Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has said it will delay the launch of its new phone operating system Blackberry 10 and is to cut 5,000 jobs.
The confirmation of job losses, which RIM had warned of last month, came as the firm reported a $518m (£334m) net loss in the three months to 2 June. That compared with a $695m profit in the same period a year earlier. Analysts said the results were worse than expected and the Blackberry 10 delay spelt more bad news for RIM. Revenue in the first quarter dropped 43% to $2.8bn as sales of its Blackberry smartphones fell sharply for a second straight quarter. 'Not satisfied' RIM has struggled to keep up with rivals in the smartphone market, such as Apple's iPhone and handsets running on Google's Android operating system. It has also struggled to gain a foothold in the tablet market. The Canadian firm had been pinning its hopes for a comeback on Blackberry 10. The first phone with Blackberry 10 was expected later this year, but will now ship in the first quarter of 2013. "Our first quarter results reflect the market challenges I have outlined since my appointment as CEO at the end of January," said RIM boss Thorsten Heins.

Zynga has unveiled a sequel to its most successful video game to date.
Farmville 2 builds on the original real-time farming simulation adding "3D graphics" which allow players to view the world from different angles. Users cannot carry over items from the original game, adding an incentive to buy virtual goods to speed up progress. Investors will hope it proves popular. The firm's stock has traded below its flotation price since April because of fears of waning interest in its titles. Some analysts have pointed to Facebook users shifting to mobile devices. Although Zynga offers "express" versions of some of its games via the mobile Facebook app, these have not proved popular. It has acted to counter this trend by offering a selection of titles as separate app downloads, although it has not announced plans to do this with Farmville 2. Added 'pop' The new game was announced at Zynga's Unleashed press event at its San Francisco headquarters, where it was also developed. "One of the things that people will notice right away is that it's our first 3D game," the firm's chief technology officer Cadir Lee told the BBC. "All the buildings, crops and animals are shown in 3D. You can see them from multiple directions, they can rotate, you can see them more richly - so it provides a certain pop in the game itself. "The game also has more social elements and a lot more crafting: the crops that you harvest are what you use in the game to make things which you then use to make other things, like on a natural farm."

Web users in India are once again able to access video and file-sharing sites, including The Pirate Bay.
The country's Madras High Court has changed its earlier censorship order which centred on the issue of internet copyright. The original ruling made Indian internet service providers (ISPs) block access to entire sites to prevent a single film from being shared online. The new order was issued following an appeal filed by a consortium of ISPs. It states that only specific web addresses - URLs - carrying the pirated content should be blocked, but not the entire website. "The order of interim injunction dated 25/04/2012 is hereby clarified that the interim injunction is granted only in respect of a particular URL where the infringing movie is kept and not in respect of the entire website," reads the updated decision. "Further, the applicant is directed to inform about the particulars of URL where the interim movie is kept within 48 hours.

Microsoft has unveiled Surface - its own-brand family of tablets.  
The touchscreen computers will be powered by its upcoming Windows 8 system and contain a choice of an Intel or ARM-based processor. It allows the firm to challenge Apple's bestselling iPad with a device that can run standard applications such as its own Office programs and Photoshop. But it puts Microsoft in competition with other manufacturers planning to release tablets designed for Windows 8. The company's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, said he had wanted to give the software "its own companion hardware". The devices have 10.6 inch (26.9cm) displays, built-in kickstands and are housed in magnesium cases - which the company described as the first of their kind. The ARM-based tablets are 9.3mm (0.4 inches) thick - slightly less than the iPad - and run the Windows RT version of the new system. The Verge reported that the chipset will be built by Nvidia. Third-party developers must rewrite programs from scratch to run on the system's Metro interface to work on these devices. The versions using Intel's x86 technology run Windows 8 Pro and are 13.5mm (0.5 inches) thick. These can run Metro and an updated version of the "classic" desktop meaning they can use software designed for earlier editions of Windows, although some programs will need to be updated to be compatible. The specifications mean the Surface tablets have bigger screens than the iPad but are heavier. Pen input A variety of accompanying covers can be attached using built-in magnets. They double as keyboards with trackpads. One version is flat while the other offers keys that can be depressed. The devices are also designed to work with a pen accessory using what the firm dubbed "digital ink". When the stylus is held close to the screen of the tablet it ignores touch-input from the users' hands and "samples" the ink at 600dpi (dots per inch). The ARM-based version will be available with either 32GB (gigabytes) or 64GB of storage. Microsoft said they would be priced at a similar rate to other tablets using the same type of processor built by other firms.

