Hasta La Gadget!

BBM for iOS and Android is without doubt a success, given that the app saw 10 million downloads in a 24-hour period. However like we mentioned last time, the 10 million downloads might not necessarily mean 10 million active iOS and Android BBM users since there was a queue that one would have to place themselves in to start using the service. Presumably this was put into place to help take the load off BlackBerry’s servers from the influx of iOS and Android users. Well the good news is that if you have yet to download BBM for iOS and Android, you’re in luck because BlackBerry has since announced that the queue to use the app has since been removed and now everyone can download and start using the app right away.

It is surprising that BBM for iOS and Android turned out to be such a hit. After all sales of the company’s hardware is anything but a commercial success, so we guess there are some aspects and services of BlackBerry that users out there on other platforms can appreciate, but perhaps not as an entire package. There has been talk about BlackBerry possibly spinning off BBM into a separate company and given the success of its app (we’ll have to see if the momentum can continue), perhaps it would make sense that BlackBerry would dedicate themselves to it.

BlackBerry Removes Queue For BBM For iOS And Android original content from Ubergizmo.

The apps world brought us redesigns, updates, and brand new offerings this week, none of which are pumpkin spice flavored. Put on your touchscreen gloves and get apping!

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No need to wait for Black Friday to get a deal on the best TV, Amazon has the Panasonic ST60 for only $1370. We occasionally see this set end up around this price, but it’s always from a far less reputable retailer. This is the television I just bought myself. We give it our strongest possible recommendation, and we don’t expect the deal to last too long. [Amazon]

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I really love having Philips Hue lights in my house. If I could, I’d do the whole house, but for now, I’ve only got my media room/arcade/mancave and my foyer done up with the colorful remote-controlled LED bulbs. However, one thing that has always been a bit lacking with Hue is the standard control app. It’s pretty limiting – it doesn’t do light animations or even acknowledge the concept of different rooms in your house. A little app has recently surfaced which adds both of these capabilities to Hue bulbs.

Goldee is a third-party app which has been made possible by Philips release of an SDK and API for Hue. The application’s primary purpose is to add dynamic looks to Hue which go beyond the static scenes enabled by other applications.

To use Goldee, simply add your bulbs and rooms to the app the first time you start up, then tap on the room and the scene you want to run. With the app’s built-in scenes, you can gradually watch the colors in your room shift to set one of ten moods. Each scene has been composed by a professional lighting designer and it shows.

My personal favorites are the pinky/orange hues of Night in Paris and the blue and green tones Aurora Glow. When you first fire up the app, you get the first eight scenes for free.

Sharing Goldee on social media opens up the ninth scene, while providing a review gets you the tenth. This is a clever take on downloadable content – instead of charging money for these unlockables.

As you can see from the video below, Goldee’s color sequences change very gradually – this isn’t a disco app. Goldee provides soothing and relaxing scenes which you can live with while you sit in a room and read a book, listen to music or throw a dinner party.

Goldee also offers a wake mode which can wake you up to its Sunrise scene, though without any Hue bulbs in my bedroom, I didn’t test this feature. You can apply scenes to multiple rooms simultaneously, a pretty slick trick that no other Hue control app does as far as I know. While the initial 10 scenes are all pretty good looking if you’ve got enough bulbs, Goldee promises a library of additional scenes you can run in the not-too-distant future.

A couple of quick notes about Goldee you should be aware of: 1) the app needs to be running – and in the foreground – to work; 2) there’s no way at this time to make your own custom scenes. I’m hoping that these are addressed in future releases – especially now that iOS7 allows true background applications.

You can download Goldee from the iTunes App Store for free.

Almost immediately after Apple’s iPad Air was revealed earlier this week, talk of the next generation began. With the name “Air” in Apple’s notebook lineup, one of two different naming conventions, word sprung up that an iPad Pro could be in the works. While we’ve seen more than our fair share of leaks and tips […]