Blackberry Playbook vs iPad 2: Showdown

Geek Pillows in the vid: goo.gl Get my iPhone App: goo.gl New Gaming Channel: youtube.com Twitter: twitter.com Website: soldierknowsbest.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

I Waited for the Blackberry PlayBook 2.0

I refused to review the Blackberry Playbook. Now I’m giving RIM a chance by unboxing it, one year later. Did the 0 price cut and new OS upgrade have to do with my change of heart? || Add me: bit.ly If you’d like to see it in action let me know and my review will follow.. but for now here’s me taking the RIM Blackberry Playbook out of the box, along with some updated information on the latest 2.0 operating system.

First Look: BlackBerry Wireless Media Server

First Look: BlackBerry Wireless Media Server – Stream content from your BlackBerry smartphone using DLNA. Also, I said “basically” a lot — I’m sorry. I was just so excited to actually see it enabled.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

@johy9412 oh that’s nice! I’m using my blackberry phone for internet.

@johy9412 oh that’s nice! I’m using my blackberry phone for internet. – by ruhiyel (ruhiel bosque)

T-Mobile Offers Premium BlackBerry Torch — But at a Premium (NewsFactor)

T-Mobile will soon offer a premium BlackBerry device, the Torch 9810, at a premium price, $249 with a two-year contract. That's $200 more than AT&T charges for the Research In Motion smartphone, which it started selling in August.

Emphasizing the traditional appeal of BlackBerry devices to business users, T-Mobile is giving them first crack at the Torch: they can order it today while other customers must wait until Nov. 9. The $249 price is after a $50 mail-in rebate card and with a two-year voice and data contract.

Fast Processor, Fast Data Speed

Compatible with T-Mobile's high speed HSPA+ data network, which the carrier calls 4G, the Torch is powered by the latest-version BlackBerry 7 operating system and packs a 1.2 gigahertz processor, with 3.2-inch TFT VGA capacitive touch-screen display and full QWERTY slide-out keyboard and 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 720p high-definition video recording. AT&T is not marketing its version of the Torch 9810 as 4G compatible.

The 9810 is an update of the Torch 9800 released in August 2010, which debuted on AT&T a year later. The processor is more powerful than the original 624 megahertz processor of its predecessor and the 768 megabytes of RAM exceed the original 512 megabytes. It also has more storage for apps and media, eight gigabytes instead of four, and ships with the updated operating system.

It comes in one color, a zinc-gray color finish, and the Torch 9810, like all BlackBerry devices, includes access to BlackBerry Messenger, personal and corporate e-mail, and social networking applications and access to BlackBerry App World for premium applications and games.

The offering comes at a time when German-owned T-Mobile is in limbo, waiting to see if federal regulators will approve its merger deal with AT&T. Meanwhile the two companies continue to compete, with the AT&T price for the Torch 9810 an example of the bigger carrier's power to offer better deals because of its large volume of sales.

Canada-based Research In Motion needs as many carriers as it can for its devices, as it struggles to gain back market share it has lost to Apple's iPhone and the arsenal of Android-based devices that seem to come out every week from a multitude of manufacturers and on all major carriers.

'The Real 4G'

T-Mobile also carries the BlackBerry Curve 9360 for $79.99, the Bold 9780 for $109, and Bold 990 4G for $299.

Analyst Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax said 4G speed was a dubious reason to charge more for the Torch 9810 than AT&T.

"It brings us to the question of, will the real 4G please stand up," said Purdy. "There is LTE and HSDPA and enhanced HSDPA+ from AT&T. Each one claims they are faster than the other guy, but it's really a matter of coverage and availability in a given area. They may advertise peak speeds but the actual speed you will realize is much less."

Purdy said that while the Torch 9810 was a premium device, "what T-Mobile needs is to figure out a way to get the iPhone, which will bring them more revenue than another BlackBerry."

Nokia suffers as Europeans turn to smartphones: IDC (Reuters)

HELSINKI (Reuters) – The boom in demand for Apple iPhone and phones with Google Android software collected in the second quarter smartphone sales in Western Europe by 48 percent compared to last year, has fallen during the previous market leader Nokia declined further.

"Smartphones are now dominating the Western European market and mobile vendors with greater consolidation in the segment of their portfolio positions," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo.

Nokia has dropped to No. 2 in its domestic market in the first quarter, when Apple has surpassed in smartphones and Samsung Electronics have been so in total sales of mobile phones.

Halved in the second quarter, Nokia's share of the smartphone market in western Europe for three months to about 11 percent, and the Finnish company fell behind in the standings Samsung smartphone, the BlackBerry developer Research In Motion and Taiwan's HTC.

