Northrop Grumman-built U.S. Navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Aircraft Completes Historic First Flight
First-of-its-Kind, Tailless Aircraft Moves Closer to Carrier Trials in 2013
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC)-built U.S. Navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) aircraft successfully completed its historic first flight at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), Calif.

Conducted by a U.S. Navy/Northrop Grumman test team, the flight took off at 2:09 p.m. PST and lasted 29 minutes. This event marks a critical step in the program, moving the team forward to meet the demonstration objectives of a tailless fighter-sized unmanned aircraft to safely take off from and land on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

A social media version of this release that includes photos, video clips, and additional quotes and background material, is available at http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=209544

“First flight represents the compilation of numerous tests to validate the airworthiness of the aircraft, and the robustness and reliability of the software that allows it to operate as an autonomous system and eventually have the ability to take-off and land aboard an aircraft carrier,” said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, the Navy’s UCAS-D program manager.

Northrop Grumman is the Navy’s UCAS-D prime contractor and leader of the UCAS-D industry team.

“Designing a tailless, fighter-sized unmanned aircraft from a clean sheet is no small feat,” said Janis Pamiljans, vice president and UCAS-D program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Commitment, collaboration and uncompromising technical excellence among the Navy, Northrop Grumman and the UCAS-D team industry partners made today’s flight a reality. We are indeed honored to have given wings to the Navy’s vision for exploring unmanned carrier aviation.”

Taking off under hazy skies, the X-47B climbed to an altitude of 5,000 feet, flew several racetrack-type patterns, and landed safely at 2:38 p.m. PST. The flight provided test data to verify and validate system software for guidance and navigation, and the aerodynamic control of the tailless design.

As with all test programs, first flight represents the culmination, verification and certification of pre-flight system data collected and analyzed by both the Navy and Northrop Grumman. Airframe proof load tests, propulsion system accelerated mission tests, software maturity and reliability simulations, full system taxi tests, and numerous other system test activities were all completed and certified prior to first flight.

The aircraft will remain at Edwards AFB for flight envelope expansion before transitioning to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., later this year. There, the system will undergo additional tests to validate its readiness to begin testing in the maritime and carrier environment. The UCAS-D program is preparing the X-47B for carrier trials in 2013.

The Navy awarded the UCAS-D prime contract to Northrop Grumman in August 2007. The six-year contract calls for the development of two X-47B fighter-sized aircraft. The program will demonstrate the first-ever carrier launches and recoveries by an autonomous, unmanned aircraft with a low-observable-relevant planform. Autonomous aerial refueling will also be performed after carrier integration and at-sea trials.

Northrop Grumman’s industry team includes GKN Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Eaton, GE, Hamilton Sundstrand, Dell, Honeywell, Goodrich, Moog, Wind River, Parker Aerospace and Rockwell Collins.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

Samsung Mobile Announces Upcoming Availability of Wi-Fi-Only Samsung Galaxy Tab™

2011 International CES
Booth #12006
LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.1, today announced the Wi-Fi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab™ will be available for purchase in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2011.

“Samsung has always taken great pride in giving consumers the most choices when deciding which mobile device to make their own”
The Galaxy Tab runs on Android™ 2.2 (Froyo) and features a 7-inch TFT display with 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution. The lightweight and sleek device weighs only 13 ounces, is 12 millimeters thin and easily fits in a jacket pocket or purse. The Galaxy Tab includes 16GB of internal storage and has microSD expansion for up to 32GB of additional storage. The Tab also supports Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 to deliver an enhanced content experience with access to thousands of Web sites packed with complex Flash-based applications and content. The Galaxy Tab’s Flash content support includes games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, video, music and more. The Galaxy Tab is also designed with a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera for taking pictures on-the-go, as well as a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder for video chat.

“Samsung has always taken great pride in giving consumers the most choices when deciding which mobile device to make their own,” said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung Mobile. “The Galaxy Tab’s compact and convenient design makes this device a true mobile tablet perfect for watching a movie, video chat, reading e-book content or emailing while on-the-move or relaxing at your home or office. We’re very excited that the Galaxy Tab recently passed the 1.5 million global shipments milestone.”

Powered by Android 2.2, the Galaxy Tab offers services like Google Maps™ with Navigation (Beta) and Google Goggles™, as well as access to more than 100,000 applications currently available for download on Android Market™. Just like the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone portfolio, the Galaxy Tab keep users connected with Samsung’s Social Hub application. Social Hub works with the user’s Messaging and Contacts to initiate the sending and receiving of information, whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages. Information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar™ and social networking services are merged into a single interface for easy organization.

