The service, which was announced yesterday by Yahoo! will allow you to bookmark sites, images, videos, etc. on your phone or PC and will automatically organize them into categories. You’ll also be able to make collections of bookmarks — for instance, grouping together a bunch of links regarding a favorite sports team. Easily the coolest feature, though, is Pulse. Pulse alerts you whenever content is updated in a mini news-feed, which lets you easily keep track of a lot of data at the same time. The whole deal is scheduled for release in Q2.
Archive for the 'Top Story' Category
RIM has finally secured a toehold in Russia after a lot of wrangling with The Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB. The FSB has been resistant to allowing the phones into Russia without first getting access to the codes RIM uses to encrypt data. An unidentified source told a Russian newspaper that RIM had refused to hand over the codes, so it’s unclear exactly what compromise was made. Regardless, Russian telecom Mobile TeleSystems will be importing 7,800 handsets, and another company, VimpelCom, will be importing an undisclosed amount. It wasn’t mentioned which specific model would be imported, but when this first came up last November it was supposed to be a BlackBerry 8700.
The RIM webinar announced earlier this month, featuring an overview of the upcoming BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1SP 5 release, wrapped up yesterday. The Boy Genius Report managed to snag the slides from the presentation. The software, which we’ve finally learned will be released on the 29th, is a free upgrade for all current 4.1 users or a $999 upgrade for 4.0.X users. New features and enhancements include rich text content like active hyperlinking and embedded images, remote email search and download, and free/busy lookup for finding the best free slots on calenders. There’s also native attachment viewing and editing and OTA software loading, which should make future updates easier on the IT department. There’s not a whole lot that we haven’t known about since WES ‘07, but a solid release date and price point is certainly nice to have.
ZDNet has discovered that RIM has patented a form of touchscreen LCD. The patent, titled System and Method for Integrating A Touchscreen Within an LCD, describes “a touchscreen which is integrated into an LCD” in more detail than you can shake a stick at. The technology works primarily by detecting displacement of liquid crystal in a display and sending information based on that movement. ZDNet author Russell Shaw pointed out that the patent was published only four months after being filed rather than the usual 18, a very good indicator that the technology will be used soon. The rumors about a touchscreen for the BlackBerry 9000 have been mostly quashed, so it remains to be seen what device the technology will be used in.
A poster on the Pinstack forums noted that Canadian operator Telus has launched a pink BlackBerry Pearl 8130, and they have announced that they will donate $25 to Rethink Breast Cancer with every purchase. Rethink Breast Cancer is a charity aimed at educating young people about breast cancer as well as donating to research and support programs. Pretty much everyone has released a red 8130, but this is the first new pink theme since Verizon released theirs a couple weeks ago. It also comes with a swanky pink chameleon theme.
The Financial Post has uncovered evidence that Research in Motion will be unveiling a new music accessory called the BlackBerry Remote Stereo Gateway. The Gateway attaches to a stereo and then streams music files from a BlackBerry via Bluetooth. The information is available through an FCC filing, which has both the user manual and a photo of the Gateway. The device was filed by Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd. out of Taiwan, but the BlackBerry brand is all over the place. This is obviously a big push into the consumer space for RIM, especially given the fact that, unlike iPod docks, it’s wireless. Between this and the increasing sizes of microSDHC cards, BlackBerry is becoming more and more viable as a media player.
Stefano at BBWorld has been cordially invited to RIM and Vodafone’s party for the Italian launch of the BlackBerry 8110, happening on January 30th. The GPS-enabled Pearl’s launch was predicted by Jibi last November, and will be available in 3 colors - red, blue, and grey - and also features a 2 megapixel camera. There’s no word yet on when the rest of the world will get their hot little hands on it, but if past experience with the 8120 release is any indicator, the GPS Pearl will spread to other European countries pretty quickly and North America will get it… well, sooner or later.