Nov 16

BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown

Posted in: Apple, blackberry playbook, BlackberryPlaybook, ipad, playbook, RIM, tablet, Today's Chili, video

We’ve only ever seen brief glimpses of the BlackBerry PlayBook in action so far, but a new video posted up by RIM comparing its tablet’s web browsing performance to the iPad certainly has us hungry for more. Seriously — PlayBook pretty much run laps around the iPad while loading pages, and even its Flash performance seems decent, which is a first for a mobile device in our experience. Of course, the video was made by RIM and we’re sure the specific pages were picked to make the PlayBook look as good as possible, but that’s fair enough — now if we could just get our hands on one to verify these claims for ourselves, we’d be happy as clams. Video after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown

BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 15

RIM pulls Kik Messenger from App World, cites ‘number of issues and customer concerns’

Posted in: BlackBerry, RIM, Today's Chili

Kik Messenger — the real-time mobile messaging service that’s seemingly taken the world by storm over the past couple weeks — has been pulled from RIM’s App World, making it a bit trickier for BlackBerry users to get hold of the app. It’s easy to formulate conspiracy theories here considering that Kik might provide the single most legitimate cross-platform threat to BBM at the moment, and frankly, RIM hasn’t actually said much with its official statement on the matter:

“RIM became aware of a number of issues and customer concerns regarding the Kik app and service and, following discussions with Kik, the app was removed from BlackBerry App World. RIM is actively reviewing the issues and potential resolutions, and is also continuing its discussions with Kik.”

To be fair, Kik’s contact farming — a big contributor to its exponential growth — is a totally valid privacy concern and probably plays a big role in RIM’s decision here… but for the moment, we’re only left to wonder. The company says it’ll let us know “when further information is available,” so we’ll be sure to pass it on.

RIM pulls Kik Messenger from App World, cites ‘number of issues and customer concerns’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 10

BlackBerry Playbook to be Priced Under $500

Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry, ipad, RIM, Today's Chili

blackberryplaybookeventshot.jpg

 

Research in Motion hasn’t exactly been stoking the fires of excitement since it first announced its upcoming business tablet, back in September. In fact, the company has seemingly gone largely silent on the matter, as countless other companies have announced their own iPad competitors.

RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie did have something to say on the matter today. The executive told a reporter in Seoul that the upcoming seven-inch tablet, “will be very competitively priced.”

Business Week confirmed the “competitive” pricing, stating that the tablet will hit North American sales channels “in the first quarter [of 2010] for ‘under’ $500.” Balsillie added that the company is looking into the possibility of selling the device through big chains like Best Buy and Target.

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Nov 09

BlackBerry PlayBook to cost ‘under’ $500

Posted in: blackberry playbook, BlackberryPlaybook, playbook, price, RIM, tablet, Today's Chili

RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie finally gave us a crucial bit of information about the BlackBerry Playbook this morning: price, or at least a threshold. According to a Korean interview, Balsillie said that RIM’s 7-inch tablet will be “very competitively priced” with Bloomberg quoting the man saying that it will be “under” $500 when it hits North America in the first quarter of 2011, expanding globally in Q2. A price that should at least match the 9.7-inch WiFi-only iPad (16GB) and undercut the 7-inch 3G Galaxy Tab which goes on sale on Verizon tomorrow for $599.99. Thing is, by the time Q1 rolls around we’re going to be looking at many, many more viable tablet alternatives including a likely Apple refresh.

BlackBerry PlayBook to cost ‘under’ $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 05

Dell offering free Venue Pros to employees in exchange for their BlackBerrys

Posted in: BlackBerry, RIM, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

You’d think working for a big tech company would have its gadget-related perks and in Dell’s case that’s very much true. The big PC vendor has demonstrated its commitment to building up its own smartphone services by offering to trade employees’ old and busted BlackBerry devices for the shiny new hotness that is the Venue Pro. If everyone takes up Round Rock on its offer, there’ll be 25,000 RIM smartphones looking for new homes soon, along with a sprightly start to Windows Phone 7‘s time in the limelight. The Wall Street Journal reports this’ll cut Dell’s mobile communications bill by a quarter, thanks to no longer having to support BlackBerry servers, while also noting that Android variants will be made available in the future as well. Where there’s Lightning, there’s gotta be Thunder, right?

Dell offering free Venue Pros to employees in exchange for their BlackBerrys originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 01

Canalys: iPhone becomes most popular smartphone in the US, Android continues as most popular OS

Posted in: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, ios, market, market share, marketshare, Microsoft, nokia, RIM, symbian, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, WindowsMobile, winmo, Wp7
Canalys: iPhone becomes most popular smartphone in the US, Android continues as most popular OS

The Canalys numbers are out, and with Android coming off an 886 percent jump reported at the end of the second quarter we were expecting something big. So, here it is: Android is up 1,309 percent worldwide from this time last year, taking over 43.6 percent of the US smartphone market in the third quarter. In terms of mobile operating systems that makes it the dominant player in America, but with Apple capturing 26.2 percent it now jumps into the lead when it comes to hardware, beating out RIM’s 24.2 percent. That’s a swap from last quarter, where BlackBerries beat iPhones 32 to 21.7 percent, and worldwide things are looking the same: Apple at 17 percent compared to RIM’s 15. However around the globe it’s Nokia and the Symbian Foundation still dominating the stage as the leading smart phone OS vendor, owning 33 percent of the market compared to 38 last quarter, while Microsoft sits at a lowly 3 percent. With WP7 ready to rock the world, and Ballmer ready to release the advertising hounds, that’s a figure we’ll be keeping a close eye on for the next few quarters.

