There has been a very interesting push from RIM to integrate the BlackBerry PlayBook into cars for law enforcement. I have not been able to tell if all of these concepts are related or separate but RIM has shared some info on their latest concept car for “serving and protecting… With a BlackBerry PlayBook. The concept of using a PlayBook with all of its security certifications and BlackBerry integration is a strong argument. I love the mount they have setup in this car and it makes me wish I had a car of my own to try it out on. Until then I highly recommend checking out RIM’s setup if you have any aspirations of creating your own PlayBook connected car. Video of it in action below!
The fun continues with the leaked Android Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook. A creative user on on another blackberry website, Lawguyman, managed to get Android Player to run the Android Market app which is impressive. It can even install apps if you jump through a few hoops. Not that many details right now but we do have a video of it in action. Anybody else excited? I am just hoping this will end the strangle hold RIM has on the PlayBook by only allowing apps through App World. Video after the jump!
The BlackBerry PlayBook became the first and only FIPS US government certified tablet this month which is a pretty big milestone for RIM. While their smartphones are certified RIM has already had the BlackBerry PlayBook cryptographic kernel certified for government use which opens up the doors for the biggest tech consumer in the US to purchase them.
RIM has thankfully posted a video interview with Michael K. Brown, Director of Security Product Management at RIM, to explain a bit about what FIPS certification is and why it is so important. He also explains why this kind of security certification is essential for government clients alongside healthcare and financial clients. Check out the video below including the golf carts driving by in the background…
While both of these videos are not as funny as the Carphone Warehouse demo or as slick as the Telus PlayBook commercial they are still nice to see stateside. AccuBerry noticed this demo video posted up by Radio Shack. Here is what they have to show:
Since BlackBerry World last month I have not seen that much coverage of the unreleased BlackBerry Bold 9900. I was happy to see that PhoneArena got a chance to play around with the device recently and report back. The devices at BlackBerry World were running a pretty early OS but this device seems to be responding beautifully to the reviewers every touch.
I liked the hands on by John because it highlights the biggest feature of BlackBerry 7. By giving the OS double the processor speed it suddenly flies! When is the last time you heard a BlackBerry reviewer calling the device peppy, screaming, effortless, and responsive. Personally I am just happy to see the Bold 9000 style resurrected with a touchscreen. I remember back in the day we used to call the then mythical touch/QWERTY Bold the GodBerry. Check out their hands on video to see what I mean:
I have to commend RIM’s ad team with their two latest “LOVE what you do” advertisements. They just posted a Bold 9780 “Horseman” and a Style 9670 “Sneakers” commercials on YouTube and both really made me laugh. At first I was expecting the Horseman to be chatting with the horses over BBM. Still I was impressed to see him using a Bold 9780 while on horseback. Click continue to see videos.
RIM today announced they have added tinyHippos to their BlackBerry family. I have actually used tiny Hippos Ripple application on my Chrome Browser. Not really sure what RIM’s Plans are but the company has been a big promoter of widgets in the past. This makes me think RIM will be user their talent to add some of their coolness to the BlackBerry environment including the PlayBook. Both RIM and tinyHippos have post on their webpages an announcement. You can read RIM press release here and tinyHippos at this link.
The Empathy concept phone is a brainchild of a project RIM sponsored at the Art Center College of Design. The design of the phone is pretty slick if RIM could pull something like that off but I would never want to drop it… On the other hand the concept behind the phone is really odd. The idea is that it is supposed to “detect emotional data” through some magic ring and show both your emotions and your contacts and social graph.
Here is how the designers Kiki Tang and Daniel Yoon describe the interface:
It is of course touch based and all the user’s connections are shown graphically so you can see who is connected to whom. Each contact has an avatar that is encompassed by two colored rings. The inner colored ring shows the contact’s previous emotional state, and the outer ring represents the contact’s current emotional state. It is important to show the shift in emotions in order to see how an event has affected that contact.
Another important feature that we felt was important was the “Emotional Health Chart”. This chart would monitor the user’s emotional health through an indefinite period of time. One would be able to see how a certain event, or phone call/ message has affected the user. Obviously, if the chart shows someone is always upset, there would be a problem… If permitted, a user would be able to view other user’s charts as well.
The issue I have with the concept is that I have never heard of any smartphone user anywhere saying “I wish my smartphone knew how I felt!” It just seems like a solution looking for a problem. My concept phone for RIM has a 1 week long battery and a does away with spinning hourglasses. On the other hand I really do like the circular context menu. That would be cool on my Torch and much more useful than these useless action menus.
I am not sure what to make of the Empathy but let us know what you think in the comments after you watch the video below or check out more shots and mock ups at Yanko Design.
Alright you AT&T groupies, those of you ready to upgrade your BlackBerrys and those of you interested in trying out something new who are ready for an upgrade (we welcome you to the BlackBerry side). AT&T has launched its BlackBerry Torch commercials, gearing up for the release of the much anticipated slider that RIM hopes will conquer the iPhone like Gallagher and his Sledge-O-Matic. Meet us in the forums and let us know if you plan on picking up this bad boy, I’d love to get my hands on this…Please come to T-Mobile.
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 