MobileCrunch |  |
- Despite Unproven Market, Facebook To Launch Custom Android OS Phone With HTC
- HP’s Failed webOS Experiment Cost Them $3.3 Billion, But What’s Next?
- Four Of The Best Apps From Microsoft’s NYC Mobile Acceleration Week
- CTIA And ESRB To Unveil New Mobile App Rating System
- Estimate: 90 Million U.S. Tablet Users By 2014; iPads Drop To 68% Share
- SNES Classic Chrono Trigger Coming To iOS Next Month
- Personal Finance Service HelloWallet Launches On iPhone
- Photojojo’s iPhone Lens Dial Ups Your Mobile Photography Game
- To Build Or Not To Build, That Is The Windows Phone App Dev Question
- Despite Poor Reviews, Kindle Fire On Track To Be #2 Tablet
- BlackBerry Sales Slow Down As The Holiday Season Approaches
- Stamped Is Now Ready For Your Approval
- Ice Cream Sandwich Will Get Flash Support By The End Of The Year
| Despite Unproven Market, Facebook To Launch Custom Android OS Phone With HTC Posted: 21 Nov 2011 04:28 PM PST  Over the past few years, Facebook has partnered with a variety of handset makers to release smartphones and feature phones that deeply integrate the social network into software and hardware. These phones have sold poorly, though. Meanwhile iOS and Android are claiming more and more of the market such that they endanger Facebook’s future, cramping its mobile platform and relegating it to just being an app. Last year we wrote that Facebook was likely building a custom-version of Android, and now AllThingsD says Facebook is, and it that it will run on an HTC-made Facebook phone. A custom operating system could attract users with even deeper software integrations, and let Facebook monetize in-app payments. The company hopes that despite a lack of proof that users want such a thing, its phone will sell well, and allow it more determination over the future of its mobile apps and platform. Facebook has partnered to build phones in the past, but these have never been huge sellers, nor have they furthered its goal of reducing Apple and Google’s leverage in mobile. Dumbphones like the INQ Cloud Touch and Vodafone 555 Blue have seen slow sales because they don’t provide access to a top-tier app store. Their operating systems are essentially one-offs controlled by the device manufacturers so they’re less important to the future. The Facebook smartphones including the HTC Status (formerly ChaCha) and Sala that run the standard Android OS and include dedicated Facebook sharing buttons haven’t faired well either. AT&T rumored to be considering dropping the Status and the price of the devices has been discounted. Since Facebook couldn’t customize the OS, it wasn’t able to integrate its features into the software they way iOS has integrated Twitter. We broke the story that Facebook was building a phone 14 months ago, and our interview with Mark Zuckerberg indicated that a custom Android OS would be its plan. Now that looks more assured. By customizing Android, the Facebook phone might not be able to include some Google-developed apps like Gmail, Maps, or possibly even the Android Market. Instead, it could replace the Android Market with its recently launched HTML5 platform, and provide single sign-on where users could instantly access any these Facebook apps without having to reenter their credentials. This could in-turn help it fight off the Apple App Store, turn Android against Google, and make more money through in-app payments powered by Facebook Credits. It could also tap Bing for maps and let a web browser snagged through its acquisition of Parakey provide access to other services. So though there’s no sure market for the device, still 1 to 2 years away, the potential gains of having a successful mobile operating system appear to have outweighed the risks. There are definitely issues with customizing Android, including native app compatibility, keeping up with OS updates, and getting more device manufacturers on board. If Facebook can work with HTC to produce a high-tech device with innovative social integrations that really sells, more manufacturers could integrate the Facebook OS and the mobile power balance could shift in its favor. Update: I was reluctant to republished AllThingsD’s assertion that this Facebook mobile project is codenamed Buffy because we all know how Spartan turned out, but it may make for convenient short-hand later. Also, in case it wan’t obvious, the codename is Buffy because it’s designed to slay the vampires Apple & Google who suck Facebook’s blood by preventing its native apps from processing in-app payments to third-parties developers via Credits. [image credit: Android Central]
|
