Posted on July 26, 2007, at 11:25 am .
Here’s something that just popped up on our radar that may be of interest to all you fine-dining fans out there. Effective today, Zagat is offering 1,500 365-day subscriptions to Zagat to Go for BlackBerry. Zagat to Go is a restaurant and entertainment guide for smartphones that gives users access to ratings and reviews of thousands of restaurants, nightspots and hotels throughout the world as well as the best US golf courses. Sounds way better than slumming it like our friends to the left (although possibly less romantic).
There are a few minor caveats before you can get on your way to the guide goodness, however. The subscriptions are first come, first serve, so get there fast. Also, the offer is not open to existing Zagat to Go subscribers, and there is a limit of one per person. To redeem your free subscription, head on over to:
http://mobile.zagat.com/visasignature/index.htm
and register. When you do, make sure you tell them that the ‘Cool sent you.
Posted on July 26, 2007, at 10:54 am .
We don’t really know why we like making fun of BlackBerry Connect so much here at BBCool. Maybe it’s our blogger nature, forcing us to pounce, fierce and lion-like, on whichever wounded gazelle limps too far behind RIM’s otherwise svelte pack of great devices and strong stock price. That’s why it was disappointing to hear that the poor beast still has a bit of life left in her, coming by way of support from Taiwan’s second largest carrier, Taiwan Mobile.
Taiwan Mobile announced yesterday that it was rolling out BlackBerry Connect support for the Sony Ericsson P1i and Asustek M530W handsets, with BBC support for HTC devices possibly soon to follow. Taiwan Mobile started offering BlackBerry service to its customers in late 2006, and expects to have 10,000 BlackBerry subscribers by mid-2008.
So keep running, you steely-eyed gazelle. We’ll meet again in the tall grass of the Internet someday soon.
Posted on July 26, 2007, at 9:42 am .
During a conference call yesterday discussing his company’s quarterly results, Qualcomm’s CEO, Paul Jacobs, said that the company has been unable to resolve its messy patent dispute with Broadcom because a deal would hurt its licensing business. Jacobs told investors that Broadcom wants its customers to be exempt from paying Qualcomm licensing fees for a large chunk of its intellectual property portfolio as part of a settlement, which Jacobs claimed was unacceptable.
Considering that Qualcomm has lost its last two court cases against Broadcom, this might simply be conference call posturing. However, things get trickier when Verizon’s recent deal with Broadcom is taken into account. Verizon is set to pay Broadcom a licensing fee, Verizon’s CEO said he would seek a way to receive compensation for the payments, which many have taken as an expectation that Qualcomm would end up footing the bill. Sounds crazy, but Verizon is Qualcomm’s largest carrier customer, and while no deal is in place, Qualcomm brass has already made overtures about supporting their “very important customer”.
In no way is this messy story over yet. Keep hitting BBCool and we’ll continue to fill you in with all the juicy details.
Posted on July 26, 2007, at 8:49 am .
Seems like today is Wi-Fi day here at BlackBerry Cool. While Thought is asking BlackBerry users whether or not they need a Wi-Fi BlackBerry, Cellular-News is telling us that Wi-Fi phone sales are expected to take a big jump in the next few years.
Although worldwide Wi-Fi phone revenue actually fell 8% to $5 billion in the first quarter of 2007, those crazy cats at Infonetics Research are projecting Wi-Fi will post strong double-digit growth every year through 2010, eventually hitting the magic number of $145 billion. Infonetics offers a two-pronged reason for the uptake: enterprise users want to use Wi-Fi’s corporate LAN and IP PBX capabilities, while consumers want to make use of wifeless broadband and VoIP.
Check out some Wi-Fi statistics from the report after the jump, as well as some more general wireless industry metrics.
Continue reading ‘Wi-Fi phone sales expected to top $145 billion in 2010′
Posted on July 26, 2007, at 8:27 am .
Oh boy. Thought’s really looking to stir it up in his latest editorial. While many AT&T users are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the BlackBerry 8820 (Orange users, you can offer a smug smile right about now), our man Thought dares to ask the question: do we even need a Wi-Fi BlackBerry? This one is sure to create a lot of debate, so make sure to post a comment and let us know what you think.
Continue reading ‘ThoughtPiece: Do we really need Wi-Fi on a BlackBerry?’
