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Today Verizon announced the launch of it V Cast App Store on Blackberry smartphones. This will go head-to-head with RIM’s own Blackberry App World and Handango. Apps purchased from V Cast are billed to a subscriber’s phone bill. The V Cast App Store is currently available on the BlackBerry Bold 9650, Storm 9550, Curve 8530 and Tour 9630 and will be coming in the next couple weeks to the forgotten devices… the Storm 9530 and Curve 8330. Want to check out the V Cast App Store? Verizon’s making it easy by pushing an icon to your Blackberry.
Why am I mildly excited about this? 1. Blackberry App World and Handango are both rather crummy. 2. RIM’s not dead and might not die as fast as a lot of us were predicting. Some amazing reports have come out about the upcoming WebKit browser that will be featured in OS 6.0. Apparently, it scores higher on certain standard Acid tests than Android 2.1 and Apple’s Mobile Safari. While the browser advancement is good news, Blackberry still lags the two giants, Android and iOS, in app development by an impressively wide margin.
Android offers users the ability to return paid apps within 24 hours for a full refund if they’re unsatisfied. While V Cast does not appear to have a similar return policy, it is somewhat less necessary on Blackberry. RIM controls both the hardware and the software on Blackberry phones. With Android, not every app plays nice with every Android device. Because of this problem, returns are sometimes necessary. I returned an app once but all of the other apps I’ve downloaded played nice on my Incredible.
For more information about the Blackberry advancements, including OS 6.0 and the new browser, I highly recommend Salomondrin’s site. He is generally the blogosphere’s starting point of all reliable Blackberry rumors and he’s been kind enough to pay us a visit and comment on a post about his 9800 prediction he made back before the holidays.
[via Official Verizon Press Release]
Click to Enlarge
AT&T is landing one of the most anticipated Blackberries. It went under the codenames Mr. T and Talladega but now the Blackberry 9800 is being called the “Torch.” While I’m not thrilled with the name, this device looks pretty good. It’ll run OS 6.0 with a significantly improved browser.
Engadget landed some “leaked” pictures from RIM of the Torch. I cherry picked the best one for this post but there’s an entire gallery.
I tend to think of Blackberries as primarily e-mail-centric devices. They’re the gold standard when it comes to real time email push. However, app-centric Android and iOS are really chipping away at RIM’s smartphone dominance. The good news for Blackberry loyalists is that RIM is responding. Blackberry App World is improving and 2.0, which is around the corner, offers some significant improvements:
- Optional carrier billing. Previously, PayPal was the only method for purchasing apps.
- “Blackberry ID” which allows you to take your paid apps along with you when you switch Blackberries.
- Wifi support. It’s a mystery why it’s not already supported but better late than never.
While these changes will help, I question whether app developers will focus on the Blackberry platform. Some, like SkyFire, have abandoned the platform. On the one hand, Blackberry OS 6.0 could breathe new life into RIM. On the other hand, one pillar of Blackberry OS 6.0 is a WebKit browser; developers may choose to reach the Blackberry crowd through their browsers instead of Blackberry App World.
[via thecellularguru via Crackberry and WorldTech24]
Samsung will launch a mixed candybar QWERTY with a touchscreen, quite similar to upcoming 6.0 Blackberries. Currently named the Galaxy Q, I learned about this from Phandroid which picked up the story from the Korea Times. I can’t say that I can vouch for the Korea Times but this story is believable. Apparently, Samsung’s Blackberry-like Androids will launch in the U.S. by year end.
P.S. I am standing by my prediction that RIM will only survive the smartphone wars if it manufactures some Android devices.
I’m a big fan of Google Buzz and encourage others to check it out. Today the Google Buzz Team made two big announcements — one awesome and the other so-so.
I’ll start with the awesome announcement. The mobile version of Google Buzz now works on virtually all smartphones, including Blackberry, WebOS, Android <2.0, Nokia S60, and Windows Mobile. Previously, only iPhones and Android 2.0+ could access the mobile site. The Blackberry version can even support location based searches by following some simple instructions. The inclusion of Blackberry specifically should help build the Buzz user base because 43% of smartphone users are toting Blackberries, as of Jan. 2010.
The so-so news is that Buzz now has a native rebuzzing feature which is called “reshare.” Some people are wild about this but I’m not. While it’s only been out a few hours, it seems to fragment meaningful discussions into multiple tidbit buzzes. Also, who wants to read the same blog post 30 times in their Buzz stream? Nonetheless, the eagle has landed and rebuzzing is here.
[via Official Gmail Blog]
Click to Enlarge
Today Sprint released the Blackberry Bold 9650. For the past few months, it was assumed the 9650 would be the “Tour 2″. I hate to be such a cynic but it is hard to get excited about the phone because it is basically the Tour 9630 with defects cured.
