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Tag: download

  • 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.

  • Downloading Will Be The Death of Blu-Ray













    Predicting the demise of Blu-ray is a popular sport – and it has just gained another fan.

    Consumer review specialist Reevoo has come out with a report saying that the high-def format is fighting a losing battle against HD download services and hard drives.

    It suggest consumers continue to favor DVD players – despite the price of Blu-ray players falling significantly in the past few months.

    But the Reevoo report says that when customers have to upgrade, they are happy to skip Blu-ray altogether and go straight to a combination of downloads and hard drives.






    According to its data and reviews, consumes favor the "convenience" of digital downloads and digital hard drive recorders.

    Whether Blu-ray’s demise will be quite as swift as Reevoo are suggesting remains to be seen.

    There’s no doubt, though, that the format really needs to start making waves soon.






    Reevoo summarises the three main factors it identifies as impeding the uptake of Blu-ray as:






    – Improved DVD players – DVD players are still outselling Blu-ray players by a factor of 10:1 according to Reevoo data. Newer high-end DVD players capable of ‘upscaling’ a standard definition image to near-HD, the gap between DVD and Blu-ray has shrunk to the point that shoppers see no reason to upgrade
     


    – Blu-ray pricing and inflated disc prices




    – Households are downloading – The window for Blu-ray to become the leading video format is closing rapidly. The format is also competing with downloads through services such as Apple’s iTunes store which offers HD content for rental or purchase at a lower price than Blu-ray discs.Hard-drive based personal video recorders (PVRs) sold twice as many units as Blu-ray in the UK over Christmas according to Reevoo data








  • Blockbuster Launches On-Demand Service


    Blockbuster is rising to the challenge posed by cable companies and Netflix by launching a movie rental service via set-top boxes.

    It is offering a STB made by 2Wire that plays movies downloaded over a broadband line.

    Available only in the US, Blockbuster is offering the MediaPoint digital media player for "free" if you pre-pay for 25 movies at the cost of USD $99.

    It claims the movies available will be "hot new releases".

    After the initial 25 rentals, films will be available from USD $1.99 each.

    Able to use either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, Blockbuster says the set-top box delivers DVD quality to your screen.

    Since it’s a download rather than streaming, users will get full quality even if slower internet connections mean downloads will take longer.

    It will be interesting to see how Blockbusters’ decision to avoid a monthly subscription works, especially with regard to the timing of new movie releases.

    Netflix’s service is both streaming and by subscription.

  • Smartphones Will Remain Dominant Mobile Video Platform


    Smartphones will continue to be the device most used for watching mobile video, according to research firm In-Stat.

    The high-end handsets will not have it all their own way though.

    Over the next five years, they will be joined by over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones.

    David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst, said the entry of this broad range of new mobile devices able to display video will have a profound effect on the mobile video market

    He said the reach of new device choices will provide more markets for mobile operators, mobile broadcasters, advertisers and other content owners.

    "Even though cellphones and smartphones will remain the predominant method of viewing mobile video, over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones will be sold in the next five years," said Chamberlain.

    Other findings in In-Stat’s report Global Cellular Video Devices: Internet Video Expands the Market include:

    • Shipments of 3G video-capable cellphones will increase at 11.2 per cent annual growth, reaching over 641 million by 2013.
    • The number and types of devices using digital mobile broadcast networks such as ISDB-T, DVB-H, MediaFLO, and DMB-T will expand to nearly 127 million in five years. China’s CMMB will make up over 12 per cent of those devices.
    • More than a half-billion devices capable of viewing Internet video over 3G networks will be sold in 2013. Cumulative sales will approach 2 billion units.