We just caught a story on BlackBerry’s poor penetration into China, even in light of the go-ahead given in July. Viable language support is still an issue, and a tough nut to crack for RIM. China Mobile is offering group plans for anyone who smuggles the devices in from Hong Kong or elsewhere, but they’re still unavailable for sale locally. There’s upwards of 600 million mobile users in China, and needless to say, RIM wants to get through the logistics so they can get in on the action.
Monthly Archive for September, 2007Page 3 of 10
China still Berryless
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Obviously, when we heard that Lypp was offering free long distance calls to Canadian BlackBerry users, we guffawed in disbelief. Of course, the bit where they take a jab at Canadian wireless rates got us on their side. Supposedly, Lypp is offering their service for free until the end of October. We’re jumping through the registration hoops now to see how well it all works. Any other Canucks in the house should give this a shot to see if it really is too good to be true.
Today’s the day that’s been rumored for T-Mobile’s release of the BlackBerry 8320, which has now been confirmed by a RIM announcement. The online store is stocked, and a few folks have said that they’ve been able to find the gold and titanium-clad BlackBerrys in their local T-Mobile outlet. Boy Genius already has his hands on one (go figure), and has done a side-by-side browser battle with the BlackBerry 8300 to test out EDGE versus Wi-Fi speeds. The results are interesting, to say the least. He makes a solid case that Wi-Fi for data transfer isn’t that big of a deal, so unless you have UMA support, the BlackBerry 8320 won’t rock your socks.
Not only is RIM sponsoring the Ontario Linux Fest lined up to start October 13th. in Toronto, but they’ll be hiring open source gurus there as well. Linux and the like supposedly play a big part in RIM’s internal workings, so what better place to pick up fresh, local talent than a Linux convention in Toronto, a scant two hours drive from their Waterloo home base? Linux is lined up to be a major platform for mobiles in the next couple of years; it’s good to see RIM getting friendly with it at least.
We just found a cool site called NetworkSolutions through BlackBerry Insight that lets you not only check domain availability from your mobile browser, but even buy it through their 800 line. Now this might seem like a pretty esoteric service to offer, but there’s a lot of people out there who hoard domains, sometimes to great profit. Hell, just look at the iPhone.com guys (although they weren’t really squatting, to be fair). NetworkSolutions could let you nab that domain name as soon as you think of it, no matter where you are.
Josep at Miblackberry just reminded us that Connect with the Experts is on the way, starting off in London on October 11th. What is Connect with the Experts, you ask? Well, “The Connect With The Experts - BlackBerry® Technical Seminar for IT Professionals is a seminar series designed for Information Technology experts by BlackBerry experts. A selection of workshops over the course of this one day event offer focused BlackBerry content for the IT manager or administrator who needs in-depth, technical information on how to get the most from BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, achieve optimal BlackBerry smartphone deployments and how best to mobilise applications for BlackBerry.”
The London seminar costs £149 while it’s on an early bird special through September, so sign up while it’s hot, you British IT dudes.
Gizmo has been doing a desktop client for SIP VoIP calls, but now they’re moving into mobile territory with a beta version of their Skype-esque software. Keep in mind that this is still in beta and by the sounds of the forums there’s still a lot of ironing out to be done, but who can argue with cheaper long-distance calling? Besides the calls, they’ve also got a meta chat client which lets you IM buddies on Gizmo, MSN, AIM, Yahoo, and Jabber.
Metrico has recently announced that they have expanded their testing facilities sixfold, and are ready to continue doing testing for not only BlackBerrys, but for Samsung, AT&T and T-Mobile’s devices as well. Wireless testing is no small endeavor - these guys create simulated human skulls, complete with fluids, to test their effects on transmission quality. Some of Metrico’s dummies use $20,000 ears that mimic human characteristics. Yow, testing really is no joke for these guys.
Mark your calenders, ladies and gents, because in two weeks’ time RIM will be releasing their quarterly results. From the information dished out Thursday October 4th., 5:00 PM ET, we’ll get a clear view on how much the iPhone has slowed RIM’s momentum, if it has at all. The results will also set the bar for the upcoming fall. We’ve seen a lot of BlackBerrys in the last few weeks, which can only be ramping up to the big Christmas push. If you’re looking to listen in on the live webcast, you can check it out here.
You might have noticed a few issues over the last day or two here at BBCool. Our readership has grown significantly and managed to exceed our server capacity before we had a chance to find something a little more our size. After some frantic shuffling, we’ve miraculously survived and found a new home for BBCool where she’s settling in nicely. Thanks a ton for your patience and continued patronage, guys. It’s actually kind of bittersweet having your site crash because so many people wanna check it out.
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