BlackBerry announced that BBM would go cross platform at its annual conference in May.It looks like iOS and Android won't be able to download BlackBerry Messenger come June 27 after all.
Earlier on Thursday, T-Mobile U.K. tweeted that BBM would indeed be available for iOS and Android come June 27, even serving up an image of a BBM conversation running on a Samsung Android phone.
However, that tweet has since been taken down, calling into question the accuracy of the information.
And a BlackBerry spokeswoman told CNET: "That date is completely inaccurate; we have never indicated a specific date."
If the information was inaccurate, why would T-Mobile U.K. tweet it in the first place? Well, T-Mobile certainly could have gotten its facts wrong. Or it's conceivable the date may ultimately prove correct, and the carrier simply jumped the gun by revealing it without the official nod from BlackBerry.
Either way, BBM is due to reach iOS and Android sometime in the not too distant future.
Last month, BlackBerry spilled the beans that BBM would expand to iOS and Android this summer but was mum about a specific launch date. CEO Thorsten Heins revealed that the service will be available as a free download, adding that "we are confident time is right for BBM to be independent."
Samsung's Galaxy S4 (left) and its predecessor, the Galaxy S3.Samsung has launched a firmware update for the wildly popular Galaxy S4 that should quell some unrest for those who own the 16GB version.
Once the firmware is installed, users will have the ability to offload their app installs to the SD card. That's especially important for 16GB device owners who were upset to find that they had just 9.15GB of usable space on the device's storage. Moving apps to the SD card can save some of the needed space. Samsung has also found a way to squeeze another 0.08GB of space on the device's drive, according to SamMobile, which was first to report on the news.
In addition to handling the storage issue, the software update for the Galaxy S4 includes a host of fixes and improvements, including the ability to record HDR video and a fix for the purple effect users were seeing when scrolling through pages.
According to SamMobile, the update is available only in Germany now, but the site cited sources who said it will roll out elsewhere at some point.
Serena Williams, of the U.S, reacts as she plays Roberta Vinci, of Italy during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium Sunday, June 2, 2013 in Paris. Williams won 6-1, 6-3. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)When Serena Williams had won the final point Sunday, she paused behind the baseline to urge herself on with one last fist pump.
''Come on!'' she shouted, as if her work wasn't done - which it isn't.
Williams earned a berth in the French Open quarterfinals and extended her career-best winning streak to 28 matches by beating No. 15-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-3.
It was her toughest test of the first week, but she swept the last 10 points and has lost only 10 games through four rounds.
''I just want every point,'' she said. ''Every match I'm really focused for the whole period of time. I really want it every match.''
The 15-time Grand Slam champion next plays 2009 French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian, ranked 39th but rejuvenated this year, beat No. 8-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
With another victory, Williams would earn her first berth in a French Open semifinal since 2003. She won her lone Roland Garros title in 2002.
The three other remaining Americans play Monday. Four U.S. women reached the fourth round, the most at the French Open since 2004.
Tommy Robredo became the first man since 1927 to overcome a two-set deficit in three consecutive matches at a major event. Seeded 32nd, he beat fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
The 31-year-old Robredo will next play another Spaniard, David Ferrer, who reached the quarterfinals for the sixth straight Grand Slam by beating Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a threat to become the first Frenchman in 30 years to win Roland Garros, beat unseeded Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Vinci tried everything to get Williams off balance. The 5-foot-4 Italian played serve and volley, attempted to chip and charge and mixed the pace of her groundstrokes, including an occasional drop shot.
''She played really smart,'' Williams said. ''I knew how she was going to play. Some of the things she did I definitely expected, and I just had to come up with an answer.''
Williams answered forcefully, whacking second serves harder than Vinci's first serves, and her persistent power proved the difference.
''I don't want to say it was a one-sided match, but it basically was,'' Vinci said. ''She hits hard, and you can't tell where she's going to hit it.''
Serving in the opening game of the second set, Williams fell behind love-30, as if trying to make it a fair fight. She then hit an ace, kissed a forehand winner off a line, won the next point with another booming groundstroke and closed out the game with a drop-shot winner.
The rout left Vinci regretting the luck of the draw.
''It's a shame I had to face Williams here,'' Vinci said. ''She's the strongest player by far.''
Williams improved to 20-0 this year on clay. Since losing in the first round a year ago at Roland Garros, she's 71-3, including titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the London Olympics and the season-ending WTA Championships.
Williams first reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2001, when she was 19. Now she's 31 and the oldest player in the top 10.
''She's the best in the world,'' said Kuznetsova, who is 2-6 against her. ''She has been playing unbelievable tennis. But I believe that I have game and my good days as well. Let's cross fingers I will have a good day.''
Kuznetsova won their most recent meeting, in the 2009 quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and went on to the title.
The Russian has now reached the final eight in back-to-back major tournaments for the first time since that year. She made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January before losing to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka.
''Grand Slams always bring the best out of me,'' Kuznetsova said. ''It just comes naturally. Here it's the French Open - it says everything.''
Kuznetsova whacked a forehand winner on match point, then let out a jubilant scream. She improved to 12-2 this year in three-set matches, and her winning percentage of .820 (41-9) at Roland Garros is the best among active players.
Robredo not only overcame a two-set deficit for the sixth time in his career, but he rallied from a break down in both the fourth and fifth sets. He collapsed to the clay and fought back tears after closing out the 4 1/2-hour victory.
Ranked 470th a year ago, Robredo missed Roland Garros in 2011 and 2012 but is now in the quarterfinals for the fifth time.
While Robredo keeps going the distance, the No. 4-seeded Ferrer has won four matches without dropping a set. He's a four-time major semifinalist, including at Roland Garros last year, but has yet to reach a final.
Against the No. 23-seeded Anderson, Ferrer converted 6 of 17 break-point chances, held every service game and committed only 11 unforced errors to 41 for the South African.
This Is What Mitt Romney's White House Would Have Looked LikeIf things had gone differently last November when President Obama soundly secured a second term over Republican nominee Mitt Romney, had Romney come away the victor, the White House would have received a massive Bain-ification day 1 makeover. Time's Zeke Miller reports the Republican commissioned the Romney Readiness Project, a 138-page report preparing the specific changes Romney would have exacted when he took over office from Obama on Inauguration Day had he succeeded. A team of around 500 worked for R2P, Inc., the official company name for his transition team. Romney didn't put any slouches at the head of this organization, either. Former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt was chair and former General Motors chief financial officer Christopher Liddell ran operations.
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In a morning-after-election-day briefing prepared for a victorious Romney, the group was going to recommend dividing the White House into three teams: "'Care & Feeding Offices,' like speechwriting, 'Policy Offices,' like the National Security Council, and 'Packaging & Selling Offices,' like the office of the press secretary," Miller explains. The slide show breaking down the White House in business terms Romney, the former financial executive, could understand gets even more hilarious: "The White House is a lot like a holding firm," one slide says. Three times. They also planned to turn the White House into a corporate-structured monolith instead of the muddled bureaucracy Washington is known for. Per Miller:

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