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Software
November 18, 2010
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Nokia’s Ovi Store now serves 3 million downloads each day

By on November 18, 2010 at 6:00 AM.

Nokia’s Ovi Store now serves 3 million downloads each day

Nokia is certainly not the first cell phone company that comes to mind when the topic of App Stores is raised. Here in the U.S., it’s probably not even the second, third or fourth company that comes to mind. But as the market for mobile apps continues to explode globally, Nokia is quietly proving it still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Nokia announced a new milestone for its Ovi Store Thursday morning: 3 million downloads per day. The impressive milestone comes with just 18,000 content titles currently available in the Ovi Store for Nokia’s most popular devices. It also comes just over two months after the 2 million daily download mark was reached. This rapid growth rate is showing no signs of slowing, as interest in Symbian continues to build on both sides of the app equation — users and developers. Nokia needs to appeal to both groups in order to maintain success with the Ovi Store, and so far the company’s efforts are working. In the last year, over 400,000 new developers have joined Nokia’s developer program, and the Finnish company’s Qt development tools have been downloaded more than 1.5 million times.

Nokia is very focused on the success of its developer partners, Michael Bramlage, Director of Media at Nokia, told BGR. Bramlage, whose team is responsible for both the Ovi Store user experience and product management on the developer side, joined Nokia just before the Ovi Store launched. The company’s aim, Bramlage said, is to create a sustainable business for as many developers as possible rather than watch a small number of successful developers rise to the top. More →

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General
July 29, 2010
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RIM announces BlackBerry App World 2.0, beta now available

By on July 29, 2010 at 6:24 PM.

RIM announces BlackBerry App World 2.0, beta now available

If you use BlackBerry’s App World to download applications, updates, and regularly find new content, you’ll be pleased as punch to know that App World 2.0 has just gone live in beta form. App World 2.0 brings a number of enhancements to the app — some much needed — and even some new payment options. For starters, credit cards are now directly supported instead of having to go through PayPal, and RIM has brought along support for carrier billing. In true RIM fashion, however, this is not available now, and RIM won’t say which carriers will support it. Next up is the ability to drill down different top 25 lists, something much needed. There are now top 25 paid, free, and theme sections. Simplifying the entire user experience is BlackBerry ID, something you can probably guess. It’s a device-independent user ID, something separate from PIN mumbo jumbo, and will streamline your purchasing profile, keep track of your downloaded applications, etc. Not much of a finder/gatherer? Lastly there is QR barcode support in the new version of App World, so look for developers to start using barcodes in promotional materials, emails, really anything. It’s available now on RIM’s beta site below for download. More →

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Featured
January 14, 2010
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Android survey results

By on January 14, 2010 at 10:07 AM.

Android survey results

Android4

Last night we posted a friendly survey asking some easy questions about Android. It included the devices that it runs on and also what everyone loves and dislikes most about the platform. We had an awesome response to it in a pretty short time period (over 2,800 completed surveys since last night), so here are the results! More →

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Opinions
August 6, 2009
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New Google Chrome beta is over 30% faster; worth checking out yet?

By on August 6, 2009 at 10:58 AM.

New Google Chrome beta is over 30% faster; worth checking out yet?

Google recently issued a new beta of its infant web browser and while it touts some huge improvements over older builds, we still find ourselves hesitant to give it any real face time on our machines. Let’s start by covering the improvements: First and foremost, Google claims the new version 3.0.195.4 runs over 30 percent faster than previous builds according to benchmark tests. Wow. To jump over 30 percent from one build to the next is nothing short of incredible and in our time spent playing with it, the improvement is quite obvious. Beyond speed, Google has also added some customization options to the new tab page, tweaked the display in the Omnibox, added some basic HTML5 capabilities and added 29 themes just in case the old Google blue bored you. Long story short, the new version offers a pretty respectable bump over previous builds — but we’re still not using it. Why? The answer is simple: one product cannot be all things to all people.

More →

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Software
August 5, 2009
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Symbian^4 means bad news for developers, amazing news for users

By on August 5, 2009 at 7:01 PM.

