What you need to know

• BlackBerry 7.1 and earlier devices stopped working today.
• The move was first announced in September of 2020.
• Devices can no longer make calls, connect to WiFi, and more.

Mark the date. Today, January 4, 2022 — that's the date when BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry OS officially became end of life (EOL) products and stopped working. And stopped working in a pretty final way, too. BlackBerry owners can no longer makes calles, send messages, or even use them for 911 calls as of right now.

The move was announced in September of 2020 but the two-year timescale has now come to an end and BlackBerry services are no more. That means that BlackBerry devices the world over are now deader than ever. And they were already pretty dead.

If by some miracle you're reading this with a BlackBerry in hand, you can learn about what's going down over on the BlackBerry website. But suffice it to say, the best iPhone feature right now is that it works — maybe it's time you treated yourself to that shiny new iPhone 13 you've been lusting after?

Today marks another nail in the coffin for a company that essentially owned the smartphone business back in the day — something that started to change on the day the very first iPhone was announced.

What you need to know

• Did you know that you can connect an iPhone to a BlackBerry?
• And if you did, what about transferring files?
• Turns out it works, and way better than you'd think.

Remember BlackBerry? Sure you do. It's the company that owned the smartphone market until Apple came along. Well, it turns out having your business taken away by a company you mocked isn't as bad as it gets. Having your phone dragged out to show just how interoperable a modern iPhone is – that's as bad as it gets.

And that's exactly what this video shows. We see an iPhone connected to a BlackBerry from the mid-2000s – admittedly, there's a dongle involved – with various files and whatnot transferred between them. You can even use an iPhone to install "apps" on a BlackBerry, apparently. I'm putting scare quotes around "apps" because let's be honest. These things aren't apps. Not like we've become accustomed to today.

Anyway, check the video out if you've a spare few minutes. Especially if you were around when BlackBerry's Mike Lazardis was looking down on the 2007 iPhone from his lofty perch.

Only to be knocked well and truly off of it.

Apple found unprecedented mainstream success with the iPod. 1000 songs in our pockets was just the beginning. But Steve Jobs never made the mistake of confusing Apple's products for its business. And he knew the iPod was just a product. 

The iPod was the smash hit of its time, to be sure, but time is relentless. Something was coming for it. Something that was more than just a product. A convergence. The phone combined with the mobile internet and, yes, with the MP3 player. An existential threat.

So, Jobs turned Apple towards the iPhone. And, at that moment, that very moment, BlackBerry was ended. We just didn't know it yet.

DENIAL

When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, BlackBerry's co-CEOs couldn't believe it. Not in the way you or I or most people couldn't believe it — how slick the new operating system and its multitouch gestures looked. But literally couldn't believe it as in they thought it wasn't real. Like at all.

The iPhone didn't evolve from the iPod. It inherited iTunes connectivity from the iPod, but it didn't evolve from it. Apple considered making an iPod phone, even had the head of iPod working on a phone as a hedge. But, instead, the iPhone evolved from OS X and a secret multitouch tablet project code-named Purple. It may have started off as a way to cannibalize the iPod before anyone else could, but it ended up being a way to put real apps and the real web in our pockets and in the palms of our hands.

RIM, as BlackBerry was known back then, evolved from the pager. It was meant to be a way for people to get their email on the road. Eventually, it added a keyboard, PIN and BlackBerry Messenger, a proxy browser that would do almost anything to save on data, and J2ME apps. It became the mobile communicator everyone who was in business or wanted to be simply had to have.

So, looking at the iPhone, with no physical keyboard, a display so big it just had to thrash battery life, a full-on web browser that would no doubt wreak havoc on the data networks, and with nothing like BBM — the hook that put that crack in Crackberry — they thought it had to be fake or simply massively ill-conceived. 

But, it turned out, BlackBerry was selling keyboards to people who were thirsting for full-screen content. They were selling to IT departments instead of humans in enterprises poised to go BYOD — Bring Your Own Device. They were selling internet accelerators in a world rapidly moving from the equivalent of dial-up to broadband. And they were selling BBM to people who ultimately decided switching chat apps was less painful than doing without everything else.

Increasingly people started carrying an iPhone and a BlackBerry when they had to. And when they didn't, just an iPhone.

ANGER

Verizon hard passed on the iPhone. And why wouldn't they? They were Verizon and they weren't about to let Steve Jobs dictate terms to them, much less support a device Apple wouldn't even let them see at launch. 

Cingular, about to rebrand as the new AT&T, was in a far more precarious position, and willing — or just desperate enough — to take just exactly that kind of risk.

Now, we can make all sorts of jokes about the early years of the iPhone on AT&T, and how the load was so far beyond the network capabilities that many people, many times, couldn't even use their phones as phones.

Having that many customers on the iPhone was a problem for AT&T. But it was a bigger problem for every carrier not named AT&T. And that was especially true for Verizon, which wasn't just losing customers to the iPhone and AT&T, but the best customers who were willing to buy the most expensive phones and plans.

Churn, baby, churn. 

So, Verizon went to BlackBerry and demanded an answer to the iPhone. And now.

BlackBerry, jammed up, Photoshopped a few different phone parts together, rushed back to Verizon, and showed them what would, in a terrifyingly short turn-around time, become the BlackBerry Storm.

Yeah, the one without Wi-Fi, and with the entire display mounted as a single, giant, physical button.

Where Google spun on a dime and adapted their modern, Android operating system to more iPhone-like implementations, and Palm and even Microsoft would eventually abandon their legacy operating systems to fizzle out fast while they rebuilt newer, more modern systems, BlackBerry stuck to their Java OS and just tried to stretch it out and adapt it as best as they could.

Now, not everyone could or would switch from Verizon to AT&T just to get the iPhone, so there was real business to be had for whatever not-iPhone Verizon was willing to put its massive weight behind at any given time. Be it the Storm, the Droid, and eventually what became the Galaxy line.

So, the Storm sold well. Too well. With no way to live up to the hype, and problems from design to execution, it soured many of BlackBerry's staunchest supporters and sent them running to AT&T and the iPhone and on to Android phones on Verizon.

BlackBerry had apparently code-named the Storm AK — the Apple Killer. But it turned out to be less than a bandaid, and the bleeding was just getting worse.

BARGAINING

Apple had Mac and iPod money. Microsoft had Windows and Office money. Google had AdSense money. Samsung… well, Samsung basically had nation-state level funding. Whether any of their phones were successful or not, went up or down, or would take time to take off, those companies could absorb any losses in a way single business, effectively phone-only companies like BlackBerry or Palm, even Nokia simply couldn't.

What's more, the iPhone was developed in secret. For years. It certainly wasn't fully formed when Steve Jobs dropped it on the world — it didn't even have the App Store yet, MMS, or copy-paste — but it had what really mattered: The interface and experience that made it so compelling. That made everyone who had one eager to show it off, and everyone who didn't and saw it, eager to get one.

But nobody outside Apple — hell, most people inside Apple — never saw the struggles, the thousands of failures that were overcome before the iPhone was even able to be shipped.

The moment Steve Jobs showed the iPhone off, though, every other company suddenly had to contend and compete with it. And very much in public. Every reaction, every step, every misstep, all under a giant, glaring spotlight.

We got to see a bunch of former Apple and iPhone team members, the ones who believed in physical keyboards and WebKit based interfaces and frameworks, go to Palm and birth webOS. We got to see fresh blood at Microsoft eschew the rich textures and photorealism Steve Jobs took from Pixar to make the iPhone more appealing and relatable to the masses, and create the digital authenticity of Windows Phone.

And we got to see BlackBerry realize J2ME wouldn't take them any further, and so buy the real-time QNX operating system, and start work on what would become BB10.

At the time, QNX was being used to run things that absolutely, positively could not fail. Nuclear plants. Submarines. The computer systems in cars. Its whole purpose wasn't to be fast or responsive but to be utterly predictable. It was a perfect machine without anything in the way of a human interface. 

Apple also wasn't standing still. Microsoft decided to sacrifice Windows Mobile exclusivity and license Exchange and ActiveSync to Apple. Apple decided to sacrifice the goodwill of its carrier partners by announcing iMessage, and cutting deeply into SMS and MMS revenues, supposedly the most lucrative legal businesses ever devised by humans. With iCloud to just sync it all.

And, just a year earlier, Steve Jobs had taken to the stage once again and introduced the iPad for it all to just sync with.

BlackBerry had dabbled with the idea of a big-screen companion device for its phones, but after seeing the iPad, scrambled to turn it into a full-blown tablet and, what's more, use it to debut what would become BB10. To test it so that the phones could keep flowing until it was all well and cooked.

To help build out the interface, BlackBerry bought the Astonishing Tribe, pixel and experience wizards of the time. But then showed up in suits and ties and minimized and micro-managed every ounce of wizardry out of TAT's designs. 

Apple had a single developer platform. So, BlackBerry decided it needed many. Apple wouldn't allow Flash on the iPad. So, BlackBerry decided it had to have that too. Apple had a simple, full-screen interface. So, BlackBerry decided it had to use a webOS style card-based interface.

Everything that the 20% of vocal internet pro users complained was missing from the iPad, BlackBerry embraced. Not considering that the lack of those things was exactly what made the iPad appealing to the other 80%, the mainstream.

It was a critical mistake common to almost every other competing tablet of the time. Which is why so few tablets are now left to compete.

Worse, shipping was proving so difficult that BlackBerry ended up neglecting its only successful product, its phones, just to get the tablet out the door.

The tablet that was meant to show Apple that amateur hour was over — that it was all pro-level business from that point on… that BlackBerry somehow ended up naming the PlayBook.

There would be no PlayBook 2.

DEPRESSION

BlackBerry 10 eventually made it onto the phones though it was never backported to the tablet. But it was too late. The Playbook didn't just burn out, it burned the phone business as well.

Instead of niching down on what it was best known for, what its customers loved most about it, what truly differentiated it in the market, BlackBerry decided to ship the first BB10 phone without a physical keyboard.

And the traditional BlackBerry phones, which the company kept making, took a turn towards the bizarre with the Passport. Shaped… like a passport. It wasn't a square but it also wasn't the slimmer rectangle every other phone had settled on.

Some tech pundits, the ones perpetually bored by iterative iPhone designs, applauded and encouraged BlackBerry for doing something different. Of course, few if any of them ever intended to actually buy one, or to help BlackBerry cover what listening to the internet instead of their core market cost them.

QNX's founder and CEO, and their vice-president of software, left for Apple. As did a lot of BlackBerry's best and brightest.

Eventually, BlackBerry Messenger ended up being worth more than BlackBerry phones but the company resisted making it multi-platform. 

There's this story about Steve Jobs, when his trusted lieutenants came to him and said, if they wanted the iPod to really succeed, they had to put iTunes on Windows. And Jobs said no. But they said Apple had to do it. And Jobs, trusting the people he hired, warned them what the consequences would be if they were wrong, but let them do it anyway.

If not for that, there may not have been an iPhone. At least not like we have now. 

BlackBerry chose not to make the same choice, the choice Microsoft had made with ActiveSync years before. BlackBerry chose to keep BBM exclusive to BlackBerry.

Right up until WhatsApp systematically copied every one of its features, took them all cross-platform, and ended up selling to Facebook for $19 billion.

BlackBerry eventually took BBM cross-platform. Of course, because BlackBerry had never imagined a world where people would have more than one device, BBM PINs were never designed to support multiple logins, and all manner of the most ironic workaround imaginable couldn't really fix that, not in time.

But it didn't matter. It was already too late. The world had moved on.

ACCEPTANCE

Very few countries have phone businesses. Even fewer have operating systems. With BlackBerry, Canada had a phone business and two operating systems, BBOS and QNX, including BB10.

But, with another new CEO, and not one from the product world but the services and enterprise world, both those things would change.

BlackBerry switched to Android, trying to tie its services and security model to Google's operating system. And they licensed out the brand to TCL who created a couple of keyboard-based phones with the logo for BlackBerry on them, but never quite the soul inside.

Until this week, at least, when TCL announced the end of its license and its BlackBerry phones.

And that's it. That's how BlackBerry ended. Because Steve Jobs could see what would end the iPad and decided to do it himself, and BlackBerry couldn't see what would end the BBM pager, and so were ended instead.

BlackBerry is now exclusive a software company but TCL — the same company that makes Alcatel — is releasing all-new hardware under the BlackBerry Mobile brand. That might sound complicated but the result is simple: BlackBerry KEYOne.

And yes, our very own CrackBerry Kevin was live at MWC in Barcelona to MC it.

I'm sure Kevin has 150,000 review with 47 videos and 19,000 photos on the way but, in the meantime, here's what Canada's own Daniel Bader had to say on Android Central:

There'll be a lot of 'dad jokes' harmed in the making of KEYone reviews — even though there's no indication BlackBerry Mobile will be including a 45-degree leather hip holster in the box.

I don't think anyone with eyes already set on an iPhone 8 — or whatever Apple calls this year's iPhone — will be swayed by KEYone. But I do think the CrackBerry faithful will want to give it a try. And like any classic comeback, that's where they'll need to start.

Check out the hands-on and let me know your thoughts!

BlackBerry KEYone hands-on

So you've been hanging onto BlackBerry for awhile, but you're ready to switch after seeing the shiny new iPhone. We can't blame you — iPhone is beautifully engineered and iOS has many great features, including a real focus on security these days. Plus, you can even get BBM on your iPhone these days. Right?!

Google, Exchange, and iCloud

The easiest way to transfer contacts, calendars, and notes is through a cloud service. If you're already using one of the many that are cross-platform, you can get your contacts over in just a few steps. If you're using Gmail as your primary account on BlackBerry, your address book and calendar should be ready to pull down to iOS with minimal effort - iCloud can handle all of that stuff too. If you're using contacts on another service, like Yahoo! or Exchange, the situation is similar.

