There were a ton of announcements at BlackBerry Live yesterday, so I won’t waste any time and I’ll get right to it.
First up is one of those good news bad news stories. The good news: BlackBerry has announced that BlackBerry Messenger will appear on iOS and Android this summer. That’s good because it gives non-BlackBerry users the chance to BBM to their friends and associates. Here’s the bad news: By the time I switched from BlackBerry to iPhone, I had nobody left on my BBM list. Two years ago, I had maybe sixty. Since the switch to iPhone, most of those people iMessage me. So this may be a case of being too late to the party. An announcement like this might have had more impact two or three years ago when BBM was king of the hill. Today, not so much.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. A new BlackBerry device called the Q5 is about to appear in select markets. Here’s the highlights straight from the press release:
- The evolution of the classic BlackBerry Keyboard: The BlackBerry Q5 features a classic BlackBerry Keyboard with discrete keys that has been re-engineered and elegantly designed to help you type fast, accurately and with the least amount of effort. Plus with Instant Action shortcuts you can type to perform tasks faster. The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone gives you the best of both worlds – a classic QWERTY keyboard for optimized communications and a 3.1” touchscreen for all the rest,
- Create the perfect shot with BlackBerry Time Shift mode and Story Maker: Create the picture perfect shot with BlackBerry Time Shift mode, then create and share your story, weaving together your photos, videos and music into a movie with BlackBerry Story Maker.
- Share and be seen with BBM Video with Screen Share: Instantly switch your BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) chat to a BBM Video conversation and catch up face-to-face. You can even share your screen, whether it’s a photo, a page in the browser, an idea, or a view from your camera.
- Stay close to what’s important to you with BlackBerry Hub: With BlackBerry Hub, all of your messages and social conversations are only one swipe away. There’s no need to stop what you’re doing. Simply peek into the BlackBerry Hub from anywhere with a swipe to effortlessly flow in and out of your messages and conversations.
- BlackBerry World delivers a rich, thriving app and content ecosystem: Discovering and sharing great apps and content is easier than ever with recommendations based on similar purchases, and access to more than 100,000 apps on the BlackBerry World storefront.
Now, what does select markets mean? It means Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia (including the Asia Pacific region), and Latin America. Expect to see it hit stores in July. It sounds like a good idea, except for the fact that people in developed countries won’t get it. That’s another mistake in my mind as a lower priced BlackBerry in Canada and the US among other places would be a good thing for the company.
Oh well..
Finally, if you have a Z10, BlackBerry 10.1 is out for your device that promises lots of improvements. If anyone sees any major differences, post a comment and let us know.
So, does this make you think that BlackBerry is here to stay? My thought is no. But they’re free to prove me wrong. Having said that, I guess that I’m not alone in my thoughts as their stock price dropped 4% after these announcements came out. That’s not a good sign if you ask me.
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This entry was posted on May 15, 2013 at 7:49 am and is filed under Commentary with tags BlackBerry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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BlackBerry Announces Lots At BlackBerry Live
There were a ton of announcements at BlackBerry Live yesterday, so I won’t waste any time and I’ll get right to it.
First up is one of those good news bad news stories. The good news: BlackBerry has announced that BlackBerry Messenger will appear on iOS and Android this summer. That’s good because it gives non-BlackBerry users the chance to BBM to their friends and associates. Here’s the bad news: By the time I switched from BlackBerry to iPhone, I had nobody left on my BBM list. Two years ago, I had maybe sixty. Since the switch to iPhone, most of those people iMessage me. So this may be a case of being too late to the party. An announcement like this might have had more impact two or three years ago when BBM was king of the hill. Today, not so much.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. A new BlackBerry device called the Q5 is about to appear in select markets. Here’s the highlights straight from the press release:
Now, what does select markets mean? It means Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia (including the Asia Pacific region), and Latin America. Expect to see it hit stores in July. It sounds like a good idea, except for the fact that people in developed countries won’t get it. That’s another mistake in my mind as a lower priced BlackBerry in Canada and the US among other places would be a good thing for the company.
Oh well..
Finally, if you have a Z10, BlackBerry 10.1 is out for your device that promises lots of improvements. If anyone sees any major differences, post a comment and let us know.
So, does this make you think that BlackBerry is here to stay? My thought is no. But they’re free to prove me wrong. Having said that, I guess that I’m not alone in my thoughts as their stock price dropped 4% after these announcements came out. That’s not a good sign if you ask me.
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This entry was posted on May 15, 2013 at 7:49 am and is filed under Commentary with tags BlackBerry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.