RIM is making several people smile today. They’ve announced that BlackBerry App World is now available in Albania, Armenia, Benin, Algeria, Belize, Burkina, Ghana, Bosnia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Serbia, Tunisia and Zambia.
If you’re in one of these country, we are happy to see you be able to join in on all this App World goodness!
Continue reading BlackBerry App World available in 14 new countries
One of the great things about BlackBerry devices is the ability to password protect the device itself, as well as certain applications or areas on the device from prying eyes. Browse BlackBerry App World you’ll find a whole host of third party apps that allow you to password protect files, folders, photos, BBM, website passwords etc but the BlackBerry itself has one built in already – Password Keeper. You can also download a BlackBerry app that lets you save billing information, credit card details etc to save you time in filling out forms. Of course this is also password protected with a master password. You also would not want anybody accessing that kind of information, bringing me to the point of this post. ElcomSoft, a sotware company, has developed the first commercially available product that allows you to access passwords that are stored in Password Keeper as well as the information stored in BlackBerry Wallet.
I love seeing BlackBerry developers giving back to the developer community. I think this is all part of RIM’s new move towards opensource especially with WebWorks and it seems like the trend is catching on. Polar Mobile’s Michael Russo has released a BlackBerry PlayBook WebWorks extension for ChildBrowser windows. This lets developers embed external web pages within a WebWorks app. For some reason RIM does not provide this functionality natively and alternatives like iFrames run into issues.
Check out the details in Michael Russo’s post about the ChildBrowser extension or find the extension on GitHub. Kudos to Polar Mobile for sharing!
via:bbreview
With the success of RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger service, the competition are starting to feel the heat. We announced a few months ago that Facebook released a stand alone app designed to enhance the users’ chat experience. Apple also announced some tweaking of their own chat product. These and other companies are realizing that the social experience is not complete without a solid messaging application. This is one area in which BlackBerry has been ahead of the pack for quite some time now.
Continue reading More Competition For BBM
Press Release
COLUMBIA, MD – August 29, 2011 – BoxTone, the leader in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), today announced support for the BlackBerry® 7 operating system (OS), now running on new mobile devices including the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and 9930 with touch display and keyboard, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 with touch display and slide-out keyboard, and the all-touch BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 and 9860.
Continue reading BoxTone – Now with full BlackBerry 7 support
Good news for web developers making WebWorks app for BlackBerrys. RIM keeps pushing the platform forward and the latest update brings us to v2.1.1 since the previous update in June. The new version brings APIs and new features including a built in BlackBerry® 7 OS simulator, Web Inspector, Microphone API, Auto injection of Gears-to-HTML5 shim. Here is a breakdown of the features added:
You can read more about the update on the DevBlog or download it here. There is also some good info on GitHub.
This is really starting to get a bit ridiculous. We have told you in the past that Shape Services IM+ has been waiting for approval in App World since June 2nd of this year. The last time we mentioned it the app had been waiting for approval for 2+ months and RIM finally responded that it would be approved within 5-10 business days. That was 15 days ago. I get that RIM might be a bit busy with all of the BlackBerry 7 device launches but this is getting ridiculous. It has been well over 3+ months since the app was submitted to App World and VP level execs at RIM have been involved.
Continue reading IM+ for PlayBook Stuck in App World Approval Limbo for 3+ Months
One of the things I have always wanted RIM to add to the BlackBerry OS has finally been added! Until now you needed to install a third party app if you wanted to easily add an email address or phone number to an existing contact. Well fret no longer. One of our readers pointed out to us that their Rogers BlackBerry Bold 9900 has the ability to add information to an existing contact right in the OS. We confirmed this on a couple of other Rogers 9900s including one of our writers but do not have confirmation from other carrier devices yet so let us know.
Either way I am loving how RIM is taking some time to refine the core BlackBerry OS experience in OS 7. To add information to an existing contact you can hover over the contacts email address in the messages application or hover over the phone number in the phone app and hit the menu button and select “Add to Contacts.” You will then get a popup asking you if you want to create a new contact or add it to an existing contact. I did not have the Rogers 9900 in front of me to field test it myself but so far it seems to be working!
source:bbreview
The current state of retail applications
Retail-oriented mobile activities have increased dramatically as handheld technology has advanced, and as our use of smartphones has increased globally. Concurrently, I would argue that social media use has increased alongside this – two potentially related trends that, as I’ll touch upon shortly, mix quite well. The bottom line is that we have begun to turn to our mobile devices as primary sources of information about the world around us and the activities that we engage in, be it when I’m texting a friend, looking up an address on BlackBerry® Maps, or finding a restaurant nearby.
The retail experience should be no different, and huge strides are indeed being taken in this area. Today we see several branded retail apps, and many retail giants who are heavily involved in social media. When these two concepts mix, the end result is as interesting as it is complex and scalable. Take, for example, the idea of businesses using foursquare check-ins to drive promotions – and ultimately, traffic -to their physical location. Here we have a variety of forces and trends at work – and the good news is that they’re converging to provide consumers with a better experience and businesses with higher levels of engagement.
Now that the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is being used in a wide variety of industries by a range of various professionals, I thought it would be prudent to throw a spotlight on one of the more interesting communities involved with the product, as well as how you can get involved and provide feedback. I had the pleasure of speaking with John H., a member of the Beta Programs team at Research In Motion® (RIM®). Check out the conversation below!
Hi John, can you give us a quick introduction to what you do at RIM?
Sure, Luke. RIM’s Beta team operates programs for new software through the BlackBerry® Beta Zone. My colleagues and I are members of the beta team and are specifically interested in the BlackBerry® Tablet OS; what people think of it, how they use it, what they’d change, and what they love about it. It is essential to our job to make sure the voice of our customers is represented internally.
So what is the “Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community”?
The community is open to anyone in BlackBerry Beta Zone and is an open forum for discussions about the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry Tablet OS.
How does RIM work with the members?
We’re in the discussion boards every day reading what people are sharing with us. Also, after every new software release, we capture the feedback of users through a survey once they’ve upgraded. Because we develop these devices for our customers, as I mentioned previously, it’s very important to us to have a solid understanding of their needs, thoughts, and requests.
Where does feedback go after it’s provided by the community?
My team is very close to stakeholders and product owners at the company who coordinate the product development process. We then use this information to contribute to building and developing top notch mobile technology. All of the feedback is important to us, and we’re always looking for important trends, which is why it is important for users to weigh in with their thoughts on hot topics in BlackBerry Beta Zone.
How can individuals get involved?
The process is simple – BlackBerry Beta Zone is free and easy to join. After signing up or logging in, they can look for the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community in the “Eligible Programs” area as displayed in the image below. They can then hop into the discussion boards and let us know what they think. It’s our promise that posts and opinions are read, and we often respond with our own thoughts and interactions.
Thanks for your time John! It sounds like a great opportunity to become involved in the future of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
We definitely have an exciting opportunity here to shape the future – we’re looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!
Tell us about your experience on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Head over to the BlackBerry Beta Zone today and share your opinion!
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 