1. Launch the Settings app on your new iPhone.
2. Tap Accounts & Passwords.

3. Tap Add account.
4. Select the account your current Mail, calendars, and contacts are on.
5. Follow the instructions to log in with your account credentials.

Once the account has been added, make sure you've enabled syncing for all of the data you want transferred to your iPhone.

1. If you're not already in your new account screen, tap Accounts in the upper left corner to go back to the Accounts screen.
2. Tap your new Account.

3. Tap the Mail switch to turn on and sync your email data. When it's on, the switch is green.
4. Tap the Contacts switch to turn on and sync your contacts data. When it's on, the switch is green.
5. Tap the Calendars switch to turn on and sync your calendar data. When it's on, the switch is green.
6. Tap the Notes switch to turn on and sync your iPhone's Notes content, which will appear in your email account under Notes.

Third party services

If you don't trust Google or iCloud, you can also use a third party BlackBerry app like InTouch to upload and restore content between devices, though there's little reason to trust them any more than Google or Apple. Pictures, music, and other files can be shunted over through the native Box apps on both handsets, or Google Drive if you grab PlayCloud 10 on BlackBerry.

Box even offers automatic uploads on BlackBerry 10 which makes it super simple to get all your photos and videos into the cloud. Once they are, just download the Box app for iOS and all your pictures will come down safe and sound, no cords necessary!

• Box for iOS, Free - Download Now

BlackBerry Link

If for whatever reason you can't or don't want to have your data sent up to the cloud you can side-load your contacts from your PC using BlackBerry Link. If you've already set up BlackBerry Link and are regularly backing up your data (wirelessly or otherwise), it's entirely possible that all of your data is already good to import through iTunes. If not, full details on using Link can be found here, but here's the play-by-play to get your contact and calendar data from your BlackBerry onto your computer.

1. Plug in your BlackBerry 10 device to your computer over USB.
2. Open BlackBerry Link. (Download it here if you don't have it already.)
3. On the left-hand side you will see Contacts/Calendars click that to be taken to the next screen, from there click Set Up Contact Syncing or Set Up Calendar Syncing
4. Pick either Outlook or Windows or Mac Contacts from the drop-down menu and click OK. Back up to step 3, and do the same for Calendar Syncing. Remember what you pick here - it's what you'll need to restore from iTunes later.
5. In the pop-up window, click Confirm and the process will begin.

Music, pictures, and videos can be handled similarly through BlackBerry Link, except they're backed up to iTunes.

1. Plug in your BlackBerry via USB.
2. Click the bottom tab for your BlackBerry device, and click the gear in the top-right. Check to make sure the Computer Import Folders are monitoring the same directory as your iTunes music, pictures and video libraries.
3. Ensure under the device tab that all of the content types you want to import are checked off, then on the left-hand pane, click Back Up Now.

To skip using BlackBerry Link, simply copy your files from your BlackBerry to your Mac or PC. Just plug in your BlackBerry, open up your file explorer on your computer, find the pictures, music, and video directories on your BlackBerry (by default on the SD card, but be sure to check the separate device storage), copy the directories, and paste them somewhere readily accessible on your computer. From there you can move the files to where iTunes can sync up with them appropriately.

Now comes the easy part - getting everything from iTunes onto your shiny new iPhone. The set-up process is largely unchanged from previous generations, which we've run through before here. If you've got iTunes, Outlook, and Photos hooked up to the data you've pulled down from your BlackBerry, this should be easy-peasy.

1. Download and install iTunes if you haven't already. You'll also need to sign up for an Apple ID if you don't have one.
2. Ensure iTunes has scanned and registered as much of your media to transfer as possible.
3. Power on your new iPhone, and log in with your Apple ID.
4. Follow the set-up instructions and sync with iTunes over either Wi-Fi or USB.

At that point, iTunes should start hauling in music, photos, and video. Contacts and Calendar items in Outlook are pulled in through iTunes as well.

1. Click the iPhone button in the top-left.
2. Click the Info tab on the left-hand pane.
3. Toggle all Sync Contacts and Sync Calendars.
4. Click Sync again in the bottom-right.

If they say they're being synced to the cloud already, then hop on your iPhone, go into Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and make sure the appropriate sections within each account (including iCloud) is disabled. Keep in mind, however, that syncing over the cloud is by far the easiest way to go about handling all of this stuff.

That's all there is to it. You should now be good to go with your brand new iPhone.

Still need help?

If you encounter any hiccups during the transfer process, our iMore forums are a great place to ask for and receive help. If you have any other tips, feel free to drop those in the comments below!

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got messaging apps, a web browser, Netflix and more!

New and updated iOS apps

• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe In Peril: An original story crossing the entire Marvel universe! Control Iron Man, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine and others as you try to stop Loki and other Marvel villains from assembling a superweapon. $4.99 - Download now
• Hatch 1.4: Hatch is a modern re-invention of the Tamagachi-style digital pets of yore. You hatch an egg, you care for your creature, and with the latest update, you can get enchanted toys, new decorations, and more! $0.99 - Download now
• Skype 5.1: The popular voice, video and text chat app gets the ability to remove conversations from recent, edit messages lets you add favorites from the favorites hub screen, and sports VoiceOver improvements for visually impaired users as well. Other general improvements too. Free - Download now
• BBM 2.2.1.24: Bug fixes and performance improvements to the BlackBerry Messenger software. Free - Download now
• Facebook Messenger 6.1: Facebook's instant messaging app. Calls are now more reliable, active people show up faster. Free - Download now
• Chrome 35.0.1916.41: Google's web browser, made for mobile. Compatibility with new iOS versions and stability fixes. Free - Download now
• Netflix 6.0: The popular streaming video service gets faster startup for video playback, UI refresh and bug fixes (along with a new icon). Free - Download now
• TextExpander 2.6: The touch version of the popular text shortcut app. Adds support for Fleksy, the alternate keyboard app. $4.99 - Download now
• Unread 1.3.1: RSS newsreader for iOS. Fixes several bugs, including one that caused shake-to-clear items to bream after viewing a web site. $4.99 - Download now

New and updated Mac apps

• Adobe Lightroom 5.5: Digital photo cataloging and editing software aimed at pro and prosumer photographers. Part of Adobe Creative Cloud. Support for syncing star ratings and custom sort order to Lightroom mobile, fixes for bugs and additional camera support. From $9.99 a month - Download now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

We knew that BBM for iOS would be updated soon, and the new version has indeed dropped (version 2.2.0.19), so make sure to grab the latest update if you're using BBM. What's nice to see here is that the initial sign up process has been made easier - something that many users have complained about since BBM went cross platform.

As you'll see below there are also a bunch of new features - including new emoticons - as well as some fixes and improvements.

New in this version:

• Simple sign up for new BlackBerry Messenger users
• New sign in screen for existing BBM users
• Improved experience for adding BBM contacts by mail
• Updates tab has been renamed "Feeds"
• 16 new emoticons
• Bug fixes and performance improvements

Have you switched over to using BBM as your main messaging system? If you have, or even if you're curious, our buddies over at Crackberry have some great tips for you!

• Free - Download Now

As expected, the latest version of BBM will begin rolling out today across BlackBerry, iPhone and Android devices. BBM 2.1 for iPhone is slated to bring with it BBM Stickers as well as some new features like pictures in multi-person chats and larger file transfers of up to 16MB.

The stickers will be available in both free and paid packs through the integrated BBM Shop. Packs will contain between 20-25 stickers and will be for brands like Shaun the Sheep and WWE.

• Download Now — Free

Press Release

BBM Chats Just Got More Fun with the Introduction of Stickers

Multi-Person Photo Sharing and Larger File Transfers Round Out New Features

Waterloo, ON - BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX: BB), a global leader in mobile communications, today announced an update of BBM™, a leading mobile messaging platform for private and secure communications, that allows customers to further personalize and enhance their chat experiences.

Available for download later today from the respective app stores for the Android™, BlackBerry® and iOS® platforms, BBM will now offer stickers – larger, bolder and more expressive images than emoticons – that BBM users can add to their BBM chats. Customers will be able to purchase and download sticker packs from the new BBM Shop found in BBM.

“Stickers are another great example of how we’re making the BBM experience more engaging and fun for our customers,” said David Proulx, Senior Director, BBM at BlackBerry. “Stickers let you personalize your chats and strike the right chord with people around the world who rely on stickers in chats when they connect with colleagues, family, friends, peers and partners.”

BBM customers will be able to download a variety of sticker packs right inside BBM from the BBM Shop. Each sticker pack contains between 20 and 25 stickers and features content developed by talented artists or relating to a theme or a character like CosCat, Gilbert’s Tales or Bubble Bot, as well as sticker packs featuring content from popular brands including Shaun the Sheep and WWE. To start, sticker packs will either be offered for free, or cost US $1.99, or an approximate equivalent amount in the local currency, and will be billed through the device’s app store.

With WrestleMania 30 just around the corner, WWE is planning to give away a free sticker pack to its fans through BBM. In addition, a free sticker pack created by BlackBerry featuring favorite BBM emoticons will be available to all BBM customers that download the new update. BlackBerry plans to add new sticker packs on a regular basis.

In addition to stickers, BBM customers can now easily share photos in multi-person chats*. Photos will be delivered in the chat as a thumbnail that can be opened to reveal the image in full size. BBM customers can also now send higher quality photos, videos and presentations thanks to larger in-chat file transfers. Files up to 16MB can now be shared in a chat, an increase of 10MB.**

Sebastien Marineau-Mes, BlackBerry's SVP of Software, is leaving the ailing smartphone manufacturer for brighter and warmer pastures: Apple. Or at least that's what he's trying to do, if it weren't for those pesky contracts. As revealed in a recent ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice document, Marineau-Mes began discussing leaving BlackBerry for Apple back in September 2013, and was formally offered the position of Vice President of Core OS in December.

He accepted the position and offered his written resignation to BlackBerry on December 23rd, advising them that he'd likely be heading out to Apple in two months time. That's where the legal dispute of BlackBerry Limited v. Marineau-Mes started, as per a contract signed by Marineau-Mes that gave him a promotion to BlackBerry EVP of Platform Development he was required to provide six months notice of his resignation.

To add insult to injury, that contract was signed on September 27, 2013 — both while BlackBerry was under a promotional freeze (except for when you really want to keep somebody) and while Marineau-Mes was in discussions about moving to Apple. So BlackBerry took Marineau-Mes to court, and the court agreed that he should fulfill his six-month notice obligation at the company.

We reached out to BlackBerry for statement:

Marineau-Mes came to BlackBerry in 2010 when then-Research In Motion purchased QNX and used that software to build the basis of the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10. BlackBerry insiders have long considered him to be one of the great talents on the team, and he's worked closely with QNX founder Dan Dodge for years.

It's hard to say what effect exactly this ruling will have on Marineau-Mes' status at BlackBerry and Apple. At the very least we can expect that it will push back his end date in Waterloo to June 23rd — or the 4-month delay could make Apple look elsewhere. For what it's worth, Apple's been down this road before. In 2008 Apple tried hiring Mark Papermaster away from IBM, but the transition was hung up on a no-compete clause that took several months to resolve. Apple's a patient company when they want to be, so if they really want Marineau-Mes, they'll wait. Until June.

The United States Air Force is replacing 5000 legacy BlackBerry smartphones with Apple's iPhone, and eventually all of their BlackBerry users will have to make the changeover. The announcement, reported by Defense News, comes as the future of BlackBerry within the Department of Defense is debated, with the chips seeming to fall on the side of transitioning away from a network supporting a mish-mash of BlackBerry 6 and 7 devices to a mix of modern devices — though apparently without BlackBerry 10 in that mix. The situation has changed dramatically since this time last year, when the Department of Defense was adamant they weren't dropping BlackBerry.

Brigadier General Kevin Wooten, the communications director for Air Force Space Command (which manages the Air Force's IT infrastructure), said that "in order to keep costs down and save on network resources, BlackBerrys will be turned in and shut off once the user is transitioned to an iOS device." Additionally, anybody who hopes to activate a new BlackBerry on the Air Force network will require approval from the Air Force Space Command. The general that's attached to his BlackBerry is going to have to write an awfully compelling memo justifying why he should get a new one.

Both iOS and Samsung's Knox-enabled Android smartphones have been approved for use on Department of Defense networks, though the process of adding those new devices has been slow. Given the nature of government purchasing contracts, that's little surprise. BlackBerry 10 has also received DoD approval. Transitioning the tens of thousands of BlackBerry smartphones onto iOS and maybe Android will take time and money, the latter of which the US government has been more prudent about than in recent years.

But it seems that either way, BlackBerry hasn't presented a compelling case to the U.S.A.F. The Air Force has long led the advancement of technology in the Department of Defense (they are the ones with stealth planes and satellites, after all), so where the airmen go, so too will the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the United States Armed Forces.

Source: Defense News

Initially having only arrived for iPhone, BlackBerry has now gone ahead and updated their BBM chat app to include support for the iPad and iPod Touch, though it's not real iPad support. The late arrival of the app on iOS doesn't seem to of have hampered its efforts though as BlackBerry has stated the app was downloaded over 10 million times in 24 hours between iOS and Android.

Although I'm still trying to figure out why folks would want to run the app on a device that possibly isn't always connected to the internet, it was one of the larger complaints when the app became available on the iTunes App Store so, it's nice to see BlackBerry actually address it and make the change for those who do want to run it. Other changes to the app have also come along for the ride:

• Improvements to right-to-left language support
• More options for sharing your BBM PIN Barcode
• Find your friends on other social networks who are also using BBM
• Fixes an issue where some users would be missing BBM contact names

The update has gone live now and is available for download. Should you decide to check it out, be sure to stop by the iMore Forums BBM section if you're looking for some cool groups to join or just looking for some new friends to chat with.