"The Android phones by the will of Sony Ericsson and Samsung HT were able to drive volumes and the largest piece of the agreement shares fall as Nokia Symbian Phones moved to Windows," said Jeronimo.

Nokia's sales have been hit hard by the company tries to smartphones using Symbian aging, it has been dumped in favor of phone Microsoft to sell Windows.

The first Windows phones Nokia are expected to reach the market later this year.

Unlike the smartphone market booming, the global market for mobile phones in Western Europe slipped by 3 percent a year ago – after seven quarters of growth – such as a weakening economy dampened demand.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virk)

Openwave alleges Apple, RIM infringed patents (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) – Software maker Openwave Systems has filed a complaint against Apple and Research In Motion on Wednesday, alleging infringement of five of its patents relating to mobile internet technology.

Openwave, which in turn would make a loss company, said that the iPhone and the BlackBerry manufacturer had its patents for technologies in smart phones and tablet computers are used to hurt the connection to the Internet.

"Before filing these complaints we have repeatedly addressed these two companies in an attempt to license our technology to negotiate with them and do not have a substantive answer," said Chief Executive Ken Denman Openwave.

"In the end, litigation is the only way we can our rights against these big companies that have actually refused, the technologies that we can use license invented to defend," said Denman.

Openwave is the last action, like moving into a mobile landscape that more and more filled with complaints, businesses seek legal recourse to their products or force rivals to protect pay. The prices paid in recent patent income has also enriched.

Openwave, which holds over 200 patents lodged the complaint with the International Trade Commission in Washington DC and also in a federal court in Delaware.

The company said it expects a positive decision by the ITC, RIM and Apple's push to "very high" would have to pay licensing fees.

RIM refused to comment Openwave fit. Apple was not immediately available.

The shares of Redwood City, California were based on Openwave to 30 cents to $ 1.77 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday morning.

The move comes days after Openwave, which reported a net loss in its last fiscal year, said he paid $ 12 million to Myriad Group to terminate all the company claims on its patents.

Openwave software enables companies to analyze and optimize traffic on their wireless networks.

The ITC will submit its import from Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and block the United States and prohibiting the introduction of RIM's smartphone Curves and Tablet Playbook.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp, Toronto, additional reporting Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore, editing by Rob Wilson)

State of the Art: Research in Motion’s Best BlackBerry Yet, the Bold 9900, Is Not Enough

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 has a stainless steel rim, an upgraded operating system, a comfortable physical keyboard and a half-height touch screen.

The competitive landscape looks absolutely brutal. There’s the iPhone, whose 29 percent of the app phone market is the result of 110 million slavering fans and a bottomless app store. Rumor has it that Apple is readying a new iPhone for release this fall. Nobody will ask, “Does anybody care?” about that one.

Then there’s Google. Its Android phone operating system now has 52 percent of the market. About the only thing that could make Google more powerful now is a book of Hogwarts spells.

Is RIM up to this battle?

It’s not looking good. Its market share is sinking because it is giving up customers to Apple and Google. The company is laying off 11 percent of its work force (2,000 people). Its shares recently hit their lowest point since 2006. A series of anonymous letters posted at bgr.com report chaos and flagging morale among the workers. One product after another is delayed. In April, one of RIM’s two chief executives, clearly stressed out, stormed out of a BBC television interview.

That was just about the same time that RIM released its iPad clone, called the PlayBook — filled with bugs and enormous feature holes (for example, no built-in e-mail program or calendar).

But listen: for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that nobody knew any of that. Let’s pretend that the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 existed in a vacuum.

How is it?

Gorgeous, for one thing. Stainless steel makes its first appearance on a BlackBerry — a classy rim around the sides, making a nice complement to the shiny front and holographic-patterned back. The keys, buttons and tiny trackpad glow white, which is handy in both dim and bright lighting.

It’s also the thinnest BlackBerry ever. It’s substantially wider than the iPhone, but at only 0.41 inches thick, it’s nearly iPhone thin (0.37 inches). And it’s fast, thanks to a high-octane processor inside. Yet its battery can still get you easily through a day, maybe even two, on a single charge.

The 9900 has a spectacularly comfortable physical keyboard, with exactly the right amount of clickiness. The iPhone approach — typing on glass — is more efficient when you want to type accent marks or change languages. But the rest of the time, no question: the BlackBerry keyboard rules. Especially this one.

Yet, for the first time on a slab-style BlackBerry, the keyboard is accompanied by a beautiful, responsive touch screen. It’s only half height, like BlackBerry Bolds of yore, which gets claustrophobic when you’re trying to use the GPS or the Web browser. But it’s sharp and bright and fluid.

Two other new BlackBerry models are also appearing this month: one all-touch screen model, and one with a slide-out keyboard. Along with the 9900, they’re the first phones to come with the BlackBerry 7 operating system.

