PageOne launches Blackberry Responder App

Robust messaging and SOS alert functionality improves operational efficiency at the touch of a button
London, 10th January, 2012 - PageOne Communications, the UK’s leading provider of mobile messaging solutions to the public and enterprise sectors, today announced the launch of its BlackBerry® Responder App for BlackBerry devices. The App provides a simple, quick and secure way of ensuring important real-time operational and emergency messages are delivered to and acknowledged by individual users or groups.
Critical information sent via BlackBerry email can often become lost amongst everyday general messages, meaning staff miss important alerts and do not respond promptly to the sender. With a dedicated inbox, pop-up alerts and 2-way QuickReply options the Blackberry Responder App ensures vital information that needs to be noticed is actioned immediately. Receipt and opening of messages is confirmed and the QuickReply option allows staff to respond with status, action or updates.
“With the average employee receiving 100-200 emails per day, its vital to differentiate those that must be immediately acted upon,” said  Nigel Gray, Sales Director at PageOne Communications. “Doing so instantly makes your existing communications that much more effective.”
The Blackberry Responder App also offers optional lone worker functions such as an SOS alert and GPS location capability to provide additional support and peace-of-mind for lone field operatives. Pressing and holding the BlackBerry’s SOS alert button triggers an audible and visual distress signal direct to their employers Connect or Flare account, together with a GPS location if available. The SOS alert can also automatically be pushed to an email account, mobile or pager.
As part of their employer duty of care, staff overseeing operatives out in the field can see an audited overview of all remote staff and their status via a customised dashboard. Automated periodic reminder alerts can be set-up that must be acknowledged by the user, without which an SOS alert is auto-generated.
“The more for less mantra rippling through both the public and private sector has had a major impact on, and changed, working practices. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of employees who should be classified as lone workers for some or all of their role,” added Nigel Gray. “The BlackBerry Responder offers a cost-effective way of meeting this employer duty of care to its employees.”
PageOne’s Blackberry Responder service requires no server/network hardware or software to be installed and seamlessly integrates with PageOne’s Connect and Flare web-based suites. Operational staff can send and receive messages to any combination of BlackBerry, pager mobile and email with an automatically generated audit trail of message delivery, receipt and reply. Using status updates they can also deliver more targeted broadcasts, for example sending only to staff who are ‘available’.
For further information on PageOne’s BlackBerry Responder Application, please visit http://www.pageone.co.uk/services/blackberry-smart-phone-messaging-app
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About PageOne. www.pageone.co.uk
PageOne Communications is celebrating 25 years of innovation in mobile messaging solutions. The company has proven expertise in helping clients drive operational and cost efficiencies, deliver effective results and have a real business edge in a competitive market. With a rich heritage in all aspects of messaging - from paging and  SMS through to voice, email and location based services - it places its customers at the heart of its product development to help thousands of organisations across the public and major corporate sectors with reliable, cost-effective and award-winning solutions.
Note to editorsThe PageOne name is written as one word with a capital 'P' and capital 'O'.
Press Contact:Geraldine Fernandez / Robert Hickling 
Say Communications 
Tel: 020 8971 6400
Email: pageone@saycomms.co.uk
Source: RealWire

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 arriving in February 2012

[CES 2012] RIM's long-awaited OS update for its debut tablet the BlackBerry PlayBook has finally been given a release date. According to an announcement from the company today, PlayBook OS 2.0 will be arriving in February 2012 - which means at most less than two months of waiting. The update which is touted to improve every aspect of the PlayBook will include the following features: A new unified inbox, tabbed email, rich-text email composing and editing, and inbox management tools to give an advanced messaging experience; an innovative people-centric calendar and relationship-centric contacts app for deeper integration of social relationships; a remote control feature for your BlackBerry phone to control the PlayBook and the ability to open files on your BlackBerry phone on the PlayBook itself. Documents To Go and Print To Go have also been updated with improved functionality, and the BlackBerry App World and Video Store will have access to more apps and video content. The web browser has also been updated with a “reading view” to make reading websites a more pleasant experience. Anybody excited about this new update or have you already given up on your PlayBook?

