HTML5 au centre de l’avenir des applications mobiles

Les applications web écrites en HTML5 vont-elles supplanter les logiciels natifs dans le monde mobile ? Rien n’est encore joué, mais les technologies web intéressent sans conteste les développeurs.

L’HTML5 intéresserait selon un article de CIO India News 60 % des développeurs de services mobiles. C’est ce qui ressort d’une étude menée en Amérique du Nord et en Europe auprès de 2500 programmeurs.

Le cabinet précise que le développement à destination des OS mobiles devrait continuer à monter en puissance en 2011. Les plates-formes les plus populaires restent iOS (56 % des intentions de développement sur iPhone et 36 % sur iPad) et Android (50 % des intentions de développement).

Dans ce contexte, l’intérêt croissant pour les applications HTML5 n’a rien d’étonnant. Le mode web permet en effet d’éliminer en grande partie la problématique liée à la multiplication des plates-formes mobiles, ce qui participe à réduire les coûts de développement. L’HTML5 permet par ailleurs de proposer des applications web très proches de leurs équivalents natifs en terme de richesse fonctionnelle. Enfin – et c’est sans doute un point important pour certains développeurs –, les applications web permettent de s’affranchir des limites imposées sur les boutiques logicielles.

Toutefois, le support de l’HTML5 au sein des terminaux mobiles reste avant tout lié au bon vouloir des concepteurs d’OS. Or, dans ce domaine, de mauvaises surprises sont parfois de la partie. Récemment, les développeurs ont ainsi découvert que le moteur JavaScript utilisé pour les applications web installées sur un iPhone était nettement moins rapide que celui présent dans Safari mobile. Les Web Apps boudées par la firme de Cupertino ?

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Nokia se déleste de 7000 salariés en s'orientant vers l’adoption de Windows Phone

Dans le cadre de sa restructuration qui accompagne la réorganisation autour de Windows Phone, Nokia annonce la vente des activités de développement Symbian à Accenture.

En orientant sa stratégie sur l’adoption de Windows Phone comme système d’exploitation pour ses smartphones, Nokia faisait peu de cas de sa plate-forme historique Symbian. Le constructeur finlandais vient de laisser tomber le couperet définitif en annonçant qu’il cède ses activités de développement logiciel Symbian à Accenture.

Une opération qui s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une alliance stratégique lui permettant de réduire les dépenses opérationnelles de son activité Devices & Services, qui vise à économiser 1 milliard d’euros en 2013 par rapport à 2010. Une façon diplomatique d’annoncer un plan social. Ce transfert d’activités s’accompagnera d’un transfert de personnel. Pas moins de 3000 salariés de Nokia associés à cette branche devraient rejoindre les équipes d’Accenture. En échange, cet accord prévoit qu’Accenture fournira des applications et services pour l’OS Windows Phone supporté par les mobiles Nokia.

Au moins, les concernés conserve une activité professionnelle. Ce ne sera pas forcément le cas des 4000 emplois que le constructeur entend supprimer d’ici la fin 2012, principalement au Danemark, en Grande-Bretagne et en Finlande. Les discussions dans ces pays avec les représentants des salariés ont déjà débuté. Le fabricant finlandais souhaite en effet rapidement consolider ses sites de R&D, dont certains ne devraient pas tarder à fermer.

« Nous offrirons à ceux qui perdent leur travail une gamme d’options comme un support individuel dans la recherche de travail, une nouvelle formation pour faire de nouveaux investissements afin de promouvoir l’innovation et nous travaillerons avec de nombreux partenaires pour créer de nouvelles opportunités », déclare le P-dg Stephen Elop pour tenter d’amortir la violence de l’annonce.

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Google poursuivi pour les mouchards de localisation d’Android

L’affaire des ‘mouchards’ des smartphones qui enregistrent les déplacements de leurs utilisateurs vient de rebondir à la face de Google aux Etats-Unis. Deux résidents du Michigan ont déposé une plainte, le 27 avril, auprès d’un tribunal de Detroit. Equipés d’un HTC Inspire sous Android, ils estiment que le suivi de leurs déplacements par leur téléphone est comparable à une mise sur écoute prononcée par un tribunal, rapporte l’agence Bloomberg.

