iSpeech launching SDK to easily allow developers to incorporate text to speech and speech recognition

 

We have taken a look at Drivesafe.ly, an application that reads your messages out loud while driving, quite a number of times here, and the developers have hit us with some rather interesting news. iSpeech is the latest from the same folks, and they will be releasing a free, yes free, multi platform SDK that will allow developers instant access to these features, allowing them to build them into their existing applications.  Their services have been used over a billion times to date, with over 3,000 registered developers, which is expected to grow hugely thanks to the SDK.

The SDK will launch with 40 different voices and 25 free languages available, with the option to purchase additional voices. Whether a developer, or not, get excited, as this means that developers can now begin to impliment this additional functionality in a much simpler fashion than ever before. So developers, will you be adding these features to your existing applications? If so, let us know! Full press release after the break.

For more information / getting started with iSpeech

BlackBerry Management Center Set to Launch in Mid-August

In case you have not been paying attention RIM has been cooking up their BlackBerry Management Center for a few months now. They have been beta testing their latest small business product and so far people are really liking it. It lets small businesses manage BlackBerrys without a BES server by linking their BIS accounts together along with BlackBerry Protect. That way one central administrator or administrators can manage the business or family BlackBerrys and make sure they are backed up and have the correct settings. You can also centrally control the BlackBerry Protect settings that let you find or wipe lost phones.

 

RIM sent out the email below to beta participants who were kind enough to forward it along. The current tentative date for BlackBerry Management Center to launch is Mid August and hopefully RIM will be able to pull that off.

Nitobi PhoneGap v1.0 released, allows use of JavaScript to create cross-platform mobile apps

[ youtube video link for mobile viewing ]

Developers, ahoy! Nitobi has come up with version 1.0 of its PhoneGap product, which essentially allows software developers to use their existing JavaScript knowledge to create cross-platform mobile apps. PhoneGap currently supports iOS, Android, HP webOS, BlackBerry and Symbian, with support for Windows Phone 7, MeeGo and Samsung bada coming soon. So, how does this all work? Instead of building apps for each platform, a software developer can use PhoneGap’s API to create an app, then submit the app to PhoneGap Build, which in turn gives back compiled binaries that are ready to submit to the various app stores out there.

A dream come true? The concept is much like BlackBerry WebWorks in that a software developer can create apps without learning Objective-C, Java or the like. In fact, PhoneGap works hand in hand with BlackBerry WebWorks to extend the functionality of the underlying framework. From there, once an app is built and ready, it is simply a matter of submitting the app to BlackBerry App World and done! PhoneGap also supports all the open frameworks you’re used to working with, such as jQuery and Sencha, so there is no looking back. I personally am excited about this product and will eventually try it out — it seems like a natural step forward when it comes to the development of mobile apps.

More on Nitobi PhoneGap

via: cb

Multiprotocol IM client imo beta now available for BlackBerry

 

Today imo has announced a beta version of their multiprotocol IM client for BlackBerry. The app is free to download and features multiple services including AIM, Yahoo!, Gtalk, Skype, Jabber, MSN and more. The company has had a web app for quite some time, but this is the first release for BlackBerry Smartphones. While it’s still a bit rough around the edges, imo is a pretty decent client if you like the ability to use multiple IM services all in one place. There are plenty of features to keep most users happy, and pretty much all of the “big name” services are included. The app is free (for now) in it’s beta form and will soon be on the way to BlackBerry App World. Hit the link below from your device to download. Keep reading for some more screen shots.

Download imo OTA to your device[qrcode pix=150]https://imo.im/bb_app/imo.jad[/qrcode]
More information on imo for BlackBerry

BlackBerry Pushcast Has More Value in Consumer Than Enterprise

 

As RIM considers the Consumer side, is there a “Killer App” waiting in the wings?In its continuing campaign to adjust to the new market reality, RIM is considering the consumer side while learning how to balance that with its continuing success in enterprise markets. RIM now understand that although enterprise isn’t dead, the consumer market has already surpassed it in volume and revenue opportunities. Ignoring this fact is a recipe for disaster and RIM isn’t about to make that mistake during its time of transition.

Guardly Personal Safety App Coming to BlackBerry Next Week

Guardly CEO Josh Sookman demos the app for iPhone.Guardly will be launching its mobile personal safety app for BlackBerry next week. The app turns a BlackBerry into a next-generation mobile personal safety service and has been available for iPhone since April. The app is geared towards students, young professionals, travelers, seniors living alone, or anyone who frequently walks alone at night, and people who may find themselves in abusive relationships or faced with medical conditions. Friends and family can also use Guardly to watch over each other during natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, floods and tornadoes.

