BB Geeks » New Developments

Could monetized messages mean cheaper apps?

Joe — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:30:00 +0000

For the most part, our emails have remained sacred as advertising has spread across the internet. We see publishers trying all types of ways to monetize traffic, from display ads to text ads to, as you can see on this site, in-line text ads. What would happen, though, if the concept of in-line text ads extended to email? What if RIM implemented this on your BlackBerry? Via BlackBerry Cool, RIM has filed patents relating to advertising within messages. We know that RIM, through BlackBerry Advertising Service, planned to help developers implement ad network content into their apps, and these patents appear to be it. Will it change how we handle email?

As you can see in the image, the patent covers in-line text linking for messages, plus advertising space at the bottom. Users can use these links to navigate to the sponsor’s website, or else see a pop-up message that hovers over the message. Again, this concept is familiar to most internet users. It’s just going to be foreign when implemented on a BlackBerry.

Don’t take this the wrong way, though — it doesn’t appear that RIM will start adding in-line text links to all of your emails and pocket the profits. It just appears to be part of their initiative to help developers implement more advertising in their applications. RIM knows that adding text link ads to user emails will only enrage the user base, so don’t expect that any time soon. Instead, perhaps this will encourage cheaper, or even free, apps from developers, who will have an easier time adding advertising services.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Could monetized messages mean cheaper apps?

Preview of the new, improved BlackBerry browser

Joe — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:30:15 +0000

If you ask a sample of random BlackBerry users about their biggest problem with the device’s software, and I bet you find a large majority answer the browser. RIM has made some serious improvements since the abomination that was the OS 4.2 browser, but it’s still lacking enough that I often find myself visiting certain sites from third party browsers (like the recently updated BOLT browser). About nine months ago we learned about Skyfire, which was supposed to revolutionize browsing on a BlackBerry. We haven’t heard much about it lately, though, because RIM has been busy creating a Webkit-based browser. This week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we got a preview of what’s to come.

Always ones to travel for events like this, CrackBerry is out in Barceolona covering all the big BlackBerry stories. There are a few, and we’ll have our commentary fired up for News From The Wire tomorrow. As Kevin reports, the browser loads Javascript much faster than the current BlackBerry browser. It also supports HTML 5, which should get the geeks even more geeked up. Want to get even more excited? BGR thinks it saw a hint of Flash on the live4soccer.com portion of the demo. That would be super sweet.

There’s no word on roll-out, but perhaps we could see this with the rumored OS 5.2, which is due out some time this year.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Preview of the new, improved BlackBerry browser

MasterCard PayPass coming to BlackBerry in Canada

Joe — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:53:19 +0000

Contactless payment systems are on the rise, and their success might not be connected to credit and debit cards, but rather to mobile phones. At every mobile conference I’ve been to in the past few years, there has been someone presenting information about how your mobile phone will soon allow you to pay for everyday things. Via IntoMobile, we learn that the future is coming soon. MasterCard Canada is introducing its PayPass system for the BlackBerry. You slap a sticker on the back of your device, and it works wirelessly to process payment (and it works with your BlackBerry, so you can just stick any PayPass sticker on any device). It’s a four-month pilot program, which will hopefully expand soon.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

MasterCard PayPass coming to BlackBerry in Canada

Will your device get an upgrade to OS 5.0?

Joe — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:30:56 +0000

The launch of OS 5.0 appears to be nearing, so you might be wondering if your device is eligible for an upgrade. RIM won’t release the OS for every device, but it will offer upgrades for all of its latest generation handsets, plus one older model — and for that one I’m grateful. After the jump, a list of the eligible devices, plus a hint of when we can expect OS 5.0 to become officially available.

The list:

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8200 series
BlackBerry Curve 8330 (yay!)
BlackBerry Curve 8350i
BlackBerry Curve 8900
BlackBerry Bold 9000
BlackBerry Storm 9500 series
BlackBerry Tour 9630

The cut-off, it appears, is for devices with more than 64MB of internal memory. That would exclude the original generation Curve devices, plus the Pearl 8100 series and the 88xx series.

Good news: the Verizon Storm 9530 update is live now. So does this mean that other OS 5.0 releases will be coming shortly? We’ll keep this updated, and also make sure to check out the Twitter feed for the latest on OS 5.0.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Will your device get an upgrade to OS 5.0?

Bored at work? Try the BlackBerry YouTube channel

Joe — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:30:03 +0000

In the contest of the greatest all-time time-waster, it’s a toss-up between Wikipedia and YouTube. Wikipedia has the advantage of seemingly infinite links, allowing you to hop among subjects for hours on end. YouTube provides cheap, free entertainment that doesn’t involve that whole reading thing. Via BlackBerry Rocks we learn about the official BlackBerry YouTube channel. It’s full of how-to videos, which is great if you have the dual need of wasting time and fixing your BlackBerry. Of course, it’s just a rip-off of the BBGeeks YouTube channel, which was set up nearly three years ago. Y’know, just saying…

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Bored at work? Try the BlackBerry YouTube channel

mSpot brings streaming movie rentals to BlackBerry

Joe — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:30:08 +0000

If the success of Netflix has proven anything, it’s that people still want to rent movies. Sure, there are some out there who want to own their media, but some of us just want to kick back and enjoy a movie without having to fork over the purchase price. Even with Netflix, customers have to subscribe. What if you just want to rent a movie every once in a while? Blockbuster isn’t doing too great, and in any case if you want to rent from there you have to make at rip. Pay per use rentals is an inevitability, and thanks to mSpot, it’s coming to your BlackBerry. They’ve introduced Mobile Movies for many platforms, and thankfully the Berry is on there. Now you can pay for single rentals and watch them anywhere.

