BBM6 released for BlackBerry

Press Release:

BBM (BlackBerry® Messenger), one of the largest mobile social networks in the world is now enabling a new and revolutionary social experience. Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the availability of BBM version 6 (BBM 6), which provides support for “BBM connected” apps, allowing users to easily interact with each other from within the BBM connected app.

BBM connected apps integrate the popular functionality of the BBM service and offer users the ability to interact with their friends from within the app itself. For example, with a BBM connected game app, users can invite their BBM friends to join them in a game and then chat with one another in real time while the game is being played – without ever leaving the game app.

BBM 6 launches today and a selection of BBM connected apps are already available on BlackBerry App World™.

“BBM 6 marks the beginning of an even greater social experience for BlackBerry smartphone users,” said Alistair Mitchell, VP, BBM Platform & Integrated Services at Research In Motion. “It also represents an incredible opportunity for developers to leverage the viral nature of the BBM service and we have already begun working with various developer partners who will be bringing their BBM connected apps to BlackBerry App World this week, offering users highly engaging app experiences.”

Some of the additional functionality users can expect to see with BBM connected applications include the ability to:

• Share app experiences with friends – When a user discovers a great new BBM connected app, they can instantly let their friends know about it. Users can simply select a BBM contact directly within the BBM connected app they are using.

• Have a BBM chat within apps – Users can simply pull up their BBM contact list directly from within the BBM connected app and start chatting. For example, the functionality can enable everything from enhanced social game play to collaboration through productivity apps.

• Discover apps through friends – Users can also discover new apps by viewing the list of apps that are posted to a BBM friend’s profile. They can also click on an app within the list, and instantly download it from BlackBerry App World.

The BBM 6 software will be available later today at www.blackberry.com/blackberrymessenger. A selection of BBM connected apps will also be posted on BlackBerry App World this week, with many more expected over the coming months.

Quotes/Partner Highlights:

“One of the keys to viral game sales is to allow users to easily invite their friends to join them in playing the games they love,” said Keith Pichelman, CEO, Concrete Software. “Integrating BBM into Pocket Ants has allowed the game to do just that.”
(Concrete Software)

“RIM is a fantastic partner. We’re thrilled to be working with them to provide a better experience to millions of foursquare users around the world by integrating foursquare with BBM,” said Holger Luedorf, VP of Mobile and Partnerships for foursquare.
(Foursquare)

“The Huffington Post, a leader in implementing social features to reach and interact with its network of readers and bloggers, integrates the BlackBerry Social Platform to create a place where our users can continue to engage in up-to-the-minute news stories, blogs, and analysis,” said Paul Berry, CTO of the Huffington Post Media Group. “As a BBM connected app, we make it simple for our readers to easily share and discuss the news. BBM 6 allows The Huffington Post to continue to reach its audience in a new way when they are on the go, and without having to compromise on the quality of their experience.”
(Huffington Post)

“Unvired Workflow for SAP enables approval of SAP workflow requests directly from the BlackBerry smartphone. Unvired leverages the BlackBerry message list and BBM to provide a familiar BlackBerry user experience,” said Srinivasan Subramanian, CEO, Indience InfoSystems Pvt Ltd. “The BBM platform has been smartly integrated to enable employees to collaborate seamlessly. If the user has some queries while approving the workflow, they can BBM their colleague or Manager, transfer a screenshot of the workflow item and clarify. They can then approve or reject the workflow request. The BBM chat can also be emailed to maintain an audit trail. The BBM integration with Unvired ensures quick turnaround and collaboration between employees, not just for workflow but other usages like checking discounts for a customer, escalating a customer grievance and much more.”
(Indience InfoSystems Pvt Ltd)

“Jingu users are engaging with BlackBerry Messenger in an exciting new way,” said Pankaj Gogia, Founder, Jingu Apps. “With BBM 6, ease of use is greatly enhanced with capabilities like updating your BBM profile picture directly from within the application. Jingu is dedicated to creating social networking applications built on the BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform that leverage the new capabilities of BBM 6 and bring enriched and vastly immersive experiences to end users.”
(Jingu Apps)

“Players have always been able to play Backgammon King against real opponents but playing against your friends took a lot of time and effort,” said Troy Johnson, Director Strategic Initiatives, Magmic. “Your BBM contacts are your friends and BBM 6 is making it incredibly easy to share Backgammon King with them and invite them to play in real-time. The ease of access to our product, the ease of sharing and the ease of player engagement are each major breakthroughs. Combine those attributes of BBM 6 with Magmics’ industry leading in-game chat design and you have an incredibly entertaining experience. Trash talking your best friend over a game of backgammon has never been easier and more fun. It’s no exaggeration to say, for Backgammon King, BBM 6 is a real game changer.”
(Magmic)