Les éditeurs de plates-formes mobiles sont sous les feux de l’actualité depuis que des utilisateurs ont constaté que l’iPhone conservait les données de localisation dans un fichier non crypté et stocké sur le PC/Mac lors des synchronisations iTunes du smartphone. Apple, Google et Microsoft ont reconnu les faits en expliquant que leurs systèmes se contentait de constituer une base de données des antennes GSM et hotspot wifi croisés lors des déplacements des utilisateurs afin d’améliorer les services de géolocalisation.

Les méthodes de conservation des données divergent cependant selon les plates-formes iOS, Android ou Windows Phone. A ce sujet, Apple prévoit notamment de corriger le tir sur la durée de conservation des données de localisation (jusqu’à un an) et la protection du fichier concerné lors des prochaines mises à jours d’iOS. Mais en aucun cas les données ne seraient associées à des profils permettant d’identifier les clients, assurent les éditeurs. Les dirigeants des trois entreprises ont néanmoins été invités à s’expliquer sur la question devant une commission sénatoriale le 10 mai prochain.

Quant aux deux plaignants du Michigan, ils espèrent transformer leur plainte en action de groupe (class action) en plus des 50 millions de dollars de dommages et intérêts réclamés et la demande d’arrêts des pratiques.

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Guerre des brevets : le chinois Huawei attaque le chinois ZTE en Europe

Face aux silences de son concurrent, Huawei décide d'attaquer son compatriote ZTE pour viol de propriété intellectuelle. Une déclaration de guerre qui souligne la maturité des entreprises chinoises à l'international.

Le numéro un chinois des équipementiers télécom et réseau compte bien se développer rapidement en Europe, où la concurrence est rude. Huawei utilisera toutes ses armes, quitte à se montrer très offensif en attaquant son compatriote chinois ZTE sur le sol européen.

Après la présentation d’excellents résultats 2010 (28 milliards de dollars en hausse de 24,2% sur un an, pour une marge opérationnelle de 4,4 milliards de dollars, soit +31,4 %), Huawei annonce qu’il vient de déposer une plainte contre son concurrent ZTE auprès du tribunal de grande instance de Paris, ainsi qu’en Allemagne et en Hongrie. Objet de cette plainte : ZTE utiliserait des technologies pour lesquelles Huawei a déposé des brevets dans la conception de ses modems cellulaires embarqués et clés USB-modems, mais également dans la conception d’équipements d’infrastructure LTE (Long Term Evolution exploité sur les réseaux 4G). 

En outre ZTE utiliserait illégalement la marque déposée Huawei sur certaines de ses cartes.

Huawei précise que ces actions font suite à des courriers adressés à l’intéressé afin de lui demander de cesser ces violations et d’acquitter à payer les droits de licence. En outre, la société rappelle avoir sollicité ZTE « en de multiples occasions » afin de négocier l’utilisation croisée de technologies brevetées. Toujours sans succès.

« Pour Huawei, les brevets représentent un investissement essentiel. En outre, nous participons activement aux comités de standardisation, notamment sur les technologies LTE », explique Song Liuping, responsable juridique de l’entreprise. « C’est pourquoi nous sommes l’un des leaders mondiaux sur ces technologies, autant sur le nombre de brevets que sur les produits commerciaux.» 

 L’équipementier déclare avoir dépensé 222 millions de dollars en 2010 pour utiliser des licences d’autres acteurs, et investi environ 2,5 milliards de dollars en recherche et développement.

De son côté, ZTE s’étonne de l’initiative de son compatriote. « ZTE respecte sans réserve, et adhère, aux codes, aux pratiques et aux lois internationales relevant de la propriété intellectuelle, et rejette totalement le fait que des brevets ou des marques déposées puissent avoir été utilisés frauduleusement », déclare l’entreprise par voie de communiqué.

Estimant, à juste titre, que les brevets font partie de son capital intellectuel, Huawei souhaite aussi montrer qu’elle défend son patrimoine et protège ses investissements. « Néanmoins, il ne s’agit pas pour nous d’en faire une activité ou une source de revenus, mais plutôt de nouer des accords croisés avec d’autres acteurs pour participer activement aux évolutions technologiques des télécommunications et des réseaux, souligne Song Liuping. Nous souhaitons nous développer en paix, en négociant ce type de coopération, plutôt que d’attaquer. Cependant, nous comptons bien défendre nos investissements. »

Le conflit du jour s’inscrit comme un autre épisode de la guerre des brevets après les négociations Huawei/Motorola et plus récemment Ericsson/ZTE  autour des technologies 2G et 3G au Royaume-Uni, en Italie et en Allemagne.

