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By David Worthington | Posted at 3:29 pm on Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Boy Genius Report says that it is “pretty much confirmed” that Research In Motion will integrate full Flash and Silverlight run time support into its BlackBerry Web browser. If true, that would be a significant step in the transformation of smart phones into functional mini computers.
Flash and Silverlight are not just about games and streaming videos; the run times power Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Adobe is promoting Flash to be used as a front end for business applications, and Microsoft is positioning Silverlight for business apps.
At SD Times, I have covered component makers that are releasing Silverlight controls (data grids, charts, UI controls) for line of business applications. After all, Silverlight is a subset of the .NET Framework, which is used for business applications.
With HTML 5, Web applications will become even more common, because it will have a built-in application container. Other techniques such as AJAX will also enable Web applications to run within a phone’s browser. (Nokia is betting that standard AJAX Web applications will become popular across its entire portfolio of S60 devices.)
Supporting Flash and Silverlight, assuming it happens, will bring a greater variety of applications to BlackBerry devices. Developers will be able to run their applications on Blackberries using the skills that they have today –without having to learn any specialized RIM technologies. That’s the way it should be; skills should be portable.
By embracing Flash and Silverlight, RIM would break out of the walled garden that smartphones have existed in, making itself more attractive and accessible to application makers. Consumers will win by being able to do more with their devices.
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 11:42 am on Tuesday, August 18, 2009
BlackBerry maker RIM is a remarkably successful maker of handheld devices and has been so for a very long time–but it doesn’t get a fraction of the press given to that phone-industry upstart Apple. Today, however, RIM is the subject of multiple upbeat stories. An analyst says it and Apple will lead the smartphone market. Fortune has a long and largely positive feature on the company (focusing on the competition with Apple) and says it’s something Apple isn’t: the fastest-growing company in the world.
Seems like a good time for a T-Poll:
By David Worthington | Posted at 8:23 pm on Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A TechCrunch article citing research by SquareTrade, a company that sells insurance plans for smartphones, says that Apple’s iPhone is “an accident magnet.” I wouldn’t have drawn that same conclusion.
SquareTrade’s report, “One-Third of iPhones Fail Over 2 Years, Mostly From Accidents,” should be viewed with skepticism. For starters, while SquareTrade used a sample of many thousand smartphones covered by its warranty products, it didn’t cleanse its data (for instance by removing unlocked phones), and performed no statistical tests. Rightfully, the report includes the disclaimer:
SquareTrade has made efforts to ensure that the data we present is correct. SquareTrade makes no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy of the data. SquareTrade is an independent third party, and has no affiliation with any of the handset manufacturers cited in this study. Users of the information in this document acknowledge that SquareTrade cannot be he liable for any damages whatsoever to any individual, organization, company, industry group or representative arising from the use of this data.
TechCrunch seized on the report’s findings that over 20% of iPhones have been damaged in the last 22 months, with cracked screens being the leading cause of damage. But the SquareTrade report doesn’t report on damage rates for other phone models, so it’s impossible to judge whether iPhones are any more likely to crack (or croak altogether) than other brands. Phones, after all, are more likely to get dropped than desktop PCs, HDTVs, or printers–no matter who manufactured them.
The study does say that iPhones are “significantly more reliable” than phones manufactured by Palm and RIM (9.9% of iPhones cited in the survey malfunctioned, versus 15.3% of BlackBerry and 19.9% of Treo phones). And it says that the iPhone 3G is a more reliable handset than the original iPhone.
My statistics are a bit rusty, but a common test called a T-test would have shown whether there was any significance difference between the iPhone’s likelihood of being damaged versus its competitors. The same goes for its supposedly higher manufacturing quality. Bottom line: It’s worth thinking twice before drawing conclusions about the iPhone from a single survey or news report. Colorful graphs always don’t tell us much.
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 4:51 pm on Friday, May 15, 2009
Special late Friday afternoon edition!
Facebook to launch video chat?
iPhone SlingPlayer: pricey, selling well.
Rumor: iPods Nano with cameras.
Zappos: from shoes to electronics.
iPhone 3.0: background apps permitted?
New BlackBerry Storm sans SurePress?
Sony Pictures CEO hates Internet.
Netbooks aren’t about to expire.
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 9:36 am on Monday, May 4, 2009
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 9:30 am on Thursday, April 23, 2009
Hey, BlackBerry fans, good news:
Spy shots: Skyfire’s BlackBerry browser.
