It was sad news when we heard that Mike Kirkup would be leaving RIM and leaving his post of Sr. Director of Developer Relations at RIM. Now Kevin @CrackBerry is hearing that Neil Sainsbury (@eZainny) might be stepping in to take Mikes place as a possible candidate for the Director of Developer Relations at RIM.
One of the biggest criticisms of RIM is that the brand has taken a serious drop in North American popularity. In this big transition phase for RIM, from the old OS to a new QNX and supersphone company, RIM is going to need new representation. You probably shouldn’t the old PR firms that represent your old brand, when you’re moving on to something new and better. Rumor has it that RIM is shopping around for new firms to represent them.
According to PRWeek, RIM has held initial meetings with a number of agencies, with a view to holding a full pitch. Apparently RIM has not denied that it’s looking for a new agency and the company will still work with Good Relations, part of the Bell Pottinger group, on its consumer tech and b2b comms across UK and Europe. Frank PR still handles RIM’s consumer PR in the UK.
The rumors of a BlackBerry coming with a front facing have been around for a long time. Most BlackBerry users (myself included) have been clamoring for this to happen since the first Torch came out. Truthfully these recent BlackBerry 7 devices should’ve come equipped with front facing cameras and chat already, but unfortunately what’s done is done.
Today, sources have reported that RIM is taking the idea of front facing cameras, and video chat integration via BBM, very seriously. Video Chat over the BlackBerry PlayBook works extremely well so we know RIM is capable of doing this efficiently. Let’s hope these rumors end up being true and we can have some awesome video chat capabilities on the new generation of BlackBerry devices.
Continue reading QNX Superphone to come with front facing camera for BBM Video Chat
I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Yesterday, we reported there were pictures online of what was being dubbed as the first QNX-powered BlackBerry. The device, pictured above, is pretty hideous and looks like something that RIM would’ve put out in 2003 instead.
While many in the blogosphere are already taking shots at RIM’s new BBM Music service after only being out for a few days, it seems that all BlackBerry users that are actually using BBM Music love it. The feedback from within the app is outstandingly positive. I don’t necessarily blame too many people for doubting RIM’s latest music service announcement. I too was extremely hesitant about accepting this idea until I tried it for the first time.
Research In Motion’s plan upon releasing BBM Music publicly, is to allow every new user access for one free month of service to test out the app, invite friends, get your first 50 songs; etc. This will be when users are hooked. Yes this service will be $4.99/month according to rumors and to most, paying $5/month for 50 songs doesn’t really make sense. The point though is that it’s not just 50 songs that you’re getting.
It’s actually a lot more.
Continue reading First Impressions: BBM Music Will Be Successful
Here is a new head scratcher. Amir pointed out to us that the latest leak of OS 7.0.0.353 on the BlackBerry Torch 9810 includes an interesting new copyright notice in the “About Device Versions” settings page. If you go to the 4th page of that you will see a new copyright notice that was not there before crediting the “Android Open Source Project” with all their rights reserved. We have seen RIM add in these sorts of copyright notices before for WebKit, fonts, and even the new Qualcomm snapdragon processor but where does Android come in? Maybe RIM is using some of their source code in some part of BlackBerry 7? If so why start putting the notice in later builds?
Some might even take it far enough to speculate that some part of Android might be making its way to BlackBerry 7 but who knows… Let us know if you spot anything else or if you have some fun speculation (or conspiracy theories) to add!
Bloomberg has been fanning the rumor mill today with some tidbits from “three people familiar with the plan” for RIM’s QNX OS. These “three people” requested to not be identified because the effort is obviously not public but they are confirming that QNX BlackBerry smartphones will also run the Android Player in “early” 2012. According to one of these “people” the Android app player is the same one as RIM is working on for the PlayBook and it is being “tweaked to fit the different screen size and resolution of various BlackBerry models.” They also said that RIM plans on having this Android player installed on the QNX phones at launch and not as an upgrade like they are doing for the PlayBook.
I am not sure exactly what the story is with this advertisement (Is it new or old? Where is it?) but Gokulesh sent it in to us and I love it. The video was just uploaded by Monster Media and was done in partnership with Starcom and Razorfish. I really want to find this airport and experience some “BlackBerry PlayBook Domination!” The most I have seen about it is MonsterMedia pitching it as one of their non-traditional advertising methods along with their portfolio.
Video below:
Continue reading Awesome BlackBerry PlayBook Ad for Airport Domination!
With summer ending, we’re expecting a few announcements from RIM just around the corner. End of summer also means we’re closer to the holiday season where RIM and all the major tech companies scramble to get a killer product out of the door that everyone can buy for their loved ones. So what can we expect to see from RIM coming soon? Here are 5 things we have heard about and we know will come soon (hopefully).
1. Android app player beta
This was somewhat promised to come from RIM this summer and we got the impression at the BBM Hackathon that we will see something soon. The problem is that the Android app player will most likely end up in the hands of developers first and consumers may not see something until the Developer Conference. It should be interesting to see how this all pans out as having a tablet with access to both BlackBerry and Android apps could be huge.
2. Native Email and PIM functionality on PlayBook
We’re not clear on exactly when this will happen but we’ve been hearing about a big relaunch of the QNX Tablet OS UI coming soon and it could coincide with native PIM functionality for the PlayBook. There is a lot riding on the QNX platform and while the PlayBook may not be a huge seller now, it will definitely sell more units when you don’t necessarily have to have a smartphone to use it.
3. BlackBerry Curve Touch announcement
The BlackBerry Curve Touch announcement looks just around the corner as we’ve already seen it popping up in FCC filings. The device looks to be just like the other recent BlackBerry 7 devices: incremental updates to the devices, giving them all “liquid graphics” and smooth user experiences. Sure, it may not have all the glory we’re going to expect of the QNX devices, but they’re great updates to the product lines.
4. BlackBerry Colt announcement
This one is a bit of a stretch but rumor has it that the BlackBerry Colt will be pushed to early 2012 and a holiday announcement wouldn’t be so far fetched. Generally, devices are announced a couple months before they’re available for sale so an announcement shouldn’t be that far away. If the device is up for sale in January, a November announcement wouldn’t be unheard of.
5. BlackBerry Music Service announcement
The BlackBerry Music Service looks like an interesting project. So far, we’re reading that the service will likely be around $5 a month and give you access to a limited number of songs for that price. Songs and the app are shared over BBM and where the service really takes off, is that you also get access to the songs on your shared network. This will encourage people to invite their friends to download the app and get in on the monthly charge. By leveraging BBM and the shared experience, RIM could do a great job of monetizing the BBM network. The only downside could be that if RIM is making money, will they want competing music services such as Spotify coming to their network? Perhaps RIM should be more focused on building a platform that will encourage music innovators to get on board rather than doing it themselves.
via:bbcool
Those “sources with knowledge” are at it again, this time stirring the pot over a possible BlackBerry-branded music service. According to both CNET and Reuters, said sources revealed that RIM is in negotiations with “the four largest record companies” to launch a service that would “run on top of BlackBerry Messenger.” What that means, exactly, is anyone’s guess at the moment, but word is the mobile phone maker has already signed one label, and is close to snagging two more. Could this be the move RIM needs to shake off its enterprise-only reputation? We’ll just have to wait and see — according to Reuters, the service is expected to be announced by September 5th.
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 