REGARD Solutions Corporation Blog

Unpopular Perspective on the Facebook Upgrade of 9/21/2011

2011-09-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

While most whine and complain about Facebook forever changing, complicating and controlling their lives, having run a software development firm for the past decade and a half, I stand back in absolute astonishment and true awe at the feat they just pulled off!

The sheer impact of the ticker alone must have cost Facebook north of a million dollars in QA and stress testing. Think of the myriad permutation caused by serving hundreds of million concurrent users a unique ticker view. Pause ... Think about it ... Mind numbing ... RIGHT!?!

Now think of the QA for browsers Chrome, IE, Firefox, Safari, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and tablets user interfaces…then remember each has multiple versions. So … when your little notification counter is off or doesn't refresh ... Give the Facebook development team as small little break! I’m sure it’s on their bug fix list somewhere far below "fine tuning the ticker API"

Now on the new user experience (UX as we geeks call it!) Facebook has optimized the each pixel of the screen. This can only be done when the user base has tons of experience with the system. The ticker pop-ups are close to perfection and even support scrolling when you mouse over the region….BRAVO! They have optimized the screen real estate and removed needless explanations like the word "Birthdays" has been replaced by the now familiar present icon. I could go on and on, and there certainly are places with room for improvement, but I’m sure it will come with future rollouts! It is very dangerous to try to rollout too many changes at once.

Look…some of the best and brightest minds of our time have just flawlessly pulled off an epic software upgrade on the world’s largest user base (750,000,000) ever known to mankind ...none of our apps broke …and all they hear are "boo" and prophecies of their eminent demise...Please...if you don't like it go back and login to Google+ for the second time since they launched!

Also, many people confuse Facebook with a sovereign government that has just breached their constitution. Last time I checked, Facebook was a free opt-in social media platform owned by shareholders of the corporation! It is not part of your government, it is not you god-given right to use it, and if you want it "your way" ... Take $5 down to Burger King…because the Whopper isn’t free!

So…Unless you secretly own a truckload of Facebook shares, get in line with the other 750MM users and get used to the fact that it is NOT YourSpace!!!

IMHO...that is!
==================================

Steve Beauregard || Founder & Managing Partner
424.234.1640 direct || sbeau@regard.com

REGARD Mobile Apps & Venture Solutions
4134 Del Rey Avenue || Marina del Rey, CA 90292

*** Mobile * Social * eCommerce Apps ***

Mobile Industry Insider's Opinon of the Smartphone and Mobile Platform Landscape

2011-05-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

This opinion written by Abdi Zadeh, former REGARD VP of Professional Services...and redistributed here with his permission. So, these are not my opinions, however, Abdi is spot on for the most part here...
Steve Beauregard
For the past 6 weeks, I’ve gone through an array of smartphones and tablets. I thought I’d share my experience:

Smartphone Landscape:

BlackBerry Torch: This is the phone that RIM should had come out with 12 months earlier than they did. Nice display, form-factor, and great battery life. This device won’t win any non-BlackBerry user over, but provides a nice stop-gap for existing BlackBerry users.

iPhone 4: This is great phone. Easy to use, good battery life, and nice form-factor. In fact, the only flaw is the lack of Flash support, which is quickly becoming a non-issue with the adoption of HTML 5

HP Veer: This is a cute phone, but definitely not for power-users. The form-factor is weird and the screen is too small. This runs on WebOS 2.0, which lacks quantity of apps. I’d wait for next generation devices from HP supporting WebOS 3.0

Samsung Galaxy 2 – Epic 4G: I really liked this Android 2.2 phone. Very nice touch display and full qwerty keyboard is nice for those of us that can’t type on screen displays. Battery life is definitely an issue, especially when the 4G, Wi-fi, or or GPS toggles are active. Also – the qwerty keyboard is too wide, making text-entry difficult with 2 thumbs (even for my long fingers). The accelerometer, which monitors device orientation and directional-navigation, seems to have some quirks as well.

Samsung Droid Charge: This is my current phone and I LOVE it. Incredibly fast 4G LTE with surprisingly sufficient battery-life. The Charge runs on Android 2.2, has a large touch display, and is extremely light in weight. The front facing camera is pretty cool too. My only issues with this phone are that main nav keys are hard buttons as opposed to screen-displays, which makes it a weird experience going back/forth from screen to buttons. Also – there’s no toggle between 3G and 4G. You have to use 4G where available.

HTC Thunderbolt: Hate it! Horribly outdated form-factor. It feels like a clunky PDA from Palm-4 days (late 90s). Battery life sucked

Samsung Focus: LOVE IT! I can’t believe Microsoft finally delivered a solid Mobile Platform. Running Windows Mobile 7, which introduces some new interactions with the finger gestures, the Focus provides new intuitive ways of navigating through apps and content. The battery life is on par with iPhone. The only negative is the lack of apps. The question is… can Microsoft win over consumers after so many horrible mobile platforms in the last 10 years?

Tablet Landscape:
iPad: This is still the best tablet out in the market. Best display, weight, form-factor.

BlackBerry Playbook: In my opinion, Playbook is the only device that comes close to iPad. Great hardware and experience. There’s a slight learning curve for new users, but once you get over it – you realize its brilliant design. What I don’t like; at 7”, I wish it were bigger. I also wish they would have launched with Android App support, which is expected in early Q4.

Motorala Xoom: A ridiculously overpriced paper-weight! The display is visibly cheap. When you hold it up to your phone or other tablets, it’s visibly less bright and sharp. It’s extremely heavy in weight and the power button is hidden on the back of the device (stupid). The processor chokes on interactive content, such as AJAX features.

Mobile Platform Landscape:

Apple’s iOS: Still the best, but others are catching up quickly. I believed that lack of Flash support would be their downfall, but with the growing adoption of HTML 5, Apple may have killed Flash. The only negative - for PC users, it sucks to be forced into using iTunes to sync/transfer content.

RIM’s BlackBerry: As a longtime advocate of the BlackBerry platform, all I can say now is that RIM’s days are numbered. RIM is so infused into corporate culture that it will be a slow death (ala Novel). They are trying to retain users with a big push in Latin America and Asia, but are hemorrhaging U.S. market-share. The Torch and Playbook are OK, but too little, too late.

Google’s Android 2.2 and 2.3: I’m a big fan, but they need to figure out their battery-management issues. They have the advantage of having multiple Manufacturers building hardware and interfaces for this platform, creating competition - which is always better for consumers. The funny thing about this is… Google’s Android Apps (e.g., Gmail and Google Docs) are really poorly designed.

