I think at this point we can pretty safely say that BlackBerry’s BB 10 relaunch was a bit of a disaster for the once-mighty Canadian smartphone makers. I mean, you don’t give your CEO the boot for nothing right? And it now seems the company is ready to fully capitulate to its Android rival.
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With BlackBerry’s BBM messenger platform having a pretty solid reputation as an instant messenger, even before the likes of LINE and WhatsApp and Viber came along, is it really a surprise that the app saw a whopping 20 million users join its service in its first week of availability? To a certain extent this isn’t really surprising, but is BBM for iOS and Android popular only because of the novelty of using the app outside of the BlackBerry platform? Or is it truly a great app? Admittedly it could be a bit of both, but as it stands the numbers are suggesting that BBM for iOS and Android is starting to gain momentum and thanks to Mobidia releasing the numbers to the folks at BGR, we now know just how popular the app truly is.
According to the numbers, it is found that engagement of the BBM platform in the US sits at 40 minutes. This is compared to the likes of Tango which is only at 24 minutes, and came pretty close to matching Viber which sits at 44 minutes, which is impressive given that Viber has been available on iOS and Android for a while now. Over in Europe, BBM managed to beat out popular messenger, LINE, by clocking in 59 minutes of engagement versus LINE’s 38 minutes, although they are still pretty far from WhatsApp’s 160 minutes. However given that the app was only launched recently, these are pretty impressive stats and we can’t wait to see if BlackBerry will be able to maintain those numbers in the future.
BBM Engagement Study Finds That It Is Holding Its Own original content from Ubergizmo. 
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The FCC will be rolling out a new free app for Android next spring that lets users submit speed data to the agency for analysis, the Washington Post reports. The app is part of a broad-based effort to gauge actual download and upload speeds by mobile devices on the four major carriers and CTIA-The Wireless […]
Both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One want to be way more than just your gaming console—they want to be the centerpiece of your home entertainment system. This week, we got our first look at the apps that’ll launch with both consoles. Here’s how they measure up.
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As the PlayStation 4‘s launch later this month closes in, Sony has announced the apps that will be available with the gaming console upon its launch. With the console will come some big-name apps that many gamers enjoy, including a handful of entertainment apps, as well as offerings for sports fans and some free entertainment […]
RunKeeper is one of our favorite techy ways to track
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Earlier this October, it was announced that NimbleBits’ Tiny Towers would receive a Star Wars makeover, just like how Rovio’s Angry Birds got their own Star Wars makeover. Well the app has been available in the Australian iTunes App Store for a couple of weeks now, and for those living in the US and want to get in on the action, well you’re in luck because the game has finally made its way onto the US iTunes App Store. For those unfamiliar with the Tiny Towers game, it’s basically a bit like Maxis’ SimTower which debuted back in 1994.
It tasks players to build up a tower, with players being able to choose from residential floors, to retail outlets, to food outlets, entertainment, services, and more. The goal is to build as high as possible and collect money. For those who haven’t played it, it can be pretty addictive, as we’re sure those who have played it can agree. Star Wars: Tiny Death Star will build upon the same concept, but instead of merely building floors, you will be building up the Death Star, or at least in concept, where the floors and residents will be Star Wars related where you will get famous guests in the form of Chewbacca, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and more.
The game itself is a free download, but gamers can purchase Imperial Bux for real money which can be used towards speeding up building time of the levels.
Star Wars: Tiny Death Star Makes Its Way Into US iTunes App Store original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Thus far, Glass developers have been required to use the Mirror API, something that works well enough for now but has limitations in place that many developers would like to see done away with. That time is approaching, and will be kicked off by a previewing of the Glassware Developer Kit this month for a […]
Samba TV, formerly known as Flingo, today released a slew of apps for Sony devices, including Bravia TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, and Blu-ray Home Theater devices patched into Sony Entertainment Network. The apps detect what is playing on your connected smart TV and automatically push related interactive content, which can then be accessed on second-screen […]
While completing survey forms online only takes you a minute or two, they can be pretty troublesome and disruptive when all you want to do is surf the web, but what if you could get paid to complete surveys? Would that be something you’d be interested in? In fact it almost sounds like a scam, doesn’t it? Well fret not because this is an offer made by Google, and we can trust Google, right? The new app is called Opinion Rewards and basically what it does is that Google will reward you for your opinions and where a completion of a survey will nab you some credit that can be used in Google’s Play store.
The kicker is that you will need a Google Wallet account, so if you don’t have one already, you should probably sign up for one to get eligible for the credit. The surveys are expected to be released on a weekly basis and not all of them will pay out, but there will be a couple for you to choose from so if you have some time to spare and don’t mind filling out some questions, go for it. In any case the app is currently a free download so if you’re interested in earning some money to help pay for apps and other digital purchases, hit up the Google Play store for the download. In the meantime you can check out the video above to get a better idea of what to expect.
Google Opinion Rewards App Launched, Pays You For Your Opinion original content from Ubergizmo. 
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