Bwana.org » Blackberry

How Much Have You Spent On iPhone Applications?

Bwana — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:53:06 +0000

The iPhone is taking the world by storm. (no pun intended RIM) Yesterday, Apple announced their quarterly earnings for Q4 2008 and the results were shocking to say the least. Apple reported they sold 6.9 million phones last quarter which achieves their goal of 10 million in 2008. Also surprising is that Apple is now the 3rd largest supplier of phones. Here are my thoughts on the matter:

Click to Play

It is also known that RIM and Google are planning to implement their own version of the iTunes App Store which has proven to be wildly successful. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Doesn’t this all sound familiar? Remember when the iPod first started to boom? I digress.

I’ve found the iTunes App Store to be a great addition to the iPhone universe, especially since there are a good amount of high quality free applications. The question I have for everyone is, have you been tracking how much you’ve been spending on the iTunes App Store? I know some people are well aware of how much they spend on songs in the iTunes Store and elsewhere, but do you truly know how much you’ve spent? For me, it’s easy: I’ve spent $5.99.

The only application I’ve bought to date is Tuner by Nullriver, Inc.

I’m quite proud of this since I was tempted so many times to buy other applications, but I refrained. I’ve made it this far by focusing on all the great free applications on the iTunes App Store. Some of these include Evernote, Pandora, Facebook, Twinkle, Remote, AirSharing, Pro Football App, and College Football App. In these days where many are cutting back on costs (myself included), free is a great price.

So, what apps do you feel are must haves for the iPhone/iPod-Touch? Have you tracked your spending in this temptation store? Do you care? Let me know in the comments.

Apple: There Is A Storm Coming

Bwana — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:53:16 +0000

Hurricane flags are popping up over Cupertino, namely, at Apple‘s headquarters. Why? The RIM-pire is at it again with a sweet new device that’s coming out soon for Verizon called the Blackberry Storm.

This will be RIM’s first touch screen device that is obviously built to compete with Apple‘s widly popular iPhone. Recently, Google, T-Mobile and HTC were in the news regarding their iPhone competitor, the T-Mobile G1. I went on record to state that I was semi-impressed with what they had, but if I were to decide on what to buy today, I would pass on their model for various reasons. I also stated that I’m more excited about the Blackberry Storm than I am about the T-Mobile G1. Here are some reasons why:

RIM is serious business. These guys pretty much own the smartphone market and there’s a big reason why. They are adamant about making your device productive. While that may deter a lot of casual users of smart phones, the hardcore business users love it to pieces.
If anyone can stop the iPhone, it’s RIM. Not to take anything from Nokia, but it is my personal belief that RIM has a better chance of slowing down the iPhone’s momentum than Nokia. As I stated in my iPhone 3G review, Apple is serious about making inroads into the business market. When executives are approached about solutions, I guarantee RIM will be on the comparison sheet. They are capable of doing it.
Verizon has a great network to kick start the launch. Apple’s iPhone launch was very successful in some eyes, but was tainted by AT&T’s network. Obviously, AT&T is having scaling issues with all of the new users that the iPhone is bringing in. I believe Verizon has a better backbone for a huge Blackberry Storm launch. Their EVDO/CDMA system is largely touted as one of the best in the nation in terms of coverage and speed.
All other offerings are lackluster. Let’s face it, the touchscreen competitors of the iPhone are not up to the task of slowing down Apple’s momentum. This is solely my opinion with no real facts to back it, but I still believe it to be true.

AT&T is already preparing for the Storm with propaganda the same way Verizon did at the iPhone launch. Duncan Riley, of the Inquisitr, states the Blackberry Storm is the “new hotness” and I must agree. If you’re not excited about the Blackberry Storm yet, check out these photos that I found over on Electronista:

The RIM-pire Strikes Back – Blackberry Bold

Bwana — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:23:05 +0000

Today, RIM announced an update to the Blackberry series called the Blackberry Bold (or Blackberry 9000). Price has not been disclosed yet, but some of the features include:

HSDPA and EV-DO version
Wi-Fi and GPS
625MHz CPU, 1GB internal flash memory
802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2Dp), GPS, MicroSDHC
480 x 320 video recording, photo geotagging

PCMag has a first look of the unit, while Kevin from Crackberry gives us a tour of the interface:

Clearly, this is a statement by RIM that the iPhone is not the only phone on the block with a nice interface. RIM has been popular amongst business users in terms of functionality and utility, but not necessarily for style. The Blackberry Pearl and Curve were our first glimpse at RIM’s attempt to win over the younger crowd. The Blackberry Bold seems like a natural progression in terms of interface evolution. Apple’s iPhone was a bold reminder (no pun intended) that phone interfaces generally stunk and needed improving. Based on what I’ve seen from OS 4.6, RIM is taking it seriously. Will it match up to the iPhone’s hype? Who knows, but we do know that RIM dominates the smartphone market and is by no means playing catch-up. They are working to maintain that dominance, and I think they are heading in the right direction. This bodes well for us consumers.