An update to v2.0.0.58 is now available for the Facebook for BlackBerry app. The documentation simply says that the maintenance includes general fixes to the infrastructure of the Facebook for BlackBerry smartphones application.

English, anyone?

Anyway, an update is an update. If you are on BB, launch BB App World on your device and go get it. Its only 2.6 MB in size.

RIM has unveiled BlackBerry BBX, its next generation mobile platform that takes the best of the BlackBerry® platform and the best of the QNX® platform to connect people, devices, content and services.

BlackBerry BBX is the next generation platform for BlackBerry smartphones and tablets. In other words, there will be only one OS for both Blackberry smartphones and tablets going forward.

BBX will support:
- BlackBerry cloud services
- development environments for both HTML5 and native developers
- Native SDK,
- Adobe AIR/Flash
- WebWorks/HTML5
- BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps

You can read the full press release on the RIM website: RIM Unveils BlackBerry BBX – Combines the Best of BlackBerry and QNX to Provide a Next Generation Platform for BlackBerry Smartphones and Tablets

I need to say upfront that every OS has its unique selling point (USP). One does some things better than the other. From my own point of view, below are four features of the Android platform over iOS:

• Budget Conscious: Since the arrival of Android OS, many people have been privileged to carry a smartphone. Imagine a smartphone selling for as low as 10,000 naira. Only Android has provided this opportunity so far. Please read my earlier post, to be sure of the Android device I am referring to. On the other hand, the cheapest iOS device costs well above 10,000 naira. Aside that, in recent times, we have heard so many manufacturers announcing their low-budget Android devices (many to cost around $100).
• Home Screen: This feature makes Android very superb for me. All android devices come with a customizable home screen. It provides information directly through widgets. This implies that you do not need to launch the app before you can have access to some of the information it provides. Take for instance, I have a Facebook widget on my device, which I added to the Home Screen. With this, I don’t need to launch the app to get Facebook updates. All I need to do is to navigate back Home, and catch all my updates. This feature is lacking on iOS.
• Notifications: Another great in-built advantage of the Android platform over iOS has to do with notification display. Adroid gives you a notification bar at the top screen. This bar can be pulled down to gain access to more details. The iOS Notifications is not as superb as this, because, it natively displays notifications through pop-ups. This is set to change in iOS5 though, so its not going to be an advantage for long.
• Hardware choice: Apart from many of the great benefits of the OS, Android gives its fanbase a wide choice of hardware across a wide variety of manufacturers. This means that there is an Android for all types – touchscreen-only, QWERTY candybar, and QWERTY slider. As for iOS, its touchscreen-only, and saying no to Apple’s hardware means bye to iOS completely.

Every now and then, nostalgia simply gets the better of me. When that happens, I go down memory lane and take a look at the different smartphones that I have used.

Here is a gallery of some of the devices that I used from 2007 through 2010.

January 2007 - Palm Treo 700P

September 2007 - Sony Ericsson P990i

February 2008 - Nokia E61i; Nokia E61

February 2008 - Sony Ericsson P990i; Nokia E61i

February 2008 - Sony Ericsson P990i, Nokia E61, Nokia 9500, Nokia E61i

November 2008 - Nokia E90; Nokia 9500

March 2010 - LG GW550

April 2010 - Nokia N900

July 2010 - HTC Touch Pro2

September 2010 - Nokia E90, Nokia E61i, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

September 2010 - Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro

Things have certainly changed dramatically since 2007. Still, I have stubbornly clung to my hardware QWERTY keyboard devices. Odd, but incidentally (or significantly), my current device, the Nokia N8, is a touchscreen-only device. Perhaps it is lady Belle (I have the newer leaked ROM, and its superb!) that’s got such a hold on me that I can tolerate the lack of a hardware keyboard (article on that coming soon).

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the gallery.

Last month, the news of Google’s acquisition of Motorola sent shockwaves through the mobile industry. Of course, very quickly a few apologists got up to say that the purchase was about the patents in Motorola’s kitty. I didn’t think so.