Microsoft's Mobile 7: They finally did it! They finally put out an platform that wasn't ridiculously bad. In fact, it's pretty good. They introduce some new gesture interactions that allow for both vertical and horizontal navigation of content. The biggest challenge for this platform is the bad reputation Microsoft has in this space.

HP’s WebOS: I’m a fan, but have never seen any strong push or implementation of this platform. Since HP acquired Palm over a year ago – they’ve gone into hibernation. In Q4 of this year – we can expect new HP phones and tablets using a new WebOS 3.0 (with improved gestures for touch-screens). I’m sure HP will have a marketing blitz for developers and consumers. This is a very enticing platform for developers, as all you need to know is Javascript (even the native device APIs).

Qualcomm’s BrewMP: Stick to your hardware, chipsets, and Snapdragon Qualcomm! Mobile o/s is not your game! For a long time, I have predicted that this platform will die soon. I have inside info that suggests the time has finally come. It looks like Android will be the sole platform for Snapdragon devices.

Sean Penn to Marry Dr. Laura Schlessinger or Microsoft to buy RIM?

2011-05-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

This headline seems as unlikely to me today as "Microsoft to Buy Research in Motion” (aka RIM, creators of the BlackBerry.) Photo by BlackBerryCool

This morning I was contacted by a technology reporter and asked to comment on the rumor. I have speculated with peers for years as to which company would ultimately buy RIM and when. There was a time about 3 years ago, that a take over of RIM by the software giant would have made obvious sense.

In late 2007, Microsoft Mobile 6 was clearly failing to gain meaningful mobile market share. Meanwhile, RIM was trying to get their legs back under them after the 15^th round knockdown by NTP in the multi-year lawsuit. For the better part of the year (a technology eternity,) RIM’s best and brightest engineers worked on contingency plans to circumvent certain message transport methods to hopefully stay off the NTP injunction. RIM spent little time during that dispute staying ahead of the competition.

During this time, Microsoft made giant strides with the Active Sync technology which is now utilized by Apple iPhone and other Smartphone manufacturers. In my opinion, that was the key time for Microsoft, or Google for that matter, to buy RIM. With the lawsuit settled and the BlackBerry Smartphone OS aching for an overhaul, Microsoft would have instantly taken the leadership position in the mobile race rather than continuing to flail about in the surf.

Google on the other hand would have then greatly benefited from acquiring RIM at that time as well. Google would have instantly established an enterprise customer base to sell through all of the cloud based apps to displace Microsoft more rapidly than they recently have. Couple that with reason with the flop of the Nexus One, Google was ripe at that point to buy RIM. Google quickly realized they “stepped in it” BIG TIME attempting to enter the hardware business. Once they abandoned and realigned their strategy, Google Android promptly marched to the top of the US Smartphone market. So, why would they buy RIM now?

Although this is bad news for RIM, they remain an attractive acquisition target still for the following reasons:

1. Recurring revenue. RIM continues to print money with their take of the monthly carrier bill and the annual enterprise T-Support contracts.

2. Enterprise Customer Base. RIM has an impressive government and corporate customer base for selling through other hardware, software and services.

3. RIM is abandoning their legacy proprietary OS overhauling in favor of their QNX (UNIX based) OS.

4. The new PlayBook will run Android apps on top of a virtual

Obstacles to a sale:

1. RIM top brass don't want to sell. Both Jim Ballsillie and Mike Lazaridis are RIM lifers. Perhaps if Jim Ballisille can finally win his bid to bring a NHL hockey franchise to Waterloo...that may be a big enough distraction for him. However, Lazaridis is a self admitted geek and LOVES what he does. I would not be the least bit surprised to see the Co-Captains go down with the BlackBerry ship Novell style. REGARDless…RIM will still be a major factor for 5 to 10 more years.

2. Supporting RIM’s plethora of legacy devices, OS versions and BlackBerry Enterprise Server versions has got to me a formidable undertaking for any outsider coming in.

3. The number one obstacle however will be blending the culture of most any organization with RIM. Having worked in or consulted for thousands of companies of all sizes over the past two decades, I have rarely come across any organization with the ability to say “my way or the highway” to customers and partners and get “their way” almost without exception.

RIM and Microsoft would clash culturally worse than Sean Penn marrying Dr. Laura Schlessinger. From my earliest dealings with RIM back in 1998, they came out of the gate with ATTITUDE and EGO which has served them VERY well up and to now!

The tides have indeed turned! In general, the market reception I am hearing even among the most loyal BlackBerry users is "We are so over BlackBerry!" The new Smartphones hitting the market are too compelling and the consumer version of BlackBerry Internet Services is no longer the differentiator. RIM will be forced to adapt, sell the company or they will atrophy into the history books!

BlackBerry WES 2010 - The Inside Scoop!

2010-05-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

REGARD had a great trip to Orlando for BlackBerry WES 2010 and we are excited to be back in Santa Monica armed with a whole slew of new tips, tricks and tools that we can't wait to implement for you...

RIM's executives shared a number of inspiring announcements with us regarding BlackBerry 6.0 OS, BlackBerry App World 2.0, new device models and the BlackBerry Super App Challenge. REGARD is very excited about the myriad possibilities to construct "Super Apps" for the our consumer and enterprise customers!

SUPER APPS: THE CHALLENGE
REGARD always loves a good challenge so we were thrilled to learn about RIM's 2010 BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge with over $1.5 million in prizing!

Super Apps must deliver an engaging experiences for BlackBerry users by offering a seamless, integrated, contextualized and efficient UI. For example, Super Apps are always-on running in the background and listening for specific events, waiting for inbound data and triggering notifications. Super Apps are always-connected and should be tightly integrated with native apps. Using BlackBerry's open API to deliver even more customizable options than before, Super Apps can add custom menu items and data to the message list (or inbox), address book and calendar that can be easily accessed with just one click.

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis astutely explained that the future success of mobile platforms will rest on quality saying, "It's who has the best apps, not the most."

REGARD has always been committed to providing our customers with the best quality solutions. We are eager to apply our knowledge to construct ground-breaking Super Apps that are stickier and intuitive and make users more efficient, socially connected and overall better looking ;-) Contact REGARD today to find out how you can be part of RIM's 2010 BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge with a variety of prizes valued as high as $85,000.

BlackBerry 6.0 OS
RIM revealed a sneak peek of BlackBerry 6.0 and highlighted a variety of new features that will improve functionality, productivity and user experience. They've revamped the homescreen and enriched the UI with updated native apps, universal search features, pull down notifications and a new media and music organizer. Another key addition is RIM's WebKit rendering engine which speeds up web browsing and incorporates multi-touch, tabbed browsing and a new favorites system. Aesthetic changes like inertial scrolling and elastic menus throughout polish off RIM's menu of new offerings.

