Gizmodo has posted a rumor that Verizon is asking for changes in the Motorola Q that will add more delay to the already delayed release of the device that has been branded the BlackBerry Killer. According to a noDRM.com source inside of Verizon, the MotoQ will not be launching this month and several of the features that many techies were looking forward to are being cut.
Coming out of friendly-user testing, Verizon is looking for keyboard modifications thought to be along the lines of bigger keys and some changes to the way certain keys interact with the phones OS. When asked about the EVDO capability of the Q, specifically in relation to the use of applications such as Slingboxs Sling Player Mobile, our source tells us that though the capability may be there, users downloading gigabytes of data through Verizons EVDO network will be turned off.
Read Read
Motorola Q, MotoQ, Verizon, BlackBerry Killer
According to Bloogberg.com, Microsoft Corp. won a deal with the U.S. Census Bureau for mobile device software on over 500,000 devices.
Lets put this into perspective. There are an estimated 3 to 3.5 million BlackBerry devices total in the United States. Microsoft just won a deal, that they are expected to announce today, for half a million Windows Mobile devices at one customer.
I bet a BlackBerry that runs Windows Mobile doesn’t sound half bad to BlackBerry investors about right now.
Read
I visited a very cool mobile phone store called imo (Independent Mobile) the other day that carries more smart phones than any brick and mortar store that I have ever been in. You can get everything from Palm OS, to Windows Mobile, to BlackBerry OS, to Symbian OS powered devices. I heard that they could even get some of the Linux powered devices in if you asked them nicely.
In talking with one of the employees I asked them as far as the smart phones go, what is really hot right now. Since imo sells everything, they should have a good feel for what people off the street were interested in. As you can probably imagine, when people first walked in the door interested in PDA phones, BlackBerry was usually the first brand name to roll off of there tongue. You might, however, be surprised as to what they usually walked out of the door with.
[click to continue…]
According to the Motorola promo site the Moto Q, a.k.a. the BlackBerry Killer (not), is coming out in April. Even being the BlackBerry kind of guy that I am, I must admit that the Moto Q looks pretty cool. The fact that it runs Windows Mobile 5 means there is a possibility that it is bug ridden, however, time will definitely tell.
The Moto Q features a large, vibrant 2.4 color screen, voice activated dialing, a 1.3 megapixel camera with photo lighting, mp3 and video capabilities, stereo speakers and web surfing capability. I wouldn’t be fibbing to you if I told you that I wished my BlackBerry 7130e did all of these things.
Motorola, Moto Q, Windows Mobile 5
The NTP vs. RIM BlackBerry patent played a big part in all the buzz about the new Palm Treo 700w according to a Wall Street Journal Online article.
Over the last year, Palm has tripled the size of its sales force and significantly increased it’s marketing efforts around the Palm Treo. I wondered how big that Treo 700w advertising budget was a month or so ago.
The result: at least 1,500 new inquiries about the Treo in the past few months from corporate customers, resulting in 600 free trials, Palm says. In total, Palm says it has more than doubled its number of sales leads since October.
Via WSJ…
Palm, Treo 700w
There is an interesting interview of Good Technology John Friend over on GCN this morning about the NTP / Research in Motion patent settlement.
Even though Good made ground on RIM while they were bogged down in legal woes with NTP, Friend wasn’t very pleased with the whole patent mess.
You’re talking to someone who has studied those patents. In the case of NTP, their patents were extremely confusing to understand, and some people have even told me that they may have been written that way on purpose.
If a company invents something and finds a commercial use for it, they should be protected. … Somewhere you have to draw a line if you invent something but never reduce it to commercial success.
Read the full interview here…
NTP, Good Technology, Patent, John Friend
Long time Research in Motion partner Consilient today announced that it plans to compete head-to-head against the BlackBerry.
This is an aggressive move for the 6 year BlackBerry partner that currently only has 20,000 subscribers compared to the 4.5 to 5 million estimated BlackBerry users out there, however, Consilient has something going for them… Their software, simply called Consilient Push is dirt cheap coming in at $3 to $5 per user. This is a mere 10% for what comparable BlackBerry Service costs.
Consilient Push allows corporate and POP email to flow directly to popular mobile phones. Users get secure, easy access to personal and corporate data using a solution that has been built using the latest P-IMAP and OMA Data Synchronization standards.
Via Businessweek Online
Consilient, BlackBerry, Push Email
As I watched Squawk Box yesterday morning I heard the first legitimate news about a new mobile device sponsored by Microsoft called the Origami. Today on the blogs, ridiculously but predictably, this thing is being touted as a BlackBerry Killer.
All I can say is, Are you frigging kidding me? Come on now. You cannot honestly believe that a device just a bit bigger than a VCR tape is actually going to make a dent in the sales of BlackBerry devices. Several high hi-profile bloggers are saying that they are going to get one of these as soon as they come out and being the gadget freak that I am, I will probably give it the once over, however, right now it just seems like Microsoft has decided to come out with the Origami because the Tablet PC business overwhelmingly has failed miserably.
I wonder what genius said “Since we cannot seem to sell Tablet PCs, lets cut them in half and say they compete with the BlackBerry. That will surely get people to notice them.”
Origami, BlackBerry Killer, mobile device
Have you noticed all of advertising for the Treo 700w lately? I’ve seen more TV commercials, listened to more radio commercials, and read more web ads for this thing than I ever have for the BlackBerry or for any other smartphone for that matter. There is a good chance to if you go to one of the really popular BlackBerry sites that you will actually see more advertising for the 700w than you will for the BlackBerry.
Microsoft and Verizon must be spending an awful lot to keep the Treo 700w in the back of peoples minds and I wonder how effective all the advertising will be. I still have yet to ever see a TV commercial for BlackBerry. I’ve heard that they exist but really only get air time in Canada.
