Financial Post – Veteran investor Laszlo Birinyi appeared on CNBC on Tuesday morning to provide his annual stock picks for the coming year, and Research In Motion Ltd. made the short list. This helped drive the stock up roughly 7%.

His five picks for 2012 are BlackRock Inc., People’s United Financial Inc., General Motors Co., Hermes International SCA and RIM.

“It’s been beaten down. It’s a brand, it’s got its fans, and it’s got its products,” Mr. Birinyi said of the BlackBerry maker. “I think it is a long shot. These are not widows and orphans stocks, but like we did last year, we want to pick some stocks that have the potential to do well, and aren’t necessarily a portfolio, but they are a good start.

Mr. Birinyi reminded viewers that he picked Apple Computer in 1997 when it was a $7 stock. However, his more recent performance also suggest investors should probably pay attention to his selections.

Last year, Mr. Birinyi highlighted BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust, Cummins Inc., Hermes, Priceline.com Inc. and Ralph Lauren Corp. as his picks for 2011.

The group has averaged a gain of 17.89% as of Monday’s close, compared to the S&P 500′s loss of roughly 1% this year.

Mr. Birinyi’s picks for 2012 were chosen regardless of risk, diversification or suitability, his research firm, Birinyi Associates, said in a note.

Here is what he had to say about the other stocks:

BlackRock
“In a world of ETFs, I want to buy the people who are writing the ETFs.”

People’s United
“I don’t like banks, but I like 5.25% yield. This is a bank that shouldn’t really be suffering from Ireland or Portugal.”

General Motors
“The auto business is doing a little bit better than most people perceive. Detroit is starting to pick up.”

Hermes
“Hermes is the most iconic brand in the world. It was up 60% last year. At one point it was the best-performing stock in the Stoxx 600.”

MarketWatch – SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — It’s official. Apple Inc. is No. 1.

After days of back-and-forth with Exxon Mobil Corp., Apple AAPL +0.47% on Wednesday ended the trading day with a market capitalization greater than that of the oil-services giant. By the time the market closed, Apple’s shares had fallen $10.32, or 2.8%, to $363.69, giving the company a market cap of $337.2 billion.

Exxon’s XOM +0.21% shares retreated by $3.14, or 4.4%, to close at $68.03, leaving it with a market cap of $330.8 billion, according to data from FactSet Research.

Apple briefly surpasses Exxon Mobil as the company with the largest market cap, but a classic contrarian investor is betting on beaten-down Bank of America, not the maker of iPhones and iPads, according to MarketWatch’s Mark Hulbert.

Apple had briefly overtaken Exxon during Tuesday’s trading session, but Exxon’s shares rallied late to help the company remain the world’s most valuable company for one more day. However, with Wednesday’s big selloff, Exxon fell behind Apple early and never regained its footing.

William Koehler, chief investment officer of ETF Portfolio Partners, in Leawood, Kansas, called Apple’s overtaking of Exxon “really fascinating, particularly if one looks at where Apple was, say, 10 years ago.”

At that time, Apple was ranked No. 287 on the S&P 500 Index SPX -4.42% and was still about two months away from unveiling the first iPod, the digital music device that many credit with saving Apple and setting it on the path toward the iPhone, the iPad and its current dominant market position.

Despite Apple’s shares costing as much as $400 recently, Koehler said the stock remains popular because “on a price-to-earnings ratio, it really doesn’t look overly expensive.”

Apple currently trades at about 11.5 times its next projected earnings for the next 12 months. Over its previous 12 months, Apple earned $23.6 billion on revenue over more than $100 billion. Exxon has a P/E ratio of almost 8 over the next year, and during the past year, earned almost $38 billion on nearly $393 billion in sales.

NYTimes – Apple faced questions on Wednesday about the security of its iPhone and iPad after a report that the devices regularly record their locations in a hidden file.

The report came from a technology conference in San Francisco, where two computer programmers presented research showing that the iPhone and 3G versions of the iPad began logging users’ locations a year ago, when Apple updated its mobile operating system.

