All Articles Tagged iphone vs blackberry

Apple Insider reports that, based on a Piper Jaffray survey:

12% of consumers who visited a retail store this past weekend to make their iPhone 3G S purchase said they were replacing a BlackBerry handset, the latest sign that Apple continues to make headway against rival Research in Motion in the high-stakes smartphone market.

28% of iPhone 3GS said buh-bye to their old carriers and hello to AT&T as well, proving once again just how valuable the iPhone is to new customer acquisition…

We’re not surprised. Obviously. Apple plays the product cycle and media hype engines to perfection. Still, it’s interesting to see Electronista’s take, based on ChangeWave data:

A mid-June study from the research group has 14.4 percent of those tracked looking to buy some kind of smartphone within the next 90 days, a record high and a large jump from 11.2 percent in March. Of these, a full 44 percent now plan to buy an iPhone compared to 30 percent just three months earlier.

As the above graph shows, Palm went from 4% to 8%, BlackBerry from 37% to 23%. Android, Nokia, and Windows Mobile weren’t shown

Other device makers likely know this, explaining why we’re seeing so many iPhone-style devices hitting the market. TiPb still thinks it’s more than a set of features, however. Sure, iPod halo and Apple brand help, but in the end the iPhone is all about usability and user experience for the consumer market, and that’s not as easy a task to duplicate.

While the iPhone vs. Palm Pre is the current darling of the blogerati (we’re not sure anyone in the mainstream is even aware of it…), we can’t forget that most iconic of rivalries: iPhone vs. BlackBerry. Not when Infoworld has written up the provocatively titled: “Deathmatch: BlackBerry versus iPhone — It’s time for us to bury the BlackBerry and move on to modern mobile — even for e-mail”.

In the massive, 8-page-jump article, the author contends that while the BlackBerry still scores points for security, non-Exchange email, hardware keyboard, and lack of good web browsing (for bosses who don’t want their employees using WebApps), the summation states:

For everyone else, the BlackBerry is yesterday’s mobile messenger, way past its prime and heading toward retirement. The iPhone is light-years ahead of the BlackBerry on almost every count. RIM should be ashamed.

Ouch. We’re sure our friends over at CrackBerry.com would beg to differ, but… ouch.

Can RIM fight back with new devices like the BlackBerry Tour and impending Storm 2, or — like Palm with the Pre and Microsoft with Windows Mobile 7 — will RIM have to “spend time in the desert” and come out with a rebuilt, revamped, new BlackBerry OS for the next wave of mobile computers?

[Thanks to Matt and everyone who sent this in!]

Yes, it’s true. Just like CrackBerry’s reporting. According to NPD (via Engadget), the oldest remaining version of the BlackBerry Curve, when heavily discounted and given away in two-for-one promo deals, briefly regained the #1 best seller position on the smartphone index from the iPhone 3G, which had to settle for a high-margin #2. Also, discounted and given away two-for-one, when combined with heavy marketing and the power and reach of the Verizon network… did not. BlackBerry Storm was #3.

Cutting margins and giving away product may pad the numbers, but as Palm found out with the Centro, you can’t make “zero” up on volume.

It’s WWDC 2009. Steve or Phil or Scott or Joz or whomever is handling the heavy lifting for the iPhone 3.0 section and release-date announcement smiles and says — “There’s one more thing…

“Last year we showed you Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support. Nobody expected it, but we were blown away by the reception. This year, we’re announcing BlackBerry Connect support for the iPhone. With this, not only can you chat with your team over BlackBerry Messenger, but you can push data right from your Corporate BES. And to tell us more about it, ladies and gentlemen, here’s CrackBerry Kevin the Co-CEO of Research in Motion–”

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? It does to me. I know it does to Kevin. No way in Hull (it’s in Ontario — look it up!) this happens, right? It’s not like Apple would ever do business with a competitor such as RIM… or Microsoft… or Google…

Would Apple even want BlackBerry Connect — a software layer that emulates varying amounts of BlackBerry functionality on other devices like Symbian, Palm, or Windows Mobile — on the iPhone? They’ve certainly got some degree of business integration now with the aforementioned Microsoft ActiveSync. And from RIM’s side, while they have licensed BlackBerry Connect in the past, it’s not like they’ve been putting any emphasis on it in the present, have they?

Aside from letting iPhone users instachat more seamlessly with BlackBerry users — dogs and cats living together, as Dieter would say — is there anything really in it for consumers either? It wouldn’t give the iPhone a keyboard or the BlackBerry the ability to run more than a handful of tiny, on-memory apps. And, instead of breaking down more proprietary communication protocols, it would just be extending PIN the way it’s already extended ActiveSync.

Still, crazier things have happened. What if this did? Would you want it?

Yesterday CrackBerry Kevin had a little funny at TiPb’s expense with their “Confessions” post of a Ruby Park strip. Fine. Two can play at that game. Above, via PvPonline, is the new official response to anyone bringing a BlackBerry into a “just works” place. B’okay?

Remember that rejected — and highly physically impossible — video a few weeks back that CrackBerry.com was preening over? The one where a BlackBerry “bullet” tore through what was obviously a fake, tranquilized, like Waterloo fabricated Apple in a bizarre attempt to make the BlackBerry Storm less… Apple pwnd?

Well, now someone has found the real video, and likely the reason RIM never launched the fake one (Oliver Stone would have found it and humiliated them, ‘natch) and we bring it to you in full embedded glory above.

APPLE SMASH? Indeed.

Zara from M0bileChic sent in this video, comparing the Apple iPhone against the BlackBerry Storm and Google Android G1. It’s fun, it’s fair, and we can’t let the CrackBerry.com commenters get the last word in so let her — and us — know what you think.

And if you’re hungry for more smartphone vs. smartphone action, check out our last Smartphone Experts Round Robin, where we looked not only at our own iPhone 3G and the Android G1, but the BlackBerry Bold, Palm Treo Pro, and HTC Fuze.

We can just feel CrackBerry.com’s Kevin preening over news: Biggest. Jump. Since. Mayer.

Yep, U2 has left the warm embrace of Apple (though Product Red iPods no doubt remain) for the harsh corporate sponsorship of RIM. Of course, they flirted briefly with Dell first, and Bono’s Elevation Partners are huge backers of Palm — though according to PreCentral.net they likely needed to spend their cash on far more serious things, like bringing the Pre to market… Still:

“This tour announcement marks the first stage of a relationship and shared vision between RIM and U2 that we expect will lead to new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans. We look forward to sharing more details as the relationship unfolds.”

Kevin already called it “sloppy thirds” on our behalf (thanks!) and while Apple is continuing to discover fresh new talent with every iTunes/iPod ad, RIM keeps just going where Apple’s long gone from. Wait, do we sense a trend here?

We’re not sure if picking on the BlackBerry Storm is even sporting anymore, and you know, we probably wouldn’t even bother if RIM hadn’t styled it the “Apple Killer” even while bleating that they “couldn’t type on glass”. Well, according to BlackBerryCool.com, it turns out some other people couldn’t type on the Storm’s specific type of glass either: the US Government:

“The BlackBerry, to me, is a utilitarian tool,” said Rodell Mollineau, communications staff director for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “It’s not easy to send e-mails on that thing. It is not a good touch screen, and it’s not like the iPhone, where there are so many other great features to it.”

Dear US Government, next time just read TiPb — we could have saved you lots of frustration (and who knows, maybe even restored your childlike sense of wonder!)

Oh, and get more iPhones!