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Skype coming to BlackBerry 10 devices
These days, an OS is only as good as its ecosystem, and it's one of the biggest question marks circling around the brand new BlackBerry 10. Without a solid selection of apps and entertainment options, RIM BlackBerry will have a difficult time persuading Android and iOS users to give the smartphone platform another chance. The company is currently in the middle of announcing a load of app and media partnerships for the nascent OS, and fortunately Skype is showing up on the grid of icons at the keynote. Update: We just received official word from Skype. "We are excited about our plans to bring Skype to smartphones running the brand new BlackBerry 10 platform," said Bob Rosin, VP & GM of Business Development for Microsoft's Skype division. "We are working closely with BlackBerry to ensure Skype runs great on BlackBerry 10 devices. This will give BlackBerry 10 users a great Skype experience, including free voice and video calling, sending instant messages and text messages, sharing photos, videos and files, and calling to landlines and mobiles at Skype's low rates."
Blackberry users suffer fresh server chills across UK, Europe, Africa (update: it's a Vodafone problem)
It's 2013 and RIM's BlackBerry servers seem to be as grumpy as ever -- and totally oblivious to the need for happy headlines in the run up to January 30th. We're hearing from multiple readers that BB servers are down in the UK, while Vodafone has confirmed that its customers are having problems, with the biggest casualty being push email. Meanwhile, BlackBerry UK's Twitter feed says the outage is the result of "Vodafone service issues" and is affecting "some customers" across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We'll update if we hear more. Update: An early statement from Vodafone gave no hint that it was responsible for the outage, and merely said it was "working closely" with RIM to fix it. However, this does now look like a Vodafone problem. The company's African offshoot, Vodacom, has seen fit to apologize on Twitter and has said services in that continent are now being restored, though a backlog of data could cause delays.
Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry gets cool matte black paint job, keeps crazy price
Is it even possible to get more exclusive than RIM and Porsche Design's P'9981 Blackberry? We're not sure, but the phone's coming back (at least to Porsche Design's boutique stores) in a matte black finish. For high-flyers with low expectations, the device packs a QWERTY keyboard in the same exotic typeface, 2.8-inch 640 x 480 touchscreen and Porsche Design's UI, running on a 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor. but if you're willing to shell out around $2,350 for this particular phone, you probably don't care about any of that. The Vertu-baiting smartphone will appear in shops mid-January 2013 -- unfortunately right before RIM takes the wrappings of its new OS and new hardware.
RIM taps 7Digital to power official BB10 music store
RIM is already well acquainted with 7Digital thanks to joint efforts on smartphones and tablets, and now its chosen the firm to power the official music store of BlackBerry 10. Not only does 7Digital bring its tech and catalog of downloads to the table, but the duo are promising to integrate the service with BB10 to provide features including recommendations and social integration. When RIM's fresh slate of devices launch next year, folks in the Americas, Australia, Europe, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa will be able to purchase tunes from the new storefront.
BlackBerry rep shows off L-Series smartphone, forgets it's meant to be a secret (video)
While the rest of us are chasing after dev phones and blurrycam shots, BlackBerry representatives in Mexico seem to be happy to wave honest-to-goodness L-Series handsets around on video. Website Hola Telcel filmed the sequence after the break, in which we're given a shaky tour of BB10 -- including the camera app's interesting "best shot" feature -- but with virtually no attention given to the hardware itself. Nevertheless, we can just about make out the previously-noted design, with the screen panel sandwiched between slightly rounded matte black plastic top and bottom parts, and a big silver BlackBerry logo emblazoned across the bottom. Also, unless we're reading way too much into it, the way people hold the device suggests it could be nice and thin.
