Looking at the Competition HTC Flyer From T-Mobile

by Luis Merlos on November 9th, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Posted in News

The HTC Flyer launched earlier this year and recently became one of the newest tablets with 4G service from T-Mobile USA. T-Mobile sent us a review unit of their HTC Flyer with a 4G ready simcard that allowed us to test the speed and service they offer. The HTC Flyer from T-mobile is one of the  increasing list of tablets to enter the tablet market with Android OS used by different vendors on their mobile devices. Those offering tablet devices are trying to cater to both the enterprise and consumer market but  out of the box tend to fall short on security standards for safe enterprise use.   That gap is currently being met by 3rd party applications and email management systems which allows companies more control over the sensitive data stored on these mobile devices. At this point that is still a growing market, with companies like RIM trying to move from a enterprise mindset to offering devices that are more consumer friendly whereas Android devices are consumer driven trying to enter the enterprise market.

Overview: HTC Flyer From T-Mobile

The HTC Flyer is a slim portable 7” device a bit smaller than the BlackBerry PlayBook because of the extra bezel space on the PlayBook that uses gestures which is one feature the Flyer lacks.  The Flyer is running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread ingle-core 1.5GHz processor, paired with 1GB of RAM allows for speedy multitasking. It features a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video chat or self pictures, and a 5 megapixel camera for recording HD videos. The 1024 x 700 pixel resolution capacitive touchscreen display also works with a stylus, the HTC Scribe Pen.

User Interface:

If you have used an HTC android device is is almost looking at oversized HTC Sensation.  HTC uses a customized UI over the android OS called HTC Sense UI this is one of the reasons why  the Android OS looks different from vendor to vendor. Using different Android devices I find the HTC Sense UI more user friendly and provides the user a more fluid experience.

HTC Scribe Stylus Pen:

The main difference with this table is the stylus, which connects wirelessly to the Flyer, and enables you to annotate, highlight and erase in supported apps. It offers a measure of pressure sensitivity very different from other stylus. The stylus does not work for pressing and selecting apps, it only allows you to write, and erase or draw within the application. A button on the tablet allows the user to simply turn off the connection to the pen. Another cool feature with the tablet and the stylus is that the note application automatically syncs with your evernote account.   Note that the scribe pen is not included with the device but you can purchase it separately.

Email

Unlike the BlackBerry PlayBook the HTC Flyer and android devices offer a range of different ways to connect and receive e-mail. Android devices have active sync from Microsoft similar to BES on the BlackBerry but this is all included on the OS. Active Sync allows the user to sync e-mails, contacts, and appointments from one device to the other. The e-mail experience is not on par with how BlackBerry devices do e-mail but it is better than none.  Other methods methods include 3rd party e-mail clients including K-9mail, Kaiten Mail, Exchange By TouchDown Key, Enhanced Email, among other options that can be downloaded via the amazon android market or Android Market. This allows android users to connect to to their companies exchange server.  The Flyer also comes with a native android GMail App that gives users a close to Gmail on PC experirence.

Connectivity Other options users have to connect their HTC Flyer to e-mail servers include POP3 and IMAP. The setup for both IMAP and POP3 is the same this allows the HTC Flyer to receive POP3 email server for incoming email, and an SMTP server for outbound email.

Options within the app include

Data Connetivity:

The Flyer can connect using any available Wi-Fi network, or you can sign up for ta data plan that includes T-Mobile’s fast 4G Speeds. For those that are constantly on the road this option is probably your best bet.

The HTC flyer connects to T-Mobiles fast 4G network, allowing users to stream video, download content on the go at almost the same speeds regular DSL home networks offer. While using the Flyer I was able to stream videos, and watch Netflix with hardly any buffering issues.

