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Sale to Samsung? New PlayBooks? The Week in BlackBerry

Joe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:30:20 +0000

It has been quite a confusing time for Research In Motion. They are clearly a company in transition. Not only are they working furiously on BlackBerry 10 smartphones, but they’re going through major changes. As we’ve learned in the past few weeks, they’re looking at a new chairman of the board, and they’re reportedly looking to license the BlackBerry 10 operating system. This week brings us more rumors. One will have BlackBerry fans salivating. The other might make them retch.

A sale to Samsung?

When we heard the report that RIM was looking to license the BlackBerry 10 operating system, we did see Samsung on the list of potential buyers. That makes enough sense. Samsung is as ensconced as anyone in the smartphone industry, but they’re almost completely reliant on Android. Licensing BlackBerry 10 could give them alternatives, so they’re not married to just one brand. Yet this week’s news could have bigger implications.

A BGR exclusive claims that RIM has explored the idea of selling the company, specifically to Samsung. This isn’t necessarily a sale of the entire company, but perhaps only divisions. In any case, it takes the previous rumors to a whole new level. It also asks the obvious question, what does Samsung want with RIM, anyway?

It really depends on which unit, or units, RIM seeks to sell. If they outright sell the software to Samsung, then Samsung could turn it around and use it to augment Android, creating a hybrid it could call its own. If its hardware or service, well, Samsung could be getting into an entirely new portion of the market. In either case, it makes for a number of interesting scenarios.

BlackBerry fans needn’t worry, though. Samsung subsequently denied any interest in RIM. Says spokesman James Chung (via Reuters: “We haven’t considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM.” So there goes that.

New PlayBooks on the horizon?

When it comes to the PlayBook, the main focus is on the 2.0 operating system, which should hit sometime in February. (Make sure to check out CrackBerry’s hands on.) But after that, there’s a problem. By that point Apple might have already announced the iPad 3. At Mobile World Congress we’ll surely hear of more Android tablets. Anyone thinking about the PlayBook will also have to think: why buy a year-old tablet?

That might not be an issue. According to a report on N4BB, RIM could release two new PlayBooks in 2012. They speculate that a new seven-inch tablet, which would have to contain considerable hardware upgrades over the original, is slated for an April, 2012 release. That will not be an LTE device, but it could have a 3G radio. Then, in December, we could see a 10-inch PlayBook with an LTE chip. By that point I’d also hope that the PlayBook OS gets a considerable overhaul as well.

That’s pretty big news, especially considering the issues RIM encountered with the original PlayBook. It seems that they’re not discouraged, and are quite confident in their new operating system. So it does appear we’ll have something to look forward to in the first half of 2012.

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

Sale to Samsung? New PlayBooks? The Week in BlackBerry

RIM announces BlackBerry Curve 9380 and Bold 9790

Joe — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:30:21 +0000

As expected, RIM has announced two new BlackBerry 7 smartphones, the all-touch Curve 9380 and the Bold 9790. We’ve seen both of these devices pop up in rumors before, so they’re really nothing new. The Curve features a full touchscreen interface, with a 3.2-inch screen at 480 x 360 resolution. That’s nice enough, though not nearly the screen of the Torch 9850. The Bold 9790 is essentially the Bold 9900, though it retains the previous Bold form factor. It’s only 1GHz, as opposed to 1.2GHz, but that doesn’t make a huge difference. It still retains the 640 x 480 resolution, which many more people will find attractive.

Today came only the general announcement. We have yet to hear anything about pricing and availability, though that should come soon enough.

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

RIM announces BlackBerry Curve 9380 and Bold 9790

AT&T announces three new BlackBerry models

Joe — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:07:01 +0000

The AT&T BlackBerry lineup is about to grow a bit larger. After months of waiting and wondering, we finally have an announcement on three BlackBerry 7 smartphones. Starting on November 6th AT&T will begin carrying the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and the Torch 9860. A few weeks later, on November 20th, they’ll pick up the Curve 9360. The Bold will cost the standard $199.99, while the Torch will cost half that at $99.99. The Curve, long a discount BlackBerry model, will cost just $29.99 on a two-year contract.

