Posted on January 19, 2009, at 4:36 PM .
Jim Balsillie seems very eager to encourage the consumer side of BlackBerry by stating recently that they’re going “music 2.0.” Although he clearly stated that the BlackBerry is not competing with iPhone, it seems that recent moves are aimed at making the BlackBerry more competitive in the same market. While in Cannes at a music industry conference, he had the following to say about their upcoming Application Center:
“We’ve moved to [music] 2.0, where music is undergoing a radical transformation and it creates a remarkable new opportunity for content owners to monetize their content… [BlackBerry is] already very music centric, what were talking about now is our platform.
We’re ingesting apps now and it goes online in March… [It has] a billing engine and is a channel for developers – you’ll see dozens of music apps.”
The shift to on-device billing of apps and media has been a long time coming. It is said that BlackBerry now caters to somewhere around 50% consumers and this iTunes-like store will be a great revenue generator for all those new customers. At the same time, I feel a lot more can be done for enterprise first, their niche market where they can still make a lot of headway.
[Via]
Posted on January 19, 2009, at 2:07 PM .
Press Prelease
Symphony, Quickr, Domino Designer and XPages to Expand Capabilities on the BlackBerry
LOTUSPHERE — IBM and Research In Motion today unveiled new Lotus collaboration software and developer tools on the BlackBerry platform that will bring collective intelligence to BlackBerry smartphones. The new features will help customers find expertise, form teams, share information, and stay in touch in real time making them more effective and productive while on the move.
“The new Lotus collaboration features and developer tools on the BlackBerry platform will deliver productivity beyond the office extending IBM software and services so that individuals can access all of the resources they need to keep their business moving, anytime, anywhere,” said Bob Picciano, general manager, IBM Lotus Software.
“Team collaboration shouldn’t stall when employees are on the road or away from their desks,” said Jim Balsillie, co-CEO, Research In Motion. “RIM and IBM are strengthening the BlackBerry platform for Lotus with a portfolio of mobile office productivity and collaboration capabilities that will make BlackBerry smartphones even more effective in mobilizing businesses around the globe,”
Continue reading ‘IBM, RIM Mobilize Business With Lotus Software and Developer Tools for the BlackBerry Platform’
Posted on January 19, 2009, at 12:42 PM .
As a Canadian, I live in a world constantly besieged by snow – cold, wet, snow (we don’t have winter up here, we just call it the White Death). Despite being made by Canadians, Canada is not the optimal environment for a BlackBerry: drop your BB at the wrong time in the wrong snowbank, and it’s game over.
Thankfully, the fine folks at Case-Mate make accessories to protect you BlackBerry from such perilous situation. They’ve just released their Smart Skin line of cases for the BlackBerry Bold, a thin but protective layer that will make sure your Bold won’t become an overpriced paperweight. The Bold Smart Skin cases come in three colors and retail for $19.95. You can check them out at the link below.
BlackBerry Bold Case-Mate Smart Skin
Posted on January 19, 2009, at 12:00 PM .
Big news for those of you waiting for RIM’s answer to the iPhone application store. RIM has sent out a message to all registered BlackBerry developers that they are now accepting application submissions for the BlackBerry Application Storefront. Note that this doesn’t mean the Application Storefront is right around the corner, but that RIM is planning to launch it with a large mass of software.
Developers can hit the link below to learn about the submission process and sign up. As you’re submitting your applications for the BlackBerry Application Storefront, please post a comment and let us know how it stacks up to Apple’s notoriously painful process. Do you like the setup? How long does it take to get approved? Whatever you have to say, we want to know.
BlackBerry Application Storefront
Posted on January 19, 2009, at 11:18 AM .
Press Release
The first BlackBerry smartphone to come in the popular flip form factor
Istanbul, Turkey, and Waterloo, Ontario – Turkcell and Research In Motion today announced the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 for customers in Turkey. The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone harnesses the power of the BlackBerry platform and packs a wide range of useful features into a sleek flip design. Its spacious keyboard allows easy typing and dialing and the flip design opens to a large, vibrant internal display, and provides the satisfying finality of ending a call by closing the phone. Customers will also appreciate the smartphone’s external display for previewing calendar reminders, email, text messages and phone calls at a glance.
Please visit www.turkcell.com.tr for other BlackBerry options or call +90 444 0532 for additional information.
BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 features
Posted on January 19, 2009, at 10:36 AM .
Just after Christmas last month, we posted some internal Rogers documents showcasing the BlackBerry Storm 9520, a GSM Storm variant that will feature 3G HSDPA and Wi-Fi. It appears now that the Storm 9520 is starting to peak out into public copy, as indicated by the image above. The image, sent to us by ‘Rogers Dude’ (but not RogersDude69 for some reason) appears to be part of a marketing package, meaning the Storm 9520 can’t be that far away if its on copy being sent out to stores.
Obviously, we have no release date yet for the BlackBerry Storm 9520, but we’ll see what our friends from Rogers can do.
