Jonas Norberg, CEO and Pacemaker, gave a sneak peak of at their upcoming app for the BlackBerry PlayBook during the keynote general session at BlackBerry World this morning. The app will allow you to mix, sync, and scratch digital music on your BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as apply effects, loop, and much more to provide a rich DJ experience. Jonas stated that they were looking for a mobile platform to create an app for, and after much investigation they chose the PlayBook for its QNX OS, as it's the only "true, real-time operating system" on a mobile device. Can't wait for Pacemaker to launch; it looks amazing!
When RIM bought QNX back in April of 2010, many industry pundits suspected that the Java-based BlackBerry OS would die, and QNX would form the basis of a new operating system. This was clearly correct.
But at the time, Mike Lazaridis, a founder of RIM and then co-CEO, sidestepped questions about the future of BlackBerry OS. I remember talking to Jim Balsillie about QNX at BlackBerry World one month after RIM bought them. Instead of Jim answering my question directly, he said, "What did Mike say?" I told him Mike had casually stated that "The car is the ultimate accessory for a BlackBerry". Jim smiled as if to suggest, "good cover".
We're sitting on the cusp of a complete re-write of RIM. The executive team, the software, the hardware, and hopefully the marketing too. And outside of CrackBerry (see Kevin's discussion on the Playbook-powered Porsche), there aren't too many people talking about RIM's opportunity in the vehicle market.
It's no secret that the team at QNX Software Systems has been working on the development of their car platform. We've seen it in action a few times, most recently at CES in January, and I know many of you are anxious to see it come to your vehicle someday. In the video above, Kerry Johnson leads us through a quick tour of the QNX CAR 2 platform. Kerry is the automotive product manager at QNX, and he shows off some of the developments they've been working on including mobile device connectivity, the application area, HTML5 support, voice-enabled apps, and more. Check out the video, and head over to the forums at the link below to chat about it.
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.
RIM's QNX division has been doing some pretty impressive things in the automotive sector lately and they've brough along some pretty awesome stuff to Mobile World Congress. As seen in the video above, Derek Kuhn, VP Sales & Marketing, QNX, gives us a tour of how BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBooks can be deeply integrated making a complete automotive package.
I'm seriously pi$$ed I spent $500 on that BlackBerry clock app yesterday as that money really needs to be going into my new car fund so I can pick up some new wheels when the QNX concepts being shown off at CES2012 hit the market.
You'll want to definitely watch the video above as Mark from the QNX team walks me through all of the customizations they did to this sweet Porsche Carerra. The technology here is just awesome. There are NFC tags in the car for easy pairing between BlackBerry Smartphone and the Infotainment unit (which while not being broadcast you could tell was a PlayBook in the console that boots up to a new in-car UI). The main console PlayBook was connected to two more PlayBooks mounted on the headrests, which can be controlled by the main console machine (thank QNX's distributed OS and QNet for making that happen). The main infotainment console has all the features you'd expect of a connected car and some that you wouldn't expect, including AMAZING super high definition stereo telepathy which means you can have the best voice calls ever. There's no noise cancellation happening here, but literally sound that is true to life and even moves with you through the car (it's hard to explain in text, so jump to the 4 minute mark to see it and hear it). What's really cool is that this functionality is actually part of the PlayBook OS 2 update.
I can go on and on here but have to start packing up to make my flight home from CES 2012, so do yourself a favor and sit back and watch the video. You'll be glad you did.
We've seen a couple of concept cars from QNX in the past, and the latest being shown at CES 2012 goes above and beyond anything we have seen to date. The Porsche Carrera is pre-integrated with QNX products and third-party technologies to deliver an experience like no other. You can watch the video above to get a feel for what went into designing the car, and check out the full press release after the break for an in-depth look at just what this amazing concept can do.
Back when the BlackBerry PlayBook first launched the question of themes and customizations came up and while the answer to the question "Will the PlayBook be skinnable?" was never really dismissed -- it was never taken seriously either. It only garnered a response that when broken down equated to if the demand is there, it might eventually be considered as an option. Well, that never happened despite the demand being there and to this day, theme developers still have no access to creating themes on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Now, with BlackBerry 7 devices out -- theme developers are once again stuck waiting on RIM to update the BlackBerry Theme Studio so that themes can be created for BlackBerry 7 devices. Their has been no mention of if and when the update will come but as we all know -- DevCon is only a few days away so that may bring a new release but what if it doesn't?