Flash and page rendering:

The HTC Flyer like any other android device is capable or rendering flash enabled websites and video. The Flyer was able to run most websites without any issues but compared to the BlackBerry PlayBook the PlayBook takes the win. The Flyer crashed a few times when running heavy flash content sites and streaming video. The PlayBook since it has flash integrated with the OS does a much better job processing and streaming video content. That is not say the Flyer can’t do it, it just doesn’t do as good of a  job as the PlayBook.

Most websites that have mobile sites enabled usually redirect the Flyer and any other mobile device to the mobile site. The Flyer does a good job rendering full websites and the browsing experience is good.

Third Party Apps:

Android ecosystem offers an array of both free and paid applications that allows users to stay connected to social networks, news content, and blogging. Android offers quite a few different browsers to choose from aside from the native browser. Some of the browser include Dolphin Browser, Opera, and Bolt Browser.

Enterprise User:

Some of the basics that an a company will look for in a mobile device is the ability to monitor, restrict or enforce IT policies, remote wipe, and push content to a workers phone. Android covers most of the basics but there is still some work they need to do to compete with the standards RIM has set when it comes to security. Android is base on open source which means the code is available where savvy users with enough time on their hand can dig into the inner workings of the OS. That means that Android has potential for easy access to root the device. This may discourage some companies to use Android for enterprise. Google has taken some steps to make Android more secure through application-sandboxing, and offers document editing applications.

Android allows users to connect to corporate data via VPN and 3rd party vendors offer Enterprise management systems that allows corporations to manage private data on their workers devices. One of those 3rd party applications include.

Overall android offers a less expensive option for small businesses and users who want to have their own device for business use. The HTC Flyer is a slick 7” tablet that offers a close resemblance to the BlackBerry PlayBook if portability is a key feature for you. The other parts that make this tablet a close competitor for the PlayBook is that it allows users to have the option of connecting with a data plan with fast mobile speed. The HTC flyer allows users to share their data over mobile hotspot connection. This is something the PlayBook lacks until a 4G device is released.

While Android is a good option and has the app category covered the PlayBook is going to be able to use some of those applications.

Pricing: T-Mobile has been offering the HTC Flyer to enterprise customer for a while at $299.00 on a two year contract which is lower than what the PlayBook has been selling.

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Crowdsourced List of Android Apps That Work on the PlayBook OS 2.0 Beta (Sideloading)

Since the Android Player for the PlayBook leaked out and then officially came out in the public OS 2.0 beta users have been looking for which Android apps work on the PlayBook. There were quite a few lists being created and a few repositories of popular apps but now we seem to have something better. A group of hardworking enthusiasts over at CrackBerry forums created a public Google spreadsheet that lists all of the Android apps they have managed to get working on the BlackBerry PlayBook. It also includes links to download most of them so you can sideload them without having to convert and sign them yourself.

*** The credit goes out to quite a few people and I wish I could name all of them but since I don’t want to offend any of them I will just say you guys know who you are. Keep up the good work! ***

Here is how it works (instructions provided by Technomensch and in one of the original threads by Erandhawa)

Let us know if you find any other solid resources!

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Android Launchers for Honeycomb & Ice Cream Sandwich on the PlayBook

 

RIM ported the Android runtime environment to the BlackBerry PlayBook but that runtime is built on the phone specific v2.3.3 of Android. While this does not really limit the platform in features it does have a main drawback. Google has released v3.0 (Honeycomb) and v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) of Android which have a more tablet friendly interface which is called a “Launcher” on Android.

A few tinkerers in the CrackBerry forums managed to get the Android launchers for Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich to run on the PlayBook. This gives you a much nicer home screen interface from the Android player. This is not a huge deal but it is quite fun especially once you check out the video Shahzoor @BBin posted of it:

Desktop Video Link | Mobile Video Link

You can read more about the hack at this link in the CrackBerry forums and if you are feeling adventurous pick up the APK files here

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Clarification: Adobe AIR/Flash Apps & Android Player Apps to Run on BBX

Alec Saunders did not mention Adobe AIR/Flash apps or apps built on the Android Player when it came to their future BBX strategy. I have been trying to confirm this since Alec said that but it looks like he might have just missed it off his slide. RIM’s BBX press release says that:

The BBX platform will include BBX-OS, and will support BlackBerry cloud services and development environments for both HTML5 and native developers. BBX will also support applications developed using any of the tools available today for the BlackBerry PlayBook – including Native SDK, Adobe AIR/Flash and WebWorks/HTML5, as well as the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps – on future BBX-based tablets and smartphones.

