Posted on April 30, 2010, at 11:04 AM .
Of course the big news this week was the annual BlackBerry show WES. This year, RIM announced BlackBerry MVS 5, the Pearl 3G and the Bold 9650. We also received a demo of the upcoming BlackBerry 6, that comes with the latest BlackBerry WebKit browser. It was a great show and I recommend you scroll down to check out BlackBerryCool’s unique coverage of the show.
The latest devices look really great, and RIM’s product line seems to be on a slow and steady chart of improvement. Adoption of BlackBerrys globally is exponential, and if you’re looking for some insight into where the company is heading, make sure to listen/read everything that Mike Lazaridis said during the conference. Hit up the articles after the jump and take the weekend to get caught up.
Continue reading ‘BlackBerryCool Roundup for the Week of April 26th’
Posted on April 29, 2010, at 10:38 AM .
Click here to listen to three RIM VPs talking about devices, OS 5 and BlackBerry 6.
I got a chance to learn more about RIM’s new smartphone offerings in a WES session. Three of RIM’s experts were in attendance: Andrew Bocking, Product Marketing Engineer, Carlo Chiarello, Director of Product Management, and David Smith, Director of Product Management. The group went into details about the new devices and their accompanying accessories. I’ve posted the audio, which is a good listen if you’re interested in learning more about the major announcements, and I’ll follow up with more shortly.
Topics include (in chronological order):
- New device overview
- Device product lines overview (how the new devices fit into the entire device lineup)
- New chargers and accessories
- OS 5 overview (which Bocking called “BlackBerry 5”)
- BlackBerry 6 (lots of small details about the user interface and design philosophy)
- The WebKit Browser
Posted on April 28, 2010, at 3:12 PM .
This is my first WES conference and I’m still in the process of understanding what it’s all about. A lot of the people here, nearly everybody, are dealing with the medium / large businesses. For example, the T-Mobile booth was focusing not on devices, but on their international presence as well as the small business teams they have. Its the same with AT&T and Verizon, where they don’t talk about which phone, as the phone models themselves aren’t important, but about how they sell services to help you mobilize.
WES 2010 makes it very clear to enterprise that what’s important is how to organize, “securitize”, and reduce cost on your business, and how the BlackBerry solution is the best. There are hints and talks of Android, iPhone, and WinMo (though very little on poor Windows) being part of the conversation here, but everybody realizes that the model of the phone itself doesn’t matter. What’s important is the back end. On that note, everybody loves the BES solution. I’ve met with a couple of people from a healthcare group last night at the big party when Beoudin Soundclash was playing, and they were at WES to shop around to find a software solution to integrate in their 3500 BlackBerry setup. They currently use a few web apps, but they were here to see if some of the companies here had a better program to use inside their network.
Continue reading ‘WES 2010 Day 2 Impressions: What WES Is All About’
Posted on April 28, 2010, at 1:09 PM .
Today, the BlackBerry Partners Fund announced the 2010 Developer Challenge. In addition to focusing on “Super Apps” that take advantage of the unique capabilities of the BlackBerry platform, this year’s challenge is a bit different from those held in the two years prior.
Here is a quick breakdown of this year’s Developer Challenge:
- Total prize package is valued at over US$1.5 Million;
- The Challenge is the first to recognize BlackBerry smartphone apps on a regional basis across four global regions;
- Both newly developed and existing applications can be entered into the Challenge;
- Applications will be judged in seven distinct categories, based on quality, user experiences and how effectively they incorporate “Super App” characteristics;
- Challenge will reward the BlackBerry developer community at many levels to benefit more developers than ever before;
- Finalists will receive unique prizes to support their development on the BlackBerry platform and to help them achieve commercial success;
- Up to 400 Regional Selections will receive a free BlackBerry smartphone;
- Up to 28 Regional Semi-Finalists will each receive prize packages worth over USD$16,000;
- Up to 12 Regional Finalists will each receive prize packages valued at almost USD$35,000;
- Up to four Regional Winners will each receive a prize pack valued at USD$85,000;
Entries can be submitted starting today and will be accepted until September 6, 2010.
Posted on April 28, 2010, at 12:47 PM .
Wednesday’s general session started off with the WES 2010 Wireless Leadership Awards: celebrating excellence and innovation in wireless and mobility. In this showcase of software and deployments, RIM showcases the most innovative solutions across the different sectors.
Awards
Innovation in the Public Sector – State of Florida Department of Children and Families for their remote data capture app.
The app allows caseworkers to enter data and track visits quickly and easily. An hour of extra desk work is bypassed by using the mobile app. The application allows caseworkers to focus on the visit rather than worry about the details of the data entry. Database access allows for quick accuracy checks, which is of upmost importance when dealing with child welfare.
Continue reading ‘WES 2010 Wireless Leadership Awards Announced’
Posted on April 27, 2010, at 5:16 PM .
I got a chance to speak with RIM’s Director of Developer Relations, Mike Kirkup, about BlackBerry App World. The BlackBerry global app store has undergone some big changes since it’s launch in the fall of 2008, with lots of exciting things happening in the near future.
In that time, RIM has noticed some developer issues when bringing mobile apps from other platforms over to BlackBerry and App World. Many developers, in an effort to rush to market have discovered just how fickle the platform can be. Many problems arise from the large amount of device and OS combinations, resulting in a laundry list of bugs. Other apps are not optimized for the BlackBerry, or simply don’t apply some of the advantages the BlackBerry platform offers such push data services.
This minor epidemic of well-intentioned but badly executed apps has caused the App World experience for some developers to be a bit sour, especially when users give apps a bad rating for not performing as intended. Bouncing back from a bad rating in App World is quite difficult, as bad ratings curb downloads and users are less likely to give a badly rated app a good rating further exacerbating the problem, even after the bugs have been fixed.
Continue reading ‘BlackBerry to Push Ahead with Preloaded App World and Quality vs Quantity’