Une entreprise chinoise qui attaque une autre entreprise chinoise sur des brevets peut étonner. Pourtant, le directeur juridique de Huawei rétorque clairement : « Certes, nous sommes une entreprise chinoise, mais dont le capital qui est détenu par 60.000 de ses employés. Ces pratiques de défense de la propriété intellectuelle sont monnaie courante sur la scène internationale. Or, Huawei est justement une entreprise internationale. Cela illustre aussi la maturité des entreprises chinoises. »

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Le marché du cloud dépassera les 240 milliards de dollars en 2020

L’institut Forrester prévoit une hausse colossale du marché du cloud computing, qui devrait passer de 40 milliards de dollars à 240 milliards de dollars en dix ans. Notamment grâce au SaaS.

Dans son rapport Sizing The Cloud, Forrester dévoile que le marché du cloud computing devrait passer de 40,7 milliards de dollars en 2011 à 241 milliards de dollars en 2020. Le cabinet sépare son analyse en différents secteurs (infrastructure, plate-forme et applications) et types de cloud (public, semi-privé et privé).

Plusieurs éléments ressortent de cette étude. Tout d’abord, la virtualisation du poste de travail semble avoir atteint la fin d’un cycle d’évolution. Toutefois, de nouvelles innovations technologiques permettront prochainement de relancer ce marché.

Les solutions d’IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) devraient atteindre un maximum de 5,9 milliards de dollars en 2014, avant de se stabiliser. Le côté ‘commun’ de ces offres mènera alors à une baisse des prix. Le succès de sociétés comme Amazon et Rackspace dans ce secteur serait donc en trompe-l’œil à moyen terme, la concurrence devant mener à une baisse importante des marges.

Enfin, le SaaS (Software as a Service) devrait être le secteur qui connaitra la croissance la plus importante et la plus soutenue au fil des ans. Ce marché s’établissait à 21,1 milliards de dollars en 2011 et devrait atteindre les 92 milliards de dollars en 2016. Le SaaS est et restera donc une véritable locomotive pour le cloud computing.

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Worldwide Annual Shipments of Multi-Service Business Gateways to Approach 1.8 Million Units by 2015

Multi-Service Business Gateways (MSBGs) combine data routing, VoIP, switching, security, and analog voice interfaces into one device. The global recession has wreaked havoc across the economy but the MSBG market has fared relatively well as branch offices and small businesses look to reduce costs, pushing worldwide annual unit shipments toward 1.8 million by 2015.

“The trend towards centralization within the IT world and movement toward cloud and hosted services has had significant impact on the MSBG market across all segments,” says Norm Bogen, VP, Research. “The enterprise is moving more data and services to the central data center and SMBs are relying on service providers to provide hosted services. This trend is driven by cost savings realized as a result of less infrastructure required on site as  branch offices and SMBs are able to consolidate multiple services into an MSBG.”

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New LTE Network Test Results Revealed

TeliaSonera AB's Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Finland has been put to the test by UK network measurement specialist Epitiro , revealing the latest benchmarks for LTE performance.
The peak download speed achieved on the LTE network was 48 Mbit/s while the mean latency speed recorded was 23 milliseconds. Epitiro also measured TeliaSonera's 3G network to compare the results and found that the LTE network's mean download speed was nine times faster than 3G's, and the mean latency was five times faster.

To gather these results, Epitiro installed measurement probes on the network, collecting 20,000 data points over a five-day period. The test probes connect to the Internet and mimic typical user behavior.
"Based on our observations, this LTE rollout is directly comparable to high-speed fixed line services," said Jon Curley, CTO of Epitiro, in a press statement. "Further, the low latency times measured indicate the Finnish LTE service is capable of handling the most demanding of web-based applications including VoIP, video streaming and even HD IPTV."

Why this matters
It's not exactly news that an LTE network would be faster and have lower latency than a 3G network. But these results come from one of the world's first commercial LTE networks, up and running just since December. What stands out in particular is latency, which is lower than expected and would be a key for being able to deliver services like voice over IP (VoIP) with good quality of service.

When Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Gabriel Brown saw TeliaSonera's LTE network in action in Oslo, Norway, in October last year, he said that the latency was between 25 milliseconds to 35 milliseconds.