• [Free] - Download Now

My life is a series of dissonant beeps and buzzes. My friends and family contact me via Apple's iMessage or old-school SMS, which are at least both built into the same Messages app on iOS, and the former of which at least has a desktop app on OS X. We use Microsoft's Skype as our office phone system at Mobile Nations, so I that's firing away pretty much 24/7 as well (ironically, almost never because of our friends at Windows Phone Central). My colleagues over at CrackBerry use BlackBerry Messenger, so I get those too now. And, of course, the folks at Android Central use Google Hangouts, as do some of my legacy GTalk friends, so I get those in the Hangouts app, and erratically via Jabber in OS X Messages. (I get the occasional AIM there as well. Old school style.)

Twitter Direct Messages come in throughout the day as well. As do occasional App.net messages. Once in a while a Facebook message will join them.

Then there's the wide world of communications and chat apps which seldom if ever cross my radar. The KakaoTalk and Lines that are so popular in Asia, the WhatsApp and Pinger and WeChat as well. Hell, even the Snapchat. (This must be what my parents felt like after finding out what music I was listening to when I was a kid.)

Unlike email, there's no universal protocol that "just works-ish" in every client. Almost every messaging service is garden walled up unto itself. Even if I knew what Line was, I doubt I could just log in with my iMessage ID and suddenly have all my contacts and messages just show up in their interface. Or my Skype chats show up in BBM. Or whatever.

And that sucks, literally, because it means I have to either leave a multitude of battery-draining apps open and the notifications that go with them, or risk finding important messages too late to really do anything about them. It's fragmented. And, frankly, it's maddening.

So that brings me to this poll. How are you handling your communications? Your instant messages? Your chats? Are you using a multitude of services like me? Or have you gotten every that matters to you all in one place, and that's it? Vote up top and then give me the details below. How are you managing your messaging?

Now that BBM has officially launched in the App Store, you can start communicating with all of your friends across iOS, BlackBerry, and Android. BBM may look and feel a little different than the messaging clients you're already used to so here are some tips and tricks to getting up and running with BBM for iPhone:

• How to add a contact with BBM for iPhone
• How to find your BlackBerry PIN number
• How to update your status on BBM for iPhone
• How to access your BBM Barcode
• How to start a multiperson chat with BBM for iPhone
• How to send a message to multiple BBM contacts at once
• How to create groups in BBM for iPhone
• More BBM for iPhone help

How to add a contact with BBM for iPhone

Once you've created a BlackBerry ID and completed the setup process, you'll most likely want to start adding some contacts if you didn't do so while creating your BBID. Here's how:

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on the overflow icon in the bottom navigation. It is represented by three dots.
3. Now tap on Invite to BBM.
4. In the menu that pops up, you have lots of options when it comes to adding someone. Choose the method you'd like to use. If you know their BBM PIN number or they're with you and you can scan their barcode, those are the quickest options. If you don't have their PIN or aren't with them, you can use other contact info you have in order to add them. They'll receive a request and you'll get a confirmation once they've accepted it.

How to find your BlackBerry PIN number

BlackBerry gives you a PIN number that is uniquely yours. This 8-digit number identifies you alone on the BBM service. You can give friends or family members this and they can add you directly using your PIN. You were given this number when signing up but if you didn't write it down, that's okay, you can view it anytime you'd like through the BBM app. Here's how:

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on either Chats, Contacts, or Groups in the bottom navigation menu.
3. Now at the top of the screen, tap on your photo next to your name.
4. This brings up the My Profile screen which shows your PIN towards the bottom. Tap Copy PIN and then paste it wherever you need to.

How to update your status on BBM for iPhone

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on either Chats, Contacts, or Groups in the bottom navigation menu.
3. Now at the top of the screen, tap on your photo next to your name.
4. Type a status in the What's on your mind? box. You can also change your status from Available to Unavailable or something of the like directly underneath the *What's on your Mind** custom status section.
5. That's all there is to it. Closing out the My Profile page will then show your update status under your name at the top of the BBM app.

How to access your BBM Barcode

BBM lets you easily pull up a barcode that contains your PIN so someone else can scan it with the BBM app on their phone. Here's how to find it:

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on either Chats, Contacts, or Groups in the bottom navigation menu.
3. Now at the top of the screen, tap on your photo next to your name.
4. On the bottom of the My Profile page, tap on Show Barcode.

How to start a multiperson chat with BBM for iPhone

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Chat icon in the bottom navigation.
3. Tap on the overflow icon in the bottom navigation. It is represented by three dots.
4. Now tap on Start Multiperson Chat
5. Tap on the names of the contacts that you'd like to add and then tap Done at the top.
6. That's it. You've now created a multiperson chat with BBM.

How to send a message to multiple BBM contacts at once

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on either the Chat or Contacts icon in the bottom navigation.
3. Tap on the overflow icon in the bottom navigation. It is represented by three dots.
4. Now tap on Broadcast Message.
5. Fill out the info required and then tap Send when you're done.

How to create groups in BBM for iPhone

Groups are a great place to collect all kinds of things including chats, photos, events, and more. To create a new group to stay better organized inside BBM, perform the following steps:

1. Launch the BBM app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Groups icon in the bottom navigation.
3. Tap on the overflow icon which is represented by three dots.
4. Now tap on Create New Group.
5. Give it a name and a description and tap Save.

That's all there is to it. Your group will now show up in the main Groups section and you can start saving content to it.

Need more BlackBerry Messenger help?

If you still want help with BBM, you can find lots of general info over at our sister site, CrackBerry. You can also find help with other questions over at the CrackBerry forums or in our own iMore forums.

See also:

• Everything you need to know about BBM
• CrackBerry forums
• Find BBM friends

Chris Umiastowski, former sell-side analyst, talks to Rene about the state of the mobile market, including what led BlackBerry to the brink of sale.

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Show notes

• Chris Umiastowski on CrackBerry
• Chris Umiastowski on iMore

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• Rene Ritchie of iMore.com

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BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins was quoted today as saying tablets didn't have much of a future, product or market-wise. Given the huge, and still growing success of the iPad, even the idea sounds ridiculous. Here's what Bloomberg posted:

I love a good CEO-snap story as much as the next blogger. Almost every time Ballmer or Schmidt open their mouths, it's gold for everyone in our industry. Hell, the previous leadership at BlackBerry, co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, said amongst the dumbest things in the recent history of mobile. To see such affluent, powerful people come off as utterly out of touch with reality is about as great a shot of schadenfreude as it gets. So to think the only man currently responsible for a purely mobile computing company on the planet -- BlackBerry carries no legacy desktop or services business -- doesn't think there's a future in the most computer-like form of mobile technology today is... stupefying.

Granted, he wasn't talking about today, but about 5 years from now -- and the velocity of mobile makes it difficult if not impossible to predict the market even a couple of years out, never mind five -- but I'd put good money on the tablet having a bigger future than the desktop for most people, most of the time. That's why Steve Jobs reportedly said the iPad was the most important product of his life.

BlackBerry's version of the tablet, the PlayBook, hasn't been anywhere nearly as successful to date. I've gone on record as saying the PlayBook was probably an ill-advised distraction that led to BlackBerry being even further behind in the phone business than they might otherwise have been, and for BlackBerry it certainly doesn't seem to have been a good business model.

Here's BlackBerry PR's response:

And Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry sums it up this way:

The futurist in me wants to take that a step further, to where the computing is decoupled from device, and the "brains" are a constant thing we always have with us, hooked in everywhere, capable of being expressed as a phone or tablet or laptop or desktop or holodeck for that matter. All my stuff, existing everywhere, accessible everywhere, through any hardware interface available.

In that world, interface becomes commoditized. Panels, even beautiful ones, would be utterly interchangeable and transfigurable. In that future, what would an iPhone or iPad look like? What would an iTV or iWatch look like? Manifestations?

Yes, Heins' comment came off sounding ludicrous in the context in which it was presented, and if that's how it was given, he deserved the headlines he got this morning. But funny blog headlines only last a few hours or days. In the greater context, and in the way BlackBerry has been positioning themselves, and in the way Apple has been building out iOS, and in the way Microsoft could figure out 3 screens and the cloud, and in the way Google could take Android or ChromeOS, given some time and coherent thought, the idea of ultra-personal computing 5 years in the future is fascinating.

Feel free to lay into the CEO of BlackBerry in the comments if that's your thing, but also let me know -- where do you see the future of tablets and of computing in five years?

The BlackBerry Q10 represents the return of the original BlackBerry, and unabashedly so. Sure, it runs the same BlackBerry 10 operating system as the full touchscreen BlackBerry Z10, but it packs it into the classic, keyboard package every hardcore communicator and enterprise accomplisher knows and loves. But how does it compare to the iPhone 5, and if you're considering both -- which one should you get?

I've been using BlackBerry 10 on the Z10 for a month or so, and I've been using Kevin Michaluk's BlackBerry Q10 review unit quite a bit this week, and the modern multitouch experience translates better to the 720x720 display on the Q10 than I thought it would. The keys don't disappear when you launch a video or game, of course, and that means not only a list-views constrained to fewer items on the Q10, but 16:9 content is much, much smaller. Yet for the most part, BB10 handles it with aplomb, hiding what it can, scrolling what it can't, and letterboxing what it has to to get the job done. Just like traditional BlackBerry users expect.

On the other hand, the AMOLED display is sub-optimal and a compromise. It's a concession to battery life, which is the entire focus of a workhorse phone like the Q10, but it brings with it the problems in direct sunlight and the slight blue caste we've all learned to know and dislike about that particular screen tech.

The hardware keyboard is pretty much perfect. I'm not personally a fan, but for everyone who does still love QWERTY on mobile, the Q10 keyboard is very likely the best BlackBerry has ever produced. Once you get past the trackpad/trackball row going the way of the dodo, and the keys straightening out because of it, you be blasting away just as quickly, if not more quickly, than the days of BlackBerry gone by.

Apps are still sparse, and Android emulation is a stop gap. A lot of big name brands are already on BlackBerry, and more are coming, but I miss many if not all of the indie apps from iOS. That applies to Android just as much as BlackBerry -- the most interesting and delightful software is still being written almost exclusively for iOS.

BlackBerry 10 is also a brand new OS -- the newest in mobile now -- so while it has all the basics, and carries over a lot of the smart ideas from the Z10, it's still first generation and that means it squeaks a little when it turns around too fast. Sometimes you can't get into form fields. Sometimes you get weird errors. Sometimes it ignores errors and you wonder if that's okay or not. It is. Every modern mobile OS has been there.

No one who wants an iPhone will want a Q10. The Q10 is for those who long for that quintessential BlackBerry experience. It's for those for whom communication, especially enterprise communication, is the primary if not only purpose of a phone. It's for people for whom BBM and BES-based security is paramount. And that's a decidedly different focus than the iPhone.

The truth is, the Q10 is a hold-over from an old but not quite yet forgotten age. Hardware keyboards aren't a growth market anymore. Those who cling to them do so because immigrating to touch has proven challenging for them. Kids today, however, are be touch-screen native, and the Q10-style BlackBerry will fade as the Z10-style grows to take it's place.

But right now, today, I don't care. Right now, today, it's like watching your favorite hero from the past come out of retirement to kick ass once again, even if it's for one last time.

Go check out CrackBerry's coverage, then come back here and tell me what you think.

• BlackBerry Q10 review

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins claims that rapid advancements in the global smartphone market has left Apple trailing when it comes to innovation. Speaking exclusively to The Australian Financial Review ahead of the US launch of the new range of BlackBerry 10 handsets Mr Heins said last week’s launch of the Samsung S4, along with a wave of recent smartphone releases had reeled in the lead Apple used to hold in the market.

He went on to explain that one area where he felt that BlackBerry 10 devices had overtaken the iPhone was in the area of multi-tasking. Apple has its fast app switching which saves the state of an app without closing it. It allows certain apps like audio apps to run in the background. BlackBerry 10 devices do things in a different way and allow up to eight apps to run in the background and when you open a ninth app, one is automatically closed.

To be clear, BlackBerry 10 still has app launcher pages, just like Android still has an app drawer, they just have other areas of the Home screen experience, including BlackBerry Hub, that you can gesture through. It might be more complicated, but it's also more convenient.

There is no doubt that a lot of iPhone users are pinning a lot of hope on the upcoming release of the next iteration of Apple’s iOS firmware. Hardware appears to no longer be the difference in mobile technology; as all top end phones seem to have reached a really high specification. It's software and services that are increasingly important.

It is certainly going to be interesting to see how Apple will wow us with iOS 7 when we finally get to see it; hopefully in the not too distant future. Maybe then, it will put an end to comments about it being old and dated!

Source: The Australian Financial Review

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 is now available for download, and in recognition of the BYOD -- bring your own device -- trend spearheaded by iPhones and iPads, BES 10 will let you manage Apple devices as well.

There's a free 60 day trial available. Of course, enterprises aren't usually quick to update their server software, so it's hard to say how long it will take for BES 10 to gain significant penetration and traction, but if you're company is deploying it, let me know how it goes, how it works, and how you like it.

Meanwhile head on over to CrackBerry.com for everything you need to know about BlackBerry 10.

If you're looking at getting someone a tablet this year, chances are you're looking to get them an iPad. For most people, most of the time, the iPad remains the best combination of technology, experience, and content on the market. But which iPad should you get, the latest, greatest iPad 4 or the thinner, lighter, iPad mini? Should you consider an iPod touch instead? And what about alternatives? I Apple isn't the right answer, should you look at the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10, or an Amazon Kindle Fire HD, or a Microsoft Surface instead? Lets break it down.

iPad

The iPad is the first, successful, mainstream tablet. If you're considering getting a tablet for yourself or as a gift, this is where to to start.

Pros: High density screen. 720p front camera, 1080p rear camera. 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB options. Available with black or white front plates. Plays audio and video, reads ebooks. Runs iOS, all App Store apps, including hundreds of thousands of tablet-specific iPad apps. Weighs 652 grams. Starts at $499. Cellular/LTE available.

Cons: Heavier than iPad mini, not as powerful as a full-on laptop.

