Posts Tagged ‘new release’

Social Media Integration : BBM Social Platform API’s for Blackberry developers

Oct 4, 2010 Blackberry Developer, Blackberry Development, News

blackberry social networking API for blackberry developersThe growth of Blackberry Messenger from humble messaging app to a significant mobile communication platform has led to the need for social media integration . In interest of Blackberry app developers RIM recently announced that it would be opening the doors for certain BBM features so that App developers can integrate them readily into their apps . Most of the features if developed from scratch would take a long time to implement when compared to getting super app and BBM ready .

There are lots of advantages that BBM brings to BlackBerry software. BlackBerry Messenger’s social elements allow developers to build in social connectivity based on your pre-existing BBM contacts instead of having to develop and build social connections separately for each app. With 28 million users, there is also incredible word-of-thumb marketing potential when promoting your application.

Developers can also take advantage of BBM’s location-based services, as well as access the device’s video camera for video streaming.

BBM social platform APIs for blackberry app developersThe API’s that developers will be able to integrate :

  • Invite other BBM users to download your app, or start a social interaction from within your app.
  • Determine which of your BBM contacts has downloaded your app
  • Access to BBM user profiles, including avatar, status, and location
  • Add an application box to a user’s BBM profile that can display and broadcast achievements and updates
  • Create BBM groups for your app
  • Start embedded chats with BBM contact without leaving your app
  • Sharing content with your BBM contacts
  • Create sub-communities within your app, even if users are not each others’ contacts
  • Allow social interactions within your sub-communities
  • Stream data between users running your app, such as communication, multiplayer or turn-based gaming, and location

Sounds pretty good , but blackberry application developers need to wait for a few more months for the API’s being available in early 2011 . Meanwhile blackberry developers can register with RIM to receive updates and stay in touch with the new BBM social platform .

Below is the official press release of the BBM social platform

Read the rest of this entry »

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RIM’s new Tablet : The Blackberry Playbook – Full Specs and Press release

Oct 4, 2010 News

The Announcement :
Recently Mike Lazaridis from RIM announced their Blackberry PlayBook tablet ,Michael Lazaridis said that the BlackBerry Playbook is considered as the first professional tablet in the world. After their company made the wireless e-mail became popular, Research In Motion has never failed to become one of the leaders when it comes to the smartphone market. During the same conference, Michael Lizaridis kept on emphasizing that it is indeed the “first professional tablet.” At the same time, he said that the BlackBerry PlayBook is already compatible with the servers used by the government as well as corporations. In this way, they could use R.I.M’s new tablet to monitor and control their employees using their respective BlackBerry devices.

Detailed specs of the Playbook tablet :

  • 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
  • BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
  • 1 GHz dual-core processor
  • 1 GB RAM
  • Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
  • Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
  • Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
  • HDMI video output
  • Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
  • Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
  • Ultra thin and portable:
    • Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
    • Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
  • Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
  • RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

RIM will begin working with developers and select corporate customers next month to begin development and early testing efforts.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011 with rollouts in other international markets beginning in  Q2 2011.

Blackberry developers can register for early access of Blackberry Tablet OS SDK at http://www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos .

Check out the full Press Release here .

Video preview of the Playbook below :

Few more official pictures:

IMG_2320IMG_2331

The BlackBerry Tablet OS is Neutrino based microkernel architecture which  delivers exceptional performance, high scalability, Common Criteria EAL 4+ security, and support for industry standard tools that are already familiar to hundreds of thousands of  Blackberry developers.  The OS is fully POSIX compliant enabling easy portability of C-based code, supports Open GL for 2D and 3D graphics intensive applications like gaming, and will run applications built in Adobe Mobile AIR as well as the new BlackBerry WebWorks app platform announced today which will allow apps to be written to run on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets as well as BlackBerry smartphones with BlackBerry 6. The BlackBerry Tablet OS will also support Java enabling Blackberry app developers to easily bring their existing BlackBerry 6 Java applications to the BlackBerry Tablet OS environment.

Sounds good and Blackberry application developers need not struggle to get their existing apps on the new tablet , we do hope to see some new enterprise apps for the all new Playbook tablet soon and it also would be interesting to see the interest professional crowd shows for the tablet as a replacement for their current laptops and netbooks .

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BlackBerry App World 2.0 rock n roll out soon

Aug 19, 2010 Blackberry Development, News

blackberry developerAfter the successful release in beta version, BlackBerry App World 2.0 is now set to roll out to the masses at some point today. Lots of new things happening with the actual release version that were not fully present in the beta release. A quick breakdown is as follows:

Credit Card Payment Option

  • With the new BlackBerry App World, customers are able to purchase applications using major credit cards, including Visa and MasterCard. Carrier billing may also be supported by certain carriers.

Easier Application Discovery

  • BlackBerry App World adds new tabbed sections for various applications lists. Users can horizontally swipe or scroll to quickly view the Top 25 Free Apps, Top 25 Paid Apps and Top 25 Themes, as well as the Newest Apps and Recently Updated Apps.

QR barcode scanning

  • Is now  supported, allowing users to scan a QR code associated with an application from anywhere – the web, print ads, brochures, etc. BlackBerry App World will quickly find the related application, and automatically open and download its page.