Hopefully that settles that but it looks like BlackBerry Java is still nowhere to be seen.

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RIM Shows Off Android PlayBook APK Repackaging (Aka Porting)

 

We know that any Android developer can now start porting or better yet repackaging their Android APK files into apps that are easy to submit to App World. RIM showed off a simple app like Pulse but the took things a few steps further. They showed off an OpenGL game like Pool Break Pro that worked like a charm on the PlayBook. They also showed off IMDB working just by repackaging the APK file without any recompiling.

They showed off how it plugs in right with the Android tools with a RIM Eclipse plugin that just adds the ability to repackage into a Bar file and signing. Definitely something all Android devs should take a look at. Especially since it ties into all of the existing tools that Android devs already use.

Check out the microsite for the PlayBook Android Runtime if you are interested in more!

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PlayBook Android Player Repackaging Tools Now Available!

You heard us right. Those of you trying to get your Android apps to the PlayBook that is now possible. You can check it all out on RIM’s new dedicated microsite.

Check it out at https://bdsc.webapps.blackberry.com/android/

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Android Devs: Port Your App at BlackBerry DevCon SF to Get a Free Pass & Free PlayBook!

If you are an Android Dev or know an Android dev who lives in the San Francisco area make sure to give them a heads up about this. We just heard that the App Express booth RIM has at DevCon San Francisco is open to everybody. That means that any Android developer can bring their app to port to the BlackBerry PlayBook with RIM’s assistance during the conference. Here is how RIM describes it:

App Express opens on Monday, October 17 and runs through Thursday, October 20. You don’t even have to be registered for BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Come by and try out App Express on us, and then stick around for the rest of the content, insights, networking and more at the conference.

We found out that means that you will get a free pass to the rest of the conference after you successfully port your app. From what we hear that means you also get a free BlackBerry PlayBook like any other BlackBerry DevCon attendee. Sweet deal right? Keep in mind you need to sign up for free BlackBerry code signing keys which can take up to 2 hours to get so get those first.

Check out the full details at the DevCon App Express page

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Rumor: BBM for Android Caught on Camera Again…

 

The saga continues with yet another set of pictures showing BBM running on Android. The last set were quite grainy and looked suspicious since they used a screenshot that RIM had posted previously. Now we have yet another set coming from TechnoBuffalo coming from a tipster who claims to work at RIM. Here is what he had to say as commentary about the current and previous images:

I work for RIM and I was shown the latest version of bbm for android. I ran the app on the blackberry android dev phone.( The dev phone feels very cheap and unstable and the front four buttons have just been stuck on. I don’t believe this phone will ever be released to the public.) The latest version certainly looks better than the previous version.

The tipster also said that the previous screenshots that were suspicous due to using a default screen were because “the Nicole account in the previous photos is the default account for BBM Testing.” The tipster also said that an iOS variant is under consideration and this BBM for Android might be coming as early as DevCon this month.

This is definitely still in totally unconfirmed rumor land for now but hey it is fun to speculate. I am undecided on if BBM on Android would help or hurt RIM’s brand but they definitely would immediately become the largest cross platform mobile IM service. That could give them some serious pull on other platforms. On the other hand it might be a segway for users to leave their BlackBerrys.

On the other hand RIM’s former Director of Developer Relations, Mike Kirkup, clearly told us along with quite a few others that BBM for other platforms was not on the roadmap at BlackBerry World. Maybe things have changed since May?

