BlackBerry Z30 vs Iphone 5s: rethinking what we want in a smartphone

 By Rob Enderle

President and Principal Analyst, Enderle Group

As I was going through the features of the new BlackBerry Z30 it hit me that the phone’s problem is that it doesn’t give us what Apple says we should want, it gives us what we actually should want. Somehow the years of brilliant Apple marketing have convinced us that, in a phone, what we want are things a phone really isn’t good for, or at best should be secondary to phone function.  The rolling joke from day one, which I’m finding less funny at the moment because it’s a joke on me, was that the iPhone is great at everything but being a phone. But instead laughing it off the Island Samsung and others have emulated it which means we have a ton of Smartphones which do amazing things but kind of suck at, well, being a phone.   

Granted the Z30 comes out at a time when BlackBerry is under a cloud. As I write this, it appears the firm’s ability to find a buyer or an investor who will take the company private has floundered, but with millions of customers it is still doubtful the firm will fail.  But I think its success will be predicated based on its ability to get us to rethink what we want in a smartphone, switching to what really is important from where we are now.  Let’s discuss this in the context of the Z30 and ask if Apple made us stupid. 

Benchmarking

I spent years benchmarking products and there are two parts of a benchmarking exercise that is often forgotten. One is start with a set of requirements, not start with an existing product, and the second is to apply weightings to those requirements because each will have a different importance.   For instance if you were benchmarking cars and you had kids, having adequate safety for your kids would generally rate higher than having a pretty blue display on the stereo system.   You might want the latter but your requirement for the firmer would likely be absolute. This allows you to rank products based on your specific needs.   


Image via Shutterstock

Why a Z30 is Better than an iPhone 5s

On a list of priorities for something with the name “phone” in it should include battery life, wireless range (fewer dropped calls), and for something that is in the Smartphone class, the screen size does matter. Let’s touch on each.

Battery Life: It doesn’t matter if a phone has a pretty screen, tons of apps, or can connect to iTunes if the fricken battery is dead.   Seriously, a decade ago we measured phones on battery life and that was one of the most important aspects of the phone and that battery life was measured in days; and not single digit hours. The Z30 has a massive battery that should again give days of battery life.   

Connectivity: The number of apps and how thin the device is pale against the need to be connected. Having an important call dropped or being unable to connect in the first place. The Z30 has two antennas, not one, and each can be dynamically adjusted to work together to significantly increase range.   This slowed the phone to market because the FCC hadn’t seen this technology used in a phone before and thus increased the review time for the product.

Screen Size: While the BlackBerry Z30 is hardly unique with a 5-inch screen their use of more efficient AMOLED makes it one of the most power frugal contributing to battery life. But in a Smartphone smaller isn’t better, bigger is better because you get more screen real estate to work with.  The market share shift from phones in the iPhones class to ones that have larger screens suggest this, the size of the screen, is a feature people value highly.  

Industry Standard Plugs

In Europe they actually made this a requirement (one that Apple is currently choosing not to comply with) but when you use industry standard plugs you can borrow chargers, share chargers with other products from different vendors, and more easily connect to things like projectors (though, on this last, this is rarely done with Smartphones today.   Having the combination of longer battery life and more power access should be a significant advantage.

Storage Expandability

Also not unique to the Z30 is an SD slot but you won’t find one in an iPhone. If you do want to put movies and music on the device you choice in a phone without an SD slot it to either scrap it for an newer more expensive phone or not do it in the first place. For the cost of an SD card you can add the storage you’ll need to a BlackBerry Z30.

Security

With word that the NSA limitations on spying now consist of dead people, animals, and insects (for now) the idea of a secure phone has suddenly become far more attractive.   It is somewhat ironic that this is what the US President, who is a big Apple fan, uses a BlackBerry himself to keep other governments from spying on him. Security should be a top tier requirement but for most it just isn’t which is why I’ve ended with it.

Wrapping Up: BlackBerry’s Goal

To be successful with the Z30 BlackBerry has to get us to care about what we should be caring about in the first place. Battery life, connectivity, screen size, standard plugs, expandability, and security all of which the Z30 stands out as leading with. It lags on apps but are they really more important than all of this other stuff?  Shouldn’t they be?  I wonder if we should be pissed that Apple made us all stupid. Something to think about this week.   

