RIM Loses $1.7 Million In BlackBerry PlayBooks From Indiana Truck Stop In Daring Theft.

RIM may not be able to get the public to love their BlackBerry Playbook tablet, but that doesn’t mean the 7″ slabs of neglect aren’t lust worthy to some people. The only problem for RIM in this case is that the latest group of Playbook-loving people are a band of thieves who managed to drive off with a semi loaded with 22 pallets worth of Playbooks from an Indiana truck stop. For those keeping count, that equates to about 5,000 Playbook talbets valued at roughly $1.7 million. Unfortunately for RIM, the truck and it’s contents weren’t equipped with a tracking device so it’s anyone’s guess as to where the tablets in question are being taken to.

Local, state, and federal agents are getting involved in the search for a believed 5-person posse of whom one person allegedly left some traceable fingerprints. For now, RIM’s going to have to play the waiting game. Though ultimately, those 5,000 Playbooks may just be gone forever.

In the meantime, if you happen to see a gray 2007 Volvo semi w/ attached sleeper and license plates reading “J407603″ Indiana police and RIM would love to have a word with you.

RIM’s Alleged Porn Problem Is BS.

I’ll be upfront about my views on RIM and their BlackBerry platform: it’s woefully outdated and heading down the dangerous path of extinction. But if we’re going to criticze RIM’s failures and shortcomings, let’s actually do so to things which are legitimately their own problems — not this developing “story” (via: The Telegraph) about an alleged pornography problem on BlackBerry phones.

News flash: Any smartphone can pull up a bajillion (scientific number) different porn sites. Parental controls are great and all, but let’s be honest with ourselves. Most kids who’ve grown up with cellphones and smartphones already know how to get around such things.

As for claims that RIM’s specialized network, which uses their own servers to handle BlackBerry services contributing to the problem, we call BS. While the normal method of using NOC filters in the UK wasn’t specifically used by RIM to protect kiddies from the naughties of the web, RIM did provide tools/services for UK cellular carriers to make use of. The only problem: Only T-Mobile UK actually made use of said tools.

So why is Ofcom calling out RIM? Beats me. But “protecting children” isn’t the first/sole motivation. That is, unless there’s more to this story that hasn’t been revealed yet.

All that said, we have a hard time believing that presiding members of government and Ofcom are really incompetent enough to believe BlackBerries are the only devices which can be exploited by youngsters to view naughty bits — oh wait…no we’re not. Hopefully RIM can talk some common sense into Ofcom and the local cellular carriers, and maybe even convince them to use the tools they’ve already provided to deal with such problems. Stay tuned.

Pegatron Plant Explosion Injures Dozens, Could Affect iPad 2/3 Production.

A Shanghai based assembly plant belonging to Pegatron subsidiary, Riteng, reportedly exploded late Saturday (local time) injuring 50+ people and possibly affecting ongoing iPad 2 production as well as upcoming iPad 3 production too.

The plant is said to have been producing back panels for iPad 2s, and is currently testing production for an “unspecified product” (read: ipad 3) based on reports from a local paper, the “Yi Cai Daily”.

The Riteng plant was operating in a “test production mode” and could be “run around the damaged areas” should production schedules call for it, according to a Pegatron spokesperson.

With a good deal of initial holiday shopping already over, it could be said the explosion and any possible production shortages “could have been worse”. Nonetheless, Apple has had several issues with exploding/burning manufacturing plants as well as labour conditions being called into question after a rash of suicides at Foxconn plants earlier this year.

Hopefully production isn’t affected and can continue, otherwise it’s more supply problems that Apple certainly doesn’t need.

QuickPick Non-Jailbreak iOS App Allows Custom Shortcuts Within Notification Center. (But Will It Last?)

It’s pretty much a given that some of the best system tweaks for iOS are jailbreak-only. Though, given Apple’s recent history over the last couple of years, some of the best jailbreak tweaks make it into official shipping versions of iOS in some form or another. (Look no further than how Notification Center is implemented and designed.)