Well, its official now. Here are the words of Google Chairman, Eric Schmidt:

“We did it for more than just patents. We actually believe that the Motorola team has some amazing products coming,” and went on to add that, “We’re excited to have the product line, to use the Motorola brand, the product architecture, the engineers. These guys invented the RAZR. We know them well because they’re Google Apps users.”

Source

Come on guys, all that money just for the patents? It wasn’t going to happen. Google always had their eyes on the hardware, and now they’ve got their hands on it.

While Android partners have publicly said that they are happy about the acquisition, in my opinion that’s just PR. In reality, things have changed significantly.

For one, the Korean government has recently mentioned it plans to develop a mobile OS to rival Android with the support of both Samsung and LG.

Secondly, Chinese search engine Baidu (which dominates China’s search market) has launched its own mobile OS, called Yi. Baidu Yi is a modification of Android OS and provides alternatives to many of Android’s in-built Google services.

Acer has also now publicly stated that the Motorola acquisition is a blessing to Microsoft. As I suspected, OEMs would now have to seriously consider investing in the direction of WindowsPhone.

Samsung already has Bada OS which is being pushed hard in the market, and can always fall back on that.

How this all plays out eventually will be seen. The mobile industry is very volatile. As the famous saying goes, Expect the unexpected.

The smartphone world must be even more volatile than we all thought. You see, HP, the guys who purchased Palm recently, have announced that they are discontinuing WebOS phones and tablets.

Excerpt from the HP press release:

HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

HP say they are looking at options. Perhaps license WebOS to other manufacturers?

Whatever, it looks like the lines just got redrawn again. RIP, WebOS?

Android partners – Samsung, SonyEricsson, HTC, and LG – have responded to Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, and they all sound happy about the deal. Of course, personally, I expect that all those happy quotes are simply PR.

In the coming months, what these companies actually do – as against what they have said – will tell us what they really think of the deal. After all, each and everyone of them must act in their own best interests, just as Google have acted in their own best interest with this.

Quotes from Android partners

At first, no-one thought it could happen, then some began to see its possibility. Now, it has happened: Apple is officially the number 1 smartphone maker on the planet, pushing the incumbent Nokia to number 3 position. Samsung, who have been on Nokia’s tail for years, finally edged out the Finnish company to sit at the number 2 spot.

Here’s how the 2nd Quarter 2011 smartphone shipments went:

1. Apple: 20.3 million units
2. Samsung: 19.2 million units
3. Nokia: 16.7 million units

As already mentioned here on MobilityNigeria, the Samsung Galaxy S II is currently regarded as the hottest smartphone on the planet, having sold 5 million units in less than 3 months. Perhaps someday, Samsung will sit at the top of the smartphone food chain.

In the modern smartphone market, that is not impossible. Congrats, Apple! An amazing feat indeed, considering that it took just 4 years to pull off.

Nokia’s 2011 2nd Quarter reports revealed a drop is smartphone shipments down to 16.7 million devices, which is significantly below the 20.3 million that Apple shipped in the same period.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, however, remains optimistic about the transition programme that Nokia are running, with the emphasis that their long-term prospects are fine.

Source: GSMArena, Engadget.

Google’s Andy Rubin, has posted a tweet stating that 500,000 Android phones and tablets are now being activated per day.

We knew that robots were going to take over Earth one day; didn’t we?

Dear readers,

We are planning to publish a number of reviews soon, but thought it would be interesting to involve you in deciding what phones to review.

You tell us what cutting edge, top-end, or budget devices you would like to have reviewed on your favourite blog, MobilityNigeria, and we will go after it.

Happy commenting?

Samsung has published adverts in major dailies promoting four new Galaxy smartphones, the Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy Gio, and Galaxy Mini.

This implies that these devices are now available in the country, and if you Samsung fans have been waiting for any of them, get your wallets out and go splash some cash.

All the devices run the Android OS. While Android has no official support from Google here in Nigeria and users have no access to purchase commercial apps from the MarketPlace, free apps are available, and Samsung do support their products here through their service centres nationwide.