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Waze CEO reacts to Apple Maps
Waze CEO Noam Bardin told the audience at AllThingsD's D:Dive Into Mobile conference that he expected Apple Maps to be mediocre, but he was surprised by the vehement consumer backlash to the product. "We assumed Apple's Maps product wouldn't be that good, but we thought it would be good enough for consumers," he said. "What surprised us was that it came out and consumers were upset." It reinforced to him that apps have a minimum standard of quality that people expect. If you don't meet that standard, then customers are going to respond negatively. Bardin also said that Apple Maps, in his opinion, is improving, but the Cupertino company is limited by the quality and quantity of data provided by GPS partners like TomTom. Waze has an advantage over its competitors because the crowdsource nature of its service allows it to constantly update and validate its maps.
Eric Schmidt: Google now at 1.5 million Android activations per day
There's a Google exec speaking at a tech conference, and that means one thing: more Android statistics. At Dive Into Mobile today, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt confirmed that the company is now seeing 1.5 million Android activations per day, which is up from 1.3 million per day last fall and 1.4 million as of last month (seemingly an uptick after a short period of slower growth). Schmidt also says that the company remains on track for one billion total devices by the end of the year, which would be a sizeable increase from the 750 million that CEO Larry Page confirmed in his most recent statement last month. Schmidt further notes that the key to that future growth -- or reaching the "next five billion people looking to get connected," as he puts it -- will be the $100 price point, something he suggests they'll quickly get to.
Editorial: RIM seems to be as lost as my BlackBerry
The only way to open this editorial is to admit something I've been rather shy about on the pages of Engadget: I've been an avid BlackBerry fan and user for about six years now. I mean a real addict -- the kind who wakes up each morning looking for a blinking red LED, the kind who's refused to give up push email and BlackBerry Messenger in favor of more powerful, polished, and progressive mobile operating systems like iOS, Android, and webOS. In fact, when my Verizon contract was up last year I opted to get a Curve 8530 instead of the Motorola Droid or Palm Pre -- to say nothing of making the leap over to AT&T for the iPhone.There were lots of reasons I didn't want to give up my BlackBerry, but five days ago I lost that very Curve in a San Francisco cab. Then coincidentally, a day later I saw RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis speak at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference, where he almost embarrassingly avoided every question about the company's immediate smartphone strategy. I had always known that RIM was behind the curve (always a great pun!), but I also always had hope that the company would catch up with modern smartphones of today. Sadly, watching Mike dodge questions on the D stage took that hope away from me -- it's crystal clear that RIM won't have a solution to compete with those powerful smartphones anytime soon. So, what happens to a BlackBerry diehard like myself? Where do I go from here?
Andy Rubin's full D: Dive Into Mobile interview video posted
Android boss Andy Rubin almost always makes for an entertaining interview, and his appearance at AllThingsD's D: Dive Into Mobile conference in San Francisco last week was certainly no exception. The introduction of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the Nexus S were the official news items of the day, but Rubin took the opportunity to showcase the next version of the platform -- Honeycomb -- running on a prototype Motorola tablet that no one had seen before. He also runs through a breakdown of Android's business model (hint: it's profitable), muses about video calling, and gives us a look at that crazy new 3D-capable Google Maps app. Follow the break for the footage.
All Things D posts full Mike Lazaridis video from D: Dive Into Mobile
By now you've no doubt heard about Mike Lazaridis' recent appearance at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference, where the RIM co-CEO arrived with his own personal reality distortion field and made statements like the surprising fact that RIM "arguably" invented the smartphone, and that the BlackBerry Torch is actually fast. Don't believe us? Well, thanks to All Things D, you can now watch the complete 40-minute appearance for yourself, which just so happens to also include a fairly lengthy demo of the PlayBook. Check it out after the break.
Aliph gets into the app game with Jawbone Thoughts voice messaging
We know, it's a bit odd to see the Jawbone name attached to something other than a Bluetooth headset or speaker, but Aliph is forging into the application game with a new voice messaging service for iOS. Called Thoughts, the software is basically like text messaging or instant messaging with voice. The free audio-based messaging iPhone app, which should be hitting the App Store today, lets you send short audio recordings to either a single contact or a group with a tap of a button. We got a chance to check it out at the D: Dive into Mobile conference this week and found the whole thing to be a really great way to circumvent voicemails or longer texts -- all you have to do is tap the name of your contact and then leave a short voice message. There's absolutely no ringing or waiting. If and when that contact responds it appears as a threaded message, and if you're in an area that isn't conducive to listening to those thrilling messages, there's also a transcription feature. The app should be hitting today, but if you need more details before tapping install, hit the break for the full press release and a short promo video.
