RIM has no plans at this time to bring Microsoft Silverlight support to the BlackBerry Platform. Should they?!

The current problem with no Microsoft Silverlight support on the BlackBerry PlayBook / QNX BB Platform…

And RIM’s current plan to address that issue as relayed by the @blackberrydev twitter account today…

Some of you may be reading this post and scratching your head… What’s Microsoft Silverlight? To use the official verbage from Microsoft, Microsoft Silverlight is a free web-browser plug-in that enables interactive media experiences, rich business applications and immersive mobile apps. While most computer web browsers/OS’s support Silverlight, not a lot of mobile devices do (as you might guess, Windows Phone does).

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.

Inside RIM: An exclusive look at the rise and fall of the company that made smartphones smart

Research In Motion is in the midst of a major transition in every sense of the word. Publicly, the company is portraying a very defensive image — one that is very dismissive, as if RIM is profitable and class-leading, and the media is out of line to criticize its business, as are investors. Internally, however, there’s a different story to be told. It’s a story filled with attitude, cockiness, heated arguments among the executive team and Co-CEOs, and paranoia. We’ve spoken to multiple ex-RIM executives at length about their experiences with the company over the past few years. While most speak highly of RIM and their time in Waterloo, they also each left the company due mainly to RIM’s lack of vision and leadership. Read on for an exclusive inside look at a company teetering on the edge between greatness and collapse.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 gets spotted again

 

We’ve seen the next generation curve strutting its stuff in the past but some new images how now popped up showing us once again what it’s made of. If you’ll all remember the BlackBerry Curve 9360 still remains one of those unannounced 2011 devices that sort of strays a little away from the rest of the line in terms of specifications:

• Tavor MG-1 800mHz processor
• 512MB of RAM / 512MB eMMC
• Built in Digital Compass
• 1050mAh Battery
• 5MP Camera w/ Flash
• 480×360 Display
• Built in WiFi
• Built in NFC
• Built in GPS
• BlackBerry 7
• Bluetooth

Pretty WeatherSpark Flash Website on the BlackBerry PlayBook

I am always on the lookout for slick flash websites that work on my BlackBerry PlayBook. I was impressed when @BerryInformed pointed out WeatherSpark to us on Twitter. The WeatherSpark website provides tons of weather data for your location in their flash beta site. They definitely should package this up into a PlayBook app but it does work well in the browser.

It gives you radar maps, graphs, broken down forecast, historical weather, multiple sources of data and more. If you have been looking for such a think I highly recommend checking out www.weatherspark.com from your PlayBook! Its also fun to use on your desktop.

 

Fixmo Web Messenger Comes Out Of Beta

 

In case you missed it back in May when it was released in beta form Fixmo Web Messenger is now available to all. Fixmo Web Messenger lets you BBM through your phone from any PC or Mac with Flash installed. Its a pretty slick service and they have added some nice feature since the beta launch.

What’s new in Fixmo Web Messenger since the May 1st Beta?

 

• Significantly reduced lag with new “Local Wifi” option
• Pop-out Fixmo Web Messenger into it’s own frame
• Further enhanced end-to-end message security
• Support for international characters from the web application
• Minor bug fixes

Now that Fixmo Web Messenger is out of beta they are charging an introductory price of $2.99 (down from $4.99) for the app though you can get a free trial at www.fixmo.com/fwm/

Features include:

• Access BlackBerry® Messenger from any web browser on PC or Mac (flash support required)
• A secure connection between the web browser and the BlackBerry® device ensure your communications remain safe
• Experience the Fixmo Web application through either: http://www.fixmo.com/fwm, the Fixmo Web Messenger iGoogle gadget or the Fixmo Web Messenger Facebook application

via:bbr

Press Release: Adobe Enables Developers to Build Mobile Apps for Android Devices, BlackBerry PlayBook, iPhone and iPad

Press Release

Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 Update Available Today

SAN JOSE, Calif.— (BUSINESS WIRE) — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today delivered an update to Adobe® Flash® Builder® 4.5 and Flex 4.5 software to enable developers to build applications for iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook. Support for Android devices was released in April 2011. Developers now have a single platform for building highly expressive mobile applications that can be distributed via the Android Market, Apple App Store and BlackBerry App World. Offered standalone or as part of Creative Suite® 5.5 Web Premium and Master Collection, Flash Builder 4.5 enables the creation of applications that work seamlessly across leading mobile device platforms.

