"Yo dawg, I heard you liked to PlayBook, so I put your PlayBook in a play book so could PlayBook while you play book."

LightWedge's Verso covers caught my eye at CES as a classy alternative to the usual flip covers available for the BlackBerry PlayBook. While the gimmick of putting book binding on a mobile gadget isn't new, I was particularly happy that LightWedge's take on it was truly universal. This particular version is the Prologue Antique Cover in tan, but they've got a whole bunch of different styles with the same basic idea.

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RIM held a cozy little developer panel at Mobile World Congress, where VP of Developer Relations, Alec Saunders, got folks from Zinio, Marmalade and Pacemaker to talk about precisely how awesome it was developing for BlackBerry. While most of the conversation was predictably positive, the Q&A with press was a bit more critical. I made sure to voice a few questions that were raised by you guys and fellow CB staffers. 

The biggest issue raised on the developer front, especially since support for Android apps launched in the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, is how RIM intends to attract, promote and retain quality developers. Supporting Android introduces a few problems; one that was brought up in the Q&A is piracy. There have apparently been many attempts to submit apps that have been blatantly stolen from other developers.  Luckily, RIM is committing to diligence on this front, and has already caught a couple of shady dealers. Alec said "We don't want the 'wild west' of the Android Market in App World"-- which is reassuring. 

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Remember the new Porsche concept car QNX was showing off at CES? You might have heard that they added some cloud integration, and were showing it off at Mobile World Congress 2012. Of course, we had to check this out for ourselves. 

NewBay is an online content locker where you can store your music, pictures, video, and other files in the cloud for access just about anywhere. RIM acquired them in October, so we're still waiting to see the service bundled in with BlackBerry devices like iCloud. In the meantime, NewBay has partnered up with fellow acquiree, QNX, so that the car could access that content through the primary dash and the rear-mounted BlackBerry PlayBooks. Of course, this is just a tech demo, but it gives a very clear idea of the kinds of products RIM has coming down the pipe. 

Unfortunately, Wi-Fi at the show was pretty rough, nevermind attempting to use the QNX Porsche's integrated cellular connection, so they had to hook up the car with an ethernet cable to get everything running. The guys at NewBay and QNX apparently only took a week or two to pull off this partnership, so it's understandable that video sharing wasn't fully implemented yet.

Considering how many companies RIM has been snatching up over the last couple of years, I'm interested to see other partnerships between RIM subsidiaries pan out into real products, and not just neat concepts. 

The second concept demo from RIM's Sweden branch at Mobile World Congress 2012 is PitchRocket. This is both a PlayBook and smartphone app that help you quickly create visually-impressive presentations. Through the phone, you can create slide text and insert images, while the slide itself is dynamically created on the PlayBook based on whichever preset style you've selected. There would also be the possibility of user-created, and maybe even sellable presets to expand the core imagery. 

While PitchRocket is certainly closer to the realm of reality than Confetti, it's easy to see these features folded into the BlackBerry Presenter and Slideshow to Go. The graphics are very snazzy, but I have a feeling that unless these are exportable into the PPT format, you might have some issues down the line if you need to share materials with anyone. As the name implies, I could see something like this getting a lot of use from hurried salespeople who get thrust into meetings at the last second.

PitchRocket is a neat concept, and not entirely in the realm of fanciful tech demos that never become a reality. Anyone interested?  

RIM's Sweden branch, previously known as The Astonishing Tribe, has made a big splash at Mobile World Congress 2012. One of two new concepts that they're showing off is called Confetti. It's a simple collaboration app that lets you easily transfer files between BlackBerry PlayBooks with a lot more flair than you'd expect. By mounting a webcam on the cieling, the PlayBooks are recognized, assigned a color, and positioned in relation to one another. Before a meeting starts, there's a casual game of virtual catch that you play by tapping your screen's dot. It shoots a streaming of jagged, funky pixels over to another member, and you keep bumping it around until the meeting is ready to start.

You launch the meeting with the top-down swipe, and now you can get to work. Little bubbles show up around the edge of your screen, each representing someone in the meeting, and they change position as the owner moves around. You can use the system menu to pull in images and documents, which can then be dragged to one of these edge bubbles to transfer the file over the local Wi-Fi network. You can also broadcast the file to the other users by pinch-zooming, or using a special gesture, shunt the image out to a projector. You can still share files directly with other users during this exposition mode by moving two BlackBerry PlayBooks close to one another.

