as we have offered on BlackBerry for many years, so there is no need for a VPN,' Peter Devenyi, head of enterprise software, said in an interview.

SELLING SERVICES

The new feature could also help stem declines in BlackBerry's service revenue. That business has long been a cash cow for BlackBerry because of the large clients that pay to use its extensive network and security offerings.

However, the company has been under pressure to reduce its infrastructure access fees, and opted to do so during the transition to BlackBerry 10. Due to the changes, BlackBerry's service revenue is expected to decline over the course of this year.

Giving its large array of corporate clients the ability to manage BlackBerry devices, along with Android smartphones and iPhones on their networks might encourage both corporate and government clients to continue to pay for and use BlackBerry's device management services.

BlackBerry plans to report quarterly results on March 28.

Last week, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said sales of the Z10 had surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets such as India, where cheaper entry-level phones are typically popular.

On Wednesday, the company said it had received an order for 1 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones - the largest order it has ever had from a single customer - and its shares jumped.

BlackBerry's volatile stock closed up 8.2 percent at $15.65 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, while its Toronto-listed shares rose by a similar margin to C$16.04.

The shares pared gains on Thursday, falling 2.3 percent to $15.29 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq. In Toronto, its shares were 2 percent lower at C$15.72.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Allison Martell; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Lisa Von Ahn and Peter Galloway)

BlackBerry plans security feature for Android, iPhone platforms

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry will offer technology to separate and secure work and personal data on mobile devices powered by Google Inc's Android platform and Apple Inc's iOS operating system, the company said on Thursday.

The new Secure Work Space feature will be available before the end of June will be managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, the platform that allows BlackBerry's corporate and government clients to handle devices using different operating systems on their networks.

The move will encourage large customers to continue to use BlackBerry's services to manage devices on their networks, even as employees use them for their personal devices, which could create security breaches.

In the ultra-competitive smartphone market, BlackBerry has ceded ground to rivals like Apple's iPhone, Samsung Electronics Co's Galaxy line and other devices based on the Android operating system.

To regain market share and return to profitability, BlackBerry introduced a new line of smartphones powered by its BlackBerry 10 operating system earlier this year. The touch screen version, dubbed the Z10, is on sale in more than 20 countries, while a device called the Q10 with a physical keyboard will be available in April.

The new devices have Balance, a feature that keeps corporate and personal data separate. It allows information technology departments to manage the corporate content on a device, while ensuring privacy for users, who can store and use personal apps and content on the same phone without corporate oversight.

With Secure Work Space, 'we're extending as many of these (Balance) features as possible to other platforms,' David Smith, BlackBerry's head of mobile enterprise computing, said in a statement.

BlackBerry's move comes as Samsung, whose Galaxy devices have gained great popularity, attempts to make itself a more viable option for business customers with security features such as Samsung Knox and SAFE, or Samsung for Enterprise.

BlackBerry said Secure Work Space meant clients would not need to configure and manage expensive virtual private network (VPN) infrastructures that give the devices access to data and applications that reside behind corporate firewalls.

'Secure work space also offers the same end-to-end encryption for data in transit as we have offered on BlackBerry for many years, so there is no need for a VPN,' Peter Devenyi, head of enterprise software, said in an interview.

SERVICE REVENUE

The new feature could also help stave-off declines in service revenue. That business has long been a cash cow for BlackBerry because of the large clients that pay to utilize its extensive network and security offerings.

However, the company has been under pressure to reduce its infrastructure access fees. Late last year, it said it would do so during the transition to the BlackBerry 10 platform.

As a result of the changes, BlackBerry's service revenue is expected to decline.

Giving its large array of corporate clients the ability to manage BlackBerry devices, along with Android smartphones and iPhones on their networks may encourage corporate and government clients to continue to pay for and use BlackBerry's device management services.

BlackBerry plans to report quarterly results on March 28.

Last week, Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said sales of the Z10 had surpassed BlackBerry's expectations in emerging markets like India, where cheaper entry-level phones are typically popular.

On Wednesday, the company said it had received an order for 1 million BlackBerry 10 smartphones - its largest ever to a single customer, and its shares jumped.

BlackBerry's volatile stock closed up 8.2 percent at $15.65 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, while its Toronto-listed shares rose by a similar margin to C$16.04.

Shares of BlackBerry were up a further 0.4 percent at $16.71 in trading before the morning bell on Thursday in the United States.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Von Ahn)