This article is for both the BlackBerry haters and lovers out there. The Hardware Support Lab at RIM posted three videos giving some insight into the testing performed on BlackBerry handsets during their development. If you have a sensitive stomach, please look away now. Bend test The bend test ensures BlackBerrys can handle “posterior pressure”, or more simply, being sat on. Check out this video of a BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 being Torch-ered (come on, I had to, how often do I get ...

Games on the iPhone and iPad are challenging traditional handheld gaming systems such as the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita. One of the reasons for this is that they offer instant gaming gratification and inherently low-cost gaming titles -- most games are generally priced under US$1. The Apple devices own most genres, neatly encompassing shooters, driving sims, fighters and role-playing games into its catalogues. Sure, Skyrim may be light-years away from appearing on the iDevices, but these games are ideal time ...

Twitter’s decision to censor tweets on a country by country basis caused widespread outcry. For the government of Indonesia, however, such measures may not be enough. Authorities in the South East Asian country claim they are "studying" Twitter with a view to cracking down on users who "behave badly" on the social network. The crackdown is the brainchild of communications minister Tifatul Sembiring. According to Indonesian newspaper the Jakarta Globe, Sembiring said that if offenders “really violate [laws] and insult ...

The Virgin Active franchise of gyms has reopened an investigation into a racist incident which allegedly occurred during a class at one of its clubs, following pressure on social media. The incident in question reportedly occurred late last year. During a spinning class one member allegedly took offence to another's enthusiasm calling her a "bloody k*****, a cockroach and a selfish bitch". The woman had reportedly been shouting "Yebo" (meaning "yes" in a number of South Africa’s indigenous languages) ...

Internet giants Google and Facebook claim they have already taken down the content that saw a civil suit brought against them and 19 other companies in India. According to TheNextWeb, the case is one of two brought against the internet companies. It was filed by Mufti Aizaz Arshad Kazmi in December, while the second was filed by journalist Vinay Rai. Both cases come in the wake of complaints from telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal that online companies were not doing enough ...

South African president Jacob Zuma wants his country’s citizens to lay out their troubles on social media ahead of his State of the Nation address, scheduled for 9 February. This is the second year-running that Zuma has turned to social media as a means of addressing the concerns of the nation. In an official post, the office of the presidency claims that in 2011 Facebook messages from people in the small towns of uMzimkhulu and Bekkersdal, saw sewerage being repaired ...

In light of the "Your World" ruckus that is taking the tech world by storm, including more employees who want to leave, perhaps it’s time to look at a few alternatives to el Goog. What can be assured from the get-go is that none of these pretenders-to-the-throne have anywhere close to the ubiquity that Google has in terms of product diversity and user figures: Yahoo! (The obvious one) With 14% of the world’s search engine traffic, the ailing search engine company ...

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and whether you personally view the season of hearts as the most romantic time of the year, filled with love and affection, or an annual catastrophe of tacky décor and extravagant gifts; there’s no question that it can have a positive effect on business. In America, Valentine's Day is the second largest retailing event of the year and has, quite reasonably, been criticised as just an excuse for frantic commercialism. While this sentiment may be true, few ...

This week I take a look at Puzzlejuice, a brand new puzzle game for iOS that will, as the developers say, punch your brain in the face. Let me start off by saying, and I'm sure I've said it before, that I am not much of a gamer, at all. Yes, there have been a couple games on the iOS platform like Swords & Scorcery, Tiny Wings and Angry Birds that have grabbed and held my attention for a while and ...

Gone are the days when all you needed to climb a mountain or run a marathon were some good shoes and ropes. These days sports enthusiasts and adventure travelers rely on apps and social networking to track their progress and share experiences with friends and the online community. Parker Liautaud, now 17, became the first person to “check into” the North Pole via the location-based social networking site Foursquare in 2010. Since then he’s been tweeting and posting on Facebook ...