| HP’s Failed webOS Experiment Cost Them $3.3 Billion, But What’s Next? Posted: 21 Nov 2011 03:42 PM PST  We knew that HP’s gamble on webOS was an expensive one, but thanks to the company’s Q4 and full-year financials, we’re finally getting a feel for just how dearly the webOS experiment cost them. This past year, the company lost a staggering $3.3 billion thanks to their most recent foray into the mobile space. I know I’m not the first to say this, nor will I be the last, but one word comes to mind: Ouch. HP’s financial results also reveal that the TouchPad fire sale netted HP $200 million in revenue, though the tablets were sold below cost. It certainly explains why the company seems intent on using their remaining TouchPads to drive sales across their other product lines. It’s perhaps a fitting end for the TouchPads — the HP tablet that didn’t sell was used to support a division of HP’s business they nearly sold. I was a very big fan of webOS (the Pre was the first phone I ever sat in line for), and to see it lose support so unceremoniously was actually sort of painful. Frankly speaking it was unlikely that webOS would have ever become a major player in the market, but it still embodied a few concepts (cards/multitasking, for one) that deserve to live on. And live on they may, if HP can decide what the next step is. As Greg pointed out a few months ago, webOS isn’t completely dead yet — rather, it’s stuck in OS limbo while HP decides what to do with it. Earlier reports suggested that HP would sell off webOS to whomever wanted it most, but newly-installed CEO Meg Whitman said it was important to make “the right decision, not the fast decision,” and held off on the sale. Now that we understand how much webOS cost HP, I’m surprised HP didn’t cut webOS free as soon as they could, but the waiting game continues and we’re still left without answers. So, with the year’s numbers on the books, HP has a decision to make: should they go ahead and sell webOS? Or should they take the “expensive bet” and give webOS another go? Or should they pursue some other unseen option? Meg Whitman said that answers would come within the span of a few weeks, and that time is running out. What’s it going to be, Meg?
|
| Four Of The Best Apps From Microsoft’s NYC Mobile Acceleration Week Posted: 21 Nov 2011 02:48 PM PST  If you’ve been paying attention this morning, you’re perhaps somewhat aware of a program Microsoft has in place called Mobile Acceleration Week (part of its BizSpark program), where 12 hand-picked startups can access hands-on support and training to build compelling apps for the Windows Phone platform. MAWs happen all over the world all year long, but I was lucky enough to catch up with some of the participants of New York’s Mobile Acceleration Week, and was pretty pleased with the apps I saw. Microsoft gives each startup 60 days to push the app to market, so don’t get too excited and start hunting through the Marketplace. You won’t find what you’re looking for just yet. But considering that today’s theme (at least in my world) seems to be the state of Redmond’s mobile app platform, I thought it’d be worthwhile to give you a look at where the Marketplace is headed, and what you might find there in the coming weeks. Flud So how did the company bring that award-winning UI to a platform with a totally different style than iOS and Android? In short, they built a brand new Flud — an app suited to the Metro UI of Mango that takes advantage of unique WP7.5 features. Within Flud for Windows, the user will be able to access their personalized news feed just like any experienced Flud user does now. But it goes further than that. Flud has built in a prominent social layer, allowing users to see what their friends read in a dedicated feed, and check out user profiles, too. I won’t spoil the surprise for all the features, as I’m sure that’ll be announced very soon, but you can expect to see the same features that are coming to Mango on iOS very soon, as well. The Windows version of the app will hit the Marketplace no later than early January. You may recognize Get-A-Game from your iPhone, but if not perhaps it’ll catch your eye over on the Windows platform. The app allows users to locate a pick-up game for any sport in real-time, while offering sporting goods services and stores to market promotions directly to users on the Get-A-Game map. I know what you’re thinking, and I’ll stop you right there. Obviously, if you search Central Park in Google Maps you’ll see one little red pin land smack dab in the center of that 843-acre park. But thanks to one lucky intern, Get-A-Game has geo-tagged each individual court in each park to make sure that users can find where they’re going and get their game on. The app has integrated with Facebook and MeetUp, with further social network integration in the works. A free beta version is currently available on iOS but try not to get too attached. Windows Phone 7.5 gives a new look to every app, and Get-A-Game is no different. Bing will handle all of the mapping, for example, while the rest of the app will take on that Metro panoramic feel. Expect to see this one hit the