The word "finally" is so overdue, that it is hard to use it without shaking one's head. RIM has finally released its BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 update, including features that many said should have been included in the tablet's initial software load.
BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 now includes a native e-mail client with a unified inbox, along with built-in calendar and contacts applications. Indeed, for a device coming from a company that's all about messaging and PIM, it's hard to understand why these were not released at the very start, although technical issues between BES and the QNX platform that RIM switched to for the new device were reportedly tough to overcome.
That said, there's still a big missing piece, and it's one that keeps the company's smartphones popular with some groups: BlackBerry Messenger, which allows users to securely instant-message each other, but which is restricted to BlackBerry-only devices, is still MIA.
BlackBerry Bridge, which allows users to connect their BlackBerry smartphone to their PlayBook, has been updated to include a remote control feature, allowing owners to use their handsets as a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Interestingly enough, folks have played around with the new Bridge functionality and discovered it can be used on non-BB hardware, as well, including Android devices and PS3s.
Finally, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 includes support for "some" Android applications.
Valentine's Day is nearly here, and the rush by developers to interest as many people as possible to grab their app before Feb. 14 is on. That includes SinglesAroundMe, an available on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, which on Friday was chosen as the featured app on Blackberry App World --- good timing for Valentine's Day.
The idea sounds good: the SinglesAroundMe (SAM) app is a location-aware mobile dating app that runs across the iPhone, Blackberry and Android platforms. The app can show you, within a radius of from 100 feet to 100 miles, Singles that are "around you."
Using the "SAM" search, you can plot your location and those of singles around you on a real-time Google map. Then From here you can view another user's profile, photos. You can send "winks" and messages to others, see their GPS location, add them to a "hot list," or even block them, as well as control your privacy settings.
Not once can you use it based on your real-time location, you can also "plan ahead," by using the "Destination Search" feature to view matching singles in real-time, at a location of your selection. While you might wonder why anyone would use that sort of feature, the site says it's a ways to check the "action" in a bar before you decide to go, or scope out a resort before traveling.
It sounds good --- if you're single and looking --- although it sounds more like a hook-up app than a dating app. However, the ratings in the App Store and Android Market make one think twice. Free in the Android Market, SinglesAroundMe has a current rating of 1.9 stars.
Also free in the App Store, it has an overall rating of 1.5 stars. However, premium messaging features are $2.99 for a month or $19.99 for a year, using in-app purchasing.
The app is also available in BlackBerry App World, where the $9.99 paid version has a rating of 4 stars while the Lite and "Special" versions, which are free, have 3.5 star ratings, each.
Perhaps BB users are more tolerant of extremely slow updates, as that and the app just not working are the complaints on Android and iOS. Despite these issues, the app is, according to the company, seeing 80,000 new downloads monthly. The company also says it expects 1 million new singles will join the service this year.
There are a number of other "hook-up" type apps available on the Android Market and iOS that are higher rated. Among them, we found MiuMeet, which has a 4+ rating in both stores, and Zoosk, 3.5 stars in the Android Market and 4 stars in the App Store.
Just remember: these may seem to be free, but to really use them, you'll need to make some in-app purchases that can add up quickly.
Based on these reviews, we'd say that if you are a BlackBerry user, you might want to try SinglesAroundMe. If you are an Android or iOS user, you might want to try something else.
A new survey by well-known dating site Match.com might give consumers yet another reason to choose --- or not choose --- Android over iPhone: Android users are more likely to have sex on the first date than iPhone or BlackBerry users.
One notable piece of information: the data was obtained from Canadian Match.com users, so there's always the chance Americans might strike out if they go into a first date expecting "something."
That said, in addition, Android users might be the biggest dogs of all as well. Android users are the most likely to have a one-night stand (55 percent).
Other tidbits of information from the survey:
Android: 72 percent of Android users have visited an online dating site, though not necessarily Match.com, while only 58 percent of iPhone users have done so and exactly half, 50 percent of Blackberry users.
BlackBerry users are more likely to drink on a first date. 72 percent said they would have an alcoholic beverage on a first date. At the same time, they are very romantic, with 67 percent of BlackBerry users saying they have experienced "love at first sight."
iPhone users tend to be more clingy, or at least seem to be. iPhone users will generally reach out, either calling or texting the day after a date, while Android or Blackberry users will wait a couple of days before doing so (which we always thought was a sort of "unwritten rule" to avoid looking too desperate.
