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Tag: blackberry

  • Blackberry App World Launches, 1,000 Apps Expected in First Week


    Research In Motion (RIM) has launched its application store Blackberry App World in the US, the UK and Canada, with more country launches to follow.

    Unveiled at CTIA 2009 in Las Vegas, the much-anticipated app store for BlackBerry smartphones will offer a mix of personal and business applications, both free and paid.

    RIM will be hoping its platform will be as successful as Apple’s App Store, which has rung up 800 million app downloads since last summer.

    The Canadian company expects approximately 1,000 applications to be posted by partners on BlackBerry App World this week.

    These include popular brands such as Bloomberg, ClearChannel, Lonely Planet, Gameloft, MTV, The New York Times, and World Mate.

    Mike Lazaridis, RIM president and co-CEO, said the BlackBerry platform was used by millions of people.

    He said the new app store will enhance that experience by connecting consumers with developers and carriers.

    "BlackBerry App World aggregates a wide variety of personal and business apps in a way that makes it very easy for consumers to discover and download the apps that suit them while preserving the appropriate IT architecture and controls required by our enterprise customers," he said.

    Among the features on App World are:

    • a "front page carousel" that showcases several applications and lets users browse through featured applications
    • a Top Downloads area that lists the applications most downloaded, by category
    • a keyword search tool for apps
    • user recommendation function – by e-mail, PIN, SMS message, or BlackBerry Messenger
    • My World folder to keep track of downloaded applications

    BlackBerry App World is available for BlackBerry smartphones with a trackball or touchscreen running BlackBerry device software 4.2 or higher.

  • Skype Announces iPhone App,Video Calling Coming Soon?


    STORY UPDATED: see below

    Skype is now available for the iPhone – and will be coming to BlackBerry in May.

    The VoIP app on the iPhone will only work over Wi-Fi and not 3G.

    It will allow iPhone subscribers to use phone numbers in their existing iPhone address book – without the need for duplicate lists.

    As always, it allows free calls between Skype users and charges for calls to landlines or mobiles.

    The free application began appearing in the app store early on Tuesday.

    UPDATE: Since being released on Tuesday it has emerged that Skype on iPhone does works over 3G, despite being intended only for use with WiFi.

    Users report it working over the 3G data connection if the beta 3.0 firmware is being run.

    Since VoIP over the 3G cellular is clearly forbidden in the SDK rules, it’s obviously due to a bug on 3.0 that it works.

    This raises the question of how long it will be before Apple closes the hole?

    But also, how did was the app "approved" and certified by for the App Store without first "testing" if Skype would work on the 3G connection?

  • Truphone Launches Business App Aimed At Halving International Mobile Call Charges


    Truphone announced today that it is launching a Blackberry application that enables business users to make international phone calls from their devices at fixed line rates.

    The company claims that the new Truphone Business app will reduce call charges by at least half.

    Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone, said the company’s global infrastructure meant the savings are available for calls made from the UK to every destination globally.

    "The launch of Truphone Business follows demand for a business solution from our existing customer base," she said.

    "The proposition is extremely compelling, particularly in this economic climate.

    "Companies are keen to cut costs but find that an increasingly mobile and global workforce need to make international calls from mobile devices as a part of day-to-day business.
    "Truphone solves that problem by providing international calls from mobiles at fixed line rates."

    Last month, Truphone unveiled its plans for a single-SIM, multi-country mobile service that will enable users to make calls in supported countries at local rates.

    Truphone Business is pushed to each device via the BlackBerry server, instantly activating the service on the handset.

    Specifically designed for business use, the service also offers centralised monthly billing with itemised and departmental reporting.

    The app is available at two rates; TruStandard and TruSaver, for a monthly subscription of GBP £2.50 and £5.00 respectively.

  • JAJAH Announces Advanced Solutions for WinMo, BlackBerry and Symbian


    JAJAH is to offer new services enabling VoIP calls to be made either via WiFi or over the cellular network for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Symbian users.

    They are being offered as white label solution to enable carriers and non-carriers to launch the service under their own brand.