PS: Anybody else finding the stuck on buttons on the Android device a bit odd? Something just seems fishy here. Why wouldn’t RIM be testing on an actually available Android device. If you know your Android phones let us know what you think the device looks like in the comments!

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Updated: Possible Screenshots of BBM Running on Android?

UPDATE: Bla1ze pointed out in the comments that one of those screenshots seem to be pulled from this RIM blog post pointing to this being a false rumor

Its Monday and with it comes the weekly rumor grind. First up this week are some intriguing yet uninformative purported images of an Android device running BBM. Very little is shown off other than a homescreen shortcut along with a default PINH and a status of BBM SDK Demo. Check it out and let us know what you think of it!

Kudos to TechRadar for catching the images and the tipsters who sent this in!

More on BerryReview

RIM to Help Developers Port Android & Web Apps at DevCon App Express

 

More details are fleshing out about DevCon this month in San Francisco. In their latest press release RIM clearly highlights that they are planning on helping Android developers port their apps to the PlayBook along with assisting web developers in porting their apps to both the PlayBook and BlackBerry smartphones. They will be doing this in a special App Express area at DevCon.

Here is how RIM describes it:

Android and web developers will be able to visit the App Express area at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Here they will have the opportunity to either quickly port their existing Android app to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones. Once done, the app can be submitted to BlackBerry App World(TM). Experts from RIM’s development team and BlackBerry App World team will be available at the App Express area to provide assistance. App Express opens on Monday, October 17 and runs through Thursday, October 20.

Android and web developers will be able to visit the App Express area at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Here they will have the opportunity to either quickly port their existing Android app to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones. Once done, the app can be submitted to BlackBerry App World(TM). Experts from RIM’s development team and BlackBerry App World team will be available at the App Express area to provide assistance. App Express opens on Monday, October 17 and runs through Thursday, October 20.

You can find out more about the App Express area at:
www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/content/app-express

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RIM Teaching Android PlayBook Development to BlackBerry Java Developers

 

For awhile now I (and many other devs) have had a feeling that RIM might try to push BlackBerry smartphone Java developers into developing Android applications. The Android runtime on the PlayBook will be the first Java runtime for the PlayBook (and possibly QNX phones) and I know Java BlackBerry devs are paying attention. RIM has promised a Java Player for the PlayBook that should emulate BlackBerry Java apps but they have been pretty quiet about it.

Now I noticed in their session catalog for BlackBerry DevCon this month they have a session titled: “Android Development for BlackBerry Java Developers.”

Here is how RIM describes the session:

This session is targeted to BlackBerry Java developers interested in developing Android applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Join us if you prefer to continue utilizing your Java skills, or you have a large codebase of an existing BlackBerry Java application that you want to port to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with minimum effort. A contrast will be made between the key BlackBerry and Android APIs, followed by break down of the porting process of an existing BlackBerry application.

This session is targeted to BlackBerry Java developers interested in developing Android applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Join us if you prefer to continue utilizing your Java skills, or you have a large codebase of an existing BlackBerry Java application that you want to port to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with minimum effort. A contrast will be made between the key BlackBerry and Android APIs, followed by break down of the porting process of an existing BlackBerry application.

It seems like RIM is going to help developers in the process of porting their BlackBerry Java apps to the PlayBook using the Android player. That is an interesting move for RIM since it would require them in the future to expand the native APIs (advertising, analytics, push, etc) for the Android Player which they claim they do not plan on doing…

On the other hand RIM will be having two of their employees giving this session on porting to Android:

The key takeaways for the session are:

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Possible Screenshots of BBM Running on Android?

Its Monday and with it comes the weekly rumor grind. First up this week are some intriguing yet uninformative purported images of an Android device running BBM. Very little is shown off other than a homescreen shortcut along with a default PINH and a status of BBM SDK Demo. Check it out and let us know what you think of it!

