Being day two of RIM’s first ever Developer Conference brought lots of press releases. RIM introduced the Application Center similar to Apple and Google’s App stores. This will allow developers to sell applications and receive payments via Paypal. The App Center wasn’t a very big surprise after it was leaked weeks ago.
Check out all the press releases RIM sent out today: Read More
RIM has just announced that their first BlackBerry first phone, the Pearl 8220 is now available from T-Mobile in the United States. The Pearl Flip 8220 will be available starting today for $149.99 with two year contract at all T-Mobile stores. Within in the next few weeks a red colored model will be available as well. In case you haven’t seen what the Pearl 8220 is like just yet check out this hands on review by BerryReporter.
Well CTIA Fall 2008 was huge for RIM this fall. We saw tons of press releases, two new BlackBerry models and new services. Unfortunately no sign of the long awaited BlackBerry Javelin or Storm/Thunder but they should come before the years finished.
Here is a run down of what happend at CTIA Fall 2008 starting off with:
- A Look at RIM’s CTIA Fall 2008 booth
- Introducing the iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i for Sprint-Nextel
- Introducing the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220
- Meet the Red colored Pearl Flip 8220
- RIM and TiVo partner up to bring TiVo control on BlackBerry
- RIM and Windows Live Search come to BlackBerry
- MySpace and Ticketmaster also join BlackBerry apps
- Slacker Personal Radio coming to BlackBerry
So overall it was a great success and I’m sure there is more to come before 2008 is done.
If your like me and haven’t heard of Slacker before it’s a personal radio that provides access to over 100 expert programmed stations or 10,000 artist stations online. Slacker is currently only available in the United States, but hopefully they will come to Canada some day.
Slacker and RIM today announced plans to bring users in the United States free or premium (paid) based streaming radio to your BlackBerry. More details on the launch aren’t available just yet but you should see it before the end of the year. It sure would go nice with a brand new BlackBerry Bold or Thunder/Storm :-)
RIM Press Release:
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Slacker, Inc. and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans for Slacker to provide a free Slacker Personal Radio application, exclusively for BlackBerry® smartphones, that will enable listeners to hear their favorite Slacker radio stations wherever they go – even when not connected to a wireless network. The application will be previewed this week at the BlackBerry booth (booth 614) at CTIA in San Francisco and was highlighted in today’s CTIA keynote address by Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of RIM.
The Slacker application will provide BlackBerry smartphone users in the U.S. with a robust, high-fidelity personalized music discovery and listening experience pulling from over 100 expertly programmed Slacker stations, over 10,000 artist stations or their own custom-created stations.
Slacker’s unique caching technology will allow listeners to access Personal Radio stations using their BlackBerry smartphones without ever having to manage playlists, research new artists or deal with complicated software again. The Slacker application for BlackBerry smartphones will work with Free Slacker Basic Radio and Slacker Premium Radio.
“From the inception of Slacker, our mission has been to give listeners the music they love wherever they are,” said Dennis Mudd, CEO of Slacker. “Working with RIM allows us to provide our listeners with added flexibility and convenience to make the most of the Slacker Personal Radio service.”
“BlackBerry smartphones have evolved with advanced communications and multimedia capabilities to become modern lifestyle devices that are used in highly personalized ways and the free Slacker Personal Radio application is a great example of a mobile entertainment application that can add value to the user’s mobile experience in a meaningful way,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion.
Slacker Personal Radio, available online at www.Slacker.com, enables listeners to personalize over 100 professionally programmed stations or create, edit and share their own Personal Radio stations. Slacker listeners also have easy access to artist profiles, album reviews and cover art within the Slacker Web Player, on Slacker Personal Radio Players and soon on BlackBerry smartphones.
RIM has showed us at CTIA Fall 08′ that they have lots planned for this year. The first announcement this morning was that TiVo will be coming to BlackBerry. The new service is expected later this year, along with some other goodies (cough *Thunder/Storm* cough).
“TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone – anytime, anywhere – and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. “As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content.”
RIM Press Release:
ALVISO, CA and WATERLOO, ON. – TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, today announced a partnership to bring customized TiVo services to the BlackBerry® wireless platform.
The new relationship brings TiVo and RIM together to develop a variety of mobile entertainment services that marry RIM’s leading BlackBerry® smartphones with the content delivered to consumers through the Emmy-winning TiVo® service. Initially, BlackBerry smartphone users will gain the convenience of being able to discover what shows are on and schedule television recordings while away from the living room and on the go. Future collaboration between the companies will focus on software applications that further simplify mobile access to video content.
“TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone – anytime, anywhere – and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. “As the BlackBerry smartphone continues its evolution as a modern lifestyle device, the importance of home entertainment integration will continue to grow and TiVo will be the key in providing consumers with greater flexibility in accessing television content.”
“TiVo continues to transform and revolutionize the way people control and watch television and broadband video,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo Inc. “RIM and TiVo share a commitment to great user experiences, which cause our products to become seamlessly integrated into the consumer’s lifestyle. We also share a vision for the future of mobile entertainment services and we look forward to a variety of future innovations as a result of this relationship.”
The first software application from RIM and TiVo is expected to be available later this year.
[RIM]
This week at CTIA Fall 2008 has been interesting so far for RIM. Early this morning start with the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 and now RIM is proud to announce the much needed iDEN BlackBerry Curve 8350i. Finally his brings a upgrade to iDEN users on Sprint-Nextel’s aging iDEN network. This new Curve will sport both Wi-Fi and GPS along with a 2.0 megapixel camera, MicroSD memory card slot and stereo Bluetooth. This new Curve will also be the first Curve to operate on RIM’s new OS 4.6 as seen in the Pearl Flip and Bold.
Pricing has been announced yet, but you can expect to find out more within the next few months…
Press Release:
Operating on the fastest national push-to-talk network, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be the first from Sprint to offer built-in Wi-Fi capabilities and Group Connect, allowing instant group conversations with up to 21 people nationwide
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. and Waterloo, ON – Sprint customers seeking the benefits of industry-leading push-to-talk services and the power of BlackBerry® smartphones will have a new version of the coveted combo available later this year. Sprint (NYSE: S) and Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to deliver the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8350i – the newest Nextel Direct Connect-capable BlackBerry smartphone – by the end of 2008.
The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be the latest BlackBerry smartphone to utilize iDEN technology and feature Nextel Direct Connect, the only national push-to-talk service in the industry to offer sub-second call setup and connection to the world’s largest push-to-talk community with millions of users and integrated business solutions, including one of the largest selections of GPS-enabled solutions. With Nationwide and International Direct Connect, Sprint customers will be able to instantly connect within the US and to users in other eligible countries including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will also be the first BlackBerry smartphone from Sprint to offer Group Connect, allowing customers to instantly set up group conversations with up to 20 other participants.
“Smart phones in general, and BlackBerry products in particular, have become more important to both business people and consumers lately,” said David Chamberlain, Principal Analyst with analyst firm In-Stat. “The BlackBerry Curve 8350i with PTT capability rounds out Sprint’s options to fill communications needs of many industries particularly those in the blue-collar segment of construction, field services, transportation and manufacturing.”
“Sprint is the undisputed leader in push-to-talk services, and with the launch of the new BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone, we are keeping our promise of expanding the Nextel Direct Connect capabilities and options for our customers,” said Danny Bowman, president of Nextel Direct Connect. “The BlackBerry Curve 8350i will be very attractive for business customers who need instant, convenient push-to-talk services to communicate now with employees, customers and suppliers but also want the capabilities of a high-end smartphone.”
