Much like Kevin, I too spent most of my time at the BBDC praising the two nice gents from Google, but soon left them alone after they refused my third request for a job (one day…). Turns out it was a good thing I left them alone, as they were busy prepping an update to Gmail Mobile 2.0. Gmail Mobile has always been a must-have app for Gmail users that want to keep their Gmails separate from their regular BlackBerry inbox, and the Google team has made it even better. The most notable updates are basic offline support and multiple account management, but you can see the full update breakdown after the jump!
Head to m.google.com/mail to download the new version. Google: my offer still stands. I will work for peanuts.
As the power of our BlackBerrys and other smartphones grow, it’s always interesting to see the new ways in which people start using them to either send or receive information. I have the Google Search button sitting in the top six icons of my BlackBerry Bold’s Zen theme, so I can personally attest to the growth in mobile search (perfect for a quick IMDB or settling a bar bet), but I didn’t think the numbers would be quite this large.
M:Metrics is reporting that in June 2008, 20.8 million U.S. mobile subscribers and 4.5 million European mobile phone subscribers accessed search during the month, an increase of 68% and 38% from June 2007, respectively. The UK had the highest penetration of mobile subscribers using search at 9.5 percent, followed closely by the U.S. at 9.2 percent. Mobile search is growing not only in number, but in frequency as well.
“It is interesting to note that as we see the number of mobile search users increase, the frequency of activity is also growing,” observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore. “The number of people accessing mobile search at least once a week grew 50 percent in Europe, with France and Spain leading at a rate of 69 and 63 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans. We have also seen a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the U.S. market.”
Question time, folks: what do you search for on your BlackBerry? Please don’t say porn.
If you weren’t already keeping tabs on the U.S. elections news through Viigo, Google now has a mobile site to help you keep up to date. The site’s not much to look at but there’s plenty there, including links to McCain and Obama’s YouTube video channels, check out what they’re reading through Google Reader, the latest election news items, and even mobile maps around convention centres. Head on over to m.google.com/elections on your BlackBerry to get all the latest coverage and info.
Back in 1991, the National Association of Broadcasters attempted to lobby the FCC against pay-to-use news services over cellular networks, which would have been bad news for BlackBerry if it had gone through.
The NAB said that the cellular operators are misusing their spectrum. “Cellular spectrum should be reserved for the two-way communication for which it is designed,” said the NAB. “One-way transmission of news, sports, weather and traffic would be a misuse of this spectrum and a needless duplication of broadcast services.”
Yep, the NAB didn’t want any data services sent over cell networks, which would include that handy push e-mail we all know and love today. Too bad for them that one didn’t pan out, eh? Think they would have smartened up over the last decade? Guess again. They’re still combating the use of wireless white space by Google, Dell Microsoft and others for data services for fear of its interference with existing broadcasting in the spectrum – essentially the same premise as back in ‘91. Good luck with that one, guys.
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.
As bloggers, it’s in our nature to fiddle with the latest and greatest web toys. So you can guess how much time BBCool HQ has spent with Google Insights for Search, the big G’s latest and greatest toy that allows you to view a variety of metrics surrounding different search terms. We thought it would be a good idea to measure the level of interest of “blackberry” vis a vis “iphone”. The results won’t make anyone at RIM sleep easy any time soon.
The numbers on Google Insight graphs reflect how many searches have been done for a particular term, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. As you can see from the graph above, in the past 12 months the iPhone has been handing it to BlackBerry in terms of Google search popularity. In addition, the comparative spikes of interest based around recent launches of marquee devices — i.e., the BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G — fall hands-down in favor of the iPhone, demonstrating Apple’s ability to run a well-oiled hype machine.
Picasa, Google’s picture-organizing and sharing service, was looking to get all cozy-like with BlackBerry back around CES, but has apparently been killed off since. How come? Well, I’ve got a few theories. You might notice that BlackBerry’s Facebook page recently started showing off Flickr for BlackBerry rather prominently. Although RIM’s managed to make nice with the multitude of competing instant messaging services like Yahoo!, Windows Messenger Live, and Google Talk, maybe things won’t be quite as friendly with picture sharing. A more optimistic theory that pops to mind involves the BlackBerry Bold’s picture geotagging feature. I would love to see that fit right into Google’s Panoramio, which would quickly trump Picasa. Where do you guys think the future of picture sharing on BlackBerry is going to lie?
Although our faith in voice recognition has been a wee bit tainted after trying to get vlingo to work for the last week, Google recently announced that you can now make voice-activated, local searches using Google Maps on the BlackBerry 8110, BlackBerry 8120, and BlackBerry 8130. It sounds like the app is still a work in progress, but no doubt once it’s been polished and fine-tuned, we’ll start seeing it on devices other than the Pearl. I really do like the idea of all these new voice-based services, but the more you have to wrestle with them to recognize you properly, the more you’re inclined to just use the dang keypad. You can find more info on Google Maps Voice Search, or head on over to m.google.com/maps on your BlackBerry to get started.
Tele Atlas has just announced that over the next five years they’ll be providing Google with all of the mapping info they suck up through the satellites, along with everything they’ve already piled up. This means that fancy Google Maps app for BlackBerry with the newfangled transit info will have a healthy booster shot of photos and information. Tele Atlas has done a lot of good work with mobile GPS applications, and partnering with Google is solid step to doing more.
I was greeted from my holiday with an update in my Google Mobile Updater with a notification about a Google Maps update. Lo and behold, BlackBerry Maps on mobile now includes transit directions, complete with fare and stops for over 50 cities across the US and Canada. To be honest, this would be the kicker to get me to switch from BlackBerry Maps to Google Maps. Google was always to data heavy, and BlackBerry Maps did pretty much the same thing, but this is a very nice option for those of us taking the bus, especially in unfamiliar parts of town. Transit has also been built into the browser-based directions search, too, for extra handiness. Check the video of the squeaky-voiced dude for the full run-down, and grab your update over the air from m.google.com.
Back in 1991, the 
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. 
Although our faith in voice recognition has been a wee bit tainted after trying to get 
Tele Atlas has 