Bottom line: If you want something more accessible, enjoyable, and portable than a laptop, but still want a big screen and plenty of power to get things done, get an iPad 4.

More info: iPad 4 review & feature guide

Note: If you don't care about the latest and the greatest, you can grab the 2010/2011 iPad 2 with a worse screen, no LTE, and really bad cameras, and save $100.

iPad mini

The iPad mini is just like the full-sized iPad, only a little smaller and a lot lighter. It's a great alternative for people for whom the big iPad would be perfect... if only it wasn't so big.

Pros: 1080p rear camera, 720p front camera. 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB options. Available in slate (black) or silver (white). Plays audio and video, reads ebooks. Runs iOS, all App Store apps, including hundreds of thousands of tablet-specific iPad apps. Fits in purses, large jacket pockets. Weighs 308 grams. Starts at $329. Cellular/LTE available.

Cons: No high density Retina display, less powerful than iPad 4.

Bottom line: If you want a tablet but already have an ultralight laptop (like the MacBook Air) to lug around, or the full-size iPad is just too big and heavy, save some size and weight and get the iPad mini.

More info: iPad mini review & feature guide

• Starting at $329 - Buy now

iPod touch

While you might not think about the iPod touch as a tablet, it does everything a tablet can do, and still manages to fit in even very small pockets.

Pros: 720p front camera, 1080p rear camera. 32GB and 64GB options. Available in slate (black), silver (white), pink, blue, and red (Apple Store exclusive). Runs iOS, can play audio and video, read ebooks, and run hundreds of thousands of App Store apps and games.

Cons: No cellular option (3G/LTE). Can't run iPad apps. Smaller screen than iPad line.

Bottom line: If even the iPad mini is still too big, and you want your computing literally in your pocket, along with access to the App Store, get the incredibly mobile iPod touch.

• Starting at $299 - Buy now

Note: If you don't care about the latest and the greatest, you can grab the 2010/2011 model with a worse screen and really bad cameras, and save $100.

BlackBerry Playbook

If the most important feature for you in any tablet is price, the BlackBerry Playbook is absolutely the cheapest 7-inch tablet from a major player on the market.

Pros: 720p front camera, 1080p rear camera. Upgradeable to BlackBerry 10 in 2013. Wi-Fi version can be found for as little as $150 if you shop around.

Cons: No high density display, less software choice than iPad.

Bottom line: If price is your only concern, get the BlackBerry Playbook

• Starting at $150 - Buy now

More: BlackBerry PlayBook review

Google/Asus Nexus 7

If the iPad mini is a little too big, and the iPod touch is way too small, and you prefer Google to Apple anyway, the Google/Asus Nexus 7 is the best small Android tablet on the market.

Pros: Higher density display than iPad mini. Excellent integration with all Google services. Starts at only $199 for 16GB. Cellular option.

Cons: No rear camera. More like a big iPod touch than a small tablet (paucity of tablet-optimized interfaces/apps). No LTE.

Bottom line: If you use a lot of Google services, and Google Play has a lot of content in your area, the Nexus 7 is the best small Android tablet on the market, and a good "bigger" alternative to the iPod touch.

More: Complete Nexus 7 review

• Starting at $199 - Buy now

Kindle Fire HD 7

The Kindle Fire HD 7 is more media appliance than tablet, but if you're in the U.S. and all-in on Amazon's ecosystem, the Kindle Fire HD 7 is a low-cost iPad alternative.

Pros: Excellent for media. Cellular/LTE option. Starts at only $199.

Cons: Lower density display than iPad 4. Not as good for general computing. Only available in a handful of countries.

Bottom line: If you're looking for small, cheap device to read, listen to, watch, and play Amazon content, you want the Kindle Fire HD 7.

• Starting at $199 - Buy now

Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Like the Kindle Fire HD 7, only bigger -- though not as big as a full-sized iPad -- and with a cellular option, if that's important to you.

Pros: 8.9-inch high-density screen. Cellular option available. Starts at only $299.

Cons: Not as good for general computing. Only available in a handful of countries.

Bottom line: If you want to read, listen to, watch, and play Amazon content, but you want to do it on a bigger screen, get the incredibly cheap Kindle Fire HD 8.9. .

• Starting at $299 - Buy now

Google/Samsung Nexus 10

The Nexus 10 is slightly bigger than the iPad, and while it still lacks consistent tablet-optimized interfaces and apps, it's also slightly more like a traditional, multi-window computer than iOS.

Pros: Higher density screen than iPad 4. 720p front camera, 1080p rear camera. 16GB/32GB options. No LTE option (yet). Starts at $399.

Cons: Paucity of tablet apps, inconsistent tablet interface.

Bottom line: If you really want an Android tablet, and a big screen, get the incredibly cheap Nexus 10.

• Starting at $399 - Buy now

Microsoft Surface RT

While Microsoft's tablet remains confusing and confounding, if you absolutely can't decide between a Windows netbook and a tablet, the Surface might be worth checking out.

Pros: Has elegant Metro interface. Lots of ports. Can run Office. 32GB/64GB options.

Cons: Product line is needlessly complex. Requires touch-unfriendly Windows under-layer to run Office. Office is also touch-unfriendly.

Bottom line: The Surface is brand new and it usually takes Microsoft 2 or 3 generations to nail a product. Still, if you absolutely have to have something that's part tablet, part netbook, get a Surface with a Type cover.

More: Complete Microsoft Surface review

• Starts at $499 - Buy now

Which tablet are you getting?

If you're shopping for a new tablet this Black Friday or holiday season, are you sticking with the tried-and-true iPad? Going small with the iPad mini or even smaller with the iPad touch? Or are you zigging instead of zagging and getting something by Google ro Amazon or Microsoft instead? Let me know what you bring home, and why you chose the way you did!

Rene already expressed the opinion that if Amazon, Google, et. al really want to come at the iPad mini based on price, what they're really doing is telling people to buy a $150 BlackBerry PlayBook. So, in the interest of science, I picked one up to put it's through it's paces.

First off, the iPad mini is incredibly light, almost too light. I toss my PlayBook around a lot and the iPad mini feels as though I may break it I tossed it too hard. It's also really thin. Almost stupidly thin. I get why Apple opted to go with the smaller bezels and they do look great but overall, I would have preferred something a little thicker to grab onto. Landscape is fine but portrait annoys me. Apple says there's software to reject unintentional touch events, but it's still a pain point.

Like the iPhone 5, the iPad mini has that slick anodized aluminum backing on it. It looks good but it doesn't feel particularly grippy. I prefer the softer finish on the BlackBerry PlayBook and even the Google Nexus 7.

The BlackBerry PlayBook has a 1024x600 screen at 169 ppi while the iPad mini has a 1024x768 screen at the original iPhone's 163 ppi. A lot of people have been complaining about the lack of Retina display on the iPad mini, especially compared to the higher density Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire now on the market. I'm not really bothered by it. Some stuff looks better on the iPad and some stuff looks better on the PlayBook. Text, in my opinion, looks better on the PlayBook. It's all in the eyes of the beholder.

While the iPad mini has stereo speakers, a first for an iOS device, and that makes it less likely your hand will completely cover up the sound while playing a game or watching a video, the sound levels are still way to low. On the PlayBook, even if you do cover up the speakers, their loudness makes up for it.

Check out the video above for some more hands-on impressions and a quick run through of the iPad mini vs. the BlackBerry PlayBook. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments, and if you're a PlayBook owner who's also picked up an iPad mini, let me know how you think they compare!

Apple absolutely left an umbrella beneath the iPad mini's $329 starting price. From the moment they showed off the Google Nexus 7 on stage at the October iPad and Mac event, Apple was making the case that the iPad mini was worth more than smaller, cheaper competing tablets. Apple was arguing premium over discount, value over cost. It's the same argument Apple made against low-margin netbooks when they released the MacBook Air. And it's an argument that leaves Apple as wide open to competitors playing the "cheaper" card now as it did then.

Competitors can -- and already are -- claiming that they offer more for less with their products than Apple does with the iPad mini. Even if the argument is severely contorted, it can be compelling. For many buyers, price matters, and for some it matters the most. For some, price outweighs any other consideration.

That's the problem with it. If you compete based primarily on price, you can be competed against primarily on price. If you claim to be cheaper, but you're not the cheapest, you're going to reap what you've sown.

So while the iPad mini is indeed more expensive than the Google Nexus 7 or Amazon Kindle Fire HD, neither of them are the cheapest small form factor on the market, not even from a major mobile player.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is.

Sure, the BlackBerry PlayBook isn't the latest hardware anymore -- it's closer to the original Kindle Fire in specs than the Nexus 7 or any of this year's Kindle Fires -- but it's scheduled to be updated to BB10 in 2013 and that looks to be a much more functional tablet experience than what Amazon offers, and something that could rival Android for not-Apple in not-Apple lovers' hearts. Even the PlayBook as it stands today is arguably a better pure tablet experience than either the more-properly-defined-as-a-media-appliance Kindle Fire, or the "blown up smartphone" interface elements that still plague the Nexus 7.

And if you look around, you can find the Wi-Fi only version of the BlackBerry PlayBook on sale for only $150.

Sure, there are a lot of advantages to the Kindle Fire HD, especially if you're all in on Amazon and live in the U.S.. Absolutely, the Nexus 7 is the clear winner if you're a heavy Google user and want Android on your tablet.

But if you're arguing something other than value, if you're complaining that the iPad mini is way too expensive for a small tablet, if all you care about is the lowest cost, legitimate device possible, whether you're Amazon, Google, or anyone else -- right now you're arguing for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

When Apple announced iOS 6 at WWDC 2012 and showed off its 10 new tent pole features, the response was... mixed. Some were delighted by the new maps app and the Siri enhancements, thrilled with Facebook integration and Safari image uploads, and intrigued by the potential of Passbook. Others saw iOS 6 as more tock than tick, a minor point release rather than a major new OS version, inattentive to power-user problems, and a sign that Apple was slowing down.

With Google releasing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Microsoft readying Windows Phone 8, HP trudging towards open webOS, and RIM scrambling to get BlackBerry 10 done and shipped, the competitive landscape has never been hotter.

So, just like we examined the evolution of the App Store in a competitive context, let's compare iOS 6 to previous iPhone and iPad software previews, and to what the likes of Google, RIM, and Microsoft have shown off to date.

Apples to Apples

Experiencing an iOS keynote like WWDC 2012 today, and watching Senior Vice President of iOS, Scott Forstall, lay out the new flagship features for iOS 6 -- what Apple's has called tent poles in the past -- it can be hard to weigh them against flagship features of the past, and to judge them free from expectations.

When compared side by side -- or slide to slide -- with keynotes past, the impact of each step of Apple's iOS evolution become easier to measure.

iPhone OS 2.0 was announced during Apple's iPhone SDK Roadmap event on March 6, 2008. The numerous feature improvements were broken down into 4 large categories.

1. Enterprise enhancements
2. Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
3. iPhone SDK
4. App Store

During the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote on June 9, 2008, Apple announced a half-dozen new features as well as the MobileMe service and iPhone 3G-specific features:

1. Contact search
2. Quick look enhancements
3. Mail enhancements
4. Scientific calculator
5. Parental controls
6. Languages
7. MobileMe
8. 3G + GPS

Additional features were added post-launch with iPhone OS 2.1, released alongside the 2nd generation iPod touch, and iPhone OS 2.2.

Enterprise support and 3G networking made the iPhone interesting to a much larger market. The SDK and the App Store, however, transformed the iPhone from appliance to platform. It was and is so important, iPhone OS 2.0 remains the most significant software update to date.

Announced at the iPhone 3.0 Software Sneak Peak on March 17, 2009, iPhone OS 3.0 promised over 1000 new APIs for developers and more than 100 new user-facing features. 13 were highlighted:

1. In-app purchase
2. Peer-to-peer connectivity
3. Accessories access
4. Maps API
5. Push notifications (redux)
6. Cut, copy, and paste
7. Landscape
8. MMS
9. Voice memos app
10. Calendar enhancements
11. Stocks enhancements
12. Spotlight Search

At WWDC 2009 on June 8, the iPhone 3GS brought with it a some new, hardware-specific features as well:

1. Video recording
2. Voice Control

Post-launch, Apple added addition features with iPhone OS 3.1, released alongside the 3rd-generation iPod touch, and iPhone OS 3.2, which was exclusive to the then-new iPad device.

Cut, copy, and paste had been a sore spot for years. Scratching that off the list, along with MMS (everywhere except the U.S., thanks to AT&T), video recording, and push notifications (in lieu of multitasking) put the iPhone close to core feature-parity with existing platforms of the time. It meant fewer users had to choose between form or function any many -- Apple increasingly offered both.

iPhone OS 4.0/iOS 4

iPhone OS 4.0, as it was originally introduced at the Preview event on April 8, 2010, offered over 1500 new APIs for developers and 100+ new user-facing features. 7 tentpoles were highlighted:

1. Multitasking
2. Folders + Home screen wallpaper
3. Mail enhancements
4. iBooks for iPhone
5. Enterprise enhancements
6. Game Center
7. iAd

On June 7, at WWDC 2010, Apple renamed iPhone OS 4.0 to iOS 4, and also added a couple of iPhone 4-specific features.

1. 720p video and camera enhancements
2. FaceTime

Post-launch, Apple added additional features with iOS 4.1, released alongside the 4th-generation iPod touch, iOS 4.2 for iPhone and iOS 4.3 for iPad, which unified the platform, and iOS 4.3

FaceTime made for a great demo but Wi-Fi-bound video calling still hasn't gone mainstream. iBooks, iAds, and Game Center marked Apple's readiness and desire to subsume the content and services traditionally owned by competitors Amazon (Kindle), Google (AdMob), and Microsoft (Xbox Live). Multitasking scratched one of the last, and biggest remaining pain points off user wish-lists, however, even though Apple's limited solution didn't please everyone.

