Author: Julie Campbell

The President was recently reported to have held his flight in order to retrieve his handset after having forgotten it.

Reporters at the White House recently reported that President Obama had been seen getting back off the Marine One helicopter, only moments after boarding, so that he could return to the official residence, as it seems that his BlackBerry had been forgotten.

A New York Times reporter tweeted that he explained that the delay was the result of having to fetch the smartphone.

Other news reports have also revealed that the President delayed the flight in the helicopter after having forgotten his BlackBerry. After this story became quite large, particularly over social media, Obama addressed reporters, asking them “Didn’t you guys ever forget something?”

Obama has proven to be one of the most loyal of BlackBerry users, which is likely a matter of pride for the company.

At a time in which the Canadian handset manufacturer has entirely shifted its focus to the business and government markets – its original position – and has left the consumer market behind, the fact that President Obama has remained a holdout throughout the last few years in which the company, formerly known as RIM (Research In Motion), has seen considerable struggles, particularly on the consumer side.

The company has never ceased to keep up its concentration and reputation when it comes to mobile security, and this is likely one of the features that the president finds to be the most appealing.

Back in March, Jay Carney, who had been a spokesperson at the time, explained that the White House had stated that it would be keeping up their use of BlackBerry smartphones and would not take part in a Google Inc. pilot program that would have had them using smartphones that were based on Android software.

President Obama is far from the only head of state who is still using a BlackBerry. Recently, others have also been seen with their smartphones equipped with the distinctive QWERTY keyboard. They include the United Kingdom’s David Cameron, as well as Angela Merkel from Germany. It looks as though 2015 will be another defining year for the company.

The former handset maker has now unveiled a new product that will run on Google’s mobile software.

Nokia has announced its official return to tablet commerce with the unveiling of a mobile device that will be running on the Android operating system, and will mark a return of the former smartphone manufacturer into the world of hardware.

This unveiling of the Nokia tablet came only a few short months after Microsoft purchased its handset business.

This new addition to the tablet commerce marketplace will be called the N1 and will be using Nokia’s own software on top of Android. This, according to the Nokia head of products, Sebastian Nystrom, who spoke in Helsinki at the Slush technology conference. The device will sell for $249 and will be both made and sold by the Foxconn Technology Group. The first release of the tablet will be in China, during the first quarter of next year, but Nokia expects that the N1 will become available in other markets not long afterward.

This entry into tablet commerce is just the latest in a number of sharp turns the company has taken.

Nokia has been around for 149 years and has managed to keep itself alive through its willingness to transform itself while hopping from one industry to the next, as necessary. Rajeev Suri has been its CEO since May and was behind the sale of the company’s mobile phone unit – which was bleeding money – to Microsoft, for around $7.5 billion. Suri is now stepping out from the wireless network equipment field, which currently makes up about 90 percent of the sales of this Finland based company.

Nystrom explained that “We wanted to start with something small that caters to our fans,” adding that “There is room for better products out there.”

In response to this announcement, the shares at Nokia rose immediately by 1.5 percent to reach 6.31 euros. The stock rose by 7.7 percent this year, already, giving a market value to the company of 23.6 billion euros ($30 billion). It will be interesting to watch the interest generated in the new tablet commerce offerings at Nokia once the product is available for purchase.