Edited by Alisen Downey

Editor's desk: Where's the Samsung shaped dent in the universe?

Posted By Ray Nicolini

via iMore.com

I'm going to zag instead of zig here and do something different for this week's editor's desk column. Instead of several topics I'm going to focus on one. I'm going to put words to something that's been nagging at me for weeks, months, andyears. And I'm all out of mincing and sugar-coating...

No one can look at Samsung's mobile products over the last decade and not consider them anything other than a ruthless, relentless copy of everything popular that's came before. It's not that Samsung doesn't continuously push the limits of hardware specifications and capabilities as much if not more than anyone else. They do. But they do so by systematically, institutionally copying what other vendors have already done first.

Samsung does it to such a degree, and with such a consistency, that it's flabbergasting they can show up in court, swear an oath, and claim anything otherwise. Now they could claim it doesn't matter, that all phones and tablets and icons should look alike, and would be understandable as a strategy. But claiming they don't copy? Absurd.

Before the iPhone, Samsung copied the BlackBerry with the BlackJack. RIM sued, and Samsung changed the name to Jack, but kept the same design. Then, as now, they looked at the market leader and rather than asking how they could make "what's next", they asked how they could make what would be as close as possible "next to" it on a shelf. Rather than setting a course for the future, they set out to subsume the present.

Following the iPhone, when Apple showed the industry what "was next", rather than trying to do to the iPhone, and later the iPad, what Apple did to Palm and BlackBerry, Table PC and netbooks, Samsung conscientiously, deliberately, made their own smartphones and tablets look and work as close to indistinguishably from Apple products as possible. They started with the Instinct and kept right on going with the Galaxy series.

And they didn't stop with iPhones or iPads, either, but shamelessly copied everything from icons to interfaces, plugs to ports, dongles to desktops. They cloned devices, like they had Photoshops's stamp brush made manifest on the factory floor.

This year Samsung introduced the Galaxy S III and began to visually differentiate themselves from Apple. The shape was less a slab and more a river-stone, the charging was inductive, the sharing a physical tap away, and the screen would even ripple like water when you touched it... Just exactly what Palm did with webOS and the Pre back in 2009.

As a gadget lover, even if you love Samsung, even if you don't want to admit it, it's a huge disappointment. A splinter in the mind that mars what are otherwise phenomenal devices. A shadow in the periphery that stops you from enjoying the full light of their accomplishments.

Even if you can rationalize "a black slab is a black slab" it's impossible to rationalize "a yellow flower on blue background icon for photos is a yellow flower icon on blue background for photos", or "the shape of AC adapters, dock cables, and desktop computers are..." well, you get the idea. Even if you can dismiss individual instances as coincidences, when taken as a whole, it's impossible to dismiss the depths of Samsung's unoriginality as anything other than blatant, bold-faced copying.

And lets face it, it works. Hitching their design train to Apple's engine has helped make Samsung the most successful Android manufacturer on the face of the earth, and the only truly profitable one. That is no doubt tremendous incentive, and explains why Samsung did it, and while they'll likely continue to do it.

Copying is inevitable.

But as someone who marveled at the Handspring Treo, the BlackBerry, the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and the Nexus One, seeing the perpetual lack of innovation exhibited by Samsung is disheartening. Call Apple's litigations "anti-innovation" all you want, but how can you not recognize copying threatens innovation just as much as over-litigation, if not more? How can you not see how its end result is a depressing future filled with me-too products that do everything but delight and inspire?

I'm not ready to be done yet. I'm not ready to concede that the iPhone at Macworld or the Pre at CES are the last time I'll truly be amazed by leaps forward in mobile. I'm not ready to accept a years-long drought filled with cheap knock-offs and increasingly conventional, commodity devices.

I bought and owned a Nexus One. I bought and own a Nexus 7. I'd buy and own another HTC or Motorola Nexus in a heartbeat. I've never had the slightest urge to buy or own a Samsung mobile device -- because I already have a Treo and an iPhone, an iPad and a Palm Pre.

