Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 1st May 2012 15:12 UTC
It's about time. RIM is in deep trouble, and is seeing its smartphone market share being eaten left and right by Android and iOS. After being more or less the equivalent of a deer caught in the headlights, the company has now finally unveiled its answer to the original iPhone - 5 years too late.
Thread beginning with comment 516571
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: I hate the "too late" argument.
by arpan on Wed 2nd May 2012 09:10
in reply to "I hate the "too late" argument."
Member since:2006-07-30
Of course iOS and Android will be replaced. We're just assuming that that's atleast several years away.
The question is will RIM even be a viable competitor at that time. And even if they are, do they have it in them to make something that's innovative enough to replace iOS & Android. Right now from what we've seen so far, BB10 isn't good enough to compete with it's larger & more successful rivals.
RE[2]: I hate the "too late" argument.
by MollyC on Wed 2nd May 2012 16:34
in reply to "RE: I hate the "too late" argument."
Member since:2006-07-04
Of course iOS and Android will be replaced. We're just assuming that that's atleast several years away.
According to the "too late" argument, "several years away" should be even more "too late" than it is today. The "too late" argument means nothing can every displace what ever is currently leading, because once it's "too late", it will always be "too late", even more so as time goes on.
RE[2]: I hate the "too late" argument.
by dsmogor on Thu 3rd May 2012 10:00
in reply to "RE: I hate the "too late" argument."
Member since:2005-09-01
The app ecosystems are pretty much locked. The next disruption has to make current apps irrelevant just as IOS and Android has shown how Windows apps are irrelevant on mobile device.
This could be a decent HTML5 developer environment but even Google has a hard time delivering it. That could be a disruption in a way we use mobile devices. Or it could be a prove that apps are not that important anyway. I would love to see a study that shows how much users in various places on the world are dependent on specific apps that are outside of handful of most popular services. I have a gut feeling that (except for IOS), not that much.
RE: I hate the "too late" argument.
by unoengborg on Wed 2nd May 2012 09:33
in reply to "I hate the "too late" argument."
Member since:2005-07-06
What tech fans want and reality is two very different things. Lot of tech people want Linux on the desktop, still we are more or less stuck with Microsoft just like we on the smartphone market gets more and more stuck to iOS and Android. Both iOS and Android users have their phones full of expensive apps, and banks and other services they use on a daily basis works well. Why should they change systems.
To undo this situation, we need something completely different, not more of the same. Actually Microsoft have a much better chance to do this with their WP7 than RIM, and even their success have been quite limited so far.
RE[2]: I hate the "too late" argument.
by dsmogor on Thu 3rd May 2012 10:01
in reply to "RE: I hate the "too late" argument."
Member since:2005-09-01
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:39 UTC
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:32 UTC
"Overall the app is really basic, and designed for on the go editing. Microsoft says it's not planning to create an iPad version, noting that tablet users can utilize the Office Web Apps instead. We'd like to see some additional options for editing, including more clear options for text formatting and the ability to insert and change images, but it's a solid attempt for something you're only really going to use for editing in emergencies." A resounding meh can be heard from all over the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 19:39 UTC
"Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream. Given these factors we've decided to retire Chrome Frame, and will cease support and updates for the product in January 2014." Eh.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:45 UTC
The Next Web: "First of all, many of the new icons were primarily designed by members of Apple's marketing and communications department, not the app design teams. From what we've heard, SVP of Design Jony Ive (also now Apple's head of Human Interaction) brought the print and web marketing design team in to set the look and color palette of the stock app icons. They then handed those off to the app design teams who did their own work on the 'interiors', with those palettes as a guide. We've also been hearing that there wasn't a whole lot of communication between the various teams behind say, Mail and Safari. And that there were multiple teams inside each group that were competing with various designs, leading to what some see as inconsistencies in icon design. Those may well be hammered out in days ahead." What. Reminds me of how Microsoft does (used to do?) things.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 11:43 UTC
"The German Parliament, the Bundestag, has introduced a joint motion against software patents. The resolution urges the German government to take steps to limit the granting of patents on computer programs. In the resolution, the Parliament says that patents on software restrict developers from exercising their copyright privileges, including the right to distribute their programs as Free Software. They promote the creation of monopolies in the software market, and hurt innovation and job creation." After New Zealand, we now have one of the most powerful economies in the world moving to ban software patents for all the reasons smart people have been outlining for years. also: "The government should also push to ensure that software is covered by copyright alone, and that patent offices (including the European Patent Office) stop granting patents on software." Germany is not a country the EU can ignore. Very good news, this.More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2006-07-04
The "too late" argument means that we're stuck with Apple/Android for the rest of our lives. I can't believe that tech fans, even Apple/Google fans, would want that. Yet the "too late" argument is often stated with glee.
RIM still has lots of contracts in business and government. BB10 might very well be good enough to retain those markets, and they can build from there.
(Personally, I'm not overly impressed with BB10, but I see lots of the tech media calling it "impressive". And yes, they said the same wrt WebOS, but WebOS didn't already have government and corporate contracts to save and build on.)