BlackBerry 10 hands-on (video)
Like any good show pony, BlackBerry 10's been trotting around the world, strutting the fairly limited elements of its known UI in an effort to court developers. The platform, without question the nail upon which RIM's fate and fortune hangs, had its big coming out party this past May at the company's showcase in Orlando, an event at which we also got to meet the Dev Alpha -- a glimpse into future hardware design -- and espy three main features of this new OS: camera, keyboard and app switching. What we didn't get, however, was any actual hands-on time with the software, leaving most members of the tech press to take Waterloo for its word. Cut to the present and on this segment of RIM's dev-focused Jam tour, nearly two months later, we finally got a chance to cut through the smoke and mirrors of the company's polished powerpoint presentations to get some honest-to-goodness, up-close and personal time testing the software. So join us, won't you, after the break, where we'll delve into our first impressions of this Hail Mary in Motion.
Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry screeches into Canada
Hear that, Toronto-based readers? That's the sound of Porsche Design's P'9981 BlackBerry doing donuts at a store near you (well, relatively speaking). Fresh from satisfying many a midlife crisis in London, the luxury phone is now available in Canada via the fancy Porsche Design boutique store in Toronto's Yorkville neighborhood, according to MobileSyrup. Folks willing to pay the pinky-raising premium price of $1,899 essentially get a BlackBerry 7 OS phone featuring upscale Porsche Design touches like a metal keyboard, stainless steel frame and leather-wrapped back cover. Still need to do some tire kicking? No worries -- you can take the phone out for a virtual test drive with our P'9981 review.
RIM patent proposes battery-charging cellphone holster
Even after the many announcements at this year's BlackBerry World Conference, Waterloo is keeping that patent train a-rollin'. In a filing granted today, we get a glimpse of what RIM could have up its sleeve, er, on its hip. The claims detail flexible batteries built into holsters that recharge your phone when you're on the go -- all the while communicating to your BB's CPU to bring you alerts through its own speakers -- thus avoiding muffled sounds from covered parts. That's all well and good, but here's the real question: will these things eventually play nice with fuel cell-powered Berries?
BlackBerry Curve 9320 now official: BB OS 7.1, 2.44-inch display, BBM button
The 9320 has visited more countries during its short gestation than some phones get to see in their whole lives, but it's finally arrived. The specs are pretty much what we guessed, with the socially-focused BB OS 7.1 onboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera and typical Curve features like a 2.44-inch 320 x 240 non-touch LCD display, 'super charged' 1450mAh battery, FM radio and a small, lightweight 103 gram QWERTY form factor. Same specs, different day, but then there's also microSD expandability beyond the 512MB of eMMC, which can't be taken for granted, plus a new feature in the form of a dedicated BBM key on the side. As for the 9320's cheaper sibling, the 9220 shown above, we've already been hands-on at BlackBerry World and spotted that one of its main sacrifices is the camera: it's only 2-megapixels and there's no flash. That's all 11,000 rupees ($210) and a police escort gets you. Update: There's a potential treat for FCC watchers after the break -- because we think the Curve 9320 may have just received its wireless green card. Update: UK carriers have just announced their intentions. Three will offer the device from PAYG for £140 ($225) from May 14th, while T-Mobile will also have a 24-month contract option at £15.50 per month.
Live from the 2012 BlackBerry World keynote with Thorsten Heins!
It's the moment many of the BlackBerry faithful (and plenty of other curious tech enthusiasts, for that matter) have been waiting for: the BlackBerry World 2012 general session, with fresh CEO Thorsten Heins taking charge. Will we finally hear more about this QNX-based BlackBerry 10 we've been so anxious to see? Is he going to whip out a mysterious new device out of his front pocket? We're here at the Marriott World Center to bring the news to you as it happens, so keep your eyes peeled down below! May 1, 2012 9:00 AM EDT
BlackBerry flagship store coming to Dubai, hopes you'll buy
While RIM's current fortunes are making plenty of execs nervously tug at their ties, there's still plenty of people cheerfully tapping away on BlackBerry keyboards -- especially in the Middle East. It makes at least some sense, then, to launch a big ole' flagship shop in Dubai. Teaming up with local carrier Axiom Telecom, the handset manufacturer is in the final negotiation stages for a 1,500 square-foot store. According to RIM, it's the first of several planned for the region and should mean plenty of places to snap up one of those (reassuringly?) expensive BlackBerry Porsche models on your next overseas trip. Business class, of course.
