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- Openwave Decides to Sue RIM & Apple Over Five Ridiculous Patents
- Verizon BlackBerry Torch 9850 Launching September 8th?
- BattleBallz Chaos PlayBook Game Free Until Tomorrow!
- AT&T Responds to DOJ Lawsuit – Says “Enormous Benefits” are Clear
- US DOJ Press Release on AT&T T-Mobile Acquisition Lawsuit & Filing
- Sprint Raising Early Termination Fee to $350
- US DOJ Sues AT&T to Block T-Mobile Acquisition for Antitrust Issues
- BattleBallz Chaos Marmalade SDK Game for the BlackBerry PlayBook
- Fixmo Tools on Sale for $6.99 as the BerryReview Store Deal of the Day
- BlackBerry Developer Gets Hit with Lodsys In App Payment Patent Lawsuit
- Marmalade Cross Platform SDK (Visual C++) Adds BlackBerry PlayBook Beta Support!
- T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9900 Now Available for $299 With Contract
- Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones
- AT&T Releases Free DriveMode Driving Safety App for Customers
- Backgammon King BBM Powered Game Free for a Limited Time
| Openwave Decides to Sue RIM & Apple Over Five Ridiculous Patents Posted: 01 Sep 2011 01:27 AM PDT
Patent trolling continues to gain steam with a new lawsuit from Openwave against RIM & Apple. At first you would think Openwave was a technology company but it seems like they are banking on their patents since everything else is not working for them. AllThingsD managed to boil down the five patents Openwave is suing RIM and Apple over and you really have to read them to see what I mean:
They supposedly reached out to RIM and Apple to get them to pay up for these patents and here is what they had to say about getting stonewalled:
Yes these guys invented using email offline or accessing updated applications. Better yet they also invented navigating pages without delay… If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 1, 2011, 4:27 am. | Openwave Decides to Sue RIM & Apple Over Five Ridiculous Patents | Leave a comment |
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| Verizon BlackBerry Torch 9850 Launching September 8th? Posted: 31 Aug 2011 01:26 PM PDT
Early rummors hinted at T-Mobile and Verizon also releasing the BlackBerry Torch. A new leaked image shows the 9850 landing on Verizon for direct fulfillment on September 8th and in stores on the 15th. RIM will finally launch the same devices across several U.S carriers unlike the past were only one or two carriers had exclusive to the devices. Which device are you holding out for if you haven’t bought the 9930 yet? Source: OSBB Via: CB If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 4:26 pm. | Verizon BlackBerry Torch 9850 Launching September 8th? | 2 comments |
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| BattleBallz Chaos PlayBook Game Free Until Tomorrow! Posted: 31 Aug 2011 11:49 AM PDT
We told you earlier today about the BattleBallz Chaos game for the BlackBerry PlayBook and now we have some good news. Pocketeer has let us know in the forums that they have made BattleBallz Chaos for the BlackBerry PlayBook free until tomorrow. Its a pretty sweet game built on the new Marmalade Visual C++ SDK beta and it really shows off the platform. The game is quite hard but definitely loads of fun. You can pick up BattleBallz Chaos for free in App World (usually $1.99). Make sure to thank the Pocketeers in the forums! Check out a video of the gameplay below: Desktop Video Link | Mobile Video LinkIf you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 2:49 pm. | BattleBallz Chaos PlayBook Game Free Until Tomorrow! | 5 comments |
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| AT&T Responds to DOJ Lawsuit – Says “Enormous Benefits” are Clear Posted: 31 Aug 2011 10:26 AM PDT
The saga that unfolded today between the US DOJ and AT&T continues to get interesting. Now we have a statement from Wayne Watts, AT&T senior executive VP and general counsel, about the lawsuit (via TechCrunch). They claim the DOJ blindsided them and they believe the "facts will guide the final decision" about the "enormous benefits" of the T-Mobile acquisition. Anybody else think their "facts" are a little biased by their opinion? Check out the statement below:
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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 1:26 pm. | AT&T Responds to DOJ Lawsuit – Says “Enormous Benefits” are Clear | 5 comments |
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| US DOJ Press Release on AT&T T-Mobile Acquisition Lawsuit & Filing Posted: 31 Aug 2011 10:15 AM PDT We told you earlier today that the US Department of Justice grew a pair and decided to sue AT&T over their T-Mobile acquisition. Now we have the full press release from the DOJ below. We also have the full text PDF of the DOJ filing from the WSJ at: on.wsj.com/mTDtC9. You have to love headlines from the DOJ like:
Here is the DOJ press release: Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit to Block AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile Transaction Would Reduce Competition in Mobile Wireless Telecommunications Services, Resulting in Higher Prices, Poorer Quality Services, Fewer Choices and Fewer Innovative Products for Millions of American Consumers WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. The department said that the proposed $39 billion transaction would substantially lessen competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services across the United States, resulting in higher prices, poorer quality services, fewer choices and fewer innovative products for the millions of American consumers who rely on mobile wireless services in their everyday lives. The department’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to prevent AT&T from acquiring T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom AG. "The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless services," said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole. "Consumers across the country, including those in rural areas and those with lower incomes, benefit from competition among the nation’s wireless carriers, particularly the four remaining national carriers. