Posts tagged RIM

The rumors are flying every which way on Research In Motions rumored “BlackPad” tablet device. As bad of a name as it is, RIM did buy the website domain BlackPad.com on July 8th, 2010. Leading us to believe that it is, at very least, a strong contender for the official name of RIMs tablet. If RIM does release this (projected time frame September 2010 to November 2010), one has to wonder what hardware is it packing, what operating system is it running, and how much will it cost.

The rumored hardware is rumored to be bringing a 9.7 inch display, the exact same size as Apple’s iPad. It is also rumored to include Bluetooth, Wifi, and a front and rear facing camera. This specs look pretty impressive, but one still has to wonder how much RAM is under the hood and how much memory we will have for media and for apps. It would be nice to see RIM include several models including different storage sizes, similar to Apple’s iPad. 

According to Apply Daily (or possible some sort of miscommunication) the BlackPad could release with an Android OS. A lot of BlackBerry users have been wanting a a BlackBerry that runs Android, but it still seems very unlikely that RIM will let this happen. As reported by several other blogs RIM purchased QNX, which developed operating systems for car navigation systems. I highly doubt RIM purchased QNX back in April, and they haven’t been doing anything this whole time. It seems likely that we could see a brand new operating system released on the BlackPad.

Rumors for the pricing are $499 dollars, which would be a good price point if it’s specs are close of its competitor the Apple iPad. Internet rumors also seem to point out that the device will be made exclusive to the Verizon network. Whenever this tablet is released and whatever it is called. One thing is for sure, it will be a huge hit among BlackBerry users. However the question that remains is, will outsiders find it useful?

Sources:

Michaluk, Kevin, “ RIM Acquires QNX Software Unit from Harman International - RIM Wants A Piece of the Automotive Infotainment Market? ” Crackberry 08/11/10 (http://crackberry.com/rim-acquires-qnx-software-unit-harman-international-rim-wants-piece-automotive-infotainment-market)  08/11/10

Mauricio, “RIM Buys BlackPad.com -BlackBerry Tablet Name Confirmed?” BlackBerryRocks.  July 28th, 2010. (http://blackberryrocks.com/2010/07/28/rim-buys-blackpad-com-blackberry-tablet-name-confirmed/) 08/11/10. 

Kumparak, Greg, “RIM Buys “BlackPad.com”, Presumably As A Home For The BlackBerry Tablet” Mobile Crunch. July 28th, 2010. (http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/28/rim-buys-blackpad-com-presumably-as-a-home-for-their-blackberry-tablet/) 08/11/10

Mauricio, “RIM “BlackPad” BlackBerry Tablet Being Manufacture By Quanta - Shipping In September For $499?“ BlackBerryRocks. August 9th, 2010. (http://blackberryrocks.com/2010/08/09/rim-blackpad-blackberry-tablet-manufactured-quanta-shipping-september-499/) 08/11/10. 

Unknown, “Quanta won the big one Tablet PC RIM” Apply Daily. August 9th, 2010. (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http://tw.nextmedia.com/applenews/article/art_id/32723122/IssueID/20100809&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhiePMgRpYlamQpjBcNtU_33Jzta7A) 08/11/10. 

It’s no secret that Google has been the favorite search engine of most BlackBerry users out there for many years now, but what about the biggest and baddest competitor out there? Enter Bing.

Google’s Mobile Search app for BlackBerry has been around for awhile now and offers great way to organize all of your Google apps into one central location. Recently Google has added voice search and in app search results which are fast to say the least. While the over all look of the Google Search App could be greatly improved, it does offer many strong features that set it apart. The speed of a Google web search on your BlackBerry, voice search (that works), and the ability to keep all of your Google apps in one central location. Though the UI of the app still needs some work, Overall it is a very solid application to have located on one of your two convenience keys. Making quick search possible and enjoyable.

For so long Google went unchallenged, that is until Bing released a stand alone app for the BlackBerry Storm2. Microsoft’s refresh of Window’s Live Search (aka Bing) has a lot of flashy features, such as the changing background that you see on there full web page, smooth UI, the search options includes the ability to use your location for a local search, you can then get it mapped out to get turn by turn directions to your destination, and best of all, all of these features are within the app itself. The voice search really leaves much to be desired as 9 times out of 10 it is dead wrong. Overall Bing for BlackBerry still has a ways to go, but is shaping up nicely.

While some prefer the more refined search results of Bing, others prefer the more broad results of Google. The basic core search function is a personal preference, but both apps perform well and both apps can easily become anyone’s search of choice. It really comes down to what you want as a consumer. Google, or Bing?

RIM first dipped its toes into the social networking scene with Facebook some years ago. They have since updated that app, added a MySpace app, and more recently released a beta app for Twitter.

Let’s first look at the Facebook app, though it has changed over the years, it is still the most lacking app out of all three of the BlackBerry social networking apps. It still sports most of the original icons and the same basic layout of the original app. The constant gripe I see across most forums is that everyone wants it to be “more like the iPhone app.” Hopefully RIM is considering this as there are several features left out of the app itself. Facebook users want Facebook chat implemented into the app, they want the ability to access any and everything that you can on the actual site (minus the facebook apps), and they want to be able to edit any and everything that can on the actual site, on there BlackBerry. RIM needs to release a new update with a new UI and a lot of new features. Here’s hoping RIM can blow us away on this one in the future.

The second app released was the MySpace app, though many view MySpace as a dying social network, it does still hold home to a lot of teenagers and young adults. This app, though similar to the Facebook app, is a much better app all together, especially the fairly recent beta release. We now have the option to blog on MySpace directly from our phones, we can update our status, and do a lot that the actual MySpace allows directly from our BlackBerry. Though it has many more key points as compared to the Facebook app, it does still lack in a few areas. One such again, is MySpace chat, this would be a huge feature if they could implement it into this app, and even a small change in some of the graphics in the app could help this app tremendously. Overall however it is not a bad app, it is easy on the eyes and though it could use some new features.

Twitter for BlackBerry was released to the general public in a beta form just a couple weeks ago. It by far is the most advanced social networking client that RIM has put out there. It allows you to tweet, view timeline, edit profile, view profiles, change display pictures, and so much more. Though a constant gripe on this app is the retweet option, it only allows you to retwee with no editing, which is how Twitter wants it to be, so I doubt they’ll add the old way of retweeting into any of the future builds of this app. People also want more photo viewing sites (Tweet Photo, yFrog, etc) added so they don’t have to click links to see the pictures. These and smaller things like an ability to jump to the last read tweet, or some even complain of getting a lot of error messages. But overall Twitter for BlackBerry is by far the most complete social Networking app out there from RIM. It will be very interesting to see where they go from here.

RIM will more than likely at some point in the future update all of there clients with some or all of the features the BlackBerry community wants, but something everyone can agree on is that BlackBerry apps have come along way in the last few years.

- PapaPompous