We went hands-on with RIM’s new touch and type BlackBerry Bold 9900 / 9930 on Monday — the only device announced at BlackBerry World yesterday — and today we’re back with live coverage of RIM’s BlackBerry World 2011 keynote. RIM just recently launched the BlackBerry PlayBook, and its first tablet was also the first device to give the world a taste of the company’s QNX operating system. RIM also introduced BlackBerry 7 here at BlackBerry World 2011, and it could very well be the last major release of the BlackBerry OS before RIM transitions to QNX on smartphones as well. This is definitely a time of transition for RIM, and so we’re looking for some more insight as to how RIM plans to stem the tide of iPhones, iPads and Android devices, and stay competitive. Will the company shine any more light on its crucial strategy over the coming months and years? The keynote kicks off soon so hit the break to follow along as we cover it live, and don’t forget to refresh often for all the latest action!
10:25AM:Alright we’re closing out here thanks for joining us!
10:22AM:IBM Global Financing is now including tablet computing, and IBM says it’s the first tablet financier to do so.
10:22AM:We’re seeing how users can create and change presentations in real-time on the PlayBook “harnessing the creativity and expertise” across an organization.
10:19AM:Cavanaugh is discussing the benefits of social businesses.
10:18AM:IBM’s vice president of business and technical strategy, Kevin Cavanaugh is on the stage.
10:17AM:Lucas is going over how the app works and how it will benefit sales people using the PlayBook on the road. “It’s unmatched in the market.”
10:15AM:“We’ve been building incredible analytics technology that allows you to extract this information to where people work – on their PlayBook.”
10:14AM:We’re checking out an SAP application for business users.
10:13AM:Global Senior Executive from SAP AG Steve Lucas is on stage.
10:13AM:“How do we get these Android apps?” “Through App World.” Users simply need to open App World and then the apps are available just like any other application. This makes us wonder if certain apps will be omitted or if all Android apps will naturally be there.
10:12AM:An IMDB application is being demoed now, it’s the real live Android app. It looks formatted for an Android device, likely for a smaller phone screen, but this should definitely build out the amount of apps available for the PlayBook.
10:11AM:We’re looking at a “250 solitaire games app,” which isn’t all that exciting, but it’s cool to see pretty flawless execution of an Android app on the PlayBook.
10:09AM:“Applications are integrated to look like native PlayBook apps.” This looks really cool. “Android devices have buttons and we dont have buttons, so how do we do menus and navigation? If I want to see options I do a top to bottom swipe. Home is Home and Menu is Menu. A navigation bar at the top will bring you back.”
10:08AM:Now we’re going to get a demo of Android compatibility on the PlayBook, awesome.
10:08AM:There will be full BIS and BES support also. The features will be added in a software upgrade.
10:07AM:Calendar and Email for PlayBook will be landing in the summer of this year.
10:07AM:And now we’re seeing the full BlackBerry PlayBook native calendar. This totally opens up the PlayBook to users who may not own a BlackBerry on the side.
10:06AM:Now we’re seeing an email client without bridge or Bluetooth! Native Email on PlayBook! We’re definitely excited about this.
10:05AM:The first wave of these titles will hit the app world this summer.
10:05AM:Some other titles include Racer by Luma Arcade, Battle Bears, Air Attack HD, and Chop Chop Tennis.
10:04AM:We’re seeing Samurai II Vengeance today, this is already available on iOS and Android. Really good to see RIM boosting its rather weak game portfolio with some solid titles.
10:03AM:To date 450,000 developers have used unity, and just last month almost 150,000 used the tool. Union is a content arm for Unity games. Some of these 200 new games will be landing on the PlayBook.
10:02AM:Unity is on stage, it’s a multiplatform development tool for games.
10:02AM:The augmented reality features look cool and are very similar to what we’ve seen on Android and iOS. RIM is integrating the experience with BBM to show what this will look like in the future. One person is opening BBM World and can see people sitting – their avatars pop up, seemingly floating over them, and then it’s possible to start a new BBM conversation. We assume this can be turned on/off to prevent privacy issues.
10:00AM:Augmented reality and a compass are built-in to the BlackBerry 7 operating system, and we’re seeing a demo of it now.
9:59AM:Foursquare is integrated across the whole ecosystem so it can be used as your BBM status, too. It’s in Beta for all developers now.
9:56AM:Foursquare is opt-in so that users can choose if they want to share their updates with everyone.
9:56AM:We’re seeing Foursquare integration with BBM. Kirkup is the mayor of his mother-in-law’s house he says.
9:55AM:Mark Kirkup is on stage to demo
9:55AM:“Wait til you see what else BBM from RIM is going to enable.”
9:54AM:“We’re just getting started. We’re excited to see partners like VEVO that are starting to build today. We’re going to see more and more of that over the next month.”
9:53AM:The last app they’re showing is BlackBerry Podcast. We’re seeing a collection of Podcast categories, etc. This app launched with the PlayBook natively.
9:52AM:They chose to show a Justin Bieber video.
9:51AM:Now we’re checking out a music video app that has yet to be released. It’s coming soon. The Vevo app is coming soon. Over 25,000 videos in the app from over 7,500 artists.
9:49AM:They’re going over 7digital DRM free music on the PlayBook, some stuff we’ve already covered in our review.
9:47AM:For the first time in 10 years at this event we’re showing live demos. Alaj Panezic is on the stage, vice president of software at RIM.
9:45AM:Ah, now we have senior vice presdient of business and platform marketing from RIM on stage.
9:43AM:Lazaridis thanks us all for coming and wishes us a great show. We’re wrapping up here thanks for following along!
9:43AM:“Everyone here will be receiving a 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook.”