“PowWow uses BBM 6 integration to enable real time social event coordination,” said Kathryn Lahrs, Founder, Lahrs Apps. “Users are directly invited and notified of events that are created with our application. With PowWow, the latest information is available and BBM chats can quickly be started if any further communication is desired. Through BBM 6 PowWow users can share their location information, which is displayed in BlackBerry Maps. There is also an option to check your contact’s availability directly from their calendars and to create an event with this information; this is a very useful tool in event planning and saves time in the process.”
(PowWow)

“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t immediately react to the ‘chime’ of BBM,” said Margaret Glover-Campbell, VP Marketing & PR of Poynt Corporation. “Being able to leverage BBM 6 to share search results provides a tremendous advantage to our BlackBerry smartphone user base who can now easily and quickly coordinate their social activities. The ability to share the app download directly within BBM is also exciting for us, given the immediacy and viral nature of the platform. From a development perspective, we see tremendous possibilities for future integration around connecting people while they’re on the go.”
(Poynt)

“Following sports is inherently social – fans are extremely passionate, and like to trash talk, comment, and generally share their opinions on whatever they’re watching,” says Dale Fallon, VP Digital Products, Score Media. “By integrating BBM 6 functionality right into the ScoreMobile experience, we enable our users to enjoy the game with their friends even when they’re not together. In a nutshell, BBM 6 integration allows sports fans to be social without having to leave the ScoreMobile app.”
(ScoreMedia)

“Telmap, a global location-based services leader, is very focused on serving all users’ needs by constantly enriching and optimizing their on-the-go experiences,” said Motti Kushnir, Telmap Chief Marketing Officer. “The integration between BBM 6 and the Telmap Mobile Location Companion significantly enriches conversations and interactions through BBM with users’ real-time locations. Telmap views this integration as an important pillar of our vision to provide a richer, more comprehensive experience to our users. We work hard to integrate our application with popular and useful platforms like BBM, to ensure added value to users who can now add location information to their interactions with friends.”
(Telemap)

“BBM 6 is the underlying mobile social network making Wikitude on the BlackBerry platform a very unique experience. An augmented reality (AR) browser with millions of interesting places is already a very compelling and new proposition, but bringing it to life with millions of people who can chat, meet and share in an AR environment has the potential to revolutionize how we interact with one another. With BBM 6 and Wikitude preloaded on upcoming BlackBerry smartphones our AR browser will be truly going social for the very first time,” says Andy Gstoll, CMO of Wikitude.
(Wikitude)

Opportunities for BBM App Developers
BBM app developers can submit their applications to the BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge. The competition for social apps – “Most Addictive Social apps using BBM Social Platform” – is now open for submissions until September 23, 2011. For more information please visit: www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/challenge.

Additional information about the Hackathon is available at: http://www.bbmnyc.com/05_winning.html

Quick Links
• BBM 6 download on BlackBerry App World https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3729
• BBM web site: www.blackberry.com/blackberrymessenger
• BBM connected apps videos:
o Wikitude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bmqN3DZC5c
o Score Mobile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtbOUMoTPHU
o FourSquare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqdJLCLvhoY
• BBM Social Platform SDK for developers: http://www.blackberry.com/developer/bbm

Microsoft donates prototype Xbox 360 hardware to museum

According to Gamasutra, Microsoft donated a whole bucket of early Xbox 360 prototypes to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG), ala video games museum.

The donation includes items like Xbox 360 consoles, Kinect camera, controllers, accessories, awards, promotional material, and other hardware bits and bobs. A selection of these items will be displayed at the ICHEG’s exhibit at the Strong National Museum of Play in New York. Other items will be made available to researchers.

“ICHEG is delighted to collaborate with Microsoft to help preserve the company’s gaming history and bring attention to its extraordinary contributions to shaping the world of video games,” ICHEG director Jon-Paul Dyson said in a statement.

“We are proud of the role we’ve played in the evolution and innovation of the gaming industry and are excited to showcase our history of interactive entertainment products and services at ICHEG,” said Xbox senior director David Hufford.

10″ HTC Puccini tablet images surface, looks gorgeous

The long reaching hands of BGR has uncovered images of a new 10″ tablet from HTC, codenamed Puccini.

The tablet reportedly features an 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED, stereo speakers, a stylus, 1.5GHz processor, Android Honeycomb, 4G and of course, HTC Sense.

The device is yet to be properly announced, so there is no price or launch date as of yet. Check out the images below, courtesy BGR.

Google: Software patents “gumming up” smartphone innovation

Name one mobile phone manufacturer that is not enrolled in a patent war. Go on. Nokia? Wrong. HTC? Wrong. Samsung? Lol.  Apple? These guys started it.

So when Google’s general counsel Kent Walker laments about the fact that software patents are “gumming up” innovation in devices, we have to but nod in agreement.

“The tech industry has a significant problem,” Walker said. “Software patents are kind of gumming up the works of innovation.”

Walker takes a dig at Apple, saying, “We have seen an explosion of Android devices entering the market and, because of our successes, competitors are responding with lawsuits as they cannot respond through innovations.”

