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BlackBerry 10 After insisting that BlackBerry (BBRY) shares would rebound throughout 2011 and 2012 as the stock plummeted, Macquarie Capital Markets cut its price target earlier this month to $11 with a Neutral rating. This marked the first time the firm has advised investors that BlackBerry shares will likely continue to fall; Macquarie remained optimistic the whole way down over the past two years, as illustrated in the chart below. While the firm does see some positive notes for BlackBerry in the coming months, it said in a recent research note that BlackBerry shares will be trading on sentiment rather than long-term fundamentals following next month s launches, after which the stock will likely continue to slide.

[More from BGR: Crytek CEO: PlayStation 4, next-gen Xbox can t compete with PCs]

[More from BGR: Report outlines 5 biggest problems facing Apple ]

In advance of next month s BB10 launch in two of BBRY s largest markets, we are collaborating with our telecom colleagues Riaz Hyder in Indonesia and Best Waiyanont in Thailand to examine the company s opportunities and risks in emerging Asia, Macquarie analysts wrote in a recent note to investors. We estimate that BBRY has ~15.2m subs in Indonesia and Thailand (19% of global total) and has shipped around one-third of global BB7 hardware sales in recent qtrs.

The note continued, Our analysis shows that although the service fee structure of BB10 will be dilutive to overall service ARPU, much of the existing service revenue will be maintained for a year or more, as initial BB10 price points may be cost-prohibitive for many Indonesian and Thai consumers. We estimate that perhaps 15-20% of the BBRY installed base could purchase $400-600 ASP devices.

Macquarie sees the following impact for BlackBerry:

Low-end BB7 devices remain popular due to lower ASPs of $200-300 vs. iPhone ASPs at $700-900 and Android ASPs at $300-800. Implicitly, we do not expect significant sales of BB10 at an estimated $500-600 ASP in emerging markets. The key reason for the strength of BB outside of BBM is 1) first mover advantage, 2) lower pricing point (US$200 for cheapest handset Gemini); and 3) quite complimentary with Facebook and Twitter usage which were the main drivers for mobile internet adoption. According to Best Waiyanont, BBs have a considerably cheaper monthly cost than the data packages required for an iPhone or Android device. In Thailand, a BB package would cost only ~$10/month, with unlimited use of social media including Facebook, Twitter, BB messenger, and Email vs. a required data package costing $20 to support an iPhone or Android device. In the near-term, we think this will stay the BB sub base as the value proposition for BB devices is much more attractive to emerging market consumers than higher-end devices. BlackBerry is likely to trade more on buzz than fundamentals in the short term, but Macquarie believes that will end following the next round of BlackBerry 10 device launches. We continue to advise investors to ignore the launch noise and value the company on long-term cash flows, which we believe will ultimately drive the shares lower, the firm said.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

SEOUL (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to film a television documentary with representatives of the Harlem Globetrotters celebrity team, North Korean state television reported.

Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.

Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.

Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organized by a New York-based television production company, VICE.

"I think most of guys are first time here so hopefully everything is OK and hopefully kids have a good time for the game," Rodman, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, told North Korea's KCNA.

VICE, which has previously worked in North Korea, said the week-long trip would include running a basketball camp for North Korean children and engaging in community-based games.

The company hinted that Kim may attend one of its events, but that could not be independently verified.

Its North Korean footage with Rodman will be distributed on HBO in April.

U.S. citizens do not require clearance from home to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson visited in January.

The U.S. State Department described that trip as ill-advised but was noncommittal on Rodman's.

"We don't vet U.S. citizens' private travel to North Korea," said State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell. "In terms of this private travel to do basketball with kids, we just don't take a position on this."

The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on North Korea following its nuclear test two weeks ago.

Kim, the third member of his family to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labor camps and where a third of children are malnourished, appears to have a penchant for American culture apart from basketball.

On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.

While there is no U.S.-government connection to Rodman's trip, there have been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.

None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

As Rodman and his colleagues arrived, North Korean state news agency KCNA issued yet another challenge to the United States, saying it had no choice but to respond to what it called U.S. "provocations" over sanctions with "military muscle".

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Editing by Ken Wills and David Brunnstrom)

CLEVELAND (AP) The story of The Rolling Stones is so huge it takes 2 floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to tell.

The Cleveland-based museum will open "Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction," an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24.

The exhibit will be open until March 2014 and will include personal and collected items that have never before been seen by the public along with film, text and interactive components and periodic lectures on the band's 50-year career. The entire exhibit will take up more than two floors of the museum.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and The Stones recently held a series of concerts to celebrate their 50th year together and there have been rumors of more activity.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance.