The Tour 9630 launched with two major problems back in July of 2009. First, the trackball was defective. Eventually RIM thought they had it right. Tours with better trackballs were identified with a green dot on the packaging. Not surprisingly, many of those failed too. It was not uncommon to read about people making warranty exchanges multiple times. I had to swap out my own Tour 9630 twice. Second, the Tour 9630 launched with OS 4.7 which was really buggy, though not quite as notorious as the Storm’s initial OS. Bricking the Tour upon installing an app was quite common.
Good news! The Bold 9650 doesn’t have a trackball and it is being launched with OS 5.0. The trackball has been replaced with an optical trackpad which is also found on the new Blackberry Curves and it is reportedly reliable. OS 5.0 is much more stable than 4.7, though it could masquerade as 4.8 and nobody would notice — very few noticeable feature improvements. It is worth noting that RIM claims to have OS 6.0 right around the corner. OS 6.0 has a respectable native browser. It would be nice to get official word from RIM that this device will receive an OS 6.0 upgrade.
Other improvements include Wifi b/g which is a welcome improvement and 512 megs of RAM. The phone retails for $199 with a new 2 year agreement. The Bold 9650 is what the Tour 9630 should have been.
So, you’re comparing the Storm 2 to the HTC Incredible? Or the Motorola Droid to the Blackberry Tour? I’ve toted both a Blackberry Tour and an HTC Incredible. Based on my experience, these are the primary differences between Blackberries and Android phones.
Hardware
Navigation/Input – I won’t insult your intelligence and point out the difference between touchscreens and physical keyboards. Go to the store, talk to friends and decide which you prefer. If you want a physical keyboard, you’re in the Motorola Droid vs. Blackberry Tour camp. If you think you’ll be smacking a lot of keys, I think the Tour’s keyboard bests the Droid’s. Also, a revised version of the Tour (the Bold 9650) is on the horizon with a trackpad instead of a trackball or think about the new Curve with the trackpad. If you’re in the touchscreen camp, then you’re looking at the Storm 2 or HTC Incredible. The HTC Incredible has a more responsive screen and it’s a large (3.7″ vs. 3.25″), bright, impressive AMOLED screen. It has a resolution of 480 x 800 vs. a barely adequate 360 x 480.
Speed/Processor – While exact specs are unknown, Blackberries use much slower processors than competing Android phones. The HTC Incredible runs at 1 Ghz and the Droid runs at 550 Mhz. Blackberry specs are not released but it is assumed that they are much slower based on lag when installing apps, multitasking or doing processor intensive tasks.
Cameras – Currently, Androids have better cameras. Who cares?
Stock Software
Operating System Overall - Android 2.1 bests the Blackberry OS 5.0 and almost certainly OS 6.0. Blackberry OS is simple but subpar by today’s standards. No widgets. You can “lose” icons by placing them in folders. It lacks core features that are included in stock Android even on the Droid. However, Blackberry OS is a tad bit easier to use (if you don’t hide or misplace an icon).
Email - Blackberry whips every device out there in push email. RIM has patented technology that makes your emails push almost as soon as they are sent. Bam. If you need real time email, then the Blackberry is an easy pick. For real time communication on an Android device, you can use SMS/text messages or IM apps. Speaking of which, Blackberry has a proprietary IM system, Blackberry Messenger, that only runs on Blackberries. I think it’s overrated and the interface stinks but some swear by it.
Browser – The Android browser is very, very good. The RIM browser in OS 5.0 is a complete failure. OS 6.0 will incorporate a better browser but based on the leaked screenshots, I don’t think it will measure up to the Android browser which even supports Flash Lite on the HTC Incredible. Also, Android supports many third party browsers (Dolphin HD, SkyFire, Opera Mini and others) that best the third party browsers available on the Blackberry (BOLT! and Opera Mini).
Media – Blackberries lag in this category but the upcoming OS 6.0 sports a new media player that looks right up there with stock Android.
Apps and Third Party Software
Android walks all over the Blackberry in app development. Google has programmed some amazing apps for Android (Googles/Visual Search, Google Maps with Navigation, Sky Map and others). Third party developers have really taken the ball and run with it. Replacement keyboards, SMS clients, games, browsers, media players, etc. are available for free or cheap in the Android Market. RIM’s Blackberry App World is a joke compared to the Market or the Apple App Store. Sure you can load Pandora on both but once you really evaluate the two, Android wins the apps category easily.
My Opinionated Conclusions
Blackberries are very functional devices and they’re terrific, industry standard email devices. They’ll probably stay numero uno in enterprise use for a couple years and maybe longer. On the other hand, the Android experience is “fun” and app-centric.