BlackBerry App World 2.0
RIM unveiled its plan for the rejuvenated BlackBerry App World 2.0 (BAW) storefront for buying and downloading software applications which promises to optimize its users' ability to purchase and experience BlackBerry apps. BAW 2.0 provides purchasing freedom with host of new payment options including microtransactions and subscription capabilities that enable developers to capitalize on flexible pricing strategies to maximize their revenue. RIM also promised that they are close to offering carrier and credit card billing options in addition to their current PayPal payment system. The more efficient BAW 2.0 will be Wi-Fi capable, adds account management, search improvements and allows for more enterprise apps in the catalog. Best of all, App World will soon come preloaded on the home screen of all BlackBerry models shipping with version 5.0 or above.

With new ways to monetize, promote and optimize your mobile campaign there has never been a better time to extend your business into the BlackBerry mobile space. Now is your chance to launch your mobile apps to build your mobile reputation before the market becomes flooded with your competition. Be sure you find a trusted BlackBerry Alliance Partner that has stood the test of time to create high-quality, profit-producing apps to improve productivity, save time and increase revenue. Rely on longstanding BlackBerry relationships to help you strategically promote your brand and make a huge impact in the mobile ecosystem.

NEW BLACKBERRY DEVICE MODELS
Slimmer,sleeker, updated and upgraded - the newest devices on the BlackBerry block promise more bells and whistles than ever while maintaining BlackBerry's commitment to superior quality and functionality.

RIM announced the launch of the Blackberry Bold 9650 and the Blackberry Pearl 9100 and 9105. The Bold takes the Tour's place and replaces the dated trackball with an optical pad to easily navigate the 2.4 inch, 480 x 360 resolution display. Additionally, the memory has been doubled from 256MB to 512MB, it supports 3G speeds, has WiFi capabilities and is the first BlackBerry to offer OpenGL support for 3D graphics. Wow!

Not to be outdone, both Pearl devices will get 3G and 802.11 N WiFi support, GPS capabilities, 256MB of flash memory and microSDHC support. They will both be powered by a 624MHz processor. The 9100 retains the slim SureType keypad while the 9105 gets a traditional keypad.

Be the first to launch high-quality, user-friendly, integrated apps for the hot new BlackBerry devices that utilize all their updated capabilities.Partner with a company like REGARD Venture Solutions and be among the first to develop Super Apps - completely integrated, seamless and efficient apps that take your brand to a whole new level. We know what it takes to WIN THE CHALLENGE! REGARD can increase your brand exposure and set you apart from the competition!

Is BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) a "Killer App?"

2010-01-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

Doctor friends always complain about those annoying people at a cocktail parties with the shoulder that hurts. As it turns out, being a Smartphone guru these days may actually be a larger target to annoy. My brother's (an anesthesiologist) favorite answer is, “You should see a doctor about that!” Unlike a doctor, the advice of a Smartphone geek like me carries no liability exposure, so I can't wiggle out of “Which Smartphone is be best for me?” so easily.

After cover what they like and hate about their current Smartphone, the conversations now always turns to apps. Apps have long been my passion, and, yes, way before “mobile apps.” In fact, I gave a speech to an MBA class some years ago about “Killer Apps” and the characteristic that put an app in that category. The acid test that undeniably make for a “Killer App” is… “Would you buy a particular piece of hardware for the purpose of running that app?” The second criteria is similar but subtly different: “If not for that app, would the utility you get from the hardware you purchased be significantly diminished?”

In a number of recent conversation about selecting a new Smartphone, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was listed as a favorite app. Since BBM relies on the unique BlackBerry 8 character PIN number and the BlackBerry NOC, it is not available on other Smartphones. This caught my attention because in many conversations, the BBM app was turned out to be the pivotal factor for why someone selected BlackBerry over iPhone. In one case, I asked a friend if he was still seeing the same girl. He replied, “it’s strange, once she got an iPhone, we didn’t chat like we did over BBM!” Which in and of itself could make for a good mental health blog entry.

So for those that are unfamiliar with BBM, essentially it is an instant messenger from any BlackBerry in the world to any other BlackBerry in the world free for no additional charge. That is, regardless of if you’re and enterprise user or using consumer Gmail user, you can connect via BBM. Unlike SMS text message, BBM operates like a peer-to-peer IM session. Users can exchange text messages, pictures, short voice notes, files, and even hold a conference (like a chat room). By far my favorite feature of BBM is the check mark with the little “D” denoting the message has been positively delivered to the recipient.

Also, in these frugal times, especially for international communication, BBM provides substantial cost savings over voice of SMS conversations.

Operation Chokehold Highlights the Wrong Pain

2009-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

The CRN article last week by Kevin McLaughlin, "AT&T Faces Potential 'Operation Chokehold'" discusses Dan Lyons' (a.k.a. the fake Steve Jobs) AT&T customer "call to action" asking they simultaneously launch data hungry mobile apps to overwhelm the NYC AT&T network. The goal was to shame the carrier into building more capacity.

As McLaughlin quoted me in the 5th paragraph of his article, Lyons displays a fundamental lack of network infrastructure understanding. I believe, however, with this charade, he is entirely on the wrong side of the chokehold problem.

In my opinion, Apple has created the "chokehold," not the greedy carrier (Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the carriers, I could go on for pages about their sins, but not my focus here.) I blame the Apple campaign "There is an app for that!" While brilliant marketing, the pressure to have the largest number apps in one's app store was the net result and thus the race to the bottom on quality.

In general, the best written mobile apps utilize the network the least. Understanding, when and how to use the transport is the "Black Magic" of mobile app development. The shear number of mobile app suddenly available on the iPhone App Store (now in excess of 100,000) tells me that the vast majority do not uphold any quality standard of performance.

The carriers have gotten so fat on overpriced all-you-can-eat unlimited data plans, that the heavy usage apps are their comeuppance! You can be sure the price of these plans will adjust to pass the costs along to the consumer.

Considerations Before Building the Next Killer Mobile App

2009-11-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

When brands /customers approach REGARD to build a mobile app for them, we are often aksed ..."Would you recommend first developing for iPhone, BlackBerry or Android?" Our reply always depends on their goals. That said, we tell them to consider these statistics from the 3 major App Stores:

100,000+ iPhone Apps
14,000+ Android Apps
4,000+ BlackBerry Apps

Brands must consider how well their audiance aligns with the demographic of the various Smartphone products. Second, how likely is the Smartphone user to find your app among the noise? I personally have never been a fan of "build it and they will come" ...rather... "Market it and they will come!"

