Our public frenemy number 1, CrackBerry Kevin, tipped us to RIM revealing details of their latest “innovation”, the BlackBerry App Store (and no, we’re not jaded that the company that once said touchscreens were a non-starter is now high-five’ing themselves silly over winning the self-awarded “breakthrough” prize for the Storm’s SurePress at Mobile World Congress — iSigh).
Them new CrackBerry App Store details? (And no, we’re not going to call it the CrApp Store, thanks you very much!) No themes allowed, which are apparently quite popular (not that we non-Jailbroken iPhone owners have any idea what they are, right Apple?). WebApps will be showcased alongside native apps, which is interesting given how WebApps on the iPhone have languished in terms of the Apple spotlight since the iPhone App Store launched.
Unlike Apple’s free SDK or $99 registered SDK with tethering, RIM will charge devs $200 per 10 apps submitted to the store. How the effects free apps (or rejected/re-submitted apps?) is unknown. Like the iPhone App Store, support will be the responsibility of the developer, which some hope will encourage more stable code (and not just less supportive developers).
Also important to remember in all this, however, is that while an iPhone can hold up to almost 16GB of Apps, BlackBerry’s are severely limited — only onboard app storage can be used, after the OS takes its share. We’re talking a 30-100MB at most (and single iPhone Apps can be bigger than that).
So what do we think? Dieter wanted Apple to copy-back the Ovi Store’s recommendation engine. Anything Apple should copy-back from RIM? WebApp category?
One of these things is just like the other; one of these things is exactly the same…
Wow, we just got through listing the various ways Micrsoft is iCloning our beloved iPhone and its services, and now this? Bad enough they’ve taken the old hex grid from our AD&D days, but the iPhone Phone App, all green and rounded and gradient like?
We’ve got to think this is some customized icon, like a contact photo or something, because there’s no way Microsoft includes it in even an official beta build, is there? Still, having Apple’s graphics highlighting the latest viral Windows Mobile 6.5 leaks can’t be good for anybody. Ugh.
Speaking of ugh, bonus points to anyone who can tell us what that background picture is before it hatches baby aliens and begins consuming us all…
First they clone the handsets. Then they clone the App Store. Then they clone MobileMe. (Not to mention Windows 7’s “dock” block…) What’s left for Microsoft to clone? The Apple Retail Stores, of course.
Enter: the Microsoft Store!
We’ve already heard how Apple Stores are retail juggernauts, and are being re-focused to lure even more switchers, all driven by the experts Apple got on board and hired from GAP and Target, and the Genius’ they but behind the bars.
How’s Microsoft going to compete? Tasteful “Zune Brown” decor? No, apparently by hiring someone from… a movie studio and putting Guru’s on the floor. iSigh.
Of course, the bigger challenge will be: what can Microsoft sell? Windows, Office, Xbox, Zune, and…? What exactly? Doesn’t seem like a very compelling retail experience to us, but what do we know, we never thought Vista would be a blockbuster success (and we’re still on the fence about Songsmith…)
How about you? Any shopping itch you think only mighty Microsoft can scratch?
Android Central (via Gizmodo) brings us the latest in a long — long — line of… er… iPhone inspired smartphones. This one, however, will be running the Google mobile OS:
The OPhone is 1mm bigger than the original iPhone, has a dedicated camera button, 5MP camera, flash, microSD slot and 3.5mm headphone jack. Yeah. Sounds pretty flippin’ sweet to us too.
TiPb will reserve judgement until it launches, but it will be interesting to see Android on hardware other than the slider-trackball-touch G1. Won’t it?
Stephen Fry, the British comedian and technology commentator who was once partner to TV’s Dr. House, Hugh Laurie, recently annihilated RIM’s BlackBerry Storm on Twitter, and now is back to give an even grander beat down to the mobile industry in general, a 4 star Bold review, a 1 star Storm review, and an iPhone OS 3.0 wish… er… demand list. Daring Fireball, however, points us a couple paragraphs of particular interest:
Apple have shown that there is a huge demand for exciting, innovative, lovable and imaginative consumer devices. All the rivals have to do is to … is to what? To produce cut price lookalikes or truly to pioneer and innovate? Well, the latter is what they should do, but the former is what most of them will do of course, because these dumb firms never ever learn. They are afraid to be good. They will blame stockholders, consumers, anyone but themselves.
Don’t you sometimes long to be CEO of a company like Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia or Microsoft? So that you can say to your coders, your designers, your development teams and your software architects: “Not [redacted] Good Enough. I haven’t said ‘Wow’ yet. I haven’t gasped with pleasure, amusement or admiration once. Start again. Not [redacted] Good Enough.”