If it’s your first smartphone, you’ll probably love either one. Maybe the Blackberry is the gateway drug to the smartphone world. If you’re a seasoned smartphone user, you will probably find the Android experience much more appealing.
Research in Motion released a video touting its upcoming operating system, Blackberry 6.0. It’s set to the Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow. It matches up well with the lyrics, “I’m so two thousand and eight.”
On a more positive note, Blackberry 6.0 is a significant step forward for RIM. Frankly, 5.0 could have been more aptly named 4.8. There were almost no improvements in the bump to 5.0. Blackberry 6.0 brings with it a much better browser, music player and other goodies. It is designed for touchscreens and traditional Blackberries alike. This video is entertaining but it didn’t seem to impress analysts; Nasdaq:RIMM was off 1.85% today.
What bothers me about RIM is that they hold back goodies and go for incremental changes hoping that loyal Blackberry aficionados will upgrade to the next step up. Consider the Tour 9630 to Bold 9650 changes. Where’s a snapdragon chip? Where’s a 8.0 MP camera? 512 mb of RAM is a little light. Advice to RIM: Reach for the stars. You’re blowing it. Everyone is excited about the HTC Incredible. Why? Because it offers the best of the latest technology. RIM is still serving up two thousand and eight.
[via too many sources to name]
Boy Genius got his hands on a pre-release device running Blackberry OS 6.0. Presumably, the device he tested it on was the upcoming slider which has appeared on this site. Below are the screenshots along with my commentary.
First up, we have the browser shot. It’s the WebKit browser we’ve heard some much about. It looks quite a bit different than what we’ve seen in OS 5.0 because it’s been totally redone. The bar just below the always present status bar shows the URL, that the site is encrypted, a gear which apparently does something (reload?), and a trigger to load the tab switcher. Just below that bar the small upward arrow suggests that the URL bar can be swiped off the screen for nearly full screen browsing. According to Boy Genius, the browser supports multitouch which begs the question of whether Apple will sue RIM for infringing on its multitouch patent or if that honor is reserved exclusively for HTC’s Nexus One.
Next, we see the tab switcher which is semi-transparent over the page in the browser window.
We also have a shot of the new home screen. It does not appear to support widgets but that “All” bar appears to scroll left and right to reveal Favorites and other icon sets. The magnifying glass below “Network” is a search button which is interesting because Blackberry’s native search is poorly designed. Perhaps it has been improved. The Google Mobile App now searches contacts and email… highly recommended.
We also have a shot of the revised music player. It displays album art and browses similar to an iPhone or iPod.
All in all, this is shaping up better than I expected. Boy Genius is practically guaranteeing a June or July release. Oh, and this was tested on AT&T’s network which means they have a new device coming. AT&T has not had a touchscreen Blackberry in its lineup. So, perhaps the “slider” is landing on AT&T.
[via BGR]
Google Maps for Blackberry was updated today to version 4.0.1. New features include:
- Buzz Layer. See geolocated buzz from Google Buzz. This is mildly amusing considering Google never programmed a Google Buzz app for the Blackberry. Instead, Blackberry users can email a buzz to buzz@gmail.com from their gmail accounts or follow these instructions for buzzing from BitStream’s BOLT! browser.
- Star Synchronization. Favorited locations on the computer and the Blackberry should sync if you login to your account with the Google Maps app.
- Search by Voice. They had the plumbing already there in the Google Apps.
- “and More…” which means bug fixes, I assume.
Point your Blackberry’s native browser to http://m.google.com/maps to download version 4.0.1.
There is no doubt that the market for mobile apps is on fire. ABI Research is predicting enormous growth in app downloads in 2010 followed by modest growth through 2013 and then the trend will move downward. See the figure below:
As the graphic shows, ABI Research believes Apple will continue to be the dominant player in the app arena. They predict Android will follow in second place with over 800 million app downloads in 2010.
When I look at the graphic and read their report, I question whether they have all of this right. I’d question just about anyone who tells me they can predict where technology will be in 2015. While iPhone and Android are almost certain to dominate for awhile, Palm may not exist much longer and ABI predicts substantial app downloads on Palm through 2015. Further, Blackberry OS app development is still in the dark ages and may never break out to the high numbers they are predicting. Furthermore, ABI predicts the following:
Revenues from mobile app sales, however, are expected to decline by 2012, as competition has led to downward pressure on application prices; and a greater proportion of “must-have” applications will begin to have free or advertising-supported substitutes. In addition, many handset makers such as Nokia, and Motorola with its Android handsets, have started to bundle applications that allow users to connect to popular social networks, instant messaging, and GPS services.
While that’s all reasonable, the report says nothing about a potential shift from an app-centric mobile world to a browser-based HTML5 or Flash handheld world. I suppose they’ve left room to re-forecast between now and 2015.
