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We've already heard a fair bit about RIM's plans for NFC-based mobile payments, but it's starting to look like some of those plans don't quite line up with what the carriers have in mind. As the Wall Street Journal reports, there's a brewing dispute between RIM and a number of carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers over just how NFC payment-related data, or "credentials," are stored, and who actually controls that data. For its part, RIM unsurprisingly wants to store the data in a secure area of the phone itself, which would obviously tie folks to their BlackBerry more than ever, while the carriers are pushing to have that data simply stored on the phone's SIM card, which would let customers move from one phone to another more easily. While things apparently haven't gotten that heated just yet, it does certainly seem like there's a bit of a fight in store -- according to the Wall Street Journal, RIM is already reaching out to banks on its own in an effort to strike some deals, while Canadian carriers have apparently been telling RIM in a "gentle" way that "you won't be doing this."

Carriers at odds with RIM over NFC payment data originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frankly, a few things in life are just too hard. Taxes being one of them, and moving from one's spot in a hot tub to adjust the temperature and / or jet pressure being another. In a bid to solve issue number two, Arctic Spas has shoved out an iOS app (Android and BlackBerry are inbound) that interfaces with a WiFi module on some of the company's hot tubs. Once loaded up, owners can control temperature and jets with a simple touch, though we hear that loads of steam and moist fingers aren't exactly great for consumer electronics. Either way, you've got a video to entice you down below.

Continue reading Arctic Spas shows off hot tub-controlling iPhone app, waterproof iPhone case sold separately (video)

Arctic Spas shows off hot tub-controlling iPhone app, waterproof iPhone case sold separately (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not just desktop web browsers getting hacked at this year's Pwn2Own challenge -- mobile browsers have also been targeted for vulnerabilities, and a fairly big one has now been found in RIM's browser for BlackBerry OS 6. Apparently, there's a JavaScript-related bug that could let a "maliciously designed" website gain access to data stored on both the phone's media card and built-in storage, but not data stored in the storage portion for applications (such as email or contact information). For its part, RIM says that it hasn't actually seen any evidence of anyone exploiting the vulnerability, but it's nonetheless urging folks to disable JavaScript on affected devices, and it's now busy providing IT departments everywhere with guidelines on how to do so. If that proves to be complicated, it's suggesting that you simply disable the BlackBerry Browser altogether until it can be patched.

RIM issues PSA following Pwn2Own exploit: turn off JavaScript on your BlackBerry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If we had a dime for every time Sprint CEO Dan Hesse (or spectrum partner Clearwire) has talked about a possible migration to LTE, we'd have... well, at least several dimes. A new rumor that's popped up from a couple sources today -- consulting firm Gerson Lehrman Group and GizmoFusion -- claims that the LTE move is now a done deal, with Sprint signing contracts with infrastructure supplies Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Samsung to roll out service over the course of the next two to three years as it decommissions iDEN on its 800MHz spectrum. That said, CDMA isn't about to go away: the company has already committed to upgrading its CDMA footprint with 1X Advanced over the next several years, too. GLG claims that Sprint's going Lone Ranger on this -- it'll be looking to partner up with other companies like Clearwire or T-Mobile where it makes sense, but the decision to move to LTE so far has been purely internal.

On a related note, GizmoFusion is claiming that Sprint will start shipping the WiFi-only BlackBerry PlayBook between late March and mid-April ahead of the WiMAX version later this year, along with touchscreen / QWERTY hybrid and full-touch BlackBerry handsets -- both of which we've seen rumored recently. LTE-compatible hardware, assuming this is all legitimate, is probably a ways off yet.

[Thanks, Stoopered]

Sprint 'Project Leapfrog' rumors claim LTE network upgrade is underway originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For over a month, we've held onto a document -- allegedly a Staples tablet guide -- that's been looking increasingly wrong as the days fly by. Tablet release dates were too soon, and prices were far too high, which made us think it was either a forgery or sorely out of date. (Curious? See our copy after the break.) This week, however, Droid-Life published a far more likely looking copy of the very same thing, which appears to be both quite recent and fairly interesting. You'll see that Samsung's 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab makes a cameo, as does the 7-inch HP Opal we told you about early this year, and both the BlackBerry PlayBook and Dell Streak 7's appearances align with recent rumors we've seen. The only outlier is an April release date for the Motorola Xoom WiFi, which ads peg for March 27th. The rest is practically a who's who of upcoming tablets, so we'll spare you the full churn of the rumor mill. If you want to know what we know about the lot, simply refer to our coverage below.

Update: Oh, and that HTC tablet is listed as a 10-inch one -- could it be the EVO View we've been waiting for? [Thanks, Morgan]

Read - Dell Streak 10
Read - Acer Iconia Tab
Read - Toshiba's unnamed Tegra 2 / Honeycomb tablet
Read - HP TouchPad

[Thanks, Billy F.]

Continue reading Staples' slate of slates leaks out, corroborates Samsung 8.9-incher and the HP Opal?

Staples' slate of slates leaks out, corroborates Samsung 8.9-incher and the HP Opal? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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