Game maker Valve has appointed an in-house economist to help manage the virtual economies that have sprung up around its many titles.
The company has signed up economics professor Yanis Varoufakis as their resident expert adviser. Valve contacted Prof Mr Varoufakis as it started to think about linking game economies and hit virtual currency exchange problems. It comes as South Korea attempts to crack down on trading in video games. In a blog explaining how he came to work for Valve, Prof Varoufakis said first contact was made by Gabe Newell, president of the games company. Mr Newell had been reading Prof Varoufakis's blog post about the economic imbalance between Germany and Greece. "We were discussing an issue of linking economies in two virtual environments (creating a shared currency)," wrote Mr Newell, adding that this seemed to have direct parallels with what had happened in the real world. Intrigued, Mr Varoufakis replied and then visited Valve to talk about the issues. This was despite the fact that he was not a gamer and he last played a computer game - space invaders - in 1981. 'Test-bed' Prof Varoufakis said he had decided to sign on with Valve because of the novel applications of economic theory it would lead to. "Also," he said, "Valve's digital economies are a marvellous test-bed for meaningful experimentation." By contrast, he said, such experimentation was impossible in the real world. This situation, he wrote, meant economists often relied on hunches or happy accidents to avoid reaching absurd conclusions about the underlying causes of financial activity. At Valve, Prof Varoufakis said he would be doing a lot of data mining and experimentation to help the company understand what was happening in the online economics springing up around its own titles and the Steam game-playing service. Valve is not the first game firm to employ a professional economist. Space trading and combat game Eve Online signed up Eyjolfur Guomundsson to advise it on in-game economics in 2007. Jail time As Valve steps up its efforts to do more with game economies, South Korea has decided to crack down on the trading of virtual items. Reports suggest that South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will enact a law banning game trading later this year. Online markets have sprung up that let players buy virtual cash to use in games, or trade hard-to-find gear for real money. In a statement, the South Korean authorities said trading of game cash and gear was a "serious hindrance" to a healthy game culture. It estimates that 60% of the items being traded on official and unofficial market places were generated using automated programs that "farm" games for loot. Those who break the law could face large fines or prison terms.

Activision Blizzard has launched the video game Diablo 3's real-money auction house for players in North and South America.
  The facility allows users to buy and sell objects found in the title using real currency. The publisher takes a cut of each transaction, securing a new source of profits. It has warned that subscribers found guilty of using hacks or other attempts to cheat face a lifetime ban. Diablo 3 takes place in a horror-themed fantasy world in which players team up to save their land from monsters. Its in-game auction houses - in which gold, weapons, armour and other materials can be bought and sold - were originally supposed to have been launched on 22 May. However, the move was delayed following reports that some users had had their accounts hacked, and that items and characters had been stolen. Small steps Blizzard has now opted for a more limited launch. Auctions are initially restricted to equipment - commodities will follow at a later date - and several currencies including the Brazilian real and Argentine peso cannot be used yet. "We are rolling out the elements of the real-money auction house separately to ensure all of our players have the smoothest possible experience," it said on its blog. "We'll have more information on the availability of the European real-money auction house and the remaining American currencies soon."