The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip.

The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing "Skylark" and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. Fisher also appears to use paper to clean up after a small dog that shares the stage with her, and then stuffing the paper into a couch behind her.

"There was a medical incident related to Carrie Fisher's bipolar disorder," Fisher's spokeswoman Carol Marshall said in a statement. "She went to the hospital briefly to adjust her medication and is feeling much better now."

The actress has previously discussed her struggle with bipolar disorder. And in her 2009 memoir "Wishful Drinking," she also described her alcoholism and drug abuse.

Fisher is the daughter of Hollywood stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and, aside from starring in the first three "Star Wars" films, wrote the bestselling novel "Postcards from the Edge" about an actress recovering from drug addiction. She wrote the screenplay for a 1990 movie adaptation.

She in recent years had a recurring role on the animated comedy "Family Guy" and has guest starred in a number of other television shows.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Todd Eastham)

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) As her music played in the background, country music star Mindy McCready was remembered Tuesday by friends and family as a fun and talented singer who also "wanted to be healed" from her past.

About 200 friends and family gathered in the 37-year-old singer's Florida hometown of Fort Myers. A large screen behind the altar of Crossroads Baptist Church was filled with her images and her portrait stood nearby.

"Our Mindy was so tired. She felt helpless," said McCready's mother, Gayle Inge. "She was in her darkest moment and she was hurt by so many allegations. She was too emotional to understand."

McCready, whose real name was Malinda Gayle McCready, committed suicide Feb. 17 at her home in Arkansas, days after leaving a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program. The mother of two died from a single gunshot to the head about a month after her longtime boyfriend David Wilson's death, also thought to be suicide, in the same place.

Inge acknowledged that her daughter had faced many battles but now: "Her spirit found healing on the other side."

McCready's personal problems started in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons. She was briefly hospitalized in 2010 after police responded to an overdose call to a home her mother owned in North Fort Myers, Fla., and she later appeared on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," where she declared herself clean from drugs.

McCready's family declined to address any custody issue at the funeral.

"She wanted them to know that nothing, not even death, could separate her from them," Gayle Inge said of McCready's two sons, Zander Ryan and Zayne Christopher. "She's healed. She's no longer sick," she added, referring to what she told McCready's sons.

A separate funeral organized by her friends and the music community is tentatively scheduled for March 6 in Nashville, Tenn.

McCready's stepfather, brothers and cousin also shared their fondest and often funny memories of McCready.

"You all know I grew up coming from a broken home," said brother Timothy McCready, wiping away tears. "It makes your brothers and sisters really important to you. We used to joke about how she raised us...we raised each other, all of us. And she probably got us all in a lot more trouble than she got us out of," he later joked about his sister.

"I just know that Mindy is on vacacioun where she is," said younger brother Skylar Phelan, referring to how McCready often used the Latin word for "vacation" to get out of chores.

McCready grew up in Fort Myers, where she took private vocal lessons and later sang in karaoke bars.

Family friend Julie Ende-Killion remembers the day when McCready won her first award for "Ten Thousand Angels."

"And I remember her coming out of the trailer," she recalled. "I think she was in Kenny Chesney's trailer because she didn't even have her own dressing room at that time. Nashville is a pretty cool place. She made her mark on it."

McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 and hit the top of the country charts before her personal problems sidetracked her career.

In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," which her stepfather sang during the funeral.

"She's our special angel," said Michael Inge. "She sang a song years ago about 'Ten Thousand Angels' watching over her and now she is in the presence of all those 10 thousand angels," Michael Inge said.

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) Nepalese mountaineer Chhurim entered the record book by scaling Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season. In fact, she did so a week apart.

Guinness World Records said she is the first woman to climb the world's highest mountain twice in the same season the brief window of good weather each year that allows climbers to reach the summit.

Nepal's Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati handed over the Guinness World Records certificate issued to 29-year-old Chhurim on Monday.

She scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit on May 12, 2012, descended to the base camp for a couple of days' rest and then scaled the peak again a week later on May 19.

Chhurim, who uses only one name like most Sherpas, said she is not ready to quit.

"Everest is the first of the highest mountains that I have climbed, but I will continue mountaineering and hope to scale more peaks," she said.

Chhurim said there are not many women mountaineers and only a few of them have records.

"The male mountaineers have set many records but women have fallen behind. It can be difficult for women because they are considered not as strong as men and face many problems like finding toilets," she said.

The Nepal Mountaineering Association said Everest has been climbed by nearly 4,000 people since New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal did so in 1953. Women are a small number of them.