Kudos to TechRadar for catching the images and the tipsters who sent this in!

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Latest PlayBook Android Player Details Confirm What RIM Has Shown

 

We know that RIM is launching the BlackBerry PlayBook Android Player shortly after DevCon in October but details around the Player are limited. Thing.co.uk got some details from DroidCon at the Easter European Mobile Monday Developer Summit in Romania and they show some of the limitations of the Android Player. Some publications are saying these limitations will be off putting but they sort of make sense for a virtualized player that is divorced from Google’s proprietary Android apps and services.

The thing is the whole purpose of the Android Player for the PlayBook is to bring the HUGE chunk of apps that would run just fine and make them super easy to port to QNX. I remember at BlackBerry World they were showing off 10+ apps that they didn’t even need the source code to run on the PlayBook. These are a majority of apps that are created for Android like the WordPress app I want or the IMDB app. The list could continue of apps that don’t use these API’s like: Twitter, Weather Apps, Amazon.com shopping, Radio streaming apps, sports apps, eBay, eBook readers, and much much more! Most of these apps would run just fine or would require small tweaks. I am truly hoping RIM creates a 1 click port and submit to App World app for Android devs…

Here are the details of what wont work:

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RIM Looking for Two BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps Engineers

RIM is clearly working hard on getting Android apps running on the PlayBook but one of our writers pointed out two positions RIM has posted on their LinkedIn page that are very telling. RIM is looking for a “BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps – System Software Engineer” and a “BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps – Compliance Engineer” in the San Francisco Bay area. It even has some cool responsibilities with the software engineer responsibilities:

The compliance Engineer Responsibilities include:

• Systematically identifying categories of content compliance issues for BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps
• Identifying root causes for non-compliance of Android applications on the Playbook platform
• Creating workarounds and alternate implementations for compliant behavior
• Devising content guidelines for developers to inform them of compliance related pitfalls

Check out the full job descriptions below:

Research In Motion – San Francisco Bay Area

POSITION SUMMARY

The Handheld Application Architecture team is searching for the most creative, innovative and motivated individuals in the technology space to focus on building RIM’s next generation device platform based on Playbook technology and QNX. 

This exciting role involves responsibilities for building and optimizing the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Applications. You must be at home with Java and C/C++ development in addition to other managed runtime APIs.  Your impressive experience in leading embedded mobile smartphone platforms will catch our attention, specifically, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Palm WebOS. Additionally, knowledge of Java platforms outside the smartphone space is highly attractive!

If you want to work with the best in the business, join us as we build the next generation BlackBerry!

RESPONSIBILITIES

ADDITIONAL ASSETS

If you’re driven to take wireless technologies to the next level, it’s time you join the team at RIM. We offer a challenging environment that fosters creativity and rewards excellence. Employees also have use of our award winning BlackBerry!

Research In Motion – San Francisco Bay Area

The Handheld Application Architecture team is searching for the most creative, innovative and motivated individuals in the technology space to focus on building RIM’s next generation device platform based on Playbook technology and QNX. 

This exciting role involves responsibilities for building and optimizing the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Applications. You must be at home with Java and C/C++ development in addition to other managed runtime APIs.  Your impressive experience in leading embedded mobile smartphone platforms will catch our attention, specifically, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Palm WebOS. Additionally, knowledge of Java platforms outside the smartphone space is highly attractive!

If you want to work with the best in the business, join us as we build the next generation BlackBerry!

RESPONSIBILITIES

ADDITIONAL ASSETS

If you’re driven to take wireless technologies to the next level, it’s time you join the team at RIM. We offer a challenging environment that fosters creativity and rewards excellence. Employees also have use of our award winning BlackBerry!

