The BlackBerry Developer Conference kicked off with Jim Balsillie announcing a wide range of new tools available to BlackBerry developers that are going to redefine what we think of as a BlackBerry app.
The latest set of APIs available to BlackBerry developers are focused on making ad-supported apps easier to develop, and help to more easily monetize the developer’s hard work. The new BlackBerry Advertising Service will allow developers to integrate ads from networks such as Jumptap, Millennial Media, Navteq, 1020 Placecast, Quattro Wireless and Sympatico.ca. The Advertising Service and SDK will be available in the first half of 2010.
This is obviously a fan vid right? I doubt RIM has gone viral and started putting together ads with no branding or real marketing behind them. Cool idea though!
The above image displays AT&T’s last minute marketing push to raise awareness of the BlackBerry Bold launch tomorrow. I guess they feel that HuffingtonPost readers are the type of people that might be interested, but good luck getting them to pay attention to anything other than the election tomorrow. Maybe if AT&T gets one in Obama’s hands…
We’re sure more advertisements like this are going to be flooding the Internet in the next few days. If you see any good ones on major sites, post a comment below and let us know.
You have to hand it to RIM: they’re not normally known for PR savvy, but they certainly chose the perfect time to debut their BlackBerry Bold commercial on Canadian airwaves. The DVR-equipped Canucks over at MobileSyrup were able to record the commercial during the Heroes season premiere. good job, gents!
The latest report from mobile advertising agency AdMob ran through some numbers based on the four billion ads they’ve served up. As you can see, Nokia remains top dog in mobile browsing activity, capturing a solid 34% of the global share thanks primarily to heavy adoption in Africa and Asia, followed up closely by Openwave (AKA WAP) at 29%. BlackBerry took a sad little 3% slice of the pie, right along side Motorola, Palm’s and Apple’s browsers. The BlackBerry 8300 and BlackBerry 8100 are still on the American Top Ten handsets list, though the top four spots are taken by Motorola. Even internationally, the Pearl does alright, getting 9th. place. In terms of geography, Indonesia has seen about ten times more traffic than last year, and Asia on the whole has seen a significant increase in activity.
Both mobile advertising and video are both still picking up in popularity, but Google’s willing to put their eggs in that basket now that they’ve begun testing ads on YouTube’s mobile page. It’s tricky enough to get BlackBerry users to enjoy mobile video with so few 3G handsets out there, let alone convince them to click through on ads. Screen real estate is also at a premium, which might work out better for advertisers who can claim a bigger chunk of visibility, but end users may just see full-size banners as obnoxious. Many video providers integrate their ads right with videos, which might be a better way to go about things on mobile, since it they don’t impede the mobile browsing experience and provide richer advertising opportunities.
The Weather Network and French-speakering counterpart MétéoMédia have released WeatherEye Mobile and TrafficEye mobile, which do pretty much what you’d expect. WeatherEye offer current conditions as well as short-term and long-term forecast for cities in Canada and other locations. TrafficEye is currently only available for the Toronto area, but the two companies plan to expand the traffic maps, traffic camera images, and other features to more cities in Canada. Both apps are ad-supported and free, and available in English and French versions, so check ‘em out.
By popular demand, we’ve got round two of our interview with the preeminent tech blogger Boy Genius. BlackBerry Cool’s EIC Doug Soltys yaks it up with the Big BG about leaks, carriers, manufacturers, advertisers, MVNOs, and the iPhone. Without further ado, here’s the podcast for your listening pleasure. (Also on iTunes, if that’s your bag.)
$10.5 million is small potatoes for the service of a BlackBerry 8830, plus the limited-time private island offer is a nice extra. Well, says Sprint. YouTube’s down right now, but for whenever it gets back up…
Both mobile advertising and video are both still picking up in popularity, but Google’s willing to put their eggs in that basket now that they’ve begun testing ads on YouTube’s mobile page. It’s tricky enough to get BlackBerry users to enjoy mobile video with so few 3G handsets out there, let alone convince them to click through on ads. Screen real estate is also at a premium, which might work out better for advertisers who can claim a bigger chunk of visibility, but end users may just see full-size banners as obnoxious. Many video providers integrate their ads right with videos, which might be a better way to go about things on mobile, since it they don’t impede the mobile browsing experience and provide richer advertising opportunities. 
The Weather Network and French-speakering counterpart MétéoMédia have 
By popular demand, we’ve got round two of our interview with the preeminent tech blogger 
$10.5 million is small potatoes for the service of a BlackBerry 8830, plus the limited-time private island offer is a nice extra. Well, 
