The 7 Solid Reasons To Keep Your Faith And Hold On To Your BlackBerry

CIO’s Al Sacco wrote a great article on the 7 Solid Reasons To Keep Your Faith In RIM, BlackBerry which I wanted to share with our readers. The article outlines some great points why BlackBerry is strong and not going anywhere. Despite what negative comments fly, the truth holds strong. Check it out…

 

Al’s honesty and truth doesn’t make excuses for BlackBerry, and he does go over the rough points, he also points out the best of BlackBerry.

What are the 7 Solid Reasons?

1. Love that BlackBerry QWERTY Keyboard. I have to agree with Al on that one. I’ve tried touchscreen devices, but I really love my BlackBerry keyboard and can’t use simple phones anymore. I’ve played with the phones and the Apple iPhone, but I really love the BlackBerry’s keyboard for it’s ease of use and functionality.
2. BlackBerry Battery Life Can’t Be Beat. This is another truth to be said. Compared to the Android devices, the BlackBerry’s battery life is longer. Though many of us keep our BlackBerry on the charger most of the day anyways. I find that most people who move to the Android are shocked by the battery life difference.
3. Enterprise Security and Manageability. Even though the gap is being filled, BlackBerry is still the dominant business phone. Even overseas they hold the majority of the Enterprise use. Secure and efficient, there’s Enterprise and BES Express.
4. BlackBerry Messenger and BBM Social. BlackBerry Messenger is definitely unique and it’s my favorite means of communication. And with the apps connecting with BBM v6, even better. You can connect with Foursquare, Facebook, games, and the possibilities go on. BBM is definitely a strength of BlackBerry.
5. The Future Is Bright With the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet. While the BlackBerry PlayBook came out without the native email, it really was a neat device. With the QNX system powering the Tablet and the ability to load apps via the Android player, and the BlackBerry Bridge, it has a lot of potential. I know native email to me isn’t a big issue, and I’m loving the apps and how easy it is to use. And to be honest, I’m checking World three times a day looking forward to the next updates and newest apps.
6. Seven New Handhelds In 2011, Promise Of QNX-Based BlackBerry Devices. We will see seven new devices, and we’ve seen the leaked photos of them, with RIM even displaying the 9900/9930 on it’s very site. All will have the OS 7 which is a transition OS preparing for the QNX-Based devices to come. More memory, more power, thinner. From what we’ve seen, they’re very nice devices.
7. BlackBerry Data Compression. With the unlimited data becoming a legend known only to those grandfathered with their carriers, and limited data plans for the new customers and those choosing to go to a smartphone, the BlackBerry’s compression of data makes it easier to be online as much as you want without having to worry about your data. Sure one can argue about turning on wifi, but how many of us are fortunate to have wifi with us 24 hours a day? With the BlackBerry, it’s peace of mind and wallet.

While these are actually my additions, you should read Al’s article and his points as he goes into detail. I would have to say it’s even more than just that. The ability to bank on your phone, the security of the phone, the convenience of the apps and the native apps of BlackBerry. I don’t game really, but I do socialize and use Twitter and BBM most with my email. So for me the BlackBerry is my device. I bank on it, never worry about data usage, and love that my BlackBerry and BlackBerry PlayBook work hand in hand together.

I don’t dwell on what it lacks, because there’s always way when there’s a will. I’m happy with what I have but I’m so grateful when changes are made and new apps and features are available. Rome was not built in a day, but nonetheless it is an icon.

[via: CIO.com]

via: bbsync

RIM cuts around 2,000 jobs; Shuffles management

RIM announced today that in addition to some management changes, they are cutting about 2,000 employees from their workforce. We knew that some slimming down was on the way for RIM, but weren’t sure of the exact number of employees that would be lost. More on the cuts and other “expense reductions” will be known after the RIM’s next earnings call in mid-September.

“The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.”

Both Jim Balsille and Mike Lazaridis will retain their co-CEO positions for now however. Along with the cuts comes some movement among management positions at RIM as well. Just a few days ago RIM lost Ryan Bidan to Samsung, and RIM today has announced the retirement of their Chief Operating Officer Don Morrison as well. Keep reading for the full press release.

BlackBerry PlayBook battery life may have been weakened by recent OS update

According to a report from CIO, BlackBerry users who installed RIM’s latest update for the tablet’s QNX operating system are now experiencing weakened battery life. The recent 1.0.3 software update introduced BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and video chat to the device, but it also appears to have had a substantial impact on battery life, possibly reducing it by 11% or more. RIM addressed the issue by suggesting that users accept the new license agreement for video chat, which may drain the battery if left unchecked, and the company also suggested that users fully charge and discharge the PlayBook battery several times in order to restore full function. Many users report that neither proposed solution has has an impact on the weakened battery life, however.

Read via:BGR

SAP CIO Oliver Bussman talks BlackBerry PlayBook in business (video)

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

As the BlackBerry PlayBook release draws closer the buzz is growing around it as well. In this video from last week Fox snagged a quick interview with SAP CIO Oliver Bussman. As he explains here, the PlayBook is a step ahead of the game as it is business ready and capable of multitasking unlike other tablets (I’m still not a believer that it really is “true” multitasking though – see my comment below. Yes, it runs multiple processes at once, but that’s different than multitasking from a user perspective… I want to be able to browse a webpage on half of the display while being able to browse my music collection on the other half – actually doing two things at once).

