Posted on December 19, 2007, at 11:17 am .
There’s already been some griping about BlackBerry’s performance in Consumer Reports‘ ‘08 issue, and it might be well-justified. The BlackBerry Curve landed in 7th. place, the Pearl in 12th., the 8800 in 14th., and the 8830 in 19th. out of 20 smartphones tested. Two Treos (755p and 680), T-Mobile’s Wing, the BlackJack and the Moto Q 9m beat out the BlackBerry 8300, with the iPhone topping the list.
Basically, that means everyone who matters in smartphones did better than BlackBerry. Suprisingly, the Nokia N95 (which I had heard great things about) was down in 15th. place. The biggest thing to keep in mind before launching into a CR-hating tirade is that you really have to take these things with a grain of salt. CR’s overall scores were “based mainly on voice quality, ease of use, and talk time”, which can all vary based on user, location and carrier. I haven’t used any of the other top 5, so can’t really pass judgement. Anyone have some horror stories about the leaders, and why they might not deserve top marks?
Posted on November 15, 2007, at 9:33 am .
The newest addition to the Independent Software Vendors Alliance, Me Inc., is offering a free beta for their Shout Postcard service on BlackBerry. Shout Postcard makes postcards with pictures taken from your Curve or Treo, along with recorded voice notes and typed out messages, perfect for those snide “wish you were here” cards that you can send by e-mail right from the tropical beach. Now if you could send the newly-supported video clips too, you’d be set. If you’re interested in giving the beta a try, you can download it over the air at www.shoutpostcard.com/downloads/com_meinc_shout2.jad.
Posted on October 16, 2007, at 8:34 am .
We’ve heard it all before, but now analysts are backing up Balsillie’s big talk about the iPhone not being competition. A recent report from the NDP Group aimed at guaging Apple’s success in the mobile market has come to the conclusion that while the Treo and Sidekick suffered some converts as a result of the iPhone, the lack of enterprise e-mail kept BlackBerry users from switching. While encouraging, is that the only thing stopping the iPhone from putting a dent in RIM’s armour? Let’s say hypothetically that the iPhone gets Exchange server support – will that be enough to turn the tide? As far as carriers go, T-Mobile and Alltel lost plenty of subscribers to AT&T; the subscribers for both were three times more likely to have switched over for an iPhone.
Posted on September 24, 2007, at 3:12 pm .
Not only BlackBerrys, but PDAs, Treos, and standard mobile phones which can display a 2D barcode will now be able to have their Air Canada boarding passes on their handhelds.
Air Canada said the mobile-check in service, which is available at www.mobile.aircanada.com, has been improved to enable customers to receive an electronic boarding pass in SMS form, which can be shown to airport security screen staff and Air Canada gate agents, rather than a paper board pass. … According to the airline, the mobile boarding pass uses recent, secure mobile and 2-D barcode technologies to help simplify the travel experience for its customers. The customer enters information such as their name, departure city and their Aeroplan number, booking reference or credit card number and then enters their mobile number to receive the pass if their device supports 2-D barcode technology.
Posted on August 7, 2007, at 2:43 pm .
BlackBerry’s browser has stepped up to the plate for a round of fisticuffs in an InformationWeek comparative review. The contenders were the Palm Treo 755p, the BlackBerry 8300, the HTC Wing and (cue dramatic lightning) the iPhone. In the end, the iPhone ends up on top, citing big screen, full-bodied page viewing, and more prominently, eschewing the reliance on menu-based browsing as deciding factors. BlackBerry’s browser hasn’t ever received top marks for browsing, with most folks opting for Opera Mini instead. The potential for tabbed browsing in the next BlackBerry browser update is promising, but is that enough to make mobile web surfing an enjoyable rather than a bearable experience?
As much as phrases like “the interface is discoverable at a level almost below conscious thought” reek of Apple fanboyism, it can’t be denied that web browsing on an iPhone with swooshy finger motions makes sense for mobile, and chewing through long menus, a relic of the desktop interface, doesn’t.
There’s definite hope for BlackBerry breaking the mould, though.
Posted on July 11, 2007, at 9:40 am .
With so many significant developments this year, I thought it might be a good time to take the pulse of the smartphone market and its main competitors.
RIM: 
Upside: With record sales and their stock hitting all time highs, life is good for the folks at RIM right now. They are the entrenched leader in the enterprise market and will be for many years to come. Competitors cannot make up overnight for the years of engineering and refinement that have gone into the BlackBerry solution. They also are poised for growth in emerging global markets.
One obstacle they face: the fact that Apple will undoubtedly put a dent into their sales in the consumer market.
Posted on June 11, 2007, at 8:03 am .
Like Palm needed another ugly device to seal its coffin with. Really, it’s not that great of a time for them to be doing any more gambling than they already have with the Faileo. Outside of no touchscreen, which is a significant departure from Palm’s usual standards, we’ve got a few speculative details of the “Gandolf”.
The model runs Palm OS Garnet and will debut on Sprint later this year for around $200. Its likely specs include, EVDO (rev. A), Integrated camera, Bluetooth and a Micro SD expansion slot.
Is this really going to be Palm’s new image? Some HTC Excalibur knock-off that hit every branch on the way down the fugly tree? If so, the Treo 800w is going the last hoo-rah at a recognizable image, but also shows that Palm is eschewing the PDA end of things in favour of smartphone development. The shots show the Gandolf Vodafone branded and running Windows Mobile Standard for now, but we’ll see what changes are made to this crime against good taste before it’s released.