Apple waited longer to preview iOS 5 than any previous version of iOS -- almost 3 months longer. When it made its debut during the WWDC keynote on June 6, 2011, Apple announced 1500 new APIs for developers, and 200 new features for users, including 10 highlighted at the event, as well as iCloud, the replacement for MobileMe.

1. Notification Center
2. Newsstand
3. Reminders
4. Twitter integration
5. Camera enhancements
6. Photo enhancements
7. Safari enhancements
8. PC free
9. Game Center
10. iMessage
11. (iCloud)

On October 4 of 2011, alongside the iPhone 4S, Apple showed off a couple more, hardware-specific features.

1. 1080p video and additional camera enhancements
2. Siri

Since then, Apple released a minor iOS 5.1 point update.

iOS 5 was the biggest update since iPhone OS 2, severing the iOS' ties with iTunes and hooking in a proper server-side component with iCloud. Apple addressed the problem of their previous, modal alert system with Notification Center, and kicked the carriers right in the revenue stream with iMessage. While Newsstand hasn't proven to be the right solution for subscriptions, Siri brought an entirely new, natural language interface to iOS, even if in limited, beta form.

Back on a yearly schedule, Apple used the WWDC 2012 keynote on June 11 to debut iOS 6. Scott Forstall announced an unspecified number of new API, as well as 200 new features, 10 of which he highlighted on stage:

1. Apple maps
2. Siri enhancements
3. Facebook integration
4. Shared Photo Streams
5. Passbook
6. FaceTime over cellular
7. Phone enhancements
8. Mail enhancements
9. Safari enhancements
10. Accessibility enhancements

There were clearly no App Store-level feature additions for iOS 6. No PC-free/iCloud-level, or multitasking-level, or even cut, copy, and paste-level features when it comes to geek itches scratched or pain points soothed. No new Home screen interfaces or fast app switcher visualizations. No actionable notifications or methods for inter-app communications.

The iOS 6 flagship features showed that this year, Apple had different priorities:

• Continue Siri's intermediation and brokerage of search
• Cement ownership of iOS location data and maps services
• Outsource social sharing to services like Twitter and Facebook
• Prepare for the lucrative future of mobile payments
• Increase iOS support for the growing Asian markets

Still, we've only seen a preview of iOS 6. The big features, the big demos -- the stuff like FaceTime and Siri that Santa will be using in this holiday's iPhone commercials -- won't be revealed until the iPhone 5 event sometime around October.

More on that at the end...

Apples to Oranges Androids, BlackBerrys, and Windows

It's harder to compare iOS 6 to Android 4.1, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8, since they not only made different design choices and engineering compromises, they made different marketing decision about which features to showcase -- sometimes deliberately to counter-program Apple and/or each other. But for that very reason, to highlight the differences, the comparison is especially interesting.

At Google I/O 2012 on June 27, Google announced Android 4.1 Jellybean, which despite its point release label, packed a bevy of new features.

1. Project Butter
2. Home screen widget enhancements
3. Enhanced text input
4. Offline Voice
5. Enhanced language support
6. Accessibility enhancements
7. Camera enhancements
8. Android Beam enhancements
9. Actionable Notification
10. Search enhancements/Google Now
11. Platform Developer Kit (PDK)
12. Google Play enhancements

Google also used I/O to announce the Nexus 7 and Nexus Q, each of which have device-specific features and/or apps.

Every year, Google throws an incredible amount of new features, services, and enhancements at the product wall. It's the exact opposite of Apple's highly focused, less-is-more strategy. Not all of it Google's announcements stick, which Google well knows, but it moulds perception and caters to the power-user, technology-enthusiast crowd.

In that context, none of Jelly Bean key feature announcements were platform-shaking, but taken together, the pace Google is forcing -- often lapping their own hardware partners -- keeps the whole industry on alert, including Apple.

Given what Apple announced as a major release, what Google announced as a point release seems even more impressive.

BlackBerry 10 is a completely new operating system. RIM is jettisoning the old J2ME BlackBerryOS for the realtime QNX platform, with a modern, gesture-heavy interface, and API still being built to go with it. BlackBerry 10 was recently delayed from Q4 2012 to Q1 2013, yet some of its new features were shown off at BlackBerry World 2012 on May 1, as were interface builders from TAT, and more.

1. Flow interface
2. Predictive keyboard
3. Time-warp camera

RIM may have bought or licensed many of the new pieces, but assembling them will take a lot of first-party engineering. If they can pull it off, it'll be something truly refreshing, just like Windows Phone was in 2010, webOS was in 2009, and the iPhone was in 2007.

The BlackBerry 10 feature set will probably be small compared to iOS. Like any OS reboot, RIM is limited by time. No one can do everything at once. BlackBerry 10's use of gestures to maintain one-handed ease of use on larger screens, and to keep notifications and app switching instantly accessible is interesting, but It's way too late in the game for sheer novelty of interface to carry a platform, however, the way it did in 2007. But it could make Apple's 2007-era Springboard system and Home screen design look even more its age.

Windows Phone 8 was introduced by Joe Belfiore at the Windows Phone Summit on June 20, 2012. Re-architected to run on the same NT kernel and systems that runs Windows desktop, Windows Phone 8 won't run on older hardware, but it will enable a new generation of more powerful features. While not all features have been revealed yet, Microsoft has highlight 8 of them to date, along with some developer tools.

1. Modern hardware support
2. Internet Explorer 10
3. Native gaming support
4. NFC
5. Windows Phone Wallet
6. Nokia Maps
7. Business enhancements
8. Start screen enhancements

Microsoft has also announced their Surface series of Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro tablets. Unlike Apple, which shares iOS between phones and tablets, and runs OS X on computers, Microsoft is running Windows Phone 8 on phones and sharing Windows 8 between tablets and computers.

That difference in mobile divide, along with Microsoft doing a second smartphone reboot in as many versions, and Metro remaining as constraining as it is elegant, holds the platform back. Windows Phone is still very much walking a line between iOS-style control and Android-style flexibility, but consumers haven't yet found that to be the best of both worlds -- they're rather choosing one or the other. A lot of the Windows Phone 8 features Microsoft chose to highlight, like modern hardware and gaming, come off as core functionality catch-up at this point. Features will likely be added faster and more furiously from here on out, but until Microsoft is finally done rebooting, Windows Phone can't achieve the acceleration of iOS or Android.

Conclusion (iOS 6 release redux)

In 2007, iOS (then iPhone OS) was the newest mobile operating system on the planet. Now, with Android's post-iPhone redirect, and Palm, Microsoft, and RIM's post-iPhone reboot, iOS is soon going to be the oldest. That's how fast things are moving in mobile. Where Apple was once starting almost from scratch, and triaging table-stakes like apps, copy/paste, and multitasking over the course of years, they're now mature and focused on rounding out feature sets, reducing the friction of the user experience, and better controlling the destiny of their platform.

With the low hanging fruit gone, there remain higher-hanging fruit for Apple to execute on in the future, if they so choose. But they're not choosing to do any of that this year.

As for iPhone 5-specific features, or the features that will make it into the Santa commercials, we can look at the previous iPhone events for hints on what to expect:

• iPhone 3GS: Video recording and Voice Control
• iPhone 4: 720p video recording and FaceTime
• iPhone 4S: 1080p video recording and Siri virtual assistant

It's not hard to imagine the iPhone 5 will once again include a camera demo, perhaps Phil Schiller showing off automagical new Panorama software, and other optical wonders.

If rumors of Near Field Communication (NFC) pan out, and those are integrated into Passbook, and Apple can get high-profile retail partners on board, a shopping demo at the Apple Store, Starbucks, Disney, and/or Target could certainly qualify. If not this year, then perhaps next.

It's possible, however, that this year it's hardware that gets the tock to software's tick. Come fall, iOS 6 could be less about flagship features and more about what it's running on.

A 4-inch iPhone hardware with a 16:9 screen, LTE networking, and new design, in-and-of-themselves are highly demonstrable. And if there is a surprise come this fall, rather than a blow-away new software feature, it could just be one more, small thing.

• iOS 6 and the App Store: Apple's multi-billion dollar balancing act
• iOS 6: Higher hanging fruit

NFL players and coaches are starting to embrace the iPad to assist in game day preparations. The Denver Broncos appear to be the first team to reveal that they use it as a digital playbook rather than just an entertainment device according to TNW.

We can see the iPad rolling out across the world as the future for communicating sporting tactics to team players and coaches; it just makes so much sense. Firstly there is the environmental impact, no paper is a good thing as it cuts down on the destruction of trees and forests. Paper is always very easy to lose and render unreadable after heavy use. As with any sort of confidential printed material, if it gets in the wrong hands, it could be a major problem. Thankfully the iPad can add an additional security layer over this problem too. A remote wipe could be initialized if the iPad somehow made its way into the wrong hands.

In my opinion it is only a matter of time before we see a much more widespread adoption of iPad's in mainstream sports. It makes so much sense to equip players and coaches with constantly updating information on a small easy to carry tablet. Maybe it will start to roll out in the World's Soccer leagues too, it could be extremely useful not only for tactics but for other things too. FIFA has finally approved the use of goal line video technology this week to provide proof if a ball has crossed the line or not. Maybe the iPad could be the solution to accessing this type of data on the fly; we will have to wait and see. Have you noticed any of your favorite sports teams using the iPad? Let us know if you have!

Source: TNW

Remember those stories about BlackBerry maker RIM working on what they internally referred to as an "Apple Killer"? Remember how that turned out for them with the BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Torch? Well, it turns out everyone has Verizon and AT&T to thank for that. Shocking, right?

A new round of interviews with former RIM employees has revealed that AT&T and Verizon had recruited RIM to make an iPhone competitor. We all know how that panned out. Verizon's earlier efforts resulted in the BlackBerry Storm, while AT&T's created the BlackBerry Torch. Vodafone had also collaborated with RIM to specifically launch something that could give iPhone a decent fight. Why would AT&T, which at the time had an exclusive lockdownon the iPhone, and Verizon, who had been clamoring for it, want to go out of their way to create a competitor? Supposedly carriers were worried that "the wild popularity of the iPhone could give Apple outsize influence in the market," which I take to mean Apple was throwing its weight around a little too liberally for the new guy on the block, and service providers needed to prove they had alternatives in order to maintain any bargaining leverage against Apple.

At the time, AT&T's network was in shambles, and maybe they hoped to offset some of the load with a device that offered efficient data compression. Verizon had some time to kill before AT&T's exclusive ended, so any phone (BlackBerry, Android, or otherwise) that would be an asset to keeping subscribers from drifting away. Apparently co-CEO Jim Balsillie saw and ignored a report in 2010 that warned virtual keyboards made popular by the iPhone would pose a serious threat. Balsillie also wasn't worried about the bring-your-own-device trend in businesses after seeing another similar internal report. Now RIM's device management solution supports iPhone and Android, and Balsillie's later plans to license usage of RIM services to other manufacturers were cut when Heins took up the CEO position.

Things are looking grim for RIM now that their next generation smartphones won't see the light of day until next year. Considering Heins is fully investigating licensing and acquisition deals, BlackBerry probably won't have another chance to compete against the iPhone or iPad. Can they finally nail it with BlackBerry 10?

Source: WSJ

A clever dev has managed to shoehorn full-blown iOS apps onto the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Such App Store titles as Tiny Tower, Super Monkey Ball, TomTom Navigation, Sushi Cat, iFart, Frogger, Galcon, SketchBook, and a few others. Oh, and the iMore app, of course. This has been made possible through a kind of iOS player that a developer has managed to get to work on Windows too. The dev has gone into a few technical details as to how they've pulled off this feat.

Obviously, this is all well outside Apple's interests, but it may be within RIM's; after all, they made lots of accommodations to bring in Android apps into the BlackBerry ecosystem, and though there's no direct porting of iOS apps, RIM has generally been good about getting cozy with middleware providers that also happen to support iPhone and iPad apps. There's still a lot of work to be done in the emulation environment, so don't expect anything soon. Even if it's polished enough for the public, the dev says "I would like to release to the public, but not sure if I will be able to."

Although the solution to do this isn't publicly available, it poses a fairly grey area for users. During the hayday of PlayBook rooting, there were lots of leaked versions of Android apps floating around, some paid, some not, and if this solution ever goes public, we would likely see a similar boom in app piracy. Those that picked up a PlayBook while it was cheap would be happy to get a bit of added functionality out of it, but I doubt anyone will go after a PlayBook or a BlackBerry 10 device for its iOS app support - just get an iPad, or if you're really married to the 7-inch form factor, hold out for the iPad Mini.

As someone who has put a fair bit of time into the PlayBook, I find it's impressive that the development environment is proving to be this flexible. I was always a fan of the bezel gestures on the PlayBook, and despite all the bad press, the app ecosystem is starting to pick up. Heck, BB10 might even get Jetpack Joyride before Android. What do you guys think the prospects are for BlackBerry 10 and the PlayBook in light of iOS 6? Will RIM actually be able to rope in developers?

Gartner has just published their findings from looking at the supply chain strength across manufacturers worldwide, and Apple still tops the list. The ranking was based on a survey of 173 peers, 37 Gartner research opinions, a three-year weighted return on assets, the number of inventory turns each year, and three-year weighted revenue growth. This earned Apple a composite score of 9.69, compared to Amazon's 5.4 (which earned them second place), Samsung's 3.67 (13th place) and RIM's 3.00 (19th place). Apparently the inventory turn score means that iPhones, iPads, and other Apple hardware only sit in a warehouse for five days before being shipped off to an avid customer. Samsung's inventory turn was 17.1 according to Gartner, while Apple's was 74.1 - that should give you an idea of how much faster Apple can pump this stuff out. Let's not even get started with RIM's inventory issues.

A big part of being able to do this kind of thing is called just-in-time delivery, which means Apple is only making products as the orders come in. Of course, this means that iPhones, iPads, Macs and other products need to be pumped out very quickly, but it ensures that no inventory goes to waste by gathering dust in a warehouse and depreciating in value over time.  I can only imagine how hard it is for Apple and Foxconn to keep making these products fast enough to keep up with demand, nevermind doing so with such efficiency.