    The new services follow JAJAH’s recent release of a solution for the iPod Touch, which enables it to be used for phone calls.

    JAJAH said its platform has everything a company would need to launch the service immediately under their own brand.

    This includes the application itself, plus the entire suite of management services, from termination of the calls and quality control, right through to billing and processing payments in 200 countries around the world.

    For BlackBerry users, the application adds ‘JAJAH Call’ to the phonebook menu.

    JAJAH for Symbian gives anyone with a phone running Symbian s60 the ability to choose whether international calls route over the JAJAH IP network or the standard cellular network.

    The application automatically detects the presence of a WiFi network and offers the choice to use JAJAH when a long distance phone number is dialed (either manually or via the address book).

    With Windows Mobile, JAJAH is a full SIP over HSDPA/WiFi mobile VoIP solution. Currently deployed by eMobile, one of the leading operator’s in Japan, it turns any device into a VoIP phone.

  • Emoze Aiming To Be "Skype of the Push Email World"


    It was interesting to hear Eitan Linker, CEO of emoze, talk about his company’s efforts to introduce the mass market to mobile push email at the Showstopper event on the eve of Mobile World Congress 2009.

    Emoze’s free software enables users to configure multiple mobile email accounts and send and receive emails from corporate, personal and family accounts all on the same mobile.

    Linker told smartphone.biz-news that their aim is to simplify the user experience to help bring push email to as many people as possible – and obviously to emoze.

    He said while there are more than one billion email accounts globally, RIM had only 20 million Blackberry subscribers for its email services – making it very much a niche market.

    Emoze hopes to change that.

    Find below the VideoInterview:

    "We are a win, win, win option," said Linker. "It’s a win for the carriers because we drive data; it’s a win for the handset manufacturers because we are not operator dependent; and it’s a win for the user because it’s a free application that’s easy to use."

    Emoze’s goal is aided no end by the fact the software can be downloaded to a wide variety of mobile devices – from high-end smartphones to standard Java-enabled handsets.

    As well as providing access to several types of email accounts, users can also access social networks such as Facebook.

    While the application is free, users can upgrade from the basic one account option to a premium account, which allows them to have multiple accounts for EURO 1 per month.

    Emoze also offers an enterprise solution, which enabled small companies to give staff email without the need – or the cost – of upgrading handsets.

    "We are looking at the mass market and trying to make it easy for them," he said. "We are like the Skype of the push community."

    As the company’s website explains:

    "Emoze brings true mobility to the mass market by enabling users from all walks of life to turn their mobile phones and mobile devices into fully functional personal communication devices.

    "Emoze has created real push-event technology. emoze delivers real-time, secure synchronization of emails, calendars and contacts – pushing data and updates anytime, anywhere using any mobile service provider network or WiFi.

    With emoze’s unique technology, synchronization occurs every time there is an incoming or outgoing event, rather than via periodical checks for change."

  • Will GPS-enabled Smartphones Avoid Handset Slowdown?


    Demand for GPS-enabled mobile phones will slow in 2009 but will avoid the fall in shipments expected to affect handsets generally.

    At least that’s what ABI Research is predicting. It forecasts that feature-rich smartphones will post year-to-year unit growth through the current economic downturn.

    For 2009 that translates into a climb in shipments GPS-enabled phones to 240 million units, an increase of 6.4 per cent over 2008.

    This contrasts with a drop of 4—5 per cent for global handset shipments generally in 2009, according to a study by the researchers.

    For the period through to 2014, the analysts suggest demand for smartphones will increase at an average annual unit shipment rate of 19 per cent.

    ABI says this "surprising performance" will be driven by the ongoing demand for feature-rich smartphones, including the Apple iPhone 3G, RIM’s BlackBerry devices and Nokia N series phones among a growing list.

    During the period, the report says GPS chipsets will continue to penetrate this segment; nine of every ten smartphones will contain GPS ICs in 2014, compared with one in three in 2008.

    George Perros, senior analyst with ABI Research, said that falling component prices and increasing consumer awareness of handset locationcapabilities will keep demand for GPS-enabled phones healthy, in spite of the slumping global economic picture.

