last100 » BlackBerry

7digital launches in the US, BlackBerry music download store provides the splash

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:00:23 +0000

Like many British acts, UK-based music download service 7digital is hoping to conquer America. Today the company announced that its 6 million plus strong MP3 music store has opened its doors in the US, with tracked offered from Universal Music Group, Warner, EMI, Sony and an array independent labels.

To coincide and spearhead 7digital’s US launch, the company has also released the BlackBerry MP3 Music Store application for RIM’s latest range of smartphones (BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Tour, BlackBerry Curve 8520 and BlackBerry Storm).

Tracks can be downloaded over over a cellular connection (GPRS, EDGE or 3G) in the lower 64kbs bit-rate MP3 format, for faster download and “instant” listening, and then when/if a Wi-Fi connection becomes available, the app automatically upgrades each track to a higher-quality 320kbps MP3.

The BlackBerry app is also able to access a 7digital user’s “digital locker” so that any previously purchased tracks can be re-downloaded when needed.

7digital has long been a proponent of DRM-free music, with CEO Ben Drury campaigning for and rightfully predicting the demise of copy protection in the download-to-own digital music space, while the US launch provides consumers across the pond with yet another DRM-free music option, with Apple’s iTunes, Amazon MP3, Napster, Best Buy, and others already operating in a very crowded market.

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Adobe Flash seen running on Palm Pre – Netbooks, MIDs, and other smartphones also set to win (iPhone aside)

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:30:12 +0000

Adobe has long talked up its ambition to have Flash running on all manner of screens, not just the humble PC, and today the company got a lot closer to walking the walk not just talking.

Through the Open Screen Project, Adobe was already known to be working with smartphone platforms from Palm (WebOS), Nokia (Symbian) and Microsoft (Windows Mobile), along with a raft of content providers, chip makers and consumer electronics companies. Today, the company added Google and Research In Motion to the list, with relation to Android and Blackberry-powered smartphones respectively, leaving Apple’s iPhone as the odd one out regarding planned support for full Flash (or any Flash support at all).

Historically, Apple has always defended iPhone’s lack of Flash support by arguing that it’s too processor and power intensive, and that the cut down mobile version of Flash (Flash Lite) just isn’t up to the job. With Moore’s Law kicking in (faster smartphone processors) and Adobe working hard to optimize Flash for the latest mobile chips, this argument is holding less and less water. In the video demo below, we can see Flash performing pretty well on Palm’s Pre smartphone, a device that shares much under the hood with the latest iPhone 3GS.

Instead, as I’ve argued previously, Apple has a very different motive for keeping Adobe Flash away from the iPhone.

… as we all should know by now, the real reason why Apple doesn’t want to embrace Adobe’s Flash is that it would offer third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and, perhaps more importantly, distribute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself. And we can’t have that, can we?

The other big win for the Open Screen Project are the latest Netbooks and future MIDS (Mobile Internet Devices) or so-called smartbooks, reports Engadget. “Flash 10.1 will take advantage of GPU acceleration on a number of key mobile platforms, including both nVidia’s Tegra and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon alongside ION for smooth (well, theoretically smooth) 720p and 1080p video on the latest generation of netbooks and smartbooks.”

Where all of this leaves Microsoft’s own Flash competitor Silverlight on mobile is anybody’s guess, although probably not in the best of shape. While Nokia is partnering with Redmond to bring Silverlight support to Symbian, Microsoft itself is simultaneously supporting Flash for Windows Mobile, such is the anbundance of exciting Flash-powered content on the Web.

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Palm Pre aiming to be THE Facebook phone – social networking still mobile’s killer app

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:47:31 +0000

(Credit: Jamie Gonzalez via twitpic)

I’ve written many times before that social networking, and Facebook in particular, is the killer application for mobile phones. It’s what’s driving take up of mobile data and the adoption of higher end so-called smartphones. The mobile networks have taken notice and jumped on the social networking bandwagon, heavily promoting access to Facebook as a key feature, and handset makers are doing the same.

RIM has been targeting consumers with an ad campaign that features the Blackberry’s Facebook application.

Ditto Apple with the iPhone.

And there’s INQ, a new entrant whose first device, the INQ1, has been dubbed ‘the Facebook phone‘ based on its deep integration with the social networking site.

Heck, even Nokia, despite creating its own competing social networking offerings, is starting to embrace Facebook through a prominent widget on the home screen of its upcoming flagship device, the N97.

The Palm Pre, however, looks to have taken Facebook support to the next level with its ‘Synergy’ feature, which builds the phone’s address book and messaging functionality, in part, around the social networking site (along with other third-party web services).