Posted on July 25, 2007, at 9:35 am .
Wowee, do we have a bunch of European news today. Jem Telecom, a UK mobile data distributor of BlackBerry, announced today the launch of its Navigation Solution Bundle aimed at UK business employees who spend a significant amount of time out of the office. The bundle includes TeleNav’s GPS Navigator, live traffic information from Traffic TV and journey planning tools from PlanaJourney. Here’s what Jason Theakston, CEO of Jem Telecom, had to say:
“Bundling applications improves ROI for our clients and delivers solutions that address the needs of different departments within their organisation.”
I agree with Jason. Getting things in bunches is always more fun: sacks of money, back-to-back sports titles, a barrel of monkeys… etc. Jem’s bundle is priced at £9.99 per month and is compatible with the BlackBerry Curve, Pear, and the BlackBerry 8800. You can go here for more info.
Posted on July 25, 2007, at 9:20 am .
CyberShift, a global workforce and expense management solutions provider, announced yesterday the commercial release of Necho Expense BlackBerry Edition. The solution allows Necho Expense users to conveniently manage their expenses directly from their BlackBerry device, reducing paperwork, improving data and reporting accuracy, and facilitating faster expense processing.
“The inherent nature of users of Necho Expense is that they are business travelers and otherwise mobile workers,” said Craig Fearon, senior product director at CyberShift. “With Necho Expense BlackBerry Edition, CyberShift is bringing the Necho Expense application to the business traveler and mobile worker, rather than waiting for them to get access to a web browser and their expense reporting application.”
For more info on how to obtain Necho Expense BlackBerry Edition, head to:
http://www.necho.com/mobile
Posted on July 25, 2007, at 8:40 am .
A quick sigh of relief can now go out to all the BlackBerry 8707 users in the world. A team of independent scientists at the UK’s University of Essex are reporting that symptoms such as anxiety, tension and tiredness, previously thought to be related to mobile devices, are not caused by the typical emissions from 3G phone masts.
Essex tested 44 people who had previously reported symptoms or sensitivity to mobile phone technology, and 114 people who had not reported any health effects, at a specially-designed laboratory. The three-year study found that physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and skin conductance were not affected by whether the mast was switched on or off, and did not detect any significant effects in either sensitive or control participants between 3G UMTS exposure and no exposure.
Of course, the study didn’t test the effects of 3G EV-DO use (which we’ve heard causes consumption) or how 3G affects the ever dreaded CrackBerry syndrome, but still good news all around. There you have it RIM: you now have absolutely no excuse to not put a 3G GSM BlackBerry in the hands of North Americans by the end of the year.
Posted on July 25, 2007, at 8:26 am .
Interesting news coming straight out of Brussels today via Cellular-News. They’re reporting that the European Commission will has proposed abolishing a 1987 rule which limits the use of the low frequency/cost 900 MHz spectrum to GSM services. Since 1987, European Union rules have set aside the frequencies between 900 MHz and 1800 MHz exclusively for GSM phones, which helped the E.U. roll out mobile phone services cheaply and quickly.
If the commission is successful, telecoms will be able to use the cheaper spectrum for services like video, data streaming and broadband Internet, estimating that the move would cut the costs of maintaining wireless mobile networks by 40% for the industry.
Obviously no word yet on if those savings would be passed onto the consumer (unlikely), but BBCool will keep you informed. The commission expects the measure to be passed into law by the end of the year. What do you think, folks: good move or bad for our friends in Europe?
Posted on July 24, 2007, at 3:18 pm .
If it came down to choosing between a BlackBerry-based translation solution and shoving a live fish into my ear, I’d probably choose the former. Thankfully, Comcel, Colombia’s largest carrier, has deployed a solution from US text translation company RantNetwork that allows BlackBerry users to translate both text and images (i.e., the solution works with text from both documents and photos taken by the user) into 20 different languages.
RantNetwork is marketing the tool as a way for people to reduce the barriers foreign language present in their business and personal relationships. Here’s what CEO William Grandizio had to say:
“We have been working for years on mobile applications that will change the way the mobile community approaches situations involving foreign languages.”
If you’re interested in the BlackBerry solution, head here. If you’re interested in the “fish thing”, go here.
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