I would love to add a Samsung device to that list, an original, novel, inspiring take on mobile from one of the giants of the industry. The Galaxy Note and the upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 are a start, but there has to be something beyond "with a stylus". There has to be a Samsung device that could be, for once, at the head of the design curve. A Samsung device that other manufacturers look to for inspiration and take their turn in copying outright.

Regardless of how the Apple vs Samsung trial turns out, that's the challenge Samsung faces. To move from replication to innovation. To take their place as not only a market leader but an industry leader. To stop copying the present and claim a role in shaping the future.

They have chance next year. No doubt there'll be a Galaxy S4/Galaxy S IV, and no doubt Samsung is already planning it. They have a chance to zag instead of zig, to do something as original as Apple did in 2007 and Palm did in 2009. I sincerely hope they take it.

I hope they put a Samsung shaped dent in the universe.

Savi People app brings 'smarter' contacts to iPhone, integrates with your favorite social networks

Posted By Ray Nicolini

Via Engadget.com

If you haven't been completely content with the stock Contacts app on your renowned Cupertino handset, and were wishing there was a little more to squeeze out of it -- there might just be something in the App Store waiting to meet your needs. Enter Savi People. The 99-cent application essentially brings all your address book connections into one hub, but what separates it from the Contacts you've come to know is its integration with most of your preferred social networks -- you know, the likes of Twitter, Facebook and, with the latest update, Instagram. Assuming you give Savi People the credentials to get into your accounts, you'll be tweeting, sending direct messages and posting on people's walls in no time directly from the app. You can grab Savi People for a little less than a dollar right now, though that could change at any time as it is a "special" price.

iTunes (App Store)

Cross Platform IM App Hookt now available for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone smartphones

Posted by Ray Nicolini

Hookt is another cross platform instant messaging application which has made its way to BlackBerry smartphones now.  By now, you’ve noticed that there has been plenty of cross platform messenger applications out there.  It all comes down to which everyone hears about and downloads right?  To be honest the user interface for Hookt looks pretty cool and easy to use.  .I’m not exactly sure how many users are on Hookt, but it’s worth a try and is certainly free to download.  Hookt supported BlackBerry, iOS, Android, and webOS. 

Download Hookt for BlackBerry >>

Research In Motion is dead, for now

Posted by Ray Nicolini

Via BGR.com

I saw from the inside and outside how RIM transformed the mobile landscape, and how the company even battled its own inner demons throughout the years. Here are my thoughts on the company’s worst quarter in five years:

RIM grew incredibly fast. It grew faster than the company knew how to manage, and RIM slowly — and then quickly — slipped as a result. This is the company that used to make users choose between a device with Wi-Fi and no GPS, or GPS and no Wi-Fi, just to have two products on the market instead of one. This is the company that refused to take the consumer market seriously for a number of years. This is the company that couldn’t see the future when it was right in front of them.

One of my high-level Research In Motion sources who I’ve known for a number of years wrote an open letter to the company a few months ago that I published on BGR. Looking back at it now, here are some of the most intriguing and timely quotes:

• Let’s obsess about what is best for the end user. We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn’t care.
• We need some heavy hitters at RIM when it comes to software management. Teams still aren’t talking together properly, no one is making or can make critical decisions, all the while everyone is working crazy hours and still far behind.
• The public’s questions about dual-CEOs are warranted. The partnership is not broken, but on the ground level, it is not efficient. Maybe we need our Eric Schmidt reign period.
• Just because someone may have been a loyal RIM employee for 7 years, it doesn’t mean they are the best Manager / Director / VP for that role. It’s time to change the culture to deliver or move on and get out.
• Strategy is often in the things you decide not to do.

What’s so interesting is that RIM has actually started to implement most of what the open letter said the company should do. The company isn’t releasing BlackBerry 10 until it’s happy with it, the end user has been more of a focus, the company has gotten rid of a number of executives, and the dual-CEO structure is gone. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. RIM has a fundamental problem with what the company can offer, and what the company can do best.

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins even stated yesterday during the company’s earnings call that RIM’s best-in-class enterprise integration, security and push email are no longer a huge selling point for the company. Really? It took five years to figure that out?

