blackberry os Archive

  • WSJ: RIM testing Blackberry tablet for potential release by year’s end

    WSJ: RIM testing Blackberry tablet for potential release by year’s end

    Posted on June 14, 2010 | No Comments
    We're not sure why the Wall Street Journal just posted up a piece talking about BlackBerry OS 6.0 and the Bold 9800 QWERTY slider as though we haven't been running leaked pictures and videos of them for months now, but whatever -- the story also apparently confirms RIM's Foleo-like tablet plans and says the device could be out by the end of the year. Sounds like RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis decided the tablet market is a little clearer than he's been letting on. As we've heard in the past, the tablet will tether to your phone for connectivity instead of sporting its own 3G connection, which is interesting, given that RIM is notoriously proud of how little bandwidth its phones use, and we're guessing a full-screen tablet experience might use just a little more data than the average Pearl. Plus, it would be pretty wild if RIM ended up validating a Palm product idea so seemingly doomed that the company killed it dead just four months after it was announced in 2007 -- we're not saying the times haven't changed dramatically, but we'd note the Celio RedFly has thus far failed to blow up the universe. We'll see -- the WSJ also says the tablet is in the "early stages of development," so anything can change.

    WSJ: RIM testing Blackberry tablet for potential release by year's end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for second place in US smartphone market

    NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for second place in US smartphone market

    Posted on May 10, 2010 | No Comments
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    "We're number two" might not be the chant everyone's after, but we have a feeling that Google is more than satisfied with that in this case... for now. According to market research firm NPD, Google's Android operating system edged up into second place in the US smartphone market during the first quarter of the year, leaving it still well behind RIM's BlackBerry OS, but marking the first time that it has moved ahead of Apple's iPhone OS. Specifically, NPD found that RIM maintained a strong 36 percent market share for the quarter, with Android coming in at 28 percent, and iPhone OS in third at 21 percent. The growth for Android was attributed largely to strong carrier support -- like Verizon's buy-one-get-one free offer which, incidentally, also helped Verizon maintain a 30 percent smartphone market share, which is just slightly behind AT&T at 32 percent, and ahead of T-Mobile and Sprint at 17 and 15 percent, respectively.

    Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.

    Continue reading NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for second place in US smartphone market

    NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for second place in US smartphone market originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • RIM unveils tighter Adobe partnership, new app payment platform, OpenGL ES support, more

    RIM unveils tighter Adobe partnership, new app payment platform, OpenGL ES support, more

    Posted on November 9, 2009 | No Comments

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    There aren't any new devices in the mix, but RIM has unleashed a torrent of BlackBerry OS-related news today at its BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco that's sure to make devs happy in the short term -- and you know how that goes: when devs are happy, it doesn't take long before end users reap the benefits. Here are the highlights:
    • BlackBerry devices running OS 5.0 and higher will be able to benefit from OpenGL ES support, the 3D platform used by many of the world's high-power smartphones for delivering killer games. There's a beta of the SDK already, so let's get cracking, everyone -- we need some first-person shooters that totally negate BlackBerry's ultra-productive image.
    • A new plugin for the Eclipse development environment should make building BlackBerry app GUIs easier than ever, which should hopefully lead to prettier apps; it'll be available in mid-2010.
    • BlackBerry Theme Studio is now available, simplifying theme creation with support for changing the home screen layout, fonts, icons, colors, cursors, and more; it supports BlackBerry OS 4.2.2 and higher, which means that virtually every BlackBerry in a pocket (or holster) today should be able to take advantage. The timing's perfect on this one, because RIM has also announced that themes can now be submitted to App World.
    • BlackBerry Payment Service has been announced for mid-2010 availability, bringing in-app payments, subscription support, and a variety of billing options, which all sounds far more robust than the PayPal-only setup they've got going today.
    • The Push Service made available to Alliance Program members earlier this year will be made available to all comers in "early 2010," making it easy to push bite-sized chunks of "time-sensitive alerts" to phones quickly and easily.
    • BlackBerry Advertising Service has been announced for 1H 2010 availability, bringing a unified ad platform for developers with a variety of existing ad networks on board. If this means more free apps in App World, we're all for it.
    • Expanding on the Flash partnership previously announced, RIM has teamed up with Adobe yet again to unveil tight integration with Creative Suite 5 with direct file exports for BlackBerry-optimized formats and the creation BlackBerry-specific web layouts. End users will also be able to pull files directly off their BlackBerrys into consumer offerings like Photoshop Elements. This particular news seems pretty fluffy since Adobe products are already capable of opening and saving media formats that the phones can use -- but as with many of the other announcements here, we're on board as long as it means better-looking apps.
    Sure, we wouldn't have complained if some crazy Storm2 with a QWERTY slide had unexpectedly shown up, but all things considered, BlackBerry software shops have to be salivating at the bounty here.

    RIM unveils tighter Adobe partnership, new app payment platform, OpenGL ES support, more originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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