If you’re stuck on a train or bus with nothing to do, you can now drop $4.99 and watch one of the roughly 350 movies mSpot currently offers. This is just an initial library. Like any multimedia service, it will take time to get more studios on board. As mSpot’s Mobile Movies service grows, they should be able to work out deals with more studios — and, if I can think wishfully for a moment, maybe they can strike better deals if this takes off.

If you plan to watch more than a movie or two per month on your phone, mSpot also offers Movie Club, which puts movies on a credit system. Each movie typically costs five credits, though that can vary depending on the title. For $9.99 customers get 20 credits per month, $12.99 gets 30 credits, and $15.99 gets 40 credits. These expire at the end of each month. New customers get 15 bonus credits upon signing up.

Would you watch movies on your BlackBerry? People seem to do it on their iPhones all the time — though they might not be experiencing the film. If you’re interested (and not a curmudgeon like David Lynch), you can check out mSpot’s Mobile Movies by heading to http://www.mspot.com from your mobile browser.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

mSpot brings streaming movie rentals to BlackBerry

Two-way sync coming for Gmail and BlackBerry

Joe — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:30:39 +0000

It’s the headline we’ve all been waiting for. Caught this on Berry Review, and they found it in the BlackBerry Connection Newsletter (lots of good stuff in there). In talking about the Enhanced Gmail plugin, they dropped the bomb: “two-way synchronization is expected to be implemented in the near future.” With the two-way sync and the enhanced plugin running, the debate between the Gmail plugin and IMAP/POP retrieval. I encourage woo-hoos in the comments.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Two-way sync coming for Gmail and BlackBerry

Take a look at BlackBerry OS 5.0

Joe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:30:54 +0000

We’ve known for a while that RIM has been working on a new version of the BlackBerry Operating System. Early impressions were not that glowing — not that it’s bad, but just that it’s not that much of an upgrade over the current iterations. Now you can be your own judge, though I would not recommend it. The files leaked onto the BlackBerryOS message board, in its complete, unsanctioned entirety. If you were so inclined, you could head over there and install it on your device. However, BBGeeks does not recommend you install this software. It’s not an official release, so it could be buggy and cause your device to malfunction. Plus, as they note on the message board, it’s a pain to downgrade to your original OS. Thankfully for the curious, someone else loaded it up on his own BlackBerry.

Zack Whittaker of ZDNet.com was kind enough to take the plunge, using his Curve 8900. He takes note of many upgrades, including more advanced ways to customize profiles, better power management, and the addition of Google Gears, among many others. You can check out his findings at the link, or you can check out the gallery of screenshots. It will be a welcome upgrade, it seems, but perhaps not the big leap many hope to see RIM take with the BlackBerry OS.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Take a look at BlackBerry OS 5.0

Check out the just-launched MyBlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:30:42 +0000

Update: It looks like RIM hasn’t fully released this yet. Why they would tell everyone that it will be available Tuesday night and then not make it available I don’t know. But they did.

In case you hadn’t heard, RIM has been preparing a social networking service for a good while now. It was invite-only, as many test runs are, but as of a few hours ago, it’s live to the public, so regular schmoes like you and me can join the cool kids’ club. The outlet, as described through words and screen shots, is more of a hub than a social network, though there are plenty of networking opportunities. The focus, though, will be on tips & tricks and applications. Hmmm…sounds kind of like the focus of a certain site I know…

It looks like it will be centered around a forum, which will allow users to vent and share information with each other. Kind of like the forums we see all around the Internet, like BlackBerry Forums and Pinstack. MyBlackBerry will tailor the network to your device, which is one advantage it holds over other outlets (though the aforementioned forums break down categories by device type).

Might as well give it a shot, right? You can register by visiting blackberry.com/myblackberry.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Check out the just-launched MyBlackBerry

Info on BlackBerry Storm, Bold coming sooner than we think?

Joe — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:26:56 +0000

Well here’s a welcome change. We’re so used to hearing the word “delayed” that it sometimes feels like nothing gets done on schedule. We could be seeing a couple of BlackBerry models, though, before we anticipated. First up is the Storm. No, it doesn’t sound like it’s coming out any earlier — November 1 is the current favorite — but we should hear some news on it sometime today. A Verizon internal email makes it seem like big news, probably the device announcement, is coming. Clearly, we’ll update this further as the information becomes available. It should prove an exciting day for the world of BlackBerry Geekdom.

Thanks to Phone Mag, CrackBerry, BlackBerry News, and everyone else who ran with this.

Next up is the Bold, which AT&T might release a bit earlier than expected. Not that much, though. We’d been hearing October 2 or October 15. The latest is that they’re pushing it up to the last week or so of September. Clearly, this might not be the case. But it’s coming from an inside source, so hopefully this is the real deal. We’ve waited long enough.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Info on BlackBerry Storm, Bold coming sooner than we think?