Marketplace in mid-December, just in time for you to make your New Years Resolutions. The moment I first heard about this app I thought it’d be perfect for my dad, who travels at least once a week. (Dad, download this app.) It’s already up and running on iOS and Android, but in December it’ll launch on Windows with a host of new features that will make it more of a service than an app. As of right now, the app offers up airport directories, ratings and reviews for shops within the airports, social media sharing, itinerary management, wait times for security lines, and reviews/tips for airports. When it launches on Windows Phone, the new and improved GateGuru version 3.0 will include flight status info, push notifications, baggage claim info, food ordering and delivery, and transit-related features. In other words, if you fly more than twice a year this may be the app you’ve been looking for. And with versions available across all three of our major platforms, you really don’t have an excuse anymore. Taap.it Shop much? If so, you should definitely get acquainted with Taap.it. The app lets users check in to items rather than places, at which point users can purchase the item and rate it. It’s a Foursquare of sorts, but instead of getting points for being somewhere, you get Taap.it points for interacting with individual items, whether it be an entree on a menu or a pair of shoes at the FootLocker. But the user isn’t the only one who gets to enjoy Taap.it. Listing items for sale is as easy as taking a picture and typing in a little info. The only thing is that I’m not sure everyone will immediately understand the concept and be able to enjoy it. Buying and selling through social media is an excellent idea, and the more Taap.it stays focused on that the better. Taap.it is currently available on iOS and Android, with a Windows Phone version on its way around Christmastime. These are just a few of the 40,000+ apps currently or soon to be available on the Windows Phone Marketplace, and while they may not be “new” per se, Mango puts things in an entirely different light. So if you’re planning on picking up a Windows Phone, or happen to be one of the early adopters, these are just a handful of the lesser known iOS/Android apps that’ll be making the migration with you.
|
| CTIA And ESRB To Unveil New Mobile App Rating System Posted: 21 Nov 2011 01:24 PM PST  Here’s something I’m sure no one expected to see today: the CTIA Wireless Trade Association has just issued a release stating that they have struck a partnership with the Entertainment Software Rating Board in order to start rating mobile applications. Yes, really. The ESRB, if you’ve managed to avoid picking up a video game in the last decade or so, are the folks that decide how appropriate a game is for certain age groups. This isn’t their first foray into the mobile space (that would be their game ratings app), but this new rating system is certainly going to make a splash when it debuts in Washington D.C. on November 29. The release doesn’t go into any further specifics aside from noting that a few senators will be in attendance, but this strikes me as a potentially good idea. Whether or not an app is appropriate for a given age group should be a problem that’s best left to each platform’s app review board, and a universal set of guidelines could only help. One only needs to look at the state of our current app stores to see what could be improved. Take Apple, for example: a peek inside their App Store shows that games like Bullet Time HD are rated for children 12 and up, citing “infrequent/mild realistic violence,” “frequent/intense cartoon or fantasy violence,” and “frequent/intense horror/fear themes.” Sounds pretty thorough, and that description appears both in iTunes and on the device in question before purchase. The Android Market, on the other hand, doesn’t seem quite so exhaustive: developers can rank an app’s maturity level as low, medium, or high, and simply leave it at that. The Market app usually doesn’t even show that information upfront; rather, one has to click “more” to see it, unless an app’s description is so short as to be useless. Windows Phone doesn’t seem to include maturity information at all, though they do have a “family” games section where young ones should presumably stay. So if all that is true, then why is a mobile app rating system only a potentially good idea? It all comes down to execution. Would developers have to re-submit apps for evaluation? Or would those with the responsibility of approving apps have to go back and re-rate all of them after the fact? Can some apps remain unrated? Too many hoops (whatever they may be) could stymie developers, and that’s the last thing that needs to happen. As it stands, the release raises more questions than answers, and I suppose we’ll have to see the CTIA and ESRB have come up with next week.