On that note, a leaked photo taken of the set for an upcoming Facebook television ad campaign puts Facebook at center stage – literally – signaling that the handset maker is going to market the Pre as the Facebook phone, perhaps by claiming that it has out innovated its rivals in terms of support for the near-ubiquitous SNS.

(via CNet)

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BlackBerry address book integrates Facebook, apes Palm Pre’s “Synergy” and INQ1

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:01:11 +0000

A new version of the Facebook for BlackBerry application has been released that offers better integration with the social networking site. Two standout features: a user’s friends list is kept in sync with the handset’s built-in address book – Facebook avatars show up as called ID, for example – and notifications from the social networking site are “pushed” to the phone’s home screen. Other features offered, not all of which are new, include:

Send/receive message or wall posts, pokes and friend requests.
Update your status, view and comment on your friends’ status.
Share photos from your BlackBerry smartphone with tags/comments and post to Facebook with just one click.

It’s not surprising to see BlackBerry (RIM) continue to improve their Facebook application by offering better integration with the social networking site: I’ve long suggested that social networking, and Facebook in particular, is the killer app for mobile, and RIM were one of the first to recognize this when they begun featuring Facebook in their ad campaigns as the company strove to break into the consumer smartphone market.

Having said that, BlackBerry isn’t the first to link the phone’s address book/calendar with the social networking site or to “push” Facebook notifications directly to the handset. INQ are selling their low-cost ’smartphone for the masses’, the INQ1 (see review), based on similar functionality, and Palm’s upcoming Pre running webOS also offers deep Facebook integration as part of a feature called “Synergy”.

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BlackBerry App World launches as RIM’s consumer push continues

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:39:32 +0000

Already entrenched in the corporate world, it’s no secret that Canadian handset maker RIM harbors serious consumer ambitions, an area it sees as most likely to produce future growth. Case in point is the company’s recently released ‘BlackBerry Storm’, an all touch screen affair that arguably puts video playback and other consumer features ahead of ‘corporate’ email, which has long been RIM’s ‘bread and butter’.

Today’s launch of ‘BlackBerry App World‘, the company’s answer to the iPhone’s App Store, provides even greater evidence of a consumer push, with apps for Facebook, MySpace and Instant Messaging, currently dominating the “featured apps” list.

Even though I’ve not yet had a chance put to ‘BlackBerry App World’ through its paces – I don’t own a BB or have one on loan right now – going by the tech blogosphere and the screen shots I’ve seen, it looks like RIM have done a pretty decent job, although the use of PayPal to process payments hasn’t gone down well with everybody (RIM says they are working on providing alternative billing options).

One thing worth noting, however, is that right now very few of the store’s offerings are in fact new. Instead, it’s the aggregation of existing RIM and third-party apps into a single store, and one that’s being promoted by the handset maker itself and will, presumably, come pre-installed on future BlackBerrys, which is a big deal. That together with the more generous revenue share that RIM is offering – a 80/20 split in favor of developers compared to 70/30 on the iPhone, which should see plenty of new third-party apps appear in the future.

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Internet TV news: BlackBerry, Blockbuster and TiVo, Netflix on PS3?

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:22:37 +0000

A few Internet TV-related stories have been doing the rounds over the last few days that I’ve not yet had a chance to comment on. Here’s a quick catch-up.

BlackBerry to launch video download service

Research In Motion is close to launching a a full-episode television service for the company’s line of BlackBerry smartphones. An official announcement could come as early as next week at CTIA, reports NewTeeVee. Interesting tidbits include:

It will be an unlimited monthly subscription service for a fee
Once a user orders a program, the content will be downloaded in the background over Wi-Fi
Multiple broadcast and cable networks have licensed content for the service

As NTV notes, utilizing WiFi rather than 3G to deliver episodes to the phone enables RIM to bypass carriers, while at the same avoiding the inconvenience of side-loading content via a PC (iTunes style). Obviously it would be preferable to offer both options – WiFi and 3G – but that would likely mean sharing revenue, something that RIM, like Apple, is keen to avoid. As it stands, any direct paid-for content offering from RIM won’t sit well with carriers who still insist on owning the customer.

Blockbuster downloads coming to TiVo

Blockbuster’s On Demand movie rental service is coming to TiVo in the second half of this year, the two companies have announced. As part of the deal, TiVo set-top boxes will be sold at Blockbuster stores and via the video rental chain’s own website. This despite the fact that TiVo is fast becoming video download store agnostic, with Blockbuster joining existing services, Netflix, Jaman, Amazon and CinemaNow. The TiVo partnership is the latest evidence of Blockbuster playing catch-up in its move to expand into digital, following the lackluster launch of its own set-top box, and the more promising recent announcement that it is partnering with Sonic Solutions to reach portable media players, Blu-ray Disc players, personal video recorders (PVRs), set-top boxes, mobile phones and Web-connected television sets.