Update: NPD has posted its third quarter smartphone market share and Mobile Phone Track reports; they basically back up Canalys’ report, though NPD gives both Apple and RIM slightly less market share. Interestingly, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8500 series is identified as the second-best selling phone in the US in the quarter, while the lowly LG Cosmos for Verizon takes third. Weird, huh?

Canalys: iPhone becomes most popular smartphone in the US, Android continues as most popular OS originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 29

IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle

Posted in: Apple, LG, market share, marketshare, nokia, RIM, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili

Can you remember the day when Apple’s audacious plan to sell 10 million iPhones in its first year was greeted with extreme skepticism within the cellphone industry. Now the computer company is shipping 14.1 million handsets every three months according to the latest IDC numbers, moving Apple into fourth place on its Top 5 list of mobile phone vendors worldwide. That moves Apple ahead of RIM, thus confirming a Steve Jobs boast made during Apple’s Q4 earnings calls. Sony Ericsson has been pushed off the list for the first time since 2004 when IDC began tracking the top 5 vendors.

But that’s not the only interesting bit of information we see in the IDC numbers that tally all cellphone shipments, not just smartphones. Overall market leader Nokia, slipped from a 36.5 percent to a 32.4 percent market share since the same quarter last year. IDC notes that Nokia is starting to show some weakness in emerging markets, one of Nokia’s last strongholds, with smaller regional handset makers starting to grab market share away from Espoo in Asia / Pacific and Latin America. It’s not doing well in smartphones either, with IDC claiming that Android devices are gaining momentum at Nokia’s expense. LG is also suffering with a 10.1 percent decline in shipments since the same quarter last year, dropping from 10.6 percent to an 8.3 percent market share globally. Read the full report after the break.

Continue reading IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle

IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 04:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

BlackBerry Torch coming to AT&T in two fresh colors next month

Posted in: accessories, att, BlackBerry, RIM, Today's Chili

Allow us to clarify, the colors are “fresh” as in “new,” not as in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Don’t get us wrong, though: white almost always looks fresh (in the Fresh Prince sense) on a phone, and the Torch seems to be no exception — partly thanks to the matching white keyboard. As expected, it’ll be coming in red and white and will be available on November 7 (a day before the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus, interestingly) at the same time as a sweet new promotion that’ll allow folks to buy any two accessories from AT&T and get a third one of equal or lesser value for free. Don’t violate any fire codes stuffing yourselves into your local stores, alright? Follow the break for the press release.

Continue reading BlackBerry Torch coming to AT&T in two fresh colors next month

BlackBerry Torch coming to AT&T in two fresh colors next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 27

BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130

Posted in: BlackBerry, RIM, smartphone, t-mobile, t-mobile usa, T-mobileUsa, Today's Chili

After what feels like an eternity of leaks, RIM has finally (finally!) come forward with the first BlackBerry Bold to ship with BlackBerry 6. The Bold 9780 looks exactly as we expected it to (meaning not too far from the 9700 design tree), boasting an optical trackpad, QWERTY keyboard, a WebKit-based browser and a five megapixel camera. You’ll also get inbuilt 3G / WiFi, and at least on the T-Mob version, UMA / WiFi calling. Geotagging your images is a breeze courtesy of the integrated GPS module, and RIM’s also tossing in 512MB of Flash memory as well as a microSD slot. We’re told to expect it from “various carriers around the world beginning in November,” with T-Mobile USA confirming that its version will hit on the 17th of next month for $129.99 on a two-year contract.

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130

BlackBerry Bold 9780 finally official, hitting T-Mobile on November 17th for $130 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 26

Garmin navigation to be an Android exclusive for ASUS, headed to Apple and RIM app stores

Posted in: app, Apple, application, AppStore, ASUS, gps, navigation, RIM, smartphone, Today's Chili

Details of the Garmin-ASUS breakup are slowly being revealed. We now know that ASUS has obtained exclusive rights to license Garmin navigation and location based services on its Android smartphones with a Garmin navigation trademark slapped on the back — other Android handset makers need not apply. ASUS will go back to selling its own-brand handsets in January, including models equipped with 3D for gaming and connectivity with ASUS ebook readers and tablets, according to DigiTimes. For its part, Garmin’s official blog says that it will be expanding its mobile application handset development by offering navigation and other applications through “certain consumer application stores.” According to DigiTimes, that means Apple’s iTunes App Store and RIM’s App World. So, in other words, Garmin and ASUS are still friends but are now free to date anyone they want, you know, except for anyone in eachother’s families. How mature.

Garmin navigation to be an Android exclusive for ASUS, headed to Apple and RIM app stores originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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