According to Iain Wood, marketing manager at Epitiro, the company had to double check the latency figures to make sure that they were right. The voice over IP calls measured had "excellent" voice quality, he says.
That will be good news for LTE operators wanting to deliver VoIP over their new mobile broadband networks, rather than relying on their circuit-switched 3G networks for voice services. But this also presents an opportunity for over-the-top VoIP challengers to take advantage of the low network latency and offer their own services over LTE networks.

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Nokia Asks Anna to Save Symbian

Nokia Corp.  Tuesday took the wraps off the E6 and X7, its first two smartphones to feature an updated version of the Symbian Ltd. operating system, dubbed Symbian Anna.
Anna will begin shipping on the E6 and X7, built for the enterprise and entertainment buffs, respectively, in the second quarter. The E6 will come to North America in the third quarter. It will also make its way to other Nokia smartphones in the coming months.

Symbian's updates include new icons, a faster browsing experience and a refreshed Ovi Maps app. See how Nokia describes the software in the following video:



Symbian devices also helped Nokia's Ovi Store grow to 40,000 apps and 5 million downloads per day, a nearly eight-fold increase over the past year. Phones sporting the OS accounted for 15 percent of daily apps downloads, Nokia said.

Why this matters
Timing is everything for Nokia as it prepares to transition to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7, while fulfilling its goal of shipping 150 million more Symbian phones. Nokia says WP7 devices won't be shipping in volume until 2012, so it's looking to Anna to hold on to its shriveling market share in the meantime. But even Anna hasn't been the timeliest to arrive. Nokia first introduced the OS update three months ago. It then announced the new phones Tuesday in a press release it had teased for weeks in the guise of a launch event. Now, the phones won't actually come to market for a while, so it will be hard to keep any excitement up.

Analysts have suggested that Nokia's best bet is make Symbian the champion of the low end and position Microsoft for its more advanced smartphones. That may be its ultimate strategy, but the E6 and X7 will cost €340 (USD$490) and €380 (USD$548), respectively, so Nokia's not coming down yet.

In announcing the new handsets, the handset maker also struck a careful balance between maintaining its emphasis on Windows Phone and trying to convince people that Symbian lives on. Nokia quoted developers, like Mikael Hed, CEO of Angry Birds parent company Rovio, expressing their commitment to both platforms.

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Ethernet Europe: Busting the Backhaul Bottleneck

LONDON -- Ethernet Europe 2011 -- While operators are finally embracing and commercially deploying Ethernet backhaul in volume, they are not ready to give up their time division multiplex (TDM)-based circuits just yet because network synchronization is still a major challenge for them. That was one of the takeaways from an Ethernet backhaul panel discussion here on Wednesday.
It is common for operators to use a hybrid model for packet backhaul, whereby voice traffic is carried over E-1 links and high-speed data traffic is carried over Ethernet.

Despite the cost implications, Rob Thomas, director of product solutions at BT Wholesale , says the carrier still operates its TDM network along with its Ethernet connections to base station sites, and it will need to implement both new synchronization standards -- Synchronous Ethernet and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) 1588v2.
"It's quite a significant cost to have Ethernet and SDH equipment squeezed into a nodeB [base station] rack," said Thomas. So, getting rid of the TDM circuit would not only free up the E-1, but also space in the equipment, he explained.
While the cost of running two different networks is incentive enough to do away with the old TDM networks, the vendor panelists agreed that operators are unlikely to have entirely removed TDM from their networks in the next three years.

Hossam Salib, VP of product management and marketing at Positron Inc. , said three years was "too aggressive" as a target for when operators will give up their TDM networks for backhaul transport.
According to Michael Ritter, VP of technical marketing at ADVA Optical Networking  , three years from now is when operators will start to migrate away from TDM, but it will be different in different parts of the network. For example, that migration might happen first in urban areas rather than rural regions where "there is no incentive to invest there," he explained.

"It all comes down to economics," said BT's Thomas. "There are still many 2G sites out there. ... At what point do you switch off the TDM network? Running [BT's] 21CN and TDM is expensive."
Part of the reason for why operators need to hang on to their TDM networks is that there are still implementation challenges lurking for, in particular, the 1588v2 standard.
"[With] SyncE, everyone trusts that technology; it's a matter of bringing it to the network," said ADVA's Ritter. "[With] 1588v2, there is still a question about performance. There has to be a more common and versatile approach. There will be much more complex backhaul architectures because of all this."
"1588v2 is going to be the most simple way [for synchronization], assuming you know how to deploy it," said Ran Avital, VP of strategic and product marketing at Ceragon Networks Ltd.