It's crazy to see Apple's beating out giants like Wal-mart, Coca-Cola, and McDonald's with logistical stuff like this, but with Tim Cook's history in operations, you can only imagine Apple's strength in this area improving. Apple has an iron grip on its manufacturing processes in China, but humanitarian needs may put a slight damper on the blistering speed of their factory output.

Source: Gartner via BusinessInsider

What will Apple bring to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with iOS 6? What will be the "tentpole" features to take Apple's mobile software into 2013? With WWDC 2012 coming in just over a week, and an iOS 6 beta widely expected to come with it, now's the perfect time to take a look and see what makes sense.

We've already seen some of what is likely coming in iOS 6, including a new version of the Maps app that replaces Google data with Apple data. It wouldn't surprise us in the least if it brings turn-by-turn navigation with it either, by way of Siri...

But what else could Apple bring with iOS 6?

Making smart choices

No company can do everything at once. Opportunity cost means that when you spend time developing feature A, you can't spend that same time also developing feature B. Even if you pull engineers from other projects, even if you work around the clock, there are limits to how much any company, even Apple, can do at one time. You have to choose. The key is choosing smartly.

When Apple launched the original iPhone in 2007, it didn't have many of the traditional features that established smartphone platforms had for years already. But it didn't matter. The revolution in user interface was enough that people simply didn't care (or were willing to carry two devices to make up for it.)

Obviously, prioritizing the multitouch interface was the right choice to make.

Apple then proceeded to add back those smartphone staples. Among other things, iOS 2 (then iPhone OS 2) got the App Store, iOS 3 got MMS (outside the U.S.), video, push notifications, and copy and paste, iOS 4 got folders, better email, and limited 3rd party multitasking, iOS 5 got better notifications, Siri voice control, and went PC free with iCloud.

The rest of the industry didn't stand still, however. Android was released and is now at version 4.x, Ice Cream Sandwich, with more on the way. Palm rebooted with webOS, and while their business failed, their interface work was more than impressive. Microsoft rebooted with Windows Phone and let the world know that some people in Redmond did indeed have taste. And now RIM is poised to reboot with BlackBerry 10, and take gesture-based phone interfaces to the next level.

Interestingly, many of the newly rebooted operating systems lacked -- and some still lack -- all the features of their predecessors. And because they rebooted, Apple's iOS, once the new smartphone operating system on the block, is now one of the oldest.

That doesn't mean Apple can and should replicate each and every feature of their competitors. I'd argue many of the ones listed below shouldn't be copied, perhaps shouldn't even be re-imagined with an iOS twist. But they should be considered. Apple is famous for saying "no" more than they say "yes", but they're just as famous for the arduous design and prototyping process they go through to get there.

In fact, as we approach iOS 6, Apple might have already reached feature parity, and it might be hard to look at other platforms and see what else needs to be matched -- that there's no longer any low hanging fruit.

But what about the (slightly) higher hanging fruit?

What iOS could take from Android

Android isn't a singular phenomena the way the iPhone is. There are multiple versions of Android currently on the market, and multiple manufacturer interfaces layered on top of them. Still, there are a few common threads in Android that iOS could draw inspiration from.

The current iOS Home screen system (Springboard) is an app launcher. With very few exceptions, an icon on an app launcher tells you only which app will launch when and if you tap it. They're static images and there's typically no information about the current state of the app, or any relevant data beyond the static image.

In the case of Apple's iOS, Calendar will show you the current date on its icon, and Apple created a badging system to overlay the number of outstanding alerts an app has pending. But that's it. With Notification Center, with a little extra effort, you can pull down snippets of those alerts, and see widgets for Weather and Stocks. However, the level of immediately available, glanceable data remains low.

While Apple has widgets in Notification Center and Siri, Android lets you pin them to Home screens as well.

The iOS Home screen isn't designed as a place to hang around, but as a launcher to get you quickly into apps. With widgets, however, you don't have to get into apps to get high level data, and sometimes that's more efficient. If rumors of a 16:9, 4-inch iPhone are to be believed, there could also be an extra 117 pixels on the Home screen to house a swipe-able widget space.

Here are some more examples and concepts for what Apple could do to with the Home screen, both in general and if they do go with a 4-in, 16:9 display.

• Is it time for Apple to revamp the Home screen?
• The 16:9 iPhone

Direct file access

If I start writing an email in iOS, then decide I want to attach a document, I can't. It's not just difficult, it's impossible. Even if I trash the email, go to a document app, and share via email, I can only share what's in that app. I simply can't attach a Keynote, PDF, and image file to an email in iOS. I can only send out a bunch of emails, from a bunch of apps, with the document they support.

Likewise, If I have a text document in iOS, I have no way to directly access that text document. I have to go to an app and hope that I can access the document from that app. If I created a text document in Simple Note, I have to remember I created it in Simple Note because chances are I can't easily open it in Drafts, much less in Apple's Notes app. If I have a Document in the Cloud, it's the same problem only worse. I can't just see Documents in the Cloud. I have to keep a mental list of what I've created over time and their associations, which is a lot of overhead for something that's supposed to be simple.

A document picker, done almost exactly the same way iOS currently handles the image picker, and a Files.app with an interface in the same spirit as the Photos.app would go a long way to making iOS more convenient. Here are some examples:

• How Apple could provide direct document access in iOS 6

Right now if an app, any app, even a built-in Apple app, wants to know your location, it has to ask for permission. If it wants to send you Push Notifications, it has to ask for permission. If it wants to access Twitter integration, it has to ask for permission. If it wants access to any of your personal information, however, like Contacts, it doesn't have to ask at all.

Just like with Push Notifications back before iOS 5, however, the popup requester system doesn't scale. If you launch a new Twitter app for the first time, you get popup after popup, asking you to tap to approve Twitter account access, location, and Push Notification. Imagine when Contact access, Calendar access, and conceivably other information is added to the list. As the number of popups grow, the likelihood that a user will read and consider each one falls precipitously. They'll just start tapping through to get to their app.

Here's an attempt at a better solution beyond popups, and beyond Android's overkill, using a permissions sheet:

• iOS 6 and privacy: How Apple should draw inspiration from Android for better app permissions

More personalization options

Android has a stock interface, but with manufacturer layers like Sense, TouchWhiz, and Blur, alternative keyboards like SwiftKey and Swype, and many other options, you can usually change the appearance of your phone.

Apple won't be making a Theme Store any time soon, but they could increase customization options in Settings, even if only for the Home screen and built-in apps (UIKit). Rather than Aqua and Graphite like OS X, they could even call upon iOS conventions...

Here are some examples of the default iOS interface (UIKit) made-over in felt, leather, linen, wood, silver, and more.

• iOS 6: A fresh coat of paint

What iOS could take from BlackBerry

The traditional BlackBerry OS is a dinosaur soon to go the way of the dinosaurs, but there's still a few things iOS could learn from the old beast. Likewise, BlackBerry 10 won't be out until later this fall -- maybe around the same time as iPhone 5 and iOS 6 -- but what little we've seen of it shows potential.

What if I want my iPhone to beep and buzz if my wife calls, but to go dead silent if it's my mother-in-law? What if I want different tones or vibration patterns for work and personal email, or for my boss's or partner's email? What if I want notifications to demand my attention during the day, but mute themselves and let me sleep at night? What if I want a work-centric set of options when I'm at the job site, but a I don't want work following me home? While iOS currently has per-app settings for notifications, it doesn't have anywhere near BlackBerry's level of granularity.

That leaves implementing more specific settings up to individual apps, like Tweetbot and it's sleep options. iOS could handle that, both globally (a Notifications on/off toggle), per Contact, and including time and location.

(And, in the name of all that's civilized, there should be a way to suppress notifications when on a call so we no longer feel the shock of an unexpected tone/vibe combo punch to the ear.)

Arguably this might all be better handled as part of a greater iOS time- and location-based profile system that includes additional elements like network settings, Home screen layouts, and more but functionality always needs to be balanced by simplicity. While more granular notification options sound more complex, examples already exist in iOS -- like per-Contact ringtones -- that could be built out.

With BlackBerry 10, RIM is trying to solve the problem of maintaining one-handed ease-of-use on larger screen sizes. For example, reaching all the way to the top of the screen to pull down the Notification Center shade is just doable for most users on a 3.5 inch screen, but as screens blow past 4 inches and approach 5, it breaks down. Like on the iPad's 9.6 inch screen, it requires a second hand.

RIM is relying far more heavily on gestures as a way around this. Start swiping with your thumb from offscreen to on, and a transitional notification bar comes up letting you "peek" at your alerts. Keep swiping, and it takes you into the messaging center where you can handle them. Swipe the other way, and you're in the app switcher grid, and then the app launcher.

Gestures are typically much harder to discover than buttons, and suffer from the potential for collision between system and app, (e.g. trying to slash something in Fruit Ninja and ending up in Mail), and the limits of manual dexterity and accuracy on small screen sizes.

That's probably why Apple restricted gesture shortcuts to the iPad in iOS 5 (and to developers only in iOS 4). However, there should be a balance that can be reached where gestures allow more advanced, adept users to more quickly navigate and triage elements of the OS and apps, even if the gestures to do so remain gross and few.

What iOS could take from webOS

webOS debuted at CES 2009 and was shown off by former Apple executive, Jon Rubenstein. It was the most impressive mobile product introduction since the iPhone in 2007, in part because Palm seemed to specifically target things the iPhone wouldn't, or couldn't yet do. And to this day, webOS still does some of those things better than iOS.

The current iOS fast app switcher does a good job listing open apps by putting them in a horizontally scrollable list, sorted in reverse chronological order. It does a great job making them easy to visually distinguish by using their icons. It does an okay job making them quick to switch between -- great if they're chronologically proximate, like jumping back and forth between two to four apps. (It's basically alt/cmd + tab for mobile, with some controls thrown in.) It also lets you kill apps.

webOS uses a metaphor called Cards, the early implementations of which showed one app or window (e.g. a website or email) in very similar fashion to iPhone Safari Pages. You could horizontally swipe between them but could also, very naturally, touch and flick a Card away to close an app or window. Palm later expanded the Cards visualization beyond what Apple did with Safari Pages by introducing Stacks in webOS 2.0.

It's a more approachable, more informational way of showing open apps and their state, and a more natural way of navigating and closing them. That's probably why Apple chose it for Safari Pages in iOS 1., and why almost every major OS uses some variation of it today. It's also probably why Apple supposedly experimented with a grid-based, Exposé version of it in iOS 4 before settling on the current, Dock-based model.

As the iPhone continues to evolve, and the mainstream market becomes more mobile-sophisticated, it could be worth re-assessing fast app switching on iOS.

Here's a more complete rundown of the history of fast app switching in mobile, and what some of those concepts might look like rendered in iOS.

• iOS 6: Is it time for Apple to revamp the multitasking fast app switcher?

My iCloud, Gmail, and Exchange contacts currently sit in the Contacts tab of my Phone app and in the Contacts app proper. My Twitter contacts have been recently integrated with them, but my Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social contacts still live in their own apps, though they can impregnate themselves into my Contacts app resulting in varying levels of chaos and confusion. It's a mess.

webOS Synergy handles this much, much more elegantly. You enter you account info, much as you do for email and Twitter in iOS now, but also Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sources that plug in to the system. Then all of that information is kept in neat silos behind the scenes, but presented as a unified view in the interface. I don't have to care where any particular bit of data comes from -- Gmail, Facebook, whatever -- I just see it all in one place, and any time any of those sources update, I see the updates.

Taking it a step further, messaging could be unified as well. Rather than having to go from Messages to Twitter to Facebook to Mail to see what Leanna is saying, a unified view of recent public status updates and private messages could be presented.

If I said something, and a contact of mine wants to find it, it makes a lot more sense for them to go right to my card than than to jump to and scour through a half dozen separate apps.

webOS still handles the arrival of notification banners, and the subsequent stacking of them, in a more elegant manner than iOS. But there seems like much more that could be done.

Currently, in iOS, notifications aren't actionable within the notification system. I can't "quick view" a Tweet or a Facebook message, I have to go to the Twitter or Facebook app. I can't "quick reply" to them in-app, I have to go back to the associated apps to respond. That either causes me to ignore messages I may not really wish to ignore, or to wrench myself out of what I'm doing to go handle them immediately.

By contrast, jailbreak apps like BiteSMS let you quickly respond to a text no matter which app you're in. Your app (or game) pauses, a text entry box is overlayed, you enter your message, you hit send, and you're current app resumes. With apps like LockInfo, you see an email notification, and you can tap a button, and read it without even unlocking your device.

Those may seem like subtle differences -- a pause of state rather than change of state and back -- but in practice it's far more efficient. It reduces a lot of friction, and makes the experience far, far better.

Here's some more behind the idea:

• iOS 6 wants: The opposite of widgets

What iOS could take from Windows Phone

Currently the only way for iOS apps to exchange information is via the limited URL schemes protocol. Some amazing things can and have been done with it, perhaps none better than Launch Center and the upcoming Launch Center Pro. However, developers and users keep knocking their heads against that "limited" part.

Windows Phone 8 will employ something called "contracts", which will allow sandboxed apps to communicate with each other under certain, secure circumstances. For example, Instagram could present itself as a camera option, Sparrow as an email client, Elements as a text editor.

Then, other apps can hand off to those apps when they want or need to. We already see this done as a work around in iOS, for example, Tweetbot now gives you the option to take a photo with Camera+ instead of the built in Camera app, if you have Camera+ installed. The aforementioned Launch Center lets you tap a button to jump into an app and start an action, for example launch Tweetbot right into the new tweet sheet, or launch Safari right into a specific search.

It's tough to see Apple letting users set their own default apps, for example, set an alternate default browser to Safari. However, it's easier to see Apple creating a more robust system for inter-app communications than URL schemes.