The extremely harsh weather conditions that batter the highest Himalayan peaks limit the climbing season to just a few weeks every year. Spring is the most popular season on Everest when hundreds of mountaineers attempt every year. The climbers generally reach the mountain in March or April, acclimatize to the higher elevation and low oxygen and train for climbing the snowy trail to the peak. The weather usually improves for a few days in May when they line up to the summit.

The debut of the PlayStation 4 in New York City Wednesday (Feb. 20) was as remarkable for what it showed as for what it didn't show: Sony unveiled a raft of beautiful, incredibly realistic new games, but not the console itself. The device, perhaps in a straight-from-the-lab rough appearance, was somewhere offstage, driving the giant projectors that broadcast previews of upcoming games around the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Out-of-site-yet-everywhere seems to be the overall metaphor of the PlayStation 4 (PS4), as Sony described it. The PS4 (which Sony plans to sell by year's end) is not so much a machine as a network with games delivered from the cloud, games that can follow you as you move from the PS4 to a mobile device, and the ability to post video clips of your adventures or even broadcast entire games online.

"We're making it so your friends can look over your shoulder virtually and interact with you as you play," said David Perry, co-founder of Gaikai, a company that Sony bought to build its cloud-gaming network.

But not only friends will be watching. Sony will. "The PlayStation network will get to know you by understanding your personal preferences and the preferences of your community and turn this knowledge into useful information that will enhance your gameplay," Perry said.

Every important technology has good and bad uses. Some of the upcoming games that Sony showcased for the PS4 explore, perhaps unwittingly, the darker side of omnipresent, omniscient networks similar to what Sony is building.

Suckerpunch's new game "inFAMOUS: Second Son" explores the surveillance state. "Right now, there are 4.2 million security cameras distributed all around Great Britain. That's one camera for every 14 citizens," said game director Nate Fox, in a dramatic introduction to the game. "It is hard to put your finger on what that sense of security is worth, but it is easy to say what it costs our freedom."

Like Great Britain, the PS4 will also have a vast network of cameras not one for every 14 citizens, but one for every console owner. At the presentation, Marc Cerny, head of the PlayStation hardware platform, showed a photo of a depth-sensing stereo camera for the PS4, designed to track the new Dualshock controller as it moves.

The danger in "Second Son" is that some individuals have developed super-human powers (a la "Heroes") that make them living weapons. They carry no traditional weapons and show no physical signs of danger rendering all the modern surveillance tech impotent.

But what if new security technology could go beyond the physical? What if it could read people's intentions and predict their next moves?

What if it were like the PS4?

Sony believes that PlayStation owners simply give off so much data as they interact intensively with the console, other devices and the network that it can know what its users intend to do.

"People haven't' changed, but now everybody's broadcasting. And once you've seen it, all of it, how do you look away?"

That's not a quote from a Sony or game-company executive. It's from the lead character in the upcoming Ubisoft game "Watch Dogs." It follows a vigilante character with access to all that information. As he walks through Chicago, message windows pop up, showing details about the people he passes. Marcus Rhodes, a 43-year-old Iraq War veteran, is unemployed. Sandy Higgins, a grade-school teacher, recently won a child-custody battle and has a 30 percent chance of being a crime victim. [See also: Is Your Cellphone Under Surveillance?]

In the clip, the vigilante uses the knowledge to find a woman in danger and to track her attacker in a chase through the city. But as the police then pursue him, the game shows how much data the protagonist himself is giving off.

It's rather unlikely that the PlayStation 4 was designed to be a mass surveillance device, a Trojan Horse of a game console designed to slip spooks into the living room. Far likelier, Sony just wants the games to be more involving and better targeted for the customers, so they will buy and play more games.

"If we know enough about you to predict the next game you'll purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before you even click the button," Marc Cerny said.

But still, the PS4 will collect a lot of information. That itself, in the right imagination, could be fodder for a good dystopian video game.

This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook. Follow Sean Captain @seancaptain

10 Ways the Government Watches You The 10 Most Stunning Video Games 10 Hottest Games for 2013 Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Forget glamour girls Jessica Chastain versus Jennifer Lawrence. By the end of a long Oscars telecast, the only person who could have stolen the fashion conversation was first lady Michelle Obama and she did.

She presented the best picture award almost at the stroke of midnight Sunday via video stream in a silver Naeem Khan gown. It was the sort of Cinderella style moment that red-carpet watchers hunger for.

Until then, the most heated chatter about the Academy Awards likely was the boldface battle between Giorgio Armani and Dior Haute Couture.

Armani could claim some big wins: the designer dressed Chastain, Naomi Watts and Quvenzhane Wallis. Dior dressed Lawrence and Charlize Theron both are spokesmodels who hit it right in white.

