Posted on November 9, 2009, at 1:03 pm .
RIM have a great new initiative called the BlackBerry Academic Program that will provide colleges and universities around the world with a curriculum and course content to offer courses in administering and supporting the BlackBerry solution and developing for the BlackBerry platform.
These courses are going to be good for helping boost not only the BlackBerry developer community, but the smartphone industry. The more young, bright students that are interested in these technologies, the better.
Course content is currently available for mobile application development for BlackBerry, administration of BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and support for BlackBerry.
For more information, see the BlackBerry Academic Program official page.
Posted on November 9, 2009, at 12:27 pm .
Today is the first day of the BlackBerry Developer Conference and Cortado are running fun competition they call “Apps Need Printing.” The challenge calls on developers to test Cortado’s new, Java-based CHAPI (Content Handling API, JSR-211) interface and submit suggestions for the best and most original use of printing within an application.
The deadline for submission for the “Apps need printing!” competition is December 9, 2009. In addition to originality, expected market opportunity will also be a factor when deciding the winners. First, second and third place winners will receive a Nintendo Wii as well as a Cortado marketing and partner package worth $5,000 USD.
By the end of the year, Cortado plans to provide BlackBerry users with its printing service for free. Providers of BlackBerry smartphone applications will also benefit from the service because they will be able to add the “Print” function to their own app at no cost.
Can anyone think of some cool apps that would benefit from printing?
Posted on November 6, 2009, at 2:29 pm .
A recent study by Retrevo has some really funny conclusions regarding the personalities of BlackBerry versus iPhone users.
The study reveals the following:
- Retrevo asked, “What makes a person most attractive to you?” iPhone owners preferred cool gadgets over a college degree three to one.
- One in three iPhone owners has texted or emailed their significant other to break up.
- One in three iPhone owners say that, if their partner had out-of-date gadgets, it would be a turnoff.
- One in five iPhone owners admits to frequently watching “adult material” on their iPhones. (Twice as many as BlackBerry owners).
- One in four iPhone users has broken up with their partner because that person spent too much time on their mobile device.
The study also notes that “Compared with other cell phone users, iPhone owners are more likely to see themselves as media buffs, extroverts, and intellectuals,” with 40% of iPhone users claiming to be “intellectual,” and only 36% of Blackberry users saying the same.
[Via]
Posted on November 6, 2009, at 2:03 pm .
Emma Roberts
In the past we’ve done roundups from
Celebrity BlackBerry Sightings and being Friday, it seems like a good time to do another. The obvious device of choice for Hollywood’s elite? The BlackBerry Bold. Guess who loves the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (after the jump)?
Click through for more celebrities and their BlackBerry Bolds
Posted on November 6, 2009, at 12:48 pm .
A new app circulating the blogosphere, Blurts, gives you important notifications from your BlackBerry, to your PC. Whenever you get a call, email, or SMS notification, you see it on your desktop, which stops you from having to reach in your pocket and check your BlackBerry.
Blurts Pro Features:
- Display Caller ID Alert
- Display Email Alerts for all email accounts
- Bluetooth auto connect
- Display SMS/Text Alert
- Send SMS/Text from your computer
- Answer call from your computer
- Ignore call from your computer
- Activate Speaker phone from your computer
- Control call volume from your computer
- Place/Dial call from your computer
- Disconnect call from your computer
- Blurts will auto start on device reset
- Options to control alerts
Blurts costs $4.99 until November 15th (regularly $5.99).
Another application worth trying, that does the same thing, is Elertify. Elertify also costs $4.99 until November 15th but it has a speech component which Blurt does not seem to have. This might make Elertify a better deal, but we’ll have to give you a head-to-head review soon.
Posted on November 6, 2009, at 12:35 pm .
BGR is reporting that the Curve 8900 will soon be available in white. While we don’t have any info on pricing or an exact launch date, it’s interesting to see carriers continue to launch old devices with a new paint job. The Bold 9000 looks good in white, and so does the 8900. Anyone want their BlackBerry Storm2 painted white?
Posted on November 5, 2009, at 5:07 pm .
The Sprint BlackBerry 8530 has been announced by Sprint and while we don’t have pricing and release dates yet, there is still some interesting news embedded in the press release.
According to the press release, “Sprint’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 will offer BlackBerry App World for instant access to thousands of applications. Sprint has employed an open Internet approach, and the Sprint Application Developer Program has been providing tools for third-party developers, since Sprint first launched the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001.”
These two statements are vague but seem to suggest that Sprint will be offering both App World, and their Sprint branded content. Sprint isn’t saying much about how they will offer BlackBerry App World, but hopefully it will come fully preinstalled. Sprint is also very vague about how they will deploy content created in their Application Developer Program. Ideally, it would go into App World, but it’s more likely it will be made for preload. Overall, I’m hoping carriers stop trying to compete with App World and just let it be the place where BlackBerry users go to get all their apps.
In any case, the 8530 will come in Black, Royal Purple and Red. Sprint will also be offering an All You Can Eat data plan for $69.99 per month.
Posted on November 5, 2009, at 2:46 pm .
The latest theme from Bplay is the Space Slideshow theme that features some well-crafted icons and a rotating wallpaper of great images of space.
Space Slideshow is available for $5.99.
Looking for a great site for Space news? Check out ParabolicArc.com.
Posted on November 5, 2009, at 2:11 pm .
The subject has been brought up countless times: will Microsoft ever buy RIM? Surely, if you ever spoke with Jim Balsillie or Mike Lazaridis, the idea would be out of the question, but who knows?
National Bank analyst Richard Tse thinks it’s a possibility, saying that if shares in RIM keep falling, investors should consider it a possibility.
Talking about the Microsoft buyout, Tse says: “Sticking with Microsoft, sure Windows Mobile 7 is on its way but wouldn’t RIM be able to offer what they’ve strived to get beyond their OS and Office – another wedge into the enterprise. We sure wouldn’t rule this out.”
Posted on November 5, 2009, at 12:01 pm .
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is basically a Bold 9000, with updated specs and in a Curve 8900 form factor. It’s for this reason that the devices are probably best compared in pictures that speak for themselves.
Click through for some comparison pics of the Bold 9700 versus the Bold 9000