Plantronics Voyager PRO UC senses your Bluetooth wants and needs, softly whispers in your ear
We know, that headline makes it seem like the Plantronics Voyager Pro UC is going to seduce you, and well, after spending sometime with the headset yesterday at D: Dive Into Mobile we're thinking it may actually be pretty hard to resist. While it's not as snazzy as the Jawbone Icon or the Jabra Stone, its ear piece and ear hook contain capacitive sensors that know when you've got the device on your ear or in your hand. So, not only can the headset automatically switch a call or song from your phone to the headset when you put it on, but even if it's paired it won't ring the headset unless it's actually on your ear. That means if you've got it paired but have it in your pocket or across the room, you'll be able to pick it up on your phone without a problem. On top of that, the Pro will come with a USB dongle and Voice Alerts software, which integrates with Microsoft Outlook. When configured, the software will read the subject line of an email sent by certain specified contacts into your ear. We told you it was seductive! Sadly, the Voyager Pro UC won't actually be out until early next year and we don't know anything on pricing yet, but in the meantime check out some more pics of the device below. %Gallery-109572%
RIM's Mike Lazaridis: QNX coming to BlackBerry phones when dual-core processors are ready
Unfortunately, the crazy rumors that Google's Nexus S would ship with a dual-core Orion processor didn't pan out, which means we're still waiting for a smartphone to ship with honest-to-goodness multicore silicon of any sort; it's still unclear just how soon we're going to see that wild dream come to fruition, but RIM's Mike Lazaridis is talking like he wants to take the lead in making it happen. At D:Dive Into Mobile this evening, Waterloo's outspoken co-CEO went on record that they'll be taking the PlayBook's QNX platform to smartphones just "as soon as [he has] dual core baseband CPUs," though power consumption remains a limiting factor. At any rate, RIM seems to be fully acknowledging now both that QNX is a little too beefy for today's smartphones and that BlackBerry OS isn't quite beefy enough, which leaves these guys in a bit of a pinch until the dual-core revolution takes hold.
OnLive demos Windows 7 on an iPad and Galaxy Tab, launches cloud computing tablet app
Flash on an iPad? No problem, and neither is QuickTime on a Samsung Galaxy Tab -- assuming you're running both from a virtualized Windows 7 PC using OnLive's new app. OnLive may have originally pitched itself as a streaming games service, but founder Steve Perlman revised his ambitions at the D: Dive into Mobile conference today, showing off a host of Windows 7 programs (including 3D modeling software Maya, above) running on the pair of ARM-based tablets. Like always, OnLive requires a nearby server and fast internet connection to function adequately, and the apps themselves would need touch controls, but Perlman said it's actually easier to deliver apps than games since they're less sensitive to lag. OnLive didn't provide a date when we can expect full cloud functionality, but you can get a sneak peek at a pared-down version right now -- the brand-new OnLive Viewer app, which lets you spectate games in progress (and will eventually let you play them) is now available for iPad.
Microsoft's Joe Belfiore live from D: Dive Into Mobile
We're about to hear from Microsoft's Joe Belfiore at the D: Dive Into Mobile event -- stay tuned, there's no telling what could happen! (copy paste copy paste copy paste copy paste...)
Motorola Android tablet prototype makes a cameo at D: Dive Into Mobile running Honeycomb
Google's Andy Rubin brought more than just a Nexus S in his bag of goodies tonight. On stage at D: Dive Into Mobile, the man has brought with him a prototype Android tablet from Motorola. It's got video chat, an NVIDIA processor, a "dual core 3D processor," and... oh yeah, it runs Honeycomb, not Gingerbread. Little else is known -- Rubin immediately turned his attention to a new release of Google Maps -- but we wouldn't be surprised if we were looking at Stingray, a tablet rumored for a launch on Verizon shortly. Is it seven inches? Ten? We honestly don't know -- but our gut tells us on the bigger side of the spectrum, which would line up with rumblings that the Stingray would in fact be a full ten inches diagonally. Feast your eyes on our pics below! %Gallery-109387% Updated: Video after the break!
Google's Andy Rubin live from D: Dive Into Mobile
Stay tuned... there's some serious Nexus S / Android action about to occur.