Can’t say I’d do any different were I blessed/cursed with being such a CEO. How about you? Any advice for our iCompetitors?
Moments after Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at Macworld 2007, Nokia showed off the “Tube“, an iClone so convincing some thought they’d simply managed to score a demo unit. While the “Tube” eventually faded into a “comes with music” device, and Nokia has now zigged instead of zagged with the N97, BGR has just come across a slide that shows Nokia’s iClone plans may still be alive and unwell.
What is it? When will we see it? Since the N97 isn’t even shipping until June-ish 2009 (likely just in time for a WWDC launch of the iPhone 3.0 — iPhone HD?), who knows when we’ll see this new device. All we can hope for is that is doesn’t cosign itself to mindlessly cloning iPhones past, but actually tried to innovate something more for the future.
If they do, what you want to see on the Nokia next-gen touch?
No, it’s not Deja Vu. No one has reset the Matrix (we think…) It’s just another Apple follow-along. To paraphrase Bertrand Serlet: Waterloo, start your photocopiers!
Not content with merely iCloning the iPhone look with the Bold or touchscreen with the Storm, during the Blackberry Developer Conference today, RIM basically repeated Apple’s iPhone SDK Roadmap Event announcements from back in March, note for note.
App Store? Check. Push Notification Service? Gotcha. Integrated Development Environment? Why not! iFund? App-solutely!
Scott Forstall, was that just the sound of you flinging your iPhone 4G through the screen of your 30″ DisplayPort Cinema Display? I think it was.
Check out the live blog now at Crackberry.com, and if you miss it, they’re sure to have all the news and roundups shortly thereafter.
We’re never going to let Crackberry Kevin, editor of our sibling site Crackberry.com live this down. Never EVER.
And if you think that’s bad, wait until Steve Jobs gets finished giving the WuShi finger to the advertising geniuses over at Vodafone and RIM. We’re talking the greatest mellow harshening “Skidoosh!” in the history of the tech industry, no doubt.
Whyzat? Said genii decided to advertise the iClonic Blackberry Storm as an actual iPhone, complete with Home screen and Mobile Safari browser.
Was this the last, desperate surrender to iPhone envy? Were the guilt-laden strings of Marimba playing over and over again in their psyche, forcing them to confess themselves to the world?
Sadly, once the images get yanked, the cronies blamed, and the incident swept under the blogs, we’ll never know for sure. But they’ll still be hearing endless Marimba in their dreams…
Meanwhile, Engadget and Gizmodo got their hands on the little whole-screen-is-a-button-and-has-cut-and-paste-but-no-WiFi monsters, and they seem pretty happy with the solid Blackberry foundation gaining a little iPhone inspired tech. Our view? Anything that forces Apple, and the industry, to stay competitive and keep on innovating is a boon for all of us.
Right?
WMExperts just relayed the following: looks like HTC won’t be releasing the Touch HD in the US. What kind of illogical, inexplicable, incomprehensible BS is this?
sad news, US. we looked into it- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the states, it would be old news. we do have other cool stuff coming
Shenanigans, we call! They have like 37 other Touch sub-brands landing on earth (and who knows what other planets!), and this was the one device we hoped would really push Apple — in its biggest market — to ramp up the screen size and media playback abilities of the iPhone for rev 3.
Memo to HTC brain-trust: next time build a world phone from the get go, b’okay?
Now excuse us as we go talk Dieter out of burning his Diamond in protest…
Reader Reptile writes in with the tip, and the pithy title inspiration. Seems like our friends to the frozen north (no, not Canada, Nokia-land!) finally released their iClone… er… Tube… er… Xpress Music.
The device, which started life as a complete rip-off proof of concept roughly 3 minutes after Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone live on the Macworld 2007 stage has taken a long — looooooooong — time to come to market. Was it worth the wait?
Well, in targeting the iPhone, it’s already placed itself squarely in the “follower” camp, and not the “leader” position Nokia should not only enjoy, but command. Strike one. Also, if as Reptile suggests, no one (outside the gadget blogsphere and — maybe — Europe) noticed, can it even really be considered launched? Strike two.
As long as there’s the iPhone, every other “me too!” device will be an iClone, simple as that. Want a real iPhone Killer? Do what Apple did and drop a device no one sees coming, and revolutionize the industry in your own, innovative way. That’s how you’ll kill the iPhone.
Absent that. Strike three.
Video link via Engadget