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Mobile Data Packaging: A Policy-Driven Revolution?

It may be not be that obvious in the developed markets of the U.S. and Europe, but a revolution is in the air in mobile data packaging and pricing – and for the most part, it's happening in non-Western and emerging markets.
In a long list of new pricing ideas I've been compiling in connection with Heavy Reading's research on policy management, here are just a few that provide some idea of the rich vein of ideas that is being mined:

• Movistar Colombia has created five mobile data packages, including one that offers only email, one just for IM, one for social networks – all at low price points.
• Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) has built a "prayer time" offer, enabling subscribers to block access to the Internet, or to specific IP-based applications (video, chat, voice, gaming, etc.) during prayer times.
• Poland's Play increased bandwidth, removed volume limits and removed restrictions on P2P traffic between midnight and 9 a.m.
• Russia's MegaFon offers unlimited access to some URLs, event-based charging and varying speeds based on protocol and usage profile.
• In Kuwait, Zain Group offers two contrasting prepaid data packages -- one for customers on limited budgets with a low connection speed, and one for those who are mainly looking for occasional high-speed access.
• In Sweden, 3 Group offers a variety of on-the-fly promotions, including QoS uplift for loyalty and periodic free boosts in data speed.
• Multiple operators now offer unlimited access to Facebook and other social networking sites within volume-delimited services.
• Multiple operators waive data volume metering in off-peak periods, e.g. at night.
• Some operators offer "shared wallet" services, in which allocations are shared across different devices or family members, for example.
• One operator lets customers choose five Internet sites or URLs and get unlimited access to them.

What's driving this innovation? In the first place, many of these markets are very competitive, forcing operators to find new ways to differentiate their services. Low disposable income is a second factor, leading to the creation of a wider range of packages to suit every pocket. And a third factor is probably light regulation – in particular, operators in many markets don't have to worry that regulators will impose net-neutrality rules that get in the way of price innovation.

Finally, of course, pricing schemes can help meet traffic management goals. Data volume limits are now the near-universal rule for mobile broadband services, but innovations like those above help to refine the way that congestion is handled.
This innovation is increasingly (though not exclusively) underpinned by policy control. And because policy control is such a flexible technology, there is likely to be much more to come. Many operators are saying they plan to implement more ideas in the future, including RAN or cell-level congestion controls, location-based charging and two-sided pricing models that also charge content or applications providers. The ultimate goal: user-based control via sophisticated dashboards or portals.

None of this means that flat-rate pricing is going away. It is a proven, successful model in both fixed and mobile networks, and many users will continue to prefer it because it is simple and predictable. In fact, a great deal of future innovation may happen inside the flat-rate envelope, rather than via meter-based charging. Alternatively, clever policy controls may be applied much more extensively to stretch bandwidth, but will largely be invisible to users and won't be presented as explicit options they can choose.
Nor is it a technical slam dunk. As new pricing schemes and packages underpinned by policy control grow more complex, so the demands on the policy architecture multiply, creating some major challenges.

Connecting policy to billing and charging is far from straightforward; indeed, there is no direct link between the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Policy Server (PCRF) and the online or offline charging systems – something that is being addressed in the new 3GPP release, with the new Sy interface. Other issues include the ever-increasing number of policy-controlled transactions and sessions, and the scattered sources of information and intelligence that must be gathered and addressed to make those decisions – increasingly in real time – to realize the new packages.

But if these technical challenges can be met, life may be about to become a lot more interesting for telco marketeers, who will no longer be able to complain that they don't have the means to innovate. It will raise new issues about what kinds of packages consumers will accept. But if the hectic changes now taking place in some markets are any guide, we can expect a lot more innovation in the next year or two, as mobile broadband and smartphone continue to spread inexorably.

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Fujitsu Unveils UK FTTH Plan

Fujitsu Ltd. has unveiled an audacious plan that could cost up to $3.3 billion to build an alternative fiber access infrastructure in the U.K. that could connect up to five million homes and businesses with broadband speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s. 
The IT giant doesn't intend to be a retail service provider itself, though: The aim is to build an 'open access' network that could be used by numerous service providers that would pay to run their services and applications over the physical network. The open access model has been adopted in Singapore and Australia.