|
| Estimate: 90 Million U.S. Tablet Users By 2014; iPads Drop To 68% Share Posted: 21 Nov 2011 11:08 AM PST  By the end of the year, there will be an estimated 34 million tablet computer users in the U.S., according to new numbers out today from eMarketer. Of those, 28 million (or 83 percent) will be using an iPad. The iPad still rules the tablet world, jumping nearly 160 percent from an estimated 13 million users last year. By 2014, there will be an estimated 61 million iPad users in the U.S. But the iPad’s share of total tablet users will drop to 68 percent. The total number of tablet users in 2014 is estimated to be 90 million. While eMarketer doesn’t break out numbers for any tablet other than the iPad, the obvious question is how much of those remaining 30 million tablet users will be on Kindle Fires or Nooks. Those two seem to be the strongest contenders right now precisely because they come in at a lower price point and are addressing a more limited media consumption set of scenarios. I should note that these estimates are for numbers of users, not devices sold. One iPad or Kindle Fire can be shared by multiple people in a household. For instance, my wife has already absconded with my Kindle Fire, so I guess we count as two users, although I don’t have high hopes of actually getting my hands on it anytime soon. (when she puts it down, my kids grab it to play Fruit Ninja). So I might just have to get my own. I think over time we will see more households with multiple tablets, just like we do today with multiple laptops.
|
| SNES Classic Chrono Trigger Coming To iOS Next Month Posted: 21 Nov 2011 10:35 AM PST  Hear that noise? That deafening, arrhythmic clomping that seems to be coming from every direction? That’s the sound of a million geeks, all doing their happy dance. Square Enix has just announced that the SNES classic RPG Chrono Trigger is, at long last, coming to iOS. Before all the jailbreakers in the audience start with the “PFT! LOL! I’VE HAD CHRONO TRIGGER ON MY iPHONE FOR 100 YEARS.”, keep in mind: this is no mere emulation. While it maintains all of the same graphic art and visual styling of the original, it appears that Square Enix has retooled the game’s interface specifically for touch and overhauled things like the text display system for the iPhone’s smaller screen. Alas, Square keeps deliberately mentioning that it’s coming to iPhone — which means that while you’ll be able to run it on your iPad, it’ll almost certainly have to be in the visually-damning 2X scaling mode. As any geek who lived through the 90s would almost certainly argue, Chrono Trigger is the definitive RPG of the 16-bit era. It’s arguable whether it’s the best, and it, like anything else, has its haters — but it’s impossible to say that it’s not the most universally loved. Square Enix is still holding back on the pricing and release date specifics, but do say that it’ll be ready “before the end of December”. Now, go listen to this ridiculous remix of the Time theme and get pumped to run into Marle all over again.