After customers upgraded the software, a new hidden file began periodically storing location data, apparently gleaned from nearby cellphone towers and Wi-Fi networks, along with the time.

The data is stored on a person’s phone or iPad, but when the device is synced to a computer, the file is copied over to the hard drive, the programmers said. The data is not normally encrypted; although users can encrypt their information when they sync their devices, few do.

To some privacy advocates, the storing of the data was a clear breach. “The secretive collection of location data crosses the privacy line,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a privacy policy organization based in Washington. “Apple should know better than to track iPhone users in this way.”

Others said the discovery of the hidden file was unlikely to have a major practical impact on privacy and security.

“It is more symbolic than anything else,” said Tim O’Reilly, a longtime technology pundit and founder of O’Reilly Media. “It is one more sign of how devices are collecting data about us and potentially sharing it with others. This is the future. We have to figure out how to deal with it.”

Law enforcement officials can already get this type of location information from cellphone companies, Mr. O’Reilly said; there are, however, conflicting rulings in federal courts about whether they need a search warrant.

But sitting on a home computer, the data could now be more vulnerable to access by hackers or others, he said. And information about a person’s locations over time could be accessible to strangers if a phone or iPad was lost or if it was attacked by malware.

The news of what appeared to be a security problem immediately ricocheted across the Internet as bloggers on technology and Apple-centered sites debated the many questions left unanswered by the report.

It is unclear, for example, whether Apple is gaining access to the information in any way. It is also unclear how precise the location data is and why it is being stored at all.

The programmers said they had asked Apple’s product security team about their findings but did not receive a response. Apple also did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.

The report even attracted attention from political figures, like Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, who sent Apple’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, a letter asking why Apple was “secretly compiling” the data and what it would be used for.

Some privacy experts said the issue was not the legality of storing this information but whether Apple was playing fair with its customers.

“Collecting this data is not illegal, but it does matter whether or not this is explicitly spelled out in Apple’s terms of use,” said Christina Gagnier, a lawyer specializing in privacy and copyright. “Apple constantly changes their privacy policy, and it’s questionable whether most users are aware this is happening.”

Apple has an obligation to its customers to allow them to opt out of being tracked, said Ian Glazer of Gartner Research, who is a director in the company’s identity and privacy group. “There is no way to really turn this tracking off,” he said. “It needs to be visually obvious, or in the settings, to see that this is happening on your phone.”

Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden presented the paper at the O’Reilly Where 2.0 conference, a gathering of experts on location technology. Mr. Allan said in a blog post that beyond the issue of storing the information is the question of “how Apple intends to use it — or not.”

Mr. Allan, who has written books that teach people how to program, also said that the data being collected would be transferred to a new product when customers buy a new phone or iPad, and then sync it.

Mr. Warden, a former Apple employee, posted a free downloadable application on his Web site for Mac computers that allows users to see their stored location data on a map.

Whatever the privacy implications, the report was a burst of bad publicity for Apple on a day when it again reported stellar earnings results.

“It doesn’t matter how Apple explains its way out of this, just the fact that consumers know that their phone is being tracked is a very big deal,” said Chenxi Wang, a vice president of Forrester Research who specializes in security and risk.

Miguel Helft and John Markoff contributed reporting.

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer promised a Windows Phone update soon with more powerful Web graphics, and said new partner Nokia would supply “absolutely phenomenal” handsets.

The new strategic partnership has been received with skepticism in the market, but Ballmer said the scale that Nokia would bring to an already improved Microsoft mobile platform would be good news for operators, developers and consumers.

“We’re off to a strong start. We know we have a lot of work to do,” he said in a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress fair in Barcelona. “We have a lot of energy, optimism and a sense of tremendous opportunity.”

“We’re sure … Nokia’s going to deliver absolutely phenomenal Windows phones,” he said, without elaborating when the first results of the collaboration would hit the market.

Ballmer invited Nokia CEO Stephen Elop to join him on stage. “Microsoft and Nokia together represents a natural partnership. People are getting it,” he said.

The company said it is targeting for a “significant volume of Nokia Windows phones” to hit the market in 2012 but did not give more specific details.