Kimberley Moffit, a Toronto-based psychotherapist and spokesperson for Match.com said that iPhone users may reach out faster because they "tend to be younger and more savvy with their tech."
We'd have to wonder about that, because Android is typically said to be the platform that's for technophiles, and that consumers who want something that just works should go to iPhone (we've seen plenty of senior citizens using iPhones, and seen very few using Android).
Also, iPhone users are the most likely to date someone in the workplace. Nearly a quarter of iPhone singles have had an office romance in the last five years.
To be clear, the study said that Android users were more likely to have sex on the first date, not that they would be sexier.
A new survey by well-known dating site Match.com might give consumers yet another reason to choose --- or not choose --- Android over iPhone: Android users are more likely to have sex on the first date than iPhone or BlackBerry users.
One notable piece of information: the data was obtained from Canadian Match.com users, so there's always the chance Americans might strike out if they go into a first date expecting "something."
That said, in addition, Android users might be the biggest dogs of all as well. Android users are the most likely to have a one-night stand (55 percent).
Other tidbits of information from the survey:
Android: 72 percent of Android users have visited an online dating site, though not necessarily Match.com, while only 58 percent of iPhone users have done so and exactly half, 50 percent of Blackberry users.
BlackBerry users are more likely to drink on a first date. 72 percent said they would have an alcoholic beverage on a first date. At the same time, they are very romantic, with 67 percent of BlackBerry users saying they have experienced "love at first sight."
iPhone users tend to be more clingy, or at least seem to be. iPhone users will generally reach out, either calling or texting the day after a date, while Android or Blackberry users will wait a couple of days before doing so (which we always thought was a sort of "unwritten rule" to avoid looking too desperate.
Kimberley Moffit, a Toronto-based psychotherapist and spokesperson for Match.com said that iPhone users may reach out faster because they "tend to be younger and more savvy with their tech."
We'd have to wonder about that, because Android is typically said to be the platform that's for technophiles, and that consumers who want something that just works should go to iPhone (we've seen plenty of senior citizens using iPhones, and seen very few using Android).
Also, iPhone users are the most likely to date someone in the workplace. Nearly a quarter of iPhone singles have had an office romance in the last five years.
To be clear, the study said that Android users were more likely to have sex on the first date, not that they would be sexier.
Is RIM really the UK's top-selling smartphone vendor? That was the message the company put out earlier this week, announcing that "the latest results from data firm GfK show that BlackBerry was the No.1 selling smartphone in the British market for the second year running. It continues to dominate the market, grabbing 26.3% of December sales and averaging 27.7% through 2011."
This seemed a remarkable set of statistics for a company which has (meanwhile) been seeing US share drooping, according to another research company, Nielsen, which said that its share of the US smartphone market there dropped below 6% in December.
It's even more remarkable because GfK is famously protective about its figures; companies aren't meant to hand them out, and especially not to use them for public competitive comparisons. The company reckons that it covers about 80% of the consumer space - but doesn't try to measure sales in the enterprise or business space.
Is RIM really the UK's top-selling smartphone vendor? That was the message the company put out earlier this week, announcing that "the latest results from data firm GfK show that BlackBerry was the No.1 selling smartphone in the British market for the second year running. It continues to dominate the market, grabbing 26.3% of December sales and averaging 27.7% through 2011."
This seemed a remarkable set of statistics for a company which has (meanwhile) been seeing US share drooping, according to another research company, Nielsen, which said that its share of the US smartphone market there dropped below 6% in December.
It's even more remarkable because GfK is famously protective about its figures; companies aren't meant to hand them out, and especially not to use them for public competitive comparisons. The company reckons that it covers about 80% of the consumer space - but doesn't try to measure sales in the enterprise or business space.
Since a high percentage of those surveyed in mid-2011 said they damaged their smartphones via toilet dunking, the results of this study should surprise no one. According to the report "IT in the Toilet," about 3/4 of those surveyed admit to having used their phones in the bathroom.
At any rate, "IT in the Toilet" says that 74 percent of men, and 76 percent (yes, a higher percentage) of the fairer sex say they've used their cell phones in the bathroom. 63 percent report they have answered a phone call, while 41 percent have initiated a phone call.