Chastain, in a glistening copper-tone strapless gown with mermaid hem, looked like an old-world glamorous movie star, especially with her oversized vintage Harry Winston diamond earrings and bright red lipstick.

"I chose it because to me it was a throwback to old Hollywood," she said. "It's a very 'Happy birthday, Mr. President' dress."

Watts wore a gunmetal beaded gown with a geometric cutout on the bodice, also by Armani.

Quvenzhane (kwuh-VEHN'-juh-nay), with a silver headband in her hair and carrying a bedazzled puppy purse, wore an Armani Junior navy-blue dress with black, navy and silver jewels scattered on the skirt and a big bow on the back. She had another Armani dress, a pink one, ready for the afterparty. "I liked it because it was sparkly and puffy."

Lawrence was the belle of the ball in a white-and-pale pink strapless gown with fitted bustier and poufy hemline, sophisticated pulled-back hair, diamond-ball earrings and a delicate long necklace that hung down in back. The long train gave her trouble as she went to accept her award for best actress. She stumbled as she approached the stage to accept her Oscar.

Theron was sleek in an angular strapless dress with a fashion-right peplum and a buzz-cut hairdo.

Christos Garkinos, longtime red-carpet watcher and owner of Decades vintage store in Los Angeles, said, "You could have turned the TV off right when Charlize Theron came on. She was perfect."

The more interesting chatter, however, could be about the Jane Fondas and Sally Fields of the world. Fonda wore bright taxicab yellow Versace and Sally Field was in bright red.

"Women of a certain age almost gave the feeling that the older you get, the bolder you get," Garkinos said.

Hal Rubenstein, editor at large of InStyle magazine, was pretty impressed by 86-year-old Emmanuelle Riva in Lanvin. "Jane Fonda looks amazing because she's Jane Fonda, but Emmanuelle Riva was so elegant."

Another look that had people talking was Anne Hathaway's pale pink Prada dress. Rubenstein called the dress and Tiffany & Co. necklace "an Audrey Hepburn moment."

Garkinos wasn't as kind. Thanks to some awkwardly placed darts in the bust, he said it was more like Gwyneth Paltrow's big Academy Awards moment, when she wore a lovely Ralph Lauren pink dress but the fit wasn't quite right.

Hathaway, before the show, said her dress with a seemingly sweet vibe but with a strategically open back and sexy sides, was a last-minute choice. "It fit my mood and place where I'm at right now."

It almost seemed there were two routes to the red carpet, said Rubenstein: incredibly beaded and eye-catching, worn by Nicole Kidman in L'Wren Scott, Halle Berry in Versace, and Stacy Keibler in Naeem Khan; or a simple color with a great silhouette. He puts Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon in a strapless royal-blue Louis Vuitton gown with a black strip at the bustline and Jennifer Aniston in a Valentino red strapless gown in that camp.

"For some, there was a pull back to not do a lot, and that's where fashion is as well," Rubenstein said.

Amanda Seyfried's metallic halter dress by Alexander McQueen with a keyhole opening was three months in the making, and Berry said she trusted Donatella Versace to dress her like the Bond girl that she has been on the big screen. She ended up in a silver beaded-and-black gown with long sleeves and V-neck.

Jennifer Hudson's shiny, second-skin blue Roberto Cavalli almost looked like an animal print.

Kristen Stewart had an even paler blush gown; hers a hand-beaded strapless with tulle inserts by Reem Acra. She accentuated her gown with a 19th-century Fred Leighton necklace with 91 graduated diamonds.

Jennifer Garner chose a violet-colored Gucci with cascading ruffles in the back. Her 200-carat diamond-and-dark platinum necklace from the Neil Lane archives was a big statement.

Beaded gowns had a strong presence, worn by Sandra Bullock, in a fully embroidered Elie Saab; Renee Zellweger, in a sleek Carolina Herrera; and Adele in Jenny Packham. Catherine Zeta-Jones was statuesque in an all-gold Zuhair Muhad. Queen Latifah's white V-neck tank dress by Badgley Mischka had a lot of sparkle on the straps.

Salma Hayek's midnight-blue velvet Alexander McQueen gown had a gold embellished collar, and she carried a gold skull box clutch.

Helen Hunt wore a little bit of her conscience along with her blue column gown. It was from fast-fashion retailer H&M. She chose it because it was both accessible and because the company has launched a substantial green initiative. She did wear it, however, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of borrowed jewels.

For the men, the trend was beards, with George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones, among them.

___

Associated Press Writer Beth Harris contributed to this report.

