Trends: Applications & Platforms
Trends are once again taking hold in the mobile space and NOT for the better.
Several years ago, GPS navigation was said to be the last great Application & functionality a smartphone or consolidated media device must have in order to survive. Just about every smartphone released in 2009 had one – even many feature phones as well.
Well it didn’t take long for great strides in the application share space to be mated and/or control the mobile phone users’ patronage.
BlackBerry used BBMaps – I’m unsure who the data source is – and allowed many others to play top tier on the BB home front: Google GMaps, TeleNav, and a few others including … Nav4All.
Well not too long – roughly 7days after Nokia feeling the burn that Google had brought to the Droid, and the just released Google Nexus (by HTC) offering FREE Turn by Turn Navigation to them, Navteq, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia … did NOT extend the license for Nav4All to continue using its database; not for anything! So Nokia allows Turn by Turn Navigation for FREE on such a vast range of existing S60 smartphones, and a few others set to launch, they cut off Nav4All.
Keep in mind Turn by Turn Navigation is NOT cheap to run and deliver high-availability by ANY means! Tom Tom – also finally entering the iPhone stage – Novi, Route66 and a few other heavyweights charged close to $100US annually. Don’t think the rates stopped there, In Europe for regional maps the cost was higher, and add in hardware that boosted signal reliability (or 1-pony-show In-Car devices) the cost to consumers increased.
Well now Nav4All is screwed, but more so … 27.5 million users in 56 languages using devices made by RIM (Blackberry), Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, Android, HTC, Nokia, LG, Iphone, Ipod etc.
The trend here, which I’m sure we’ll continue to see is services by the largest players will begin to cut off the small-fry guys hoping to make a mini fortune as well. Also this will hold users to make a knee-jerk FORCED decision – buy amongst the big players (Google & Open-Alliance partners, Symbian-Foundation players, RIM, Apple, Nokia, Samsung, LG, and SonyEricsson). Take note that 3 of those mentioned are part of the Open Handset Alliance and making BIG bets on the future revenues with Android and thus GMaps free Turn by Turn solution possibly being extended to their brands/products as a heavy value-add feature.
Another trend I’m not fond off … is charging for measely basic applications that really don’t offer anything more, or better than the mobile site already does. The BlackBerry platform is the BIGGEST spawning ground for this sort of thing. Craigslist, which I’ve read on 1 of my favorite BlackBerry sites, had a BB app made and is now available as an Official Craigstlist store offering. The perception that it offers more than the mobile site (other than bookmarking) is incorrect. It gives you LESS page results for what your searching for, and doesn’t fully integrate into the Blackberry APIs. Charging $4.99CAN for it is absurd.
Also it seems that other companies that previously offered a free application offering rudimentary basic functions, and a premium version offering all the bells & whistles you really want and come to expect in a paid for app has stopped. Only premium version now exist for OS5. I’ve noticed a few others but also RepliGo PDF reader. This is a quality application and is probably worth the $10.99CAN its demanding, likewise RIM put up the bill to have Documents To Go bundled into the OS for the past year or so on OS4.6+ but I’d have loved to see PDF-TO-Go as standard on this platform. So many business & consumer users alike go through roughly a handful of PDFs from sites or emails. I shouldn’t have to pay $49.99US JUST to get PDF-To-Go for my Bold 9700.
Possibly when the platform store & application offerings mature to the point where there are 5 other apps that do the same things just as eloquently then we’ll have decent pricing parity and part-&-parcel pickings for what we’re after: Docs To Go is a HUGE solution, but not all of us want/need the entire solution, just a particular part of it.
Storm 2 (9550/9520) 1st Greeting
Woah! I’m officially a believer!
For the past month my wife has been looking for an upgrade to her BB 8120 Pearl. Initially flirting for the idea of owning a Stratus, BB 9520/9550 Storm 2 – grey market pricing was VERY cheap. Then after she upgraded to the 8900 she’s totally commited to the Storm 2.
I’ve noticed in the past week here in Toronto there are a LOT of Storm 2 users! Maybe its because I’m more focused on seeing how its used in the public and no on a video review (for a fist time user). Yet I’m now just as sweetened to the idea of going to the Storm 2 full time.
Let me set the record straight! I’m a previous iPhone user of 4 months, while my wife is an 8mth iPod Touch user. None of us want the iPhone, and I’m SOLD, on a solid build (hardware & software) smartphone that my Bold 9700 provides me.
Seeing my good buddy’s 9550 and giving it a quick first hand try … I’m impressed! Especially the piezo touch screen where it quickly & accurately auto rotates, selection separate from navigation works VERY well. Something in my mind – and I’m sure in other first time users – is you THINK you need to press HARD on the screen to select?! When really a quick click is all that is needed. Nothing more than you left clicking the mouse on your modern computer, or from clicking the single glass-trackpad on recent MacBook Pro’s.
Well it looks like the Storm 2 is gaining in popularity, and not just for the eclectic user-base.
Personas for Firefox | Superman Returns Logo Persona
RIM in partnership with Vodafone Spain Launch 3D Short Film.
RIM in partnership with Vodafone Spain Launch 3D Short Film.
