Inside BlackBerry

BlackBerry World Wednesday: New Apps and Games for BlackBerry 10

2013-05-22T13:39:16-07:00

Last week, we had such an amazing week at BlackBerry Live in Orlando. This week is a special post-BlackBerry Live edition of BlackBerry World Wednesday full of new apps and games to hit the storefront for BlackBerry 10 this week. Some of them were even newly announced at the show last week. For those of you who may have missed it check out the BlackBerry Live wrap-up here. For those who just want all apps, all the time, check out our curated list of new BlackBerry 10 apps below. Enjoy!

BlackBerry Z10 Apps:

Music & Audio:

Animoog (Moog Music Inc.) – As featured at BlackBerry Live

Gaming:

Tesoro Submarino (Discovery Latin America, LLC)
Dark Nebula: Episode One (Union)
CreaVures (Union)
Samurai II: Vengeance (Union)

Navigation & Travel:

Wikitude places (Wikitude GmbH)*
Firstpost for BlackBerry 10 (NETWORK18)
Virgin Trains (Virgin Trains)*
Qatar Airways (Qatar Airways)

Lifestyle & Entertainment:

Nectar (Aimia Coalition Loyalty UK Limited)
Keep Calm Poster Creator (Apache Softech)*

Fitness & Sports

Endomondo Sports Tracker for BlackBerry 10 (Endomondo)*
LFC Connect for BlackBerry 10 (Liverpool Football Club)*

Books:

Copia eBook Reader (Copia Interactive, LLC)

*Also available on BlackBerry Q10

BlackBerry Q10 Apps:

News & Information:

Europe 1 (Lagardère Active Digital)

Finance:

moneycontrol’s Markets on Mobile (NETWORK18)

Lifestyle & Entertainment:

Zara (Zara.com)

Navigation & Travel:

Virgin Trains (Virgin Trains)

Sports:

LFP (Liga de Futbol Profesional)

BlackBerry Dev Picks of the Week:

Here are the top 5 ‘must-haves’ apps according to our developers here at BlackBerry:

Twimfeed (Twimfeed) “A neat way to bring the image component of Twitter to the forefront”
PlayCoach™ Full Fitness Trainer (Playcorp) “I use this one quite a bit in my home gym—a mobile personal trainer”
Animoog (Moog Music Inc) “One of the best mobile instrument apps out there. Also used by Dream Theatre’s Jordan Rudess– this is a must have app for musicians”
Ichi Are You Smart Enough (Stolen Couch Games) “Awesome pre-loaded levels as well as the option to create your own”
Bubble Crush Mania (G Soft Team) “A pretty fun game—best of all it’s free!”

Latest App News: Keep an eye out next week, we will feature the awesome Unity Games coming to BlackBerry 10!

Winners for the Best Built for BlackBerry App Awards were announced last week. Check out the 2013 winners at the Insider BlackBerry Developer Blog.

For a look at all BlackBerry 10 apps, head to BlackBerry World. and let us know what you think of this week’s selection in the comments below.

Signing Off From BlackBerry Live 2013: Wrap-Up and Story Maker of Highlights [VIDEO]

2013-05-16T13:09:26-07:00

Well, we’re winding things down here are BlackBerry Live 2013 and on behalf of the entire BlackBerry social media team, I would like to say thank you so much for tuning in and following along with all of our coverage. For a rundown on all the news watch our wrap-up video below and checkout the keynote highlights post from earlier in the week.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

You’ll also definitely want to check-out what attendees onsite here at the show had to say about all the excitement and energy, here at BlackBerry Live 2013.

Melanie here, jumping into Donny’s blog post. Donny, Alex and Luke did a great job summarizing the week in the wrap video, but I think there’s one element they didn’t mention – the behind the scenes. Thanks to BlackBerry Story Maker, I was able to grab some videos and pics we made throughout the week that is just too good not to share. Check out BlackBerry Live through the eyes of the Social Media Team.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

There you have it — a BlackBerry Story Maker video showcasing BlackBerry Live 2013 from the social media team’s perspective! Let us know how we did in the comments — Thanks for a great week, we’re signing off!

Social Ambitions — Reflecting on My First BlackBerry Live Conference and the Road Ahead

2013-05-16T12:03:58-07:00

Below is a special feature and first post from Trace Cohen, our new Senior Director, Social Media Marketing at BlackBerry! Be sure to welcome Trace in the comments and stay tuned for more! — Donny

My first BlackBerry Live conference, and I’m definitely inspired. I’m in the enviable position of having recently joined in the company of a brand with a groundbreaking product platform, a disruptive marketing organization, a stellar social media team, and a global top 10 social fan base — ~32MM followers and fans that are not only rooting for our success in a volatile category, but have armed themselves as ambassadors for our cause.