BlackBerry 7.1 OS out now, brings Wi-Fi hotspot and calls

RIM has just released an update for its lineup of BlackBerry 7 OS-running smartphones. Version 7.1 brings a few new features and updates a few of the native Blackberry apps. The new features are: The updated apps are the BlackBerry Messenger 6.1, BlackBerry Traffic, BlackBerry Maps and BlackBerry Travel. If you want to learn more about the 7.1 update just follow this link. Via

BlackBerry 7.1 OS released

Good news, BlackBerry users - RIM has announced a brand new update to kick start the new year: BlackBerry 7.1 OS. The update brings a whole bunch of new features to improve your BlackBerry smartphone experience. First up users will get the mobile hotspot feature: an option that has been available on platforms like Android and iOS for awhile now, BlackBerry 7.1 OS will let you turn your smartphone into a wireless hotspot which lets you hook-up up to five different devices with the internet. Universal Search also gets an update to include auto-suggest which intelligently filters Bing search results. BlackBerry Tag unlocks NFC capabilities of your phone to make sharing contacts, media, BBM chat invites and more a quick and simple process. WiFi calling is now available (depending on your carrier) with BlackBerry 7.1 OS. The update also brings FM Radio capabilities to your Curve 9360 and 9380 smartphones - all you have to do is plug in your headset to boost the reception. No data usage or data plan required. BlackBerry Maps has also been updated to show special offers, coupons and discounts on the map itself. And to take full advantage of BlackBerry 7.1 OS, BBM 6.1 has been pushed out of beta, BlackBerry Travel and Traffic have also been updated. BlackBerry 7.1 OS will start rolling out today all over the world, so expect it to hit your phone sometime in the coming weeks.

RIM to showcase BlackBerry OS 10 at MWC this year

RIM will be showcasing their next generation BlackBerry OS 10 (earlier known as BBX) at Mobile World Congress in February. Unfortunately, the company has no plans to actually launch any smartphones running BB 10 at MWC, and they still plan to do that later in 2012. All that we will see at MWC is a demonstration of the BB10 OS along with their current BB 7 handsets, with the focus being on the NFC and BBM connected apps. In other news, it seems that RIM has dropped plans for launching the BlackBerry Colt, along with the Milan. It now seems that the first phone to ship with BB 10 is going to be the BlackBerry London (pictured above) that was recently leaked and is expected to come out in Q3 this year. Source 1 • Source 2

RIM now working on only one BlackBerry 10 smartphone; Colt, Milan cancelled

We already reported that the BlackBerry Colt - the handset that was originally intended to be the Research In Motion's first BlackBerry 10 smartphone -  had been cancelled. Now, we have heard from multiple sources that the BlackBerry Milan that leaked last month was in fact was never a QNX smartphone, but a BlackBerry 7 device with a slightly different design identity. Regardless, the Milan has been cancelled as well. We're told carriers balked at the idea of carrying a BlackBerry 7 phone so similar to the BlackBerry Torch at this point in time. The only phone RIM is working on bringing to market right now is the BlackBerry London. We have been told that RIM is currently shopping the London with carriers, and while it still looks very much like the image published by The Verge in November, there have been some slight design changes made. Lastly, we got word that when representatives from Porsche Design showed up to RIM's headquarters to check out the progress the company was making on the designed by Porsche BlackBerry 9900-series phone for the first time, “it was a complete disaster.”

BlackBerry 10 Milan slider cancelled?

Here's an interesting story. Remember how BGR reported that BlackBerry 10 was rumored to be a disaster, and RIM countered their story with claims that the rumors were false? Well, today's tip seems to suggest that the former's source might be right. According to the folks over at N4BB, RIM's first BlackBerry 10 device - the slider device that was codenamed Milan has been reportedly cancelled. No word on why the device was cancelled but apparently it's a hardware-related issue. But since the phone was never officially announced, it's hard to make a big deal about the issue either - it could have been a fan-made drawing or a leaked concept for all we know. However, if the device is indeed real, and was cancelled due to problems, could it possibly be BlackBerry 10-related? Nothing is certain right now, but if you've been waiting to get your hands on the Milan, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Unannounced BlackBerry Milan slider cancelled because of hardware issue