RIM BB Storm
Vodafone Spain, in partnership with Research in Motion, has launched the first 3D short film to be broadcast on a street screen and the internet. The film will run on a screen located in the Plaza de Callao in central Madrid. The viewers will be offered special 3D glasses. The film will also be available online at the descubresuinterior web page. Titled ‘Inside’, the movie mixes real images with animation, all in 3D format, to recreate a fictional world within a BlackBerry smartphone. The 3′30-minute 3D animation
recreates an everyday work situation mixed to depict what happens in the virtual world populated by fictional characters in a BlackBerry smartphone when this is running, and processing various services and applications
.
I guess RIM is REALLY feeling good about the last quarterly report due later today, and took note of the leaked BlackBerry Storm video from 2008, and decided to celebrate.
With all those BlackBerry pundits out there playing with their iPhone-iToys … this is a great sign that RIM not only can deliver on the serious tip, but also have fun too.
Plaza de Callao
Plaza de Callao 2
RIM Corporate PBX Visual Voicemail.
Welcome back to SeriousMobile.
Just last week I took another of those efficient, relative, and insightful RIM Market Research survey’s that asks professionals what they are currently working with BlackBerry’s or smartphones along with their current infrastructure, costs, and thoughts on current trends and future directions. Although the BlackBerry Presenter has a specific use, its of hardly any use to consumers. That was the point of it, and this was lost on a few bloggers. Rest assured RIM is looking toward the future.
Some questions within this survey provoked some interesting thoughts to me, and I hope it will for you out there as well.
AT&T BlackBerry Visual Voicemail
One of the questions revolved around how are professionals using video conferencing in/out of the office and how would they feel about using this on their BlackBerry. This got me thinking Video Calling around the world, although has some decent niche uses, it has not taking off. Over in China, Japan, and Korea video sharing did very well, yet has also tapered off below MMS/SMS use in favor of TV/Movie streaming content/service. Should RIM offer a series of high end BlackBerry’s using a 3.2MP camera for video-conferencing calls (say WVGA resolution) which is tied into BES & Microsoft/IBM Lotus/Novell Groupwise Unified Mobile Communications then it could have some traction – behind the next step.
Another question, something that will come much quicker – and is more tangible than a simple pondering – is Visual Voicemail. Yes I’m fully aware of Visual Voicemail, pioneered by Glenayre ICE, and first major provider released with AT&T on the … yeah that “phone”. Unfortunately I’m on the only major provider that does NOT offer it in North America; Rogers Wireless. RIM, with their corporate expertise is going further than just retrieving your voicemail at random choice, read on dear friends.
AT&T BlackBerry Visual Voicemail 2
Visual Voicemail. Think of using your BlackBerry on existing BES+MDS Communications Servers along with your existing PBX infrastructure – which already works very well, tightly integrated. Now imagine having Visual Voicemail built into the BlackBerry via Service Books that allows retrieval not just over the voice/voice+data 3G networks, but also over WiFi … not too dissimilar to how UMA works. RIM had poised the question(s) of would you want notifications of visual voicemail into your unified “Messages” application, or a separate Home Page Icon/Application?!
I chose to respond that I wished for the option of inside unified Messages, and outside with its own notification. I also fielded a thought to RIM asking to have a separated notification listing of normal provider/personal visual voicemail account access/notifications from the corporate listing along with separate LED/Ringtone behaviors from the norm with some tweaking ability. The reasoning of course was quick identification from us, the end user, receiving and seeing the visual voicemail notifications, and getting access to them efficiently without the need to decipher them inside a unified Messages application that is already doing heavy duty with Emails BIS/BES, calls, FaceBook, BBM, and MMS/SMS if you’ve enabled those. Don’t forget about your roots RIM, efficiency in delivering powerful solutions!!
RIM Corporate Headquarters
Now if RIM could deliver a personal software suite for VoIP online services, or Hardware/Firmware solution for end users – consumers to purchase as an Add-On to say Rogers HomePhone to retrieve a missed call that is left on voicemail and sends out the notification via BIS internet relay … and now you have HUGE retail potential ;!
What if the latter two thoughts & seemingly hinted initiative from RIM’s survey was to go one further and combine visual voicemail with video calling?! After all Glenayre already has this software/provisioning stack available for any 3G provider to work with phones using video calling … a video-mailbox if you will. Unfortunately due to huge initial deliver costs, and marketing expenses I believe that only 1 provider in the world initially implemented this. But for the business traveler just coming off a plane – already giving notice of the delayed arrival in the shared calendar (and attachments sent off by the mailbox delegate to the other attendees), having to catch a limousine taxi and retrieve the visual voicemail, is powerful. Think of yourself, as a business professional in such a scenario – viewing the meeting minutes not just in hard copy via email, but tying specific importance to a visual face! This gives you insight power to read & understand facial recognition and stress or weakness to those within the meeting that is opposed to any of your company’s proposals (even if the words & language is lost from what is conveyed, and intentionally so). You then arrive after the recess, and schedule a more relaxed meeting at say a 3-4 star restaurant with live Jazz/Classical music playing. Now you’re at an advantage!
Just because tools don’t work as originally intended for the mainstream, doesn’t mean their not powerful for the business user.
RIM Corporate Headquarters Shinning
