June is off to a rocky in the markets for technology companies as shares slump in the wake of troubling economic reports, though cooler heads appear to have confidence in the sector for the long term.

Apple has won a battle over the standard for a smaller SIM card, use of which would leave more room for other components in future phone designs.

Research In Motion has warned that it expects an operating loss for the current quarter and has hired two investment banks to help it study alternative company strategies that might include licensing its OS.

Research In Motion, the ailing maker of the BlackBerry, is planning to cut at least 2000 staff as part of a global restructuring plan, according to reports.

A judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that a Kodak patent asserted in a complaint against Apple and Research In Motion is invalid, Kodak said on Monday.

I just got back from Orlando and the Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry World 2012 conference. The BlackBerry-maker made a ton of major announcements during the three-day event, but a number of things really stand out in my mind.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is swatting down reports that its upcoming BlackBerry 10 phones won't use physical keyboards.

Europe and Japan will work together on a strategy to make the Internet safer for children and teenagers.

A growing number of smartphones have near field communication (NFC) capabilities to make mobile payments, but accessories and ultrabooks also now increasingly have the same technology.

Mike Lazarus, a Sydney-based software design consultant, relies on his RIM BlackBerry daily to manage his contacts database, store important documents, and keep his information secure. "I use my mobile phone essentially as a mobile office," he says. "Nearly, everything I need to do in the office, I can do from my phone."

The BlackBerry PlayBook is available for pre-order, and will be on the street in a matter of weeks. I am not sure the RIM tablet will see much consumer success, but then consumers have never been RIM's primary market. Consumer tablets aside, the PlayBook has some unique features that make it an ideal tablet from a business or IT admin perspective.

Steve Jobs tried to dismiss iPad's tablet rivals as "copycats" at Wednesday's iPad 2 launch. But whether Steve likes it or not, the tablet wars are officially on. And this battle will be decided not only by consumers and gadget lovers seeking the latest and greatest slates, but also by businesses and corporate workers looking for the next game-changing productivity tool.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is nearing its final build with fully working tablets on public show at Mobile World Congress and one stand representative going so far as to refer to a PlayBook as "my own". All that's left, we're told, is battery optimisation - something that's actively being worked on.

It may seem like 2010 was the year of the tablet, but the reality is that 2010 was really just the year of the iPad with 15 million units sold and no real competitors for the Apple tablet. However, 2011 will be very different with a diverse variety of tablet options emerging--including some particularly relevant entries from major players.

With so much chatter about tablets this year, you might think that the handheld, rectangular devices being unveiled represent a significant innovation. The reality is that so much of what we're seeing is not a whole lot different than what we saw in previous years; these products offer only a few new twists. But those new twists could make the difference between tablets' remaining a niche item and their finally busting out to the mass market in a meaningful way.

Images and details of the BlackBerry Dakota--the impending flagship smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM)--have emerged. The Dakota is packed with features as RIM struggles desperately to regain lost ground and compete with the Apple iPhone and the rising Android invasion.