Category Archives: Uncategorized

SMS answer provider, ChaCha, threatens to cut out T-Mobile customers

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Based on T-Mobile’s SMS ammendment (of sorts), which states that all outside businesses like Facebook and Twitter will be charged $.0025 for each SMS sent to a T-Mobile user, there are several companies somewhat up-in-arms.  One such company is ChaCha, the online answer service which allows you to text a question and get a response almost instantaneously.  ChaCha writes off atleast 12% of their usage (approx. 125,000,000 messages) as T-Mobile based.

ChaCha’s statement:

If T-Mobile moves forward with its “twitter tax” that is rumored to begin on Oct 1st, ChaCha absolutely will drop T-Mobile from our service. T-Mobile is a carrier that doesn’t understand the realities of content businesses including Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, and ChaCha. ChaCha has more than 15 million monthly unique users for whom we answer over 2 million questions every day. The vast majority of these answers are delivered by SMS text. Subscribers for these texts are already paying t-Mobile and they are paid something already by aggregators/publishers. Now, they plan to impose an egregious and unacceptable tax.

Given that the costs to deliver text are miniscule, T-Mobile already makes profits from what they charge their customers, aggregators, and publishers. There, T-mobile is “triple dipping.” We don’t see any reason for this, other than greed.

This will be unfortunate for T-Mobile users who will either need to switch to another carrier to enjoy texting services, or access similar services via the mobile web and/or mobile apps (for which T-Mobile gets nothing incrementally). Starting today we will make it clear to our T-Mobile users that ChaCha would still be available on other carriers and/or via the mobile web or mobile apps.

If T-Mobile moves forward they will give their subscribers reasons to consider other carriers and/or prevent defectors from AT&T/Sprint/Verizon from considering T-Mobile. Also, their proposed pricing move will completely stifle innovation in the space, further harming T-Mobile customers.

ChaCha knows that our real-time “answers” and dbase of billions of answers is valuable and can be leveraged within any of these platforms. We prefer that T-Mobile not take this step, but if they do, we will no longer provide our free SMS service to T-Mobile and shift the traffic to other carriers and platforms. It’s unfortunate for T-Mobile subscribers since they will miss out on ChaCha and many free services because of this short-sighted move by T-Mobile.

In my opinion, ChaCha is sticking it to T-Mobile in a semi-unfair way.  On the other hand, I feel like TMo is hitting below the belt with their new SMS charge implementation.  It’s a little ridiculous to charge a company for sending texts to their customers.  But what do you say, pups?  Do you think that ChaCha is justified, or is this just a publicity stunt?  Let us know your opinions in the comments below.

via: TmoNews

OS 5.0.0.938 leaked for BlackBerry Bold 9700

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leak

Fresh off the presses!  We have a leaked BlackBerry Bold 9700 OS for you to try out.  You can find the download links here.  Of course, due to it being a leak, there is no changelog, so if you decide to give it a try, let us know what changes you encounter!

Also, as always, please remember not to do this if you do not know what you’re doing.  BBerryDog and it’s affiliates are not responsible for any damage incurred while using or loading a leaked OS. Also, feel free to check out our How-To Guides for information on backing up your device and loading an OS.

via: BBLeaks

BlackBerry DEVCON: What to expect

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DEVCON

BlackBerry DEVCON is one of the most important parts of the BlackBerry community.  It is basically the Comic Con of the BlackBerry world, where hundreds and thousands of new and veteran BlackBerry developers meet to talk shop and learn more about the platform.  In the below video, Mike Kirkup, the Director of Developer Relations for RIM, speaks with several other RIM employees about what DEVCON will be like.  If you don’t want to spend the 3 minutes watching the video, I will have the entire conversation summarized after the jump!

In the above video, BlackBerry DEVCON is spoken about with little detail, so as not to spoil any surprises.  They did add that we will finally be seeing the ‘Intro to BlackBerry’ in the morning, which will give veteran devs a chance to share experience and provide guidance.  From there, there will be keynote speakers and the famous (or infamous) BlackBerry DEVCON party.

Are any of the pups planning on going to DEVCON this year?  If you have been before or plan on going, make sure to comment below with your experiences!

via: DevBlog

BlackBerry 9780 coming to Vodafone in white?

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BlackBerryRumor

Please, take this rumor with a grain of salt, because it is just that.  A rumor.

But on a less serious note, it looks like we’re going to see the Bold refresh hitting Vodafone in the normal black that we’re used to, but also white!  I don’t know about you guys, but I find the white BlackBerrys a very fresh look.  We can only hope that the refresh in white won’t be exclusive to Vodafone, because I think there’s quite a few people who like the white BlackBerrys.  Give us your opinion though!  Flashy white or traditional black?

