Research In Motion's PlayBook could be the latest casualty in the tablet wars.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM slashed the PlayBook's price by $2oo in a move that came as a tech analyst says the company has halted manufacturing of the tablet.

"We believe RIM has stopped production of its PlayBook and is actively considering exiting the tablet market," Collins Stewart semiconductor analyst John Vihn said in a report.

RIM denied the report's claim.

"RIM doesn't typically comment on rumors, but any suggestion that the BlackBerry PlayBook is being discontinued is pure fiction," said RIM representive Jamie Ernst. "RIM remains highly committed to the tablet market."

The PlayBook's price was cut from $499 to $299 at Best Buy.

RIM's apparent PlayBook meltdown comes after Amazon on Wednesday blazed into the iPad market with the launch of its Fire tablet, priced low at $199.

Apple's iPad is forecast to take 73.4% of the market this year, according to researcher Gartner.

"From the start, RIM had a flawed product strategy for the PlayBook," said Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. "They had first-class hardware, but their software was not consumer-ready."

RIM's pricing maneuver comes on the heels of woes at Hewlett-Packard, which last month pulled the plug on its TouchPad tablet. HP's fire sale on TouchPads touched of a buying frenzy with its $99 price.

Earlier this month, RIM reported PlayBook shipments were down. The company said it shipped 200,000 in its most recent quarter compared with 500,000 in the previous period.

Shares of RIM sank $0.89, or 4 %, at $21.78 in midday trading.

Owners of Motorola's Xoom tablet can make the switch to Verizon's 4G wireless service starting today.

The wireless carrier has a website set up for Xoom owners to get instructions on switching their tablets to the 4G LTE network.

The upgrade is free, although users must ship their tablets to Motorola and wait about six business days to get a 4G-ready Xoom.

Verizon also suggests owners transfer and back up all data, such as photos and other content, before shipping. They can also go one step further and reset the tablet to its original state.

Verizon will begin selling 4G Motorola Xoom tablets on Oct. 13 for $500.

By now you've probably heard of Fring, a popular app for iPhone, Android and Nokia devices that lets you make calls or video calls for free to other Fring users over VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology.

It's like Skype, all the way down to the option to call landlines or mobile phones on the cheap, though Fring began offering video support for mobile devices long before Skype did.

Now Fring has unveiled a new video chat feature, called Playgrounds, allowing up to four people to talk about a specific topic. For example, if you want to powwow about football, simply do a search for "NFL" (or your favorite team) in the search engine. Or type in "Call of Duty" to search for chats about the popular video game. Or look for "Jesus," "drink recipes" or "America's Got Talent." You get the idea.

In theory, it works well. And technically speaking, it does, too. That's especially true over Wi-Fi, opposed to cellular connectivity. The Playgrounds feature utilizes the iPad 2's front-facing camera, so you can be seen and you can see to whom you're talking.

But there's one major problem with this service: pornography. And lots of it.

Specifically, expect to see many men (and some women) pleasuring themselves on Fring's Playgrounds feature -- not unlike what you'd see on the controversial Chatroulette site.

You might not be surprised to see this kind of content if you tap to join a Playgrounds chat called ITouchMyself2 or Getting Freaky on Fring, but you probably weren't expecting this from a group called USCno.1.

Because you never know what to expect, this app is definitely not recommended for kids, tweens or young teens.

USA TODAY contacted a public relations spokesperson at Fring about the adult content easily accessible on this free app. The PR rep acknowledged there was an "issue" that will soon be remedied in a future update.

By default, Playgrounds are displayed chronologically, with the newest ones listed on top. Pull down on the list and let go to refresh it. You can also create a Playgrounds group on any topic of your choosing.

If there's someone you like video chatting with, you can add them as a friend, who might be on an Android, Nokia or iOS device.

Perhaps there will always be a percentage of the population who will abuse rather than use technology, but until Fring adds filters or other measures to block (or at least segregate) these inappropriate Playgrounds "chats," the app should disable this group video feature.