About a month ago we showed you a leaked image of an upcoming BlackBerry portrait slider, the device codenamed Milan. This was supposed to run BlackBerry OS 10, and launch this year. Well, apparently that won't happen anymore. According to one of N4BB‘s sources, the BlackBerry Milan has effectively been cancelled by RIM before even being released. The reason seems to have something to do with a hardware issue. There can be many of those during the development phase of a new smartphone, but to cancel a handset for such a problem can only mean that it was huge and basically unsolvable without severely altering the hardware (which at this stage we're guessing would have simply ended up costing way too much). Image via CrackBerry

Android and iOS both lose usage share in December as BlackBerry gains

Usage of Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android operating system both declined between November and December as BlackBerry and Symbian both showed gains. Despite huge activations over the holidays, new data released by analytics firm Net Applications shows that Internet usage of iOS on Apple's iPhone and iPad displayed the sharpest decline in December, dropping to 52.10% from 54.04% in November. Google's Android platform on smartphones and tablets dipped less than half a point to 16.29% in December but it stayed in the No.3 spot as Java ME gained more ground, climbing to a 21.27% share last month. Also showing usage gains in December were RIM's BlackBerry platform, up to 3.51% from 3.18% in November, and Symbian, which climbed to 5.76% from 5.27% a month earlier.

New sale cuts BlackBerry PlayBook price by as much as $400

Research In Motion's debut tablet has been something of a disappointment for the Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor. While the slate showed promise, it failed to offer potential users a compelling reason to choose it over the iPad or an Android tablet, and RIM would end up taking a $485 million charge in the third fiscal quarter due to unsold PlayBook inventory. Sale pricing ahead of the holidays last year seemingly helped RIM and its distribution partners clear out some inventory, however, as the company is once again offering discounts on its QNX-based tablet. While pricing starts at $299 rather than $199 this time around, all three PlayBook models cost $299, which means the 64GB version can be had for a deep $400 discount. RIM's first major update for its tablet OS set to bring native email and more next month.

RIM sells all BlackBerry PlayBook versions for just $299 until February 4

If you're in the US, now may be the time to buy a BlackBerry PlayBook. Especially if you've been craving one of the SKUs with more integrated storage (like 32 or 64 GB). That's because all PlayBook versions can now be bought for just $299 from the BlackBerry online store. So no matter if you go for the one with 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of built-in storage, the price is the same. That makes the amount of money you save on, say, the 64 GB unit be $400. It's $300 for the 32 GB version, and ‘just' $200 if you go for the 16 GB variant – but why would you? At this price, it's clearly a bad idea to buy anything else than the 64 GB PlayBook. This sale does feel like it's a desperate attempt from RIM to rack up some PlayBook sales. But it may just work, despite the fact that you could find the 16 GB unit even $100 cheaper than this over the past few weeks. After all, what HP's sales for the TouchPad proved was that people will buy cheap tablets, if they're made by a well-known brand.

BlackBerry Bold 9790 coming to Three UK

Three is the latest UK mobile network to confirm that it's going to sell the BlackBerry Bold 9790 (after O2, Vodafone and Orange).

The 9790 has appeared over at Three's coming soon webpage (next to Nokia's Lumia 710), and should become available sometime later this month.

Introduced as a cheaper alternative to the Bold 9900, the Bold 9790 features a 2.4 inch touchscreen display with 480 x 360 pixels, full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, 1GHz single core processor, 768MB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, 5MP camera, and BlackBerry OS 7.

If you're in the UK and don't want to get the Bold 9790 on contract, you'll be able to buy it SIM-free, too, reportedly starting January 9, for £399.

Rooted BlackBerry PlayBook tablets now have access to Android apps

Research In Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet became the first BlackBerry device to be rooted this past November, granting users access to the device's file system and allowing a level of customization that BlackBerry users have not had in the past. As RIM enters into the cat and mouse game Apple knows all too well, PlayBook owners willing to root their devices now have access to the Android Market as well as the apps contained within. CrackBerry has published a complete how-to guide that details all of the software and steps required in order to install Google's Android Market on a PlayBook tablet. While an upcoming PlayBook software update will soon bring official Android app support to the tablet, apps will need to be repackaged and made available in BlackBerry App World in order to function in RIM's app player. Using the guide linked below, no such tweaks are necessary from developers, and users can have Android apps running on the PlayBook immediately.