Next consideration is pricing strategy! As I pointed out in my post for BlackBerry Cool "Conclusions from selling apps..." investing in developing an app is only the beginning of the investment. You need to consider also the following:

Pricing Strategy (Free, Free to Premium, Try & Buy or Buy only)
Marketing & Social Media Strategy
Planned enhancements (Roadmap)
and, often overlooked, Support

All of these factors play into the decision to build a mobile app. Not that you can't change course once underway, but you must have a plan before you jump on the bandwagon or you the chances of a succcess story in the Mobile App Gold Rush are greatly diminished.

Making Sense of BlackBerry T-Support now BlackBerry TSS

2009-09-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

The BlackBerry T-Support Program (now known as BlackBerry Technical Support Services (TSS) has changed considerably in recent months. Most notably, the pricing structure has changed. RIM has gone away from the combination of the number of production server and Smartphone calculations in favor of selecting a level of support and the number of deployed handhelds. You still need to provide the SRP key of all production BES servers, however, that is no longer part of the pricing calculation.

RIM has eliminated the T-Support levels of Tx1, Tx2, Tx3, Tx4 & Tx5 and simplified into three categories ("Standard", "Premium" and "Elite".)

In essence, here is the mapping:
* Tx1 & Tx2 = Standard
* Tx3 & Tx4 = Premium
* Tx5 (on steroids) = Elite

It appears to me that the "Standard" level provides a little cost savings to the smaller clients, but drops the quality of to encourage the mid-sized companies to step up to Premium Support. The same seems to have happened at the Premium level, former Tx3 customers are paying a little more, but also getting a straight to the DART team, while the former Tx4 clients are getting essentially the same support at a lower cost. With the cost of the Elite program, I believe there will be VERY few clients to sign up for this program. There are many more affordable options to receive far more for your money. For example, REGARD offers "tech-to-site" support and expert BES remote support at a fraction of the cost of RIM Direct.

The other VERY SIGNIFICANT change, is that BlackBerry customers receiving TSS support and software quotes from RIM Direct will now only receive quotes at full retail price. REGARD believes this is RIM's recognition that value-added resale partners (like REGARD) with locally available BlackBerry savvy technical resources can provide a greater value proposition to their customers in their local geographies by combining BlackBerry TSS along with their own support services.

In addition to REGARD R-Support, REGARD also offers BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0 readiness assessments and training for BES Admin, Help Desk and end users.

Contact sales@regard.com to discuss how REGARD can save you significant amounts on your support renewal and software licenses.

Hot Tips For Navigating Your BlackBerry Calendar

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

I like to watch people fumble around with their BlackBerry calendar ... It's a hobby of mine. They often hit 5 or more keys or thumb through menus to get to their appointment information.

The problem is they have not been trained!

So here are some of the best kept BlackBerry Calendar secrets to streamline your experience.

The first thing you need to do is disable the "Quick Entry" feature. This will take away your ability in the day view to just start entering an appointment. The is an easy trade off as all you need to do is use the "C" Quick Key described below.

Step 1: Open you calendar, hit the BlackBerry logo button and roll down to "Options." Select "General Options," then roll to "Enable Quick Entry". Hit the Space bar to toggle selection to "No"

Step 2: Hit Escape twice to return to your default calendar view

Step 3: Here are you Quick Key short cuts...you are going to love it!

D - Day View
W - Week View
M - Month View
A - Agenda View
S - Scrolls through the above views

With in any of the views, here are more Quick Keys:

N - Next
P - Previous
G - Go to a specific date
T - Go to Today
C - Create New Appointment

Hitting the same key twice will toggle you between that view and the previous. When creating an appointment and you want to change the duration of the meeting.

Hold Alt key and roll up or down.

Hope this helps!
-Steve Beauregard
www.REGARD.com
www.REGARD-Solutions.com
www.REGARDventures.com
www.BlackBerryTraining.net

Count to 10 slowly...call back...say "CELLHELL" and MOVE ON!

2009-05-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today...I'm on a MISSION to save frustration and time...both of ours!

The Problem Statement:

In mid sentence, your cell call drops...you call back and get their voicemail...then they call you back while you're in their voicemail. You hang-up attempting to pick up the incoming call...and fail...you both hang up and try each other again! Repeat until...

When you FINALLY get reconnected, both parties discuss whose fault it was, whose coverage sucks more, which model of phone you have, and how the last model you had, while heavier and able to fry and egg in seconds, actually had fewer dropped calls. Invariably someone goes on a rant how the carrier claims "fewest dropped calls" and "can you hear me now?" Jokes...we have all heard them...get over it already!

Once you have established whose coverage sucks less at the moment, and who should try the other's phone model...you can now get back to the important question..."At what point in the conversation was the call dropped?"

With collectively four (4) fewer minutes available on your monthly calling plans before those nasty overage charges kick in....you are once again back on track!

The Solution (Soon to be posted on eHow.com):

Step #1 - The person that initiated the call...COUNT SLOWLY TO TEN (10)...this give the carrier network time to figure out that call is no longer connected!

Step #1a: The person that received the call...Press END and sit tight.

Step #2: When the 10 seconds are up, the person that initiated the call, places a new call (hopefully to you).

Step #2a: Person receiving the call answers and simply says "CELLHELL"

Step #3: Calling parting having heard "CELLHELL" repeats "CELLHELL" showing their mutual agreement that (i) your carrier coverage sucks ass, (ii) they should put a repeater in the tunnel you just drove through (iii) you lose your coverage at the same exact spot every day (iv) why won't they fix it, (v) your Smartphone model is inferior to the 80's briefcase cell that was more powerful than your microwave ... and, finally, (xxiv) you'd rather have a root canal than make small talk over such things.

Step #4: The person that WASN'T talking when the call dropped...tell the other party the last thing you heard.

Step #5: MOVE ON with your conversation people!

So next time you hear "CELLHELL", you'll know what to do...if you are on a three party call or bridge...you are on your own!

I hope this was helpful...your milage may vary!

REGARD Releases R-Vintage Lookup for BlackBerry in time for WES 2009

2009-04-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

Realizing it is the wrong season for a new vintage release (at least in California,) REGARD today released R-Vintage Lookup for BlackBerry. (Click from BlackBerry Browser to download)

Wine lovers will be able to quickly access vintage ratings by country, region and varietal right from their Smartphone.

The FREE app will be available to BlackBerry 4.2 and above Smartphone users via the new BlackBerry App World.

