BlackBerry Review

Nielsen: BlackBerry nearly a non-factor in Q2, Android and iOS take top spots

2012-07-15T11:57:00.003-07:00



New numbers from Nielsen illustrate what has long been obvious to anyone who pays attention to technology: old feature phones will soon be a thing of the past. Nielsen reported on Thursday that two-thirds of new mobile phones purchased in the second quarter of 2012 were smartphones. What's more, Nielsen found that just under 55% of all U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones, meaning something that was considered a high-end item just five years ago is now commonplace. As far as smartphone operating systems go, Nielsen found that recent adopters over the past quarter unsurprisingly gravitated toward Android, which accounted for 54.6% of all new smartphone purchases, and iOS, which accounted for 36.3% of all new smartphone purchases. RIM's BlackBerry devices continued to lose market share during the quarter, as BlackBerry OS smartphones accounted for just 4% of all new smartphone purchases - just two quarters ago, RIM's share among new smartphone buyers sat at 15%.

BlackBerry PlayBook 4G seem ready for a release

2012-07-05T09:48:00.004-07:00

Granted, we do know that the BlackBerry PlayBook did run into issues in terms of sales figures in the past, and beleaguered smartphone manufacturer RIM does not seem to be in too good spirits these days. There have been rumors in the past of the BlackBerry PlayBook 4G being launched, and in one of the more recent excerpts from RIM CEO Thorsten Heins, it does seem as though the BlackBerry PlayBook 4G is ready to rock and roll sometime in the future. N4BB and BB FR did spend some time with the tablet, where it sported 4G connectivity as well as software version OS 2.0.1.354.

Initial impressions pointed to a faster processor, and it could possible be a faster dual-core 1.5GHz chip that sees action. In addition, word has it that RIM has also begun to release such tablets to its corporate partners as well as other channels of distribution. BlackBerry Messenger does not seem as though it is installed on the tablet though. Do you think that the BlackBerry PlayBook 4G is going to be able to turn things around for RIM?

Samsung ChatON client for BlackBerry

2012-04-14T04:42:00.003-07:00

Earlier this morning, we were wondering as to when BlackBerry Messenger for Android would officially hit the market, and since there were no forthcoming answers, it was time to exercise some patience. Samsung seems to be moving faster in this aspect by announcing the availability of their Samsung ChatON client for BlackBerry devices, which would more or less “complete the collection” as ChatON is already well and alive on iOS, Android and Bada platforms. The only missing party? Windows Phone.

First unveiled by Samsung in August 2011, ChatOn advertises itself as a new multi-platform mobile messaging service that can send text, images and video clips not only between the company's Android- and Bada-powered smartphones, but also onto other platforms. With BlackBerry next in line to receive ChatON, one can make an intelligent guess that a Windows Phone version is not too far off in the horizon.

Would you use a service like ChatON, or do you prefer to stick to other solutions like WhatsApp?

BlackBerry remains top smartphone in Washington

2012-04-06T04:21:00.003-07:00

Research in Motion's BlackBerry operating system has gone from being a leading smartphone platform to the struggling OS it is today. While adoption rates may be slowing with consumers and businesses, the same cannot be said for U.S. Government workers, a new report claims. The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that nearly half a million federal workers, including President Barack Obama, are still using BlackBerry phones. That number hasn't dipped over the past few years despite RIM's plummeting sales. “We appreciate RIM's focus on security, which is paramount for government use,” said Casey Coleman, chief information officer at the General Services Administration. Some agencies are changing their policies and allowing workers to choose other smartphones, however, which may impact BlackBerry's government market share moving forward. Coleman added that other platforms are proving equally secure, and that the GSA places “a priority on adoption where appropriate of innovative new technologies.”

Apple and Google's OS share slides in March as BlackBerry shows narrow gain

2012-04-04T01:23:00.001-07:00



The smartphone and tablet landscapes remained largely unchanged in March as far as operating system usage share is concerned. New data from analytics firm Net Applications shows that the collective operating system share owned by Apple's iPhone and iPad inched down to 59.87% in March from 60.59% in February. iOS's share had skyrocketed in February as it continued to gain after losing share ahead of the holidays. Google's Android smartphones and tablets dipped as well in March according to Net Applications's data, dropping to 18.66% from 19.02% in February. Symbian stayed flat at 2.77% in March, and the only mobile operating system to show gains during the month was RIM's BlackBerry OS, which climbed a fraction of a point to 2.21% from 2.15% in February.

BlackBerry Curve 9220 specs detailed, simulator available

2012-04-04T01:21:00.002-07:00

RIM isn't feeling too good lately, but that won't stop it from readying the launch of new devices. And one of the company's upcoming devices is the BlackBerry Curve 9220.

