BlackBerry Hopes To Eat Into Apple iPad

The company behind BlackBerry smartphones has unveiled its answer to Apple's iPad at a Las Vegas show billed as the largest gadget playground in the world.

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PlayBook: RIM hopes its tablet will attract younger buyers

Research In Motion (RIM) is hoping to cash in on the success of its arch-rival's flatscreen device by launching its own take on the tablet, the PlayBook, at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

RIM hopes the device, which can be synchronised with a BlackBerry, will attract young buyers who want speedy web access and the ability to play video with a single touch on the screen.

Ballmer plugs Windows 7 as an OS for all devices

Ballmer plugs Windows 7 as an OS for all devices

At CES, Microsoft's CEO shows off new tablet, laptop running Windows and says 'only the imagination limits what can be done with Windows'

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer positioned Windows 7 as an operating system that can drive new and innovative products, as the company tries to fend off competition from tablet computers based on software from Google and Apple.

"Only the imagination limits what can be done with Windows PCs today," Ballmer said in his speech at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "You can write on them, draw on them, hang them on the wall, touch them, use wireless keyboards, play a game and much, much more," he said.

Mini Guide to Madrid, Spain

Mini Guide to Madrid, Spain - Madrid has fantastic art galleries and beautiful plazas where cafés provide a front-row seat to the baroque architecture and energetic street life.

The city's divided into neighbourhoods: Los Austrias, Sol and Centro make up the medieval heart, while working-class Malasaña and Chueca are the fun, cultural districts.

Related article: Madrid and the art of tapas

See

The Museo del Prado's collection is like a window on the historical vagaries of the Spanish soul. All the great names of Spanish art can be found here, including Goya, Velázquez and Ribera (00 34 91 330 28 00; museodelprado.es; Paseo del Prado; 9am-8pm Tue-Sun; £7).