The enterprise loves the BlackBerry Bold 9900′s keyboard, but most BlackBerry customers want a full-touch smartphone and RIM’s all-touch smartphones are poor excuses for a phone. In fact, an iPhone 3GS or prepaid Android smartphone is a much better option for the majority of people in the market for a low or mid-range smartphone compared to a BlackBerry Torch. RIM’s average selling prices have taken a nosedive since the company’s products can’t compete on features, only price, though competitors like Huawei and others have seized this opportunity to introduce lower-priced Android smartphones.

Something I have been told from another senior source at Research In Motion is that the company is considering ditching their system access fees for all carriers. This amounts to more than $1 billion in revenue each quarter for RIM, but the company thinks it might be a way to drive BlackBerry 7 sales before BlackBerry 10 finally hits the market. It would be a radical move that could help the company sell more units in the short term, but would get them nowhere in the long term. In fact, all it would really do is buy the company time to try and get BlackBerry 10 out of the door, or buy time while it explores other options for the company’s future.

I spoke with the same inside source who wrote the open letter to RIM we published last summer, and here is what this person had to say: “RIM only has one hope. Ditch the QNX bullshit experiment that will be the exact definition of a 1.0 operating system — it can not compete.” The source went on to say, “Take on Windows Phone and negotiate with Microsoft. You need BBM on Windows Phone, get a royalty fee from all the others. Then build out the BES story with Exchange — beef that up, now there’s an interesting and unique value proposition.”

BGR exclusively reported in January that Research In Motion was pushing for a sale of a part (or entire) company to Samsung. Those talks were real. RIM has talked with a bunch of companies about licensing its software and OS, licensing BlackBerry Messenger, licensing the company’s network infrastructure, and even selling different parts of RIM flat out.

The RIM we know, is dead. The company has 12 to 15 months until it’s either acquired, or broken into pieces and sold for parts. I’m not even sure why the company still plans to launch BlackBerry 10 smartphones at this point.

The BlackBerry to iPhone migration, are App's better than Security

Posted by Ray Nicolini

The competitiveness between Apple and RIM has always gone the way of pleasure over business. RIM has always had a competitive advantage over all other smartphone makers in that its security features are second to none. The problem always seemed to be with RIM's inability to connect with the everyday consumer who was looking for a phone that could run all the cool apps their friends were playing. Although this has changed over the past few months it's still an area that all smartphone makers want to capitalize on.

In addition to security, connecting with the corporate enterprise level market was also an advantage that RIM had. In fact, it may be RIM's biggest edge over anyone else in the smartphone market. RIM has been riding the wave of enterprise domination for a long time now. The question now is has that wave crashed?

Over the past week a new disturbing trend has started that should leave anyone who appreciates BlackBerry devices, wondering what's going on. More and more organizations are migrating from their BlackBerry devices to Apple's iPhone. To some this may seem like no big deal, but lets take a look at the big picture here. The first problem that arises is that these organizations are not small.

According to the New York Times Halliburton, one of the world's largest oilfield services companies has dropped BlackBerry as their primary device used with in their organization. This makes 4,500 BlackBerry devices replaced for iPhones. In addition The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , ( NOAA) also announced that they to would be moving their 3,000 BlackBerry users to iPhones. That's 7,500 BlackBerry devices gone in one week. Lets not jump the gun and sound the alarms just yet, there are reasons for this sudden shift.

Application Development

Application development has always been a dry area for RIM's BlackBerry. For the longest time there really wasn't a passion to develop applications for a BlackBerry device. The good news is that over the past year RIM has made some really good progress in this area. While all of that is good the problem is that organizations like apps just like the everyday consumer does. If a device has an application that can run either their proprietary software or boost their productivity they are more likely to go to that device. The key here for RIM is to continue to encourage development for BlackBerry and continue to provide developers with the tools and support that they need to develop high quality apps.

A Peaceful Coexistence With Microsoft

Lets face it, the vast majority of organizations use Microsoft products to perform their day to day office activities. So the ability to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft products is a big plus. Organizations like the plug and play approach of Activesync against their Exchange servers. They like the ability to run a Micrsoft Lync application from their mobile device. The good news is that RIM has already take steps to address this issue with the recent announcement of BlackBerry® Business Cloud Services for Microsoft Office 365.