Additional features of the Galaxy Tab include:

Daily Briefing: Offers instant access to weather, news, stocks, and schedules.
Impressive Expandable Memory: Galaxy Tab can add 32 GB of external memory to store and manage your favorite video content and pictures.
AllShare DLNA Technology: Take video or pictures shot with Galaxy Tab and send the original content wirelessly to other DLNA-enabled devices (HDTVs, laptops, PC monitors, etc.)
Document Viewer & Editor: Open and make changes to any Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDF document
4,000 mAh Battery: Super-sized battery provides ample power to watch movies, share content and surf the Web
1 Number one mobile phone provider in the U.S. claim for Samsung Mobile based upon reported shipment data, according to Strategy Analytics Q3 2010 U.S. Market Share Handset Shipments Report.

Android, Google Maps, Google Goggles, and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc.

About Samsung Telecommunications America

Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets and telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2009 consolidated sales of US$116.8 billion. Employing approximately 174,000 people in 193 offices across 66 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Coming to the Sprint 4G Network
New 4G Tablet to Deliver Unmatched Power and Web Performance – Available Exclusively from Sprint this Summer

January 6, 2011 – CES 2011, Las Vegas, NV – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced plans to launch a new BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet model featuring connectivity to the blazingly fast Sprint 4G network. The BlackBerry 4G PlayBook™ will be the first BlackBerry PlayBook model to include wide area wireless connectivity, featuring Sprint 4G to give customers download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G1. This new 4G model is expected to be available from Sprint in the summer.

The BlackBerry 4G PlayBook is a professional-grade tablet that’s set to redefine the possibilities of mobile computing, giving users an ultra-portable design with industry leading performance, uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and HD multimedia, as well as advanced security features and out-of-the-box enterprise support. Together, the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook and the Sprint 4G network will provide a high performance platform that will enable a mobile services revolution for both application developers and customers.

“RIM believes a significant portion of the tablet market will want a higher performing, multitasking, professional-grade tablet and that is why we chose to design the BlackBerry PlayBook for premium performance with a powerful dual-core processor and multitasking OS. Together with Sprint, we are now building on that performance advantage with 4G and providing an unparalleled mobile experience for users,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

”We are excited to bring this powerful new product to our business customers and consumers who rely on Sprint for industry-leading devices as well as one of the best values in wireless,” said Steve Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale for Sprint. “This tablet is a great example of Sprint’s strong partnership with RIM in continuing to bring customers powerful devices to enhance their mobility. We are confident the BlackBerry 4G Playbook from Sprint will be one of the most anticipated tablets in 2011.”

In addition to Wi-Fi® support, the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook features a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and the new BlackBerry® Tablet OS. The ultra portable, ultra thin tablet will offer an uncompromised, high-fidelity web experience with support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5 enabling customers to enjoy all of the sites, games, media and richness of the full Internet, delivered at 4G speeds. Additional details and pricing will be released closer to launch.

Sprint 4G is currently available in 71 markets2 across the country, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City. Sprint first launched 4G in Baltimore in September 2008 and continues to build it’s 4G service for consumers and business users across the country. For more information, visit www.sprint.com/4G.

For more information about the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook, visit www.blackberry.com/playbook or www.sprint.com/4Gplaybook.

About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.8 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com orwww.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About Research In Motion
Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “intend,” “believe”, and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by RIM in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that RIM believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause RIM’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of RIM’s Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on RIM’s forward-looking statements. RIM has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third party products or services.

1 “Up to 10 times faster” based on download speed comparison of Sprint 3G avg. speeds (600 kbps-1.4 Mbps) vs.Sprint 4G avg. speeds (3-6 Mbps). Actual speeds may vary by plan or based on other factors.

2 Sprint 4G is now available in 71 markets: California – Los Angeles, Merced, Modesto, Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton, Visalia; Colorado – Denver; Connecticut – Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven; Delaware – Wilmington; District of Columbia – Washington; Florida – Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa; Georgia – Atlanta, Milledgeville; Hawaii – Honolulu, Maui; Idaho – Boise; Illinois – Chicago; Maryland – Baltimore; Massachusetts – Boston; Michigan – Grand Rapids; Minnesota – Minneapolis-St. Paul: Missouri – Kansas City, St. Louis; New Jersey – New Brunswick, Trenton; New York – New York, Rochester, Syracuse; Nevada – Las Vegas; North Carolina – Charlotte, Greensboro (includes High Point and Winston-Salem), Raleigh (includes Cary, Chapel Hill and Durham); Ohio –Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus; Oregon – Eugene, Portland, Salem; Pennsylvania – Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading, York; Rhode Island – Providence; Tennessee – Nashville; Texas – Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, San Antonio, Waco, Wichita Falls; Utah – Salt Lake City; Virginia – Richmond; and Washington – Bellingham, Seattle, Tri-Cities, Yakima.