We have seen the PlayBook in law enforcement vehicles before and now RIM has teamed up with Mobile Innovations to make a cool video showing off the product. It’s worth watching both the video made by BlackBerry, as well as the video made by Mobile Innovations, because it shows the various hardware benefits of a PlayBook as well as a demo of the software running on the tablet.
Continue reading ‘RIM and Mobile Innovations Show Off PlayBook in Law Enforcement’
Tag: legal
Another example of just how outdated these recording laws are: police departments in other states are creating their own apps that directly violate the eavesdropping laws of other states.
There is a growing trend of recording and reporting incidents by the public via smartphones/mobiles these days. The trend covers events such as the police killing a man near the BART system, a plane crashing in the Hudson, tragic moments from the Iranian elections, and countless more. Recording the world around you has become commonplace in today’s society. Just take a look at the site CrowdReel, which publishes pictures from Twitter streams around the world.
Recently, a case has brought to light outdated eavesdropping laws in Illinois and 11 other states. The case involves two individuals who recorded public officials (one of which used her BlackBerry) because they wanted a record of what was said for their own personal protection. This act landed them potential sentences of 15 years in prison (the sentence is much greater when it involves a public official versus a civilian).
Continue reading ‘Eavesdropping Laws Need to Be Updated to Account for Smartphones’
The Arizona Laws & Constitution app gives you the ability to quickly reference statutes on the go. The app houses the most recent version of the laws of the State of Arizona as well as the entire Arizona Revised Statutes, Constitutional Articles and bonus material. Some features include:
- Updated as Laws Become Effective
- Search & Browse Features
- No Renewal Necessary on Same Device
- Bonus Reference Material Includes:
- House & Senate Rules
- Members Quick Access Phone List
Prism Technologies does internet security technology management and licensing and accused RIM of violating a patent having to do with authentication systems. Prism has said that they have reached an agreement with RIM and the dispute is settled. “As a company we have reached a settlement with Research in Motion and are pleased with the result,” A.J. Bahou, Prism’s vice president and chief intellectual property officer, told Reuters. It’s not clear whether Prism has a valid claim to these patents or they’re just another patent troll. RIM is a huge company and everyone wants a piece of the pie.
The dictation service market for BlackBerry is growing fast. Companies such as MyCaption, Phillips and now BigHand, are offering voice-to-text solutions.
BigHand are leaders in voice productivity for the legal community, and their latest application for BlackBerry, will surely save law firms time and money.
This dictation service application allows users to record, edit, and send voice files using their BlackBerry. The application securely sends the dictation to an outsourced transcription service, with the user able to prioritise important items, track the progress of work, and then receive transcripts back via email.
The battle between RIM and Visto has been going on for some time now. Last we heard, Visto had paid RIM for certain patent infringements but there were 21 patent claims outstanding for the US Patent Office to rule on. The patents concern email synchronization between devices and local servers.
It seems that yesterday, the two companies have come to a definitive agreement to settle all outstanding worldwide patent litigation between the companies.
The agreement includes a perpetual and fully-paid license on all Visto patents for RIM, a transfer of certain Visto intellectual property, a one-time payment by RIM of US $ 267.5 million to Visto and the parties executing full and final releases in respect of all outstanding worldwide litigation.
The settlement is expected to be completed during the week of July 20, 2009 and is subject to certain closing conditions.
Accounting for these dollars in the 2nd quarter of 2010, will involve including the payments as an unusual item to be expensed, with the remained classified as an intangible asset. This is a considerable sum of money and it will be interesting to see what effect the resolution will have on RIM’s shares.
