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Archives for July 2011

RIM Notifies Vendors That Changes In Preparation For BlackBerry App World 3.0 Happening This Week

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Research in Motion sent out a notice to vendors today letting them know that BlackBerry App World 3.0 would soon be rolled out.  Phase 1 starts July 6th with a 4-hour maintenance window between 2:00 a.m. and 6 a.m. EST.  During this time developers will be unable upload or make changes to their applications.

RIM is adding two new fields to the Vendor Portal:

  • Short Description: This is your feature description or your one line sales pitch. Please provide a “short description” of each of your items to make your app more discoverable. We support multilingual short descriptions so you can make your sales pitch more local and relevant to better attract users who speak more languages around the globe.
  • Feature Image: You can now upload a featured app image. This is required if you want your application to be considered for feature. It will make your application much more discoverable. Image Specifications: 1920 x 1186 pixel .PNG file.
There is no word on when BlackBerry App World 3.0 will be rolled out to consumers, but , it looks like an update is coming sooner rather than later.

Wow… I just recommend that a co-worker not get a new BlackBerry…

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A co-worker just walked into my office and said, “I just killed my phone at lunch.  I left it on the roof of my car and pulled off.  It got all busted up, so, I need to replace it immediately.”  I asked them what phone did they just destroy and they said,  “a BlackBerry Bold”.  I asked them if they were on Verizon and they said, “Yeah!”

It was then that my shoulders dropped and I let out a sigh before asking, “Do you want to stick with the BlackBerry?”  My co-worker said, “I really don’t care.  I just want something better than that phone I just busted up that can actually do some cool stuff like play Netflix and games and stuff.  And I want to get one with a bigger screen like that one with the keyboard that slides out but not so big that it feels more like a TV than a phone.”

To make a long story short, I just recommended, for the first time to a co-worker, that they don’t even look at a BlackBerry and go straight to the iPhone 4, Droid 2, or Droid Pro.  My co-worker said, “There is no new BlackBerry that I should check out?”  I said, “Not unless you buy the same BlackBerry Bold 9650 that you’ve had for over a year and are OK with it not doing the cool stuff that you just said you wanted your new phone to do.”

This is pretty sad RIM.  I would love to recommend the BlackBerry to colleagues and friends just as I have done for years.  You, however, must put new phones out that do things that people want to be able to do on smartphones these days, something, unfortunately, you haven’t really done for years…

RIM, you’ve got to get new phones out.  Give us a date. Give us some hope…

 

Nearly 1 of 5 BlackBerry users on BlackBerry 6, but, over 30% still pre BlackBerry OS 5

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Research in Motion has released OS breakdown information for BlackBerry users downloading applications from BlackBerry App World, and, nearly a year after the release of BlackBerry 6, almost 1 in 5 BlackBerry users, 18% to be exact, are using the latest and greatest RIM has to offer.  The data also shows that 32% of BlackBerry users are still pre-BlackBerry OS 5.  Usually when we think of mobile OS fragmentation, Android is the platform that jumps to mind, but, things are just as bad for the BlackBerry OS, and, they are soon going to get worse….

Uptake of BlackBerry 6 has jumped 8% in the three months since we last talked about it, but, 82% of BlackBerry users on an operating system at least one version back.  This will jump to two versions back as soon as RIM releases BlackBerry 7, expected to ship sometime in the next 2 to 3 months.  The real problem for RIM is that everyone who cares knows that RIM intends to replace BlackBerry 7 with QNX in ‘early 2012’.

If it took a year for RIM to get 18% adoption on BlackBerry 6, does it really make sense for developers to focus development efforts on BlackBerry 7 when they know that QNX is coming, and, coming hard?

 

 

BlackBerry Bridge Now Available To AT&T Subscribers

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AT&T decided yesterday to allow their customers to ‘officially’ download BlackBerry Bridge via BlackBerry App World. The general consensus as to why AT&T held up BlackBerry Bridge for as long as they did was that they didn’t like the fact that BlackBerry Bridge allows you to browse the Internet on your BlackBerry PlayBook for free via your BlackBerry handset’s 3G broadband connection when Wi-Fi is not available.

Although BlackBerry Bridge is a free application, AT&T confirmed that they held up the software for their subscribers until they could figure out a way to charge customers for browsing the internet via Bridge Browser, as it requires a tethering plan in addition to a wireless service plan if you are an AT&T customer.

Google Improves Search For BlackBerry 6 Devices

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Google recently announced via the Google Mobile Blog that they’ve updated the Google search experience for BlackBerry 6.0 WebKit enabled devices.  To make a short story shorter, Google has added a number of enhanced  search features that make searching Google via the WebKit browser in BlackBerry 6 much faster.

New features include:

  • Enter searches faster: Save time by using autocomplete and search history queries that appear beneath the search box as you type.
  • Web search: Find what you’re searching for fast. Comprehensive results pages let you see relevant websites, images, videos, news, real-time results and more. Simply click on the arrow button ‘>>’ to the left of the top search box for more refinement options.
  • Image search: Swipe through image results quickly and easily on touch enabled devices. Start by selecting ‘Images’ at the top of www.google.com, then enter a search. From there, click on any image to view a larger size.
  • Local search: Find restaurants, shops and other popular business categories with a single tap. Start by selecting ‘Places’ at the top of www.google.com, then click on an icon from the Places homepage.

To use the new enhanced Google search features, just visit http://www.google.com via the WebKit browser via your BlackBerry 6 enabled device.

 

 

ScoreMobile Tablet For The BlackBerry PlayBook Now Available

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I’ll be honest.   Excluding games, there aren’t all that many free BlackBerry PlayBook applications that get installed on my device and stay installed for longer than a few days.  This will most definitely not be the case when it comes to  ScoreMobile Tablet for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

ScoreMobile is a comprehensive multi-sport app covering top worldwide leagues including MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, EPL and PGA. We provide up-to-the-minute sports scores, stats, news, standings, betting odds and original video commentary.

I’ve been a big fan of ScoreMobile since I first installed it on my BlackBerry Storm a few years ago and it has been one of the top 10 applications installed on my BlackBerry ever since.  I am not ready to put ScoreMobile Tablet into any top ten list just 15 minutes in, but, I can say, at first glance, it appears to be one of the best BlackBerry PlayBook applications that I’ve yet seen.

If you have a BlackBerry PlayBook and are even just a casual sports fan, ScoreMobile Tablet is on BlackBerry PlayBook app that you’ll want to check out.

Download ScoreMobile Tablet for the BlackBerry PlayBook