Author Archive: James Richardson

Seven new BlackBerry Smartphones coming soon

It was only this morning that we posted about BlackBerry App World downloads reaching the 1 billion mark. Following on from that we now have some further news and figures from RIM which includes the announcement of seven new BlackBerry Smartphones to launch in the coming months. Now the big question here will be are these seven new phones actually seven separate models? We must not forget that most new BlackBerry Smartphones come in two flavors, GSM and CDMA. For example we already know RIM will be launching the Bold 9900 (GSM) and the 9930 (CDMA). So are RIM calling this two new phones when essentially it is really one? We will have to wait and see I suppose.

Anyway, it is jolly exciting stuff and if you want to see further facts and figures such as BBM stats and BlackBerry subscriber figures you can do so below.

BlackBerry App World downloads hit the 1 Billion mark!

BlackBerry App World may not have many of the same style of apps you are likely to find in Apples App Store or in the Android market but that is not to say it isn’t a huge success. Over on the official BlackBerry Blog RIM have made the following statement:

“BlackBerry App World is now in over 100 countries, seeing an average of 3 million downloads per day, and we recently crossed the 1 billion app download milestone!”

As we have mentioned recently the BlackBerry Smartphone is in decline in North America, being out sold by both iOS and Android but in many parts of the world the BlackBerry is still steaming full ahead and this new statement from RIM emphasizes that.

Coincidently, this week also sees an update to BlackBerry App World, to version  v2.1.4.9. I cant see what changes have been made so if you are waiting on version 3.0 that is being worked on you will have to carry on being patient.

Anyway, well done RIM on 1 Billion downloads.

Posted by: James

BlackBerry PlayBook featured in Renaults latest concept car

Well it looks like RIM have a new friend and it is Renault. Renault’s latest concept car neatly has the BlackBerry PlayBook mounted in the console!

With the BlackBerry PlayBook integrated into its latest concept, the FRENDZY becomes an innovative office on wheels, perfectly doubling up as a commercial vehicle and a comfortable passenger car, ideal for both business and pleasure.

For business users on the road, the ultra-portable BlackBerry PlayBook simply plugs into the dashboard, delivers advanced performance, uncompromised web browsing, with support for Adobe Flash, HD multimedia and advanced security features and out of the box enterprise support.

Research from Protect your bubble shows that Dance fans are most at risk of losing their mobile at festivals this year

Protectyourbubble.com, the gadget insurance specialist, has found that 1 in 4 festival goers will lose something. Dance fans are the worst with over one in 10 losing their mobile at a festival (12%), despite 43% owning an expensive iPhone.

Protectyourbubble.com polled Wireless Festival goers, quizzing music fans of the different genres to find out how likely they are to lose their phone and other items. Hip Hop fans, though losing their mobiles slightly less (9%), place themselves at the most risk, with 29% bringing along BlackBerry’s and over 70% admitting to not having any mobile phone insurance cover at all. 84% of the group also confessed to drinking over 7 pints of lager at a festival, placing their gadgets in even bigger danger. Twice as many gadgets are lost from ‘drunken incidents’ (56%) than through being stolen (21%) or dropped (12%).

Pimms-drinking Pop fans are the most likely to look after their gadgets with them half as likely to have their phone stolen and one in three (35 per cent) having specific mobile phone insurance cover. They also bring the least money with most (61%) bringing under £40 to a festival compared to Dance fans who flash the cash with 15% spending well over £80 on the day. On average people spend £54.65 at a festival.

Rock fans are the most loyal fans with 32% travelling over 100 miles for the day. They are also the most likely to leave their iPhone at home with 29% bringing cheap ‘dumb phones’ to a festival with them. They are the most likely to lose other items at a festival though, with 8% losing their shoes and 5% losing their girlfriend or boyfriend.

BlackBerry SDK update

If you are a BlackBerry developer or it is something to are looking to pursue then the following news from RIM will be of interest.

RIM has announced the availability of the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK v 2.1 for BlackBerry Smartphones. This update comes shortly after the introduction of the BlackBerry® WebWorksT SDK v 2.1 for Tablet OS [http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/06/blackberry-webworks-sdk-tablet-os-version-2-1/] and brings similar functionality and APIs to the BlackBerry® Smartphone OS. 

The new capabilities that WebWorks developers can now leverage include NTML & BASIC Authentication support, Camera API, Top Banner Indicator API, Enhanced Push APIs and improved rendering speeds for some applications. The APIs enable web developers to deeply integrate with the BlackBerry Smartphone OS and thereby build feature rich apps that offer more immersive and interactive end user experiences. Other benefits developers can derive from the new application functionality and APIs are better app monetization, diversified development approaches, support for standardized security and better integration with the widely popular BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM) Social Platform.

Developers can learn more about the new APIs at http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/07/blackberry-webworks-sdk-smartphones-v2-1 and can download the latest WebWorks SDK for BlackBerry Smartphones at http://us.blackberry.com/developers/browserdev/widgetsdk.jsp.

Posted by: James

RIM are not struggling on this side of the pond.

Despite sales of BlackBerry Smartphones being on the decline in North America it is encouraging for us BlackBerry fans to see that in Europe, the Middle East and Africa things are going the other way. The below statement was tweeted by Research in Motion the other day and it looks like they are pretty proud of themselves.

“BlackBerry continues momentum across EMEA with 1 Million+ new subscribers added in less than 3 weeks,”

I am seeing negative articles daily across the web and this just goes to show that although our friends over in America are ditching BlackBerry for the likes of Android and iOS, RIM are still generating new customers. With 13.2 million BlackBerry Smartphones being shipped in the last quarter RIM are far from doomed. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that the devices they are producing are lagging behind the competition and the sooner they can show us a Smartphone running QNX the better. Until then I shall still be carrying my trusty BlackBerry.

Posted by: James

Free keyboard and mouse when you buy a Motorola XOOM

Either Motorola are feeling rather generous or they are feeling desperate because for this month only when you buy a Motorola XOOM you also get a FREE wireless keyboard and mouse worth £74.99/€89.99 (UK and Ireland only, while stocks last).

Which of the above options are true, if any, is anybody’s guess but if I was a betting man I would choose option number two.

If you remember when I reviewed the XOOM I didn’t think it was the best option when looking to purchase a large Android tablet. Anyway, if you are tempted by the above offer head on over to the usual retail outlets and snap up a bargain.

Posted by: James