New Ubuntu available for download.
Microsoft: still under antitrust watch.
$9000 Leica camera: pretty, white.
MSI readying Android-based netbooks?
OQO’s future doesn’t look bright.
Trade your HD-DVDs for Blu-Ray.
Lost laptops cost $50,000. Supposedly.
By Patrick Moorhead | Posted at 8:22 am on Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I got real excited when I heard about the new Facebook application 1.5 for BlackBerry phones, thinking it would provide the same functionality as is delivered on my iPod Touch or my wife’s iPhone. Question is, does it even come close to the iPhone interface, or does it leverage the strength of the BlackBerry?
I instantly appreciated the following improvements on my BlackBerry Bold:
So the new FaceBook 1.5 BlackBerry application does leverage BlackBerry’s strengths. This is impressive to me as I believe for my uses, BlackBerry has a superior universal inbox, calendar, and address book. But I still want some of the items available on the iPhone, such as the application bar and the ability to easily view photos, links, the live feed, notes, and other apps. I can’t have it all!
If you have a BlackBerry and want to give the new Facebook a spin, try it out here. Here are a few images of it in action:




By Harry McCracken | Posted at 9:16 am on Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lotsa news tidbits this Wednesday:
Windows 7 users: happy campers.
More BlackBerry Storm 2 rumors.
Nintendo DS: pocket video player.
Apple sued over touch screens.
200 million people use Facebook.
Acer unleashes tons of notebooks.
Better broadband? FCC’s getting going.
Word’s father returns to earth.
.
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 6:50 am on Tuesday, April 7, 2009
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 9:33 am on Monday, April 6, 2009
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 8:56 am on Friday, April 3, 2009
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 8:28 am on Wednesday, April 1, 2009
[NOTE: Response to Technologizer's 5Words has been terrific, but many readers have told us that they think even five-word descriptions of stories are too wordy and wasteful. So as of today, we're relaunching the feature as 1Word. Terse enough for ya? If not, we'd be happy to go to monosyllabic words. 0Words would be doable, too. Just let us know.]
Boy Genius Report found a bargain on the BlackBerry Bold over at AT&T’s site: If you’re willing to buy a refurbished phone (not a big deal to my mind, especially in these times) and ready to sign up for a two-year contract, you can get the Bold for free. And–the saints be praised–it looks like there’s no rebate paperwork involved. The BlackBerry Bold may not have the buzz of certain other phones that also reference a piece of fruit in their names, but it’s a great phone. And AT&T charges $550 without a contract, $299 (after a $100 rebate) for a new one on contract, so free represents a steep discount. The offer, which BGR says appears to be good only today and only online, is here.
Posted by Harry McCracken at 12:32 pm
3 CommentsBy David Worthington | Posted at 5:19 pm on Thursday, March 26, 2009
BusinessWeek is reporting that RIM is close to opening an online application store for its BlackBerry smartphones that will provide its customers with an experience similar to Apple’s App Store. Microsoft, Nokia, and Palm application stores are expected to follow.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but for Apple’s competitors, it’s a matter of necessity. Apple offers iPhone users a seamless experience for discovering, purchasing, and upgrading their applications. The competition lags far behind, but is preparing to counter punch.
The first punch comes from RIM. It will launch its application store in Las Vegas at the CTIA wireless conference, according to the BusinessWeek report. RIM has a fair number of applications available for its platform, but the selection is still limited in comparison to other mobile platforms. That shortcoming was something that I did not like about my BlackBerry, as well as having to reboot my phone every time I installed a new application.
Microsoft’s upcoming store, which it calls Marketplace, has a lot of potential. If Microsoft knows anything, it’s how to keep developers that use its platforms and tools happy. There are already a good number of applications available for Windows Mobile, and I think that Marketplace stands a good chance of being be a decent offering.
The same goes for Nokia. The Symbian operating system is still the most widely used mobile operating system in the world, and there is no shortage of applications available for its devices. The problem has been finding and installing them.
If other phone OS companies open decent storefronts, the iPhone will be less differentiated from the crowd. But Apple may have already gained brand loyalty during the iPhone’s period of App-Store uniqueness. I’m not what you would call a fanboy, but there would have to be a really compelling offering for me to switch to another device from my iPhone. Regardless of what I buy next, I’m just happy that I will have better products to pick from as a consequence of Apple’s leadership and the rest of the industry’s tendency to follow its lead.
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 10:49 am on Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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