Category:	Social networking
Developer:	Fringland
Rated:	2.5 out of 4

Cybercriminals are not just forging digital certificates, the keys to what you can trust on the Internet. They are also stealing valid digital certificates issued to legit companies and using them to do bad things on the Web.

Hackers this summer have pioneered ways to forge the digital certificates intended to ensure the authenticity of Web pages where you type sensitive data into forms, as we revealed in this story. It turns out that the bad guys have also begun to steal copies of validly issued certificates that companies use to authenticate, not just Web pages, but also software applications and documents, such as PDFs. Cybercrooks have begun to use stolen certificates to help disguise malicious applications they're constantly trying to install on your Internet-connected computing device, according to anti-virus firm ESET.

In one cutting-edge caper, ESET researcher Robert Lipovsky found someone making criminal use of a digital certificate stolen from global consulting firm Towers Watson. Lipovsky discovered the perpetrator using Towers Watson's digital signature to disguise copies of the Qbot Trojan, a nasty piece of malicious software that turns over control of an infected PC to the attacker.

"Towers Watson just learned of this potential issue," company spokesman Mike McNamara said late Wednesday. "Our security team is now looking into it to verify whether or not there is an integrity issue with our certificate."

ESET security evangelist Stephen Cobb says Towers Watson -- or any entity whose stolen digital certificate gets put into play by criminals -- will eventually have to scramble to keep its Web pages, software apps and documents from being stymied. "It's a huge pain if you have a certificate stolen, because then it could get revoked," says Cobb.

ESET has recently documented similar attacks built around use of stolen digital signatures to help disguise copies of the infamous ZueS Trojan. It's nearly impossible for researchers to trace how certificates get stolen. One plausible scenario is that they are getting pilfered from the hard drives of the millions of infected PCs, or bots, in control of the cyberunderground, says Aryeh Goretsky, a distinguished researcher at ESET. Any simple data-harvesting program activated on a botted PC would do the trick.

"It seems likely a bot somewhere got lucky and managed to harvest a digital code-signing certificate, which was then used or sold," says Goretsky. "There are all sorts of files on computers which can be valuable to criminal hackers. Really, any kind of file or data which has some value as a trust mechanism has value to an attacker."

It has become relatively easy for top crime groups to circumvent anti-virus filters and other defense mechanisms while systematically infecting PCs. So Goretsky theorizes that the group behind the stolen-certificates attacks may be conducting research; in other words, the clever rats are plotting to stay several steps ahead of the cat. The bad guys could be anticipating security features in the next generation of operating systems that will require more pervasive reliance on digital certificates, says Goretsky.

"They may be future-proofing, testing new attacks to see if they get a better response rate," Goretsky says. "These aren't stupid people. They'll try all sorts of ways to optimize what they're doing and to stay in a position to keep pushing out their malware."

By Charlie Szold, USA TODAY

Amazon unveiled its new Kindle Fire tablet today and already some are hailing it as the first real competitor to Apple's popular iPad.

The tablet itself is notable for what it has (an incredibly cheap $199 price tag) and what it does not have (3G access).

In addition to the tablet, Amazon unveiled a new and-also-shockingly cheap Kindle that will sell for $79. A new Kindle Touch will also sell for $99 without 3G access and for $149 with.

Here are a few interesting comments from an earlier USA TODAY article we wanted to share with everyone:

PHOTOS:  Amazon's new Kindle lineup

PHOTOS:  Choosing a tablet

Sgreco: "sounds good, right price. I like Google android, after all I have a droid x phone. But now that windows 8 is tablet capable, I'd love to see a winpad. I mean, I wouldnt ever buy an apple computer, so why would I want an apple pad? Google android is ok, but if I could have a windows pad that really interfaced with my PC it'd be perfect."