Nielsen: Smartphones account for nearly 50 percent of US mobile phones as of February
Nielsen Mobile Insights' latest statistics are in -- and would you look at that. It's the rise of smartphone owners crossing paths with the decline of those still clinging to their feature-focused devices. According to its latest Smartphone Penetration report, as of February 2012, 49.7 percent of US mobile phone owners now sport the "smarter" types (up from only 36 percent a year ago). On a unsurprising note, Nielsen also found that two-thirds of mobile phone buyers in the last three months purchased smartphones over dumbphones. According to its latest report on Smartphone OS shares, of those smartphone purchases, 48 percent of buyers went with Android, 43 percent landed iOS a close second and five percent helped RIM scrape the bottom of the barrel with the remaining four percent listed as "other." That said, it's a only slight deviation from January's numbers, when 51.7 percent of folks went with Android, while 37 percent went for the route leading to Apple. Don't take our word for it, though, there's another graph past the break and full details at the source link below.
RIM wrecks its own devices, so you don't have to (video)
Bend, drown, drop and zap? No, that's not your mnemonic device for surviving a fire, it's actually RIM's protocol for destroying their own products. In a trio of behind-the-scenes videos released today, the company's pulled back the curtain on its Hardware Support Lab's process, giving users a peek at the rigorous testing involved with any of its pre-market releases. Designed to keep that pricey kit functioning in top form, these various tests replicate everyday foibles, so when you actually do drop your phone in the toilet, it'll (hopefully) still work. Wondering what sort of travails and pitfalls have been perpetrated upon Waterloo's own portfolio of gadgets? For starters, there's something called a "Moisture Ingress Test" which gauges the quality of a device's seal by dropping it into dyed water -- repeatedly. Or a series of durability tests, that simulate the crushing weight of your posterior upon a defenseless BlackBerry, amongst other potentially embarrassing scenarios. It's the stuff of standard gadget abuse, as well as a panacea for the worries of the accident prone. Click on past the break below to engage in a brief bit of rubbernecking.
Develop an Android app, get a free Blackberry PlayBook
Still wary of dropping $200 on a BlackBerry Playbook? How does "free" sound? That's what RIM is offering to Android developers today, as part of an overt attempt to spur interest in its App World platform. RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders announced the offer yesterday via Twitter, reminding devs to submit their apps by February 13th in order to qualify. On the one hand, it seems like a great way to push the PlayBook out on the market. On the other, it's sort of sad. Interested parties can find all the tools they need at the coverage link below.
LG Spectrum, BlackBerry Curve 9370 available now on Verizon
These two Big Red bedfellows couldn't be further apart on the smartphone range. LG's 4G-capable Spectrum (a Nitro HD in smooth, plastic coating) and the budget-friendly BlackBerry Curve 9370 are hitting retail shelves in tandem today, bringing users across Verizon's sub base the option to aim Android high or swing their wallets low. LG's repackaged, dual-core beast offers the same stunning 4.5-inch 720p HD display available on its AT&T counterpart and ships with Gingerbread 2.3.5 out of the box, although an upgrade to ICS is on deck. If you've been toying with the idea of an LTE phone, this might be the one for you, as its $199 pricing (with two-year contract) comes in well below other similarly equipped, high-end handsets. And lest we forget RIM's QWERTY for the masses, the Curve 9370 blends NFC, a 5 megapixel camera and handy GSM radios for the globe-hopping set. At $99 on contract, this device is poised to ding your bank account the least, but that's what you get with mid-range specs. Feel free to peruse the PR after break while you contemplate your place on the mobile spectrum.
RIM outs BB 7.1 OS, rollout begins hitting handsets worldwide today
Were you holding out hope that RIM would finally get its act together, rejoin the wireless race and push BBX BlackBerry 10 out to market early this year? It's probably best to stop holding your breath since we already know that major OS update won't come until much later in 2012. Shoring up the gap, however, is a just announced bump to the company's latest software: BB 7.1 OS. So, what's on deck for this stopgap refresh? For starters, the Canadian company's updated apps like BBM, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel, in addition to mobile hotspot, universal search and BlackBerry Tag (an implementation of NFC), WiFi calling, FM radio and BlackBerry Maps. The rollout will begin hitting phones worldwide today, so if you're packing a BlackBerry, expect to see the new firmware over the next few weeks. Hit up the source link below to get a more detailed look at the goods.
