More Competition For BBM

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.

iSpeech brings Bush and Obama text to speech apps

Just what you have always wanted, right? Input some funny text and hear either Bush or Obama speak that text to you, who could pass that up? The folks at iSpeech have developed some fun little applications that allow us the countless hours of fun of typing random things, and having them spoken by folks who have run the US. Now you can have that conversation with the president you have always wanted to have, excited?

Update – Downloading the free application will get you only the text input to voice, if you want to use your device microphone to record something to be translated you are have to upgrade for $3.99. This purchase is made in app, and requires you to input your credit card information in, no option to buy a full version through AppWorld.  The registration screen requests a phone number which will allow you to use the SMS functionality but you can scroll to the bottom and select skip if you wish to opt out of that.

Download iSpeech Obama[qrcode pix=120]http://nhcbba.com/downloads/iSpeech_Obama[/qrcode]
Download iSpeech Bush[qrcode pix=120]http://nhcbba.com/downloads/iSpeech_Bush[/qrcode]

Developers: Register for the Foursquare Global Hackathon

 

The foursquare global hackathon takes place on September 17th-18th in cities all around the world. This is a great opportunity for developers to get together and work on a foursquare app that you could finish and take to market in just one day. With the help of other coders, foursquare experts and everyone else attending the event, you could end up with a really solid product at the end of the hackathon. Foursquare is hiring so this is also a great time to show off your skills. Continue reading for more info.

3rd Party Apps Work Over Bridge After OS Update

This was not announced by RIM with the recent OS update but 3rd party apps including Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook work now when you have it connected via bridge. This means you don’t have to have Wi-Fi connection to use your PlayBook. I tested this as soon as Poky from BlackBerry India told me about it. Facebook, and Blaq worked as soon as I opened the apps. I know it works because I am nowhere near a Wi-Fi connection. The regular browser also works. Not sure if RIM did not mention this because they did not want to make the carriers mad or it is a glitch. I think this is really awesome the fact that it works and I hope they do not do away with it.

Let us know if yours also works over Bridge?

via:bbreview

And then there were four

When Hewlett-Packard announced in April of 2010 that it planned to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion, I sent the following email to a friend on the software team at Palm: “Congrats on the stay of execution, buddy. I give it 18 months.” Of course I was jabbing him and later went on to offer more sincere congratulations in subsequent emails, but as they say, many a word of truth is spoken in jest. Here we are less than 16 short months after HP’s announcement, and webOS is no more. Well, to be fair, HP hasn’t yet said exactly what it will do with webOS: “HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.” Read on for my thoughts.

Interview With RIM’s Mike Kirkup: A Must Read for BlackBerry Developers

While at the NYC BBM Hackathon I had a chance to sit down and talk with Mike Kirkup, RIM’s Senior Director of Global Developer Relations, to discuss many topics of interest to both new and long time BlackBerry developers. We have interviewed Mike many times in the past and it is always interesting especially with all that has been going on in 2011. The Hackathon was an awesome event and it was great to see developers collaborating with RIM and each other to create new BlackBerry apps that push the platform forward.

The topics Mike and I discussed are ones that developers have been asking me recently especially considering the strong push RIM has been making to encourage BlackBerry app development both on smartphones and the PlayBook. Let me know if I missed any question you wanted answered and I will follow up with Mike.

Facebook stole every contact and phone number in your phone – here’s how to undo the damage

This may come as a shock considering how seriously Facebook takes your privacy, but if you’re a Facebook user with one of Facebook’s mobile applications installed on your iPhone or one of several other smartphones, you’ve been robbed. Each and every contact stored on your phone is probably now also stored on Facebook’s servers, as was re-re-rediscovered by Facebook users this past week. Whether or not people in your contact list even have Facebook accounts, their names and phone numbers are likely now in Facebook’s possession. There is probably a clause buried deep within Facebook’s terms and conditions that makes this invasion of your privacy OK on paper, but odds are still pretty good that it’s not OK with you. Complete instructions outlining how to remove all of your contacts’ phone numbers from your Facebook account can be found below. Whether or not the data will be completely wiped from Facebook’s servers is unclear, but we’ll leave that for the lawyers to figure out.

The Retail App Ecosystem

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.

AT&T to soon begin revoking unlimited data from jailbreak hotspot users

AT&T confirmed to BGR that it will soon begin revoking unlimited data plans from jailbroken iPhone users and other smartphone users who utilize unauthorized tethering and mobile hotspot solutions. Following reports from earlier this year, AT&T on Thursday confirmed that it will remove grandfathered unlimited data plans from accounts belonging to users who tether or use unsanctioned mobile hotspot apps without a tethering plan, which is expressly prohibited by AT&T according to its terms and conditions. “Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers,” an AT&T spokesperson told BGR via email. The letter outlines three choices for customers who had been making use of unauthorized tethering solutions, one of which is “Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification.” According to earlier reports, offending users will automatically be bumped to AT&T’s more recent tiered data plan, which affords 2GB of smartphone data and 2GB of tethering data for $45 each month compared to AT&T’s old unlimited smartphone data plan, which costs $30 each month but does not include tethering. A new report from 9to5 Mac claims that users will begin losing unlimited plans as soon as August 11th, but AT&T stated that the policy enforcement date varies depending on when the offending subscriber was sent the notification letter. AT&T’s full statement follows below.

 

Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)

The letters outline three choices:

1. Stop tethering and keep their current plan (including grandfathered unlimited plan)
2. Proactively call AT&T or visit our stores and move to the required tethering plan
3. Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification

via: bgr

BlackBerry App World 3.0 now in BlackBerry Beta Zone

 

 

The long awaited BlackBerry App World 3.0 has finally made it’s way to the BlackBerry Beta Zone. The overhauled app gets a few much needed updates including and all new UI. Surely it still has some bugs as it’s in beta, but hopefully things move along quickly and an official release isn’t too far off. Features include:

• Sleek New Design – The BlackBerry App World experience has been enhanced to help users discover the latest and greatest apps and content, starting right on the BlackBerry App World home screen where rotating spotlight banners show off all that’s new and exciting.
• New Channels – Apps, Games, and Themes now have their own channels so users can get to what they want even faster.
• Introduction of My Account – My Account makes managing BBID and payment options easy with direct access to all account information from the home screen.
• New My World Features – My World gives users a streamlined view of their apps and status, and now at a glance, in addition to seeing which apps are installed and uninstalled, users can manage subscription content and services. When new updates or subscription renewals are available for apps, users will be notified using push technology.
• App Social Sharing – When a user finds an app they can’t live without, they can share it directly from the app details screen through BBM, Facebook, Twitter, email and SMS
• Evolved App Details Screen – At a glance, users can get a quick summary, check out reviews and star ratings, take a look at screen shots, and more
• More Search Options – Quickly find apps with a Search Bar now appearing on the storefront home screen and search results are presented across Channels as well as My World. Search Bars are also within each Channel and users have the ability to filter by App Name, Price, Rating, Newest, Best Match, or Popular

BlackBerry Beta Zone users can grab the download today. If you aren’t yet a Beta Zone member, hit the link below to download.

Register for the BlackBerry Beta Zone

Soucre: Inside BlackBerry

via: cb