A Poor Decision By Organizations

So what does all this mean. It means that once again more organizations are sacrificing flexibility and productivity over security. Some would argue if that is even a big deal. One only has to wait until the first major security breach is announced, because some corporate executive wanted to download the app that changed the color of their fonts, but was really a hidden key-logger. Lets not forget the immaturity of management tools for the iPhone, BES far more mature and robust than any other solution on the market today.

Again, CIO's and CEO's need to be asking themselves whats most important for their organization. Are the bells and whistles from the iPhone really worth moving from the durability and security that the BlackBerry has to offer? Is amusement over security really an ideal trade off?

Why the iPhone is worse than a BlackBerry

Posted By Ray Nicolini
Via BGR.com

I love my iPhone. In fact, I’ve loved every iPhone Apple has launched since the first model was unveiled in 2007. Slowly but surely, Apple has introduced new features and eliminated upon almost every major gripe people had with iOS to push the limits of what we expect from a modern smartphone, and also to keep the platform on par with or even ahead of the competition. Copy and paste, MMS, background apps, multitasking, notifications, folders and much more have been added over time. There is one thing that makes me hate my iPhone every single day though, and I hope Apple is going to address it soon. I need more control over my alerts.

I really wish Apple would create an area in settings, or even add on to the notifications options, to allow users to set custom alert settings for different things. For instance, I’d love it if I could have different profile modes with settings for vibrate, ring, volume and ringtone much like how RIM’s BlackBerry phones have worked for ages. And there’s plenty of room for improvement beyond what RIM is doing in its BlackBerry OS… just look at how great Motorola’s Smart Actions feature is. Apple could totally take this one step further and allow location-based profiles for alerts, system settings, and more. When I get home, I want Bluetooth to turn off automatically, and I want my alert profile to change, for instance.

I might want my phone to vibrate for almost all alerts, and sometimes I want my phone ring as well. Sometimes I want everything to be on silent and have my phone ring only if it’s a certain person calling or messaging me. I just want more control over how my phone acts in this respect — it’s something that is half-assed in its current state. Sure, you can set custom alert tones for SMS and iMessage, and you can set custom ringers for specific contacts as well, but this is all being fed through a very rudimentary ”your phone is either on ring or vibrate, you idiot” switch.

If Apple does decide to introduce some sort of profile control, it will fix one of the most glaring holes still in iOS, in my view. We’ll get there eventually, I believe.

Kik Messenger for BlackBerry updated to 5.2.2

Posted By Ray Nicolini

Kik Messenger, the multi-platform BBM-like application has recently received another update.

Version 5.2.2 brings several bug fixes & tweaks.

Remember Kik? The ever-popular cross-platform BBM-esque instant messenger that went very viral, very fast last year? The same one that – as quickly as it went viral – lost access to RIM API’s, thus killing its push functionality rendering it useless to BlackBerry? Yea, that app. Well, guess what? It’s back and “better than ever”. I’ve been using it off and on for over a week now, first on my BlackBerry 9900 and now on my BlackBerry 9360, and can honestly say I like the new direction they have taken with it. All the new tweaks have made it faster, cleaner and of course, more reliable.

You can click here on your phone to download the app directly to your BlackBerry, then follow the instructions above to get it going. Have fun ‘kiksters’!

IMPORTANT NOTE: RIM has not approved or endorsed Kik Messenger for installation on BlackBerry devices.

• Download Kik Messenger OTA

Samsung Confirms White Galaxy S II is Coming… And It’s a Beauty

Posted By Ray Nicolini


If you’re a fan of Apple’s white iPhone 4, but you’re not keen on its iOS operating system, then feast your eyes on this beauty. Samsung has just announced that its Galaxy S II is coming to the U.K. on September 1… in white!

Internally, the white device is identical to the existing black Galaxy S II — boasting the same 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, plus an 8-megapixel camera at the back and a 2-megapixel camera at the front.

The device has been so successful since its launch in the U.K. that in just 85 days, Samsung had already shifted a whopping 5 million units — that’s before the Galaxy S II has stepped foot in the U.S. — a new record for the company

If you’re looking at that photo above and you think you’re having a spell of déjà vu, that’s because you may have seen it yesterday. U.K. retailer MobileFun listed the device on its website with a slightly premature August 15 launch date. The price advertised was £410 (approx. $667) for the unlocked, SIM-free model. However, Samsung has confirmed to SlashGear that the device will be available through a number of carriers with subsidized pricing.