As its name suggests, the Curve 9220 is an entry level smartphone. A simulator for it has been released by RIM, which means the handset itself should be officially announced pretty soon.

Feature-wise, the 9220 offers a 2.44 inch QVGA display, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GSM / GPRS / EDGE connectivity, 512MB of RAM, 512MB of internal memory, MicroSD card support, and a 2MP rear camera. Those who want the 9220 device simulator can get it here at RIM.

According to previous rumors, the BlackBerry Curve 9220 should become available in mid-2102, running Blackberry OS 7.1.

BlackBerry PlayBook Twitter and Kindle apps on the way?

2012-02-17T14:35:00.003-08:00

We all know that the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update is arriving next week, but it looks like some long-awaited apps might be on the way as well. According to Best Buy Canada's product page for the PlayBook, it suggests that we might be seeing a native Twitter and Amazon Kindle app that will be released soon (possibly with the OS 2.0 update). In the description of the PlayBook, they mention:

“Plug in to BlackBerry App World™ and read, write and game like never before. With thousands of apps for every use, you'll never run out of new and exciting options. Pick up Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, read the latest magazines, or connect online with Facebook and Twitter apps. With access to Kobo and Kindle, you can enjoy new late night reading without ever leaving your living room.”

It could have been just a typo on the website, but Best Buy were the ones who advertised the OS 2.0 update as “coming soon” before an official release date was even given, so there's a chance that they could be on to something here. Well, the update arrives next week, so we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out. Stay tuned.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS confirmed for February 21st

2012-02-17T14:35:00.001-08:00

Earlier this week we heard reports about the PlayBook OS 2.0 update arriving on February 21st, and it looks like the rumor has turned out to be accurate. According to reports online, in a webcast about “Developing native games with the BlackBerry NDK 2.0″, RIM confirmed the release date of PlayBook OS 2.0. Well, assuming that everything goes well and there aren't any problems with the rollout, we should see PlayBook OS 2.0 by next Tuesday. For those of you planning to pick up the BlackBerry PlayBook just because of the upcoming update, you should start shopping around for one by now.

PlayBook OS 2.0 is said to bring features such as native calendar, email, and contacts apps, support for Android apps, and the usual host of fixes and tweaks to the operating system. Who is excited about the upcoming update?

BlackBerry dealt another blow as government agency opts for iPhones, Android

2012-02-17T14:34:00.003-08:00

Government deployment of BlackBerry smartphones in the United States has been big business for struggling Canadian handset maker Research In Motion, but the tide seems to be turning toward Android and iOS. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month that it would be ditching BlackBerry smartphones in favor of Apple's iPhone, and now the General Services Administration has added the iPhone and Android devices to its list of approved devices. The GSA, an independent 12,635-person agency that procures supplies and products for other federal agencies, spends upwards of $70 billion each year with contracted vendors. In addition to BlackBerry phones, Android devices and iPhones have now been approved for purchase by GSA staff in order to support “applications that can help them work more efficiently with customers like the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg Businessweek. It is not clear when the policy change went into effect.

HTC Sensation XL, Nokia C3, BlackBerry Torch 9810, Samsung Galaxy Mini discontinued by Vodafone UK

2012-02-17T14:34:00.001-08:00

In the UK, Vodafone is set to discontinue four smartphones, according to SoMobile. These are the HTC Sensation XL, Nokia C3, Samsung Galaxy Mini, and BlackBerry Torch 9810. For the first three of those this undoubtedly has something to do with the fact that they'll all be getting successors announced at the end of this month in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress.

The HTC One X should succeed the Sensation XL in the ‘huge smartphone' category for the Taiwanese company, while the recently leaked Nokia Asha 302 will pick up where the C3 left off. And the Samsung Galaxy Mini 2‘s pedigree is pretty obvious from its name. So we may safely assume that Big Red will sell these new handsets at some point.

BlackBerry 10 OS images leaked?

2012-02-14T23:55:00.004-08:00

Keen on finding out what BlackBerry 10 OS is going to look like when it's released? Well, the folks over at CrackBerry claim to have landed themselves the very first snapshots of the upcoming operating system. Thanks to the leaked screenshots, we get to peek at its homescreen, icons, “widgets”, unified inbox and in-call screen. While the images look pretty interesting (I'm definitely reminded of iOS and Android), there's something peculiar about them.