Oliver praises the size and ease of use of the PlayBook and also talks a bit on the business aspects. The key question addressed here is “can I really run a billion dollar business on a tablet” and the answer is “absolutely”. Thats good enough for me. Gotta love how excited the reporter is to have a pre-release BlackBerry PlayBook in her hands too. She’s sounds almost as NHC Blackberry Alliance is! CAN’T WAIT!!!

AT&T 3G compatible BlackBerry PlayBook on the way; LTE version soon after?!

Just in case you thought Research In Motion was only giving the love to Sprint when it came to cellular enabled PlayBooks, new rumors have now popped up suggesting that an GSM version compatible with AT&T and Rogers 3G bands is tracking very nicely as well. Also suggested is that shortly after the release of the 3G enabled version will come a Verizon LTE enabled version. Research In Motion has announced a Q1, 2011 timeframe for the WiFi enabled version with the Sprint 4G version arriving in the summer but has been quite when referring to other carrier announcements.

If all these new rumors pan out, that means we should see the WiFi version ordering start in February, shipping in March with the 3G version showing up late March or April. No mention of ship dates for LTE, only that it would come after the 3G release. Only fair to note however, these are still rumors. Nothing has been confirmed but time will tell. While we wait, check out our BlackBerry PlayBook review.

Source: CIO

AT&T confirms red and white BlackBerry Torch 9800 coming in November

Just in time for the holidays and as expected. AT&T has finally confirmed the release of the red and white BlackBerry Torch for November 7th in their holiday press release. No pricing details were given but, safe to say unless they end up getting some holiday promotions attached to those devices, they’ll be staying at the exact same price as the BlackBerry Torch that is already available on AT&T. Which means, if bought from AT&T they should roll in around $199.99 with a new 2 yr contract. Personally, I’m a fan of the red one. What about you all? Red or white for your BlackBerry Torch?

Source: PRNewswire / CIO

Rumor: Amazon MP3 For BlackBerry App Mentioned In Leaked RIM Document

The Amazon MP3 for BlackBerry app, previously rumored to be announced at DevCon 2010, is mentioned in the recently leaked BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 SP3 release notes suggesting that the application is near release.  We don’t know much about Amazon’s MP3 for BlackBerry app but it could be a viable “iTunes Store of sorts” for BlackBerry users.

RIM’s BES 5.0.3 release notes call Amazon MP3 for BlackBerry a “RIM Value Added Application,” and the document specifies that BlackBerry administrators will be able to disable the app via BES. The release notes also mention that Amazon MP3 for BlackBerry will work on RIM smartphones running BlackBerry OS 5.0 or higher, so it won’t be restricted to RIM’s latest OS, BlackBerry 6.

[Via CIO]

RIM Offers to Teach India How The Internet Works…

by the BerryReview Team on Aug 26th, 2010

RIM did state their 4 tenants on customer security and confidentiality but India has not given up. They are still demanding that RIM allow them to snoop in on ALL email communication or face being banned by August 31st. The irony is that RIM is right in this case. Locating a server in India will do nothing in terms of giving them more access to read communications to BES servers. RIM has reiterated that there is no master key they can give Indian officials to make them happy. That is just how the internet works. Governments and companies rely on technologies like BES, VPN, PGP, and S/MIME because there is no master key. If there was it would defeat the whole purpose.

According to CIO’s John Ribeiro:

Research In Motion has offered to lead an industry forum in India focused on supporting the lawful access needs of law enforcement agencies, while preserving the legitimate information security needs of corporations and other organizations in India

So essentially RIM has offered to teach India how the internet works. Even if RIM received a court order to hand over BES communications the best they could do would be handing over encrypted data that would require supercomputers to even attempt to break. RIM is not unique in this since any email that uses S/MIME or PGP or any sort of public key infrastructure. They are designed this way to ensure that there is no master key to open them. Even if terrorists use them there really is nothing that RIM can do while keeping their corporate and government contractors.

I wonder if India will take RIM up on the educational forum. I am curious to see how that one goes! What I find unfair is why they are picking on RIM. What about every ActiveSync corporation that is using SSL encryption for email? Or employees using VPN or IPSec to connect to their work networks?

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Examples of BlackBerry Widgets in App World

BlackBerry Widgets are a high priority for RIM because it will allow them to attract an entirely new set of developers to the BlackBerry platform. Web developers can use the BlackBerry Widget SDK to package their web apps into files that can be loaded on a BlackBerry and sold in App World. In this sense, a BlackBerry Widget is nothing like a typical widget (a small app placed on a desktop or homescreen). A BlackBerry Widget should actually be called a BlackBerry Web App.

Below are some examples of applications in BlackBerry App World that were created using the BlackBerry Widget SDK. They’re not identified in App World as being Widgets, but RIM is able to identify them internally and we have a short list of some of them for you. What’s interesting about Widgets is that you can tell they’re web apps. Some of them have little bugs that you haven’t seen before in a BlackBerry app (eg a cursor arrow popping up) and seem very “web-like” when it comes to graphics.

Here are some apps that were created with the BlackBerry Widget SDK: