Blackberry addicts can now pick up their shiny Playbook today (provided you live within 2 specific countries).
We are thrilled to be launching the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet – the world’s first professional-grade tablet. It is available today in thousands of retail outlets across the United States and Canada.  (Official Blackberry Blog)
Although RIM poured out their heart and soul into this device (with a camera that blows iPad 2 out of the water), the lack of a native email and calendar client from the go makes the device almost worthless to consumers and corporations.
In order to gain access to those features, you will need a Blackberry smartphone (since Playbook “borrows” those apps from Blackberry) making the tablet useless for Android and iOS fans who may not want an iPad 2.
Hopefully RIM will consider adding these features to Playbook, as the last thing the company needs is buyers remorse due to the inability to send a message without the assistance of a nearby Blackberry.
Dear RIM, we have a problem. Despite your best efforts at revamping your OS, launching a decent smartphone (not to mention a mini-tablet), people around you are predicting doom and gloom for your company.
Worse, developers are balking at creating apps for Blackberry and your flirtation with Android isn’t building much confidence in your mobile OS.
With market share declining and Apple constantly refining iOS, it might be time for RIM to consider taking a cue from Nokia and embrace Windows Phone 7. More →
After being abandoned by Nokia, many assumed that MeeGo would fade into obscurity, especially with Android and iOS dominating the mobile landscape.
Although lacking the backing of one of their parents (note: Intel still believes in MeeGo), the “Android challenger” may live on in the far east. More →
With Google dominating the mobile verse, Android is now setting its sights on conquering Sub-Sahara Africa.
In order to motivate the masses to come up with innovative Android Apps, Google is launching a “mini X-Prize” competition where the winner receives not only a smartphone (of course), but some cash as well.
The Android Developer Challenge is designed to encourage the creation of cool and innovative Android mobile apps built by developers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Invent apps that delight users and you stand a chance to win an Android phone and $25,000 USD. To get started, choose from one of three defined eligible categories (see below), build an Android app in a team or by yourself, and submit it via the competition website by July 1st. The winning app will be announced on September 12th at G-Kenya. (Android Developers Blog)
Courting sub-Sahara Africa is a smart move by Google, as it’s one of the few regions in the world where Android’s rivals have no interest in competing (with the exception of Nokia via their dying platform Symbian).
If Google can secure a stronghold in sub-Sahara Africa, it could open doors for Android to the rest of the continent, helping Google to dominate an emerging market with a billion plus people.
With Xoom failing and iPad 2 prevailing, many are wondering whether anyone can challenge Steve Jobs magical device (and no, RIM’s Playbook is dead on arrival).
Although we shouldn’t write off Android entirely (after all, GalaxyTab 8.9 could become a hit), Google’s tablet OS is still rather buggy and truth be told needs a bit more polish in order to outshine iPad 2.
However there seems to be one tablet that can potentially challenge iPad 2, as a recent video highlighting an upcoming version of webOS reveals below. More →
The rhetoric between Google and the Department of Justice is heating up after the DOJ accused the search engine giant publicaly lying about Google Apps receiving FISMA (or Federal Information Security Management Act) certification.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft has joined the fray by declaring that their nemesis is evil, and portraying their foe as untrustworthy by linking to documents (from the DOJ) proving that Google did not in fact receive FISMA certification.
Google has not yet responded to the accusations via press release or their corporate blogs, but they are maintaining the fact that they did receive FISMA certification and its the DOJ who’s in error.
So who is right? Not surprisingly the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
According to the GSA, Google’s Google Apps Premier received FISMA certification on July 21, 2010. However, Google intends to offer Google Apps for Government as a more restrictive version of its product and, Google is currently in the process of finishing its application for FISMA certification for itsGoogle Apps for Government. See Attachment 3. To be clear, in the view of GSA, the agencythat certified Google‟s Google Apps Premier, Google does not have FISMA certification for its Google Apps for Government. (DOJ Brief, pg. 13, note:PDF document)
Apparently Google did receive FISMA certification for a Google Apps Premier, then decided to create a more secure version which is not FISMA certified.
Although I do sympathize with Google here (who has become the Feds favorite whipping boy as of late), the DOJ and Microsoft is (for now) correct that Google is misleading the public by claiming something it doesn’t have.
Google needs to either pull all references regarding FISMA or offer more evidence, as the last thing the company wants is to be seen as “evil” in the public eye.
The search engine giant has apparently thrown in the towel as far as Street View in Germany is concerned.
Despite the recent German court ruling that declared photography from streets legal in Germany, Google has stopped Street View photography there and says it has “no plans to launch new imagery on Street View in Germany.†(Search Engine Land)
Despite securing the right to legally photograph streets, Google decided once again that it’s better to appease the governments than to anger them to the determent of Street View fans everywhere.
For those of you fearing that Street View will disappear, the search engine giant will maintain Street View for 20 German cities (although with updates being suspended those images will eventually become stale).
Even though abandoning Street View will put Google at a disadvantage (as other companies are planning on launching similar services), it may help bolster their image as well as help them build favor with German politicans.
Google will still roam the roads in order to verify the accuracy of streets within Germany, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Google restarts this project again in the future when Street View isn’t as controversial.
Despite being the US governments new whipping boy, the Feds have surprisingly cleared Google’s purchase of ITA Software (who organizes airline data).
Although Google is celebrating the approval (which puts the US airline industry at Google’s mercy), the Justice Department did layout some guidelines to ensure the search giant doesn’t trample upon the industry.
Under the proposed settlement, Google will be required to continue to license ITA’s QPX software to airfare websites on commercially reasonable terms. QPX conducts searches for air travel fares, schedules and availability. Google will also be required to continue to fund research and development of that product at least at similar levels to what ITA has invested in recent years. Google will also be required to further develop and offer ITA’s next generation InstaSearch product to travel websites, which will provide near instantaneous results to certain types of flexible airfare search queries. InstaSearch is currently not commercially available, but is in development by ITA. (Department of Justice)
As highlighted in the video below, Google purchased ITA Software in order to enhance their own search results, which will help them remain relevant in an age where  social search is seen as the next step for organizing the web.
Unfortunately there is no word on whether Google has to share their data with Bing! or Yahoo!, which could put their search rivals in the US as a severe disadvantage.
Apparently Google doesn’t like being called a liar in public and Andy Rubin (one of the co-founders) seems to be upset about the “fear, uncertainty and doubt” being spread by the media about Android’s new rules.
Rubin attempts to clarify Google’s position regarding Android, although manufactures may not like what they hear.
We don’t believe in a “one size fits all†solution. The Android platform has already spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices – many of which were not originally contemplated when the platform was first created.  [...]
To Google’s credit, members of the Open Handset Alliance did promise not to fragment Android, so Google (technically) did not perform a “bait and switch” upon carriers or manufactures when launching Android publicly a few years ago.
However Google can not claim to be open while running their “anti-fragmentation” campaign, as the former by definition gives everyone the power to alter (or fragment) Android to their hearts content.
Google is trying to have their cake and eat it too by using the open source community to help build up Android, while at the same time embracing a “Windows Phone” philosophy (i.e. force standardizations upon all phones).
While having standards for Android devices is needed for consumers and app developers, Google needs to stop pretending that Android is all about open (as Android is only “more open” than rivals, instead of being purely open source).
You would think that the combined minds of Motorola, Google, Samsung, RIM and HP would be able to release a tablet that would put the iPad 2 to shame.
On the contrary it looks like Steve Jobs “magical” device has already claimed their first victim, as Motorola’s Xoom has predictably failed in the market, with only 100,000 units sold to consumers since the tablet made its debut. More →