They appear to look like badly edited photographs, so we're not 100% convinced this is the new BlackBerry 10 OS. However, the images were reportedly taken from a 14-page PDF that was prepared by RIM's external ad agency partners as a BB10 briefing document so it could be screenshots from a rough document, or just something stitched together as a sample. But assuming that these images were authentic, there's a chance that the final product will end up looking very different. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when BlackBerry 10 OS is released later this year.

Leaked BlackBerry 10 images reveal home screen widgets, more

2012-02-14T23:55:00.002-08:00



Research in Motion has already confirmed that BlackBerry 10 smartphones won't be shipping until late this year. Thanks to new images published by CrackBerry, however, we now have a preview of what's to come. The images have come from one of RIM's external ad agencies and highlight the much-awaited introduction of home screen widgets. The pictures reveal a number of changes, such as an updated Windows Phone-like icon tray that features dedicated call, search and camera buttons, quarter-screen widgets, iOS-styled folders and integrated video calling. Read on for more. The new BlackBerry 10 widgets were clearly designed in a post-Android world, drawing heavy inspiration from Google's operating system and Windows Phone's Live Tiles. The new folder icon looks to be inspired by iOS, showing a preview of the applications inside, and the Pictures icon shows previews of photos from the albums within. The calling screen displays the normal speaker, keypad, mute, add call and notes icons, and there is also a dedicated video chat button. There is no doubt that RIM has drawn inspiration from iOS, Android and Windows Phone operating systems, which isn't a bad thing at all. The BlackBerry 10 OS looks far more polished and fresh than RIM's current OS, but the real question will be whether it or not it's too little too late. The BlackBerry London will be the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to market, and as

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 said to launch on February 21st

2012-02-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

When Research In Motion released its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the device had its fair share of problems. RIM promised an operating system update that would address these problems but the launch was delayed by several months. A new report from N4BB claims the official release of the PlayBook 2.0 update is set for February 21st, just over a week later than the company initially planned. The PlayBook OS 2.0 update will include native email, calendar and contacts apps, but unfortunately native BBM will remain absent from the tablet and can only be accessed through BlackBerry Bridge.

Read

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 arriving next week?

2012-02-14T23:54:00.001-08:00

Looking forward to PlayBook OS 2.0 for your BlackBerry PlayBook? According to rumors online you won't be waiting for too long, in fact we might be seeing the update as early as in a week's time. N4BB.com has reported that its sources have confirmed February 21st to be the expected release date of PlayBook OS 2.0. However, there's really no way of confirming the rumor besides waiting for the day to arrive or getting someone in the know to disclose that information. We've previously heard rumors about a February 17th release date, so this new date marks a slight delay for its release – but just as long as RIM sticks to its February deadline, I'm sure nobody will get too upset.

The PlayBook OS 2.0 is supposed to turn the PlayBook into what it should have been when on launch day. It includes native email, calendar and contacts apps. BBM still won't be present (you'll need to use BlackBerry Bridge for that), but hopefully the support for running Android apps can make up for it. Who's still looking forward to PlayBook OS 2.0?

RIM's recent marketing blitz deemed a bust; BlackBerry 7 sales weakened in January

2012-02-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

When new CEO Thorsten Henis took the reins at Research In Motion, he immediately pointed to the smartphone vendor's marketing strategy as an area the company needed to focus on if it hoped to regain share in key markets like the United States. The wheels on RIM's recent marketing efforts had already been set in motion, however, and early reports suggest that the increased volume of familiar BlackBerry ads aren't having the impact RIM was hoping for. Read on for more.

RIM ramped up its marketing efforts in January, but the move does not appear to have paid off. “Our January checks indicated weak sell-through trends for the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones despite increased marketing efforts,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley wrote in a research note to investors late Wednesday night. “With very strong share gains for the iPhone 4S, increasingly price competitive Android smartphones, improving Windows smartphones, and strong sales of the affordable 7 inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, we anticipate increasing competition across all tiers of RIM's products in C2012.”

As a result of weakening device sales and RIM's poor outlook for the current quarter, the analyst lowered his estimates for RIM's February quarter as well as the vendor's full fiscal year. And despite a new round of marketing that kicked off in February with RIM's “Be Bold” campaign, Walkley doesn't see much changing for the Waterloo, Ontario-based until late in 2012.

“Given the strong share gains for Apple post the launch of the iPhone 4S and increasing Android and Windows competition in all price tiers, we believe BlackBerry 7 products will continue to struggle until BB10 products launch in late C2012,” the analyst noted. RIM expected to launch its first QNX-powered BlackBerry 10 smartphone - code-named the BlackBerry London - toward the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

Walkley reiterated his Hold rating on RIM's stock and maintained his $15 price target.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 3.0 being tested?

