Tag: "iPhone"

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Walmart Canada introduces Mobile Site for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Others

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Walmart Canada has just introduced a new mobile site for this holiday season. The mobile site has been optimized for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Others (such as Palm Pre). You can access the new mobile site by pointing your browser to www.walmart.ca. The new mobile site will allow Canadians to find local stores, view promotions, and even browse flyers. It’s a great idea to get quick and easy information on the go.

Get more details here.

[via MobileSyrup]

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BlackBerry, U2, and Palm

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Zach from Boy Genius Report, posted a story about Palm. As it restates that BlackBerry Loves U2, there’s a different story concerning Palm and the lead vocalist of U2. It seems that while BlackBerry is sponsoring U2’s 360 Tour, Palm announced its secondary stock offering and along with that news was that Elevation Partners took up another 2.2 million shares of Palm.

Now Elevation Partners is already Palm’s largest investor, owning 67.8 million common shares and 376,000 preferred shares, it adds up to about 42% of the company. Elevation Partner’s Managing Director and Co Founder is Paul David Hewson, aka Bono. Here’s a little information on Bono and Elevation Partners. Bono has been more than just U2’s lead vocalist. In 1992 he purchased a hotel in Dublin named the Clarence Hotel and turned it from a two star to a five star hotel. In 2005 Time Magazine listed Bono and Bill Gates and his wife as Person of the Year. He is known for his humanitarian contributions especially with Africa, and best known for his Product Red initiative. Elevations Partners attempted to purchase Eidos Interactive back in 2005 which was not successful, and they have invested in other entertainment businesses. Bono, through Elevation Partners, has also invested in Forbes Media Group. They have a small minority stake in Forbes Media LLC.

Bono has become a successful vocalist, lyricist (only the 54th most successful song writer), and activist, but he’s also a successful businessman.

It’s interesting how at first Bono and U2 were pitching Apple just prior to being sponsored by BlackBerry, in fact in 2004 Steve Jobs dedicated in 2004 the first special-edition iPod in U2’s honor and they also agreed to making some of the songs exclusively available on iTunes. Bono was quoted as saying that Apple and U2 shared the same creative spirit.  There are some other sites which are considering this venture a conflict of interest as though he’s torn in two. But as the entertainer he’s being sponsored by RIM, and as the businessman he has invested more into a company whose shares have gone up 170% in the last twelve months.

You have to wonder what smartphone lies in Bono’s hand? The iPhone, the BlackBerry, or the Palm?

[via: The Boy Genius Report]

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Video: iPhone 3G gets shot several times, then set on fire..

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I must admit I’m usually not one for posting stuff about other products, such as the iPhone, but this video was just too sweet. It seems a very angry iPhone user decided to take his Beretta 9mm handgun and shoot his iPhone 3 times, then burn it to ensure its dead. The iPhone owner appears to be angry over Apple denying the Google Voice app in their app store. All we can say is get a BlackBerry…

Here’s what the poster wrote:

Dear apple, We are sick and tired of your dictatorship. We refuse to be suffocated by your iron fist. Google Voice was the last straw. From now on I am a PC where I have my freedom.â€

Enjoy the video (It’s also available in HD)…

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

[via MobileSyrup]

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Why BlackBerry Has The Upper Hand Over The iPhone

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Seeking Alpha posted an interesting article written by Anton Wahlman entitled “BlackBerry’s 26 Advantages Over iPhone“. The point being made that while you are woowed and wowed with the iPhone’s flamboyant looks and word of die hard iPhone advocates, don’t over look tried, true, and stable. BlackBerry is the tortoise who will win the race by it’s reliability and ability.

So let’s go through the 26 and see what you think.

Read More

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IDC Confirms What We All Know, BlackBerry Rules!

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The Research and Consulting firm, IDC, listed the top-selling smartphone models in the US. It lists vendor sales to carriers and channels as well. So far it’s going on preliminary data. The actual numbers won’t be available till the end of the month. So let’s see what the firm says so far.

No 10 is the HTC Touch from Sprint, Nextel, and Verizon Wireless.

No 9 is the HTC Touch Pro from Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and others.

No 8 is the Palm Pre from Sprint.

No 7 is the T-Mobile G1 by HTC from T-Mobile USA.

No 6 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm from Verizon Wireless.

No 5 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Bold from AT&T.

No 4 is the Apple iPhone 3G (both versions) from AT&T.

No 3 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Pearl (all 81xx series, excluding the Flip) from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and others.

No 2 is the Apple iPhone 3GS (both versions) from AT&T.

No 1 is the Research In Motion BlackBerry Curve (83xx series and 8900) from AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and others.

So what does that say? Research In Motion rules the smartphone world, and the BlackBerry Curve is still holding the number one position. I’m not surprised, though I’m very curious to see how the numbers change with the BlackBerry Tour 9630 entering the smartphone scene. I really like the Tour, it’s been very reliable, and I’m curious to see if it will rise to the top or come pretty close.

Anyone have any thoughts to share?