It’s not a huge leap ahead of BlackBerry 6, and it’s certainly not the complete overhaul (based on something called QNX) that the company promises on new phones next year. But it’s perfectly lovely, modern and efficient. And, apart from the baffling Apps screen (which displays only the icons but no text or labels for your apps), it’s easy to figure out.

The scrolling strip of app icons just above the keyboard is especially useful. With each swipe of your thumb, you bring another set of six icons into view: Frequent, Favorites, Downloads and Media, for example, which greatly reduces the number of steps you need to get to the stuff you’re most likely to want.

A tap at the top of the screen gives you instant access to your settings for cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the alarm clock; a tap on the strip just below that opens up the summary of notifications, like new e-mail messages and text messages.

BlackBerry 7 also offers much faster Web browsing (you can pinch and zoom with two fingers to zoom in and out, as on the iPhone) and a digital compass.

There’s a dedicated shutter button for the five-megapixel camera, which can also capture 720p high-definition video. It has a flash, but no autofocus. The pictures and videos look very good, and it’s easy to send them to your friends. But here’s another spot where that half-height screen really feels confining if you’re used to a full-face iPhone or Android screen.

There are eight gigabytes of built-in storage, and a memory-card slot that can give you up to 32 more gigabytes.

To Rebound, RIM Courts the Carriers

A booth for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at the CommunicAsia exhibition and conference in Singapore last month.

Many wireless carriers are starting to feel threatened by the growing prominence of Apple and Google, especially as phones take on a variety of new tasks like replacing credit cards. Nor are the carriers keen about having just two companies controlling a major part of their businesses. As a result, many carriers want a revitalized RIM to serve as a counterbalance, analysts and telecommunications consultants say.

“The carriers are looking for guard dogs to keep Apple down and keep Google down,” said John Strand, a telecommunications consultant in Copenhagen. “BlackBerry has had very good relationships with carriers.”

Peter Rhamey, an analyst who follows North American carriers for BMO Capital Markets, said, “There are a lot of people out there at the carriers who want them to be successful.”

Craig McLennan, RIM’s regional managing director for North America, said, “Strong carrier partnerships are a strategic priority for RIM and we think our constructive alignment with carriers will continue to be an advantage as this market grows even larger.”

Verizon does not share the dim view many investors now hold of RIM.

“RIM continues to be a very important strategic partner,” said Marni Walden, the chief marketing officer at Verizon Wireless. “We have found RIM to be meaningful in the consumer space and critical in specific enterprise segments.”

Michelle Leff Mermelstein, a spokeswoman for Sprint, said the company “has an incredibly strong relationship with RIM.”

AT&T, citing company policy of not discussing issues involving suppliers, declined to comment.

While the carriers do not openly talk about the threat of Apple and Google, analysts say the two companies have fostered a system that could make carriers slow-growing utilities selling little more than generic network access. The revenue from apps, which provide entertainment, news and other services, do not flow to the carriers.

In an apparent bid to exploit those concerns, RIM has repeatedly told carriers that, unlike Apple, it believes that they deserve a portion of revenues from its apps store and as well as future services. Although given the relative paucity of BlackBerry apps, the offer has relatively little financial value as of now.

Keeping the carriers on its side will not solve RIM’s problems. But, at the very least, it could provide the company with breathing room until it introduces a revamped product line running on its new operating system. The carriers choose what phones to sell and which ones to heavily market. Because carriers subsidize the price of most handsets in the United States and Canada, their decisions about what phones to support and promote arguably make them the most important force in the market.

Publicly at least, carriers are reluctant to criticize RIM. Indeed Rob Bruce, the president of the wireless unit at Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest carrier, was not willing to even acknowledge that anything was wrong with RIM. “They’ve been incredibly successful and I don’t necessarily think they’re going through a bad patch,” said Mr. Bruce, whose company was the first carrier in the world to offer BlackBerry service. “I just think people’s expectations on a company like RIM always run very, very, very far ahead of the realities any of these companies can deliver.”

Tellingly, however, the first handsets Rogers will offer for its recently introduced high-speed Long Term Evolution network will use Android and be manufactured by HTC and Samsung, because RIM has yet to introduce a compatible BlackBerry.

Peter Misek, an analyst who follows RIM for Jefferies & Company in New York, said the relationship between RIM and carriers was entering a critical phase. “RIM’s support, especially in the U.S., has lagged over the last 18 months,” he said. “The support of the carriers is tenuous.”

App Smart: Curl Up With a Soothing Smartphone and Relax

“Simply Being,” available for Apple, Android and BlackBerry, offers guided meditation of various lengths.

But for every yin there is a yang. And mobile phones are no exception.