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Why I Think RIM Will Succeed… The QNX Powered Comeback

The last 12 months for RIM and the Blackberry brand have been HELL.  I trace the free fall back to the day the Torch 9800 was released just over 1 year ago.  I call that wake up day. That is the day for me that started RIM on the path that it currently finds itself in, with stock prices in the toilet, media/public perception being eroded and the RIM faithful having their loyalty tested.  It’s when the critics and bloggers really started to RIP into RIM.  It is the day the public, including fans, started to grow inpatient with RIM.

We all know what happened since, the buggy OS 6 launch, the lackluster 9780 update… the Style… the Playbook without BBM/Email/Calendar, the delayed OS 7 launch etc etc… finishing off with where we are today, with the latest batch of OS 7 phones being on the market for a couple weeks.  Today we find RIM is in the middle of a rebuild, yet, the analysts keep calling out that RIM is dying and many blog sites keep perpetuating these stories, furthering the problem of RIM’s image reconstruction.

There is no denying RIM deserved the criticism it got and needed the wake up call, but, I feel that wake up call has been heard and that the valid criticism and analysis has turned into rampant miss information and creative reporting by people who don’t understand the future plans of RIM and how RIM is making the transition for the future.   I feel we are past the point of reflecting on why RIM got to this position, it has been beat to death, and it is clear RIM has already started to turn things around.

That is now why I write this piece.  I write this piece because… I feel…. things are different now since the OS 7 releases.   I feel that RIM is literally half way through turning the corner.  I feel that the majority of analysts either do not fully understand the mobile landscape as it stands today, are operating on months old information or have up to date information but don’t understand it.  I also feel that there are some out there that know what RIM has in store, know the potential RIM has; however, they want to short the stock price and keep it down in an effort to make money for themselves or those they associate with.

What set me over the top and inspired me to write this opinion piece was the numerous articles that referenced Mr. Misek’s analysis of all things RIM that came out a couple days ago.  It was such a brutal and out of touch analysis of RIM’s situation.  It made Mr. Misek seem like he hadn’t read any of the new news about RIM over the last 4-6 weeks.  The fact that it got so much play all over the internet bothered me.  Mr. Misek’s analysis got so many thoughts running through my head that I felt compelled to write this piece… and what I want to write about is

WHY I THINK RIM WILL SUCCEED

This is purely my own opinion and it 100% relies on RIM delivering a solid QNX phone, the Colt as it’s called today.  Given a solid Colt……. this is why I feel RIM will RISE.

OS 7 phones were not expected to make record sales

RIM has a loyal following in Canada, Europe and 3rd World countries

RIM still carries cache, tarnished cache, but still cache

Android development will skip a beat

RIM has a vision for implementing services outside the superphone/tablet space that no one else has

RIM just revamped the team

The above 6 points lay the foundation to allow RIM to make their comeback; however, lots of hard work and execution needs to happen with the QNX phone launch to capitalize on these foundations.    There are some key areas they need to execute on:

In summary, I believe the combination of the above 5 factors in RIM’s favour and the execution on the above 5 areas will lead RIM into the future and beyond.

There are a great many people out there who have switched to Android/iPhone and want to come back to Blackberry, they just need a good reason, and the Colt has the potential to be that good reason. When putting things in perspective, RIM still has a huge fan base in North America and abroad.  This will not go away in the next 12 months, thus giving RIM its window to complete its turnaround.

The critics forget that the public, especially the American public, are very fickle consumers.  While it may not be in fashion now to support Blackberry, with a solid QNX Colt, it can still go back to being in fashion, just as it was before.  In the end it all comes down to execution.  RIM has a window of opportunity here that they are lucky to have:  Steve Jobs stepping down at Apple, HP shutting down webOS, Android under siege with lawsuits, this is the time for RIM to bust through with the Colt and take back the industry.

I for one will continue to anxiously await the next leaks of the Colt and all the new products put out by RIM.  I have faith that RIM understands its mistakes and is turning things around.  The next 12 months should be interesting!

