BlackBerry Blend and BBM Protected nominated for GSMA Global Mobile Awards
Each year, at Mobile World Congress the Global Mobile Awards are held and with this year’s nominees now announced, we know BlackBerry has at least two offerings in the running. For Best Mobile Service or App for Consumers, BlackBerry Blend has been nominated and for Best Security/ Anti-Fraud Product or Solution, BBM Protected has received a nomination. On the QNX side, QNX-Powered System for Virtual Cockpit in the 2015 Audi TT has been nominated in the Best Mobile Innovation for Automotive category.
The Global Mobile Awards judges are comprised of more than 300 independent experts, analysts, journalists, academics, and in some cases, mobile operator representatives. World-renowned actor, comedian, writer and film producer John Cleese is hosting the Global Mobile Awards ceremony on Tuesday, 3rd March at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. If you’re looking for the full list of nominees, you can view them all on the GMA website.
The Weather Channel gives its Windows Phone app a major visual makeover
The Weather Channel app for Windows Phone just got a big update today, bringing with it a new design as well as other features to help give its users the latest local forecast in style. The user interface now mirrors the one utilized in the official apps for both iOS and Android.
The inimitable value of Apple Pay and what comes next
Apple Pay brought together everything from Passbook to Touch ID to launch Apple into the mobile transaction business. It was the company’s first major new product category since the iPad and its been expanding steadily in the U.S. since October. As a service, Apple Pay is compelling enough that Android owners should consider switching to iPhone. It offers better security, efficiency, and experience for everyone along the chain, from banks to retailers to customers. And it could also be the first of those kinds of services “only Apple” is positioned to provide. Matt Richman:
Google does not control Android enough to create anything truly comparable to Apple Pay. Even if Google were able to add Apple Pay’s software components to Android, the company would have to rely on its hardware partners to replicate Touch ID and the secure element and to seamlessly integrate everything together. They’re not going to be able to do that for the foreseeable future.
So that’s the strategic significance of Apple Pay — it’s the first time Apple leveraged its strengths to create a highly profitable yet uncopyable service that is destined for success.
Ben Bajarin, writing for Tech.pinions, highlights the value, and how it applies to other services as well:
Apple Pay is a great example of [services innovation]. As I mentioned before, retailers are jumping on board for many reasons but one of the largest is attracting Apple’s customers to their stores. Similarly, when we talk to companies looking to support HealthKit and HomeKit, we hear from the services companies like health, security, etc., that they want Apple’s customers.
The same way Apple Pay makes for a better transactional service for everyone involved, HealthKit, HomeKit, and CarPlay could make for better healthcare information, home automation, and driving services. (Entertainment and other areas could likewise follow.) Apple won’t need to be a data company, appliance manufacturer, or car maker, any more than they need to be a bank, but they’ll be able to ensure their customers get better packaged, more accessible, more approachable, and more enjoyable experiences in all those areas.
And that once again raises the value of owning an iPhone.
These smooth, translucent skins for Lumia 1520 are 32% off today
The Lumia 1520 NGP cover blends the perfect mixture of plastic and silicone into one streamlined design. These cases wrap all the way around your device for a snug, sure fit. The skin itself is completely stretch and tear resistant, yet the exterior’s smooth matte finish almost feels like a hard case. On sale today for just $16.95
Verizon’s cutting its data plans across the board up to $10/month
Verizon Wireless will cut prices on most of its existing More Everything plans by up to $10 a month while also adding some new options starting on Thursday. The new plans will also allow some customers to add smartphones on Verizon Edge for $15 a month.
Verizon’s cutting its data plans across the board up to $10/month
Verizon Wireless will cut prices on most of its existing More Everything plans by up to $10 a month while also adding some new options starting on Thursday. The new plans will also allow some customers to add smartphones on Verizon Edge for $15 a month.
Verizon’s cutting its data plans across the board up to $10/month
Verizon Wireless will cut prices on most of its existing More Everything plans by up to $10 a month while also adding some new options starting on Thursday. The new plans will also allow some customers to add smartphones on Verizon Edge for $15 a month.
How the iPad Air 2 became Federico Viticci’s main computer
We recently did our iPad Air 2: three months later roundtable, chatting about why and what we liked about Apple’s latest tablet. Federico Viticci has done his own three-month iPad Air review for MacStories, aptly titled “Why the iPad Became My Main Computer”:
There’s a big difference between reflecting upon the future of the iPad and claiming that nobody knows what it’s good for anymore. This is a common mistake that is often repeated in tech publications: because the iPad can’t perform all the tasks a Mac can handle without breaking a sweat, then it automatically loses its reason to exist. Realistically speaking, the iPad has flaws, there’s plenty of new low-hanging fruit in iOS, but it’s being used in ways that no other computer or smartphone has ever been.
… The iPad Air 2 has allowed me to eschew the physical constraints of a computer that isn’t as portable as I’d need it to be. My type of work allows me to do most of my computing on an iPad, and, while I realize that it’s not for everyone, the iPad is the computer for me, and I expect the apps and workflows that are still Mac-only to fade over time and transform into new iOS experiences, just as they’ve done over the last three years. The software innovation that is taking place on iOS and the App Store is unparalleled, and I have personally witnessed how iOS has evolved and changed my work routine since 2012.
While I still personally prefer working on my 11-inch MacBook Air to my iPad Air 2, I nonetheless find Viticci’s case compelling. It’s not the perfect device for everyone yet. It may never be. But that’s okay: That’s why there are Macs, and iPhones, and Apple TVs, and PCs.
You have to find the right device for your life; for Viticci, that device happens to be the iPad Air 2. For more on why, read his complete review on MacStories.
Blue Line Magazine highlights BlackBerry’s role in Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement has a long history of making use of BlackBerry products and services around the world, so perhaps it’s no surprise that in the latest issue of Blue Line Magazine when the topic of ‘how the Internet age, cyberspace and virtual networks affect neighbourhood activity and community safety’ comes up, there’s also discussion of BlackBerry and how it helps community policing efforts.
Apple Media Event Rumored for Late February, Apple Watch and 12″ MacBook Air Likely Topics
Apple may be planning to hold a special event during the month of February, according to French Apple-focused website iGen [Google Translate] (via iDownloadblog). The site’s sources, which are often reliable, suggest that the event might take place during the last week of February, potentially on Tuesday, February 24.
The event may see Apple once again showcasing the Apple Watch, which is set to debut in April, and it may also see the launch of the 12-inch MacBook Air. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted that the upcoming notebook will debut in March, which is in line with a late-February unveiling.
Rendering of the 12-inch MacBook Air by Martin Hajek
Apple’s 12-inch MacBook Air is rumored to feature a new ultrathin design that does away with fans and introduces a revamped trackpad. It may include a low-power Core-M processor and it may be the first device to take advantage of the new reversible USB Type-C connector, which is much smaller and allows a USB cable to be inserted into a notebook in any orientation.
Apple may also use the event to unveil additional details on the Apple Watch, such as pricing and battery life. An event showing off the Apple Watch could explain why Apple has been asking some developers to have their apps ready to launch in the App Store in mid-February, as we reported last week. It’s possible that Apple will use apps from these developers to demonstrate additional capabilities of the watch.
Though rumored, a February event is by no means confirmed at this point, and it is unclear what else Apple might cover in addition to the Apple Watch and the 12-inch MacBook Air.
AIVAnet 