The app provides 1-tap connection to a trusted safety network via conference call, email, text message, the web and real-time location tracking. Guardly can even auto-dial 911, campus security or other first responders as part of the alert. The app includes a free basic alerting service and a premium version that includes powerful collaboration features.

Interestingly, the founder and CEO, Josh Sookman, is ex-BlackBerry Partners Fund so he clearly knows how to raise money for the startup.

Stay tuned to guardly.com for the app announcement.

via: bbcool

Poynt User Base Growing Tremendously But at What Cost?

 

Poynt is easily one of the best BlackBerry apps ever built and we love writing about it. What we also love about Poynt is that it’s a public corporation so their financials are available to anyone who cares to do a little digging. The mobile industry is hot right now and Poynt serves as an interesting case study about what it takes to grow a large mobile company and how profitable a free app with purely advertising-based revenues can be.

Today marks a pretty big news day for Poynt as the app/company has surpassed more than 8.5 million unique users at the end of June 2011 across North America, Western Europe and Australia, after reaching 3.2 million at the end of June 2010. Of the over 700,000+ new users added in June 2011, 500,000+ were on the Android platform. Existing preloads contributed to over 300,000+ of these Android users in the month of June. So far in July, the average number of new daily users added has exceeded 25,000, putting the Company on track for another record month. Currently, Poynt has over 9.0 million unique users.

Here are the numbers Poynt would like us to focus on:

The last financials posted on Poynt’s site were the Q3 2010 Financial Statements. We should be seeing new filings coming soon but we can see the sort of cost it takes to get to almost 10 million users and the revenue one might expect.

Obviously as Poynt grows its user base, it’s also growing as a company. Traditionally, mobile companies are pretty lean but Poynt seems to be fairly heavy in terms of management and operating costs. Salary and consulting fees increased by $619,702 or 132% in 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Another area where Poynt differs from a typical mobile company is in advertising. Most app companies will rely on the app stores and manufacturers for promotion, with some blog and inexpensive community outreach. Poynt on the other hand, has advertising and promotion expenses that increased by $692,932 (789%). Overall, a company like Poynt is cash intensive to operate. For the three months ended September 30, 2010, the Company used $1,388,590 (2009 – $2,594,534) cash in operating activities.

Revenue for Poynt has increased but it doesn’t come close to covering their expenses. Sales and licensing revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 increased by 172% to $605,092 from $222,760 for the same period in 2009.

It should be interesting to see what the latest financials for Poynt bring but it would be surprising if revenues ever come close to covering expenses. Perhaps the lean, startup-style mobile company is the only way to truly be profitable in this industry.

via: bbcool

RIM adds JayCut to the acquisition list on Friday

RIM has again added another name to the list of recent acquisitions. The Swedish company JayCut is the latest to join up with RIM. JayCut operates and online video editing service so this could mean some good multimedia fun is on the way to the BlackBerry PlayBook and/or phones.

The BlackBerry PlayBook offers users premium multimedia features, including dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing, HDMI output and high resolution video playback. By working with JayCut to add video editing capabilities to the BlackBerry platform we can further enrich our customers’ multimedia experience with BlackBerry. 

So what are your thoughts on this and other recent RIM acquisitions? Drop a comment and let us know your thoughts. Hit the link below for more.

Source: Inside BlackBerry

Devs: RIM Provides GUI Build, Sign, & Deploy App for Adobe AIR PlayBook Apps

Some devs might not be comfortable with the command line tools available for current BlackBerry development on the PlayBook. The command line tools are great for scripting (which is what I do) but RIM has decided to release a BlackBerry Tablet OS Graphical Aid app to help developers out who like GUI (Graphic User Interfaces). This new Graphical Aid ties into the Adobe Flash Builder to help you easily build Adobe Air apps for the PlayBook. It allows you to build, sign, and deploy apps without touching the command line. Personally I wish they would just do away with the complicated code signing process but this is a nice step.

Currently the Graphic Aid only works on Windows for Adobe Air PlayBook apps but RIM is promising to release Mac OSX and Linux support soon. No word on if they will release a WebWorks version. You can pick up the BlackBerry Tablet OS Graphical Aid app at this link.

via: bbreview

BlackBerry ID now appearing in an Options Menu near you

CrackBerry member Kryngle noticed today that a new choice has appeared under Options on his Storm 2. It looks like you can now set up your BlackBerry ID from this menu, including your name, screen name, username (email address), password and recovery question. This Storm is running OS 5, and I didn’t see this option on my Bold 9700 on BB6. Anyone else see this update, and if so, what triggered it?
More information on BlackBerry ID

via: cb