If you’re eager to get your hands on this device in the U.S., it’s expected to launch in August with Verizon the first carrier to offer the device, and it may be well worth the wait: One rumor suggests the device will come packing 4G LTE by the time it gets to Verizon. There’s no confirmation, however, that the U.S. will get both colors to begin with.

LTE is just one feature that may give the Galaxy S II an advantage over Apple’s iPhone 5 — which is expected to launch a month later in September. If the iPhone 5′s rumored specs list is anything to go by, it will compete with the Galaxy S II’s high-resolution screen, but it won’t match its processor or its RAM.

What do you think of Samsung’s white Galaxy S II? If I wasn’t already in love with the iPhone, I’d snap this up in a heartbeat.

[via SlashGear]

Rogers Remote TV Manager: schedule TV recordings from anywhere, anytime

Posted By Ray Nicolini

via Rogers Redboard

We’ve all been there. Tied up in a long lineup or stuck in a meeting that’s running longer than expected when you suddenly realize that you forgot to set your PVR to record the latest episode ofTrue Blood. Now, you can keep your cool knowing that you won’t miss a second of your favourite show thanks to Rogers Remote TV Manager.

The new service offers you the freedom and flexibility to manage your 8300 HD PVR through a web portal or free mobile app. Right now, the web portal and iPhone app are available for customers in Ontario, and in the coming months, apps for Blackberry and Android will be available.

What does it do?

From the web portal or the app, you’ll be able to:

• Easily manage and schedule your recordings without being in front of your TV
• Review scheduled and recorded programs
• Delivers advanced search capabilities for TV shows and PVR Program content (actor, director, keyword, and channel name)
• Browse the on-screen guide to find your favourite shows
• Quickly see how much space is available for recordings

How can I get it?

First, you need to ensure you have an eligible HD PVR box and a Rogers digital television service subscription. Currently, Rogers Remote TV Manager is only available to customers in Ontario with the Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD PVR.

To use the Remote TV Manager online, you need to sign in, or register with MyRogers. Under “Cable Television,” you’ll see Remote TV Manager. You will be notified here if you do not have the eligible hardware or if you need to register your TV account to your MyRogers ID using your account number.

If you’re an iPhone user, you can download the app from iTunes. You need to have iOS 4 on your iPhone for the app to work.

Not a Rogers wireless customer? No problem. Rogers Remote TV Manager can be downloaded and used on any compatible mobile device on any wireless carrier.

Currently the service is only available in Ontario. We’ll let you know when we have information to share about availability for customers in other provinces.

How do I use it?

You can find detailed instructions on how to use the app on Rogers.com here.

You can also check out a detailed How-To guide on both the web portal and the app fromConnected Magazine.

What about Android and BlackBerry customers?

A Rogers Remote TV Manager app will be available for Android from the Android Market this summer. We’ll let BlackBerry customers know when they can expect the app as soon as we have more details to share.

Have you tried Rogers Remote TV Manager? What do you think?

So you want to learn how to Jailbreak an iPhone

Posted By Ray Nicolini

Via TheCellularGuru.com

To Jailbreak or not to Jailbreak? That is the question plaguing the minds of every new iPhone user. Do I stay within the death clutches

 of Steve Jobs’ Apple reign, or void (temporarily) my warranty and venture into the deep, deep abyss that is the world of Cydia repo’s, 

basking in the world of iOS customization, unlocking (if baseband permits), and yes, free apps.  Regardless of which category you fall 

into, a new site exists courtesy of our trusting friends on the ChronicDev team. They have taken the liberty to throw-up a super 

bare-boned website, which will guide you on your way  to jailbreaking haven, whether you are a noob or all out fan-boy.

So check out Jailbrea.kr and liberate away!

*** Please make sure you back up your iPhone and fully read and understand instructions before attempting to Jailbreak. 

TheCellularGuru.com and Toronto Wireless will not be held responsible for any iPhone damaged, bricked, or otherwise rendered
useless in the process of completing the Jailbreak ***