A premium version will be released in coming weeks with additional features that wine enthusiasts will consume faster than a 1997 Napa Cab. The premium version will be priced well below what a wine lover would pay for a single glass at any major city nightclub.

Additional "R-App" utilities are in the works and will be released by REGARD in the coming months.

Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5

2009-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Research in Motion officially released Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5 as the upgrade to v1.2. This has been a long time coming as I was getting really tired of the year long "Smack-Talk" I have endured from my iPhone zealot friends.

There are two new features that alone make it worth the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5. First, the ability to comment on my status and the status of friends....FINALLY! I find the order in which the comments display to be slightly confusing, but it works and it gives me the immediacy of mobile functionality I have been renowned for since 1998 (When I first started using the BlackBerry.)

The second key feature is my favorite! The integration of Facebook notices into the Message List. RIM has taken what had become an annoyance and made it an enhancement. Now from my regular Message List, I can click on a Facebook notice and it drops me right into the Facebook app for BlackBerry. I have noticed a little processing delay on my BOLD when first bringing up the message, it take a few seconds of processing time to figure itself out.

There have been some nice enhancement so the "Friends" interface allowing you to direct dial from facebook profile information or to connect and add Facebook contacts with you Address Book.

Some basic "look and feel" touches add sexiness such as the screen wipe and auto refresh, but those are just window dressing and don't really add much to the features. I would have preferred RIM spend that time on selecting Categories for new friend requests or adding comments to Notes which didn't make it in this release. Hey...but what do you want for free?

I was a little skeptical of a few of the other integration features between Facebook and my enterprise calendar and contacts. In fact the BlackBerry Contacts Application checkbox disclaimer reads "enabling this feature will periodically send copies of your BlackBerry device contacts (thus my Outlook contacts) to Facebook, Inc...." I'm actually OK with this so far, because I do this with Plaxo as well. BUT THEN ... it goes on to say "...and you acknowledge that access to this data will no longer be subject to your and your Facebook Friend's privacy settings once stored on your BlackBerry device"

HOLD THE PHONE (no pun intended)!!

The new Facebook app for BlackBerry is going to circumvent my privacy setting and those of my Facebook friends? This gave me pause...having worked with RIM as a partner of a dozen years and knowing their infamous legal department...how did THIS sneak through the cracks?

Upon further inspection, this is no different than any other Facebook app...RIM is just pointing out what millions of Facebook users have fully understand....Every time you allow a Facebook app to access your profile, your information and that of your network of friends is being downloaded into another company's database. Facebook ceases to have any control whatsoever over that data from that point forward. In the case of the BlackBerry app, the data is going into the persistent data store of MY BlackBerry and RIM is telling me that they and Facebook are no longer responsible for the security of that data. I am far more comfortable and have now rechecked the "BlackBerry Contacts application." I just hope it doesn't start sending out unbeknownst to me and making Facebook Friend requests!

The Enterprise is "All About BlackBerry" ... Still

2008-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

The "BlackBerry Killers" still come and go. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry has been creeping into the hands of consumers at an eye-opening rate. As Tom Taulli points on in his latest Bloggingstocks article, RIM expect 15% to 20% increase in subscriber growth last quarter over earlier projections.

The increase demand seemed to be due, in large part, to unexpected demand during the Christmas shopping season. I think it is very safe to declare that BlackBerry is NOT just for the Enterprise any longer!

The Curve is the best Enterprise to Consumer crossover product on the market. As one of the first BlackBerry application development companies, REGARD is looking to develop broader consumer centric application to meet the growing demand.

REGARD Venture Solutions at VentureNet 2007

2007-10-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

On Friday, October 5, 2007, REGARD Venture Solutions will introduce a software incubator division for "seed" stage entreprenuers with ground-breaking ideas, but limited budgets.

REGARD Venture Solutions infuses expert intellectual & technological capital to innovative entrepreneurs. We focus on emerging growth-stage technology companies that either need to transform ideas into a working proof of concept, or need to evolve a software product for investment consideration.

Incubated on a full or partial equity payment basis, our ideal candidates are focused on (i) software as a service, (ii) mobility & wireless solutions, or (iii) internet-based businesses. REGARD Corporation and Indian subsidiary REGARD Solutions, Pvt. Ltd employ their 14-years of expert software design, rapid application development, and commercial product launch experience to quickly build the entrepreneur’s vision.

REGARD will be exhibiting at VentureNet at The Westin South Coast Plaza in Orange County.

BlackBerry - Not Just for Business Anymore

2007-09-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

We are quickly closing in on a decade that RIM's BlackBerry platform has owned the enterprise messaging space. Hands down it has dominated all would be "BlackBerry Killers" with ease. Some newcomers overheated, some overrated, some oversized, and ALL over-promised!

With that, RIM has been late to the game of consumer features such as integration of camera, removable memory, and most notably multi-media functionality. This is all predictable as these features were not in high demand especially among security conscience IT types.

In the September 2007 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine (page 38), I am quoted as saying “the BlackBerry isn’t just for business anymore.”

When REGARD released the RV-Pileup game for Sony Pictures Entertainment, my kids began fighting over who is going to play games on my BlackBerry. It got so bad, that I put together three older units from spare parts in the REGARD BlackBerry graveyard and loaded them with every game I could find.

Everyone was happy until I switched to the BlackBerry 8300…now the new fight is over who is going to use my BlackBerry to take pictures.

Our children are growing up in a vastly different high-tech world! Below is a picture my 4 year old took this morning in my office using the Curve…ironically of Robin Williams on the RV movie poster. Don't expect too much...she is after all just 4!

Let the Smartphone WARS Begin!

2007-06-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

BlackBerry Curve vs. Apple iPhone

Today marks the beginning of a new era in the Smartphone battle in the consumer space. RIM, as the category killer for mobile email and PIM integration in the enterprise market, first invaded the consumer Smartphone market with the introduction of the BlackBerry Pearl last year. Albeit lacking the needed integration of the multimedia functions to make it a meaningful consumer competitor, the Pearl was a very solid first offering which was quickly reflected in the stock price (NASDAQ: RIMM). Further, the Pearl did give the enterprise users already familiar with BlackBerry their first taste of a camera phone experience whetting their appetite for more consumer centric functionality.

With all of the iPhone hype, I decided to upgrade to the BlackBerry Curve (8300) to see (i) how the BlackBerry multimedia offering has advanced and (ii) to prepare myself for a comparison to the iPhone features.

Let me preface by disclosing that REGARD is one of RIM's longest standing BlackBerry partners and I have tried every single BlackBerry model RIM has released with few exceptions.

In a word... "WOW" ...Not since the introduction of the 7200 series has RIM made such a GIANT LEAP FORWARD!

