When it comes to voice-enabled personal assistants on mobile devices, Apple and Google have dominated that space, forcing others to either play catch-up or risk losing a percentage of market share from users who require that advanced functionality. BlackBerry hasn’t exactly been up there batting alongside the best-of-the-best in recent years, but while the company may lack traction within the consumer space it still holds some weight with corporate users. In an effort to improve the BB10 experience for that loyal corporate user-base, the company has taken to its Inside BlackBerry blog to officially introduce the Blackberry Assistant, a digital experience that will attempt to rival Siri on iOS and Google Now on Android hardware.
BlackBerry may well be scrambling for some sort of relevancy in the smartphone world, but it seems that some people just wont let their BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM accounts die. Announcing its first beta release of BBM for Windows Phone, BlackBerry took to its blog in order to claim that it had received an "incredible number of requests for BBM to come to Windows Phone."
If you've been on an airplane in the last ten years, then the chances are you're already well aware of some of the rather overzealous restrictions that are being enforced upon air travellers. Mothers forced to prove that baby milk is indeed just that by drinking it is a story we've all heard before, but now it seems that the US Transportation Security Administration isn't content with just making sure liquids are as they appear, anymore.
BlackBerry has just released a rather substantial update to the iOS and Android versions of its famed BBM app, bringing stickers, group photo sharing, and other such niceties. A full run-down of the enhancements, as well as the all-important download link to both the iOS and Android editions of BBM 2.1, can be seen below.
BlackBerry, a company that, not so long ago, was a superpower in the mobile industry, has been in free-fall for some time, and despite an executive shake-up that has seen the Canadian outfit appoint a new CEO, things don't look to be getting any better. One area that BlackBerry still clutches on to is enterprise, with many businesses still in favor of using the company's products for their robust security features, but according to the Wall Street Journal, one of its foremost clients - The White House - is assessing the possibility of switching to LG or Samsung.
It's quite a sorry state of affairs when a company like BlackBerry - a major player in the smartphone industry only a few years ago - must resort to taking cheap shots at the market leaders in order to score itself some headline coverage. The demise of the Canadian outfit has been well documented in recent times, and with its market share having plummeted to the point where Windows Phone has just overtaken it, many of BlackBerry's head honchos have fallen victim to a major reshuffle. John Chen recently replaced Thorsten Heins as CEO, but instead of brimming with new ideas as to how BlackBerry can turn its fortunes around, he has instead begun his career by labeling iPhone users as "wall-huggers."
Having taken the wraps off the new Nokia X family, Stephen Elop also took the opportunity to announce that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) would be headed to Windows Phone, along with Adobe Photoshop Express. The instant messaging service, which only arrived for iOS and Android a few months back after years as a BlackBerry-only feature, will be releasing a version for the Windows Phone Store in due course, although at this moment, it is unclear as to when exactly it will become available.
Having apparently given up on making money from selling smartphones, it looks like BlackBerry has instead decided to take its quest for cash to the law courts after it was announced that the former smartphone giant is suing a small iPhone accessory maker.
Screen protectors make a whole lot of sense. You buy a shiny new smartphone, unbox it, and already, the value is slowly creeping down. You buy a decent case to protect it from the daily wear-and-tear that digital hardware seems so attracted to, and the screen protector, you hope and pray, will stop the display from getting scratched or worn. But putting a screen protector on throws up all sorts of caveats. Dust seems to begin appearing just as soon as you slide away the cellophane, hitting both your device's just-polished display and the screen protector itself. If you've found yourself frustrated by the incessant bobbles of a failed screen protector application session, help is, thankfully, at hand.
The Angry Birds franchise continues to march on, and following a plethora of titles so far, Angry Birds Go has just hit the App Store, Google Play, BlackBerry World and, yes, even the Windows Phone Store. It's rare to see an app or game of any description release simultaneously for these three major ecosystems, but whatever your poison, you can now enjoy some enthralling go-kart action from the loveable characters of Angry Birds Go!