P.S. Fellas, “Series” was dropped from the name of Windows Phone 7 last week.
[via IntoMobile]
…the Apple iPhone is the big winner, again. On a 1,000 point scale, the iPhone scored 810 points followed by Blackberry with 741 points and HTC with 727 points. In the dumbphone category, LG took first place with 729 points followed by Sanyo and Samsung. Some of the conclusions in the report are interesting:
- Touchscreen smartphone owners and considerably more satisfied with their handsets (smartphones and dumbphones alike) than owners of handsets with other input mechanisms (physical keys and keyboards).
- 17% of touchscreen smartphone owners frequently stream videos on their device.
- Apps are very popular among smartphone users. (Duh!)
Although Apple was the shoo-in to top the survey, HTC had a very strong showing in customer satisfaction. This bodes well for the Taiwanese device manufacturer that was relatively unknown amongst non-geeks prior to the announcement of Google’s Nexus One. The HTC brand will significantly strengthen in the coming months. While Blackberry had a very strong showing, the trends towards touchscreen devices and an app-centric experience suggests to me that Blackberry will struggle to perform well in next year’s survey.
[via J.D. Powers & Associates]
I don’t mean to pour salt in their wounds but Research in Motion is down around 7% in trading mid-afternoon following Goldman Sachs cutting its recommendation from Hold to Sell. According to MarketWatch, Goldman justified the downgrade because the smartphone market has shifted from email-centric devices to app-centric devices and RIM significantly lags Apple and Android in app development.
On RIM’s quarterly analyst call CEO Jim Balsillie said, “If you saw the roadmap you’d be blown away.” I suggest that they start showing us the roadmap if they want to retain customers and investors.
[via MarketWatch]
The much anticipated LinkedIN for Blackberry was released moments ago. The hardcore business Blackberry user addicted to online professional networking will rejoice. The app integrates with Blackberry’s native apps for contacts, calendar and messaging. I haven’t really played around with the LinkedIN app yet because my Tour is updating its OS to the official 5.0 that was released by Verizon around the same time. I’ll update this post if there’s anything noteworthy about the app. To download the app, point your Blackberry browser to:
This is a follow-up post to one I wrote two weeks ago entitled, “Bad News for Blackberry [Survey].” I use a Blackberry Tour and I have been less than satisfied with it. Both the hardware and software disappoint. I have been quite open about my disappointment. Nonetheless, I don’t really have a dog in the fight between mobile platforms but I intend to switch to Android soon, probably on an HTC manufactured phone. Obviously, I haven’t been alone in my whining about the Blackberry platform and Research in Motion generally. However, I was surprised to read Brett Wyman, the founder and owner of BlackberryOS.com, post to his site a searing rant against RIM. He cites the terrible web browser and inadequate app development among the reasons he sees RIM failing in North America.
This is the third time I’ve written this but the only scenario that could save RIM is releasing a industry-leading browser and a shift from installation-based apps to browser-based apps. I don’t think either of these two events will happen within a reasonable period of time. RIM is notoriously slow to release apps and I don’t see the browser project moving along at lightning speed. Its Twitter app development has moved along at galacial speed. It still hasn’t been released, not even in the new beta testing area of the RIM website. Frankly, they should have purchased BitStream a long, long time ago to acquire its BOLT web browser technology.
In the mobile industry news breaks hour by hour and significant advancement in devices occurs every few months. Already, we’re seeing prototypes of 4G phones like the upcoming “Supersonic” HTC Evo 4G. RIM, however, has products in the development WAY too long. People have been talking about Mr. T (the Blackberry Slider) for more than a year. Yet, what do we have? We have some crappy photographs of the phone. When will this product launch? Some have said April. I highly doubt it. It’s supposed to sport a flashy new OS and the new WebKit browser. I can’t imagine RIM having either one ready for the market in time for an April launch. Expect delay, delay, delay… maybe we’ll be
“blessed” with some more crappy photographs along the way. If RIM thinks that will keep users salivating for Blackberry, they’re very wrong.
I think RIM might want to consider a Plan B, specifically the following: ditch your crappy OS for recreational consumers (as opposed to business customers) in favor of Android. This would immediately result in a better browser and better app development. They could try to code a proprietary Blackberry Messenger client for Android. Admittedly, keeping it locked down on RIM-made devices would be difficult. Frankly, I don’t think they have the foresight within the company to go this route but I say, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Capitalize on the RIM brand but offer the best technology has to offer. It’s something short of plainly giving up but they’re hardly in the running among recreational consumers, as survey data shows. Ardent RIM supporters invested in RIM’s success like Brett Wyman are becoming former RIM fans.
