March 21 tipped as new date for Apple's product event

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

It seems that the earlier date of March 15 for the March Apple product event has been moved a week later to March 21st. Expected to be Apple's first product event for the year and which could focus on a smaller 4-inch iPhone (dubbed iPhone SE), the first glimpse of a new Apple Watch and the reveal of the iPad Air 3.

Recode's Kara Swisher broke the news while BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski,  who is usually dead on with these event date leaks, corroborated the information while adding that March 21 is a day before Apple has to face the FBI in a hearing regarding the iPhone unlocking issue that has divided a lot of people. The Loop Insight's Jim Darymple chimed in agreement on the March 21 date which all but confirms this event unless something else happens. Last year, Apple's "Spring Forward" event in March 9 showed off more information on Apple Watch plus saw the announcement of the new MacBook.

It's been a while since Apple's had a product event, the last one was the epic 'Hey Siri' event last September, which piled on a number of products including new iPhone 6S, the iPad Pro and Apple TV plus an assortment of new Apple bands and the Hermes edition Apple Watch.

This March event is expected to be way smaller and might be held at Town Hall in the Cupertino campus, this is understandable given that Apple and its key executives have a very high profile hearing to attend to the next day.

Source: Recode, BuzzFeed, The Loop Insight

What we’ve learned from Mobile World Congress 2016

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The take away from MWC was that phones are great as standalone devices and pocket computers, they can be awesome when you extend their functionality with great accessories and ecosystems.

This year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona brought the focus back on smartphones with various new flagship models sporting the latest processors, the latest display technology, improved cameras and software as well as better battery life, water resistance features and premium materials.

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Sony shows how its Xperia X smartphones have evolved

Sony is dropping the Xperia Z line in favour of the new Xperia X smartphones launched this week at MWC . Going full-premium in terms of materials and playing up the fact that Sony makes some of the best mobile camera sensors used by the likes of Apple and Samsung, the new Xperia X smartphones feature large 23 megapixel sensors as well as top notch display technology and a more rounded form factor. More than just the smartphones, which have long been some of the most underrated Androids devices because of the higher price, The Xperia line has now expanded to effectively include various accessories.

Microsoft customers now have access to BlackBerry’s secure enterprise mobility solutions via Azure

 

Microsoft and BlackBerry are teaming up to offer access to BlackBerry’s secure enterprise mobility solutions in the open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform Microsoft Azure.   

Enterprises can opt to install and manage their BES12 deployment through the Azure platform. This means customers have full access to their BES12 licenses while benefiting from the Microsoft cloud architecture – without having to invest in their own IT infrastructure.

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