“The reaction from developers to the new mobile capabilities in Flash Builder 4.5 and the Flex 4.5 framework has been absolutely fantastic,” said Ed Rowe, vice president of developer tooling, Adobe. “They are amazed by how easy it is to create great mobile apps for Android devices, BlackBerry PlayBook, iPhone and iPad. Companies can now effectively reach their customers no matter what type of device they have.”

 

BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet OS 1.0.6 hits beta zone for developers

Don’t get too excited on this one just yet, but it looks like some BlackBerry Beta Zone developers are receving the following email with information on an upcoming OS update to 1.0.6. The update will be available to select developers so they can prep their apps for the upcoming update.

On behalf of Research In Motion®, we are pleased to tell you about an exclusive Preview Program focused on providing developers a chance to test their applications on BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6.

The goal of this program is to ensure that your AIR 2.7 and Flash 10.3 applications are optimized and ready for the BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6 release. Please read this entire notice, as it contains key information about your participation in this program.

This program is only available to a select group of BlackBerry PlayBook developers; as such we are very interested in hearing your comments and experiences.

No word on what will come with the new update, but we can hope since it’s being run by some devs first that it has some action-packed stuff to go along with it. Again – looks like only a select set of developers will be getting this, so fingers crossed for a public release soon. We’ll update if we find out anything else on this one.

 

via:cb

Collection of Fun Flash Games for your PlayBook in FlashGames

 

I happened to spot FlashGames by Richard Aberefa in App World and am really glad I did. When the PlayBook first came out I was scouring the internet for fun flash games but it was hit and miss due to touchscreen compatibility, ads, and other issues. Well Richard has done exactly what I would want by packaging a ton of flash games into one BlackBerry PlayBook app.

 

Many of the games in the 60MB+ install are playable offline and some are even playable with a bluetooth keyboard. The games not marked Offline require Wi-Fi to play. Some of the games are simplistic but others are simple fun and addictive like the Xtreme Skate. I found many of the games playable but others seemed to require a keyboard or mouse movement. According to the description in App World, FlashGames is currently free and will remain so for the next 2 weeks.

Check out FlashGames in App World and let us know what games we should play!

 

via:bbr

RIM Can Innovate by Adding 3rd Party Browser Addons or Plugins

Over the years I have been waiting for RIM to rear their creative heads and start pushing the mobile space further than their usual limits. They have truly started doing this with the BlackBerry PlayBook but the device lacks signature features like email and BBM on the BlackBerry smartphones. It does Flash, web browsing, multitasking, etc very well but what I want is RIM to start leading the pack with features. The specific feature I have in mind for RIM to do first is allow for 3rd party browser plugins.

If any of you have used Firefox or Google Chrome you are probably familiar with what Firefox calls addons and what Google Chrome calls extensions but I will simply call them addons from now on. These addons let 3rd party developers extend the BlackBerry browser to do things it could not normally do or would require RIM to build it into the current OS. While Mozilla really made addons popular with Firefox I hope RIM can bring the same concept to the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Here is a sample of some of my favorite addons in Firefox:

 

• KeeFox – While I used to use LastPass password manager they were hacked recently. KeeFox performs many of the same functions allow me to save my passwords so I don’t have to keep entering them in on my PlayBook!
• AutoFill Forms – This addon speaks for itself. I would love if I could autofill forms on my PlayBook.
• XMarks Sync – One of my favorite features in my browser is keeping all of my bookmarks in sync between them all. This is a must have plugin for RIM.
• FlashBlock – While I think Flash support is awesome it does use CPU and slow down page load speeds. I really wish RIM would allow a developer to be able to let you toggle Flash elements like you can with FlashBlock.
• UserAgent Switcher – This addon allows me to change how my browser identifies itself to servers. For example, I can make servers think my desktop browser is a BlackBerry PlayBook. I would love to be able to do the opposite on my PlayBook.

There are a ton more but this is exactly what I am talking about. These are the features users expect in a full fledged browser and except for Firefox for Android nobody has done them on a smartphone or tablet yet. With RIM showing off Web Inspector it seems like they finally do have the ability to give developers access to these functions. It would be really awesome if very soon we could install browser addons from App World…

What do you think about browser addons for the PlayBook or even BlackBerry smartphones?

 

via:bbr