BlackBerry ID

  • BlackBerry ID provides customers with a device-independent user identification (ID) for BlackBerry App World. It enables credit card payments and allows customers to seamlessly transfer their personal library of free and purchased apps when they switch to a new BlackBerry smartphone.

The UI changes and overall performance enhancements that BlackBerry App World 2.0 brings should make it a great update. One of the most notable changes however though, is that BlackBerry App World as of today will allow developers to set pricing on their apps starting at $0.99. The upgrade is set to be rolled out today, so be on the lookout for an update notification so that you may get the most up to date release when it becomes available. In case anyone was counting as well, BlackBerry App World now has paid apps in 58 countries.This is very exciting for blackberry application developers and ofcourse a great move to push blackberry application development to new heights and users will be able to penetrate and use Blackberry world with ease.

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BlackPad – The Blackberry powered Tablet : Is it true ?

Aug 3, 2010 News

There have been rumors coming up about the Research In Motion’s iPad competitor a couple of days ago when RIM registered Blackpad.com, but now Bloomberg has received additional information from two sources said to be close to the project.

The Blackpad is expected to launch in November with specifications and prices very similar to those of the iPad, Bloomberg’s sources say that the device will feature front- and back-facing cameras for video conferencing. Rather than bundling the device with a 3G data connection, it will use Wi-Fi or connect to a BlackBerry phone via Bluetooth to tether a data connection. Although the tether option is potentially less expensive for consumers who wouldn’t need to have another subscription to use the BlackPad, it is still unsure why a 3G radio would be omitted as an option.

Several big questions remain. Most importantly whether RIM has managed to update their touchscreen displays after the not so impressive Storm, and whether the promised new OS will be an improvement over the current one. Then there’s Apples giant app store to compete with blackberry’s App world and blackberry application development and the biggest question that comes to mind is the involvement of physical keyboard where Blackberry stands out among other devices .

On the other hand RIM is busy preparing for their Blackberry OS 6.0 which includes a new browser, better media options and tighter social network connectivity, looks like it just might be what RIM needs to recharge the BlackBerry brand.

Whats the RIM’s Blackberry OS 6.0 going to mean for the BlackPad and Blackberry application development , will the BlackPad be the new hope for Blackberry application developers ?

Lets see it in the updates on Blackberry OS 6.0 release .

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Blackberry Bold 9780 spotted in the Wild

Jul 30, 2010 News

Previously the Blackberry 9780 was rumored to come with OS6 and the new was as exciting as this , where the Blackberry 9780 has been spotted in the wild , Driphter.com have successfully got a 5 min video preview of the Blackberry 9780 running Blackberry OS 6 .

  • The Blackberry Bold 9780 looks similar to its older brother the Bold 9700 in hardware and design
  • The 5MP stamp near the rear cam is missing like the 9700 had
  • It has the same screen resolution as the Bold 9700
  • It is GSM ready
  • Blackberry OS6 is far smoother on the 9780 compared to previous device OS’s .
  • Same battery as seen in 9700 ( But what about the battery life ? )

So as far as we can figure out the biggest upgrade to this device is the OS 6 , and from a Blackberry developer point of view this is really awesome , rest of things are just a little here and there .

And as far as the release is concerned , it is not far behind the 9800 launch. And its exciting to know that OS6 is about to fall from the Blackberry’s OS bucket very soon with few releases .

Blackberry application developers have anew room for implementing their innovations in the power packed device .

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BlackBerry 9780 coming with the OS 6

Jul 27, 2010 News

BlackBerry 9780 features OS 6

BlackBerry’s OS 6 which is the talk on Blackberry related forums has yet to be rolled out officially, but there’s another phone from the line – the 9780, which has surfaced featuring a 512 MB of memory with looks that represent the Bold 9700 somewhat. On paper, the 9780 does resemble what the 9700 a should have been, which is to be able to run on OS 6. Apart from that, we could see a 5-mega-pixel camera included with the device, where that seems to be the new standard on which all BlackBerry devices are featuring these days. As for the BlackBerry Atlas, this is most likely the 9780′s CDMA counterpart since it boasts somewhat similar specifications.

The Blackberry OS 6 will bring another wave for the Blackberry application development which is going to be to come up with new API’s and other new goodies for Blackberry developers .

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Blackberry Bold 9650 coming on Verizon tomorrow for $ 150

Jun 2, 2010 News

The BlackBerry Bold 9650 will be available for on Verizon beginning June 3rd (that’s tomorrow) for online orders and in Verizon stores starting on June 10th. This is the provider’s first global handset with GlobalAccess Connect tethering, and in keeping with the “global” theme transnational road warriors can look forward to worldwide VZ Navigator (including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and of course ol’ Blighty). This would be expected for about $150 after $100 rebate and a two-year contract.

Key features of Blackberry 9650:

* Optical trackpad for easy and fluid navigation
* Built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g)
* Push to Talk feature – Allows customers to leverage Verizon Wireless’ 3G network for instant two-way communication with up to 50 people with the touch of a button
* VZ Navigator® version 6 – Gives customers access to free mapping and integration with Bing to sort searches by relevance and a new option to choose day, week or monthly subscriptions
* VZ Navigator Global capabilities – Provides turn-by-turn directions and maps in English while navigating through more than 20 destinations, including Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This easy-to-use application also marks distances in miles or kilometers and finds restaurants, gas stations, banks/ATMs and other popular spots using the Local Search feature

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