Nokia shares closed down 5.3 percent, while Microsoft traded down 0.5 percent at $27.10 on Nasdaq at mid-afternoon.

Microsoft has struggled to gain significant market share in the wireless market, against rivals such as Apple Inc’s iPhone and Google Inc’s Android mobile software. Its Windows Phone 7 software has been well received, but it does not have as high a profile as either of its big rivals.

Ballmer said a free update coming soon would include more powerful Web graphics that draw on the phone’s hardware as well as software, integration with Twitter and a better ability to run several tasks at the same time.

He called it a significant release and said it would be coming “later this year,” without saying exactly when.

Microsoft also told analysts at the mobile trade show that the company expects a lot more Windows Phone 7 devices to go on sale this year, including lower priced ones, as it expands to new markets.

“We’ll have lower priced phones on the market this year,” Microsoft Mobile President Andy Lees said during a webcast of an analyst event at the show. “We’ll be in a lot more languages and a lot more countries,” he said.

The company said it expects the Nokia agreement to accelerate its growth.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan in Barcelona and Sinead Carew

in New York; Editing by David Hulmes)

Apple Insider – iPhone competitors running the Google Android mobile operating system are expected by one Wall Street analyst to rapidly embrace Verizon’s 4G long-term evolution high-speed data network, to fight off the presence of Apple’s 3G-only smartphone.

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, some had hoped the Verizon iPhone would support the carrier’s newly launched 4G LTE network. But the forthcoming Verizon iPhone will be a CDMA model capable of 3G speeds, and will not access the carrier’s 4G network.

When asked why the new iPhone will not support high-speed LTE, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said the addition of 4G would require design changes to the iPhone 4 hardware that his company was not prepared to make.

In addition, he said that compatibility of the iPhone with Verizon has been the single most requested feature since the iPhone launched exclusively on AT&T’s network in the U.S. 2007. Not adopting 4G in the current model, Cook said, allows Apple to offer Verizon customers the iPhone now.

Responding to Tuesday’s Verizon iPhone announcement, analyst Mike Abramsky with RBC Capital Markets said he expects competing smartphones running the Google Android mobile operating system will work to quickly embrace 4G, giving them a feature that Apple’s iPhone does not currently offer.

Abramsky said he also does not believe Apple will rush to release an LTE 4G phone, which will allow devices running Android, and potentially new ones from Research in Motion as well, to beat Apple to the 4G race. He said he expects a 4G iPhone no earlier than late 2011, or perhaps more likely in 2012.

Mark Moskowitz with J.P. Morgan also said Tuesday he’s not surprised that Apple didn’t offer a 4G LTE handset. He noted that while there are devices accessing Verizon’s 4G data network, adoption of LTE for voice transfer has been slower.

“Similar to 3G, we expect Apple to wait for both the 4G LTE technology and network capacity levels to evolve to support quality user experiences,” Moskowitz wrote.

Verizon launched its 4G LTE network in December, offering high-speed data connections in 38 metropolitan areas and more than 60 commercial airports across the U.S. Data plans are $50 per month for 5GB, while 10GB costs $80 per month.

4G LTE mobile broadband offers speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon’s current 3G network. Real-world data rates of between 5 and 12 megabits per second downstream are expected, while upstream is expected to achieve between 2 and 5 megabits per second.

At the Consumer Electronics Show last week, Verizon rival and former exclusive iPhone carrier AT&T highlighted plans for its own 4G LTE network, set to begin deployment this year. The carrier has said that its rollout will begin earlier than expected, and the new network will be “largely complete” by the end of 2013.

Computerworld – Apple is on schedule to launch an iPhone capable of making calls on Verizon’s network early next year, most likely in March 2011, a research analyst said today, citing sources among Asian parts suppliers.

“It’s on track,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co. who watches Apple. Marshall had first pegged March as the launch for a Verizon iPhone five months ago.

“It won’t be just for Verizon,” Marshall added. “There are international carriers that use CDMA, like KDDI in Japan, so I expect that Apple will make a big global push, not only in the U.S.”