With jokes about domestic violence, breast-baring actresses, picking up Sally Field and a presidential assassination, Seth MacFarlane certainly didn't go soft during his first turn as Oscars host.

MacFarlane has the good looks and suave manner of a typical show host, but he was a nontraditional choice for the Oscars. His creative calling card is behind-the-scenes work, as maker of the TV show "Family Guy" and movie "Ted." He tried to soften it with self-deprecation, but MacFarlane quickly proved a polarizing choice.

After MacFarlane appeared uncomfortable telling jokes in the opening monologue, he brought on William Shatner via video hook-up for an extended riff on Shatner as a time traveler appearing from the future trying to save MacFarlane from himself.

It sent MacFarlane into some high concept comedy. He was shown in a song and dance routine, backed by the Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus, naming famous actresses and the films where they displayed their breasts. During a quick cutaway, Charlize Theron one of the actresses named did not appear amused.

In another skit, scenes from the movie "Flight" were performed by sock puppets. An overly long skit again designed to illustrate MacFarlane's "bad taste" showed him wearing a Flying Nun costume in an attempt to pick up Sally Field backstage.

MacFarlane drew groans with a reference to pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown, back together as a couple four years after a domestic violence incident involving the two.

Talking about the movie "Django Unchained," MacFarlane called it "the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who's been subject to unthinkable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie."

MacFarlane drew more groans from the audience during a discussion of the movie "Lincoln" and actors who had portrayed the 19th Century president.

"I would argue that the actor who really got inside Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth," MacFarlane said.

He seemed to anticipate and delight in the response. "150 years and it's still too soon, huh? I've got some Napoleon jokes coming up."

In his opening monologue, MacFarlane delivered a quick, knowing poke at the academy for snubbing Ben Affleck as a best director nominee for the movie "Argo." He referred to the movie's story about an undercover mission to rescue Americans trapped in Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis.

"The story is so top secret that the film's director is unknown to the academy," MacFarlane said.

He joked about "Lincoln" best actor nominee Daniel Day Lewis' habit of staying in character during filming days even when the cameras were turned off, addressing him: "If you bumped into Don Cheadle in the studio lot, would you try and free him?"

MacFarlane appeared to loosen up once his opening routine was over. He drew some laughs with a handful of solid jokes when talking about Quvenzhane Wallis, the 9-year-old best actress nominess for "Beasts of the Southern Wild. "George Clooney smiled at a joke about Wallis being a future dating partner.

The puppet teddy bear of "Ted" even got in a few Jewish jokes during a routine with Mark Wahlberg. The bear claimed to be Jewish, which he thought was a prerequisite for working in the film business.

"I was born Theodore Shapiro and I would like to donate money to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever," the bear said.

"You're an idiot," Wahlberg retorted.

Some of MacFarlane's jokes drew rebukes by tweeters, while his supporters countered that the Oscars should have known what they were getting when hiring him. In the weeks before he took the stage, MacFarlane frequently predicted he would be savaged by critics. His opening routine with Shatner even had the "Star Trek" actor displaying a supposed headline from the future saying MacFarlane was the worst Oscars host ever.

And it was difficult to tell how much he was joking when he introduced Sandra Bullock for an award presentation.

"Our next presenter portrayed a raging alcoholic in the movie '28 Days,' which is kind of a weird coincidence because I'm going to be playing one in about an hour and a half," he said.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Samsung Electronics is beefing up its tablet range with a competitor to Apple's iPad Mini that sports a pen for writing on the screen.

The Korean company announced on Sunday in B'arcelona that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will have an 8-inch screen, putting it very close in size to the Apple's tablet, which launched in November with a 7.9-inch screen. It's not the first time Samsung has made a tablet that's in the Mini's size range: it's very first iPad competitor had a 7-inch screen, and it still makes a tablet of that size, but without a pen.

Samsung will start selling the new tablet in the April to June period, at an as yet undetermined price. It made the announcement ahead of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry's annual trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.

The Note 8.0 fills a gap in Samsung's line-up of pen-equipped devices between the Galaxy Note II smartphone, with its 5.5-inch screen, and the Galaxy Note 10.1, a full-size tablet. Samsung has made the pen, or more properly the stylus, one of the tools it uses to chip away at Apple's dominance in both tablets and high-end smartphones. Apple doesn't make any devices that work with styluses, preferring to optimize its interfaces for fingers, mice and touchpads.

On Samsung's Note line, the pens can be used to write, highlight and draw. The screens also sense when the mouse hovers over the screen, providing an equivalent to the hovering mouse cursor on the PC. However, few third-party applications have been modified to take full advantage of the pens.