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via: Into Mobile

BlackBerry Bold 9780 arriving at Telus October 21? 9700 gets EOL

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BlackBerryRumor

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the anticipated successor to the Bold lineage (which I’d have to say is BlackBerry’s most prominent to date).  If the reports are true, we can expect the 9700 refresh (the 9780) on October 21st from Telus.  Of course, this is purely speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

The refresh will have BlackBerry 6 preloaded with 512MB of app space, a 5 megapixel camera, and the formfactor we know and love from BlackBerry.  For those of you who want a high end phone without the touchscreen from the Torch, this is right for you.  If you plan on springing for the refresh, let us know!  Also come back and tell us if you think it was worth the purchase after you buy.

via: Into Mobile

BlackBerry Torch in new colors making their way to AT&T?

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att-galaxy-tab-torch-colors

It seems as if AT&T is bringing some new edge to the torch by way of 3 possible new colors. A red/black, white, and olive selection of devices are said to be released in November, just in time for the holidays. This should be music to the ears of the those leftover BlackBerry enthusiasts, as well as tho who may just have been waiting for a new color. It’s been surprising to see how many devices have seen good/better sales simply because of the color (or a new one for that matter). Are new colors more likely to make you consider a the Torch? Or is it simply about whats under the hood? Sound off in the comments.

via: Engadget

Blaq Twitter client released for BlackBerry

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blaq-twitter-application-blackberry-3

As you all may know, I have been, and still remain, a proponent of the UberTwitter BlackBerry Twitter client.  Recently, a new contender in the Twitter client was released.  That Twitter client is Blaq, a full featured and visually beautiful Twitter client.

The features included in Blaq:

  • BlaqOps – Request a mutual follower’s contact info
  • BlaqOut – Block users and phrases
  • Custom refresh settings – Set custom refresh settings for the home timeline, mentions and direct messages
  • Quick Tweet – Tweet from any screen
  • Tweet #nowplaying – Tweet the info of the song you’re listening to with the #nowplaying hashtag
  • Tweet a web page – Grab the URL of the web page you’re viewing and tweet it
  • Bl4q.me – Custom Blaq URL shortener (you can still use bit.ly or another custom shortener)

Although Blaq is a full featured client, my experience with is has been less than satisfactory.  I found it laggy and somewhat of a hassle to use.  The main selling point of Blaq is it’s sheer beauty.  If not for the ‘pretty’ factor, I could not, in good conscience, recommend Blaq.  If you have used Blaq or try it after reading this article, please let us know how you liked it in the comments below!

via: BlackBerry Rocks

JPMorgan applying more pressure to RIMs sales wound

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jp-morgan

It’s no secret that RIM is in a potentially rough spot, and they are getting less and less space between the rock and hard place they’re in. JPMorgan (the second largest bank in North America) and UBS AG (Switzerland’s largest bank) are said to be considering switching their corporate e-mail devices from BlackBerry to iPhone or even an Android Powered handset. One bank has already made the switch and plans on having 15,000 iPhone units shipped by the end of the year. So far JPMorgan is testing security on the devices and is expected to make a decision some time in the coming months. If I were RIM I would use this as a grace period to show BlackBerry loyalists (and the few potentials they have left) some really promising prospects. If not, the downhill snowball they’ve created will show no signs of slowing. Lets not forget that just last year BlackBerry beat out iPhone for the top selling mobile device, and that was with the BlackBerry Curve matched up against the iPhone 3GS. Many credit it to the promotion of the phone, and even though the BlackBerry Torch may not be the perfect contender in today’s market, it does have its selling points. Maybe the thought of losing a large company like JPMorgan (that’s 220,000 customers alone) will be enough to launch them into third gear. What are your thoughts? Do you think RIM may be in a hole they can’t dig themselves out of? Or is this just an extremely long dry spell?

via: Bloomberg

Bold 9000 updated by AT&T

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blackberry-bold-9000

For all of those still rocking the 9000, rejoice!  AT&T has decided not to forget the on of the original gamerchangers, and updated you to 5.0.0.822 today.  Most companies are notorious for updating older phones or phones that have left the spotlight, so it’s nice to see that AT&T has not done this.  Let us know of any changes you find!

via: BerryReview

BlackBerry Bold 9780 information leaked, induces slight yawning

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BlackBerryBoldR020-1

Some of you may have noticed straight off the bat that the title says leaked, so please take the following with a grain of salt (even though it’s most likely true).  Back to the news though, pups!  The Bold 9700 is arguably the best BlackBerry on the market right now, and can be ticked off as a win on RIM’s chalkboard.  Taking that into consideration, whoever decided to simply refresh the 9700 and not make any huge leaps forward should be fired.  What we have before this is official documentation that states that the 9780 will be a 9700 with 512mb of RAM, a 5 mega-pixel camera, and BlackBerry 6.  We wish we could tell you that the successor to the 9700 would be another game changer for RIM, but we’d be lying. Come on, RIM, give us something to get excited about.

via: Boy Genius