Desperate for Users, RIM Slashes PlayBook Prices — Again

The BlackBerry PlayBook is now available at 60 percent of its original price. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com When in doubt, hold a fire sale. Research in Motion is slashing prices on its BlackBerry PlayBook tablets yet again, dropping the bill to 60 percent of the PlayBook's original asking price. From the first of the year through February 4, PlayBooks ordered directly from RIM's online store front will cost $300 for any version, regardless of storage capacity. If you're able to score a high-capacity version, it's not a bad deal. 64GB PlayBooks sell for $700 retail, while the 32GB versions go for a cool $600. Saving three or four hundred bucks on new hardware with premium specs could prove attractive to bargain hunters. The new promotion represents yet another effort to push PlayBooks into consumer hands. When RIM dropped tablet prices by $300 on Black Friday, demand surged, and third-party retailers like Best Buy and Staples were unprepared for the rush. In fact, the discount tablets were on back-order before the end of the day. This time around, however, the discounted tablets will only be available from RIM directly. Staples and OfficeMax are still sold out of RIM's tablets, while Best Buy's PlayBooks are still priced at $500. So why is RIM holding a fire sale? Conventional wisdom says it's a business move focused on the long haul. In order to create demand for its App World ecosystem, RIM needs to seed the market with hardware. App World currently hosts somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 BlackBerry PlayBook apps, a tally that pales in comparison to what's offered by mobile giants Apple and Google, whose app numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. On the other hand, RIM is in a financial mess. The company took a near half-billion dollar hit after deeply discounting PlayBooks for the first fire sale, basically selling the 16GB versions at cost, according to estimates. It's tough to determine whether the company is losing money on its most recent sale, or just reducing its margins. To put it lightly, RIM has had a rough year. After the rocky launch of the PlayBook, stock prices plummeted to nearly a quarter of what they were in 2010. Promises of critical software updates for the tablet went unfulfilled. Rioters in London used RIM's BlackBerry Messenger product as a key tool in organized looting. And, recently, a report suggested that RIM co-CEOs Mike Laziridis and Jim Balsillie could be stripped of their other executive title as chairmen of the company board. Needless to say, the ailing company is desperately in need of a jumpstart. If RIM can get enough devices in the hands of consumers to produce a demand for software, developers could be convinced to start creating apps for the platform. It's a longshot, but what other choice does RIM have?

BlackBerry Torch 10000 apparently in the making, may be headed to AT&T

RIM is apparently looking to take ridiculous smartphone names to a whole new level. And while it won't be the sort of ridiculousness best embodied by the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch (just try saying that out loud ten times in a row), that doesn't make this any less ridiculous. RIM has so far been famous for its name+four digit number model for naming devices. The name (sort of) signifies the class of device, and the digits are the actual model denomination. Fair enough, though quite convoluted for my taste. But now RIM's running out of digits – see, four isn't enough anymore, as the company has already reached the 9900s. What do do next? Well, obviously, add another digit. Hence, the BlackBerry Torch 10000. Don't laugh, for this may become an actual product in 2012. At this point I'm hoping RIM simply won't be around long enough to launch the BlackBerry Whatever 143580. Anyway, the new name comes courtesy of Asurion, which is a company dealing with phone insurance. The Torch 10000 was spotted in a list of current and past AT&T smartphones ripe for being insured. So whenever it launches, the Torch 10000 may make it to AT&T. Because it has such a round model number, you can probably expect the Torch 10000 to be some kind of a flagship device, perhaps sporting a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 8 MP camera, all in a very thin shell. Since the Torch line now comprises both touch-only as well as touch+sliding QWERTY units, it's unclear what form factor the 10000 will have. But it will almost certainly run BlackBerry OS 10, which will be the next major version of the OS (based on QNX, which is currently powering RIM's PlayBook tablet). As for when you'll be able to buy the BlackBerry 10000, the third quarter of next year seems most likely at the moment. So there's still a hefty amount of waiting to do if for some reason you crave that extra digit.