Last year at BlackBerry DevCon we got the AWESOME surprise of the BlackBerry PlayBook announcement. I've been to a lot of Research In Motion events over the years, and my BlackBerry excitement level after seeing the PlayBook on stage that day was at an all time high. The only thing that would have been even better was if we had actually been able to hold and use RIM's first tablet at the event. Instead, we were teased with a couple of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets encased in glass (including a blue one - whatever happened to that?!), which only allowed for me to do our first "hands-on glass" PlayBook review per above.
This morning I woke up with this year's upcoming DevCon and BBX phones on my mind, and I got a bit of a feeling of panic in my stomach. We were told on the last RIM earnings call that we'll see QNX BlackBerry development phones at BlackBerry DevCon this year. To me that means we'll get to actually hold and use a QNX BlackBerry phone at DevCon. But this morning it struck me that with the precedent set last year of putting hardware in glass following an announcement, we **could** see this happen again this year if the BBX phones are not quite ready for prime time yet (better increase my travel health insurance just in case... not sure my heart can take that kind of abuse teasing two years in a row). So that leads us to...
The Question of the Week: What are you expecting to see from BlackBerry DevCon this year in regards to QNX BlackBerry SuperPhones? Think they'll be out there for us to play with, or shown off in glass like last year? Sound off the in the comments with your predictions!
We're starting a new regular feature here at CrackBerry to give you a little extra smile each week: the BBDoodle from Jason Harrison, founder of BrowCo.com, whose work you may have seen before in the form of PreDoodles on PreCentral.net. Look for more Doodles on all of our Mobile Nations sites soon too! Have a great idea for a BBDoodle? Send an email to doodles@mobilenations.com and Jason'll take a gander.
In celebrating the one year anniversary of the BlackBerry PlayBook last week, I re-watched the video of the live announcement from BlackBerry DevCon 2010. Research In Motion founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis unveils the BlackBerry PlayBook, makes his way through some power point slides highlighting the hardware and features, and from there invites to the stage "the founder of QNX and inventor of the BlackBerry Tablet OS, Dan Dodge." From there Dan -- or Super Dan as I like to call him -- excitedly walks through the Power of QNX.
By now most are aware of HP's decision to stop making webOS powered hardware but that doesn't mean the webOS community as a whole has given up on webOS devices. Our friends over at Pre Central have completed their review of the long awaited HP Pre 3 and although its story is a tragic one, considering the device many webOS fans have been waiting for will never really have its time to shine -- it's still a good read that tells the tale of what could have been.
In reading the review, it's easy to see that the HP Pre 3 was finally the device many were hoping to have webOS on. A 1.4GHz processor, 480x800 display, 512MB of RAM and the option of 8GB or 16GB for storage, and an auto-focus camera finally made it, at the time of its announcement, state-of-the art. Derek covers his thoughts on the device quite well, despite knowing that it'll never really be fully available to all, so make sure you check it out.
When the BlackBerry PlayBook launched, a lot of people related the look of the BlackBerry Tablet OS to that of webOS and when reading Dereks review, I couldn't help but wonder if what we're seeing in the HP Pre 3 is a small glimmer of what we'll be seeing when QNX BlackBerry devices arrive on the scene.
The "card" metaphor is there, the styling is arguably similar, and some of the specs fall in line with rumors suggested for QNX BlackBerry smartphones so it's becoming increasingly easy to imagine QNX being shrunk down to a BlackBerry. We've seen some fake images pop up, but really RIM will need to play with their UI a little bit more to make it optimized for smaller real estate. For now, I think the HP Pre 3 gives us the best insight as to what QNX may look like. What do you all think -- and more importantly, were any of you all out there waiting on the Pre 3 to give webOS a shot?