|
| Personal Finance Service HelloWallet Launches On iPhone Posted: 21 Nov 2011 10:34 AM PST  Mint competitor HelloWallet is launching on the iPhone today, with an application that provides at-a-glance spending guidance, budget details and your available cash balance. As a company, HelloWallet aims to differentiate itself from Mint by functioning as a full-service financial advisor, in addition to being a personal finance tracking application. On mobile, this aspect to its service shows up under the “Next Steps” section, which offers users personalized advice and tips. However, the app’s key differentiator on mobile is its location-based spending guidance feature. This displays how much you have left to spend in the budget category associated with a particular venue. While certainly it’s certainly a nifty trick to tap into your location via the smartphone’s GPS, the company is touting this unique feature above all else, when really, it’s the access to historical data from that venue that may be the more interesting value-add in terms of location. After all, in Mint’s iPhone application, you can view your budgets by category, too, and it’s not so difficult to figure out (without a GPS), that if you’re buying dinner, that’s to be deducted from the “restaurants” category, for example. Location-based category assignment just simplifies this process. What’s really neat is to see the bar graph of historical spending for a venue in HelloWallet, something that may give impulse shoppers pause before another big purchase. Think of the advantage for gadget-aholics (ahem) who spend far too much at Best Buy or the Apple Store, for instance. The graph is that much-needed visual reminder to slow down. There are plenty of other differences between Mint and HelloWallet, too, even if they’re not highlighted that well within the app. For example, while Mint is focused on tracking your money then recommending associated products and services from its partners, HelloWallet doesn’t allow banks to advertise on its service. It also has more of a focus on getting users out of debt and boosting savings, especially those associated with employer-provided 401K’s. These finance management tools are found in HelloWallet’s Web app, as the mobile version is more narrowly focused on spending and budgets. The distribution models for Mint and HelloWallet are also different. Mint is a consumer-targeted service, but HelloWallet has been selling to enterprise customers who offer HelloWallet as an employee-sponsored benefit. To date, the company has sold over 300,000 memberships to its online service to its Fortune 500 employer partners. And for every 5 subscriptions it sells, HelloWallet gives away one free subscription to a family in need. Since its founding in 2009, HelloWallet has raised over $9 million in funding, led by Grotech Ventures and Revolution Ventures. Current HelloWallet customers can grab the new iPhone app from here.
|
| Photojojo’s iPhone Lens Dial Ups Your Mobile Photography Game Posted: 21 Nov 2011 10:14 AM PST  I’ll admit that I’m a middling photographer at best, but that doesn’t stop me from buying all sort of expensive gear. Photojojo’s new iPhone accessory appeals to that same sense of camera gear lust in me but on a slightly smaller scale. The iPhone Lens Dial is an iPhone case with three different lenses mounted on the back, so you’ll never have to go long without indulging your fisheye fixation. Just snap your iPhone 4 or 4S into the Lens Dial’s matte black body, and you’ll have three different lenses at your disposal: a 0.7x wide angle, a 0.33x fish-eye, and a 1.5x telephoto. It’s pretty sturdy too — the Lens Dial is made out of aluminum, so in the event you drop it at least the phone inside should survive. Photojojo has been making iPhone-friendly lenses for a while now, but they all required you to pop the lens off and stow them somewhere else when you were finished. The Lens Dial (as you may have guessed by the name) allows you to rotate between each lens as needed, and you’re welcome to leave the whole shebang on if you don’t mind lugging a brick around. Part of the fun about using the iPhone as a camera is that it you get pretty impressive performance with a minimum of know-how. Photojojo’s Lens Dial adds some fun new capabilities to the iPhone’s already-solid camera, but it comes at a price: the Lens Dial will set customers back $249. Worth it? Tough call, but if you’re like me, you’re already searching the couch for loose change.
