July 4th, is Independence Day here in the United States – the day we celebrate he birth of our nation.
Happy 4th of July, America!
Happy Independence Day!
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BlackBerry Bridge Now Available to AT&T PlayBook Owners
After a long string of bad news, a dramatic decline in stock prices, departures of senior management, and calls from investors and alleged employees to restructure how the CEO and President of the Board roles work, there was finally some good news for BlackBerry fans on AT&T who plan on purchasing a BlackBerry PlayBook.
Yesterday, AT&T allowed the BlackBerry Bridge software for AT&T branded BlackBerry phones to be released into the BlackBerry App World.
“BlackBerry Bridge is an app you can download to your smartphone to get access to your email, calendar, contacts, memo pad and tasks—all on the large tablet display. Depending on your wireless service provider you can even browse the web using your existing BlackBerry smartphone’s data plan.”
That last item, browsing the web using your BlackBerry’s data plan will run you an extra $20/month for the privilege AT&T has announced.
You can download BlackBerry Bridge from the BlackBerry App World (link).
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Rumor: RIM Cancels 10″ Playbook, Realizes They Need New BlackBerry Phones
The Boy Genius Report blog has word that the executive management team has gotten a cold, hard dose of reality and has finally realized that they need to get new QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphones out the door as quickly as possible.
The sobering fact that RIM’s stock has taken a nose dive in recent weeks has served as what I can only describe as a wake up call. According to BGR, plans for an iPad sized 10-inch BlackBerry Playbook are being scrapped and the company will “focus as much effort as possible on building and releasing its first QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphone.”
The specs and timing for a new BlackBerry running the QNX operating system are, obviously, thin at best.
“Specs of the purported next-generation BlackBerry smartphone include a single-core 1.2GHz processor — though it may be swapped for a dual-core if RIM can find a way to reduce the drain on the battery — along with a 4.3-inch high-resolution touchscreen display. Further details surrounding the device were not made available, nor was a codename, launch name or a time frame for the device’s release.”
The previously planned 4G cellular version(s) of the BlackBerry Playbook is still planned for release in the October timeframe.
As a strictly utilitarian device for email, text/instant messaging, and phone calls (who makes those anymore?), the BlackBerry is a great phone. Messaging has always been at the core of what a BlackBerry is. (I own and have used a BlackBerry Curve and Storm2 and loved them both.) But today’s “prosumers” want more features than that, and when compared to the iPhone and Android devices, all of the RIM devices fall flat on their faces. If RIM is serous about turning their company around, they need to get QNX-powered phones out the door as quickly as possible.
[Via BGR.com…]
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HP Rolls Out webOS 2.1 for Verizon Pre2
Looks like HP and Verizon have started pushing out the webOS 2.1 update for the Pre2 smartphone. Hit up the Update application to get your webOS 2.1 goodness.
And yes, I’m still bitter that the Sprint Pre won’t be getting webOS 2.1 either as an OTA or slide load Doctor update.
[Via PreCentral.net…]
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Conan O’Brian: Thumbs Down on FCP X
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRzLP0FJ82I]
I guess we can add Conan to the list of people who are not happy with the new version of Apple’s Final Cut Pro software.
We now return your to your regularly scheduled programming.
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Skyfire Can Save You Money As Carriers Push for Tiered Data Plans
The huge success of the iPhone helped to not only change the shape of smartphones for ever, but the growing numbers of iPhones and Android devices is causing carriers to take action to protect their data networks – or reap huge profits; you can call it anyway you like. With unlimited all you can eat data plans giving way to tiered/capped plans, look for more mobile applications to start to become more efficient with data use.
“Skyfire came out with a set of numbers today showing that smartphone users can save up to $120 a year by using data efficient apps like their browser. If you recall our post showing Verizon’s data calculator, you can see that streaming video is what’s going to be really eating up your data on a month to month basis, but with Skyfire’s “Instant Optimization” video process, which compresses data by 75%, they can save you a ton on your monthly bill.”
[Via Droid-Life…]
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Xbox 360 Game Port Tool for iOS, OS X, Android, and the Web
I just saw this over on Boy Genius Report and thoughts of playing Halo on my Mac (without Parallels) started dancing in my head.
“Programmer Andrew Russell is working on a project that will undoubtedly pique the interest of game developers around the world. Dubbed ExEn, Russell’s open source software allows devs to port XNA games to iOS, Silverlight and in the near future, Android and OS X as well. In practical terms, this software gives developers a much easier way to take games they have built for Xbox 360, Windows or Windows Phone 7 using Microsoft’s XNA framework and port them to the iPhone or iPad, the Web (Silverlight), and soon to Android devices and Mac OS X!”
[Via BGR.com…]
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Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update
Mac OS X 10.6.8 is available now for all Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users. Aside from the usual bug fixes and enhancements, Mac OS X 10.6.8 is a requirement for upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion next month.
Use the Mac OS X Software Update control panel to download the update now.
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Rovio Releases Angry Birds Seasons – Summer Pignic
Just in time for the 4th of July holiday, Rovio arms us with another “eggciting” bird flinging adventure: Summer Pignic!
Summer Pignic is the next installment for the popular Angry Birds Seasons game available now for iOS devices. Rovio will also be releasing updates for Android, webOS, and the nook.
Angry Birds Seasons – $0.99
Angry Birds Seasons HD – $1.99 -
Rumor: iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 – We Don’t Care, Just Give It To Us
Boy Genius Report is claiming to have received word that the next iPhone — the 4S or 5 — will be a major update to the current iPhone 4 models.
“While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S — an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals — BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored. We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone, though we have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case. What about a release, then? The consensus is that Apple is going to announce the next-generation iPhone at the company’s annual September event, traditionally focused on iPods, but we have heard it’s quite possible Apple will break tradition. According to our source, Apple may hold an event in the beginning or middle of August to announce the new iPhone, with availability to follow in the last week of August. We’re not sure if that means the iPod event will be moved up slightly, or if this will be an iPhone-specific event. Thisismynext reported earlier that the upcoming iPhone 5 would feature a new teardrop-shaped case design.”
At this point, I don’t care what Apple is going to call the new iPhone; I just want it to be released so I can purchase one. My Palm Pre is looking forward to retirement and I’m looking for a phone that isn’t an underdog.
[Via BGR.com…]
