BlackBerry Ltd  has signed a deal to work directly with Ford Motor Co (F.N) to expand the carmaker's use of its QNX secure operating system, the Canadian technology company said on Monday, as Ford develops increasingly automated vehicles. The deal with Ford is the first BlackBerry has done directly with a major automaker, though it currently sells its technology to auto industry suppliers. The company is betting its future on expanding sales of software products, including to automakers and other manufacturers, after largely ceding the smartphone market to rivals including Apple Inc, Alphabet's Google and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Panasonic …

Salon stylists may not be known as early adopters of new technology, but L’Oréal is targeting them with its virtual reality hair education program in a partnership with 8i and hair care brand Matrix. The move is a recognition that consumers aren’t the only target for VR, which is expected to be a $30 billion market by 2020, according to Digi-Capital. To get there, business-to-business and educational applications will have to take off. In this case, L’Oréal hopes hair stylists will be able to avoid expensive training trips by using the VR app. L’Oréal said it is always experimenting with new technologies …

While autonomous driving is making its way onto the roadway, an Audi executive explained at ad:tech New York 2016 the importance of educating the consumer on these technologies to combat fear. Driverless cars are making their journey to mainstream, and during the Nov. 2 session, “Shifting Gears: How the Connected Car Will Change the Auto Industry,” the executive discussed how the main goal is to introduce consumers to autonomous driving and become comfortable with the idea. Audi is also working on integrating technology with infrastructure so that consumers will be informed of traffic lights, weather and pot holes while they …

Staples is working on bringing the “on-demand” world to businesses. Called the Staples Easy System, the chain is immersed in a multiphase pilot designed to create a business-to-business “on-demand” world that allows customers to order anytime, anywhere, from any device they prefer. The newest phase of the project is focused on a cognitive-enabled “Easy Button” office supply reordering system which integrates IBM’s Watson technology to simplify office supply management for Staples Business Advantage Customers.  The ordering interface enables customers across the Staples Easy System ecosystem to place orders seamlessly, regardless of whether it’s via Staples’ proprietary next-generation Easy Button, through …

Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit Inc's revenue forecast for the key-holiday shopping quarter fell well below of analysts' estimates, hurt by soft demand and production issues related to its new Flex 2 wristband. Shares of the company, which also reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, plummeted more than 30 percent in extended trading on Wednesday and were set to hit record-low levels on Thursday. Fitbit forecast revenue of $725 million to $750 million for the October-December quarter. That was well below analysts' average estimate of $985.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

YouTube is now letting content creators “pin” comments to the top of a thread. “This can be used by creators to highlight comments they feel are especially insightful or funny,” The Next Web notes. “While YouTube -- like Twitter -- only supports one pinned message at a time, it’s possible to for creators to show their appreciation to other commenters by ‘hearting’ them.”

The first reviews are coming in for Google Home -- the search giant’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa “connected” speaker -- and they’re not great. “For the Home … to be as indispensable as Google is everywhere else, it needs to do a lot more,” Dan Seifert writes in The Verge. “It needs to be a lot smarter; it needs to know a lot more about me, my family, and our habits; and it needs to be more proactive with its assistance.” For Google’s part, the company promises that many improvements to Home are coming.

n July Patently Apple posted two reports regarding Samsung's obsession with bendable smartphones and/or foldable smartphones. Samsung has so many patents on this future direction for smartphones that our other IP site Patently Mobile created a dedicated archive covering all of their concepts. Apple's first patent regarding foldable smartphone form factors was discovered by Patently Apple in a European patent filing in 2013. We discovered a second patent filing in Europe regarding a foldable smartphone in 2014.

Microsoft's Windows 10 event in New York last week was jam-packed full of new hardware and software unveilings, including the introduction of a range of VR headsets. Microsoft was more than happy to detail its vision for VR and how that fits in with existing tech including Windows 10 and HoloLens, the company's mixed-reality platform. But it was less forthcoming about the VR headsets themselves. We'll be left in the dark a little longer yet it seems, as the full details of the headsets are set to be revealed at an event in December. The date was revealed by Alex Kipman, who heads up the HoloLens …

Lenovo today launched the first phone to support Google’s Tango augmented reality technology. The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro sells for $500, is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 chip and runs Android Marshmallow. It includes four cameras including a 3D-sensing camera, and sensors that work in conjunction with Tango. Google unveiled Project Tango in February 2014 with the aim of using a prototype phone and the ingenuity of developers to use 3D scanning technology to build maps and models of physical locations. The company has touted a variety of use cases for its VR, from gaming – perhaps the most obvious application – to providing …