“Each side can blow the other up on some level –everybody can block the other’s products from coming to market. You create this mutually assured destruction scenario, but it’s very expensive to get all those munitions. Buying patents so you can hit the other guy, it’s not good form. You hate to unilaterally disarm here, but we haven’t in our history.”

Walker said the search giant is fully dedicated to back its Android manufacturers from the clutches of the lawsuit filers.

“We’ll be fine,” he said. “We have the resources to balance the scales here.”

Microsoft dev bets on Windows Phone 7, takes a dig at iPhone, Android in the process

Microsoft seems to love dolling out Windows Phone 7 developer units to whoever complains about an iPhone or Android, provided your mug is well known.

The latest celebrity to be offered such a gesture was Scott Adams, the creator of the popular cartoon strip Dilbert. Adams posted a rant about Android the other day, lamenting about its poor battery life and call quality. Seizing the opportunity, Brandon Watson, Senior Director of Windows Phone 7, quickly offered Adams a Mango-updated WP7 unit for his trial. Watson went even further with deal, offering to pay $1000 to Adams’ choice of charity if he does not like the smartphone more than the iPhone or Android.

You can read the letter below.

Scott -

My name is Brandon Watson and I am responsible for the developer platform on Windows Phone. Since your readership has a high probability of cross over with our developer base, how about I make you a deal with one of the phones we reserve for developers. Take Windows Phone for a spin. I’ll send you a developer phone with the new Mango OS on it. Give it an honest run, and if you don’t love it more than either of your iPhone or Android experiences, I’ll make a $1000 donation to the charity of your choice. You can’t really lose on this deal.

Do we have 500K apps? No. Do we have 25K, growing as fast as iPhone did, and 2x as fast as Android? Yes. Do developers love the dev environment? Uh huh. Do we have the only phone that puts people and communications first? You bet. If Androids dream of electronic iSheep, people dream about people – and that’s what you will get with Windows Phone. Keep in constant contact with those most important to you with Live Tiles, groups, messaging threads, and native Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And no special instructions on how to hold the phone to make calls. Oh, and the battery lasts a long time.

I can be reached at ThePhone [at] microsoft. You can call me if you want – 425-985-5568. Windows Phone devs will tell you that’s the right contact info, because it’s shared with every one of them.

I hope you take me up on this one…there’s no reason to hate your phone.

No word on if Adams agreed to the deal or not.

[Thanks, Nuwy for the link!]

Boot to Geko: The Mozilla mobile OS project

Mozilla, home to the brains behind Firefox, is planning to build its very own mobile OS. The project called Boot to Gecko or B2G broke cover on the Mozilla Developer Group yesterday. Its aim is to create a standalone operating system that will use web technologies to deliver all of its applications. This may sound very similar to Chrome OS, but the main difference is that Mozilla is focused on being mobile OS only. Interestingly, it plans to build Boot to Gecko on an Android foundation.

Dr Andreas Gal, a researcher at Mozilla, explained the plan for Boot to Gecko to developers. He says the project will take the primary functions of a mobile device (making calls, sending texts, accessing the camera, USB, Bluetooth and NFC) and build web APIs to handle them. That will then allow developers to create safe ways for web pages and web apps to access those functions.

The open-source project will take Android as its starting point but only at a very basic level using the kernel and drivers to make sure whatever they produce can actually be booted on hardware. If the team behind the project manage to get it off the ground it could open up the potential for a truly open-source mobile OS.

On a personal note, a web-only OS is something I would never prefer on my PC or mobile phone. Internet outage or low credit on GPRS handset could be catastrophic for such OS. I have personally used Chrome OS and didn’t like this aspect one bit. And if my phone starts to behave same way to manage phone operations and apps via web powered apps then this could mean less reliability, more data usage and rampant malware applications. Still, it’s very early days for the project to comment on its capabilities and flaws but we will be intrigued to see what Mozilla can come up with.

iPhone 5G concepts look like Sony Satio design with N8 colors

One look at the Apple iPhone 5G and two devices come to mind: the Sony Ericsson Satio and Nokia N8. By merging together those two concepts, Antoine Brieux from Nak Phone Design has managed to re-invent Apple’s flagship phone concept design.

The iPhone 5G concept pays homage to the iMac G3 days when Apple offered five colored, translucent plastic cases. Outside of its iPod line, Apple has relied on brush aluminum for its Macs and two colors for its iPhones. This concept shows 6 variety of colors while Nokia N8 is currently available in five similar colors.

Inside the iPhone 5G concept, not much will change compared to the current iPhone 4S/5 rumors. There’s an 8-megapixel camera with HD capture, LED notifications panel, and A5 dual-core processor. The real change over previous generation iPhones (and even Macs) is that the iPhone 5G will use a magnesium body. This will help Apple achieve its lightest and thinnest design to date.

I think when Apple goes into real production they will stick with traditional color choices, but the design and materials sound promising.

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