New BlackBerry (But Not in the UAE), Connecticut Investigates Agency Model

In Tech Digest by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson

BlackBerry Torch Announced (But the UAE Doesn’t Get Any)

Research In Motion unveiled its newest device, the BlackBerry Torch. It has a touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. In addition to all the usual smartphone features (fancy camera, LED flash, GPS chip, and 32G of storage), the Torch also uses an updated text reflow function in the Web browser so that text automatically reflows when a user zooms in.

But sadly, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Middle East launch party for the Torch has been postponed because of the “ongoing dispute” between Research In Motion and the government of the United Arab Emirates over control of data flow to and from BlackBerry devices.

Connecticut Attorney General Suspicious of Agency Model

The Attorney General of Connecticut Richard Blumenthal wants to investigate the “agency model” agreements that some of the larger publishers in the United States made with Apple and Amazon for violations of antitrust laws. In a statement, Mr. Blumenthal said, “These agreements among publishers, Amazon and Apple appear to have already resulted in uniform prices for many of the most popular e-books—potentially depriving consumers of competitive prices.” Read more from the Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post.

About the Author

Hannah Johnson

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Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.