Microsoft is still kicking and screaming its way out of decades of disparate, non-interoperable systems, but they're starting to get it right. Xbox Live is an example of that. Sure, it costs a silly $50 a year for the far more useful Gold version, but it's otherwise well executed and is being pushed from TV to mobile with increasing efficiency.

Sure, Microsoft botched things badly by not calling their new mobile devices Xphones and having Halo-branded, Halo playing versions available at launch, but what they lack in smarts they make up for in tenacity.

Luckily for them, gaming is something Apple doesn't yet "get". But Apple's also showing signs that might change. Apple has already announced they're bringing Game Center to OS X Mountain Lion, for example.

But it needs to do more. Game Data sync, via iCloud, across devices is a start. If I'm playing Angry Birds on iPhone, I should be able to pick up my iPad and keep going, and then switch to Mac and keep on keeping on.

Cross-platform multiplayer will be a must-have soon as well. If I'm at the coffee shop gunning in N.O.V.A on my iPhone, I should be able to pwn Chad at home on his iMac, and Georgia at work on her iPad. (And, eventually, Simon on his Apple TV as well.) And hey, voice chat and beacons to let friends know what you're doing, and when, and to talk while doing it, would be nifty.

It's a lot of heavy lifting, but it's heavy stuff that needs to be lifted. (And yeah, I wouldn't say no to niftier avatars either.)

Better non-gaming network

Xbox live, wisely, wasn't called Xbox Gaming Live, because it's used for more than just gaming. All of Microsoft's living room ambitions are channeled through it, from Netfilx to social parties.

Even less than Apple gaming, Apple has repeatedly shown they don't understand social yet. Apple chose not to call their network Apple Live, but Game Center, for example. And they released Ping. But they do seem to know it's important. They're partnering with Twitter and might one day partner with Facebook. But Apple tends to like to own core technology.

iCloud is a good example and a good start towards a personal cloud. It needs an accompanying social cloud. Not just for sharing personal data like Calendars and Photo Streams with spouses and partners, but to share everything -- movie watching, music listening, app usage. Everything.

What iOS could take from jailbreak

Instead of competing platforms, Apple can also draw inspiration from their own platform -- as it's been tweaked and modified by jailbreak developers. They've done it before, so there's no reason they can't do it again.

A lot of it is similar to what I've already listed above -- the jailbreak community has been picking the slightly higher hanging fruit for years and years. The way they've implemented it is often different, however, and often several different implementations exist. That makes it an incredibly fertile ground, and a free, pro-level beta pool for Apple when it comes to large scale testing deployments of new features and interfaces.

Here's more on what Apple could explore from the jailbreak community this time around:

• Jailbreak concepts Apple should implement in iOS 6

What iOS could take from OS X

For a while now Apple has been working to take iOS "Back to the Mac" -- to take what worked best in iOS in general, and the iPad in specific back to the Mac. To make an Apple experience that's more consistent across their two platforms.

But how about a little quid pro quo? There are several aspects of OS X, including some of what's being implemented in Mountain Lion, that would be great to see in iOS.

The thing most power iPhone users have dreamed of since the original, no-third-party-apps iPhone launched in 2007 -- the thing that led to the jailbreak scene -- is the ability to side-load apps. The ability to run apps not approved by Apple. The ability to run app that come from outside the App Store.

With Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion, users have a choice -- run only App Store apps, run App Store apps and non-App Store apps signed by identified developers, and run any app, no matter where it comes from. The App Store provides a lot of security -- it minimizes the chance for malware or other malicious software. It creates user trust. Non-App Store apps signed by identified developers is a good middle-ground, however. They don't need Apple approval but if any of them are found to be malicious, their certificate can be revoked.

Unfortunately, I don't think Apple would do this. It wouldn't really change the type of apps that are available -- for example, the system-level hacks of jailbreak -- and it would almost certainly lead to developers cutting Apple out of the 30% share of app sales Apple takes to maintain the App Store. Apple has shown they're not fond of end runs around the App Store for subscriptions, and they'd likely be even less so for paid apps.

• FaceTime conference calls. Like the iChat that Mountain Lion kills off, the big iPad screen -- especially a Retina display on a quad-core iPad 3! -- should allow for multi-person calling.
• Print to PDF. A built-in PDF printer option, perhaps added to AirPrint, that goes right to Documents in the Cloud, would be great for everything from Mail to Safari.
• Per-account mail signatures. No reason the current signature setting can't be moved down a step in the Settings hierarchy. Work and play can't always have the same signature.
• Top Sites for Safari. I could do without the forced curve effect, but quickly getting my most common sites as thumbnails is very convenient.
• Development options. Beyond Xcode, HTML5, and cross-compilers, support for other development options exists on OS X but not iOS.
• AirDrop. Quickly send files (from Files.app!) or photos from one iOS or OS X device to another over local Wi-Fi.

Here's more on what Apple could take from OS X and bring "Back to the iPhone and iPad":

• Back to the iPad: What Apple should take from OS X Mountain Lion and give to iOS 6

Conclusion

Operating systems are like art -- you add material then take away what you don't need. You add features and trim away bloat. While iOS may now be one of the older, more mature mobile operating systems, it's not perfect.

Just like OS X, Apple will keep adding features, then it will pause and re-soldify like it did with Snow Leopard, then focus anew like Lion and Mountain Lion.

The question is -- what will they do this time with iOS 6? Apple may or may not have plucked all the low hanging fruit in previous releases, but they haven't plucked all the fruit hanging just a slight bit higher. And they certainly haven't finished polishing it.

• iOS 6: A fresh coat of paint
• iOS 6: Is it time for Apple to revamp the multitasking fast app switcher?
• The 16:9 iPhone
• The 4 inch iPhone
• How Apple could provide direct document access in iOS 6
• iOS 6 and the opposite of widgets
• Is it time for Apple to revamp the Home screen?
• The challenge of bringing Siri to the iPad
• iOS 6 and privacy: How Apple should draw inspiration from Android for better app

IDC released their quarterly report on worldwide smartphone market share by operating system today, and the chart looks more or less as you'd expect: Android has kept ballooning (59% market share), while iOS maintained a respectable second place (23%), while Symbian (6.8%) and BlackBerry (6.4%) continued their downward spirals. Windows Phone growth saw decent 26.9% growth since last year, but that still only amounts to 2.2% market share. All in all, 152.3 million smartphones were shipped in Q1 2012, which is 49.9% more than the same quarter in 2011.

With these trends continuing, it won't be long before BlackBerry and Symbian barely even show up on the radar and the smartphone game becomes a two-horse race - some would argue it already is. Between Apple and Google's operating systems, 80% of the world's smartphones are accounted for. I'm really curious to see if Windows Phone can manage to claw enough mindshare to become a viable third option, but it seems more likely that it will be a bit player just like RIM. It's interesting to see that even after a year of Nokia announcing its retirement Symbian it's still commanding the market share that it is. Despite the nosedive, BlackBerry hasn't managed to squeak up over Symbian market share, and at the going rate, they probably won't be able to swing it next quarter either. IDC actually had some advice for those lower on the food chain.

That's true enough, but not many developers are willing to invest in platforms that don't have the hardware sales unless the manufacturers are paying them off. What comes first: manufacturers making phones people want to buy, or developers that make phones into things people want to buy? It seems like in the case of iPhone, it's the latter; out of the box it does pretty much everything any other smartphone can (admittedly with a great deal of polish) but it's the App Store that really gets buyers invested in iOS. That said, Android's app ecosystem isn't exactly healthy when you consider piracy and fragmentation, but the hardware manufacturers are able to address a much wider variety of tastes and needs. Should competitors be picking up Android's approach or that of iOS in order to snag third place?

Source: IDC

RIM has only just begun previewing BlackBerry 10 and already features like the on-key, gesture-based word prediction are being quickly copied for the iPhone -- at least for jailbreak. Octopus Keyboard is the name of the tweak, and Jeff Benjamin from iDownloadBlog took a look at its current state of development.

As of now the Octopus keyboard can do the following:

• Automatically learns new words as you type them
• Custom completion engine
• Should work for any input language with key input (English, French, Czech, Russian, etc.)

Here are some of the remaining items that he wishes to accomplish before go-live:

• Avoid learning mistakes
• Autocapitalize words in sentences
• Handle , . ! etc at the end of a sentence
• Better handling and display of longer words
• Compatibility with popular tweaks like SwipeSelection

Octopus Keyboard is currently slated for a May 20 release on Cydia. There's no information on pricing yet.

The current iOS keyboard does and forcing you to stop typing and hit a tiny X target to refuse them if they're incorrect. Here's how Kevin Michaluk describes the BlackBerry 10 typing process:

The Octopus Keyboard doesn't look like the Blackberry 10 keyboard, but it does implement the words-on-keys concept. It looks a bit odd seeing it on iOS, where the keyboard hasn't changed much in almost 5 years. Kevin also wonders if RIM -- or anyone RIM may be licensing any part of the technology from -- might take action to prevent jailbreak from stealing BlackBerry 10's thunder,

You can see it all in action in the BlackBerry 10 keyboard hands-on video below, and compare it to the Octopus Keyboard preview immediately thereafter. Check them both out and let us know what you think.

Source: iDownloadBlog

Oracle, the 2 ton mutant gorilla of enterprise data software, once considered buying BlackBerry or Palm in order to take on Apple's iPhone and Google's Android in the smartphone space. No. Seriously. Unfortunately, Oracle CEO -- and former Apple board member and long-time Steve Jobs friend -- Larry Ellison decided against it. I say unfortunately because, while I can't imagine Oracle achieving anything inspired with either BlackBerry or Palm, it would have been incredibly interesting to watch them try. Gary Busey on Celebrity Apprentice interesting.

If the future really is mobile, right now only Apple and Google are positioned to own that future (though Android's open source nature means there could end up being hundreds of Android forks from the likes of Amazon, carriers, even Oracle itself).

BlackBerry was even later to the modern mobile party than Microsoft, and Microsoft was plenty late. HP and their brutally incompetent board of directors squandered what could have been a brilliant future for webOS.

But oh, the insanity that could ha

Source: Reuters via CrackBerry

With the new iPad around the corner, there are lots of people wondering if now is the time to jump into the wonderful world of tablets. Of course, the new iPad will be the first one many first timers will look at. Many savvy shoppers, however, will also take a look at the alternatives before taking the plunge. That's especially true of low-cost alternatives like the BlackBerry PlayBook, Amazon Kindle Fire, and smattering of other bargain bin Android tablets (like the $100 ZTE Optik). The question is simple: how much are you willing to spend, and what value can you get for your money?

Screen size

The most obvious sacrifice you tend to make when it comes to budget tablets is screen size, which might not actually be all that much of a bad thing if you're looking for something portable. The PlayBook, even with its 7-inch display, can still handle HD video playback respectably. The Amazon Kindle Fire is the same size, and is tied into all of Amazon's book, video, and music services.

The advantage of the smaller screen size is that you can fit it into a jacket pocket, and hold it for longer periods of time without getting tired. It's closer to a one-handed tablet than the two hands typically required for an iPad.

The down side is that a smaller screen restricts the type of apps you can run. As a result, with 7-inch tablets you typically get scaled up smartphone apps rather than the bigger, tablet-specific apps you get on the iPad. Also, for some bigger really is better when it comes to watching video, gaming, or reading.

If portability is your primary concerns, check out the PlayBook and the Kindle Fire. If screen size matters to you, check out the iPad.

Media and Apps

There's no other way to say it: compared to the iPad and the App Store, the BlackBerry PlayBook App World ecosystem is sorely lacking. This is the next sacrifice you make when aiming for budget tablets. Even within the massive Android market, Android tablet apps have been very slow to appear. On both platforms you can run Android smartphone apps, but the experience isn't even close to the same. (Just like running iPhone apps on the iPad is doable but not especially enjoyable.)

For games and really big name apps, it probably won't matter. You'll find what you need to get by. But if you want really great software and more importantly, a choice of several really great apps in any given category, it's something to consider.

Media -- books, TV shows, movies, and music -- varies more from platform to platform. Amazon, of course, is a content power house and there's an argument to be made that the Kindle Fire is as much a portal to the massive Amazon store as it is a tablet. The only catch is, Amazon media is almost entirely exclusive to the U.S. You can find Amazon MP3 in a few other countries, but compared to Apple's international iTunes availability, depending on where you live, the Kindle can end up being little more than a paperweight. Media on the PlayBook is more of a mixed bag, with apps and sync filling in some of the gaps, but nothing to compare with the content offerings from Amazon or iTunes.

If you're happy with the basics and already have a lot of your own content, you can go with a cheaper tablet. If you want the best choice of the best apps and an easy way to buy more content, go with the iPad.

Performance and user experience

Although the PlayBook saw significant price cuts due to slow sales and adoption, BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 runs really well on the hardware. Amazon has also fixed a lot of the bugs and performance issues that plagued the original Kindle Fire release and the user experience is now much smoother and more enjoyable.

Budget Android tablets tend to be more problematic. Delayed OS updates, wonky manufacturer customizations, and sketchy hardware performance can all make for a poor time on Android.

With the iPad you get what you pay for. A really smooth, really polished user experience that almost always keeps you focused on what you're doing without the distractions of poor or glitchy performance. It's a cliche but it just works.

One thing PlayBook and Android can boast over iOS, however, is a more open ecosystem, at that combined with a lower pricetag may be worth sacrifice if you're willing (or eager) to tweak your device.

If you want a good mix of performance and price, the Playbook followed more distantly by the Kindle Fire is worth checking out. If you value price over performance, budget Android tablets are worth a look. If you put a premium on performance and user experience, you'll ultimately enjoy the iPad more.