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RIM Sponsoring 50 Android Developer Meetups to Promote PlayBook Android Player

A friend pointed out that RIM is really starting to make themselves known to Android developers and other developer communities on Meetup. Until now they have been using it to court BlackBerry developers with meetups all over the place and a few web developers but now they are clearly sponsoring Android developer meetups in anticipation of the Android Player for the PlayBook. We know that RIM is releasing the Android Player to developers at least before DevCon but other than that this is another sign that it is coming soon.

On RIM’s Meetup.com sponsorship page for the “Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook it states that they are sponsoring 50 meetups across the country. Here are the details:

Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook is supporting 50 Meetups across the country to get the word out about converting your Android App to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS and host it in BlackBerry World. They’re thrilled to have your Meetup participating in this program! In addition to having a local Blackberry rep come visit your Meetup, they’re making a financial investment in your Meetup Group over the next 3 months to help your Organizer make it even better!

Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook is supporting 50 Meetups across the country to get the word out about converting your Android App to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS and host it in BlackBerry World. They’re thrilled to have your Meetup participating in this program! In addition to having a local Blackberry rep come visit your Meetup, they’re making a financial investment in your Meetup Group over the next 3 months to help your Organizer make it even better!

So far they have 35 meetups listed on their sponsor page for the Android Player with 10,184 developer members in total. In short RIM is not wasting any time in getting the word out and laying the groundwork. That is interesting because RIM has been very mum about the Android Player so far…

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RIM Sponsoring 50 Android Devloper Meetups to Promote PlayBook Android Player

A friend pointed out that RIM is really starting to make themselves known to Android developers and other developer communities on Meetup. Until now they have been using it to court BlackBerry developers with meetups all over the place and a few web developers but now they are clearly sponsoring Android developer meetups in anticipation of the Android Player for the PlayBook. We know that RIM is releasing the Android Player to developers at least before DevCon but other than that this is another sign that it is coming soon.

On RIM’s Meetup.com sponsorship page for the “Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook it states that they are sponsoring 50 meetups across the country. Here are the details:

Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook is supporting 50 Meetups across the country to get the word out about converting your Android App to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS and host it in BlackBerry World. They’re thrilled to have your Meetup participating in this program! In addition to having a local Blackberry rep come visit your Meetup, they’re making a financial investment in your Meetup Group over the next 3 months to help your Organizer make it even better!

Android Player for BlackBerry PlayBook is supporting 50 Meetups across the country to get the word out about converting your Android App to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS and host it in BlackBerry World. They’re thrilled to have your Meetup participating in this program! In addition to having a local Blackberry rep come visit your Meetup, they’re making a financial investment in your Meetup Group over the next 3 months to help your Organizer make it even better!

So far they have 35 meetups listed on their sponsor page for the Android Player with 10,184 developer members in total. In short RIM is not wasting any time in getting the word out and laying the groundwork. That is interesting because RIM has been very mum about the Android Player so far…

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Android Copyright Notice Now in Latest BlackBerry OS 7.0.0.353 Leak?

UPDATE: Bla1ze pointed out that this might be related to the new BBJapanese fonts in BlackBerry OS 7. The odd thing is I am running a 9930 on Verizon and it has those fonts in the official .254 OS and it does not have this copyright notice…

Here is a new head scratcher. Amir pointed out to us that the latest leak of OS 7.0.0.353 on the BlackBerry Torch 9810 includes an interesting new copyright notice in the “About Device Versions” settings page. If you go to the 4th page of that you will see a new copyright notice that was not there before crediting the “Android Open Source Project” with all their rights reserved. We have seen RIM add in these sorts of copyright notices before for WebKit, fonts, and even the new Qualcomm snapdragon processor but where does Android come in? Maybe RIM is using some of their source code in some part of BlackBerry 7? If so why start putting the notice in later builds?

Some might even take it far enough to speculate that some part of Android might be making its way to BlackBerry 7 but who knows… Let us know if you spot anything else or if you have some fun speculation (or conspiracy theories) to add!