Netflix on PS3?

Despite having a close and successful relationship with Microsoft’s XBox 360, it looks like Netflix is still exploring customer demand to bring its ‘Watch Instantly’ streaming service to Sony’s PS3 games console. A recent customer survey talks up the possibility of purchasing a $9.99 Netflix disc for the PS3 to unlock access to ‘Watch Instantly’, presuming that you’re an existing subscriber of course. Were this to ever come to market it’s unclear if Netflix would need Sony’s approval – although I suspect they would – and it would also mean an end to XBox 360 exclusivity, something that Microsoft wouldn’t be too keen on. A lot of ifs and buts then, so we’ll see.

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If buggy smartphones are the “new reality”, here’s some free advice for handset makers

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:17:14 +0000

It’s an honest yet unwelcome admission: rushing devices to market with buggy and unfinished software is the “new reality” in the smartphone space, RIM’s co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie tells the Wall Street Journal. When the company released its iPhone competitor, the Blackberry Storm, it met its Black Friday deadline by “the skin of their teeth”, only for the device to be widely slammed by critics for its many software glitches, most of which, RIM claims, have now been addressed by a firmware update.

RIM’s story isn’t an isolated one. The majority of smartphones that I’ve tested over the last year, admittedly some were “pre-production” models, had issues with the software on which they run on. The problem should be addressed in a forthcoming software update, I’m almost always told, and more often than not it is.

Eventually.

And there lies the biggest problem.

While “release early and release often” might be the new smartphone reality, timing is everything. Here’s some free advice for smartphone makers…

By all means send clearly marked “pre-production” review units to the press (this blogger included) but do follow up with the finished device. That way you (and us) can remain credible e.g. bug number one has, as promised, been addressed in time for public release.

Make sure that all features “just work” - even if that means cutting features from the 1.0 release. The first iPhone lacked a number of software features – it still does – many of which, although not all, were added through subsequent and free software updates. It’s no good throwing in everything including the kitchen sink if the experience is miserable due to buggy or incomplete software.

Address critical bugs ASAP. If for whatever reason you haven’t met rule number two, get that software update out as soon as possible. The last thing you want to do is saddle an early adopter with a crippled device for any longer than is absolutely neccessry (which is no time at all).

Communicate. Acknowledge bugs and publish a timeline of when they will be addressed. This is best done through social media such as the company blog. It’s best to be open but make sure you stick to what you say (see number 3).

Over-the-air updates. This one is so crucial. I cringe every time I have to plug my phone into my PC to check for a software update, and it’s my job to do so. This is something that shouldn’t be asked of mainstream users. It’s 2009 not 1999. And this should also happen automatically: my phone goes out and checks for updates on a scheduled basis and just does it. Otherwise, many, many users will never upgrade their phone’s system software and instead will be saddled with whatever buggy version shipped with the device, which may have sat in an operator’s warehouse for a number of weeks.

Keep the operators out of the way and think global. This is where the iPhone has led the way. Software updates come straight from Apple and are the same no matter what network you use or which part of the world you reside in.

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Who has the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”?

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:18:23 +0000

Pandora CTO Tom Conrad put it best: “I can’t think of much that’s harder in the world than building a modern, mobile operating system and integrating it with a fantastic piece of hardware”, he tells Palm Info Center.

“We see companies take a swing and miss at this time after time – I really think Palm has hit a home run on this one.”

And Conrad should know.

Not only has his company ported its music streaming and discovery service to over 40 different handsets, “everything from J2ME and Windows Mobile to the iPhone”, but Pandora was also chosen by Palm to get an early hands-on peak at the webOS and Pre and begin bringing their app over to the company’s new platform.

At the same time, Conrad rightfully reminds us that Palm is still very much the underdog. Of course, underdogs should rarely be underestimated.

On that note, who should have the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”?

Apple – not

There’s no doubt that Palm have taken many of the iPhone’s best features (finger-friendly UI and capacitive touchscreen) and, at the same time, innovated significantly on top. Here I’m thinking primarily of Palm’s “Synergy” feature, whereby contacts and other user data is pulled in and converged from multiple web sources, along with the webOS approach to multitasking and application alerts.

And yet, there is nothing stopping Apple from doing the same in return by copying Palm’s best innovations and, knowing Cupertino, adding improvements of their own. In the five months until the Pre is likely to hit the streets, I expect Apple to release at least one new device (iPhone nano?), and when the smartphone wars really heat up, Apple has an army strong developer community and marketing budget to match any of its competitors. Not least Palm.