CDMA (code division multiple access) is the mobile standard used by Verizon’s network, and differs from the more widely-used GSM (global system for mobile communications) technology that drives AT&T’s network. All carriers currently selling the iPhone base their networks on GSM.

Verizon iPhone on track for March 2011 debut, says analyst
Windows Phone 7 could rival Apple’s iOS 4
Apple expands iPhone patent war with Nokia to U.K.
Devs bet big on Android over Apple’s iOS
Chinese Apple fans line up for iPhone 4 launch
When to use the iPhone 4’s HDR feature
Corporations go gaga over Android
Apple kicks off China iPhone 4 sales Saturday
Consumer Reports knocks Apple for ending iPhone free case deal
Apple blinks on dev tool restrictions
Continuing coverage: iPhone
Marshall was responding to questions prompted by a Wall Street Journal story last week that said Apple is manufacturing a CDMA-capable iPhone, and that Verizon would start selling the device early next year.

Rumors about an iPhone compatible with Verizon’s network have been rampant for months, and pop up on a regular basis. The last time such speculation made news was in August, when reports surfaced that a long-time iPhone maker had opened a new factory, possibly to crank out CDMA iPhones in secret.

An iPhone on Verizon would mean big sales for Apple, said Marshall. “Apple will sell an additional 11.5 million units with Verizon,” he said, referring to his 2011 sales and earnings models. “[Sales at] AT&T would go down only a couple million, but Verizon would sell at least 11.5 million in 2011.”

Apple sold 17.2 million iPhones worldwide in the first half of 2010.

Marshall hasn’t put a number on global sales of a CDMA iPhone next year, but said that the total upside for Apple would be “pretty tremendous.”

Previously, Marshall had also heard from other sources that a Verizon-Apple partnership would start some time before next year, with Verizon selling Apple’s Wi-Fi iPad. Those sources told Marshall the iPad would go on sale at Verizon stores as early as Black Friday, referring tp the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Black Friday is the traditional kick-off for the Christmas shopping season, when retailers typically slash prices and offer loss leaders to get consumers into their stores. This year Black Friday is Nov. 25.
Today, Apple announced that iPads would go on sale at 2,000 Verizon stores starting Oct. 28. The Verizon iPads will be sold in combination with MiFi mobile hotspots.

Verizon can sell the Wi-Fi iPad because that version of Apple’s tablet doesn’t require a mobile service plan. In the U.S., AT&T is the only carrier that now offers iPad data plans for the current CDMA-based 3G model.

Black Friday will also mean sales at AT&T, said Marshall, if his sources have the story straight. “AT&T will discount the iPhone on Black Friday by as much as $100 in an attempt to collect more subscribers before next quarter,” he said.

Consumers must agree to a two-year contract with AT&T when they purchase an iPhone at the subsidized prices of $199 and $299. Last June, AT&T doubled its early termination fee to $350, triggering speculation that the increase was a way for the carrier to lock in customers before it lost its iPhone exclusivity.

Apple usually runs special prices on Black Friday for the Mac and iPod lines, but it has never discounted the iPhone.

Apple faces increased competition from smartphones running Google’s Android operating system, one reason why many Wall Street and industry analysts have assumed that AT&T will soon lose its exclusive deal.

According to the most recent data from Nielsen, Android-based phones accounted for 19% of the U.S. market, more than double January’s share. Recent purchasers leaned even more toward Android, with 32% of them having picked a Google-powered phone. The iPhone’s share of recent purchases fell to 26% from January’s 32%, said Nielsen.

Last week, Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s president, acknowledged the renewed iPhone talk, but declined to comment. “This is one of those things that rolls out every few weeks whether there’s a basis for it or not,” McAdam said during a news conference when asked his thoughts about the Wall Street Journal story.

“What I’ve always said is I expect at some point in time our business interests are going to align,” McAdam said, referring to Apple. “But I don’t have anything to say today about timing.”

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg’s RSS feed . His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

Read more about Macintosh in Computerworld’s Macintosh Topic Center.

(Bloomberg) – Apple Inc. said it filed a patent- infringement lawsuit against Nokia Oyj in the U.K., part of a broader fight between the companies over smartphone technology.