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CrackBerry is alive and well in Barcelona! I'm here at Mobile World Congress 2012 to see what RIM is up to, particularly following up on the recent launch of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. Tomorrow will have a bunch of news (be sure to follow Android Central for the bulk of it), but we aren't expecting anything explosive from RIM; we already got our treat with the PlayBook update. 

Regardless, I'll be talking with a bunch of RIM folks at MWC, not only about the latest version of their operating system and its implications for BB10, but also RIM's progress in international markets, and what they're doing to win over the hearts of developers.  Have any thoughts for our glorious creators of BlackBerry? Leave a comment, and I'll pass on your questions, concerns, and praise! You can follow our coverage at this handy tag. 

At CES we got to check out the updated video chat client on the BlackBerry PlayBook, and with today's launch of OS 2.0, everybody can get in on the action. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that this is the app that has seen the most dramatic change out of everything that's new. Now video chat contacts are pulled in from social networks that are registered on the tablet. Each friend also has online and offline status shown clearly, so you can know whether or not to even start calling in the first place. You can even edit the information for those contacts as you would in the new stand-alone native address book. Speaking of which, you can launch into video chat from the address book, too. There's also a new Presenter mode which lets you shunt a video call out to a larger screen over HDMI while flipping through other apps and notes on your PlayBook.   

There are certainly some key use cases for video chat on the PlayBook. For example, moms who don't know much about technology, feel like they need a tablet, and have a kid studying abroad that already has a PlayBook. While I'm not convinced that video chat will be little more than a novelty, especially without hooks into external networks like Skype, it's great to see the existing service on the PlayBook improving. How often do you guys video chat? Who do you talk with? Is it worth RIM's while to invest in this area, or should they just get in bed with Skype?  

 

Now that everyone is getting cozy with BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0, it's time to root out all of the teeniest, tiniest changes in the update. We already know about the big stuff, like remote control, and Android app support, but we didn't know about App World getting a significant user interface overhaul. Ok, we did but we didn't know how it would function.

Functionally, everything is pretty much the same, but instead of a carousel, there's now a panning grid, with a themed section taking up two squares-worth of real estate.  The tabs on the top are unchanged, but the bottom pane has been pared down to the top paid games and apps. The top free, top rated, and new arrivals are tucked into the top tier games and apps sections. 

I'm still flipping through it all myself, trying to spot Android apps among the usual suspects... Have you guys noticed anything new in the new version of App World for the BlackBerry PlayBook?

 

We're expecting the BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 update to be hitting the streets very, very soon (like 5am EST), and it's going to be a big step for both RIM and end-users. Android support will broaden app selection, stand-alone applications for e-mail, calendar, and memos will finally arrive, and there will be lots of nice extras which we weren't necessarily asking for, like being able to use a BlackBerry smartphone as a remote keyboard.  

Considering many people will look at OS 2.0 as the point where the BlackBerry PlayBook finally became feature-complete, let's take a look at how we got here. For those still getting used to their holiday present, RIM's tablet is still very new, but we've been talking about the thing for nearly two years now. It started off when RIM acquired QNX Systems.  

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First Angry Birds and Bejeweled, and now Plants vs. Zombies is coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook? The trifecta of casual gaming is nearly complete! While we did get a quick look at it during CES, EA has announced that the home-defense/gardening strategy game is now available on RIM's tablet. Unfortunately, there still isn't a live link in BlackBerry App World. 

The game includes 50 levels, throughout which you need to pick and chose from an array of defensive plants that attack hordes of ill-equipped zombies. Some have snorkeling gear to get through the pool, others have pole vaults to get over your Wall-nuts, while others still have bungee cords to bypass all of your carefully placed plants. Collect sunshine points as they randomly pop up so you can keep planting, and collect cash to upgrade your armory of vicious flora.

No word on pricing yet, but I would expect it in the $7 range. It's worth it, trust me. EA's blog post is pasted after the jump. 

Source: EA 

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The BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing app from RIM has seen a small update to version 3.0 today. It still has all of the standard stuff, like pulling bridge numbers and access codes from meeting requests so you can join in one click when the calendar reminder pops up. New in this version is the ability to share the app through a bunch of different channels, including BBM, e-mail, and various social networks. The app also comes with help videos, so users can figure out what they're doing wrong without being too late for their conference call. You can access both of those through the dedicated icon. As always, if you lose coverage mid-call, the app provides you with a pop-up to reconnect. The app also adds a ton of options in the native calendar app for setting up conference call meetings, including moderator passcodes. 

While BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing certainly isn't flashy, it's definitely useful for people who deal with conference calls regularly. Take a look at the demo video after the jump for a full tour, and be sure to check out our review for the deep dive. To get started with the update, hit up the App World link below; unfortunately, the latest version is currently only available in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., but I'm sure other regions of the world will get access soon enough.

More information/download BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing

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Coinciding with an iOS Chinese New Year promotion, Gameloft now has a bunch of their excellent BlackBerry PlayBook games on sale for $0.99 a pop. These include Asphalt 6, UNO, Star Front: Collision, Modern Combat 2, and Eternal Legacy. 

Gameloft started pumping out a bunch of PlayBook titles this fall, and the quality is second only to EA's titles. Even then, sometimes Gameloft is much more open about doing "homages" to other popular games than EA. Asphalt 6 is a good pick if you've already played the preloaded Need for Speed to death. The familiarity of UNO will be a welcome sight for those looking for something a little more casual. I've put some time into Star Front: Collision, and as a guy who had spent a healthy chunk of high school playing StarCraft, it was a great addition to my PlayBook.

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Another tidbit to come out of this morning's conference call was the position of newly-appointed CEO Thorsten Heins on splitting up the company. Some investors were suggesting RIM break up into separate handset and services entities, not unlike the Motorola breakup a few years ago. 

"My view on RIM is a very, very clear view. Guys, I've been in device-only businesses before, and I know what it means to be in that segment. Frankly, if your value proposition is a device alone, it is a cutthroat price and cost business. My view on RIM is very, very clear. We are strong because we have an integrated solution, we are vertical, we have our network, we have our services, we have our enterprise servers out there with more 250,000 enterprises connected to it, and we have fantastic devices and a fantastic ecosystem that we're building. I want to build on that. I will not in any way split this up or separate this into different businesses."  

You might recall that in addition to ousting Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, splitting up RIM was one of the calls-to-action made by some shareholders.  When put in this light by Thorsten, it's easy to see why RIM isn't interested in destroying one of their major competitive advantages. Chris has already gone on at length about how the switch to ActiveSync in BB10 is a necessary move, but they won't be axing the existing NOC altogether. Apparently the margins on this kind of service are huge, and RIM would be missing out on significant profits if they were to give it up and instead focus exclusively the high-stakes hardware game.

Personally, I agree that RIM should keep their end-to-end strategy, but what do you guys think? Would a separate entity be able to operate more efficiently?

Running through this morning's conference call again, Research In Motion's shiny new CEO, Thorsten Heins, had a lot to say about about BlackBerry's large-scale strategic direction, particularly previous hints that they would be willing to license the operating system to other manufacturers.

"Now, on the licensing piece, I'm absolutely confident that BlackBerry 10 will prove itself as a platform. If there is requests coming towards Research In Motion to talk about licensing that platform to other companies, I will entertain those discussions, I will listen, I will assess the business opportunity for RIM, and if it makes sense strategically and tactically to go down that path, then I will make the decision together with the board. It's not my focus one. My focus one is strengthen RIM's business based on their integrated approach because there's not many companies out there that have this. One is the other fruit company that has it, and one is us, and I want to leverage this. This is a very, very strong asset to have. A former colleague of mine once said 'trust you're successful in business when you're in the nervous system of your customers'. You can translate this into 'you're successful when you have the biggest value contribution to your customer's business', and this is where BlackBerry is, and this is where I want to stay, and this is what I want to build upon."

It's certainly not news that RIM is willing to flirt with cross-platform arrangements, what with the Android player running on the BlackBerry PlayBook, and iOS support on the way in RIM's enterprise management console. Historically, RIM had even shoehorned most of the OS into Windows Mobile, and with the relatively recent Bing partnership, it wouldn't be surprising to see another cross-over emerge for Windows Phone. 

Still, Thorsten made a point to say that this isn't a high priority, and that he has a ton of confidence in BlackBerry 10 to be able to stand on its own, thankyewverymuch. What do you guys think - is there a chance at a BlackBerry Connect revival?

RIM introduced their new CEO, Thorsten Heins, in a video tonight, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of BlackBerry. Here are some of the key takeaways.

Heins starts off by talking about how grateful he is for the opportunity. He says RIM's "journey isn't over yet", and sees BlackBerry being among the top 3 wireless players worldwide if they keep doing what they're doing, and they do it well. This is a view shared by RIM's new chair of the board, Barbara Stymiest, and might not be what shareholders want to hear - at least the ones who have been clamouring for dramatic change at the company, and not just a leadership shuffle.

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