Android – unlikely

Palm says that its aiming for the “fat middle” of the smartphone market, while the Google-led Android mobile OS will likely find its way on all manner of devices. From high end, such as the T-Mobile G1, to cheap entry level smartphones. That’s because Android is open-source and free for handset makers to license. At the same time, it has a heavyweight like Google backing it.

I don’t see Palm, in the short to mid term at least, hurting Android’s chances of success as the Pre will be pitched at a much higher price point than the plethora of Android handsets that should hit the market in 09.

Nokia – possibly

The Finnish giant is just that, a giant (outside of North America anyway). And yet, despite recent improvements, Nokia’s OS is looking a little long in the tooth. That said, the company’s recently announced N97 can’t be matched on hardware specs alone — aside from that old school resistive touchscreen — and it’s in hardware or sheer number of devices where Nokia looks strongest. The company’s strategy has always been to slice up the market and offer a handset or two for each. Palm simply won’t be able to keep up with Nokia’s hardware road map. Not that that stopped the iPhone.

One area where Palm will challenge Nokia is in the two companies’ different approach to web services. Nokia seems determined to build or acquire their own offerings — email, social networking, music and location-based services — while Palm’s Synergy integrates many of the best third-party offerings right into the handset. Admittedly, Nokia’s also doing a bit of this through widgets on the home screen but nowhere near to the level of Palm.

Blackberry – likely

Is Blackberry a one trick pony? It does corporate email brilliantly but is desperate to grab a chunk of the growing consumer smartphone market – just witness its advertising campaign that makes much out of the Blackberry Facebook app. Palm thinks the Pre can dance to the tune of work and social life, especially with its Synergy approach to user data and support for consumer and corporate email. Then there’s that slide out keyboard. Many users moved from a Palm Treo to a Blackberry, might they now return to Palm?

Microsoft – unknown

Microsoft is harder to judge and I’m not sure if they should fear Palm any more than they should fear Apple, Blackberry and, in particular, Android. The company’s strategy with Windows Mobile has always been to support and foster an ecosystem of third-party hardware manufacturers. The question is, as with HTC, will many of those device makers begin to move over to Android since it’s free to license? We also don’t yet know how much Windows Mobile version 7 will addresses the shortcomings of the company’s current mobile OS offering or what impact Microsoft’s purchase of Danger will have. There’s also continued talk of the company building its own device, possibly with a Zune-branded phone.

Who do you think has the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”? Let us know in the comments.

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HTC launches first true iPhone competitor just as Apple is about to take its phone to next level

Daniel Langendorf — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:02:20 +0000

It’s about time. Well, sort of.

Taiwanese smart phone manufacturer HTC launched the Touch Diamond today and, as expected, it’s small, sleek, sexy, very iPhone-esque, and promising.

Unfortunately for those of us in the U.S. or Latin America, the Diamond will not be available until the second half of 2008. If you’re in European markets, the phone begins shipping in June, followed by Asia and the Middle East.

As you know, much has been said about the iPhone since its launch last June. Ever since then, any phone released by any manufacturer is compared with the iPhone.

But so far, no one has come close to the iPhone’s design, interface, usability, user experience, and overall satisfaction, although Nokia’s offerings are popular. One “phone” promised to take on the iPhone, but the so-called Gphone, running Google’s mobile operating system Android, hasn’t been released by any manufacturer yet, it isn’t expected until the fourth quarter, and is completely untested in the market.

The Touch Diamond certainly has impressive specs — a 2.8-inch, 680×480 VGA display, quad-band, 3G, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, HSDPA support, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage, 256MB flash memory, 192MB RAM, and SD external storage. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and a full Web browser in Opera. And, as previously stated, its darn attractive.

But without having one to play with, it’s impossible to say how the Touch Diamond stacks up to the iPhone experience. For sake of argument, let’s hope HTC’s new phone is compelling and scares the pants off Apple in the name of competition.

Chances of that happening, however, are slim as Apple is about to move into the next phase of the iPhone’s life — as evidenced by all the rumors of the coming 3G phone, expected to be announced in early June with availability following shortly thereafter.

If Apple has played its hand right, the iPhone is poised to enter 2.0-land far ahead of everybody else, especially with a 3G offering, enterprise support, and third-party applications coming soon. HTC, Nokia, Gphone makers, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and BlackBerry have yet to even hit with successful 1.0 products.

Apple also has a marketing and publicity advantage in the U.S., where Nokia is well known but doesn’t sell as many phones as it does worldwide. HTC has almost no name recognition, although it is slowly gaining in prominence.

While the HTC Touch Diamond appears to be a compelling product worthy of challenging the iPhone, we’ll have to wait and see it in action here in the States. And by then, iPhone 2.0 will be out. Will anybody even remember HTC?

Additional coverage: engadget, gizmodo, Cnet.

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