Sword fighting fans could soon be digitally duelling online thanks to the efforts of US author Neal Stephenson.
Mr Stephenson is seeking funds via the Kickstarter website to create a game that will accurately portray hand-to-hand combat with swords. The game will build on years of research he has funded into different weapon types and fighting styles. He hopes the move could grow into a larger project that turns his sci-fi novels into an open online environment. Hands-on hero The pitch for the game, tentatively called Clang, has been put on Kickstarter, with Mr Stephenson seeking $500,000 (£322,000) by 9 July to get development started. Kickstarter works by letting members of the public put funds into ideas and projects they want to succeed. In a video accompanying the pitch page, Mr Stephenson said players of fantasy and historical games that centre on hand-to-hand combat were poorly served by the controls they used. By contrast, he said, players of first person shooters had a vast amount of customisation options at their fingertips that they could use to find their own way to play. A similar suite of options was "glaringly absent" from most hand-to hand games, he said. It is hoped Clang would free gamers from the "prison" of repetitive button mashing currently used to represent duelling with a blade.

O2 is set to block its customers from accessing file-sharing site The Pirate Bay from 0001 BST on Friday, the internet service provider has said.
 
The move means customers of Be Broadband, a subsidiary of O2, will also be blocked from the site. The ISP is the latest to fall in line following a High Court order in April. A judge ruled that TPB was facilitating copyright infringement by providing links to download pirated content. 'Obliged to comply' In a statement, O2 said: "The main UK internet providers were ordered by the high court to block access to specific IP addresses and URLs used by The Pirate Bay website. "We have no option but to comply with this order and will be doing so overnight." Be Broadband posted a message about the blocking measures on its company blog. It said: "Our parent company was one of the named ISPs so we are obliged to comply. "We wouldn't chose to do this voluntarily but we need to comply with UK laws just like any UK business. We're aware of the concerns voiced by members about the broader issue." TalkTalk is now the last remaining ISP featured in the court order not to have implemented a block on the Swedish-based site. BT, which was given extra time to make necessary arrangements, told the BBC it would make an announcement regarding TPB in "due course".

Nintendo has shown off 23 of the first games to be launched on its upcoming Wii U console.  
Several - including a Batman spin-off and a violent zombie-themed title - are designed to appeal to "hardcore gamers" who have traditionally opted for other games machines. The firm also revealed that the device would be able to support two of its touchscreen game pads at the same time. However, it did not set a launch date beyond referring to "the holidays". The period usually refers to the months of November and December in the US. The firm had previously said the machine would be released in Europe, Australia, the US and Japan before Christmas. Details of the console and controllers' costs were also left undiscussed at the presentation held at the E3 games trade show in Los Angeles. Serious gamers The Wii U will be the first of the next generation of games machines to launch. Sony and Microsoft have yet to reveal details of their plans. News that the titles - including Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition; Aliens: Colonial Marines; Mass Effect 3; Assassin's Creed 3 and ZombiU - are under development for Nintendo's machine may help extend its appeal. "The criticism of the Wii U had been that it didn't address serious gamers who are looking for complex, graphics-heavy titles," said Bridget Carey, senior editor of the tech site Cnet.

 Chinese authorities have blocked internet access to search terms related to the 23rd anniversary of the 1989 crackdown against protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square.  
 Terms such as "six four", "23", "candle" and "never forget", typed in Chinese search engines, do not return any information about the event. Discussions of the unrest of 4 June 1989 remain taboo in the country. But some users managed to upload a few pictures on to Twitter-like Sina Weibo. In 1989, troops shot dead hundreds of pro-democracy protesters gathered in central Beijing. The demonstrations have never been publicly marked in China, and the government has never said how many were killed. But human rights groups' estimates range from several hundred to several thousand killed. Analysts say that censoring any online talk related to the event is especially important for Beijing this year, as the government gets ready for a leadership handover. No candles "Today's anniversary is one of those 'red line' topics that are always subject to a high degree of scrutiny," Duncan Clark of BDA China told the BBC.