67 percent have read a text, and 38 percent have surfed the Internet. While more women than men report having used their mobile phones in the bathroom, more men, 30 percent, report that they don't go to the bathroom without their mobile phones, vs. 20 percent of women.
Men are more likely to work in the bathroom, as well, with 20 percent saying they have participated in work-related calls in the bathroom vs. 13 percent of women. It's unclear if any used laptops on their lap in the stall, however.
iPhone users are the "daintiest." Only 77 percent of iPhone users report using their phones in the bathroom, while 87 percent of Android users have done so. BlackBerry users are in the middle at 84 percent.
That said, BlackBerry users are more likely to answer a call while indisposed, with 75 percent of them reporting to have done so, vs. 67 percent of Android and 60 percent of iPhone users. However, Droid and iPhone users are more likely to browse a social network or use an app than their BlackBerry colleagues (most likely reflecting the ease of use of modern smartphone platforms vs. the older BlackBerry OS).
The "IT in the Toilet" study was done in Oct. 2011 by a new integrated marketing agency, 11mark. The company surveyed 1,000 Americans with mobile phones online. The full (and free) report can be downloaded at http://www.11mark.com/IT-in-the-Toilet.
Some people are guilty of Googling themselves, but this goes beyond that: reality TV star Kim Kardashian has set up a Google Alert on herself.
If you don't know what that means, you can go to news.google.com, search for something, and at the bottom of the page you'll see a link to create an email alert for that subject --- a Google Alert. You can modify how often you get the alert, if it's just for news or other things, etc. etc.
In this case, Kim Kardashian was seen on Tuesday Kim in Santa Monica, with her BlackBerry (ugh) as she received a Google Alert on herself.
Aside from the fact that she still using an ancient BlackBerry, its funny that Kim would do this for herself, as last September she scoffed at sister Kourtney, who does the same thing.
Durng an interview with xoJane last September, after Kourtney got a Google Alert on her phone, Kim laughed and said, "You have your own Google alerts? We have that on record: Kourtney has her own Google Alerts and checks them."
Perhaps Kim later decided it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Notably, however, the message shown in the original photo does have one key point: the RE: string in front of the "Google Alert: Kim Kardashian" text. That means it's not an actual Alert at all, but something someone sent to her. It's possible it's sent on from her publicist, but you'd expect to see FWD:, not RE:.
That said, we wouldn't be surprised if she DID have a Google Alert set up on herself.
RIM has taken an axe to the prices it charges for its BlackBerry PlayBook tablets in the UK - again.
You can now pick up the 16GB version of just £169. It was priced at £399 at launch, and yesterday would have set you back £249. That's roughly a third off in 24 hours.
The 32GB now costs £199, the 64GB tablet £249, down from £479 and £559, respectively.
A variety of retailers, including Carphone Warehouse and Dixons, have just applied the new prices.
RIM knocked £150 off the original prices in October 2011 in a bid to boost demand for the 7in tablets. Punters have not taken to the machine.
It didn't do much good, and just as October's cut followed a big price reduction in the States, so this latest round of reductions comes after RIM discounted again over there.
RIM and that it has "never" been interested in buying the BlackBerry maker, according to a Bloomberg report.
James Chung, a Samsung spokesman, told the news outlet that the Korean company and RIM, based in Canada, haven't had any contact regarding a purchase deal.
Chung also told Bloomberg that Samsung isn't interested in the rumored software licensing deals that RIM has been reportedly exploring as well.
On Tuesday, stock in RIM rose $1.30, or 8.04%, to $17.47 per share after the tech news site BGR ran a story, citing unnamed sources, stating that Samsung was the "front runner" to purchase RIM.
Of course, Samsung hasn't been the only company that has been rumored to be interested in buying RIM. Among the other potential suitors with speculated interest in RIM are Nokia, Microsoft and Amazon. RIM shares jumped 10% in December on news of possible takeover interest from Microsoft and Amazon.
This also isn't the first time that Samsung has come out and denied rumors of its interest in a smartphone property. Last September, Samsung declared its lack of interest in buying the WebOS operating system from Hewlett-Packard.
After months of trying to figure out what to do with WebOS, HP eventually decided to retain ownership, open-source the software and then move forward on developing new tablets (but no new smartphones) running the operating system.
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