|
| To Build Or Not To Build, That Is The Windows Phone App Dev Question Posted: 21 Nov 2011 10:06 AM PST  A while back, I used one of my phone reviews as a platform to make a desperate, but necessary, plea to developers: Please build cool apps for Windows Phone 7.5. Come to find Microsoft had been making the same plea for a while as part of a broader support program called BizSpark, which gives tech startups from all walks of life ranging from desktop to the cloud to mobile the support they need to get their companies off the ground. To that end, the company recently held an event in New York called Mobile Acceleration Week (just one in a series of Mobile Acceleration Weeks that take place worldwide), in which 12 startups were offered hands-on training and support to build mobile apps for the platform. Obviously these developers had above-and-beyond support from Microsoft, but I was somewhat surprised to find that many of them are pretty infatuated with the platform. Some talked up the OS’s enterprise-friendliness, while others bragged about how quickly they can build for WP7 compared to iOS and Android, while others simply prefer their app on a Metro UI. From the way that developers in general have been so hesitant to make the shift, I simply had to ask, “Why are developers — at least the ones who’ve moved over to WP7 — so gung-ho about Mango?” Microsoft’s senior director of Windows Phone apps seemed to have the answer: “we give a fuck.” The developers involved in the program seemed to heartily agree with him, so the question now becomes: if Windows Phone is such a great place to build and market apps, then where are all the Windows Phone apps? Apple boasts around 500,000 apps on its App Store, while Android has around 350,000, reports Flurry. Meanwhile, Windows Phone 7 has just hit the 40,000 app mark. Microsoft has always maintained that its Marketplace is more about quality then quantity — a standard that has been questioned recently due to an influx of spammy apps hitting the Marketplace — but when do the numbers themselves become more compelling than the content? In other words, when you walk into a phone store and the salesperson tells you that with the iPhone you’ll be able to choose from over 500,000 apps, it’s hard to justify buying a phone with access to just 40,000. It’s simple and quite obvious math — the chances of you finding the app you want goes up more than ten-fold on iOS, not to mention iOS devices outsell Windows Phone handsets in general. But senior director of Windows Phone apps at Microsoft Brandon Watson didn’t argue with me there, saying “developers are pragmatic people, and iPhones to date have outsold us.” But Watson believes Microsoft support is compelling enough to grab developers. Watson said that he hears from developers that “Apple is a black box, and Google isn’t there,” adding that “they won’t support you the way we do; they won’t be as open about merchandizing policies or approach you in an open and respectful way.” Those are some fightin’ words, no doubt, but Watson said he thinks he knows why his platform gives more f*%#s than the others. “They probably thought of [app developer support] as an ROI calculation. That’s the wrong way to think about developing a platform and the future of your developers,” said Watson. “Instead, you should use them to push and sell the platform.” That starts with understanding the wants and needs of developers, said Watson. “Developers care about two things: making money and getting noticed for their work.” By putting a little extra effort into the developers program, or “giving a fuck” as Watson would put it, Microsoft has the ability to help developers do both. All that’s well and good, but now speed is the name of the game. Microsoft doesn’t necessarily need 500,000 apps to compete with iOS in the app space, but right now the difference in numbers is simply too great to be ignored. In all honestly, most of those 40,000 apps are the same major apps we use on iOS and Android regularly, and Watson maintains that the rest of the “big-time apps” are in the works to hit Windows soon. But in-store, all it takes is the user unsuccessfully looking for one app they use regularly on their current phone to say, “Nah, I’ll stick with Android.” With that obstacle in mind, Redmond’s strategy loops back to Mobile Acceleration Week. The company holds a number of MAWs a year, each intent on finding the most promising apps that haven’t necessarily “blown up” on the other platforms. The idea is that these apps will get a chance to start fresh on Windows, and perhaps make a splash courtesy of a new UI and new developer tools. If Microsoft can snag a couple “have-to-have” apps, users will inevitably migrate. The platform is certainly strong enough to get in the ring with iOS and Android (even if it can’t land a solid KO just yet). Users just have to discover that fact, with the comfort of always knowing “there’s an app for that.” “If you build it, they will come.”