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

AT&T announces three new BlackBerry models

RIM announces Porche Design P’9981

Joe — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:41:03 +0000

If the above-pictured device doesn’t look new to you, it’s because we’ve seen rumors of it for a few months now. It’s the new Porche Design P’9981, and it’s certainly a change of pace from what you normally see from the BlackBerry. It retains the basics of the classic BlackBerry design, but adds a modern twist. As expected, it is essentially the BlackBerry Bold 9900 in a different shell, so it has that fast processor and the high-resolution touchscreen. Unfortunately, no information about carrier, release date, or price came with the press release, so we’re still in the dark on some of the most important aspects. A rumor pegs the price at $2,000, though. Yikes. After the break, a couple of videos.

Via CrackBerry.

Via tbreak.

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

RIM announces Porche Design P’9981

Welcome to the new BlackBerry App World webstore

Joe — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:28:48 +0000

That’s a shot from the overhauled BlackBerry App World webstore, which is live and running right now. Many of the changes are immediately noticeable, such as the scrolling featured app section on top. I kinda dig it, as it provides a nice little description along with a rating and link to the app. The Top Free, Top Paid, and Newest Items sections remain largely unchanged, though they also got something of a visual overhaul. There are big changes on the individual app pages, too. Gone is the old black and blue background, in favor of a more simplistic white and gray. I have to say I like it, as I always prefer black on a light background over white on a dark background. If you don’t feel like heading over and checking it out now, there’s an additional screenshot after the break.

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

Welcome to the new BlackBerry App World webstore

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 4/4/2011

Joe — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:14:07 +0000

With the PlayBook launch less than two weeks away, I figured we’d see plenty of material this week. While that’s true — we got plenty of BlackBerry previews — there was very little involving the forthcoming tablet. I haven’t even seen much marketing material on TV, which seems odd, too. In fact, the only story from the PlayBook this week was of the negative type.

Did the iPad cause a PlayBook delay?

Since the PlayBook’s announcement last fall, we’d been hearing that RIM was eyeing a first quarter 2011 release. That’s vague enough that it usually won’t cause any stirs. But when they finally announced the release date, it was decidedly in the second quarter. So what gives? Was it a delay, or was Q1 just a guideline, and April 19th close enough?

There was a report from a Taiwanese publication, found on Apple Insider, that suggests the iPad might have caused the slight delay. The second iteration of the Apple tablet is in great demand, with many outlets sold out within an hour of the on-sale date. Apple has needed many, many more displays to fulfill demand. This, the publication alleges, left a lower inventory for RIM due to a “shortage of touch panels because Apple already book up most of the available capacity.”

It would be a shame if that were indeed the case, but it’s no fault of RIM’s. Apple is known to — as Apple Insider put it — “pre-pay for components in order to guarantee priority and favorable pricing.” That’s something you can do when you have the following that Apple does.

Tip of the Week: Completing your BlackBerry contact cards. There are so many things you can link to your contacts, such as Twitter, Facebook and BBM. Take advantage for a complete address book.

Taking a look at the BlackBerry Bold Touch

It was only a matter of time before we got some preview material for the BlackBerry Bold Touch, the long-awaited QWERTY/touchscreen hybrid. N4BB has a ton of videos that show off some of the features. It’s tough not to get excited for this one. We can only hope they make the announcement at BlackBerry World.

Checking out BBM 6.0

That’s a little preview of what’s to come with the new BlackBerry Messenger 6.0, which should be dropping with OS 6.1. That is, probably some time this summer. CrackBerry has this image and more, though there’s really not much revealed. You can see that there are some new symbols for display names, and you can change the message color. But we’ve yet to see any substantive improvements. All in due time, I suppose. In the meantime we’ll feast on little tidbits like this, just because we can.

Roundup

As a follow up to last week’s graph, which showed that OS 6 was only on 10 percent of devices, Kyle from BlackBerry Cool shows us that 41 percent of paid apps from App World are for OS 6. So the active usage is relatively high.
Here’s a nice breakdown of the PlayBook file system layout.
Psyched for NFC payments? So am I. Here’s another use: picture tagging.

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

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 4/4/2011

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/28/11

Joe — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:00:40 +0000

Eventually there will be nothing new to report on the PlayBook. That’s the day we’ll have them in our hands. And even then there will be quirks and other such minutiae that we’ll report. But for now we’re still learning about the device that hit retail outlets in April 19. So let’s dive into that, and some OS 6.1/7 issues.

There can be only one BlackBerry OS

While there is plenty of PlayBook stuff this week, BerryReview has the biggest story — and it’s not directly about the PlayBook. Instead, it involves OS 6.1 and 7, both slated for 2011 releases. Apparently RIM is starting a Highlander project — hence “there can be only one” — that will combine the two operating systems into a super OS. Or, at least, that’s the idea.

