Posted on May 25, 2009, at 10:37 am .
I have taken my BlackBerry device to several conferences and I’ve found that there are a few applications I cannot live without. These applications should help you save money and be organized while on the road.
Mobile Data Alerter
Mobile Data Alerter is a simple application that allows you to set thresholds for all your data rates. The app will monitor your WiFi data, roaming and non-roaming data. By setting alerts for your roaming and non-roaming data, you can be assured that you won’t get a huge bill at the end of the month.
Download Mobile Data Alerter for your BlackBerry FREE.
[ED NOTE: Mobile Data Alerter is currently free but they will be charging for it eventually.]
Continue reading about apps that save money and keep you organized
Posted on March 2, 2009, at 7:28 pm .
Our friends at Coveroo are presenting at DEMO 2009, a conference where companies launch in front of venture capital folks, bloggers and traditional media. In between the sessions, Coveroo was taking people’s phones and using their laser etching to customize attendees phones. Not one to pass up a cool deal, I handed over my Sprint BlackBerry Curve to go under the Coveroo (friggin’) laser (beams). About two minutes later, I had what you see above. Coveroo is now etching on about 60 new additional devices as of today as well as adding in finishes such as metal and glow in the dark. I’m quite pleased with the end product, check them out on their website and be sure to tell them that BlackBerry Cool sent you!
Posted on January 30, 2009, at 12:23 pm .
2009 is barely out of swaddling clothes, but it’s already time to talk about WES 2009, which takes place in sunny Orlando, Florida, from May 5th to 7th. Maybe that’s because WES 2008 was such a great show, with tonnes of people, energy and enthusiasm. Our friends in Waterloo are already banging the drum for registrations, and while I would normally ignore such requests until the last possible minute (no offense meant guys, I also have this mindset with movie rentals and filing taxes), RIM has sweetened the pot with a fairly hefty discount. If you register for WES 2009 before March 6th, you can save $400, not exactly chump change in these troubling times. We’ve included the WES registration link below, as well as links for hotel registration and a list of keynote speakers (Mikey L. and Malcolm Gladwell, yes!). See you at WES 2009!
WES 2009 Registration Page
WES 2009 Hotel Registration Page
WES 2009 Keynote Speakers List
Posted on January 9, 2009, at 6:46 pm .
While CES isn’t exactly a mecca for BlackBerry news, BlackBerry Cool is still dedicated to bringing you the latest from Las Vegas. Taking a break from roaming the strip and pretending to be Amy Winehouse, Power User Nan Palmero has finally made it to RIM’s CES booth, and has regaled us with photos and impressions.
Hit the jump to see what goodies the BlackBerry Booth brought to CES 2009 and don’t forget to post a comment if you want Nan to sniff something out.
Continue reading ‘CES 2009: BlackBerry Booth gallery, impressions’
Posted on December 2, 2008, at 10:40 am .
BlackBerry Cool was the first to tell you about RIM’s FREE Breaking New Ground: Fall ‘08 BlackBerry Technical Seminar a few weeks a go, and now we’re here to remind you that Breaking New Ground takes place TOMORROW from 9amET – 5pm ET. Here’s some of the Seminar’s highlights in case you’ve already forgotten.
Mike Kirkup, RIM’s developer relations guru will provide a recap recap of the key presentations from the BlackBerry Developer Conference held in October
“So You Want to Develop for BlackBerry Smartphones” on the Developer Agenda
“Application Deployment, Security and Management Best Practices” on the Administrator Agenda
Breaking New Ground BlackBerry Technical Seminar — Register Now!
Full Breaking New Ground Developer Agenda
Full Breaking New Ground IT Administrator Agenda
Posted on November 26, 2008, at 12:35 pm .
While some may balk at thinking about WES 2009 before we’ve even reached December 2008, those people probably do not realize that WES is where the BlackBerry ecosystem gets its bread buttered. Besides, the early bird gets the BlackBerry, as the story goes.
RIM has posted a WES 2009 PDF e-brochure and budget planning tool at www.attendwes.com that outlines the costs of attending WES. More than a price pitch, the PDF is a useful tool to help plan for the total cost of attending WES, including registration fees and estimates for flights and hotel costs.
Registration for WES opens February 2nd, 2009. You must remember to register by March 6, 2009 to receive the Early Bird $400 discount! While you’re at it, you may as well sign up to be notified of the latest WES 2009 announcements. See you at WES 2009!
WES 2009 Sponsorship Prospectus
WES 2009 Budget Planning Tool
WES 2009 e-Brochure
|via BerryReview|
Posted on October 9, 2008, at 3:04 pm .
UPDATE: Just got an email from Rick Segal, member of the BlackBerry Partners fund, confirming that he can also participate as a judge! This is great news for all developers participating, as I’m sure he’s looking to break open the vault and cough up some term sheet love for the BlackBerry Nation.
