This isn’t the most breaking of BlackBerry news but there is an interesting contest going on in the City of Ottawa, where BlackBerry is playing a central role in boosting the local economy.
Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is home to a staggering number of BlackBerry devices. Being the capital city, the Federal government constitutes around 18.2% of local GDP. That means there is a significant amount of government workers in the region and the vast majority of them carry a BlackBerry.
So if you live in Ottawa, join in the fun. Also, feel free to recommend this initiative to your local government representatives as it could do great things for the local economy.
I have been using BlackBerry Messenger for some time now to organize projects around the office, and I have to say, it is providing some serious competition to my previous solution, Basecamp by 37signals. With the latest updates to BBM, the BlackBerry is an even better tool for SMB (Small to Medium Business).
While BBM doesn’t have all the functionality that Basecamp provides, it does address some core features and it is a solid platform on which to collaborate. Here is a quick guide to using BlackBerry Messenger to run your small business:
RIM is hosting another BlackBerry developer webinar and it’s your chance to get an in depth look at BlackBerry development.
Building on the momentum of their extremely successful Web Development and Toolkits webinar, RIM will be hosting a webinar with a focus on Mobile Application Design Considerations for Java Developers. Details are as follows:
Presenter: Sarim Aziz, Senior Application Development Consultant, Developer Relations
Panelists: Mike Kirkup, Director, Developer Relations
Date: Tuesday October 20, 2009.
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST.
Cleric Software make some helpful and fun applications and they’re having a $0.99 sale. All of their applications are on sale from now through Sunday October 18th, 2009.
If you register with The Jared Company, you get two really decent free BlackBerry apps for your time and effort.
The first app is called One Touch Email, and it is a fast and convenient way to start emailing on your BlackBerry. Once installed, a new icon will be available for one touch access to the Compose Email screen.
The second application you get is called Custom One Touch Voice Mail and it allows you to use a customizable icon that will dial your voice mail.
All BlackBerry devices that are made go through a naming process that is, to say the least, confusing. The device name will often change as a BlackBerry goes from engineering to internal testing, then to carrier testing and finally through marketing and out to the consumer. Throughout the process, sites such as BlackBerry Cool are reporting as much as we know, and trying to keep you up to the minute.
With 2 names circling for the latest BlackBerry Storm, we’re wondering which one you like best. Do you like the sound of BlackBerry Storm 2 with a space, or BlackBerry Storm2, without the space?
With the BlackBerry Storm2 on the way, we’ve been getting a lot of tips about content available for the device. It’s highly possible that the launch of themes in App World will coincide with the Storm2 launch, and users will be able to download a wide variety of themes, games and apps for the new device.
The reason for opening themes to App World is probably due to the fact that RIM is banking on the Storm2 being the ultimate consumer device and themes are the hottest item in the BlackBerry consumer market right now. You can’t launch the Storm2 without great consumer content so it just makes sense. In order to get that content out to Storm2 users, RIM would currently have to rely on third party vendors such as Mobihand, Bplay and Handango. Opening themes to App World therefore eats their lunch and helps App World sales.
Something that will inevitably disappoint about Storm2 content will be the lack of multi-touch games available on the device. Also, we have heard rumors that the Storm2 features support for OpenGL, but it’s not clear whether developers are taking advantage of the APIs. So while the Storm2 will, assuming we’re correct, feature themes and games, that content will simply be ported, with no specific attention given to the new hardware features of the device.
So if you’re a developer, get your hands on a Storm2 and start making some great Storm2 specific content. Storm users buy a disproportionate amount of software and they’re a great market for your applications.
The BlackBerry Storm2 is available for pre-order from Vodafone and it’s free with a new service plan. The service plan is reasonable and the fact that these devices are being offered for free is a huge step in device pricing.
The Storm2 pricing seems to be indicative of a much more competitive pricing model which could be traced to some improvements in the manufacturing process. Since RIM and carriers have much more freedom in pricing, we could see some great sales figures from this device. The original Storm retailed for a couple hundred dollars after a rebate, therefore this device is relatively cheap.
On a less positive note, it’s clear that the new way of naming the Storm as the Storm2 is confusing a lot of people. For example, the Vodafone website lists the device as the Storm2, but the title of the page is “BlackBerry Storm 2.” While I appreciate the marketing efforts to give the Storm a cool name, it’s not exactly the most practical marketing effort.
The gesture brochure for the BlackBerry Storm2 doesn’t show anything too incredible. It points out that SurePress has been upgraded, and due to the multi-touch capabilities, typing is a much faster experience.
Scrolling on the Storm2 has been upgraded and now features inertial scrolling. This is the type of scrolling that you get on an iPhone, and the developers behind BerryScroll have addressed for the original Storm. This brings up an interesting point about RIM eating the developer’s lunch. What’s stopping RIM from implementing your app natively and not purchasing a license? I’m sure the guys at BerryScroll have much more up their sleeves but it leaves you wondering.
On another note, while zooming in is as easy as double tapping the screen, I’m not sure if it was the greatest way to handle the function. Personally, I would much rather a pinch gesture, or something entirely new. Zooming is a gesture that requires a range of motion, rather than a binary style approach. This is a minor criticism but it’s something that you begin to notice after using the Storm2 for a long time.
The Blackberry Storm2 9550 is official, yet unofficial in that RIM marketing hasn’t put up a press release on their site yet. At least we now have access to the full specs for the BlackBerry Storm2 and while we can always complain about memory, it has some crucial features such as WiFi.