On the recent RIM earnings call one of the most unexpected things said by RIM's Founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis was this:
"Well, we've got a lot of planned announcements at DevCon in October, and we've got -- we'll be announcing our new development platform for QNX and our QNX-based phones. We'll be launching the development phones, so that people can start experiencing the QNX phones and the applications. So we've got a lot of things planned. At this point, we want to be careful not to give up too many of our secrets and specifications of the product and delivery dates. But we're very excited, and the fact that we've already got the development phones operating right now and we're testing them is a great sign"
The announcement that QNX developer phones would be present at the BlackBerry Developers Conference next month definitely came as a surprise to me. And heck, I wouldn't doubt it came as a surprise to many a RIM employee as well (just like how Jim Balsillie said the PlayBook would get native email in 60 days...lol). This definitely is a new move for RIM. Typically new moves for RIM end up having a back story to them, and by piecing together various rumors and intel I think I have a pretty good hypothesis of what's happening here.
I honestly don't know if this is a recent change to the BlackBerry.com website or if it has been this way for a while on the PlayBook page (my attention was brought to it this morning by this CrackBerry forum thread). But as far I can recall this is the only time I've ever seen the official QNX logo used in official marketing materials of the BlackBerry PlayBook.
When the BlackBerry PlayBook was introduced, it was introduced as featuring the BlackBerry Tablet OS. Of course all of us hardcore BlackBerry users and the tech media referred to it as the QNX OS regardless, but to the average consumer that was never really a fact RIM was trying to push (the average person isn't going to have a clue what QNX is anyway and why would RIM want to dilute (or not build, rather) BlackBerry brand equity by pushing another company name for its OS, even if they own it). It has officially always been the BlackBerry PlayBook with the BlackBerry Tablet OS.
But given the state of BlackBerry bashing in the media today, and given that the biggest gripe for BlackBerry Smartphones is the need for an overhauled OS (and more apps!), I can't help but wonder if we'll see a bit more of this QNX co-branding emerge as QNX-based BlackBerry SuperPhones hit the market. While the QNX brand may not be super well known by consumers, it does have a very good reputation in the industry (and starting with the letter Q it sounds like it must be techy and powerful and awesome). RIM making it more well known that the OS is based on technology from QNX Systems will make it very clear that this is a NEW BlackBerry operating system, which is a message they'll really want to get out there with the new generation of phones. These won't be evolutionary BlackBerry Smartphones, which is what we've seen to date.
Question of the Week: If you were on Research In Motion's marketing team, would you highlight the QNX brand within marketing materials for BlackBerry devices that feature the QNX operating system, or would you keep that away from consumers and just push it as a new and improved BlackBerry OS solely with the BlackBerry brand involved? Any marketing gurus in the house? Sound off with your thoughts!
It was a quiet weekend for BlackBerry news, but that didn't stop the rumors from flying on Sunday when parody Twitter accounts @MikeLazaritis and @JimBalsilly decided to have a little fun. Two pictures were posted to the accounts, supposedly showing QNX running on a future model of the BlackBerry Torch 9850/60, and a lot of people were left scratching their heads, wondering if these are in fact what they claim to be.
Fact is, fake Twitter accounts lead to faked statements and even faked pictures (although sometimes they might pop out some "real" news). To show you how easy it is to make such images, I went ahead and threw together a few of my own using my Bold 9900 and some screenshots from my BlackBerry PlayBook. And don't let the picture of the BBM icon being moved on the Torch fool you; I recreated that as well, minus the finger. ;)
Check out the rest of pictures after the break.
It's no secret RIM has been working on their next generation smartphones powered by QNX. Today though, during their Q2 Fiscal 2012 Results Announcement Conference Call, both Mike Lazridis and Jim Ballsillie confirmed QNX devices are already in development and come time for DevCon, they will indeed be shown off. Keep in mind, shown off -- does not imply announced. These devices will be development devices. In addition to that, RIM also confirmed a new development platform will be made available -- presumably for QNX devices. Needless to say, the disppointment of not getting PlayBook OS 2.0 until after DevCon hurts but the joy of getting a glimpse at some of RIM's QNX devices gets our blood rushing.
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