Posted on July 20, 2011, at 1:16 PM .
An ice sculpture of a BlackBerry at Ottawa’s Winterlude.
RIM has been catching a lot of negative press lately and it’s interesting to see what Ottawans have to say about it considering the city is home to a lot of RIM employees and some development studios that have experience with BlackBerry. It’s one thing to hear what analysts have to say, but it’s another to actually talk to developers and people who are building businesses on the platform.
Generally, it seems the developer tools are both a blessing and a headache. The tools are creating a barrier to entry which has a negative impact on RIM’s ability to attract new developers, but it’s creating big opportunities for those who know how to use them as it’s sheltering their business from new competitors. RIM is definitely working on a new set of tools and how the company executes could result in a big influx of new developers.
Click through to read about what some developers are saying about the platform.
Continue reading ‘Ottawa Developers Talk BlackBerry Development Experience and RIM’
Posted on July 18, 2011, at 2:43 PM .
Magmic recently released their latest iWidgets Pink theme and you can be sure that it’s a solid theme with a lot of quality testing on it. This theme features home screen widgets including calendar, messages, and WeatherEye integration. With the WeatherEye integration, you can get weather updates directly on your homescreen without having to open an application or web page. The iWidgets Pink theme features full OS 6 support and a clean design that will simplify the way you use your BlackBerry.
Grab a copy in the new BlackBerryCool store powered by Bplay.
Posted on June 23, 2011, at 10:53 PM .
Animated themes are the best kind of theme, especially when you show your friends who didn’t know they could have that on their BlackBerry. With the Coral Reef theme, you get a colorful, underwater experience with fish and coral reefs. This theme features an array of beautiful animations and art, and features full support for OS 6.
Check out more screenshots and details about the Coral Reef here.
Posted on June 15, 2011, at 5:01 PM .
The problem with saying “the first theme to…” is that there are so many themes out there and it’s hard to keep track of them all. We’re going to start the conversation with saying this is “possibly the first…” because we haven’t come across anything like this at BlackBerryCool. Pachacuti’s Gold is a BlackBerry theme with a fully integrated game.
The theme includes a hidden object game and you go through the various levels unlocking a new wallpaper with each level successfully completed. There are four levels and your goal is to find for yourself to find the long lost Inca gold of Pachacuti. Decipher the captain’s notes to find the items you need to progress through 4 treacherous levels. Overall, this theme is incredibly innovative and brings the customization of themes together with the fun of casual gaming.
UPDATE: It looks like Pachacuti’s Gold was taken off Bplay a couple days ago. It’s still a very innovative theme and hopefully they bring it back.
The major downside to this theme is that it’s only available for Storm series devices. Grab your copy at this link for $1.99.
Posted on June 14, 2011, at 11:26 AM .
We’ve written about Magmic’s Texas Hold’em King Live several times because it’s probably the most advanced BlackBerry game in terms of features and monetization strategy. First, the game uses in-app purchases to allow poker players to buy more chips in order to play. Second, the game features its own in-app advertising that shows ads for other Magmic titles. Third, the app uses Pretzil integration to give users access to a plethora of avatars that can be used in-game. There are more great features such as their social integration, but we feel these three features really set them apart.
Recently, Magmic announced that it has passed over 600,000 active player accounts. This number translates into over 7,000,000 “All-Ins” and over 50,000,000 hands dealt over the last 6 months. These numbers add to the already impressive numbers for the THK franchise. Over the years, Magmic’s THK franchise has over 50 million installs across 5 major platforms. These guys were in the business of huge downloads before Angry Birds came around.
Hit the jump for THK Live’s feature set.
Continue reading ‘Magmic Announces Over 600,000 Active Accounts for Texas Hold’em King Live’
