Technology Blogged, News » Blackberry

Blackberry Playbook will be with US Government soon, FIPS 140-2 granted

Jakk — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:19:58 +0000

Okay we take this back, but the Blackberry Playbook is almost certainly no where near the successful tablet RIM wanted it to be in the consumer market. Luckily for RIM though their Blackberry Playbook has been thrown a lifeline, and this comes in to the form of US government use after the Playbook was granted FIPS 140-2 certification meaning the tablet meets strict US federal government requirements for protecting sensitive information. We suspect that the tablet will be used by the US government during office hours, however somewhere in the deep Nevada dessert you just know there are field agents testing it out right now. And playing games.

Via: Engadget

RIM confirms 1 billionth BlackBerry App download

Jakk — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:44:28 +0000

Research In Motion has today announced that their BlackBerry App World has surpassed the massive 1 billionth app download, giving a major boost to RIM’s current line up of smartphones which haven’t been able to compete with Android competitors this year.

“BlackBerry App World is now in over 100 countries, seeing an average of 3 million downloads per day, and we recently crossed the 1 billion app download milestone,” Product Manager at RIM Alex K announced.

Although the prospect of 1 billion apps being downloaded is huge, it is nothing compared to Apple’s App Store which has seen a mammoth 15 billion downloads since its launch, made popular thanks to the iPhone.

RIM shares plummet following Playbook recall

Jakk — Tue, 17 May 2011 08:42:45 +0000

Loosing out to the iPhone and Android when it comes to smartphones is a big deal and when your stab at the tablet market goes sort of wrong, you know you’re going to have trouble on your hands, and that’s what has happened to RIM. Currently RIM’s share price stands at $42.61, just nine cents more than last years August share price, and if the share prices were to fall any lower they could easily hit their lowest point since March 2009, a troubled time for RIM’s business model.

All of this comes at a time when Blackberry had to recall over 1000 Playbook’s after they discovered an issue with the operating system ONX, and further announced that they expect to sell only 3 million of their tablets globally which when compared to the iPad is small change.

Blackberry Bold Torch

Jakk — Tue, 10 May 2011 09:12:19 +0000

The Blackberry range does not have many touch screen phones but since the success of the Blackberry Torch last year, Research in Motion have been bitten by the touch screen bug. After months and months of rumours surrounding it, RIM have announced that their latest touch screen phone, the Blackberry Bold Touch will be launched soon. The Bold is one of the most popular and one of the best Blackberry handsets and now it will come in line with contemporary smart phone trends, featuring an interactive screen as well as its famous QWERTY keyboard.

Blackberry are very happy with how the development of their new smart phone has gone, with Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO of Research In Motion saying that: ‘The new BlackBerry Bold smartphones and BlackBerry 7 OS are inspired by millions of customers around the world who want the ultimate combination of performance, functionality and style. These fully-loaded and beautifully crafted smartphones offer a highly refined user experience with blazingly fast performance, a brilliant touch-screen and an outstanding typing experience.’

The phone is also set to boast some really impressive hardware with RIM revealing that the phone will have a 1.2GHz processor and Liquid Graphics touch-screen for ‘fast, smooth performance’. All of this is set to be crammed inside the thinnest Blackberry around as well so the Bold’s chunky look may very well be altered.

In terms of software there are also plenty of improvements, with the new phone featuring the latest Blackberry OS, Blackberry 7. These improvements include making the phone voice activated (we will see how successful this is, we have seen that before!). The phone also boasts HTML5 and JavaScript support when browsing the web so you can visit pretty much any website around. There is not set date for the Blackberry Bold Touch but keep your ear to the ground as there will be news very soon.

If you want a Blackberry mobile phone or just want to browse visit http://www.phones4u.co.uk.

Five of the best budget mobile phones right now

Jakk — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:44:21 +0000

Check our latest 2011 post on Five Cheap Smartphones which won’t break the bank

Budget Mobile phones have always had a place in peoples hearts. They are convenience tools – suitable for a secondary phone and also suitable as a main phone if money is low or if you are not really technology savvy.

Owning a budget phone nowadays is not such a bad thing – generally, there are a range of budget phones which have decent cameras, memory expansion slots, colour screens, easy to use and highly navigation UI’s and and a good build quality. Some budget phones last for years.

Now, you may think that for less than £50 you can not get a reliable handset, and you may think that for less than £100 you will get a phone which just wants to be its bigger brother – e.g. Nokia 6303 and Nokia 6700. But having a reliable phone which is also cheap is one of the great things about technological advancement, because as consumers we always get better products at better prices year after year.

And so without further ado, below is the list of Five of the best budget mobile phones right now;

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Nokia 6303 | Best classic candy bar option

The Nokia 6303 boasts fantastic build quality. Reminisescent of the Nokia 6300, the 6303 also has a 3.2 mega pixel camera. Slim, with a metal out casing, the Nokia 6303 is a mobile phone with a surprising price. Specification wise the 6303 runs on Symbian S40, has a dual LED flash 8X zoom camera, a 240 x 320 pixel display, EDGE, GPRS, Bluetooth and ships with flash lite. The speed of this handset is also very good, with no lag between opening applications or messages. As with all Nokia mobile phones, multimedia wise the handset has a music player, basic organiser, sync contact function and a range of games pre installed. The screen is vibrant, internet access fast for the price and call quality is top notch.