A copy of the complaint, filed yesterday in the U.K. High Court of Justice Chancery Division, wasn’t immediately available. Kristin Huguet, an Apple spokeswoman, said the case is related to patent-infringement claims that Apple lodged against Nokia in December in the U.S.

“This is an unsurprising development, which seems designed to put pressure on the ongoing dialogue between both companies,” said Mark Durrant, a Nokia spokesman. “It changes nothing in the fundamentals of the matter, which are rooted in Apple’s refusal to respect Nokia’s intellectual property and attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.”

The dispute began in October, when Espoo, Finland-based Nokia filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of infringing 10 patents. It demanded royalties on all iPhones sold since Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, 55, introduced the device in 2007.

Charges and countercharges followed, including complaints at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington that may result in a ban on imports of either the Nokia or Apple phones. Some Apple claims against Nokia are scheduled for a trial beginning Nov. 1 at the agency, and Nokia’s case against Apple is scheduled for Nov. 29, according to information on the ITC’s website.

‘Defend Itself’

The U.K. case is based on “nine implementation patents already in suit between the two companies in the U.S.,” Durrant said. “Though litigation is always a last resort for Nokia, the company will continue to defend itself to the utmost.”

In court filings in December and February, Apple claimed Nokia was seeking to force Apple into surrendering access to proprietary technology that differentiates the iPhone. Apple said it doesn’t want to license its iPhone-related patents to competitors.

The new case is Apple Inc. v. Nokia Corp., HC10CO3053, High Court of Justice, Chancery Division (London).

Nokia’s ITC case against Apple is In the Matter of Electronic Devices, including Mobile Phones, Portable Music Players and Computers, 337-701, and Apple’s case is In the Matter of Certain Mobile Communications and Computer Devices, 337-703, both U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

–With assistance from Lindsay Fortado in London and Adam Satariano in San Francisco. Editors: SDteve Geimann,

To contact the reporters on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net; Diana ben-Aaron in Helsinki at dbenaaron1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net; Vidya Root in Paris at vroot@bloomberg.net.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research In Motion will need strong shipment numbers for its latest quarter and a robust outlook for the current three months to dispel the growing naysayer sentiment that has hammered its share price.

RIM won’t get much immediate help from its latest smartphone, the BlackBerry Torch, which went on sale in the United States on August 12, giving it only a few weeks to show up in global unit numbers.

Investors will instead parse the Canadian company’s guidance for clues to how well the device is faring ahead of a wider rollout.

“A lot of people are stepping back and trying to figure out — given the timeline it’s probably a tough call for this quarter,” said Matthew Thornton from Avian Securities. “The overwhelming opinion is looking for evidence of cracks.”

The Canadian company is also expected to update the market on plans for a tablet device that will join a suddenly congested market chasing Apple’s iPad. RIM has hinted that its tablet will make its debut some time this year.

The Torch, which couples a touchscreen with a slide-out keyboard and runs a revamped operating system, is designed to appeal to consumers, as well as Blackberry’s core base of business professionals.

But analysts have been either mildly dismissive or only moderately excited by the new model. Morgan Stanley, which recently downgraded the stock, estimates RIM sold 80,000 Torches a week and shipped a total of 600,000.

By comparison, Apple says it had 600,000 pre-orders ahead of its iPhone 4 launch and sold more than 3 million in the three weeks after its June launch.

RIM has hoped the Torch would help turn around the bearish sentiment surrounding the company but the device may have had the opposite effect.

The fading smartphone star no longer has a lock on its core audience, while it still lacks a runaway consumer success like the iPhone or the surging popularity of smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system.

“Whether they can compete against Apple, whether they can compete against Android, those are the two big issues,” said Duncan Stewart, head of technology research at Deloitte Canada.

Corporations are increasing allowing employees to use their own smartphone rather than a company-issued BlackBerry, according to a Bernstein survey.

A Gartner forecast predicts the Android operating system — used by a slew of device-makers including Motorola, Samsung, HTC> and others — will push

NEW DELHI, Aug 30 — BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has offered India a few proposals to access its secure data, the interior ministry said, averting a threatened ban on its services from Tuesday.

