Kevin from CrackBerry is saying now is the time for RIM to rename the company to BlackBerry.
Looking at some of their recent acquisitions and careers sites, it seems they are moving in that direction. A few examples
Gist
Tungle
Jobs At BlackBerry
Back in December I took a quick drive down to New York City for a BlackBerry party with a few friends. Turns out RIM liked what we had to say at the party because we made it into the video recapping the night.
Even better than a trip down to New York or the new BlackBerry Bold 9900s that we picked up there, thanks to the party my girlfriend finally switched to a BlackBerry. I predict my monthly sent text messages to drop to zero now that she is on BBM.
Checkout my previous post about the BBM Party in NY and the BlackBerry Blog’s recap of the night. Also thanks to RIM’s Luke Reimer for interviewing us and the Edelman crew for putting together such a great contest/event.
After reading Ebscer’s blog post about the majority of Pixelated’s downloads being from Canada, I was curious to know whether the same would be true for my app, Temp Notes.
Using the App World download reports, I found that my stats are similar to Ebscer’s, though with a smaller proportion of downloads in Canada.
32% of Temp Notes downloads were in Canada, 22% in the United States, 9% in Mexico, 6% in the UK, 2% in India, 2% in UAE, and 83 other countries each with less than 1% of downloads.
(based on 3327 downloads from App World)
I have found a new obsession: BBM Music. When I first tested out BBM Music I thought the service was a bit stupid: “You want me to pay monthly to access a limited number of songs?!” But I decided to give it a go anyway. Little did I know, BBM Music was actually the perfect music product for me.
Before I explain further, I should probably explain how I typically listen to music. I listen to a small number of songs (typically less than 10) on repeat for days on end. Repeatedly. Until I am completely sick of the songs, then move on to the next crop of songs. My sister can attest to this. I subjected her to the same three songs while driving from Toronto to Montreal, and back.
So BBM Music is kind of perfect for me. I pay a small monthly fee to listen to a few songs over and over, then dump them for a few more songs when I get sick of them. Now when I hear a great song on the radio or from a friend simply I fire up BBM Music, add it to my list, and am listening to it instantly.
Before when I liked a song I would check it out on iTunes/7digital, and try to decide whether I wanted to own it or not. While not a big purchase decision, it certainly took more brain power than adding the song to my BBM Music.
Making BBM Music even better is my new Jawbone JAMBOX. The JAMBOX is the portable wireless speaker that connects to devices over bluetooth. With it, I can listen to my songs from BBM Music out loud with the JAMBOX’s fantastic sound quality and keep my BlackBerry on me (rather than stuck in a speaker-dock). It is a perfect solution for me.
Check out Jawbone’s JAMBOX and RIM’s BBM promo videos below:
Even better: the JAMBOX works with my PlayBook. Hopefully BBM Music makes its way over to the PlayBook someday soon!
My BlackBerry PlayBook app Temp Notes has been on BlackBerry App World since the day the PlayBook was released. After the first couple of days, downloads stayed fairly level, besides a bump when I updated the app. The rounds of discounts for the PlayBook starting bringing that number up, and now Christmas has really bumped it up:
Nearly two weeks into January downloads have leveled off from the Christmas spike at roughly 40 downloads per day.
There must have been fair number of PlayBooks under Christmas trees this year! I know I personally was responsible for three PlayBook Christmas gifts. Seeing the bump in downloads has definitely increased my motivation to finish up the two new PlayBook apps I have been working on. My plan is to get them finished before the PlayBook 2.0 update is released, but February 7th is the deadline to submit apps to be approved before 2.0 goes out to the public so it might be a bit tight.
One of the great features of the PlayBook OS 2.0 update will be the social integration in the Contacts, Messages, and Calendar apps. So far RIM has shown off LinkedIn and Twitter integration, and only alluded to the availability of other networks.
“popular social networking sites like Twitter®, LinkedIn® and others” (from the press release)
So where is Facebook?
It could be the case that Facebook integration was just not ready in time for the CES preview. But I think there must be more to this omission. Facebook is known to be very fickle about providing access to their users’ data, their recent spat with Google as the prime example. Another example is Apple’s failed attempts to partner with Facebook for integration into the Ping social network and iOS.