[via: FierceWireless]

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MyPhone v1.0 by MMMOOO, Dress Your BlackBerry Like An iPhone

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July 7th we brought you the news about an upcoming app for the BlackBerry that gives the BlackBerry an iPhone look. It’s nice and easy to use, giving your BlackBerry two interfaces. The app is the MyPhone. We were given the honor to check out the app/theme before it was finished and it really is neat. It moves just as the iPhone does, and it’s impressive.

The app is available now for download, and is $12.99 in the BlackBerry Sync Store. Some of the features it lists are:

  • 1. Fully emulate MyPhone UI in outlook, move icons, changes icons
  • 2. Worldwide Weather
  • 3. Inbuilt in system tools: memory clean tool, radio tool, system testing and mobile torch
  • 4. Stand by interface, customized wallpapers
  • 5. Call notifier
  • 6. Fully functional, all operations can be done via MyPhone
  • 7. You can switch ‘i’Phone UI into S60 UI and the other way round seamlessly
  • 8. Compatible with 9500 series touch screen models

You can download the MyPhone v1.0 for $12.99 from the BlackBerry Sync Store here >

Compatible with OS: 4.3, 4.3, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7

Compatible with BlackBerry handsets: : 83xx Curve series,  9630 Tour, 9000 Bold, 89xx series, 9530 Storm

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MyPhone v1.0.0.0 by MMMOOO Soon To Be Released

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There’s a new app coming to the BlackBerry. MyPhone by MMMOOO has been available to the iPhone, but there’s a version coming to the BlackBerry as well. In case you’re wondering what the MyPhone app is, I’m going to explain. The MyPhone is like a theme you can navigate, somewhat similar to a LiveScreen, but very different.

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I had the honor of trying out the app, prior to the help portion. The app makes your BlackBerry resemble in iPhone and has side to side navigation through pages. It installed quickly and easily on my Curve 8330, and after restarting my phone, I found the little blue square icon with a white circle surrounding a white smiley face. The app opens to a black screen with the bars of service on the very top left corner, the name of the wireless carrier on the top center, and the battery life remaining on the top right. Then it has a black battery with a neon green color displaying the amount of battery life and on the very bottom it says Enter to unlock  with a white and grey arrow. Clicking on the trackball moves the arrow from left to right and the app opens to its icons. They all display in front of the black background except for the bottom row which displays on the bottom in front of a grey dotted row, these constant icons that don’t move are Lock, Call, Messages, and Contacts. The other icons move, and all the icons are brightly colored. I really love the brightness of the app. There are some dots above the grey bar of icons, these dots show which page of icons you are on. Q and P are the navigating keys for the app.

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The first page displays Weather, Calendar, Web, Camera, Alarm, Maps, Settings, and Help. The Weather icon is really neat. When you click the trackball next to it, it has a place for city name, you click the trackball, type the city name, click the trackball again click q for F or leave if C, and click the trackball again, click P. The weather will display with the current weather and forecast. The other apps open what they say.

The next page displays Media, Calculator, Profiles, Notes, Options, Quit, Search, and Tools. Media didn’t open for me, but the others did. Tools is very unique. It gives you the choice of self test, memory clean, and torch. You can actually go straight to memory clean or test on your phone, the very command you have to find in status with TEST. So that to me was extremely useful and time saving.

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The last page displays MySettings, Slide, Office, Desktop, Record, Music, and iRadioOn. MySettings is a really neat icon for the app, it displays wallpapers you can change to. Clicking the trackball brings you to the wallpapers, first one a black background with a neon green battery, moving the trackball to your left brings up the next one. There’s a man in black and white with a starred baret in front of a red background, a computerized face with two red hearts for eyes and a frown, a heart on a black background with a bite out of it that says ILove U, a computerized face with a red plus sign, two closed “eyes’ and a straight mouth, a rainbow dancing around a white and blue cloud with stars that reminds me of a care bear theme, and a red lipstick stain on a black screen. Slide is Power Point, Office is the office apps, Music wouldn’t open, iRadioOn turns your radio on or off. Here’s another cool feature, you can move the icons on the pages by holding the navigation key (the trackball) for a second, allowing you to move the ones you use most to the first page! So it’s like having a virtual iPhone desktop for your BlackBerry.

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I love the app, I see a lot of good potential in it. I really like the convenience of some of the shortcuts such as memory cleaner and the test. I know the app isn’t totally finished, but I’d like to see an icon for one or two of the messengers (especially the BlackBerry Messenger and maybe the Google Talk), that would be nice. Perhaps one of my digital radio apps, such as Pandora or one of my Twitter apps, since I have Tweet Genius and SocialScope. It could be called MyTwitter. Those would be nice icons in the future, but it is extremely colorful and fun, and simulates an iPhone, so you can have the look on the phone that you love and choose, your beloved BlackBerry.