India says it wants the means to fully track and read BlackBerry’s secure email and instant messaging services that officials fear could be misused by militants.

“RIM have made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalised immediately,” the Home Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

“The feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter,” it said but did not give details about the solutions. The government will review the situation in two months time.

India had given the Canadian firm until Aug. 31 to come up with a solution that would allow monitoring of emails and avoid disruption of its services in the world’s fastest-growing mobile phone market.

The government said at the end of a meeting of Indian security agencies that the telecom ministry will also study the feasibility of running services through a server located in the country.

India is keen to retain its position as one of the world’s fastest growing information-technology nations, and a BlackBerry ban would jeopardize its status, besides being counter-productive by limiting the efficiency and productivity of local firms.

RIM uses powerful codes to scramble, or encrypt, email messages as they travel between a BlackBerry device and a computer known as a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) that is designed to secure those emails.

RIM has said BlackBerry security is based on a system where the customers create their own key and the company neither has a master key nor any “back door” to allow RIM or any third party to gain access to crucial corporate data.

Besides India, several other countries have raised concerns about the popular device over activities from terrorism to peddling pornography.

Saudi Arabia, fretful over online services such as pornography, has reached a deal with RIM on the messenger service, a consumer product outside of the secure corporate domain. India too has reached a deal until November on the messenger service, according to government sources.

Such concerns have also been raised by Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, with the latter giving RIM an Oct. 11 deadline.

Analysts see no easy fix to the standoff as RIM says it has no way of intercepting the data that countries want access to. RIM has denied media reports that say it provided unique wireless services or access to any one country.

A shutdown would affect about 1 million users in India out of a total 41 million BlackBerry users worldwide, allowing them to use the devices only for calls and Internet browsing.

RIM’s rivals Apple Inc and Nokia could be among the biggest gainers if India blocks BlackBerry services. Nokia said on Monday it will host an email server in India from Nov. 5.

ByJoe Leahy in Mumbai
India today began issuing letters to the country’s telecoms operators ordering them to make BlackBerry corporate e-mail and messenger services accessible to interception by security agencies or risk suspension of their licences.

The move marks the first step by the government towards implementing an ultimatum from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday warning that India would block the services by the end of this month unless they were opened for monitoring.

“The issue is that the service providers have legal obligations to the government under their licences,” said one industry executive.

The legal obligations of Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes the devices, were to the service providers, he said.

The order poses a dilemma for India’s 15 mobile operators, including industry leader Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, the number three, as the technology for BlackBerry services is controlled by RIM.

The move also raises the temperature for RIM, which is locked in tense negotiations with the government over its encrypted enterprise e-mail service and messenger function amid concerns these might be misused by terrorists.

Spurred on by similar moves against RIM by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, India is keen to tighten security ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October and to curb terrorist attacks originating from neighbouring Pakistan.

India is the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market with about 600m users and 10m-20m new customers being added every month.

While BlackBerry users number only about 1m, they are among the highest spending customers in a market in which growing competition is squeezing margins.

One operator said yesterday it had received a letter from the government ordering it to suspend the corporate e-mail or messenger service by the end of this month if a solution to the security issue was not reached. Operators were instructed to communicate the order to RIM.

India sets stringent conditions for mobile licence holders, requiring them to make all communications through their networks open to interception by security agencies.

Failure to do so can lead to the seizure of the operator’s network and equipment by the authorities and the suspension of the licence.

However, mobile operators say they doubt they have the technology to selectively block BlackBerry services.

The providers could instead suspend all domestic BlackBerry handsets from the network, but this would not prevent international users of the devices from using roaming services in India.

It is difficult to detect what type of handset is being used when an international customer enters a market using roaming services.

The government is expected to use the BlackBerry issue to put pressure on other internet-based communications systems, such as Google and Skype.

The names of the two internet providers were mentioned as next in line for scrutiny at a meeting last month between government officials and telecoms and internet service provider associations.

RIM’s stock fell 1.2 per cent to C$55.77 yesterday in early trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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