Prices from £79.99 to £99.99 on PAYG. Available from multiple stores.

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LG Pop | Best cheap touch screen option

The LG Pop is the best touch screen mobile phone of its price range. It boasts a bright and mostly responsive touch screen, a nice UI, a sturdy and refined build quality and is a vast improvement on the LG Cookie. Specification wise the LG Pop has a 3 inch display, aluminium casing, a 3 megapixel camera, FM Radio, a nice music player, a MicroSD expansion slot, an Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, GPRS/EDGE technology, Bluetooth and Facebook / Twitter integration. Call quality is good, as is speakerphone quality. As with all touch screens a case should be in order though.

Cheapest Price £79.99 (Vodafone, Orange). Available at multiple stores.

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Blackberry Curve 8520 | Best cheap business phone option

The Blackberry Curve 8520 is a business phone with good e-mail support, good connectivity, a nice solid build, a fantastic QWERTY keyboard, a bright vivid screen and a surprising price tag. Although much more expensive than the other phones in this list, if you are looking for a Smartphone, and are on a budget, then check this out. Specification wise the handset has Wifi, Bluetooth, GPRS,256MB internal memory (expandable to 16gb), a 320 x 240 2.46 inch screen and a 512MHz processor.

Available on contract for as little £15 PM on multiple networks- or PAYG from £164.99.

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Nokia 5130 Xpress Music | Best phone for under £3o option

On a serious budget? Going to Leeds Fest for the weekend and do not want to spend much? Then check out the Nokia 5130. With great call quality, a sturdy build and bluetooth this phone is definately worth a punt. Specification wise the handset has a 256K color 2 inch screen, a 2 megapixel camera, music player (hence Xpress Music), GPRS, EDGE, Java support, microSD – up to 16GBwith a 1GB card included and 30 MB intenal memory. It also available in a range of colours.

With a bit of punting, price wise this phone can be found for £29.97 on Orange via Dialaphone. Heres the link http://www.dialaphone.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/orange/nokia-51 | just so you do not have to do it yourself.

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Sony Ericsson C903 | Best cheap camera phone option

What list would not be complete without one? Although smart phones are incorporating decent cameras now, you just can not beat a sony ericsson when it comes to camera quality. The SE C903 is a prime example of a mobile phone which is packed full of great features, including a 5 MP camera, at an extremely affordable price. Specification wise this handset has an Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, 105 MB internal memory which is expandable, a TFT 256K color 2.4 inch display which is scratch resistant, 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPRS and EDGE.

Available at cheapest from £99.95 on O2, Orange and Vodafone.

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”Five of the best budget mobile phones right now”

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BlackBerry wins UK patent dispute against Motorola

Jakk — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:43:03 +0000

The BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion, has won its court case in the UK against Motorola putting at rest at last the latest patent disputes over mobile phone technology. The US court case against BlackBerry, however, it still as of yet to take place.

In Richard Arnold’s ruling, of the London High Court, he stated “RIM didn’t infringe one of Motorola’s patents – pertaining to email system – in its two systems”

However, Motorola seems unfazed by this ruling and is hoping for a more Motorola leaning court case in the US. Motorola, is sticking by its original story that RIM is still using its technologies in its handsets after the license had expired in 2007. Motorola also claim that RIM has never seeked a renewal of that license and as such have taken it the courts.

In a statement, Motorola said “These patented technologies are important to Motorola as they allow for more comprehensive connectivity, a better user experience and lower product costs”

In another statement, Jonathan Meyer, senior vice president of intellectual property law at Motorola, said last month: “In light of RIM’s continued unlicensed use of Motorola’s patents, RIM’s use of delay tactics in our current patent litigation, and RIM’s refusal to design out Motorola’s proprietary technology, Motorola had no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM’s continued infringement.

This a huge win for the BlackBerry telephone system since it has been losing market share to Apple and Android phones.

Motorola joins Kodak to ban Blackberry imports

Jakk — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:05:15 +0000

Motorola has backed Eastman Kodak in its attempt to ban imports of Blackberry handsets over patent issues which were raised with the US authorities 2 weeks ago.

On Friday afternoon, Motorola announced that they have filed a complaint with the International Trade Commision over allegations of patent infringment – where, in this case, RIM did have a license to use certain technologies in their handsets patented by Motorola, but that license expired in 2007.

Motorola have filed the patent issues under Wi-fi, application management, power management and UI (user interface). Motorola wants the imports and selling of infringing devices to halt, and Blackberry to stop using their technology unless a license is agreed.

In a statement, Jonathan Meyer of Motorola said; “In light of RIM’s continued unlicensed use of Motorola’s patents, RIM’s use of delay tactics in our current patent litigation, and RIM’s refusal to design out Motorola’s proprietary technology, Motorola had no choice but to file a complaint with the ITC to halt RIM’s continued infringement”

As of yet RIM has not commented.