Thankfully, they have once again "nailed" keyboard feel. After a few mediocre efforts, the Curve returns to an easy to use, hard to "fat finger" layout. The trackball is solid and more efficient than repositioning the hand to use the TrackWheel. It is the best composing experience since the 950 (and that is saying A LOT).

Now this is where the fun begins...within minutes of activating my 8300, I had loaded a 2 GB memory card with pictures of my wife and kids. I also loaded hundreds of songs with playlists which I listened to on the stereo headset at the gym. When a phone call arrived the Curve paused the music. I made dinner plans to meet another couple at Boss Sushi (highly recommended on Yelp and now by me) and, upon disconnecting from the call, the BlackBerry resumed the music right where it left off...a very nice experience!

After sushi, we took our friends at a Hollywood night club. Despite the dim lighting, I took a group self portrait and forwarded it to Flickr right from the BlackBerry Curve.

Today the iPhone was officially launched exclusively on the AT&T network today. I have read much of the iPhone hype and, being an iPod consumer that has also purchase car and external speaker accessories, I am very much looking forward to trying the Apple offering as well.

A few words of warning to those anxious customers that leaving their current carrier in the mad iPhone rush to AT&T. The iPhone "suggested" rate plans top at $99 plan giving you only 1350 voice minutes a month. The profile of consumer that will drop the $500+ to purchase the Smartphone, will likely blow through 1350 minutes very quickly. So if you simply ask for the top iPhone plan, you are likely to get hit with huge overage charges. There are 2000, 4000 and 6000 plans also available, but you have to know to ask for them.

This is amazingly clever of Apple and AT&T to craft these plans a such. Almost as clever, that is, as RIM announcing blockbuster earnings on the eve of the iPhone launch and skyrocketing their stock (NASDAQ: RIMM) $34 in one day!

WES 2007

2007-05-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

The annual “BlackBerry Lovefest” (formally known as RIM’s Wireless Enterprise Symposium or “WES”) draws to a close today in Orlando Florida. If the movement in RIMM stock price this week is any indicator, it was a very successful show for RIM.

Having now attended all six WES events, I’d say this year had an especially unique blend of old and new faces with many of the veteran BlackBerry Alliance Partners opting to send smaller teams and, in many cases, not exhibiting on the showcase floor. With overflowing enthusiasm, the new kids on the block sent large teams to explain to the BlackBerry faithful how their new product or service is a little bit better than the competitor across the floor.

RIM filled up any idle booth space advertising their new “Top Shelf” professional services, training and accessory offerings. These offerings have been years in the coming and will effectively serve the largest customers in North America. These teams are intentionally lean to keep overhead down with the tradeoff being scalability.

The prevailing theme at WES was “BlackBerry is not just for business anymore…it is an integral part of your personal life.” Based on the number of people walking around the show at all hours of the day and night frozen in the "BlackBerry Prayer" stance, I would have to agree.

I was very encouraged that the other prevalent theme was “wireless applications.” This was true among RIM, the carriers and customers alike. Even Jim Belushi at the evening party used the term 2 or 3 times during his performance as did the Robin Wilson (lead singer of the Gin Blossoms) during the AT&T Wireless Party at the House of Blues.

New BlackBerry Smartphones

This consumer focused impression perfectly introduced the BlackBerry 8300 or “Curve”. This sexy little number morphs the QWERTY keyboard with many of the features that made the Pearl such a winner. The Curve gets an upgraded 2 Megapixel camera, a stereo headset jack, stereo Bluetooth A2DP capability and spell checker. To round out the multimedia offering, more formats will be supported (i.e. WMA files) and Roxio for BlackBerry will be provided on the desktop to manage all the pix, movies & music files.

The other exciting smartphone announcement was the BlackBerry 8830 for US based Verizon Wireless and Sprint. This little beauty will be the first of its kind offering seamless international roaming on GSM/GPRS while connecting via the CDMA/1x/EVDO antenna when in the US.

BlackBerry Software Roadmap

As a natural evolution, RIM continues to enhance the handheld and server side software marginalizing the ISV Alliance Partner offerings. Many thrifty ISVs were whispering among their colleagues as RIM announce their future intension to bake-in monitoring, roles based security, .Net and Eclipse snap-in for developers and a number of other features under partner NDA.

After years of trying to downplay the need for the Desktop Manager, it is BACK! It will become the mechanism to manage multimedia files on the BlackBerry family of smartphones.

ISV Partner Products and Services

There were few products and services that I would categorize as new or revolutionary. Many things that one would naturally expect to be built were now being demoed. There were RSS readers, geo positioning & emergency contacts and the like. Most were varying twists on one of the following themes: CRM, Dispatch, Geo-tracking / mapping / directions, business process improvement, content / document management, voice recognition, IT admin tools (monitoring / remote control / security / failover), software "middleware" platforms and 31 flavors of professional and hosted services.

I saw many strong and valuable products for customers to solve unique problems. Of the products that I reviewed, I found the following to be most memorable.

GPS Snitch offers BlackBerry client for 8800 (or GPS puck) that reports back via the cellular data network the precise location of the device. Projecting forward, the service could be used not only for monitoring, but also for social networking purposes. eTrace is an on-demand enterprise dispatch service based on the same technology. Both products can monitor and alert users if a driver is speeding or not where they should be.

Chalk Mobile’s Content Management Solution showed very well. From a BlackBerry 8800, Chalk showed a technician’s training demo complete with audio and video (stored on MicroSD not streaming) with step by step instructions and a test at the end of each section. The results were tracked back at the server. The Chalk demo was the best produced at the show.

REGARD’s R-Approval v3.0 product which enables traveling managers to receive approval requests for timecards, expense reports, purchase requisition and the like into a unique approval inbox received a lot of interests from tier 2 US carriers and tier 1 international carriers. The goal of this carrier class is to find sticky solutions that are easy to install, support and deliver high utility out-of-the-box.

WES Summary

Year after year RIM continues to produce a high quality show that continues to grow among the customers, partners and carriers internationally. The momentum of the Eco-System they have built is very compelling and should be for some time to come.

I remember the first meeting I took with RIM in 1998 they told me they felt they had an 18 month lead on their nearest competition. I believe they continue to extend that lead as they push into more international markets.

Aliph Jawbone Bluetooth Headset w/ BlackBerry

2007-04-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, I was speaking with a VC friend that told me about one of his portfolio companies that had utilized military technology to create a Bluetooth headset that would virtually eliminate background (or ambient) noise from a wireless call.

Naturally, this sounded rather futuristic and far fetched.

