BLACKBERRY

Online retail sales on Cyber Monday 2011 hit record highs and jumped 33 percent compared to the same day last year, according to a report from IBM Coremetrics.

Research in Motion Limited (RIMM) surged upwards more than six percent on Tuesday trading after announcing its new BlackBerry Mobile Fusion service.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Magal Security Systems, Seagate Technology, Central European Distribution, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Randgold Resources, and Research In Motion. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Tellabs, ASML Holding, Netflix, and Microsoft.

Microsoft Corp and U.S. mobile engineering firm AgreeYa Mobility on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow corporations and other users to connect to Microsoft services from a variety of computing platforms, including phones and tablets running Apple Inc's iOS and Google Inc's Android.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is seeking to cash in as companies switch to rival smartphones with a new tool that offers some of its important security features for sexier devices like the iPhone.

Sony's $500 Android tablet may need to take a cue from the HP TouchPad and the BlackBerry PlayBook and drop the price by a couple hundred dollars. Then it would be in a better position to duke it out with the Kindle Fire. Amazon does offer it for about $100 less, but even at that price, the 9.4-inch Tablet S is not as good of a buy as the Kindle Fire.

Best Buy posts big Black Friday weekend numbers, including selling out of Playbook tablets.

Research In Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry Playbook recently cut the tablet's price to $200, and Best Buy seems to have sold out their online stock. Additionally, RIM employees get to add their yearly $100 off in house products to the already discounted PlayBook

A pair of Monday morning notes on Research In Motion paint sharply contrasting views of the company that makes the BlackBerry.

The next-generation Apple iPhone, already being dubbed the iPhone 5 by analysts, may hold more than just media and contacts. Advancements in near field communications technology, or NFC, can turn Apple's venerable iPhone into a digital wallet.

Q&A with Kevin Mitnick, the author of Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker, about celebrity hacking, common mistakes and online protection tips for the average Joe

Following success in the United States, Starbucks will introduce its mobile payment app for more than 700 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland beginning next month.

Amazon's Kindle Fire might end up being one of the most wanted items of the holiday season, and not just for tablets. It's $200 price tag has people's attention, but Kindle Fire is not like many of the tablets out there now. The Android tablet world has long suffered from comparisons to the iPad because iPad was the first tablet computer.

When the Apple iPad 3 hits the shelves next year, there could be several tablets that severely undercut its $500 price, but, until then, there are really only a few tablets that you would want to pick up to tide you over.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Pozen, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Yahoo, Infosys, and Research In Motion. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: ASM International, ARM Holdings, Randgold Resources, ASML Holding, and Rediff.com India.

A few common thoughts to consider before you buy.

Samsung has released a 4G version of their ever expanding line of tablet computers, and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is now on the AT&T network for just under $500 with a two year contract. Compared to the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Tab 8.9 looks to be superior because it's larger, is 4G enabled and runs the Android system.

Big-box electronics retailer Best Buy has no regrets about stocking Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet, despite the product's poor reception and subsequent sharp discounting.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Spanish telecom Telefonica are teaming up to test a payment system that turns a mobile phone into an electronic wallet and identity card, the companies said on Wednesday.

Black Friday deals are popular because it's the busiest shopping day of the year. You don't have to get up at five in the morning to be a shopping beast this year because your smartphone can help you find the best deals even if you boycott the shopping holiday. Besides, the following Monday is a popular day for Web sites to have their last minute sales.

BlackBerry's PlayBook in on back order from Best Buy because the price has been dropped to just $200, but for this weekend only, another tablet computer is being offered for just $200, the Motorola Xoom. Verizon is selling the 10-inch Xoom tablet at a subsidized price because it comes with a two year data contract. Xoom runs the Android system, has front and rear-facing cameras and is both Wi-Fi and 4G enabled.