The budget iPad

There's another choice worth considering in the budget tablet debate: the iPad 2. While it hasn't reached the $199 level of the BlackBerry PlayBook or Amazon Kindle Fire, Apple did keep last year's iPad 2 around at a discounted $399 price. If you don't mind missing out on a Retina display, faster graphics, LTE options, or better cameras, give it a look.

• iPad 2 vs the new iPad: Which should you get?

Apple also offers refurbished iPads, currently both first generation and iPad 2, via their online store. So if you're on a budget but have your heart set on an iPad, Apple's refurbished iPad store is worth a look.

Any questions?

Overall, if you're on a budget, you can typically find a decent (if not great) tablet alternative to the new iPad for $300 less. You're sacrificing app selection, screen size, and resolution, but you're gaining a wider variety of options when it comes to hardware configuration and software accessibility. Personally, it's easy for me to side with the new iPad -- I can only imagine that the disparity in gaming performance with anything else is going to be huge.

If money is tight, however, it can be really difficult to decide how much you can or will spend on a tablet. Lower cost doesn't always translate into better value, but the reality it, tablets aren't as critical as phones or computers, and there's only so much gadget money to go around. If you've already tried out the BlackBerry PlayBook, Amazon Kindle Fire, or another budget tablet, share your thoughts. If you have more questions or want more opinions, we're here to help.

• New iPad help forum

Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations with over 70,000 employees worldwide, will be making a huge move away from BlackBerrys, to converting their employees to iPhones. For those still not convinced about the iPhone and iOS' place in enterprise, this decision comes after Halliburton did significant research into both Apple's platform and the Android, and decided Apple was the way to go.

BlackBerry is undoubtedly still the best communications device on the planet, but increasingly users and businesses alike are requiring more than just communication -- they're requiring mobile computing platforms.

To give a sense of the breadth of this change, Energy Services Group (ESG) is Halliburton's largest business segment and provides technical products and services for petroleum and natural gas exploration and production. Up until now Halliburton employees had been given BlackBerries. If they wanted an alternative the only option they were given were Windows Phones. BlackBerry have been part of Halliburton's IT policy for over 10 years. Right now Halliburton supplies about 4,500 of their employees with BlackBerry smartphones.

BlackBerrys have long been the staple of enterprise -- they performed well and lived up to what enterprise customers have come to expect. The iPhone and iPad have made great strides over the past several iterations of iOS in order to provide better support for business users. And it's paying off.

More and more companies are starting to support iOS in enterprise on a regular basis, while others are letting the users choose with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) initiatives.

Apple recently announced that pretty much all of the Fortune 500 were testing or deploying iOS devices within their organizations, which is startling considering how slowly enterprise usually is when it comes to responding to new technologies.

Even RIM has made moves to provide BlackBerry enterprise support for iPhone and iPad. Now we just need RIM's new CEO to provide full on BlackBerry Connect functionality before other companies, like Good ride iPhone and iPad success to an insurmountable lead.

Are you using your iPhone in the enterprise? Let us know how wide iPhone and iPad deployment is where you work, and how they're affecting productivity.

Source: AppleInsider

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Georgia and Ashley Esqueda talk Android Xoom 2, geek dating dos and don'ts, how to rock (and not rock) your BlackBerry, advice for celebrity sexters, iHelicopters and Whale Trail for iPhone and iPad, and the next creepy step towards robot apocalypse. This is Girls Gone Gadgets! [NSFW-L]

Spotlight

• Motorola Xoom II

Girl eyes for the gadget guys

• Smartphone dating dos and don'ts

We've got mail!

• "What are some killer tips for how to wear your BlackBerry? Hip holster hot or not? Playbook on a gold chain? Come on girls, we guys need all the help we can get!" - Kevin from Winnipeg

Techs and Apps

• Whale Trail - App Store link
• iHelicopter - Amazon link

Grab bag

• Scarlett Johansson on Those Nude Photos She Sent to Ryan Reynolds: “I Know My Best Angles”
• Makers of infamous BigDog robot unveil human version - PETMAN (w/ video)

<

h2>Feedback

Got something to say? Agree or disagree with something we said? Have something you want us to discuss on a future show? Don't just sit there yelling at the screen, dammit, let us know!

• Email: podcast@mobilenations.com
• Twitter: @mobilenations
• Web: www.mobilenations.com

Hosts

• Georgia (@GeorgiaTiPb) of ZENandTECH
• Ashley Esqueda (@ashleyesqueda) of Techfoolery

Our music is pROgraM vs. Us3R by by morgantj. Introduction by Joseph Holder.

Thanks to the Smartphone Experts network of store for sponsoring this podcast, and to our fantastic live chat members for keeping us honest and making us smart!

• Our podcast feed
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Did Apple sneak network and battery fixes into iOS 4.2, does Verizon LTE mean an iPhone 4G, buy apps now or wait for sales, BBM to iPhone, and the week in apps with Rene and Georgia. Listen in!

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You -- iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
• via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

Apple shipped 20% more iPhones than RIM shipped Blackberrys during Q3 2010, according to a Strategy Analytics. PC World got a look at the report and says:

With Apple adding global distribution channels all of the time, not mention the increased chances we might see a Verizon iPhone next year, could we soon be looking at even better numbers coming out of Cupertino? Could they ever overtake Nokia, the current top-dog in the mobile space?

[Strategy Analytics via PC World]

by Andrew Wray

CrackBerry.com celebrates its 3rd birthday this week... and all they get is a BlackBerry Slider?!

First, we'd like to wish our sibling site, and best frenemy forever, CrackBerry.com and their fearless leader, CrackBerry Kevin a very happy 3rd birthday! They're the #1 site for BlackBerry users... and abusers! for a reason, and they're giving away a TON of free stuff to celebrate. If you have a BlackBerry in your other pocket, or know someone who rocks the pushy keyboard, get on over there and win you some stuff!

Now what do you get for the CrackBerry fanatic that has everything? How about leaks of a new BlackBerry slider that was once-upon-a-chuckle code-named "Mr. T". Far as we can tell, it's not anywhere close to what anyone would call sexy, but it does show how far RIM will go to try and get the full, touch screen but keep the physical keyboard.

It should ship with BlackBerry OS 6.0, which should include their new WebKit (as in the rendering engine behbrowser.

Anyone wish Apple was making an iPhone slider, or are we thinking mainstream adoption of some 50,000 units shows the era of physical keyboards is over?

Week 2 of the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin sees me take on TiPb's Public Frenemy #1, the almost-diametrically opposed BlackBerry -- or is it? This year in addition to the new flagship BlackBerry Bold 9700, we officially have an actual touch-screen 'Berry in the 'Robin -- the Storm2. What's an iPhone blogger to do? Well, first go on the Cell Phone Junkie podcast with Mickey and all the SPE editors to discuss RIM's platform, that's a given.

Next, of course, I hit up the world's foremost BlackBerry lover , CrackBerry Kevin Michaluk himself, and as if that weren't enough, I enlisted the million-strong CrackBerry Nation to help me out as well!

Remember, every day you post on my CrackBerry Forums thread, you're entered for a chance to win the BlackBerry of your choice. (And there's a total of 6 smartphones up for grabs -- one per SPE site -- so check them all out!)

Now grab your hotdogs, popcorn, and spicy drink, because after the break CrackBerry Kevin gives me a guided tour of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Storm 2, and everything new in hardware and BlackBerry OS 5.0.

[YouTube Video link]

Following our posts last week concerning the lawsuit against iPhone game developer Storm8 that alleged they used private API's to violate user privacy by collecting their phone numbers, the developer, Storm8, contacted TiPb with their side of the story:

They further pointed us to a statement they issued on their community forum.

If this issue concerns you, take a read and let us know what you think.

[Updated: Storm8 didn't use the Unity-engine, just private]

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Join Rene, James, and Chris for more iTablet, iPod touch, and iTunes 9 rumors, Apple VP Phil Schiller's email spree, the latest competition from BlackBerry and Microsoft, and all the news. Listen in!

Featured Accessory

• Plantronics Voyager PRO Hardcore Bluetooth Headset

News

• Apple Shoots Top Secret Commercial for New Product?
• Updated: Apple Going Social? More iTunes 9, “Social App”, and App Organization
• iTunes 9 to Add iPhone App Organizer, Blu-Ray?

• Apple VP Phil Schiller Responds to Ninjawords iPhone App Store Incident
• Apple VP Phil Schiller Emails Steven Frank, No E-Book Rejection Policy, Working to Improve App Store
• Google to Launch Google Voice on iPhone as WebApp
• iPhone 3GS-Specific Apps Start to Land in App Store

• Zune HD to be Priced $100 Less than iPod touch?
• BlackBerry to Get iPhone-Class Web Browser… Next Summer
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Caught on Video
• Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI to Launch iTunes “Cocktail” Album Competitor?

• Would You Give Up Using Your iPhone in the Car for Increased Safety?
• Deposit Checks Via iPhone Photos
• Still No MMS on AT&T — But Would You Use it Anyway?
• Patent Watch: Apple Taking Stand Against Abused iPhones

Forums

• From the Forums: iPhone Jailbreak?, Yahoo vs Gmail, Tom Tom Car Kit, Wallpapers & Ringtones

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You -- iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
• via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

iPhone OS 2.2 features and fails, including Google Maps and Podcast downloads, BlackBerry Storm watch, the Case-Mast Naked Case, and live chat question and answer. Listen in!

• Review: Naked Case Touch-Through Acrylic Case
• Review: iPhone OS 2.2 Software
• The 2nd Gen iPod Touch is Faster than Your iPhone 3G
• Safari's New Look (Daring Fireball)
• How To: Get Our iPhone Podcasts Over the Air
• Want Japanese Emoticons? Hack Enables Them On Any iPhone 2.2
• David Pogue Downgrades BlackBerry Storm to a Depression (NYT)

• This week's way to enter? Register in our forums, or refer someone to our forums! (use the big refer button in your profile!)

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat, or sent in questions!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You -- iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
• via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

This week: Apps, Flash, Unlocking, iPhone 2.2, and the iClones. Tune in!

News

• TiPb at Work Contest
  • It's already going strong
• Apps
  • Web App standalone
  • App Store Reviews require purchase
  • Rejection Redux
• Unlocking
  • fully unlocked 3G in HK
  • Getting close on the 3G?
• Flash Again!
  • Why No Flash? Maybe just get Video?
  • Adobe chimes in again
• iPhone on Verizon?
• Court Documents say no
• Facebook 2.0: now worth downloading
• iPhone 2.2
  • Safari Changes
  • App Store Tweaks
  • Notice we missed the background notifications deadline?
  • More new features
• @#%@#$ NDA Dropped!
• The iClones
  • HTC Touch HD not coming to the US
  • BB Storm Announced
  • Gets Cut and Paste

How To

• Mobile Me and Exchange
• PdaNet Rocks
• JailBreak 2.1 with PC
• Jailbreak 2G on 2.1 with a PC

Community

What do you want from 2.2?

New Forum setup

TiPb At Work

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast.

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You -- iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
• via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge
• Relaxation Spa Treatment by Dan the Automator via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• Wataridori 2 by Cornelius via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future
• DC 3000 by Thievery Corporation via Wired 12.11: Sample the Future

Today on the forums we have a few hot topics for you to check out:

First let's start off by taking a look at the latest iClone... the Blackberry Thunder/Storm. Do you think it really is a iPhone killer? Make your voice heard and vote in the poll! Next up is a thread started by mikecc and he wants to know if you are using your iPhone for gaming more than anything else? Stay tuned to TiPb in the next few days for more coverage of the iPhone as a gaming platform.

If you are addicted to Spore: Origins, as some of us here at TiPb are, be sure to check out the "Show of Your Spores" thread! Rene's spore is pretty creepy looking... And last but not least the last thread of the day discusses the upcoming 2.1 firmware... so head on into the forums and let us know what you are thinking!

Things have been heating up on the forums as of late. The community continues to grow! Join in now. It's simple and it's free!

See you on the forums!

What happens when your Sister Site, CrackBerry.com, manages to score a BlackBerry Bold on eBay? What happens after they do their hands-on images, videos, and walkthroughs, that is? What happens is they start sending the beast around the the office. So here we have a full gallery comparing the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold. Head to head images comparing size, UI, web browser (though that one's not quite fair since the Bold's web browser ain't anywhere near complete yet), and of course media capabilities.

Also after the break, a video walkthrough of the two devices. We've made fun of RIM's claim that the Bold isn't an iClone and now that I'm looking at the two devices side by side on my desk, that fun-making is half-true. Yes, they're different, but the metallic bezel around the edge of a glossy black face sure says "iPhone" to me.

More thoughts and comparisons after the break. What are you waiting for? Read on!

Of course, we're tagging this post Wait-a-Thon, so any commenters (with a valid email address) are automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card. On to the Multimedia Smackdown!

iPhone vs. BlackBerry Bold Video

Gallery

[gallery lightboxsize="full" columns="2"]

Spec Rundown

Here's the spec rundown, with the advantages in bold (no pun intended)

...We could really go on and on with this chart, for every advantage we can think of for one, it seems to get cancelled out by an advantage by the other. Overall, though the BlackBerry Bold's new look -- both the iPhone-esque shell and the Sony-esque new skin on the UI -- doesn't change the fact that underneath it all this is still a BlackBerry. It's still more corporate friendly than consumer friendly.

Yankees vs Red Sox. Coke vs Pepsi. Obama vs Hilary.

Apple vs RIM?

Are we walking down a path that will lead to a no-holds-barred smackdown between smartphone giant RIM and newcomer Apple? Chris Ullrich over at TUAW certainly thinks so. He recently pitted the iPhone against the Curve and comes away with a conclusion not so much different from our good friend Mike Overbo.

The iPhone and Blackberry have long been on a collision course since the iPhone’s inception. With Treos still stuck in the 1990's and Windows Mobile’s, well, Window-ness, these two companies are destined to battle it now and for the rest of eternity.

So where do you place your bets? Apple, in all its gleam and glory or RIM, with its utilitarian approach? Or is there enough room for the two of them?