9:43AM:“You’ve seen the new BlackBerry Bold, the most powerful BlackBerry ever. You’ve seen how we’re working with partners like Microsoft to extend cloud services. I’ve never been more excited and confident about our future and where this future is going.”
9:42AM:“Over the last decade you’ve heard us talk about transition from voice an feature phones to smartphones. You’ve seen how the PlayBook is redefining the tablet experience with browsing/Flash, true multitasking, stunning multimedia, and a growing app catalog all wrapped up in an elegant and ultraportable design.”
9:41AM:Now we’re seeing a Bing Deals demo that’s showing locally relevant deals.
9:40AM:If you tap on a local venue you’ll see info on the venue as well as the option to book a table and more. Open Table built-in to the experience.
9:39AM:Venue maps are live on Bing.com today but they are coming to BlackBerry. Search will always just be a tap away. Search includes web, use camera, microphone, and other rich multimodal searches.
9:37AM:Now we’re going to see a demo from Microsoft’s Bing team about some of the features that will launch this holiday season.
9:36AM:Lots of clapping after that demo, however.
9:36AM:Lots of hip cut scenes but not really seeing how this commercial demo is showing a strong Bing/RIM relationship here.
9:34AM:People are asking “when the show is” and using Bing to find out.
9:34AM:We’re about to see some of the things coming with Bing on BlackBerry. A video and a demo are coming up.
9:32AM:“Bing will be integrated into the BlackBerry experience (at the operating system level) by this holiday season. We see opps in that integration to create unique experience for consumer and enterprise customers. We will market and promote the strength of our joint offerings.”
9:30AM:“Effective today, Bing will become the preferred maps application for BlackBerry. BlackBerry devices will use Bing as the default search in browser.”
9:29AM:“While Microsoft will support the top phone platforms with our cloud services, we’re going to invest uniquely in BlackBerry’s platform. In March we announced an agreement to make a new RIM hosted BB services available for Microsoft Office 365 customers later this year.”
9:28AM:“I love Windows Phone, but won’t talk about it much here today. And then there’s BlackBerry.”
9:28AM:Ballmer is going to talk about a new partnership between RIM and Microsoft
9:27AM:Steve Ballmer just took the stage!
9:26AM:Lazaradis is discussing “super apps” although it’s still unclear what those really are.
9:26AM:“BlackBerry perfected real-time communications between people.” BBM is an example of this.
9:24AM:“We’re also including BlackBerry Balance out of the box, something our enterprise customers have been asking us for.”
9:24AM:“BlackBerry 7 allows you to search by voice request. Just ask your BlackBerry. It’s also the first with NFC, paving the way for new experiences.”
9:23AM:“Liquid Graphics means users have the smoothest graphics experience on a BlackBerry today.”
9:22AM:“It includes a blazingly faster 1.2GHz processor and graphics accelerator.”
9:22AM:“It’s the thinnest BlackBerry ever and its styling is absolutely gorgeous.”
9:21AM:“Today, I’d like to give you the first look at our newest handset, the BlackBerry Bold 9900.” We’ve already seen this so be sure to check out our hands-on!
9:21AM:“Now I’d like to talk about our smartphones. The BlackBerry experience is unique. Its style is iconic. Our value is unmatched. Our smartphone portfolio offers choice and is a global portfolio” – Lazaridis. “We create the world’s best keyboards. We have a global network of over 40 million BBM users.”
9:19AM:“Adobe is announcing that it’s shipping a major update of Creative Suite 5.5 which includes the latest version of Adobe Flash builder that supports out-of-box development for apps for the PlayBook,” Narayen said.
9:18AM:Readers Digest is already available, and it was created using Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite
9:17AM:Narayen says he looks forward to delivering digital publications such as magazines and newspapers to the PlayBook
9:16AM:There are more than 3 million Flash and AIR developers, and “we just can’t wait for the next wave of killer apps to arrive for PlayBook.”
9:16AM:“It’s stunning” – Lazaridis
9:15AM:Facebook for the PlayBook looks solid, it’s available now, but it doesn’t support portrait mode, which is a little odd to us. We’re seeing the demo of live chat, photos, and more.
9:15AM:“We’re particularly excited about one new application that we all worked on together, and that’s Facebook for the PlayBook.”
9:14AM:“We intend to bring our creative applications to the PlayBook,” Narayen just said. Mobile versions of Photoshop maybe?
9:12AM:We’re watching a trailer for a movie
9:11AM:Shantanu Narayen from Adobe is on stage and we’re about to see some demos.
9:09AM:“We’ve been able to make this happen by identifying some of the best partners in the business to provide uncompromisable web and full Flash browsing experiences. Our competitors have been unable to do so.”
9:08AM:Video Chat and Facebook are coming, although those two features were announced yesterday.
9:06AM:Lazaridis is going over all of the features of the PlayBook now, discussing how powerful it is for executives and sales people.
9:02AM:QNX has helped us make PlayBook a multitasking powerhouse
9:02AM:“We looked at the PC and laptop experience and used them as our benchmark. This includes the entire web, which of course, means Flash. All videos in Facebook are Flash. ESPN3 delivers over 3300 live sporting events using Flash each year. We believe customers should not have to put up with a compromised web experience.”
8:59AM:“The PlayBook is an impressive tablet. The screen is beautiful. It’s perhaps one of the best tablets I’ve ever used. It’s straight up the best 7-inch tablet out there.”
8:55AM:He says this is the biggest show, the 10th anniversary, and it has the most attendees ever.
8:55AM:President and co-ceo of RIM, Mike Lazaridis, is on the stage
8:52AM:music is dying down
8:49AM:Silencing our phones now, event is about to begin!
8:47AM:We have 3D glasses on our desks, not sure how that’s going to pan out here, but there are two big 3D displays on stage.
8:45AM:Ok we’re told the program is getting started in 5 minutes!
