News
BlackBerry Movie Tells The Story Of The Famous Keyboard Phone
It’s time to take a break from the Steve Jobs movies and give some appreciation to Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
Are you a BBM and email enthusiast who misses phones with physical keyboards? In that case, you might be interested in the upcoming Blackberry movie, featuring the creation journey of the famous handset.
The film stars Jay Baruchel (How To Train Your Dragon), Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and Matt Johnson, also the movie’s director.
BlackBerry is released in theaters on May 12th and covers how the once-famous phone became the premier business communicator, but ended up losing out to the smartphone. In the trailer, we see Johnson’s Doug and Baruchel’s Mike Lazaridis watching the infamous Steve Jobs announcement of the new iPhone, and the stress and excitement as the company pushes to launch its first product.
Also Read: Top 10 Best Video Games Set In The Middle East
If you’re interested in learning more about Blackberry’s rise to fine, or want a preview of the movie before it hits the screen, check out the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. The text forms the basis of the movie’s script and is a fantastic read for anyone with fond memories of rocking a Blackberry in the past, as well as a cautionary tale of a business ultimately going bust.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
Also Read: RØDE Adds Direct iPhone Pairing To Wireless GO And Pro Mics
Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
