Tag: blackberry messengerPage 4 of 14
This screen would look much cleaner if the font size wasn’t set so high.
When we announced the BBM Hackathon winner for BlackBerryCool was Smarter Apps, we didn’t mention what the app actually was. Well the app was hacked together at the hackathon and will be going live in App World soon. The app is called Who’s Around and the concept is really awesome and simple. The app duplicates the BBM experience but uses the BBM Social APIs on top of location to make BBM location aware. This is just like what Wikitude does for Augmented Reality but instead of needing OS 7 and Augmented Reality, you get a similar experience on a wide range of devices.
Once you have downloaded the app and connected it to BBM (make sure you have BBM 6), you can now set your name, avatar and preferences. Everything about the app is intuitive because it’s made to look just like BBM. The major difference in your profile settings is that you can tell the app what you’re interested in, whether it’s sports, business, investment, dating, drinks, movies etc. You can select from a list of preset preferences or customize it with your own interests. The app will then let you search for other BBM users that have the same interests. This is going to be especially cool when we start to see the overlap with BBM and Twitter and connecting users by hashtags. Are you at a conference with the hashtag “network2011″? Then set that as your profile preference and you can search for others at the conference on BBM.
Continue reading ‘Coming Soon: BlackBerry Messenger + Location = Who’s Around? By Smarter Apps’
Remember Riz? He was that guy that started his career with a song called “Ping!!! Me baby!” and we think it was popular enough that it landed him a record deal. Having recently checked out his site, it doesn’t look like he’s doing songs about BlackBerry anymore but he does have a line of t-shirts that he’s selling with custom QR codes and his famous “PING!!! ME BABY” written on the shirt. It would be cool if Riz could sell these shirts over BBM, but from what we hear, you can’t sell physical goods with RIM’s in-app purchase APIs.
Check out Riz’s new line of BBM t-shirts at this link.
Also, if you’re curious about what he’s using to sell his shirts, check out Shopify.
We’re here at the BBM Hackathon in NYC and the event is a decent first for RIM (we can’t remember them ever doing a hackathon). There are about 30 developers that came out and all of them are working on either completely new applications around BBM or adding BBM integration into existing applications. At the end of Day 2 we’ll have demos to show so stay tuned.
So far, we’ve heard from foursquare and RIM and it looks like the BBM Social APIs have been a big success for RIM and developers alike. Foursquare talked about the fact that signups on BlackBerry, post-implementing the BBM integration, have exceeded iPhone and Android. From an anecdotal standpoint, this makes a lot of sense as I’ve seen many of my BBM contacts now sharing their 4SQ location. RIM’s Tyler Lessard talked about how the BBM Social APIs are a natural progression for RIM and this event is just one of many that RIM will be hosting. Lessard mentioned that these events will likely happen globally and could potentially include more than just Java BlackBerry Developers.
Continue reading ‘BBM Hackathon NYC Day 1 Impressions: Foursquare and RIM Success’
Screen Grabber is a free screencapture app for your BlackBerry that now features the ability to send your BBM contacts your screenshots. Another major benefit to Screen Grabber is that it doesn’t leave a watermark on your screenshots. While there are plenty of screenshot apps on the market, Screen Grabber now offers a quick way to share within the app and so it may be time to switch for some. Sharing screenshots is good for gaming, reporting bugs, sharing conversations and more.
RIM recently released a statement saying the company will company with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act in light of the London riots. Compliance with the act could mean RIM would be intercepting and handing over relevant communications. Police have said that BBM was used to coordinate much of the looting and riots and these messages could lead to arrests.
For those unaware of the riots, it seems to have been caused by the death of Mark Duggan, an alleged drug dealer who was shot by a special gang and drug division of Scotland Yard. Duggan also apparently used BBM to send a final message to his girlfriend. He wrote, “The Feds are following me.” Handing over Duggan’s BBM messages to police could also reveal a lot about the individual whose death apparently inspired the riots.
The hacker group TeaMp0isoN targeted RIM’s official blog and left the following message on the site:
Continue reading ‘BlackBerry Blog Hacked in Response to RIM Statement – Hackers Threaten to Reveal Employee Info’