But for now, even without the help section, it is really nice. It makes everything easy, doesn’t use much memory or battery.  I did notice however, that the weather icon functions best when fully charged, than a low battery. I’m excited to see what it will be like when it’s fully finished, and includes the help file. I’m including some pics so that you can get an idea what to expect, it looks very much like the MyPhone that MMMOOO designed for the iPhone. And everything MMMOOO comes out with has been unique and fun. This is one of those apps.

I see this popular with those who like themes, who like the color, and those who want a theme to simulate the iPhone that is interactive. It’s very colorful, easy to navigate, and offers some convenience and usefulness as well. It’s going to be out for release soon, and we’ll let you know when it is, and for what price. I would definitely recommend it if you love themes and like the iPhone but won’t settle for the iPhone.

How many of you out there are theme lovers? We’d like to know, and we’d like to know what you think of the app, any comments?

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RIM Unleashes First Quarter Financial Results

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RIM has reported $643 million in earnings (that’s $1.12 per share), for the 1st Quarter that ended May 30th. A year ago, that result was 482.5 million (that’s $.84 a share). Excluding a $175.1 million tax credit and other items such as that, RIM earned $564.4 million (that’s $.98 a share). Revenue was $3.42 billion, that’s a whole 53% from the same quarter last year.

This was pretty much in line with what was expected. About 81% of the revenue was attained from the sales of BlackBerry devices, 13% from service, 2% from software, 4% from various businesses. Gross margins were at a strong 43.6%, up from 40% last quarter.

RIM stated it had shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry smartphones and added 3.8 million BlackBerry subscribers which is now at almost 29 million. According to the IDC, RIM is estimated to hold 55% share of the U.S. Smartphone market. So with the great news on hand, why did shares of RIMM fall 5% in after hours trading time? Inflated expectations and the fact that RIM met expectations, but some investors want to see them exceed expectations. Investors are worried about Apple’s newer iPhone, Palm’s Pre, and also the addition of Google’s new Android smartphone (Goog), Samsung, and even Nokia that are now competing to try and get in on the competition. RIM says it will sell between 8.1 and 8.7 BlackBerry devices in the second quarter. With the Flip Pearl (”no more butt-dialing”) on the scene, the Storm 2 and the Tour (hopefully to be arriving soon to a cellular provider near you) on the horizon, RIM may just exceed the goal they’ve set for the next quarter.

[via: Daily Financial]

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Report States BlackBerry Is The Most Secured Smartphone

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Successful Mobile Deployments Require Robust Security“, by Maribel Lopez, who was formerly with Forrester Research, states that the BlackBerry smartphones are the most secure against unauthorized access when they were compared against other device manufacturers. The report rates mobile devices in four different categories and the RIM BlackBerry devices stood out in all of them.

The report rated them on: Device; Network; Transmission; and Overall Mobile Security Rating. I’ll break it down for you what each manufacturer was rated and the comments it received.

Let’s start with Apple’s iPhone. In Device it was found the OS can be compromised, lacks device encryption, and does not have OTA updates. In that rating it scored 0%. In Network it received 75% as it uses the same active directory based authentication methods as Windows Mobile. In Transmission it received 50% for it having full VPN support but doesn’t have the added extra protection of a gateway or NOC server solution. The Overall Mobile Security Rating was 25% because even though v2.0 added several security features the platform still doesn’t have several basic yet critical features.

Now it’s Microsoft Windows Mobile’s turn. In Device it received 50% and comments were that it has a two-tier access for code execution control, removable storage but not on the device encryption, it supports OTA updates, and it requires third party Anti-Virus and Firewall support. In Network it received 75% and the comment was it uses certificate and active directory domain services for authentication. Transmission received three fourths as well with the commentary that it has full VPN support but provides MDM gateway in the DMZ. The Overall Security Rating was 75% with the comment that the Windows MDM security update covers a majority of firms basic security requirements.

And last we have the BlackBerry. For Device it received a 100%, comments were that it allows complete control on what can be executed on the device, on device and removable media encryption, and supports OTA updates. In Network it reached 100% with the comments that it encrypts the message and uses an cryptographic shared key system for authentication. In Transmission it received 100% with the comments that it routes traffic through the NOC and the BES to ensure Security and does not require a VPN. The Overall Mobile Security Rating was 100% as the comment states RIM provides solid security across the three areas of vulnerability.

We all knew it all along, even with a PDF security breach, BlackBerry is still on top. Another reason to love your BlackBerry. What do you think of the report? Share your comments, we want to know!

[via: BlackberryBlast]

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Fido to pick up BlackBerry Curve 8320 this July… for $50

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Looks like Rogers is finally ready to let the leash loose on Fido. In a leaked presentation that shows Fido’s upcoming handsets the ole faithful BlackBerry Curve 8320 was shown. The 8320 should show up for about $50 with three year contract (with voice and data plan). It’s expected to launch on or around July 13th. This means Fido will be getting a semi-newer BlackBerry to replace their dead before it even launched Pearl 8100. Oh and in case there is any iPhone fans here apparently Fido will be getting a smaller 4GB iPhone (Nano?) as well.

Oh by the way Fido… What happened to launching the Pearl Flip 8220?

[Source]