Essentially, this will combine the best aspects of the original OS — which will be 6.1 later this year — and QNX. That will be OS 7, which, as we’ve seen on roadmaps, will hit at the end of this year. Basically, QNX removes some essential features of the BlackBerry OS for smartphones, and so RIM wants to make sure those stay in tact. Not only will this hit BlackBerry smartphones, but also the PlayBook eventually.

The downside: it will take until 2012 to produce. But given how awesome QNX looks, and how wonderfully BlackBerry’s core features work, I think it will be worth the wait.

Tip of the Week: Use predictive text on your BlackBerry. I’m actually enjoying it.

PlayBook rundown

We’re getting little tidbits about the PlayBook all the time. Here’s what we learned this week.

Via BerryReview, we learn about some PlayBook OS features via leaked guides. These include file sharing, intranet access, bridge access and pairing, and more. It’s all pretty esoteric, but the geeks will want to check it out.
Kevin at CrackBerry explains why the PlayBook won’t have a native email client upon launch. Then again, Verizon says it’s coming soon.

Only 10 percent of BlackBerry users on OS 6

That’s a pretty depressing pie chart, if only for the salmon-colored sliver. It represents the percentage of BlackBerry users on OS 6, and it’s a paltry 10 percent. Since I’m sure that more than 10 percent of BlackBerry devices out there can run OS 6, this strikes me as strange. Are people just not upgrading? Robb from RIMarkable is not happy with this. I can’t say I disagree.

Roundup

Plenty of links this week.

RIM just gained access to over 30,000 patents. That should make life a bit easier.
BlackBerry Desktop Manager 6.1 should be coming soon, says BGR.
Seeking Alpha thinks that RIM is making a mistake by releasing BBM on other platforms.
In an effort to woo developers, RIM has acquired development team tiny Hippos.

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

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/28/11

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/21/11

Joe — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:47:56 +0000

The day is coming closer. As we X off the days in our calendar we’re inching closer to the Blackberry PlayBook release. Now we have a firm date on it: April 19 at Best Buy. We had previously heard April 10, but by this point we know how these things can change. And now we just play the three-and-a-half week waiting game. But that doesn’t mean we’re without news until then.

RIM announces retail channels for PlayBook, Best Buy pre-orders

Image from BerryReview.

We pretty much know where the PlayBook will be available once it does hit shelves on April 19. Staples and Best Buy were mentioned before, as was Office Depot. This week RIM released its official retail list, which include the following US outlets:

AT&T, Best Buy, Cbeyond, Cellular South, Cincinnati Bell, Office Depot, RadioShack, ShopBlackBerry.com, Staples, Sprint, Verizon, BlackBerry rom Wireless Giant

And in Canada:

Bell, Best Buy, Chapters/Indigo, Costco, Future Shop, Mobilicity, MTS Allstream, Rogers, Sasktel, Sears, ShopBlackBerry.com, Staples, Telus, Tbooth Wireless, The Source, Videotron, Walmart, WIND Mobile, WIRELESS etc., WIRELESSWAVE

You might see some cellular providers there, but there will be no 3G or 4G version just yet. Customers wanting to get in now can pre-order theirs through Best Buy. There are three models to choose from: 16GB for $499, 32GB for $599, and 64GB for $699. Orders can be placed at http://www.bestbuy.com/playbook in the US, or http://www.bestbuy.ca/blackberry in Canada.

Some PlayBook notes:

Check out Facebook on the PlayBook web browser.
How long will the PlayBook battery last? The claim is 10 hours with continual use.
At least one executive thinks that the PlayBook will find that elusive balance between corporate and consumer.

Tip of the Week: Using home screen shortcuts in BlackBerry OS 6. They’re not enabled by default, but if you miss them you can turn them back on.

App World showing improvements with version 2.0

At first it didn’t seem as though BlackBerry App World was a big winner. It was a decent enough app store for BlackBerry, but it didn’t stack up to other smartphone application outlets. Furthermore, it faced stiff competition from Mobihand, and really, it still does. It didn’t bode well for the company that it had just 1 million downloads per day on July 30, 2010, about 16 months after it debuted. But since then there has been steep upward movement.

That July 30 date is significant, because it’s when BlackBerry App World 2.0 hit beta. Two months later they had increased daily downloads by 50 percent. Another 50 percent increase happened recently, but it was a much quicker turnaround. When App World expanded to new markets in mid-February it was at 2 million downloads per day. Earlier this week they announced that they’re at 3 million per day. So in less than eight months they’ve tripled the daily activity of App World. That’s just astounding.