Say no more than a recent tweet by world champion cyclist Mark Cavendish “Got an hour to relax, so playing around with my BlackBerry Z10. This phone is a monster! I love it! And no, this ISN’T a commercial tweet.”

Got an hour to relax, so playing around with my BlackBerry Z10. This phone is a monster! I love it! And no, this ISN’T a commercial tweet.

— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) May 9, 2013

But there’s an even more specific reason it’s so thrilling to be here at this point in time. Humility and Ambition. BlackBerry has a mega-challenge ahead of it driving adoption of BlackBerry 10, but the organization is humble enough to recognize what we’re doing wrong, curious enough to learn what we don’t know, and ambitious enough to make it right.

Ambition is at the core of the BlackBerry brand. And it’s who BlackBerry customers are — multi-taskers, fast-moving and ambitious. We’re balancing family, friends and professional lives, we’re ‘up to stuff’ in our day-to-day lives, work or play, we’re always on-the-go. More than just a tag line, ‘Keep Moving’ is a promise to support our customers in achieving their ambitions. Be it a personal ambition of climbing Kilimanjaro, spending more time with your kids, or a career goal to build the most social brand ever (yep, that’s mine), our role as the social team is to provide you with what you need to achieve your ambitions. Social Media is integral to what we do at BlackBerry, because while we’re mobile from the ground up, our device is social at its core too — connecting you to the people and information you need to keep moving. Our social marketing needs to reflect that ethos, to behave in the same way our product does, and it’s our commitment to bring you the social connections, experiences, content and even insights you need, to get where you’re going.

More than lip service, we made some announcements that support just this focus at BlackBerry Live this week. Alicia Keys announced the BlackBerry Scholars Program, a four-year scholarship fund to support young women in achieving their ambitions to make a mark on the world, while encouraging women to embrace careers in technology. Our newly announced Keep Moving Projects turns the celebrity endorsement model on its head. Rather than paying artists or celebrities to say what we want them to say about our brand, we’re asking artists to approach us with projects they want to do, and we’re asking them how we can support them in achieving their goals and ambitions. We know we’re going to get more authentic content and experiences this way, people who want to work with us and engage with our product for the right reasons.

Stay tuned for mobile social developments in this space. So glad to be here, and working for you and together with you, be sure to let us know what you’re up to in your lives, and what we can do to keep you moving. We’d love to learn more.

Capturing Attendee Excitement at BlackBerry Live 2013: What the Fans are Saying [VIDEO]

2013-05-16T10:05:29-07:00

It’s been a busy week here at BlackBerry Live 2013 — you’ve heard from the executives, you’ve heard from the experts and now, you get the chance to hear what attendees thought about all of the amazing things that happened at the show.

The energy is there… you could feel the electricity!

Watch the video below to get a feel for the vibrant and palpable energy from attendees at BlackBerry Live 2013.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

It’s always one of my favorite parts of the week, when I get to see this video for the first time. Hearing the feedback first-hand is a great feeling. Don’t be shy! Leave us a comment of what you thought of BlackBerry Live 2013 and let us know how we did covering all the action.

Watch Replay Coverage of LIVE Segment with Jeff Gadway at BlackBerry Live 2013 [VIDEO]

2013-05-16T07:31:48-07:00

Did you miss our first ever live broadcast at the 2013 BlackBerry Live conference? Well, you’re in luck; we recorded the hour-long session and are publishing the segments for all to see. Jeff Gadway is no stranger to the Inside BlackBerry blog, so we brought him on air to talk about the all the news to come out of the BlackBerry Live keynote.

Catch his take on some of the best announcements and the showing of strength from the BlackBerry leadership team. Watch the brief video below for all the details:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Let us know if you have any questions for Jeff in the comments below. For those of you perplexed by the “tie you to a chair” reference — check out this video from early on in the BlackBerry 10 marketing days where Jeff and I show off some features in a fun way. Thanks for being a good sport, Jeff!

Checking out the New BlackBerry Q5 with Product Manager Aman Bhalla [VIDEO]

2013-05-16T07:13:58-07:00

This year at the BlackBerry Live conference, the social media team tried something new — for the first time we had a live one-hour broadcast featuring special guests from around the company. Topics ranged across consumer, enterprise and developer streams. It was a lot of fun having the chance to connect live with all of you, thanks to those who tuned in.