Jag757: "Maybe now Apple will reduce the ridiculous prices of it's iPad and iPhones. COMPETITION IS GOOD FOR THE CONSUMER!!! All hail Amazon!!!"

harbor521: "Well, unless they find some kind of glitch, Amazon just won that war. Of course we ALL win right along with 'em."

rugidwear: "It needs to have a bigger hard drive because cloud storage isn't as secure as they want you to believe it is."

NIRWIN: "dissapointed with the 7" screen. having had an earlier 7" tablet and now owning a Ipad I will never go to a smaller screen no matter what the apps or pony show."

JFD8: "Now Amazon wants us to shun/Our paperbacks cause it's begun/To sell Kindle Fire/To read at temps higher/Than Fahrenheit 451."

CapnDave: "This is no competition to Apple. It is basically a single function e-reader. OK you can surf the Web and play music. It was obsolete long before it's release. And it is specific only to books from Amazon. and the Nook only to B&N. They're both a complete waste of money."

JaidenAA: "No one is paying attention to the fact that the $79 Kindle will shift the marker of ownership of ereaders from the innovator and early adopter to the early majority section of the bell curve (Diffusion of Innovation).

"Also, the ecosystem (movies, books, TV shows, music, apps, etc.) that Amazon possesses will easily attract people to buy tablets. Less than 8 percent of US adults own tablets now. That will change with this $200 device. It is the entertainment package that will grab customers. The tablets can always be upgraded later. Besides Amazon wants to be able to sell the 10 inch versions next year. The 7inch tablet is just a taste for the customer."

Silicor: "Who cares how it compares to Apple? It has its own merits. If you don't want one then don't buy one."

Renni: "WiFi only is disapointing. I'd like it to be 3G or 4G and include voice service. (IE. A tablet that includes voice phone capability I'd rather cary one device of tablet size than two devices to get the full capability I'd prefer. )"

Even before Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the Kindle Fire reader tablet at a packed New York press conference Wednesday morning, the market for tablets appeared to be on fire. Practically every tech manufacturer under the sun had brought one out.

Truth is, only Apple's iPad has been a piping-hot best seller, dousing the tablet dreams of companies ranging from Research In Motion to Hewlett-Packard.

On the surface, the outlook for Fire would appear rosier, although we'll know more when the tablet starts shipping on Nov. 15.

PHOTOS:  Amazon's Kindle lineup

For starters, playing with Fire will only cost $199, compared with the starting iPad at $499. The 14.6-ounce Fire has a fast dual-core processor, and a protective 7-inch Gorilla Glass display capable of showing off 16 million colors. I'll reserve judgment until getting a chance to play with it, but the carousel interface looks good and appears simple to use.

Read more »

Update at 10:55 a.m.: More from Ed Baig on Fire:

It features a carousel interface, so whatever you just looked at shows up on top. Bezos used a scene from X-Men to demonstrate.

Fire display has 16 million colors, 169 pixels per inch, protective Gorilla Glass.

When playing music, you can see the album cover art on screen. Users can also pull up the menu while reading and pause music from top menu from wherever you are.

Bezos also demonstrated games with a round of Fruit Ninja. "You can see my Fruit Ninja skills are lacking," Bezos jokes.

The device will sell for $199 and ship Nov. 15.

Update at 10:47 a.m.: Bezos has confirmed the Kindle Fire with the 7-inch color display. The tablet will allow users to download books and full-color magazines, as well as free Amazon Cloud Storage to allow users to back up their purchases.

Update at 10:31 a.m.: USA TODAY's Ed Baig, who is attending the Amazon event, reports Amazon unveiled a Kindle Touch with a touch-screen for $99, and a 3G version for $149.

The company will also sell a version of the original Kindle for $79. It's available starting today. The Kindle Touch will launch in November.

Update at 9/28/11, 9:45 a.m. ET: With Amazon's event about to start soon, Bloomberg has details on the Kindle Fire tablet.

Citing Amazon executives, Bloomberg says Fire is indeed the name of the device, and it will sell for $199, far less expensive than the iPad, which starts at $499.

It will reportedly feature a 7-inch display and Wi-Fi support, as well as a free, 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, the company's service for free shipping and streaming video.