We’ve had a long history of being excited about being excited for the BlackBerry Developer Conference since it was first announced back in May. Our excitement reached a high point last week, when we told you of our participation in the BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge and the What Makes a Great Mobile Application? panel. I’d now like to formally introduce another DevCon event that can’t have us any more excited: The BlackBerry Cool 15.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is an event we’re running to give exposure to BlackBerry developers with innovative and “cool” software ideas while providing them with a relaxed forum to interact with other like-minded people. The BlackBerry Cool 15 is a celebration of the BlackBerry development community and a good excuse to have a great time! Here’s how it will happen:
* We’re looking for 15 registered DevCon developers willing to display their innovative, pre-1.0 software release in front of an audience at the BlackBerry Developer Conference.
* Each of the 15 selected developers will have 1-2 minutes to pitch their idea or application, followed by 2-3 minutes of questioning by a judges panel.
* After all the developers have made their pitch, the audience members will vote on the best BlackBerry application. The winner will receive some great prizes which will be announced shortly.
* The whole event will be filmed and eventually displayed on BlackBerry Cool for the entire BlackBerry Nation to see.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is being sponsored by the BlackBerry Partners Fund, which will supply both the adult beverages and developer prizes (thanks guys!). Our judging panel is a ‘who’s who’ of the BlackBerry blogging world, comprised of Al Sacco from CIO.com, Kevin Michaluk from CrackBerry.com, Hayden James from Pinstack.com (unconfirmed) and yours truly.
The BlackBerry Cool 15 is going to be a great time so make sure to come. It will take place on Monday, October 20th after the DevCon opening reception (more specific details to follow). Are you a developer interested in making a pitch to a room full of VCs, RIM employees and peers? REGISTER NOW!!!
Posted on October 2, 2008, at 2:45 pm .
October is here and that means we’re only a few weeks away from the BlackBerry Developer Conference, which is running from October 20-22nd. Not only is the BlackBerry Cool staff excited to make time with all the BlackBerry Developers out there, we’re also participating in an official capacity.
Our boy Kevin from CrackBerry also broke some exciting news yesterday when he reported that the BlackBerry Developer Conference is going to be littered with free BlackBerrys for attendees! I know for a fact that BlackBerry Developers are always in need of a few extra BlackBerrys for testing, so this should make everyone happy (oh please let them be BlackBerry Storms!). I’ve also heard a rumor floating around that the two Best of Show $150,000 Developer Grand Prizes might be doubled!! That’s over half a million in prizes, folks, and that doesn’t even include the prize money for the individual Developer Challenge categories!
UPDATE: Just got an email from Rick Segal of the BlackBerry Partners Fund. He loves the idea, and is going to sponsor us!! Still not sure about the name (post some suggestions, please), but for now the BLACKBERRY COOL 15 IS ON! More info to come!
There’s one more thing I wanted to float by you, though. Even though the BBDC is all about developers, with so many of them at the show, it’s going to be hard for many to get the exposure they need. BlackBerry Cool has been thinking about running an event during the BlackBerry Developer Conference… an event (maybe) called the BlackBerry Cool 15. Here’s the idea:
- We get about 15 registered developers all in one room with an audience.
- We’ll give them 1-2 minutes to pitch their idea or application, followed by 2-3 minutes of questioning by a judges panel.
- After all the developers have made their pitch, the audience members vote on what was the best BlackBerry application.
- We’ll film the whole thing and give all the developers great exposure, and some cool prizes to the winner.
What do you think BlackBerry Nation? Does it sound like a (ahem) ‘cool’ idea? Post a comment and let us know. We’ll see you in Santa Clara!
Posted on September 15, 2008, at 4:08 pm .
A reality of every technology conference is that news gets missed, and this year’s CTIA was no different. Ironically, we missed meeting up with the boys and girls of I2 Telecom not because of general conference business, but poor scheduling on my end. When I saw I2’s press release hit the wires today, I was immediately reminded just how excited I was to see their MyGlobalTalk service.
Put simply, MyGlobalTalk is a VoIP application that allows you to talk to friends and family oversees on the cheap through the magic of the Internet. Requiring only a single call and rates as low as 2 cents per minute, MyGlobalTalk sounds like a winner, even while in beta.
Look for more about MyGlobalTalk on BlackBerry Cool in the future. For now, go to http://www.myglobaltalk.com for more information.
Posted on August 6, 2008, at 4:24 pm .
So, we listened in on the talk from Edel Ebbs, RIM’s VP of Investor Relations at the RBC Technology, Media and Communications Conference today, and she had a few interesting things to say regarding the expanding consumer segment, the importance of fixed-mobile convergence, and future drivers for growth. The majority of sales still rely on hardware, but software and services revenue definitely helps. Edel went on to talk about RIM’s growing branding strategy, which we can see today in their latest advertisements showing off the BlackBerry device as an all-encompassing lifestyle choice, and is just the beginning of a bigger push in the last half of the year. That’s of course a good segue way into their consumer push…
If you’d like to hear the conference talk for yourself, head on over to RIM’s investor relations site…
…otherwise, peek under the jump for the run-down.
