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Posts Tagged ‘Blackberry’

40% of Blackberry users willing to trade in for an iPhone

BlackBerry users may be ready to move on to other smartphone platforms, suggesting that RIM isn’t keeping up with consumer demand in its efforts to combat growing encroachment from the likes of iPhone and Android. In fact, two in five BlackBerry owners plan to swap their current device for an iPhone when it’s time to upgrade, according to market researcher firm Crowd Science.

The iPhone has had a lasting effect on the smartphone market, changing the conception of what a smartphone should be almost overnight after the launch of the original iPhone in 2007. Despite RIM’s entrenchment among business users, however, the iPhone platform has grown at a faster rate than the BlackBerry over the last year.

Perhaps the trend can be explained by Crowd Science’s findings that many are using their smartphones for both personal and business use. Nearly a third of iPhone owners use their device for strictly personal use, versus just 16 percent for BlackBerry users. Just one percent of iPhone owners use their device for business only—no surprise there—so two-thirds are using an iPhone for business and personal use. And, while the BlackBerry has a reputation as the best enterprise mobile device, a scant seven percent of BlackBerrys users dedicate the device to business use only. That leaves over three-quarters of BlackBerry owners using their device for dual purposes.

The iPhone isn’t the only platform attracting the attention of BlackBerry users, though. Interest in Android-based devices has grown since the introduction of Google’s Nexus One, with 32 percent of BlackBerry users surveyed saying they would swap their current device for a Nexus One.

“These results show that the restlessness of BlackBerry users with their current brand hasn’t just been driven by the allure of iPhone,” John Martin, CEO of Crowd Science, said in a statement. “Rather, BlackBerry as a brand just isn’t garnering the loyalty seen with other mobile operating systems.”

About 90 percent of current iPhone and Android users plan to stick with their current platform for their next phone upgrade.

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Lego-borne BlackBerry Tour probably still lacks WiFi

How do you know you’ve reached status as an internationally-recognized icon? When someone decides to make a Lego representation of you, that’s when — so our hats go off to you, BlackBerry Tour, for this distinguished accomplishment. Well-traveled Lego artist Nathan Sawaya was recently tapped to turn RIM’s global CDMA traveler into a life-sized monolith of plastic bricks, though with an unusual twist: his unnamed patron wanted a working video display, too, which required some “trial and error” to integrate. It might not fit in a pocket, but we reckon you could still find a belt holster that could swallow this thing. Follow the break for video!

Continue reading Lego-borne BlackBerry Tour probably still lacks WiFi

Lego-borne BlackBerry Tour probably still lacks WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Slider undergoes further undercover inspection, side shots emerge

We’re still no closer to finding out whether this is the next iteration of the Bold, Storm or some other BlackBerry line, but the unofficially coined BlackBerry Slider continues to pique our interest. Here in the third round of spy shots, we’re seeing the elusive RIM-branded device from a few new angles, namely a round of side shots and a side-by-side with Curve 8900. You’ll notice that the new guys is a bit thicker and longer, and you’ll also see a complete lack of labeling beside the camera. There’s a fair chance that hitting that Source link will simply lead to increased frustration and stress in your life, but c’mon, anything to keep you from finishing up those 2009 taxes is worth a look.

BlackBerry Slider undergoes further undercover inspection, side shots emerge originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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doubleTwist’s iTunes Alternative (That Works With Android) Adds Podcast Support

Over the last six months, doubleTwist, the iTunes alternative that lets you manage your music, videos, and photos, has really been stepping up its game. In October the company integrated an Amazon-powered MP3 store, allowing users to download and sync their music directly with any of hundreds of compatible devices, much as they would with the iTunes/iPod combo. And today it’s adding a new feature that makes it an even more viable iTunes competitor: support for podcasts.

Co-founder Monique Farantzos says that doubleTwist has built and integrated a podcast search engine with 20 times as many podcasts as iTunes offers. Rankings are based on popularity (as opposed to a simple listing that would grow unmanageable with that much content). The new feature is launching on Windows now, with Mac support for podcasts coming next month.  Later this year, doubleTwist will offer an API allowing other applications to tap into the podcast search engine.  The company is also planning to launch a client for Android (which would presumably allow users to stream content) over the summer.

Farantzos says that doubleTwist is also going to start offering more cloud-based services. In May, users will be able to store the podcasts they’re subscribed to server-side, so they’ll be able to use the same subscriptions on their desktop and mobile clients without having to dock them together.

While it supports many devices, doubleTwist is becoming increasingly popular as an ‘iTunes for Android’. In January, it forged a partnership with T-Mobile, which promotes doubleTwist and has pre-installed it on some devices. Now, 53% of doubleTwist users are using it to sync with Android phones. The application also supports syncing with many other devices, including WebOS, BlackBerry, Sony PSP, and digital cameras.

doubleTwist is still missing some of the functionality that iTunes has, like the ability to download TV shows and movies. But the podcast functionality will add some video content, and 1 in 5 users are using it to manage video content they already have.  And some people may even appreciate the added simplicity if they’re just interested in music. In any case, it probably isn’t worth holding your breath for doubleTwist to add movies and TV downloads any time soon — content owners are still set on wrapping that content in DRM.

Also see Songbird, another iTunes alternative (you can see our past coverage here).

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SugarSync Makes It Simple To Upload Files Via Email; Adds 500 GB Storage Plan

Sharpcast’s SugarSync,, an application that synchronizes data across desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, and even televisions, is making it easier for users to backup their data via email. The startup is launching an “Upload by Email” feature that lets users store email attachments in their SugarSync account with the ease of sending an email.