Among the bells and whistles missing: a camera and 3G support.

We'll have more details once Amazon makes the official announcement.

Our original post

Apple and its successful iPad tablet might soon have some extra competition.

Several outlets including Reuters have reported online retail giant Amazon is expected to reveal a tablet computer at a press event on Wednesday.

Although the reports have been light on details, TechCrunch claims to have more information on the device including the name: Kindle Fire.

The tablet will reportedly feature a 7-inch backlit display and run on Google's Android operating system. It will also be integrated with Amazon offerings such as the Kindle bookstore and their MP3 service.

Amazon's potential entry arrives as sales of tablets are beginning to take off. A recent report from research firm Gartner says global tablet sales will hit 63.6 million, a 264% increase from last year.

Now that Google+ is open to all users, activity on the social network is taking off.

A report from Web researcher Experian Hitwise says Google+ vaulted to the eighth-most-visited site in their Social Networking and Forums category. The week before, it ranked 54th.

Last week, Google revealed it was opening access to the social network to all users. Since then, the site received 15 million total visits in the U.S. and jumped 1,269% in market share growth, according to Experian.

Along with opening to public access, Google also rolled out several new features such as search, support for smartphones and changes to the popular Hangouts option.

Facebook has been equally busy, unveiling revamped profiles last week called Timelines.

It appears the iPhone isn't the only item popping up at the recently confirmed Apple event next week.

According to Mashable, Facebook is expected to finally unveil an app for Apple's iPad tablet.

So what has taken so long for the social network to make its iPad debut? Citing "two sources familiar with the situation," Mashable reports it was due to "a combination of timing and a strained relationship with Apple." The blog notes Facebook's decision to pull Connect from the iTunes social feature Ping as an example.

In July, the blog TechCrunch claimed to have Facebook's iPad app up and running after discovering it hidden inside code for the iPhone version.

According to their report, the app features a navigation menu on the left side and pop-up windows for users to update their status and other details.

Apple's iPhone event is scheduled for Oct. 4.

ISACA today weighed in on how geolocation apps are catching on with mobile device users. The respected global IT professionals association also outlined how location-based services are posing new threats to businesses and consumers. Some 28% of U.S. adults use location-based mobile apps from Facebook, Groupon, Google and others and that number is expected to grow significantly, according to ISACA's new white paper, "Geolocation: Risk, Issues and Strategies."

Geolocation apps that pinpoint a user's physical location have opened up numerous new business models. But they also introduce unprecedented new risks, says Ernst & Young partner Marios Damianides, a past ISACA international president. When a user's gender, race, occupation and financial history are combined with geolocation tags, the data can be used by criminals to identify an individual's present or future location. This raises the potential of threats ranging from burglary and theft to stalking and kidnapping.

"As the number of geolocation users grows and the proliferation of mobile devices continues, the prospect of individual or enterprise information becoming available to hackers or other unauthorized users is a significant concern," says Damianides.

ISACA believes its recommendations are timely since regulators are moving to enact rules regarding how companies can use geolocation data from mobile devices. The organization points out that current U.S. legislation proposed by Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would restrict whether companies can store individual location data obtained from mobile devices, and a proposed amendment from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) addresses the collection of geolocation data from children under age 13.

"We need policies that will establish 'privacy by design' to instill trust across the enterprise and guard against malicious use of location information,"says Damianides.

ISACA unveiled a five-step best practices list under the acronym ROUTE:

• Read mobile app agreements to see what information you are sharing.
• Only enable geolocation when the benefits outweigh the risks.
• Understand that others can track your current and past locations.
• Think before posting tagged photos to social-media sites.
• Embrace the technology, and educate yourself and others.

"As with all technologies, individuals and enterprises must consider their risk tolerance level," says CA Technologies' Robert Stroud, past international vice president of ISACA. "The fundamental issue at play is that many consumers are unaware of the risks. They need to educate themselves in order to make informed decisions."