Symbian^4 means bad news for developers, amazing news for users

Well, at least the significance of the Symbian Duck’s giant robotic feet is clear now — they’re going to walk all over developers! Oh come on. We kid… We kid… Truth be told, there’s no one as happy as we are to learn that Symbian^4 will finally break app compatibility. This obvious-turned-revelatory tidbit was covered in a recent interview with Symbian Foundation Catalyst and Futurist David Wood where he discusses the death of Avkon and the birth of Qt where UI elements are concerned. While we’re insanely pro-developer here at BGR, we must be clear in stating that this is awesome, awesome news. Why? Because it confirms what we already knew and what we’ve been dreaming about for what seems like an eternity — Symbian will actually find itself wrapped in a (hopefully) fresh new UI sometime in the not-so-distant future. Think late 2010ish/early 2011ish where consumers are concerned. As for what this means to developers, yes there will be some work involved in order to update the current crop of apps. That is most definitely not a bad thing, however. Come on guys, S60 3rd launched in what, 1924? We’ve been compatible for long enough. It’s time to freshen things up a bit and get rid of that stagnant look that should have been updated long ago. If that means a little more work for devs, we hope they embrace it with open arms.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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Retail
March 31, 2009
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MobiHand launches BlackBerry app store; can it compete?

By on March 31, 2009 at 1:44 PM.

MobiHand launches BlackBerry app store; can it compete?

Well folks, things just got interesting. A day ahead of the presumed April 1st App World announcement from RIM, a third-party mobile software distributor is making an effort to steal some of RIM’s limelight. Brilliantly timed, MobiHand’s app store announcement this morning will surely garner some attention and truth be told, it’s probably the better product out of the gate. MobilHand’s app store beta comes packing over 5,000 free and paid software titles already in its library, no ridiculous pricing requirements and a UI that is clean and simple. There are also a few nice features similar products don’t tout, such as a “Deal-of-the-Day” that offers a big discount on one new top-selling app each day. RIM’s saving grace of course, is that it is much better positioned to get App World in front of the eyes of BlackBerry users. While MobiHand is one of the more successful third-party app distributors in the game, it still doesn’t have anywhere near RIM’s reach. We also doubt MobiHand will be putting the marketing and ad dollars behind its app store to really make a dent, but you never know. Either way, tomorrow we should be getting a full taste of what RIM has in store but in the meantime hit the jump for a few more screen shots and hit mobihand.com/appstore from the browser on your ‘Berry to get rolling.

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Retail
March 4, 2009
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RIM’s app store shamelessly dubbed App World; developer site goes live tonight

By on March 4, 2009 at 5:01 PM.

RIM’s app store shamelessly dubbed App World; developer site goes live tonight

It looks like RIM is finally taking a big step toward making its on-device app portal a reality. The developer site, blackberry.com/appworld, is set to go live at 10:00 pm EST and end-users will also be able to sign up for alerts at that time. As for the official name… App World. Yep, it’s fairly obvious that the App Store model works and competitors aren’t even bothering with trying to distinguish their offerings from the godfather. In fact by shamelessly copying the name of Apple’s portal, RIM is likely (and wisely) hoping potential customers immediately make the connection with the successful Apple shop and dive right in. So there you have it folks — the on-device App World portal will likely launch to users fairly soon so get those credit cards ready, recession be damned.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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General
September 24, 2008
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Plazmic 4.6 CDK available for developers to make Bold themes

By on September 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM.

Plazmic 4.6 CDK available for developers to make Bold themes

The developer craziness is just flooding the streets these days with new platforms and apps waiting to be made awesome. Now, Plazmic 4.6 CDK will allow BlackBerry-lovers to design and develop sweet new themes for the Bold. While it seems that the Bold is pretty much everywhere but here (United States), the ability to create themes for the new ‘Berry hadn’t been widely available up until now. So if you are in a country where the Bold is available or you simply want to make some themes for kicks and are awaiting a Bold yourself, hit the read link to download the developer’s tool.

[Via BerryReview]

Thanks, Chris!

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