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that everyone can continue to receive the benefits of that competition." "T-Mobile has been an important source of competition among the national carriers, including through innovation and quality enhancements such as the roll-out of the first nationwide high-speed data network," said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. "Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation will be reduced, and consumers will suffer." Mobile wireless telecommunications services play a critical role in the way Americans live and work, with more than 300 million feature phones, smart phones, data cards, tablets and other mobile wireless devices in service today. Four nationwide providers of these services – AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon – account for more than 90 percent of mobile wireless connections. The proposed acquisition would combine two of those four, eliminating from the market T-Mobile, a firm that historically has been a value provider, offering particularly aggressive pricing. According to the complaint, AT&T and T-Mobile compete head to head nationwide, including in 97 of the nation’s largest 100 cellular marketing areas. They also compete nationwide to attract business and government customers. AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would eliminate a company that has been a disruptive force through low pricing and innovation by competing aggressively in the mobile wireless telecommunications services marketplace. The complaint cites a T-Mobile document in which T-Mobile explains that it has been responsible for a number of significant "firsts" in the U.S. mobile wireless industry, including the first handset using the Android operating system, Blackberry wireless email, the Sidekick, national Wi-Fi "hotspot" access, and a variety of unlimited service plans. T-Mobile was also the first company to roll out a nationwide high-speed data network based on advanced HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access) technology. The complaint states that by January 2011, an AT&T employee was observing that "[T-Mobile] was first to have HSPA+ devices in their portfolio…we added them in reaction to potential loss of speed claims." The complaint details other ways that AT&T felt competitive pressure from T-Mobile. The complaint quotes T-Mobile documents describing the company’s important role in the market:
The complaint also states that regional providers face significant competitive limitations, largely stemming from their lack of national networks, and are therefore limited in their ability to compete with the four national carriers. And, the department said that any potential entry from a new mobile wireless telecommunications services provider would be unable to offset the transaction’s anticompetitive effects because it would be difficult, time-consuming and expensive, requiring spectrum licenses and the construction of a network. The department said that it gave serious consideration to the efficiencies that the merging parties claim would result from the transaction. The department concluded AT&T had not demonstrated that the proposed transaction promised any efficiencies that would be sufficient to outweigh the transaction’s substantial adverse impact on competition and consumers. Moreover, the department said that AT&T could obtain substantially the same network enhancements that it claims will come from the transaction if it simply invested in its own network without eliminating a close competitor. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 1:15 pm. | US DOJ Press Release on AT&T T-Mobile Acquisition Lawsuit & Filing | 3 comments |
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| Sprint Raising Early Termination Fee to $350 Posted: 31 Aug 2011 10:07 AM PDT
It seems Sprint has followed the lead of other American carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, with plans to raise their Early Termination Fee (ETF) to $350 on Smartphones, Tablets and other “Advanced Hardware”. Dealers have been told that as of September 9th, the rates will be in effect, and the timing seems all but a little suspicious with the release of the Iphone 5 coming close as well. It is also noted that the ETF price increase will be only affecting new customers and contracts after September 9th. In the past the carriers have had to justify why they have increased their ETF, a common one is to support loss after compensating the price of a new phone on contract if the customer is lost. It will be interesting to see what Sprint has to say on this. Source: SprintFeed If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Fubaz for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 1:07 pm. | Sprint Raising Early Termination Fee to $350 | Leave a comment |
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| US DOJ Sues AT&T to Block T-Mobile Acquisition for Antitrust Issues Posted: 31 Aug 2011 08:41 AM PDT
The hammer has fallen. It looks like the US Department of Justice was not as easily swayed by AT&T. AT&T has been trying to argue how their acquisition of T-Mobile would help customers even though everybody knows that is more or less a joke. Bloomberg is reporting that the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against AT&T in Washington federal court saying that AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile would violate antitrust law. Here is the gist:
Say it aint so! AT&T's shares are crashing on the news especially since AT&T would have to pay T-Mobile $3 billion cash and $4 billion in deals if the acquisition falls through. Let us know what side you are on? If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 11:41 am. | US DOJ Sues AT&T to Block T-Mobile Acquisition for Antitrust Issues | 9 comments |