Porsche Design theme ported to BlackBerry 9900 / 9930, saves you a small fortune
If you want some of that Porsche Design look, without the German engineered price, then check what just pulled up on the driveway: a port of the custom theme and icons. Sadly, only BlackBerry 9900 / 9300 owners -- which share much of the same hardware as the P'9981 -- running BlackBerry OS7 (not 7.1) can give their handset that new car smell. This means the sharp lines and luxurious brushed finish that made the P'9981 catch our eye in the first place will remain firmly in those pockets deep enough to afford it. Tap the source link if you still want to add the racing stripes to your current saloon.
Harrods reportedly nabs Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry as UK exclusive, costs a princely £1,275
The department store Harrods is no stranger to exposing Londoners to some of the finer -- and more eccentric -- things in life, and so after learning that it'd be bringing RIM's Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry to its shelves as a UK exclusive, we couldn't help but smile with curiosity. While we've yet to see anything official come across the wires, it's reported that this sexy slab of unlocked goodness will retail for £1,275 and hit stores before the month's end. We've attempted to confirm these details with RIM's UK group but, as it turns out, Brits like going home early on Friday, too.
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 14, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 14, 2011: Sony Ericsson has teamed up with Ingram Micro, a distributor that ships phones to Amazon, Buy.com, Best Buy and Newegg, to expand the distribution of its Android lineup in the US. The deal will include a healthy chunk of the Xperia series, including the arc S. [PRNewswire] Like the Motorola Defy+ but it's just not tough enough? Check out the limited-edition JCB version of the rugged device, which adds a hardcore JCB case, a special app with handyman tools and a two-year extended warranty. And it can be yours through Clove on December 6th for £219. [TechDigest] Verizon introduced the LG Extrovert, a prepaid device with a slide-out four-row QWERTY, 2.8-inch WQVGA (400 x 240) touchscreen display, 2MP camera and expandable storage. It, however, lacks 3G data. It's all yours on Verizon's prepaid site for $110. [PhoneArena] Speaking of Big Red, the rugged Casio Gz'One Ravine 2 was launched this week, and can be yours for $150 with a two-year contract. [PhoneScoop] The BlackBerry Bold 9790, announced this week, is confirmed to show up in the UK on Vodafone and O2, likely sometime in January. [Unwired View] SFR is selling the ZTE Tania, but it appears to be sold as a carrier-branded Windows Phone. You can purchase it without a contract for €269, or with a two-year commitment for €9.99. [MobileTechWorld] Twitter for Windows Phone just got updated to be compatible with Mango. It's meant to offer a smoother experience, but doesn't bring any new features with it. [WMPowerUser] Fandango debuted a new paperless ticket system, in concert with Regal-owned theaters, which can send a scannable bar code to your phone when you want to go see a movie. The ticket-takers then simply scan the code and you're all ready to root on Team Edward in the latest Twilight movie. Just don't forget the popcorn. [Yahoo!]
BlackBerry design chief says 2012 phones will be 'charming, whimsical and fun'
Todd Wood, RIM's senior vice president of industrial design has teased next year's BlackBerry handsets, describing them as "charming, whimsical and fun." Admittedly, those last two words aren't closely associated with BB devices of the past, but the manufacture will certainly be on the charm offensive after those service outages last month. In an interview with Pocket-Lint, the Wood explained how this year's range was influenced by Bellagio in Italy. This is apparently inspired the style licks -- like the 'fretted' keyboard -- on phones like the Bold 9930 and the barely-announced Bold 9790. Next year's models, presumably arriving with a software refresh in the form of BBX, will be drawn from ideas at a design workshop held in Malmo, Sweden. While we can't imagine seeing a Nordic wood-encased Bold, nor the disappearance of RIM's talismanic keyboard, hopefully the change in design focus will bring a bit of texture and spice to BB's next roll of the smartphone dice.