2012-02-13T04:46:00.001-08:00

While most BlackBerry PlayBook owners are eagerly awaiting the arrival of PlayBook OS 2.0, it looks like RIM has already started working on the next version - if rumors are to be believed. The folks over at n4bb.com have reported that, according to a source, the PlayBook OS 3.0 is being tested right now. RIM has failed to make any mention of a PlayBook OS 3.0 in the past so this comes as a surprise, but if it turns out to be true that means we should be seeing OS 2.0 being released pretty soon.

No details about OS 3.0 were released, so we can't say what it's going to feature. Perhaps it'll be closing the gap between QNX and BlackBerry 10? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. What features would you like to see available in PlayBook OS?

Three UK Releases BlackBerry Bold 9790

2012-02-08T23:04:00.002-08:00

Three UK has finally announced the availability of the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 on their network. The handset retails for 319.99 GBP (about $509) on Pay As You Go or for free on monthly plans starting at 28 GBP (about $44). To refresh your memory, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 offers a 2.4-inch 480 x 360 touchscreen display, a 1GHz single-core processor, a 768MB RAM, an 8GB of storage, a 5MP camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA, NFC, GPS, WiFi and runs on BlackBerry OS 7. [Product Page]

RIM: BlackBerry apps are more profitable than Android apps

2012-02-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

Research In Motion executivess took the stage during BlackBerry DevCon Europe on Tuesday to clear up a few facts about the company's success with its BlackBerry App World marketplace. RIM's new CEO Thorsten Heins said BlackBerry App World is now home to more than 60,000 applications, which is a fraction of what's available in the Android Market or iTunes App Store, and that BlackBerry devices are among the most popular smartphones purchased in the United Kingdom. RIM's vice president of developer relations Alec Saunders also said that there are 174 million app downloads per month, or about 6 million applications downloaded per day, The Verge reported. Saunders argued that RIM's BlackBerry App World has 43% more daily downloads per app than Apple's own iTunes App Store and he said App World can be more profitable as well - BlackBerry apps supposedly earn about 40% more than their Android counterparts, and 13% of BlackBerry developers have made more than $100,000 from their apps. In addition to the app figures, Saunders and Nokia's head of Qt announced that RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook OS now supports the Qt developer framework, originally intended for Nokia devices.

BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 Update Coming Next Month – Runtime For Android Lets Users Run Android Apps and Games

2012-02-02T00:16:00.002-08:00

The BlackBerry Playbook is said to be receiving its OS 2.0 update come next month and along with some much needed new improvements (like a native email app), the update will finally give the device the long promised ability to to play Android apps and games via the BlackBerry Runtime for Android app player. Developers have until February 6th to submit their Android apps into the BlackBerry App World store if they want their apps approved in time for the new Playbook OS 2.0′s launch.

So what exactly does it take for an Android app to win approval by RIM? Well, for one — a developer must remove any and all words containing “Android” in them, as well as our beloved green mascot (I call him Andy). Makes sense. Also mandatory, a developer must remove anything that would otherwise take a user to the Android Market be it links or otherwise. RIM says porting Android apps should be a relatively painless process and we'll have to wait and see how many developers jump on this opportunity. As a fan of technology in general, I've always had a soft spot for the Playbook and it will be interesting to see if this will help garner new sales of the almost failed tablet.

Upcoming BlackBerry London image leaks again

2012-02-02T00:16:00.000-08:00

BlackBerry London is a name we have heard several times before. We have even come across a purported image of the device before. Now we have yet another image of the upcoming smartphone based on RIM's new BlackBerry 10 platform.

The image, courtesy Crackberry.com, shows the device in black, and looks like a slide from a presentation. The front of the device looks similar to the last picture we saw of the phone but has some differences. For starters, it is completely black, but that could just be an alternate shade. What more important is that the beveled edges are missing, replaced by rounded corners and the large BlackBerry logo on the bottom is now a bit smaller and directly below the display.

We also get a glimpse of the back side of the phone, that shows the camera lens along with an LED flash in the top left corner of the phone.

The new design doesn't look anything like any current BlackBerry phone out there. However, it does look a lot like existing Android phones, with the HTC HD2 and Motorola DROID X2 springing to mind first. The phone does look quite good though and also very slim. You can see by the large amount of space above the display that suggest that RIM has really stretched the phone to get as much battery in as possible while keeping the phone thin. The software also looks good, even though all we can see of it is the music player interface.

We hope this one makes out of the gate before the end of this year, along with that new BlackBerry 10 platform that RIM has promised us.