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| BattleBallz Chaos Marmalade SDK Game for the BlackBerry PlayBook Posted: 31 Aug 2011 08:31 AM PDT I have been writing about the Marmalade SDK quite a bit today but I wanted to end off with one of the games developed for the PlayBook using the engine. Pocketeers has released BattleBallz Chaos for the PlayBook for $1.99 in App World. It is sort of an interesting take of two players playing brickbreaker against each other trying to get projectiles past the other. You can easily tell from the fuild gameplay that this is no flash game with slow framerates. If anything the game is a little too fast and a bit maddening. Definitely not for everybody but shows that Marmalade has serious promise. Check out their video demo below to see what I mean: Desktop Video Link | Mobile Video LinkIt also has cool features like:
You can check out more about the game at www.battleballz.com or pick it up in App World for $1.99. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 11:31 am. | BattleBallz Chaos Marmalade SDK Game for the BlackBerry PlayBook | 4 comments |
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| Fixmo Tools on Sale for $6.99 as the BerryReview Store Deal of the Day Posted: 31 Aug 2011 08:20 AM PDT
Fixmo Tools is todays deal of the day in the BeryReview Store, it is onsale from $14.99 to $6.99. If you are unfamiliar with Fixmo Tools, it is an all around utility for your BlackBerry device that has 17 different functions. Some of the features that I like it for are battery watching, sms backup, memory monitoring and silencer. Check it out for yourself in the BerryReview Store to see more screenshots, and a full list of its features. Also, please note that it lists OS7 devices in the compatibility chart, but has no official OS7 support. Fixmo Tools at the BerryReview Store here. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Fubaz for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 11:20 am. | Fixmo Tools on Sale for $6.99 as the BerryReview Store Deal of the Day | One comment |
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| BlackBerry Developer Gets Hit with Lodsys In App Payment Patent Lawsuit Posted: 31 Aug 2011 08:15 AM PDT
The patent wars have once again made their way into the BlackBerry ecosystem. Both Apple and Google along with many of their developers are being sued by Lodsys who owns a patent for "in app payment methods." Originally when Lodsys (who makes nothing useful aka Patent Troll) starting suing they were aiming for payments that happen inside the apps. The first BlackBerry developer to be sued by Lodsys is Yissachar Radcliffe of Rotten Ogre for his Lonely Turret BlackBerry PlayBook game that sells for $0.99. The crazy part is that Lonely Turret does not even have in app payments. It simply has a link to App World where users can purchase the game upgrade. In other words Lodsys thinks even linking to a payment method from your app is infringement. Here is what Radcliffee said to The Globe and Mail which broke the story:
Radcliffe has contacted RIM about the issue but RIM has yet to respond. I am hoping RIM sets their many lawyers on Lodsys to defend their developers ASAP like both Apple and Google have. If anything they should repurpose all of the lawyers RIM has sending DMCA notices to help protect their developers since one man shops like Rotten Ogre cannot defend themselves for using App World. Radcliffe points out that even 2 hours of a lawyers time would wipe out all his profit from the game. Check out the full story at the Globe and Mail and if you know anybody at RIM make sure to forward this article to them. Thanks Derek for pointing it out. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 11:15 am. | BlackBerry Developer Gets Hit with Lodsys In App Payment Patent Lawsuit | 6 comments |
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| Marmalade Cross Platform SDK (Visual C++) Adds BlackBerry PlayBook Beta Support! Posted: 31 Aug 2011 08:01 AM PDT
This one somehow slipped under my radar. Marmalade (used to be called AirPlay) is an awesome cross platform SDK that allows developers to create apps and games in Visual C++ and have them run on multiple platforms. Right now they are supporting Apple iOS, Android, Symbian, Bada, WebOS and now the BlackBerry PlayBook in beta as of a last month as far as I can tell. That is a pretty cool feature considering that RIM has not yet made the native PlayBook native C++ SDK public yet beyond a limited beta. Marmalade claims to support all C/C++ standard libraries so you can reuse existing C++ code or repurpose Objective-C code. Most of the developers seem to be making games on the Marmalade SDK and you can see some of them in the Marmalade showcase including Need for Speed Shift and Golf Battle 3D. If you are a dev I highly recommend checking it out and reporting back what you find. Check it out at www.madewithmarmalade.com If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 11:01 am. | Marmalade Cross Platform SDK (Visual C++) Adds BlackBerry PlayBook Beta Support! | 2 comments |
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| T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9900 Now Available for $299 With Contract Posted: 31 Aug 2011 07:05 AM PDT
T-Mobile customers you can now order the BlackBerry Bold 9900 at $299 price with a new 2 year contract or contact extension. The price jumps to $599.99 with no contract. I really don’t see this device selling out through T-mobile with that price, specially when customers have other devices that offer similar specs and appeal at a much lower price. I can see only the BlackBerry fans buying it but not the customer who is shopping for the best price, and options. Let us know if you plan on buying the 9900 or are you planning on waiting until the price drops? You can head over to T-mobile page at this LINK. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 10:05 am. | T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9900 Now Available for $299 With Contract | 11 comments |