Perhaps RIM is stuck negotiating the integration with Facebook, holding it up too long to be included in the initial release of 2.0. For business users the lack of Facebook will be a non-issue, but for personal usage this will be a glaring omission.
I first caught a sneak preview of the much anticipated update to the PlayBook at the BlackBerry Innovation Forum in Ottawa back in November. RIM’s Paul Steel showed off the new email, contacts, and calendar applications to the audience, and it already looks great. Last week at CES RIM unveiled the update to the public, and it looks like they have had time to improve what I had previous seen, and add in some great functionality.
I won’t go into all the features here, check the press release I linked to above. Here are some of my favourite improvements:
Here is RIM’s video preview of the PlayBook OS update, with Jeff Gadway and Michael Clewley:
There is a ton of great stuff coming for PlayBook users in February. Though we had to wait a while for this update, I think it was worth it for RIM to take the time to really develop a strong update that is going to renew enthusiasm for the platform. I am hoping RIM is holding back a few surprises to announce when the update is officially released in February, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Below is a picture of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 in white. I have not seen this Torch in white on any of RIM’s websites, perhaps this is the first picture of it?
No information on when, or even if, RIM will release this in any markets. I see there was a rumour Sprint in the US would release a white 9860 back in October, but their website only has it in black.
As Sian and I finished up our last exams of our university degrees RIM held a contest called #BBMUglySweater. To enter the contest you needed to download the BBM Avatar Maker app to your BlackBerry, create an avatar of yourself wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, and tweet it to @BlackBerry on Twitter.
As luck would have it, Sian and I both won the contest and were offered the opportunity to attend a BlackBerry party in New York City with four friends, and we would receive new BlackBerry Bold 9900s at the party. An offer we could not refuse!
After finishing our last exams in Ottawa, we drove to Toronto to pick up our friends. With the five of us squeezed into my tiny Saturn we set out for New York City at 4am the day of the party. As we crossed the border, we left the border guards amused that we were driving so far in such a small car for a single night in New York. The drive proved uneventful, though we did get to sample a number of American McDonalds locations as we made our way to New York. BlackBerry Traffic led us through the Lincoln Tunnel, and into my first experience driving in New York traffic.
We squeezed in some brief sightseeing before heading to the Aspen Social Club for the #BBMUglySweater party. There was a line out front when we arrived, though it went quick since it was an invite-only event. In the club there were a few big HDTVs with PlayBooks attached to showcase some of the latest PlayBook games (such as Angry Birds which Rovio released that day). They also had the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones on display and were demonstrating some of the latest apps such as BBM Music.
The party was a great time and we met some interesting people there. This event also helped switch Sian away from her broken down iPhone to a new BlackBerry Bold 9900. Though we did not get a sneak peak at the PlayBook 2.0 OS at the party, from talking to the RIM employees at the party who all had 2.0 on their PlayBooks, it sounds like PlayBook owners are in for a real treat when that launches in February.
Also not on display at the party was Porsche Design BlackBerry P’9981 smartphone (an awesome twist on the typical BlackBerry design in my opinion). However it makes sense they would not have it there since it is not yet on sale in the US or Canada. Perhaps sometime soon there will be another Fan Night event for the P’9981 when it officially launches in North America. RIM/Edelman: feel free to invite me ;-)
The #BBMUglySweater event was a great chance to see the latest BlackBerry devices in action and it was interesting talking to some of the team behind these products. My friend from New York even got some technical support on a problem his BlackBerry had from one of the BB7 Product Managers in attendance.
At the end of the event we picked up our swag bags and new Bold 9900s, and set off for a night in New York City. Our trip was brief and hectic, but definitely worth it!
Here are Sian and my winning #BBMUglySweater avatars:
Tomorrow morning at 4am I will be driving from Toronto down to New York City for RIM’s #BBMUglySweater Party at the Aspen Social Club. The party is to showcase some of their latest apps and BlackBerry 7 smartphones.
I am hoping they have one of the special limited edition Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry smartphones on display, a special version of the Bold 9900 designed by the Porsche Design Group.
Being back in Toronto tonight, I dug out my stash of old BlackBerrys. From left-to-right: 8700, Storm 9500, Bold 9000, Bold 9700, and my current Bold 9900
Speaking of the latest BlackBerry apps, one of my favourite apps BlackBerry Travel just sent me my pre-trip brief:
