Posted on January 29, 2008, at 1:42 pm .
Scanbuy has announced that their 2D barcode scanning app for cameraphones is now available for BlackBerry. Using their software, you can now take pictures of particular barcodes similar to those being worked into airports with your Pearl or Curve to access related content like music, pictures and information. They’ve already got a bunch of partners doing some pretty interesting things with the technology, such as the Paris Metro which delivers point of interest and transit information using the barcodes, and Codilink who’s using it to deliver and redeem coupons. There are a lot of great opportunities for this kind of stuff, that’s for sure.
Posted on January 29, 2008, at 12:38 pm .
Vodafone has announced its release of the GPS Pearl, including support for Sat Nav, which offers traffic reports, points of interest and directions. As ever, Brits will be enjoying some great prices, as the BlackBerry 8110 will be available for free if you sign up for any £25 plan over 18 months, or £34 over a year. This release follows a steady line stemming from Spain, but rumors continue to trickle in of seeing this GSM device in North America soon. If you’re looking to pick one up, head on over to Vodafone’s online store.
Posted on January 29, 2008, at 8:26 am .
Microsoft’s Entourage, which is basically Outlook for Macs, is in for a bumpy ride with their 2008 iteration. Not only has direct syncing with BlackBerrys been disabled in Entourage 2008, but so has plug-in support which allowed apps like The Missing Sync to do the job. Now come on, Mac users have enough trouble getting BlackBerrys to work with their system, shouldn’t Microsoft be showing some love? Well, maybe not, it IS Apple we’re talking about, but it’s still too bad BlackBerry’s getting caught in the crossfire.
Posted on January 29, 2008, at 7:55 am .
The gang at BerryReview posted about S4BB announcing that anyone can score a free copy of DoneIn2Minutes with the purchase of any one of their other productivity applications such NextAction!, TaskMaster, and HabitMaster. Most of the applications, including DoneIn2Minutes, are based on the GTD (Getting Things Done) “life management system.” One of the tenets of the system is that any task which can’t be completed in under two minutes should be delegated or deferred. $9.95 is a bit steep for what is essentially a glorified 2 minute timer, so this promotion makes it a bit more palatable if you’re into that sort of thing.
Posted on January 29, 2008, at 7:53 am .
RIM has announced the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 8300 in Uganda in conjunction with MTN, one of the largest telecom companies in that area. MTN will be offering two BlackBerry services in the area: Enterprise Server, which offers Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange, and Novell GroupWise integration; and Internet Service, which offers up to 10 POP3 or IMAP4 email servers including Gmail and Yahoo. RIM has been expanding all around the region, so this new release doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Posted on January 28, 2008, at 3:52 pm .
Red really is making the rounds this time of year, isn’t it? Bell adds one more red BlackBerry to join the growing pile just in time for Valentine’s day. If you’re in the market, you can pick one up for $99.95 on a three-year contract over here.
Posted on January 28, 2008, at 1:10 pm .
Another announcement out of DEMO ‘08 is LiquidTalk for BlackBerry, who provide a system of podcastifying corporate intelligence and pushing it out to employees packing an iPhone, iPod or BlackBerry. The whole thing sounds vaguely reminiscent of Chalk Mobile, who also facilitate push multimedia to a workforce, as well as gather feedback, but LiquidTalk sounds like they’re focusing more on the audio end of things.
Posted on January 28, 2008, at 12:12 pm .
Rove has launched PCMobilizr from the DEMO conference in California today, which looks to be a more consumer-centric version of their Mobile Desktop Client geared for enterprise. PCMobilizr aims to offer access to your desktop computer, home or office, from your BlackBerry using the same view you’re used to. All you have to do is install a handheld and a desktop client, and you’re good to go. If you want to give it a shot, they’re offering a free month-long trial, after which you’re looking at $9.50/month. I’m a little curious to see how it differs from what they’ve already done…
Posted on January 28, 2008, at 9:18 am .
Rumors are a-spreading of the GPS Pearl coming to Rogers sometime soon. The Spanish launch has already been announced, but it’s good to see the BlackBerry 8110 might be hopping the pond so soon. Pricetag is said to be around $249.99 on a three-year contract, and should be coming in a snazzy blue.
Viigo released a little update today, the biggest change being support for feed aggregators like Google Reader. There’s also a few ads from American Express kicking around… They’re few and far between, pretty nondescript, and don’t distract too much from your reading. Aside from that, Viigo’s seen a few usability changes, like taking out the My Channels bar to make a bit more room for feeds, as well as supporting native fonts. I’ve had a few issues with Viigo’s feed menu text size when trying out new themes, so the native font support is a nice addition. There’s also a new E-Mail to Me menu option from articles, for when you’re sure you want to look at something on the big screen later on. As for aggregators, Viigo is now allowing you to add existing OPML files from aggregators such as Google Reader, My Yahoo! and Bloglines. It’s a bit tricky to find, though – go to Add Channels, Add your own channel, and Add Aggregator. 