|
| Despite Poor Reviews, Kindle Fire On Track To Be #2 Tablet Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:51 AM PST  According to new consumer survey data from ChangeWave Research, Amazon’s Kindle Fire is poised to become the first real competitor to the Apple iPad, with one in five planned tablet buyers (22%) indicating they will purchase the Kindle Fire. This is the first time since the original iPad’s launch that the number two device ever achieved a double-digit percentage in terms of consumer interest. The data comes from a November 2011 survey of 3,043 North American consumers, who were polled on their past, current and future tablet-buying plans. According to the results, 2% of respondents had already pre-ordered the device, 5% said they were “very likely” to buy and 12% said they’re “somewhat likely” to buy. Of course, the problem with surveys like this is that consumer interest doesn’t always mirror real-world buying trends. It’s easy to indicate you like a product, but it’s much harder to actually open your wallet and pay for it. That said, what this survey does show is the power of the Amazon and Kindle brands in the minds’ of consumers. Unfortunately, Amazon may have to trade on its brand awareness and affinity to make the Kindle Fire a hit. The tablet has received mixed to downright negative reviews from a variety of sources including The NYT’s David Pogue, The WSJ’s Walt Mossberg, The Economist, Wired, Engadget, The Verge and others. Reviewers claim the software lacks polish and feels sluggish. “ “You feel that $200 price tag with every swipe of your finger,” was one of the more memorable Kindle Fire slams from Pogue. Meanwhile, Mossberg summarily dismissed it with just a few sentences:
Yikes. And yet, Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle, announced last week that the Fire had become the best-selling product across all of Amazon.com. Still, we wonder how many unsatisfied customers will return their Kindle Fires later on? Or will the tablet be “good enough,” given its low price point? If consumers buy, then regret, their Kindle Fire purchase, that could be a problem for the brand further down the road. As ChangeWave also notes, customer satisfaction is one of the key reason’s for Apple’s iPad dominance, with 74% of owners saying they’re “very satisfied” with their device. Only 49% say the same for all other tablet manufacturers combined. November’s research also showed increasing tablet demand, including an uptick due to the holidays. 14% of respondents claimed they would buy a tablet in the next 90 days, a number that’s up 8 points since August. Despite the expected Kindle Fire gains, Apple still leads by a wide margin, with 65% indicating they will buy the iPad compared with the 22% demonstrating interest in the Kindle Fire.
|
| BlackBerry Sales Slow Down As The Holiday Season Approaches Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:39 AM PST  It’s a fact of life for many a new smartphone on the market: the impressive sales seen at launch and during the first few weeks will inevitably taper off. RIM’s new line of BlackBerrys may have already blown through that initial grace period, if RBC Capital Market’s Mike Abramsky is to be believed. Abramsky noted to investors this morning that BlackBerry sales have begun to slow down as RIM heads into the holiday season. "Despite on-time BlackBerry 7 launches, checks are showing slowing domestic sell-through, plus impacts from recent service outages and PlayBook challenges (delayed software, sluggish sell-through)," Abramsky said. The news can’t be too welcome to the folks at Waterloo, seeing as RBC Capital Markets had previously maintained a bullish stance on the company’s future. For what it’s worth, RIM can take solace in the fact that they enjoy a strong position in international markets — Abramsky refers to them as the top vendor in Great Britain and Indonesia. Still, at home and in the U.S., RIM is looking at a dire set of circumstances. Their new BlackBerry 7-powered devices must compete with top-tier smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Motorola, and HTC (among others) this holiday season, and they’re already feeling the squeeze. Abramsky isn’t the first to notice the dip in BlackBerry sales — Canaccord Genuity’s T. Michael Walkley reported on a similar situation last week in a note to investors, and notes that the new iPhone has helped in removing the wind from RIM’s sails. “While our September/October checks indicated solid sales of new BlackBerry operating system 7 models, especially the Bold 9000 series as an upgrade enterprise sale, our recent checks indicate slowing sales trends post the launch of the iPhone 4S and price reductions of the iPhone 4 and 3GS,” said Walkley. Meanwhile, RIM’s BBX-powered lifeboat isn’t expected to see the light of day until the middle of next year, which amounts to ages in the mobile space. A brief look at what could be the company’s first BBX BlackBerry revealed a list of specs that would have trouble wowing customers even now, let alone next year. In spite of everything though, RIM’s upper brass continues to put on a brave face. While on a conference call in September, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said that he felt the company was well-positioned going into the holidays, but we’ll soon see if his confidence was warranted.