Via BerryReview.

Roundup

RIM has released an enterprise activation app. It’s only available on select models, but it should help get around those $10 to $15 carrier surcharges for BES. Maybe.
Make sure to check out AppVerse, a service of the BBGeeks Store.
RIM is going to pull drunk driving apps from App World. It sounds like a good idea, but could there be unintended consequences?
In case you missed it this morning, check out JeeoSuite WiFi portal, which lets you access your BlackBerry’s contents from your computer.

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

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/21/11

BlackBerry News From the Wire for the week of 3/14/11

Joe — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:54:40 +0000

Now that much of the word is out on the BlackBerry models for 2011, we’re now looking ahead to what we can expect in terms of software. QNX is likely off the table for any of the 2011 models, so we’ll see an evolution of OS 6. This week we got a look at what that might entail.

BlackBerry OS 6.1 bringing mobile hotspots and tethering

The above is a slide featuring information regarding mobile hotspot creation with OS 6.1. That’s a feature that we’re seeing on more and more smartphones, as it’s quite handy to have around — especially when with a business group. Since that’s BlackBerry’s bread and butter, I’m actually quite surprised we haven’t seen this from RIM sooner. In addition, OS 6.1 will contain a tethering option, as well as the ability to toggle NFC. [N4BB]

Tip of the Week: Quickly delete applications form BlackBerry OS 6. You can do it right from the home screen.

Check out the BlackBerry PlayBook music store

Multimedia is a big part of any tablet platform, and we recently learned that RIM will handle this via 7digital, which is one of the biggest music providers for BlackBerry devices. Check out the video above, which depicts the music store in action. [IntoMobile]

Roundup

How RIM blew it with developers
The BBM Social Platform is now in beta, which means we could get integrated apps in the near future.

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

BlackBerry News From the Wire for the week of 3/14/11

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/7/11

Joe — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:00:21 +0000

Roadmaps. That’s the theme of the week. The site N4BB — formerly BBLeaks* — has posted two potential RIM roadmaps. The first covers software that RIM will release this year, and the second is a GSM roadmap. We previously saw a CDMA roadmap, but we haven’t seen much in terms of GSM. And, of course, we have plenty on the PlayBook.

*Had I known N4BB was BBLeaks, we could have avoided an unnecessary tiff. Oh well. Them’s the breaks.

Software and GSM road maps

It might be tough to make out some of the notations above, but it’s all there, even if you need a magnifying glass. RIM has plenty on tap for its software in 2011, which is always going to get us excited. This is especially because of the hardware improvements in the 2011 line of devices. Here are the highlights.

BIS 4.0 is dropping soon, while 4.1 will drop later this year.
It appears that they’re planning for a BB Protect update, and a new beta, in May.
BlackBerry News will get an update in May, while Viigo dies in August.
Look for another Facebook 2.0 beta soon. The full version appears to come not long after that.
And, of course, the mother of them all: OS 7 in the fall. Does this mean QNX? I guess we’ll have to wait until the specific information is leaked>

And that is the GSM roadmap, though as Lucas at N4BB notes, this might be just T-Mobile’s — hence the “under consideration” note on the Torch 2, and the conspicuous magenta header. That appears to put the Dakota/Bold Touch at May/June release. That makes it ripe for a BlackBerry World announcement. The new Curve should drop this summer as well. As for the Torch 2, it might appear to be around the same time as the Dakota, but that arrow probably indicates an August release.

The biggest takeaway is the early release of the Bold touch. Yet any time I hear June/July release for a Bold device, I can’t help but think of the original. I’m confident, though, that RIM has learned from that debacle.

Tip of the Week: Check out our OS 6 browser tips.

Breaking down the PlayBook, and a promo preview

This video is for the super geeky, who want to learn about the technical aspects of the software running the PlayBook. It’s a little long at 8:30, but if you have some down time it’s pretty interesting. That is, if you like getting down to the nitty gritty.

For the rest of you, here is a more of a hyped up promo video. You might see an image of Inside BlackBerry editor and friend of BBGeeks Douglas Soltys in there.

Roundup

Bayalink has a BlackBerry connector for iPad. So you can view your BlackBerry on that screen. Not that you’ll need it. You’re getting a PlayBook, right?
Telus is holding a PlayBook event on March 22. I don’t think that means it’s coming out then, but maybe we’ll hear something official.
In case you missed it, I really don’t like how App World handles e-books.

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

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the week of 3/7/11