For those of you who’ve missed it, we captured all of the action and have broken it up into short segments for you to watch. Aman Bhalla, Product Manager for the new BlackBerry Q5 stopped by the studio to show us all around the fun and youthful new device. Check it out in the video below

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Have you got questions for Aman? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll work to get them answered.

BlackBerry Live 2013 Thursday Morning Brief: Wrapping it Up with Sessions, Certification, and More [VIDEO]

2013-05-16T06:10:14-07:00

What a week! We’ve seen a lot of exciting news come out of BlackBerry Live and BlackBerry Jam Americas this week including app launches and announcements, partner demos, the future vision for BlackBerry from Thorsten Heins, and more. Today we wrap up BlackBerry Live with a flourish – be sure to check out the hands-on labs, breakout sessions, the BlackBerry Store, and the Showcase. Check out the video below for today’s morning brief:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

If you missed the keynote general sessions, you can replay the full videos for BlackBerry Live and BlackBerry Jam and their respective web sites.

Make sure that you check out the daily specials in the BlackBerry Store, including HS250 Bluetooth headsets, and microfiber pockets for BlackBerry Z10 smartphones.

What are you most looking forward to today? Share in the comments below.

BlackBerry Live 2013: Interview with Lewis Hamilton and Nick Fry of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Team [VIDEO]

2013-05-15T12:33:55-07:00

It’s been a week full of exciting announcements and surprise celebrity guests here at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando. Onstage during the keynote, Thorsten Heins welcomed Lewis Hamilton of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team to introduce BBM Channels. He later joined Nick Fry, Former CEO and Consultant to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team in a panel session at the conference.

I was fortunate enough to have some time to chat with Lewis about how he’ll be using BBM Channels to connect with his fans and the source of his ambition and drive for greatness. Check out my brief video interview with him below:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

In the interview Lewis talked about how the team is always looking forward to new technologies in social media that allow them to connect to their fans. Fans are a big source of inspiration and with BBM channels, he’ll be able to connect with them in a new and highly engaged way.

BBM Channels allows individuals and groups to create a dedicated channel and share information and updates with the immediacy that BBM offers. BBM customers around the world will be able to connect and share information, broadcast about themselves to their channel, or join their favorite communities and share their experiences of the channel with their BBM contacts.

I then had the chance to talk with Nick Fry about synergies between the BlackBerry and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS brands and how to manage a large team in mission critical operations. BlackBerry is helping the team harness the power of every individual on the team, something that Fry says is essential.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

How will you connect with the brands and celebrities you’re passionate about on BBM Channels? Let us know your thoughts below and be sure to check out the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team BBM channel.

The QNX Bentley Demo Onstage at BlackBerry Live [VIDEO]

2013-05-15T11:25:56-07:00

BlackBerry Live has seen some amazing demos and if you ask me, rolling a Bentley out on to the stage during the BlackBerry Live 2013 keynote definitely takes the cake. The car is an iconic symbol of passion and power; a car that only the truly ambitious covet. The task of embedding it with the latest mobile computing technology is quite ambitious as well.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Mark Rigley, of QNX, and Thorsten Heins showed off the power of the BlackBerry platform with a the first BBM Video call from a phone to a car. On the line was none other than Vivek Bhardwaj who was jokingly taking a vacation, while at BlackBerry Live. Check out that video conference and the gorgeous QNX Bentley in the video above.

In a true demonstration of the power of mobile computing, they were able to update software on the vehicle wirelessly via a BlackBerry 10 smartphone. What do you think about the QNX Bentley? Are you excited for the future of mobile computing?

Tour of the BlackBerry Booth in the BlackBerry Live Showcase

2013-05-15T10:31:56-07:00

Greetings from #BBLive 2013. Hope you’re all having as much fun as we are. This year’s schedule is definitely keeping us busy – so many can’t-miss sessions. If you haven’t already made your way to the BlackBerry Booth, you’ll want to head over and check it out before you leave.

One of the highlights of the BlackBerry Live conference (the amazing keynote, aside) is the BlackBerry booth in the conference showcase. This year is no exception. We’re showing off the best that BlackBerry has to offer, devices, accessories and even the QNX Bentley show-car and special demo vehicle from our partners on the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team.

I had the chance to check it all out this week at BlackBerry Live, so check out the quick video below and see for yourself:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

You can find more info by following @BlackBerry, @BlackBerry4Biz and @BlackBerryDev on Twitter and as always, stay tuned here for updates and the latest info. Were you attending BlackBerry Live this year? What were your favorite parts of the BlackBerry Booth? Let us know in the comments.