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Rumor: QNX Smartphones Will Run Android Player – PlayBook Native Email Coming in September

Bloomberg has been fanning the rumor mill today with some tidbits from “three people familiar with the plan” for RIM’s QNX OS. These “three people” requested to not be identified because the effort is obviously not public but they are confirming that QNX BlackBerry smartphones will also run the Android Player in “early” 2012. According to one of these “people” the Android app player is the same one as RIM is working on for the PlayBook and it is being “tweaked to fit the different screen size and resolution of various BlackBerry models.” They also said that RIM plans on having this Android player installed on the QNX phones at launch and not as an upgrade like they are doing for the PlayBook.

One of the people also confirmed that RIM is planning on issuing a PlayBook OS update in September that “adds a dedicated email program and BlackBerry Messenger.” Two of the people stated that the PlayBook Android Player “may come later on in the year.”

In other words these rumors don’t really confirm or deny anything we didn’t already know or assume. Still aren’t rumors fun?

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Top 50 Android Apps Account for 61% Of App Usage – More Games + Quality over Quantity?

A recent Neilson study that was just published confirmed a theory I have had for a long time now. In the app store wars it is all about quality over quantity. App stores may harp about having 250,000 or 350,000 apps but most users only really use a maximum of 5-10 apps regularly. According to Neilson this is the case for Android where:

"In fact, the top 10 Android apps account for 43 percent of all the time spent by Android consumers on mobile apps. The top 50 apps account for 61 percent of all time spent. With 250,000+ Android apps available at the time of this writing, that means the remaining 249,950+ apps have to compete for the remaining 39 percent of the pie."

So I decided to take a look at some of the top 10 apps reported in the Android Marketplace and noticed something interesting. Here are the top 10 Free and Paid apps:

Top 10 Free Apps	Top 10 Paid Apps
YouTube Google Maps Amazon Kindle Facebook for Android Pandora Radio Angry Birds (Game) Dragon, Fly! (Game) Words With Friends (Game) Advanced Task Killer Angry Birds Rio (Game)	Cut the Rope (Game) Beautiful Widgets Fruit Ninja (Game) PowerAMP SwiftKey Robo Defense (Game) ROM Manager (Requires Root) Doodle Jump (Game) SoundHound ADWLauncher

Top 10 Free Apps

Top 10 Paid Apps

Notice first that almost 40% of the “Apps” are games? Of the remaining 12 apps four of the six free ones are also available on BlackBerry in some form. Another 4 of the apps are only really applicable to Android (ROM Manager, Task Killer, Launcher, & Widgets). If you look at the full list of top 50 paid and free apps in the Android Market you get more or less the same story with a few standouts like Skype and Netflix along with a huge abundance of games listed as apps.

The other listing I found very interesting was the top grossing apps in App World. The second top grossing app in the Android Marketplace is Documents to Go. An app that now comes free on BlackBerry OS 7 and future devices which is nice. Most of the rest seem to be games. This really drives home a key point to RIM. Games are VERY important for users and when users are asking for “apps” it seems like they mean games. RIM is making some great headway on the BlackBerry PlayBook with games but the BlackBerry handhelds need the same treatment. BlackBerry 7 devices with OpenGL should help a bit but the QNX support for gaming SDK’s is key along with headliner games like Angry Birds. In terms of apps RIM needs to make a concerted effort to bring the top 50, 100, or even 500 apps to both BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook if they have not already done so. It seems to be a huge case of quality over quantity. App discoverability is also key for smaller niche apps and developers since many BlackBerry users and even Android users barely get past the top 50 apps.

What do you think?

PS: Keep in mind this Neilson study is about “Time in Apps” or how long you spend in them. Some apps like weather apps are very useful but you don’t spend a ton of time in them. Neilson also does not list out what top 10 or top 50 apps they are specifically ranking.

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