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BlackBerry maker RIM looking to overhaul UI

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/mobile-computing/Tablets%20and%20touchscreens/BlackBerry_PlayBook/official%20tablet%20angle-crop-200-200.jpg"> BlackBerry maker RIM has bought Swedish design company The Astonishing Tribe as it looks to enhance the look and feel of its devices. With the PlayBook tablet close to launch, RIM is aware that it may need to revisit its designs for the BlackBerry OS. TAT is a mobile user interface specialist, and will be aiming to give the BlackBerry devices an overhaul. Innovative "TAT is renowned for their innovative mobile user interface (UI) designs and has a long history of working with mobile and embedded technology," RIM's chief technology officer, David Yach, wrote on a company blog announcing the acquisition. "We're excited that the TAT team will be joining RIM and bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms." The amount that RIM spent on TAT has not been revealed, but it serves to underline the emphasis that the company is putting on keeping up with the likes of Apple and, of course, Microsoft following the revamped Windows Phone 7 release. Via <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B14RD20101202">Reuters</A>

BlackBerry maker RIM looking to overhaul UI

BlackBerry maker RIM has bought Swedish design company The Astonishing Tribe as it looks to enhance the look and feel of its devices. With t...

FarmVille maker heads to CityVille

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/images/CityVille-200-200.jpg"> Facebook gaming developers Zynga – they of FarmVille fame – are heading to the city next year with a new game called CityVille. With something of a nod to Will Wright's classic <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/iphone-s-simcity-game-nearly-finished-487012">SimCity</A>, Zynga is taking its tried-and-tested casual simulation gaming model to the metropolis. Trade with mates' towns CityVille will let players become urban planners in what Zynga calls its "most social game" so far. Versions will release at the same time in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. A beta version is due within the next few weeks, Zynga announced this week. There goes Christmas! In CityVille, gamers will be able to run restaurants and businesses, move goods around the town using trains and boats, and build schools or clear land for city expansion. The similarities with SimCity are fairly obvious, to anybody who has spend an inordinate amount of their lives lost in Will Wright's sublime urban-planning sim. Zynga hopes that its game will offer players an addition 'more social' layer, to let them interact with their friends cities – franchising businesses, exporting goods and establishing trade links. CityVille also features the first 3-D buildings and characters in a Zynga game. Zynga currently boasts over 225 million users playing its games via Facebook, MySpace, iPad and iPhone apps. Zynga creator Mark Pincus said at this week's Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco that he wanted to "dog activate" the Web – meaning that he wants to see Zynga's <a href="http://www.zynga.com/">dog logo</A> everywhere.

FarmVille maker heads to CityVille

Facebook gaming developers Zynga – they of FarmVille fame – are heading to the city next year with a new game called CityVille. With someth...