    Other factors that will continue the trend toward the inclusion of GPS functionality in handsets include the spread of open source operating systems such as Google’s Android.

    It provides application specific interfaces (APIs) that allow software developers to create location-based content for mobile devices.
    The report also highlights the continuing emergence of navigation and map-based applications for handsets.

    "As the quality of positioning technology in handsets improves and the cost of including it declines, GPS location technology will approach the status of a standard device feature," said Perros.

    "We are approaching the point where location awareness will be synonymous with smart devices, a point where personal navigation, social spatial knowledge, and location-specific contextual information will be assumed handset capabilities."

    If accurate, the report’s predictions will certainly be welcomed by smartphone manufacturers.

    We’d be interested in hearing your view on the figures.

  • Skydeck Syncs Mobiles' Calls, Contacts, and Voicemails With Web Browers


    Skydeck has launched a feature-packed beta that syncs what takes place on cell phones to a web page.

    The mobile startup’s offering lists all contacts, received calls, missed calls, voicemails and text messages.

    So much so that the company is calling the new Skydeck "your cell phone, online".

    Previously, Skydeck’s beta used mobile phone bills to display real social network based on numbers called the most.

    Now users can listen to voicemails from their browsers or read a transcribed version of each voicemail (via SpinVox).

    The online service also allows users to search all voicemails and text messages.

    Replies to messages can be sent from a browser, with all the calls appearing to come from the user’s cell phone number.

    It functions best on Blackberry and Android phones with full support for Windows Mobile coming soon, but most of the features work on nearly any handset.

    Currently only available in the US, the service costs from USD $9.95 a month, with calls through a PC costing USD $0.03 a minute, plus USD $0.20 for each transcribed voicemail.

    For USD $29.95 a month users get unlimited PC phone calls and transcriptions.

  • Keyboard and Touchscreen For Palm's New Handset


    Details are emerging about Palm’s expected launch of its latest smartphone and operating system at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show.

    The new handset is to have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen.

    This, and the new Nova operating system, are to be launched Thursday, according to CrunchGear.

    Faced with mounting losses and weak smartphone sales, the success of the new phone and Linux-based operating system could very well decide the company’s fate.

    It should be clearer by the end of the week whether Palm’s offerings will enable it to succeed with its plan to position itself somewhere between RIM’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone.

  • Palm Gets $100m Lifeline Ahead Of Nova Launch


    Palm has secured a USD $100 million equity lifeline from Elevation Partners just a few weeks before it unveils its new Nova operating system.

    Faced with mounting losses and weak smartphone sales, the success of the new operating system could very well decide the company’s fate.

    The equity investment by Elevation Partners, which already holds a large stake in the handset maker, will help underwrite the cost of launching Nova and the first line of products to run on it.

    Palm has revealed little about the new operating system but reports suggest it will be pitched between RIM’s enterprise-oriented Blackberrys and Apple’s more multi-media iPhones.

    Palm just posted a loss of USD $506 million in its fiscal second quarter and saw both its revenues and the number of smartphones sold drop.

    Earlier this month, Palm announced that Douglas C. Jeffries had been appointed as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

    Previously chief accounting officer at eBay, Jeffries will join Palm in January as replacement for Andy Brown.

    Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners, which also counts rock star Bono among its investment team, was in no doubt about the potential for Palm.

    "We believe that Palm is in a position to transform the cell phone industry, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to make this additional investment in the company," he said.

    There are many who seriously doubt that.

  • Vyke Launches Mobile VoIP For Blackberry


    Vyke has released a beta version of its Mobile VoIP software and service for Blackberry devices using RIM software.

    The addition of the Blackberry software now means Vyke’s VoIP solution is available on the three most used mobile operating systems in the enterprise market – Symbian, Windows Mobile and RIM.

    Vyke says its Blackberry solution is unique as it uses a variation of VoIP which enables users to make VoIP calls over the Vyke network at any time their phone has GSM coverage, not only when the phone is in range of Wi-Fi or 3G mobile data coverage.

    The software supports most Blackberry devices dating back as far as 2003.