Source

Bold or old? Who is the real Team BlackBerry? [HUMOR]

2012-02-02T00:15:00.003-08:00

RIM recently took to Twitter to conduct an informal poll of BlackBerry users. On New Year’s Eve the smartphone maker asked #TeamBlackBerry how they planned to #BeBold in the new year. The result not only made for a rather useless infographic but also resulted in the creation of a team of masked avengers. GoGo Girl, Max Stone, Justin Steele, and Trudy Foreal were created to characterize certain BlackBerry users, but our friends over at WinSource had a different view.

I know, I know. It’s especially cruel to kick RIM while they are down, but we can’t help but get a laugh out of it all. When Windows Phone users can make a justifiable jab at the expense of a once-dominant smartphone maker, you know the tides are turning. Don’t even be fooled for a second that the rise of Android didn’t contribute largely to RIM’s demise, and with Google and crew looking into more and more ways to make the OS enterprise-friendly it’s more than safe to say that the BlackBerry is a dying breed.

It would actually make for a really great comic book storyline in the vein of Frank Miller’s darkly toned Batman books of the late 80s. The once triumphant hero is forced out of retirement in an attempt to thwart their greatest foe yet only to die, of all things, from a heart attack. Sad, yes. But let’s not weep too much for the BlackBerry name.

BlackBerry London shows up again with fresher design

2012-02-02T00:15:00.001-08:00


We first saw the BlackBerry London make it way onto the internet a few months back, though I reported that the version that would come to market would look a bit different, and not so Porsche Design look and feel. CrackBerry got a hold of an internal slide with, surprise, a refreshed BlackBerry London that will be RIM's first BlackBerry 10 smartphone due to launch this fall.

BlackBerry 7 devices gain government approval in U.S. and Canada

2012-02-02T00:14:00.003-08:00

Research In Motion's latest BlackBerry 7 devices has=ve been granted Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). FIPS certification is required before a device can be used by a government agency in either the U.S. or Canada. ”The FIPS 140-2 certification for BlackBerry 7.0 and 7.1 illustrates RIM's continuing commitment to providing industry-leading, secure, mobile computing platforms for our customers,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion. “With all of the latest BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet certified under the FIPS program, government and security-conscious customers can deploy our entire range of products with confidence.” Devices that received FIPS 140-2 certification include the BlackBerry PlayBook, the BlackBerry Bold 9900, 9790, BlackBerry Torch 9850, 9860 and 910, and the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360, 9370 and 9380. RIM's full press release follows after the break.

BlackBerry 7 and 7.1 OS Achieve FIPS 140-2 Certification

Waterloo, ON - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced that BlackBerry® smartphones running on the powerful new BlackBerry® 7 and BlackBerry® 7.1 Operating Systems (OS) have been awarded FIPS 140-2 certification by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 is recognized by the U.S. and Canadian governments and is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA).

All BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 7.1 benefit from this certification, including the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900, 9930 and 9790, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850, 9860 and 9810, and BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350, 9360, 9370 and 9380.

“The FIPS 140-2 certification for BlackBerry 7.0 and 7.1 illustrates RIM's continuing commitment to providing industry-leading, secure, mobile computing platforms for our customers,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion. “With all of the latest BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet certified under the FIPS program, government and security-conscious customers can deploy our entire range of products with confidence.”

In addition to FIPS 140-2 certification, the BlackBerry 7 OS has received Common Criteria EAL4+ certification (see announcement – November 14, 2011). The BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet has also received FIPS 140-2 validation (see announcement – July 21, 2011).

BlackBerry London shows up again with fresher design

2012-02-02T00:14:00.001-08:00


We first saw the BlackBerry London make it way onto the internet a few months back, though I reported that the version that would come to market would look a bit different, and not so Porsche Design look and feel. CrackBerry got a hold of an internal slide with, surprise, a refreshed BlackBerry London that will be RIM's first BlackBerry 10 smartphone due to launch this fall.

BlackBerry 10 open to licensing says RIM's new CEO

2012-01-23T11:55:00.001-08:00

Earlier today we reported about RIM's reshuffling in upper management, with Thorsten Heins taking charge as the new CEO of the company. Well it looks like there could possibly be some major changes in the way RIM works in the future. At RIM's first official conference call with the new CEO took place earlier today, and some interesting topics were discussed.

One of the most interesting points that came up was the possibility of licensing BlackBerry 10 OS. Heins confirmed that RIM will be open to letting other manufacturers creating devices running on BlackBerry “if it makes sense to follow the path.” Sounds like a possibility that should be explored when BlackBerry 10 is released in the future. Would you like to see HTC/Samsung BlackBerry phones?