Research In Motion Ltd. has responded publicly to BBM Canada’s attempts in court to force the smartphone giant from using the acronym “BBM” to refer to its BlackBerry Messenger service, arguing both companies should be allowed to use the term because “the two companies are in different industries.”

In a Globe and Mail article, BBM Canada, a Toronto-headquartered industry body for broadcasting companies, argued that its employees were being mistaken for RIM employees and that members within its organization were being called for client support related to RIM’s messaging service – which is widely referred to by BlackBerry users as BBM and is used by more than 50 million people around the world.

In a statement issued to The Globe on Friday, RIM said: “The services associated with RIM’s BBM offering clearly do not overlap with BBM Canada’s services and the two marks are therefore eligible to co-exist under Canadian trademark law.”

Since 1944, BBM Canada has provided data analysis to Canadian broadcasters – data which is now used by both Statistics Canada and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and is obtained in part through calling Canadians… Read More [via theglobeandmail]

QuickSilver unveiled its new mobile phone concept which looks like PacMan. The handset comes equipped with a QVGA display, GPRS and EDGE connectivity, a microSD memory card slot, and a USB port. There is no info on whether this concept phone will go into mass production or not.. Read More [via techfresh]

Yahoo introduced the Facebook-sharing option in its main new section three months ago. The same feature will now be available in 26 other parts of Yahoo’s site, including its “omg” service for entertainment news and sections devoted to television, movies and games.

By tying more of its services to Facebook’s popularity, Yahoo is hoping to give people more reasons to visit and stick around its website. Yahoo ultimately wants to sell more online advertising. That’s an area where Facebook has been gaining ground as its website has emerged as a top Internet hangout.

As Facebook has become more influential, Yahoo has been struggling to remain relevant among Web surfers and online advertisers.

It’s been a daunting challenge so far. Yahoo has gone through three different CEOs in the past four years while its revenue and stock price have drooped. The difficulties have prompted a board review that will culminate in a sale of all or part of the company.

Yahoo has been pleased with the results of Facebook-sharing so far. Traffic to Yahoo’s news section from Facebook has tripled since that sharing feature was introduced, according to the company, which is based in Sunnyvale, California.

Apparently, a relatively small percentage of Yahoo’s 700 million users want their online social circles to know what they’re reading on the Web. Yahoo says about 12 million people have opted to share their tastes in news stories so far. The feature is particularly popular among young adults ranging from 18 to 24 years old, according to Yahoo… Read More [via usatoday]

Designer: Victor Declety

That’s in spite of Zynga, the rising star of social gaming, garnering much of the media’s attention last week, when it raised $1 billion in its initial public offering.

In November, Nintendo’s portable handheld, the 3DS, had its biggest single month of sales, representing an increase of more than 215 percent over the previous month; it has now sold nearly 2.5 million units since launch.

The Wii had its biggest Black Friday ever, with more than 520,000 units sold — six years into the console’s life.

The Japanese company also set a software record. Super Mario 3D Land, which was released Nov. 11, is now the fastest-selling portable Super Mario title in U.S. history, and Mario Kart 7 was the fastest-selling Mario Kart game.

In an interview with AllThingsD at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Redmond, Wash., Nintendo’s North America President Reggie Fils-Aime explained what’s driving strong holiday U.S. sales this year, and what’s on the horizon for the maker of games and hardware…. Read More [via allthingsd]

Recently, Amazon announced that it is selling over 1 million Kindles (including Kindle eReaders) each week, which is comparable to about 11 million iPads sold by Apple during the entire last quarter.

According to DigiTimes, Apple could come up with a 7.85 inch iPad next year in order to overcome the challenge posed by 7 inch Kindle Fire tablets, even as other competitors such as Research in Motion and Motorola Mobility continue to struggle in the tablet market. ^[2]

Our $500 price estimate for Apple stock is about 30% above market price.

A smaller iPad might not be dead on arrival

Interestingly, Apple’s Steve Jobs had famously once proclaimed that competitors’ 7 inch tablets are “Dead on Arrival,” citing that tablets should have a 10-inch screen at a minimum for an optimum user interface experience (see Do 7-Inch Tablets Stand a Chance?).

Part of this stemmed from the fact that the 7-incher is a tweener – too big to be a smartphone and too small to be an effective tablet. If Apple indeed comes up with a 7 to 8 inch tablet, it will be a significant design change from the current 10 inch screen size of the iPad… Read More [via forbes]

If you’re a fan of the out-right addicting action-RPG series Kingdom Hearts, do we have some news for you! Earlier today, Square Enix announced that the latest addition on the Nintendo 3DS, Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, is coming to both North America and Europe next year. While we would have preferred to hear something more along the lines of “This Christmas!” 2012 is literally just around the corner.

Officially branded Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] (I love these unecessary titles) was first revealed at E3 2010 during the Nintendo 3DS roundup, Kingdom Hearts 3D has been in development for quite some time now.  Deemed to be a “completely original title”, Kingdom Hearts 3D had later been showcased at the Tokyo Game Show in September, and was already looking better than ever (my favourite moment being Neku’s cameo from the super under-appreciated DS game, The World Ends With You).

“With the tenth anniversary of the series on the horizon, the current Kingdom Hearts saga is approaching its climactic conclusion,” said director Tetsuya Nomura. “The story of this game will serve as the opening chapter of the final conflict, and, as always, will be full of surprises. In order to best implement this element of surprise and discover new realms of possibility, we have chosen Nintendo 3DS as our platform. With its revolutionary new game system, this title will not only be a bold, exhilarating tale of adventure, but also a first look into the future form of the Kingdom Hearts series.”