The plan, if put into action, would pit Fujitsu's U.K. operation directly against Openreach , the access network division of BT Group plc .
Ironically, Openreach offers wholesale broadband access capacity to U.K. service providers using MSAN (multiservice access node) equipment sourced from Fujitsu.
Fujitsu's plan involves building out a network that would provide point-to-point fiber connections to 5 million premises (residential and business) in "remote" areas -- in small towns and villages that are harder to reach with traditional fixed broadband.
The IT firm believes it would cost between £1.5 billion and £2 billion (US$2.45 billion and $3.27 billion) to reach those premises. To achieve its aims, Fujitsu says it would seek up to £500 million ($817.5 million) in support from the U.K. government's broadband fund toward that total.

But despite enthusiastic noises from the U.K. government, nothing's underway yet. Fujitsu says its business plan doesn't stack up if BT doesn't reduce the wholesale prices for access to its ducts and telegraph poles, which Fujitsu would need to access to roll out the fiber. BT made proposals on such wholesale costs earlier this year, but Fujitsu is looking for lower prices.

In the meantime, Fujitsu has the support of U.K. cable operator Virgin Media Inc.  and broadband service provider TalkTalk , both of which are eager to be anchor tenant wholesale customers for the network.
Fujitsu has also named Cisco Systems Inc. as a technology collaborator on the project, but a Fujitsu spokesman told Light Reading that it was undecided exactly what sort of role Cisco might play or what technology Cisco, a leader in point-to-point fiber access platforms, might supply for the planned network.

Why this matters
An alternative next-generation broadband access plan for the U.K.'s remote areas is a positive development, especially as Fujitsu is taking a long-term, practical approach to its return on investment. And it's proper super-fast broadband too, based on a dedicated fiber connection that could enable up to 1 Gbit/s in the uplink as well as downlink, and even faster speeds in the future -– a far more compelling proposition than the copper plant-based, fiber-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband offer that comprises much, though not all, of BT's current efforts.
But Fujitsu's plan will only benefit the country if it gets off the ground, and there are a number of hurdles in Fujitsu's way.
The plan relies on BT's reducing the price of access to its passive infrastructure, a process that could take years.
And building such a network is not something that can be done overnight, so any potential benefits from such a plan won't be realized for a while yet, by which time the regulatory and political landscape of the U.K. may have changed.
In addition, Fujitsu's business plan has some challenges. The government's broadband fund is set at £530 million ($866.5 million) for the duration of this parliament (up to 2014 or 2015) and £300 million ($490.5 million) during the next (up to circa 2019), so Fujitsu is looking for its plans to sweep up a large percentage of the overall funds available.
And even at the higher end of its costing, £2 billion for 5 million premises is an average of £400 ($654) per connection, which seems ambitious for remote areas.
The initiative is to be welcomed, especially as it targets the areas that often aren't reached by top-end fixed broadband connections, but Fujitsu will do well to get its plan off the ground and completed.

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RIM PlayBook: LTE & HSPA+ Versions Coming

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)  launched its first tablet, the PlayBook, with Wi-Fi onboard, but is working on versions to cater to faster 3G and 4G fiends, too. The BlackBerry maker unveiled the $499 tablet at a glitzy launch event in New York City on Thursday evening. Various company spokespeople said that although the device is launching as a Wi-Fi-only device, more mobility options will follow.

First up, the PlayBook will launch on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s WiMax network this summer. RIM representatives said that Long Term Evolution (LTE) and High-Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) versions will follow, although no dates for the these launches are available.

Both of RIM's co-CEOs were on hand to promote their new tablet. RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie held court with reporters for much of the night, defending the PlayBook against lackluster reviews, promising an email client soon and positioning the tablet against its Apple Inc. and Android rivals.

Balsillie told that SAP AG is working on "dashboard apps" for the PlayBook, a move that will likely please the company's core enterprise audience. Business customers, Balsillie pointed out, can already securely tunnel back to their corporate intranet using the tablet.

RIM's other CEO Mike Lazaridis, meanwhile, was clearly enthused with his new "baby," working the room with PlayBook in hand to promote the features of the new device. He particularly liked the on-board cameras, showing reporters some of the snaps he had taken with the device.

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