About 3 months ago, I received a Jawbone Headset in the mail. After pairing it with my BlackBerry, I jumped right into my M3 Convertable ... top down, stereo cranked, I accelerated to 60 MPH on PCH and was ready to road test the Jawbone.

When I told the other parties of the hostle "noisy" environment from which I was calling, they were astonished! Initially, I was not able to hear conversation very well until I traded out earbuds and the ear loop to adjust the fit (4 earbud and 4 earloops are included).

With California poised to join the states that require hands-free calling when driving, I must say I am thrilled the Jawbone has been released in time!

The Virtual BlackBerry on Windows Mobile 6

2007-04-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Research in Motion announced a BlackBerry® vitural machine that will run on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6® smartphones.

Tom Taulli quotes me in his Motley Fool article today stating that this is a smart move by RIM.

"This opens up RIM's wireless push network to an entirely new class of smartphone devices," said Steve Beauregard, president of REGARD, which has developed applications for BlackBerry smartphones for the past 10 years. "Not only does RIM win by selling additional software licenses and support fees to enterprise customers, but the company receives a small recurring fee from the carrier for each user sending traffic over the BlackBerry network."

Hopefully this will not be a long wait in vain as the BlackBerry Connect® and BlackBerry Built-in® RIM initiatives were. That is, hopefully, the Windows Mobile platform and the supporting hardware have now matured to offer a pervasive platform alternative to customers that want the rich features of Windows (i.e. MS Office, Media Players, etc) that hamstring the BlackBerry offering.

Coupling the speed, security and reliability of the BlackBerry service with a Windows Mobile user experience should truly serve well a user base that RIM has thus far been unable to tap.

******************************************************

-Steve Beauregard

REGARD – “R-Solutions Liberate People From Their Desks”

310.883.2205 (direct dial)

310.450.2400 (main line)

http://www.regard.com (Corp Website)

Opportunities for Resellers & VARs

2007-04-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

In a recent Computer Reseller News "CRN" article by Jennifer Lawinski, I wanted to clarify my quote below.

"The device business was a very booming business for a number of years and we did quite well with that, but pretty much anything meaningful they've taken direct"

By "anything meaningful they've taken direct" , I am referring to the wireless carriers (Cingular, T-Mobile, NEXTEL / Sprint & Verizon). That is to say the largest customers and activation deals are being sold by the carrier sales reps directly to the customers. This is simply the natural evolution of any technology business. Now that the carriers have come up to speed on BlackBerry® and other Smartphone devices (as much as they feasibly can), their sales reps don't need to rely (as much) on the expertise of companies like REGARD to help close these deals.

As for the second part of that quote...

"...The most opportunity is in emerging software development companies, getting in early with them before their products start to go with distribution," Beauregard said. "A lot of those guys you can get margins of up to 40 [percent] or 50 percent because they're anxious to get their products out there."

Small technology companies must evolve with the changing dynamics. The big opportunities in wireless for resellers and VARs has now migrated to off-the-shelf wireless products like R-Approval®. In addition to making money on the sale of the software, VARs can also provide professional services to document and streamline approval workflow processes. Designing R-Approval templates based on existing paper approval forms can also be quite lucrative.

Other products are available for Flowfinity, Antenna Software and Wallace Wireless that offer similar opportunities for VARs on BlackBerry® and other wireless Smartphones.

******************************************************

-Steve Beauregard

REGARD – “R-Solutions Liberate People From Their Desks”

310.883.2205 (direct dial)

310.450.2400 (main line)

http://www.regard.com (Corp Website)

In the News

2007-03-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

A number of customers and colleagues recently asked me what I thought of Jim Balsillie's resignation as chairman of Research in Motion (RIMM).

From the time I saw my first BlackBerry in 1998, I knew a revolution on par with the introduction of the laptop computer was coming for mobile professionals.

I first had the pleasure of meeting Jim Balsillie in 2000. What was immediately evident was Jim's deep passion for driving this revolution according to his vision. He was already speaking like an evangelist of applications beyond email and PIM data before those "mobile killer apps" had been adopted in mainstream corporate culture.

It was Jim's leadership and passion that encouraged partners like REGARD to adopt the slogan "Liberating People From Their Desks" and to develop products like R-Approval & R-Charter. Mobilizing critical business application to BlackBerry Smartphones today is the realization of Jim's late 1990's vision.

I feel regardless of Jim's decision to step down as chairman, he will continue to pour much of his heart and soul into RIM products as ever. After all, Jim has not stepped down as co-CEO.

That said, Jim's recent highly publicized purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins leads one to believe he may begin to pursue other interests as well. Clearly, he has earned it!

Perhaps we will see the Waterloo Penguins before long?

Below is a link to my comments in Computer Reseller News (CRN).

http://crncanada.ca/content/networking/balsillie-steps-down-as-r.shtml

2007 Changes at REGARD

2007-02-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

Over the past 12 years, REGARD has supported a wide diversity of customer's IT needs. With technologies and best practices changing at a frantic pace, we have found it impossible to be an effective partner to our customers in both software development and IT Support.

In order to continue to delivering the quality of service our customers demand and deserve, REGARD has set focus on project based software development of mobility solutions. Our sales priority will be focused on solution surrounding our R-Approval, R-Charter & R-Survey products for wireless handhelds.

I would like to personally thank all of our customers for whom we have been a trusted technology partner over these 12 years, and I hope you will consider REGARD should you have software development or mobility solutions needs (such as Microsoft .Net, Java, J2ME, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the like)

******************************************************

-Steve Beauregard

REGARD – “R-Solutions Liberate People From Their Desks”

310.883.2205 (direct dial)

310.450.2400 (main line)

http://www.regard.com (Corp Website)

REGARD / Cingular DSC Summit Meeting (6/28/2006)

2006-07-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

The goal of the REGARD / DSC Summit Meeting was to have a "round-table" discussion of wireless industry trends and customer needs. The Cingular DSCs speak with a broad spectrum of customers about their pains. REGARD was seeking validation and some strategic guidance from the collective experiences of the participants. REGARD would take into consideration these discussions in the architecture and design of current and future mobile products.

The Meeting Agenda was as follows:
1. Comparative technology/platform discussion
2. General discussion of customer readiness & budgets to adopt solutions (Custom vs. Packaged)
3. What solutions really generate a lot of interest and why?
4. Have customers moved beyond "Low Hanging Fruit" to address real operational challenges?
5. Are current wireless solution meeting the needs of customers?
6. Discussion of products that raise ARPU vs. those that add data lines.
7. Brainstorming session - Common customer pains (vertical vs. Horizontal)
REGARD Development Capabilities and Product Roadmap. Feedback from the field.