A path to a quiet mind can travel through apps dedicated to guided meditation and sleep enhancement. And fortunately, for those who need more, or better, rest, or who are inclined to still their minds for a few minutes a day, some good ones exist on all the major mobile platforms.

Simply Being ($1 on Apple, Android and BlackBerry) and Mindfulness Meditation ($2 on Apple, with an Android version in the works) are among the better ones, while Universal Breathing – Pranayama Free (free on Apple) and Pranayama Free (on Android) are useful for those who want to test the waters.

Those with pressing insomnia issues should consider Pzizz Sleep ($6 on Apple, with a Lite version for $2). On Android, the app costs $5.69 and goes by the name Pzizz, the Insomnia Solution. Another good, but pricey, option, is Mayo Clinic Insomnia Wellness Solutions ($25 on Apple).The meditation apps, though, may well be enough to get you to sleep — or at least help calm you down.

Pranayama Free is the simplest. It leads you through exercises meant to limit you to seven breaths per minute, five breaths per minute, or about four breaths per minute. When I tried it, the graphics were helpful, but the music was a tad obtrusive.

A bigger problem was that it was slow to load and not very responsive to the touch (at least on my Droid2), so it was barely more relaxing than frustrating.

I tried Simply Being not long after in the middle of a workday that had gone haywire. I was surrounded by e-mail-toting gadgets that, I was sure, were loading important messages from colleagues.

I grabbed my iPhone and opened Simply Being, and the screen offered four options for “guided meditation for relaxation and presence.” I chose the 5-minute option, and left the 10-, 15- and 20-minute options for another day.

I then chose music, rather than nature sounds, to accompany the narrative, and I tweaked the volume of each so the narrative was clearly audible.

I was braced for a narrator who had the sort of whispery, saccharine tone that’s as relaxing as a Sawzall on a steel pipe, but fortunately, the narrator, Mary Maddux, used an approach that didn’t sound like a parent cooing a baby to sleep.

Ms. Maddux’s husband and co-developer of the app, Richard Maddux, composed the admirable soundtrack.

After five minutes I was nearly asleep.

Not everyone will respond to a given narrator’s voice, so another good choice is Mindfulness Meditation, which is written and narrated by Stephan Bodian, the author of “Meditation for Dummies.”

Mr. Bodian’s narrative was thorough, relaxing and well pitched for a meditation novice like me. There is no music or sound accompaniment, but there is more content to the app than in Simply Being.

Users can choose meditations of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes, or a simpler relaxation narrative of 10 minutes.

A guide also offers audio tips for finding the best meditation position, for instance, and there is a text-based checklist of eight factors to improve the experience.

About an hour after nearly falling asleep to Ms. Maddux’s voice, I did the same with Mr. Bodian’s voice.

That drowsiness was partly due to a bout of insomnia the previous night. Lying awake at 3 a.m., I tried Brain Wave ($2 on Apple), which features binaural electronic tones against the backdrop of nature sounds. According to the app’s description, it requires earbuds or earphones to work properly.

Brain Wave, which has attracted good ratings from iTunes users, also has programs for easing anxiety, improving mental focus and the like, but I chose the option “Deep Sleep.” It wasn’t very practical because I couldn’t lay my head to either side or the earbuds would jam into my ear.

Either because of that, or because the binaural sounds simply didn’t work for me, I felt no closer to sleep after 45 minutes. I turned off the program, pulled out the earbuds and later managed to get to sleep.

Another option is Pzizz Sleep, which uses binaural sounds, spoken words and music in new combinations each time the user opens the app. It’s a smart choice for those who tend to grow weary of repeated narrations on other apps.

The Mayo clinic app is generally good, as well. Given how much money insomniacs spend on other treatment options, it is arguably worth the $25 investment.

That’s especially true for iPad users. The app is split between a multipage stress assessment and roughly 90 minutes of videos, and the videos, especially, render nicely on the iPad’s screen. (Free tip: It’s a myth that exercising before bedtime will help you fall asleep more easily.)

For the price, though, users should be able to expect an experience that is devoid of fluff. Although many of the video tutorials are useful, including an in-depth discussion of insomnia by Mayo Clinic specialists, far too much video is devoted to a promotion of the app’s developer and the Mayo Clinic.

It’s anyone’s guess, for instance, why insomniacs would need to watch a testimonial from a mother whose son was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the Mayo Clinic.

It’s enough to make you mad — that is, if you weren’t already in full command of your emotions.

Quick Calls

Lose It!, a popular (and free) weight-loss app for Apple, is now available on Android. … An Android version of Poetry, a great (free) app on Apple, for lovers of verse, also recently had its debut. … Shnap (free on Apple) is a cool new photo filtering and sharing tool. Earn points by posting popular pictures of your own and rating photos of others.