Posted on May 26, 2009, at 11:51 AM .
Gwabbit is a cool app that we saw at WES 2009. The app searches through your message folder, finds email signatures and converts them into contacts. For those users syncing their contacts to Outlook, gwabbit’s automated capture keeps contacts updated globally.
gwabbit for BlackBerry joins gwabbit for Outlook, as an automatic email contact management solution for both desktops and smartphones. gwabbit for Outlook automatically identifies signatures in incoming emails and creates them as new or updated contacts on your desktop. gwabbit for Outlook is available for a single, one-time fee of $19.95. The two products together deliver complete email contact management for any professional on the road or at their desk.
Gwabbit for BlackBerry is available on App World for $9.99.
Gwabbit for Outlook is available for a one-time fee of $19.95.
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 9:55 AM .
Celebrities are always losing their devices. From Paris Hilton losing her BlackBerry, to Kevin Bacon getting his stolen. These celebs have information that is valuable to gossip rags and incredibly private.
Absolute Software, can prevent situations like Paris Hilton’s from escalating into data and identity theft with its product Computrace Mobile. Computrace Mobile can not only help retrieve BlackBerry devices, it can also remote data delete the device ensuring your data doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
Features of Computrace include:
- Track and recover lost or stolen devices.
- Detect unauthorized software such as file sharing applications.
- Monitor changes to hardware and location (IP address, GPS).
- Remotely delete data and see which files have been accessed.
For more information, see Absolute Software’s Computrace site.
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 9:32 AM .
It will be only a matter of time until the landline has become completely obsolete and nowhere to be found. Mobile phones, and BlackBerry devices in particular, offer a level of communication that the landline simply can’t compete with. Households are switching to mobile entirely and do not feel the need to have a landline anymore.
Around 20% of U.S. households have given up their landlines in favor of cell phones. Wireless-only households increased by 17% from the first six months of 2008 to the second half of the year — the largest jump since the National Center for Health Statistics started collecting data in 2003. For the first time, the percentage of wireless-only households exceeds the percentage that rely on landline telephones alone.
For the period July through December 2008:
- More than three in five adults living only with unrelated adult roommates (60.6%) were in households with only wireless telephones. This is the highest prevalence rate among the population subgroups examined.
- Nearly two in five adults renting their home (39.2%) had only wireless telephones. Adults renting their home were more likely than adults owning their home (9.9%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- More than two in five adults aged 25-29 years (41.5%) lived in households with only wireless telephones. Approximately one-third (33.1%) of adults aged 18-24 years lived in households with only wireless telephones.
- As age increased from 30 years, the percentage of adults living in households with only wireless telephones decreased: 21.6% for adults aged 30-44 years; 11.6% for adults aged 45-64 years; and 3.3% for adults aged 65 years and over.
- Men (20.0%) were more likely than women (17.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Adults living in poverty (30.9%) and adults living near poverty (23.8%) were more likely than higher income adults (16.0%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Adults living in the South (21.3%) and Midwest (20.8%) were more likely than adults living in the Northeast (11.4%) or West (17.2%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
- Non-Hispanic white adults (16.6%) were less likely than Hispanic adults (25.0%) or non-Hispanic black adults (21.4%) to be living in households with only wireless telephones.
See the full study by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 9:26 AM .
MobileVision will be launching software-only or software with hardware bundles that are literally one tenth the cost of many well-known asset solutions.
AssetRelay allows the user to manage any asset by barcode or serial number. Once the assets are recorded, you can have items structured by items in, items out, transfers or actions. Preset configurations are available for your line of business or you can customize your own in a few clicks online.
MobileVision offers Bluetooth and cabled mini-USB hardware options for barcode scanning and signature capture, plus internal GPS support for location awareness. The hardware and software bundles come with full Internet backend management and reporting. The product also features simple integration to any inventory, dispatching or invoicing system through universal standards like web services.
For more information and purchase details, see the MobileVision site.
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 8:46 AM .
Abaq.us is now making available a free version of its GeoRecorder for BlackBerry. GeoRecorder allows users to record, tag and upload their GPS tracks and photos to their myGeoDiary account directly from their device. Users can then leverage the location-based social networking site to post directly to their blog, Flickr, and other social sites. The app requires a Bluetooth-connected GPS device or GPS-enabled BlackBerry.
To download, visit mygeodiary with your BlackBerry Broswer.
Once you visit the link from you BlackBerry, you will be asked for your email and then will then receive a link in your email to verify. Once you have confirmed your email with the app provider, they will send out the link for a free OTA download.
Posted on May 26, 2009, at 8:15 AM .
The line between consumer and enterprise is blurred and many of what RIM has been doing in recent years, reflects a shift in their market. RIM is now selling BlackBerry devices to consumers and enterprise alike. Now, 70 percent of new users are considered a consumer, and overall, consumers make up half of RIM’s user base.
The BlackBerry Pearl is the ultimate introductory smartphone and RIM will be continuing with the series as long as there are still users who have not been converted to the smartphone realm. The BlackBerry Pearl and Pearl Flip are the beginning of this introductory smartphone device roadmap, with a 3G BlackBerry in the pipes already. Although the Flip sold significantly less than other BlackBerry models such as the Curve 83xx, it is still in its infancy, and the device had enough demand to merit making the form factor.
In the coming years we will see more introductory smartphones from RIM to fill the many niches in the market. You will never love every device you see from RIM, but there will always be a device for you.
Here are some introductory devices you may or may not see from RIM:
- 3G BlackBerry Pearl (unofficially confirmed)
- BlackBerry Pearl Slider (we have seen the patents)
- BlackBerry Pearl Touch (RIM is on a streak of combining devices Pearl + Storm)
Personally, I would like to see the conversion rates of BlackBerry Pearl users who move up the smartphone chain to purchase either a Curve or a Bold. I suspect the Pearl does wonders for convincing users of the joys of smartphone ownership.