REGARD attendees included
Manish - Director of Solutions (REGARD India partner)
Cariel - Senior Solutions Architect
Dave - REGARD Advisory Board and published wireless expert
Steve - President & CTO
Lee - CEO & Marketing Executive

Cingular Attendee (shall remain nameless to protect them)
3 Members of the Global DSC Team
4 Members of the Corporate Markets DSC Team

The meeting started with each person providing their professional background. This was important to establish the technical, business and sales knowledge of the summit participants.

In the comparative technology discussion, BlackBerry remains the category killer for mobile data. All agreed that Microsoft Windows Mobile will take a considerable bite of the market going forward, however, no one believes that BlackBerry will be replaced in mass any time soon.

The mobile solutions market is still mostly highly customized to meet customer requirements. Many early solutions really only addressed a feature gap that was ultimately incorporated into the BlackBerry product.

Few solutions are driven from the top levels of the corporation as was the case with mobile email. Line of business solutions appear to be of highest interest especially for field forces, sales force/ CRM and service industry technicians. Many executives seem to lack the imagination of how a mobile application can help them. They need to see diagrams and real life examples before the light bulb finally comes on.

REGARD provided the DSC with the future vision for the R-Approval & R-Survey products. We were met with very lively discussion which validated some of our thought regarding barriers to entry. The feedback from the DSC was to improve the interfaces to and from outside enterprise systems. The key to our success in the global accounts will be the ability to integrate and the key for corporate markets accounts will be ease of administration and ease of use.

5th Annual RIM Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES)

2006-05-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

The annual RIM Wireless Enterprise Symposium (held May 14-18, 2006) has become quite predictable. Not that that is necessarily bad; The event remains a "who's who" of the BlackBerry carrier and partner elite (a high value wireless executive schmooze-fest.) The fact that it is highly attended by this profile alone makes it worth attending. Attendance was definitely up, especially among international attendees, and the Gaylord Palms facility and preparation were top-notch!

Keynote Speeches
The keynotes were a little less than awe inspiring. The highlight, by far, was Jim Balsillie's assertion that Microsoft has been "dicking around" trying to figure out how to do wireless solutions. His flippant remark was almost a "come-and-get-me" or “catch-me-if-you-can” style dare. The balances of the speeches were the standard “We’re #1” rhetoric.

Technical Information
For those that have attended any WES in the past, the quality of the information has been "dumbed down" presumably to not overtax the minds of all of the new international attendees with the flood of information. As always, the technical roadmap information remains at the 50,000 foot level and delivery dates are far on the horizon. To really get the low down, you need to corner one of the RIM techies and try to extract the real truth. Luckily the Canadians generally like to drink.

The Sponsors & Parties
Having attended all 5 WES shows, what has been most interesting is to watch the big companies come and go. Many of the bigger sponsors of past years were largely absent or reduced their presence.

REGARD’s Partner Party on Monday night was attended by a few hundred fellow sponsors and customers. The DJ was a nice touch and the drink coupons were in high demand. Some clever attendee found the color copier in the business center as a good way to bring along more colleagues for free drinks and desserts. The REGARD team didn’t mind the party crashers!

Sadly, the competing BIG carrier party spend levels were WAY down from past years. Verizon and Cingular both had nice small parties but strictly limited the number of attendees. T-Mobile typically was the big spender at WES with headline acts and big parties. Not this year…but being the bargain basement leader in the US must have takes its toll. Sprint/Nextel didn’t show up with a big party either. This must mean the fight for subscribers has now moved to a different battlefield.

As always RIM threw a great blowout party on Tuesday night with the Stray Cat’s Brian Setzer backed up by his 18 piece orchestra. The free food and bottom-shelf booze were all flowing nicely!

Platform Vendors
Antenna, AppForge, Dexterra, Flowfinity, METAmessge, Vaultus, Vettro, Donner and Blitzen (last two of course are Santa’s reindeer) are all slugging it out to be the middleware platform vendors of choice. Most have chosen a tight vertical focus, some remain horizontal and ALL promise a cross platform play to Microsoft. Everyone has their success story to tell with a particular software vendor or five. What is clear is there IS NO CLEAR Rudolph in this crowded space. Our hunch is a big player will end up owning all of them or pushing them out. Don't count Sybase, SAP or even RIM out of this race! We believe most of these companies will end up with a reasonably attractive Sendia Play, but it is doubtful any will be crowned the winner without someone big stepping in to the game.

Point Solutions
Steve Beauregard, President and Founder of REGARD Solutions Corporation presented R-Approval Case Studies. In addition to R-Approval and R-Survey products which were both received nicely, there were a number of noteworthy solutions that should gain traction.

Newcomer QuickPlay showed a PODCasting solutions and ScoreMobile. The latter being a push sports score board with a very clean navigation interface and the Berry Casting solution, with broand consumer appeal, gained a lot of attention from the RIM. Telenav spent and extraordinary amount on the show. There navigation system for the 75xx series BlackBerry is very nice, but this space is crowded as well.

Summary
We still believe the opportunities are very significant with BlackBerry even in spite of the 4.1 scalability issues they are desperately trying to keep quiet. The vibe on the street is that NOBODY thinks Microsoft has it figured out how to do wireless right. They have afterall...been “dicking around” for the past several years. As for where the opportunities lie … we will reserve those thoughts for the REGARD Advisory Board and internal strategy discussions.

Op Ed on Visto Patent Complaint Against RIM

2006-05-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

The US patent system was developed to protect true innovators from dubious thieves who attempt to steal inventions and make fortunes without paying the creator.

I believe it is a flagrant abuse of the system, to scour through a failed company's portfolio of patents and initiate a lawsuit against a firm succeeding and adding value in their space. The latest tangle of legal battles over wireless messaging, offers a poor reflection of NTP and Visto -- two companies that appear to be using their patents as lottery tickets or a final "Hail Mary" exit strategy to collect an unearned payday.

Having watched the NTP v. RIM case from the front row, my impression is that the case had nothing to do with actual patent infringement, and everything to do with exploit and greed. There should be more at stake for both for the companies and lawyers attempting to extort money from an inadequate patent system.

If you look at Visto’s recent history, they have been suing Microsoft Corporation and Good Technology for violating some of the same patents. And Visto took their turn in line, right behind NTP and Seven Network, before initiating this next suit against RIM. Isn’t it clear to everyone that the US Patents system and is in desperate need of an overhaul?

Let’s look at restoring innovation in industries across the board with tort reform. It’s high time the scales of justice tipped in favor of companies actually making a difference to corporations and to society as a whole.