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Chinese smartphone maker ZTE said working on smartwatch
by Staff Writers
Shenzhen, China (UPI) Nov 25, 2013


Three BlackBerry execs leaving smartphone maker
Montreal (AFP) Nov 25, 2013 - BlackBerry's management shakeup continued Monday with the exit of three senior executives, three weeks after boss Thorsten Heins stepped down and a deal to save the smartphone maker collapsed.

Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear and Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben, both hired by Heins, are leaving the company, according to a statement.

Brian Bidulka also is being replaced as chief financial officer by former controller James Yersh, but will remain as an advisor for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry abandoned hopes of finding a buyer who could turn around the company, after the spectacular failure of its new platform, launched in January.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company helped create a culture of mobile users glued to smartphones, but lost its luster as many have since moved to iPhones or devices using Google's Android software.

BlackBerry still has some 70 million subscribers worldwide, but most of these are using older handsets, with the newer devices on the BlackBerry 10 platform failing to gain traction.

In September, the company announced that it was laying off 4,500 staff -- or one third of its global workforce -- after losing $965 million in its last quarter as sales plummeted.

On November 5, Heins announced he was stepping down as chief executive after only 22 months on the job, and would be replaced on an interim basis by longtime technology executive John Chen.

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE will join the rush of companies making a smartwatch and bring out its own low-cost version, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Expected at the beginning of next year, the ZTE watch will be similar to devices already offered by companies such as Samsung, with its Galaxy Gear watch, but aimed at a more money-conscious crowd, the Journal reported.

"We are focusing on the mainstream market," Lu Qianhao, ZTE's head of handset marketing strategy, told the newspaper.

When introduced the smartwatch will only be compatible with ZTE's own line of affordable smartphones, but reportedly that could change after the device's launch.

Smartwatches already on the market cost anywhere from $150 to $350 from companies such as Samsung, Sony and Pebble, and both Apple and Google are said to be working on designs of their own.

ZTE's smartwatch is expected to be sold in China first before becoming available in the U.S. and European markets.

Amazon said to be working on high-resolution Kindle Paperwhite
Seattle (UPI) Nov 25, 2013 - U.S. online giant Amazon is preparing a new Kindle Paperwhite with higher resolution and better fonts for reading for release in 2014, a tech website reported.

The next-generation e-reader will feature a high-resolution 300 pixels-per-inch screen, putting it on an equal footing with devices from competitors such as Kobo, TechCrunch reported Monday.

Kobo's Aura HD has a screen with 265 ppi resolution, while the current Kindle Paperwhite comes in at 212 ppi.

In additional to the higher resolution, the next Paperwhite will feature a flush screen without a surrounding bezel, and the screen will be glass, not plastic, TechCrunch said.

Amazon is reportedly working on new typography for the device with a custom-built font intended to be the most readable font available on an e-reader screen.

The new Kindle Paperwhite, reportedly lighter than the current model, is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2014.

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