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| Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones Posted: 31 Aug 2011 07:00 AM PDT
Unlike most of my speaker reviews where I separately analyze the sound and the features, I really can’t separate the two with the C5s. Like a first date, the C5s really only deliver if the setting is right. So before getting into the quality of audio and what makes it great, let’s run through the setup and features that make the C5s comfortable to wear. Setup: The C5s come with a variety of ear gels designed to fill up your ear canal. Completely plugging up the ear is important because it ensures ambient noise can’t sneak in and the music can’t sneak out. Thus, it pays to take some time to find the ear gels that are right for you; earphones that will feel as comfortable after an hour’s use as they did in the first five minutes. Hanging In: Unlike simple earbuds that balance in the ear or earphones that wrap around the back, the C5s have a few new tricks to keep themselves secure and to keep their all-important position as the bouncer to your ear canal. The C5s stay balanced in the ear with (what B&W call) a secure loop. The adjustable secure loop pushes against the inner-ear cartilage in order to stay in place. To keep the C5s leaning into the ear canal, the inner casing is weighted with Tungsten. In my testing, the combination of the weights and secure loop did a fairly good job keeping the headphones secure in a day of normal movement and an airplane ride, but I found myself readjusting a few times when out on a jog. But let’s be serious–these high-end earphones are designed for casual environments, not the rough and tumble gym setting. Trick: To get the earbuds deep enough into the ear to stay secure, grab the top of the ear and pull upwards while inserting the earbud.         Ahh, finally we can get to the main event–Sound: The C5s stand out from the competition by producing an incredibly large stage of sound using something called a micro porous filter–a type of sound diffuser. Sound diffusers are usually used with larger speakers to scatter sound waves and reduce echo, resulting in a bigger sound from a small space. B&W created a tiny sound diffuser–the micro porous filter–that is made out of hundreds of microscopic steel balls and stuck one on the back of each headphone, to give the biggest sound to the smallest space–the ear. Like other B&W speakers, the C5s do a fantastic job reproducing a wide range of sound, but the bass is limited due to the headphone form factor. Let me try and explain: #1 because of the size of the overall package, in-ear headphones are limited to smaller drivers (smaller cones push less air, creating weaker bass vibrations); #2 no one wants to risk their hearing by creating such strong vibrations so close to the eardrum; #3. the bass is delivered directly and only to the ear, so it is impossible to create the effect of body shaking bass. Those limitations being mentioned, the C5s produce the best range of sound compared to any other in-ear headphone I have tested–including Beats. The vocals and high notes are crisp and the lows are deep and clear, without a thumping boom. Wrapup: In-ear headphones aren’t for everyone, but for those who are in the market and who really care about audio the B&W C5s are simply the best out there right now. And at a $30 premium over the standard $150 Beats by Dr. Dre, the $180 price tag seems pretty reasonable to get in on some B&W quality.
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Posted by David for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 10:00 am. | Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones | Leave a comment |
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| AT&T Releases Free DriveMode Driving Safety App for Customers Posted: 31 Aug 2011 06:55 AM PDT
AT&T just released their own safe driving app called AT&T DriveMode. Its a free app that lets you customize an automated reply to text messages telling people that you are driving. It also allows you to set 5 numbers that you can accept calls from or call out to including 911. You can also set one music and one navigation app that can run while you are driving. The only catch is it seems like the app needs to be manually activated instead of automatically when you are moving. The new app is part of AT&T's "It Can Wait" campaign that "aims to stigmatize texting while driving." It is coming out first for BlackBerry and then for other platforms. AT&T customers can pick up the DriveMode app in App World or read more about it here
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 9:55 am. | AT&T Releases Free DriveMode Driving Safety App for Customers | One comment |
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| Backgammon King BBM Powered Game Free for a Limited Time Posted: 31 Aug 2011 05:13 AM PDT
Mackie let me know that Backgammon King Live has been updated by Magmic. The game has been integrated with the new BlackBerry Messenger 6 and its social platform so you can play against BBM friends. You can also chat using BBM during the game. You can still play against online Magmic players or the computer but the BBM gaming is really slick.
It seems like Magmic is offering Backgammon King for free for a limited time only in App World. They did not specify exactly how limited but you better start downloading it if you want it! If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 31, 2011, 8:13 am. | Backgammon King BBM Powered Game Free for a Limited Time | 2 comments |
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