|
| Stamped Is Now Ready For Your Approval Posted: 21 Nov 2011 08:00 AM PST  One of the great pastimes of the Web is rating places and things, but now with mobile phones you can rate them anywhere, and not just things but experiences. Enter Stamped, a New York City startup founded by ex-Googlers that wants to be your go-to app for rating restaurants, books, movies, and music. The iPhone app just launched on iTunes. Stamped simplifies ratings. Gone are the five stars. You either stamp something with your approval or you don’t. But don’t stamp too liberally because you only get 100 stamps to start out with (you can earn more by being active on the service). You can follow what your friends are stamping to get a steady stream of recommendations. The app will also feature suggested users like chef Mario Batali (an adviser to the company) and Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers. Share your stamps more broadly on Twitter.Open up the map view to see stamps near you. Put some to your to-do list, add your own stamp. If you don’t want to waste a stamp, you can show your approval with a weaker “like.” The app is comparable to Kevin Rose’s Oink in that it lets you rate things at a very granular level, but it is much more structured than Oink, which is organized around free-form hashtags. Stamped steers users towards rating restaurants (pulled from Google Places and OpenTable),books (pulled from Amazon), movies (pulled from Fandango), and music (pulled from iTunes). If something is not in the Stamped database, you can add it. But for those categories, the app does a great job. You can filter the stream of your friends’ Stamps by category, and often there is the option to book a table at a restaurant through OpenTable or download a song through iTunes. The more you stamp, the more the app knows your interests. Down the line, the company could possibly target offers or ads based on your interest profile for places, books, music, and movies you’ve explicitly said that you like. Co-founder Robby Stein worked as a product manager on Google’s Ad Exchange and co-founder Bart Stein (not related) worked in marketing. The third co-sounder, Kevin Palms, was rescued from a hedge fund. The company is backed by Bain Capital and Google Ventures, and Instagram founder Kevin Systrom (also an ex-Googler) is another adviser.
|
| Ice Cream Sandwich Will Get Flash Support By The End Of The Year Posted: 21 Nov 2011 06:48 AM PST  It seemed, for a time, that the book on mobile Flash as we knew it was closed. Adobe announced just a few weeks ago that development for mobile Flash would cease, and their efforts and resources would soon be focused elsewhere. As it turns out, Adobe has one last project up their sleeves before they bid mobile Flash adieu: an update that includes support for Ice Cream Sandwich. Earlier reports mentioned that Google believed Flash support for Android 4.0 was forthcoming, but an Adobe representative has confirmed to Pocket-lint that Ice Cream Sandwich will indeed get Flash support by the end of 2011. Now, don’t expect to fire up your Galaxy Nexus (whenever you should happen to get it) and find the ICS-tailored version of Flash waiting for you. Nor will you be able to find and install an older version of Flash from the Android market for the time being. Galaxy Nexus users will join the iOS crowd in being locked out of the web’s Flash content until Adobe pushes out their last major release. After that update goes out though, mobile Flash will ride off into the sunset. Adobe made it clear in their announcement that the app would only see security updates and critical bugfixes going forward. With all that manpower freed up, Adobe plans to refocus their mobile efforts on AIR and HTML5, the latter of which they have called “the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.” As Adobe’s Mike Chambers mentioned in his explanation of mobile Flash’s demise, the future of rich mobile content has very little to do with Flash, and nearly everything to applications and HTML5. That doesn’t mean that the platform is dying off completely though — Adobe licensee RIM has pledged to continue supporting Flash on their PlayBook platform, and all of mobile Flash’s current users can continue to use it if they’ve got it.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from TechCrunch » Mobile To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
