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New Media News Every Morning

Can BBM Aid RIM’s War Against The iPhone?

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With the Blackberry Torch behind them and the Playbook tablet ahead of them, RIM’s attempts at thwarting Apple’s rise looked pathetic at best (especially when one considers the size of their app store).

However, RIM might be able to slow the bleeding by including one of their greatest assets within the Blackberry OS.

With the BBM Social Platform, developers will be able to tap into their social interactions in BBM to enable real-time, peer-to-peer interactions across their applications. Specifically, developers can leverage the BBM platform to access BBM contacts, user profiles, and groups to build more engaging applications. Furthermore, the BBM APIs will also enable developers to support embedded chats, content sharing, and real-time data sharing between two users of an application. (Blackberry Developers Blog)

Although this is more of a “me too” feature (as it looks very similar to Apple’s Game Center), it should convince a few Blackberry fans to avoid jumping ship upon the iPhone or (worse) an Android device.

Despite the potential of BBM, RIM needs to do a better job of attracting more developers on their platform, and (more importantly) a higher quality of apps available across various Blackberry devices.

Originally posted on September 29, 2010 @ 5:09 pm

RIM To Steve Jobs: Our Playbook Is Better Than Your iPad

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After Cupertino’s CEO publicly dissed Blackberry’s during his anti-Android speech (the latter which he focused mostly upon), RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie decided to post a response rebutting Steve Jobs claims regarding the folly of 7 inch tablets.

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7” tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. (Inside Blackberry)

Jim Balsille also refuted Apple’s claims of RIM’s declining sales regarding Blackberry devices by pointing out that Apple was comparing its summer quarter to Apple’s fall quarter (as more gadgets sell during the fall than the summer).

As far as the tablet is concerned, whether RIM’s Playbook will be able to challenge the iPad in the future has yet to be seen, although RIM may have difficulty dethroning Apple as other rivals (like the PalmPad and the Chrome Tablet) appearing on the scene in the not so distant future.

Originally posted on October 20, 2010 @ 2:11 pm

6 Ways Blackberry Can Get Its Groove Back

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With RIM about to unveil their latest Blackberry tomorrow (sporting OS 6), all eyes will be on the smartphone king to see if it can produce a worthy adversary to iPhone 4 and a slew of Android devices.

Although the upcoming Blackberry lacks the ability to make video phone calls (something even Microsoft is adding to its Windows 7 Phone), there is still hope for the Canadian phone company in its quest to retain its dominance (at least in the corporate sector).

While RIM would be smart to continue to innovate in the hardware arena in order to make its phone more attractive (i.e. screen resolution), there are actually 6 ways Blackberry could easily improve its BB device in order to prevent the company from being eclipsed by Apple or Android. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 2, 2010 @ 1:49 pm

Did RIM Commit The Sin Of Palm Pre? (Blackberry Tourch 9800)

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RIM has official unveiled their latest smartphone, the Blackberry Torch which sports their latest mobile OS, Blackberry 6.

Overall the BB smartphone looks very impressive, and it looks as if RIM has successfully bridged the gap between the corporate world and the  consumer (something even the mighty iDevice has struggled at).

While the Blackberry Torch is no iPhone killer (then again, what really is?), RIM may have just committed their first mistake, one that brings up memories of another smartphone by the name of Palm Pre.

Despite boasting an elegant design, touch screen and QWERTY keyboard, Palm made the fatal mistake by choosing Sprint as its premier carrier at a time when the network was very unpopular in the US. [Read more…]

Originally posted on August 3, 2010 @ 2:02 pm

Blackberry To Release Its First Decent Smartphone?

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Despite being adopted by every corporate exec under the sun, I have always found Blackberry smartphones to be annoying at best, and frustrating at worst (hence the reason why I always avoided owning one).

However it looks like the boys and girls at RIM are about to unleash an impressive Blackberry to the masses, one that will appeal to touch screen addicts as well as those embracing physical keyboards. [Read more…]

Originally posted on July 7, 2010 @ 3:43 pm