The new feature allows a SugarSync user to sync any email attachment to a dedicated folder in their SugarSync account by simply forwarding it to a special email address. Instantly, the file(s) is available on all synced devices and accounts. For example, if a user receives an email with many attachments, they can simply forward it to their SugarSync email address (comprised of random numbers and letters for spam protection). All attachments will transfer to their SugarSync account.For added security, SugarSync will scan all file attachments for viruses prior to syncing, and certain file types are not accepted (e.g., .exe, .cmd, .bat) to prevent malicious files from landing in an account.

At the moment, SugarSync is supporting 2 petabytes of data from users. SugarSync’s CEO Laura Yecies says that because of the popularity of the product, the company is adding a new power-user storage account that has 500 GB of storage, priced at $39.99 per month. Previously, the highest level of storage available was 250 GB.

SugarSync recently launched a small business friendly offering, which Yecies says is gaining considerable traction. You can read our past reviews of SugarSync here and here. The startup has ramped up its mobile offerings, with supports for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile powered phones.

SugarSync faces competition from Windows Live Mesh from Microsoft, Dropbox, Box.net, ZumoDrive and Mozy.

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Will Windows Phone 7 Be Better Than the iPhone for the Enterprise?

The Windows Phone 7 news kind of threw us a bit this week. It had almost no mention about how it would serve the enterprise. It almost seemed like Microsoft had given up.

Now we are starting to see some reports about how Windows Phone 7 would fit for the mobile enterprise. And it makes us wonder. Will the Windows Phone 7 better serve the enterprise than the iPhone?

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The Blackberry is the leader in the market. For our purposes, we are looking at how the challengers compare to each other. Android may become the biggest rival to the Blackberry with its tight integration into Google’s enterprise suite and the ability to use multiple applications at the same time.

I’s the iPhone that looks a bit vulnerable. Without a doubt, the iPhone is showing success in the enterprise. Apple had a robust earnings report for the fourth quarter thanks in good part to sales of the iPhone to people who use it for work.

But here’s the catch. We really have not seen any bona fide use of mobile collaboration tools as of yet across any device. People are using smartphones to check messages and use applications. The applications they do use are services like Twitter.

When mobile collaboration does find its place in the market, it’s not going to be a one application world. It will require the ability to mashup data, pulling information from multiple sources. Our daily work requires us to use multiple applications simultaneously. That’s not possible with the iPhone. And it will not be possible with the iPad. This issue will become even more pronounced as more enterprise applications enter the mobile market.

In comparison, Windows Phone 7 is an information centric device. Information is stored in hubs and you can view the different hubs as a panorama on the device screen. That makes it potentially better than the iPhone or the Nexus One, which do not have that capability.

People want to see the information without having to go from application to application. A panorama is more akin to the experience we get on a device like a laptop. That’s far more suitable for the enterprise.

Gizmodo:

“Out of the box, this information is organized into areas called hubs, which follow the user’s areas of interest. Accessible through live tiles in the home screen, the Me (the user), people, pictures and video, music, and games–plus the omnipresent search–hubs give views into several data sources, connecting and presenting them into an interweaved panoramic stream. These hubs dig heavily into many databases, both locally and into the cloud.”

Ironically, Microsoft often get labeled as a company that creates silo environments. From our view, the mobile applications of today have a certain silo effect. Windows Phone 7 and its hub structure means that it can draw from deep databases from on-premise and the cloud. That to us seems like a powerful combination that is well suited to an enterprise world.

Discuss

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Macworld 2010: Hands-on with the 4iThumbs keyboard for iPhone

Filed under: Macworld, iPhone, iPod touch

I stopped by the 4iThumbs booth to check out their product that would purportedly increase my (admittedly dismal) typing speed on the iPhone/iPod touch. It consists of a plastic overlay that puts small ridges between the letters of the standard iPhone keyboard, available in both portrait and landscape formats. The product comes with some tabs that you affix to the top and bottom of the device, and you can then slip the plastic overlay on and off. You can touch through the overlay and use the phone as usual while it’s attached, although the bumps aren’t terribly comfortable for swiping. There’s a matching set of tabs for the back of the device which can hold the overlay when it’s not in use.

I tested it out, and it works. I never texted much on any device other than the iPhone, so I can’t make a direct comparison of typing speeds between an iPhone and, say, a Blackberry. I do type a lot on my iPhone, though, and I can readily say that my typing speed and accuracy increased dramatically while using the 4iThumbs overlay.

4iThumbs is $19.95US online for 1 set, which includes portrait and landscape versions and the tabs to attach them to your iPhone/iPod touch. At Macworld, you can pick up 2 for $15US, but you’ll have to get there quick to take advantage of the show pricing.

TUAWMacworld 2010: Hands-on with the 4iThumbs keyboard for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry stops bullet, at last proves itself useful beyond BBM

We kid, we kid. There are many excellent reasons to choose a BlackBerry as your main handset in the year 2010, but we’ve got a brand new item to add to the list: bullet stoppage. A woman in Ohio was sitting with her gun-handling boyfriend at a restuarant when the gun went off and hit her leg. Lucky for the both of them, the BlackBerry in her pocket intercepted the bullet — rather sufficiently, though to the considerable demise of the handset. It seems as if it was helped along by a neoprene case of some sort, but it’s still pretty impressive for such a point blank attack. Love is a battlefield, folks.

[Thanks, Tommy G.]

BlackBerry stops bullet, at last proves itself useful beyond BBM originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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