With that said, one big thing that iOS lacks is customized (read: useful) tweaks for Notification Center. The alerts to apps, messages, etc. are nice and all, but what we really want are some more versatile options to do things such as quickly sending an email, calling a friend, or enabling/disabling WiFi. While Apple still has yet to provide such functionality, a new app called “QuickPick” along with some clever web-based shortcut trickery makes such things possible…

“Carbon” webOS Twitter App Coming To Android And Windows Phone.

If you’re one of the sad, unfortunate souls who joined the webOS camp only to have HP yank the rug out from underneath your feet, we sympathize with you. But crying in our beer (or whatever it is you cry into) won’t change the fact webOS’ future is highly limited even with HP’s recent announcement detailing their plans to open source the fledging OS. With that said, there is some good news to share for webOS junkies, though not quite in the way one might expect. It all has to do with “Carbon”, the awesome webOS Twitter app — it’s coming to Android and Windows Phone!

According to the developers behind Carbon, the Windows Phone 7 version is nearly ready to launch as the final beta has been released. On that note, the devs say that a public announcement will be made once Carbon for Windows Phone is submitted to Microsoft. In the meantime, there’s already a great 8-minute video going through all of Carbon for Windows Phone has to offer. (Video after the break.)

On the Android side of things, there’s still a bit of waiting to be had. Carbon for Android UX director, Saleh Esmaeili, told Android Central that the app is still in the design stage, and that thanks to all the upgrades (for developers) in Ice Cream Sandwich by way of new APIs, transitions, etc., the team is now able to offer a more complete, enjoyable experience for Android users.

We’re pretty excited to see a great Twitter app making the jump to other platforms. (Now if only we could get some iOS love.) Hop past the break for an in-depth demo of Carbon for Windows Phone.

Facebook 4.1 For iOS Enables New Timeline View

The recently launched Timeline view for Facebook profile pages is now officially live in the iOS app. Up until the new 4.1 update, users ha to view the mobile Facebook web page.

In our usage of Timeline on non-desktop devices, we feel it’s overall nicer looking. Certainly a lot better than it was. Let’s hope the notorious repeat notifications are finally fixed too.

T-Mobile Now Testing 1900 MHz 3G, HSPA+ 84 Mbps Service.

T-Mobile users who happen to be doing the 2G tango with an escaped (read: unlocked) iPhone or any other non-AWS smartphone might just find a nice surprise lurking around town — 3G service. According to several reports originating from Howard Forums (and TmoNews), T-Mobile is currently testing out HSPA+ 84 Mbps service and “rearmed” 1900 MHz spectrum pumping out faster 3G service in certain parts of the country.

*Sidenote: T-Mobile’s entire HSPA+ “4G” push has so far been carried out on the 1700 MHz AWS spectrum — a spectrum which no other carrier in the U.S. really utilizes making Tmo the odd man out.

Now, pretty much all GSM phones support a plethora of frequency bands due to national and global roaming requirements. With that said, while very few phones support T-Mobile’s AWS 1700 MHz band, and in turn their 3G coverage, pretty much every GSM phone supports the 850/1800/900/1900 bands. AT&T uses the 850/1900 MHz bands for their 3G, and now, as touched on above, T-Mobile is too. But there is a catch.

Don’t hold your breath for 1900 MHz T-Mobile 3G to proliferate around the country. According to TmoNews’ sources, the actual HSPA+ 84 testing and specturm rearming is going to be extremely limited to certain sections of the country, specially the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, Utah and California — at least for now. While that news is certainly a buzzkill, the lucky souls who find the planets aligned in their hometown will no doubt feel a bit different.

If you happen to find yourself enjoying some sweet 1900 MHz T-Mobile 3G action, be sure to send us a few pics (and info) to our inboxes.

Curious to see if T-Mobile PCS 3G service is working in your neighborhood? You’ll need one of these phones:

• Samsung Galaxy S 4G, Samsung Vibrant, Samsung Exhibit II 4G, Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC Radar 4G, Nokia Lumia 710, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, T-Mobile Springboard, Dell Streak 7, Dell Inspiron Mini 10, T-Mobile Sonic 4G Mobile Hotspot, or T-Mobile Rocket 3.0