In addition to delivering the unmatched push email and messaging capabilities of the BlackBerry solution, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i will provide rich multimedia, organizer and Internet browsing capabilities, as well as access to thousands of other mobile applications. The smartphone will also include built-in Wi-Fi® capabilities, allowing customers to browse the Internet and download email attachments quickly and easily. When connected to a Wi-Fi network, customers will also be able to send and receive emails or surf the Internet while talking on the phone.
Other key features include:
“The BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone will offer customers an exceptional communications and multimedia experience together with the power and convenience of the popular Nextel Direct Connect service,” said Mark Guibert, vice president of corporate marketing at RIM. “We are pleased to build on our successful relationship with Sprint to bring this powerful new smartphone to Sprint’s customers.”
Customers can find more information on the BlackBerry Curve 8350i smartphone and sign up to be notified of commercial availability from Sprint at www.sprint.com/instantconnectbb. Pricing, service plan details and an exact availability date will be announced at a later date.
Nationally, the Nextel National Network continues to operate at best-ever performance levels based on internal metrics. Internal performance metrics show double-digit percent improvement year-over-year (i.e., March 2007 to March 2008) for drops (i.e., where a customer’s voice connection fails or drops during a call) and blocks (i.e., where a customer is unable to make a voice connection) for the Nextel National Network. Customer issues related to dropped and blocked calls, and voice quality combined, have decreased more than 60 percent year-over-year (i.e., March 2007 to March 2008). This level of improvement translates to a more reliable calling experience for our customers. Customer calls on the Nextel National Network are successfully connected and maintained better than 99 out of 100 times.
For more information about Nextel Direct connect, please visit www.sprint.com/nextel.
RIM today has officially announced the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 smartphone. The new Pearl Flip is RIM’s first flip phone on the market and will feature Quadband GSM, EDGE, 2.0 megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and RIM’s new OS 4.6 as seen on the Bold. Full details can be found on BlackBerryPearl.com.
The Pearl Flip will be available exclusively on T-Mobile in the United States later this fall. Stay tuned for it’s launch on Rogers in Canada real soon as well.
Check out the full press release:
Yesterday RIM announced their first quarter results for 2009 and of course they did great. RIM saw revenue go up 107% to $2.24 billion from Q1 of 2008. Not only that but RIM added 2.3 million more subscribers this quater bringing their overall to around 16 million. This summer RIM is also getting ready to ship their 40 millionth BlackBerry smartphone!
“We are pleased to report another record quarter with revenue increasing 107% as the popularity of the BlackBerry platform continued to spread in business, government and consumer segments. Our comprehensive technology and business strategies continue to reap strong results in the market and RIM is well positioned to build on its momentum throughout the remainder of fiscal 2009,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “As we prepare this summer to ship our 40 millionth BlackBerry smartphone, we continue to steadily scale our business and partnerships to support the opportunities ahead in this thriving sector.”
RIM and IBM have announced a partnership to team up and mobilize Web 2.0 capabilities, by enhancing IBM's Wireless Solutions for BlackBerry smartphones.
“As the world enters the ‘Era of the Mobile Web’, mobile devices like BlackBerry are outnumbering TV’s, credit cards and PC’s, and are becoming increasingly critical to business operations for companies of all sizes globally,” said Bob Picciano, GM Lotus Software. “Today’s announcement extends the portfolio of IBM’s industry-leading social computing and collaboration offerings available to customers as they increasingly rely on their BlackBerry® smartphones.”
RIM also announced a new annual developer conference aimed at bringing all developers from around the World. The conference is sheduled for October 20th this year in Santa Clara, California.
"Based on growing demand from the BlackBerry development community, we are very pleased to announce a new conference focused on developing consumer and business applications for the BlackBerry platform," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at RIM. "The new annual BlackBerry Developer Conference in the fall will complement the successful Wireless Enterprise Symposium held each spring and will provide a dedicated forum to help developers keep pace with advances in the latest hardware, software, tools and best practices for developing on the BlackBerry platform."
Skip on over for the full press release or visit BlackBerryDeveloperConference.com. Read More
