BlackBerry gets own applications store

April 1, 2009 · Filed Under News · Comment

Following the footsteps of Apple Inc, the BlackBerry manufacturer, Research in Motion Ltd (RIM), is all set to launch its one-stop shop for add-on applications on Wednesday.

BlackBerry App World will be available for download from RIM’s Web site starting at midday, Co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie of the Waterloo, Ontario-based company announced on Wednesday.

On the other hand, many other key players in the smart phone industry are developing their application stores on similar lines. The company has made available a thousand applications at the launch of its applications store.

BlackBerry App World, unlike its Apple counter part has planned to share revenues with cell phone carriers and allow them to profile themselves by setting up their own stores-within-the-store.

If their carrier chooses to enable that function, the users would be given the facility to charge application purchases to their cell phone bill.

Incidentally, Microsoft Corp announced a day earlier that their carrier stores and billing will be part of its Windows Marketplace for Mobile, an applications store that the software giant is aiming to launch along with their new phones towards the end of the year 2009.

Nokia Corp, which has several application stores, is now planning to combine them all into one. Google Inc runs an Android Marketplace of programs for the T-Mobile G1 phone, which will be joined by other phones running Google’s Android software this year.

Tags: Apple, application store, BlackBerry, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, RIM, smart phone, Windows Marketplace

Microsoft Announces Windows Mobile 6.5

February 23, 2009 · Filed Under News · Comment

Yes, it’s now official. Microsoft is resurfacing in the mobile business industry with the official announcement of the company’s new version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, at Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Spain.

The next generation Windows smart phones, based on Windows Mobile 6.5, would feature a new user interface and offer a richer browsing experience for its users. Furthermore, the two newly added services include: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the Web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, an integrated marketplace for searching, browsing and purchasing mobile applications from Windows phones. This also provides direct-to-phone mobile applications and can be accessed from both the phone and the Web!

Windows Mobile 6.5 will offer a new home screen with customizable widgets that would displays favorite Web services and lets users access them swiftly with a finger tap along with quicker and more competent access to e-mail, phone messages and instant messaging. The enhanced touch-screen user interface would make it easier to explore applications.

The free My Phone service aim to enable the users to access, manage and back up their personal information on their device to a password-protected Web-based service.

The new Windows phones are expected to be available the second half of 2009.

Tags: applications, Microsoft, My Phone, Windows Marketplace, Windows Mobile 6.5 OS