Everything looks beautiful on the BlackBerry Storm. At WES, many of the booths were demo’ing their products on the Storm because the combination of a big screen and smooth UI, makes for the best way to showcase your application. Video is stunning on this device and I found a good post explaining how to get NBC prime television streamed to your device for free.
Shows include The Office, 30 Rock, Crusoe, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Kath and Ki, Knight Rider, Lipstick Jungle, My Own Worst Enemy, The Biggest Looser and more.
Although not officially confirmed, it seems RIM is going to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry. The launch may come at CTIA but we’ve also heard App World will be announced and they may not want to take away the spotlight.
The new service is rumored to feature:
Unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee
Once a user orders a program, the content will be downloaded in the background over Wi-Fi
Multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the service
If the above comes true, I would be really interested to see what sort of content we can expect. Ideally, the service would start by offering the usual premium content that can be offered for free such as Comedy Central and Comedy Network shows.
Micro-payments can really help this service too. If I could pay $0.99 per episode of Lost or The Office, I would happily do so. Hopefully this service offers some content that really makes it worthwhile.
We just got wind of The Mistubishi City Chase, a Canada-wide event sponsored by BlackBerry. The goal is for teams of two to run around a big city and hit ChasePoints by overcoming a set of 12-15 challenges. Think of it as a smaller-scale Amazing Race. These can range from answering trivia questions, finding unique items, or complete bizarre tasks. This kind of situation sounds exactly where I would want a BlackBerry to quickly look up facts, get directions to remote parts of town, as well as get pictures of some pretty incredible situations. It’s just in Canada now, but is coming to the US and other locations soon. Check out some of the previous seasons, or tune in to CBC on Monday nights at 8:30.
You already heard what the people have chosen, and now to announce what the supposed experts have to say. Like we mentioned in last week’s podcast, it’s a tough call to make with such a wide range of products being shown off at WES. The judges for each category had their own set of standards (as you can see), so the results are bound to be highly subjective. The fact of the matter is every exhibitor at WES had something worth showing off, and these were just some of the few that stuck out in our judge’s minds.
I managed to talk with the guys from Unify4Life back on day 2, and got a sweet demo of everything in action. Stuff like this we’ll tend to throw out on QuicklyBored before anything else, so be sure to check ‘em out.
You might notice a cool new trailer on the front page of blackberry.com, follow by a broad overview of each of the three device types. Everything but the reskinned store is pretty much the same, but that front page trailer has also hit primetime TV, signalling a heavy-duty pre-WES push into the consumer space. Yesterday’s Unite! announcement, which is just as geared towards tight groups of friends and families as it is small businesses, and the latest rumblings of a flip BlackBerry also leaves one wonder how much WES will take on a consumer focus this year…
SlingPlayer has opened the gates for application to test out its new TV software for BlackBerry that made such a splash at CES this year. You can sign up for the beta when it’s ready over here, but you you’ll probably need a SlingBox hooked up to your TV already in order to participate, and an unlimited data plan will likely be necessary. Still, it’s a big step for streaming video on BlackBerry, and hopefully not the last.
Still carrying an MP3 player alongside your BlackBerry? That’s sooooo 2007. BlackBerrys have come a long way in the last couple of years. I used to carry around a cell phone, my BlackBerry and my MP3 player. Yes, my pockets were very full. The 7100v changed that as I dropped down to one communications device, but I still had my MP3 player.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to use the BlackBerry 8120 for a few weeks now and I’m impressed. I threw a 2GB microSD card in the side (finally), loaded up some MP3s (Foo Fighters, Billy Talent, Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, etc.), threw another 1GB microSD card in my wallet (Solitudes, Blue Man Group, POD casts… I never know what I’ll feel like) and headed out. I haven’t looked back.
I decided this weekend to see what the BlackBerry could do for video. Who wants the watch The View, a Fishing Show or TechTV while at the gym? I somehow legally obtained a Seinfeld episode and loaded it on my BB. That made the elliptical machine much more amusing and got me thinking about other media-related improvements I’d like to see on the BlackBerry…
We just received official word that the BlackBerry 8130 will be coming to Sprint next month (as previously speculated), alongside a fact sheet with all the trimmings. Streaming TV through Sprint’s Power Vision service will be available, along with Sprint’s Music Store and navigation software to make use of the internal GPS. BlackBerry Maps is still usable, for those who aren’t interested in shelling out $10/month. Verizon’s 8130 will be coming out November 1st., so these two carriers will have fun butting heads before the Christmas push.
Rumors creeping in of streaming video support for new BlackBerrys could be validated if comments from Slingbox’s CEO turn out to be true. In a recent interview on Revision3’s show GigaOM, Blake Krikorian suggested that a mobile client for Sling could be coming to BlackBerry. Considering Slingplayer Mobile is already available for Windows Mobile and Palm devices, BlackBerry-compatible software isn’t much of a surprise. User-friendliness aside, would a service like this match the entertainment value available from iPhone video streaming? Of course, comparable products such as Mobile TV Center are already out on the market, and offer extra features such as show recording, but with the slew of new Slingbox services detailed in the interview, it’ll be a tough fight.
You might notice a cool new trailer on the front page of 
SlingPlayer has opened the gates for application to test out its new TV software for BlackBerry that made such a 
Still carrying an MP3 player alongside your BlackBerry? That’s sooooo 2007. BlackBerrys have come a long way in the last couple of years. I used to carry around a cell phone, my BlackBerry and my MP3 player. Yes, my pockets were very full. The 7100v changed that as I dropped down to one communications device, but I still had my MP3 player.
We just received official word that the BlackBerry 8130 will be coming to Sprint next month (as 
