Blackberry mobile phones - what Research in Motion (RIM) did, does and should do

Blackberry owner Research in Motion (RIM) faces an almighty, though not altogether unsurprising, challenge in 2012.

Not two years ago the Blackberry was the king of the smartphone. It was still the executive weapon of choice and the iPhone (still on 3GS, pre-4) was steadily catching up, but was more of an expensive plaything for creative ‘types’, not for the corporate world or for mums.

Android phones were still called G1’s, or something...

How times have changed. Today’s early morning news that RIM chief executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie had stepped down comes at a time when Blackberry’s market share is plummeting. It has fallen so far behind Apple’s iPhone and the array of Android phones, it is even perceived to be trailing Windows Phone 7 and Nokia.

Blackberry Curve mobile phone handset. Photo by Honou on Flickr

The Blackberry used to be great because:

• Business loved it. It had the best IT security, best Windows integration, and it never went down.
• Loads of kids’ dads would hand down their Blackberry phone when they got an upgrade at work. It meant a Blackberry handset - with free messaging - was the first smartphone for many teenagers in the UK.
• The Blackberry had the best email by far. Better than Android, way better than iPhones. You could argue that it still does have the best email service, certainly if you have to use Microsoft Outlook for work.

The Blackberry started becoming rubbish because:

• Business started hating it. Office workers and executives alike found a more fun mobile phone called iPhone which they could sync with their work email and use daily.
• It doesn’t have any decent apps. Apple’s App Store and Android’s Market have zillions, most of them wonderful.
• It went down. For several days last autumn. And that Really Annoyed People.

Now I don’t know whether RIM’s new CEO Thorsten Heins is a magician, but Blackberry can expect to continue being rubbish, unless:

• It brings out a new and fantastic operating system ASAP which has multi touch, brilliant apps, superb voice recognition, and sits alongside a family of equally stunning products such as tablets and computers which all talk to each other, all of which can access a vast ecosystem of content such as music, books, games and films.
• It never goes down again. Ever.
• And RIM does some incredibly generous deals with corporations who are making bigger eyes at Apple and Windows Phones for future partnerships.

The change in Blackberry’s fortunes was nicely captured this month by the BBC’s second series of Sherlock Holmes. The first series, which aired in August 2010, saw the eccentric but brilliant sleuth using a Blackberry as he navigated his way through the mean underbelly of London. In the second series, his mobile phone of choice is, of course, an iPhone 4. (Seeing as the series was filmed in early 2011 it wouldn’t be a 4S. And besides, there are no scenes co-starring Siri.)

In all seriousness, this is bad for the consumer. Blackberry should be providing Apple and Google with better competition. Without strong players in the mobile market, technology and innovation will slow down.

See also: What's Apple got that Microsoft Windows hasn't?

Tweetbot, a simple and better Twitter client for iPhone

Since Twitter bought the iPhone app Tweetie a long time ago and renamed it Twitter that has for many been the default option for mobile - for iPhone, iPad and Android phones.

It was simple, effective. A timeline, mentions, and direct message streams. Easy to add multiple accounts, easy to connect with other apps.

Then a few weeks ago Twitter made some big changes to its service, when it introduced richer profile pages and introduced two new fancy words to its homescreen for both website and official mobile apps - Connect and Discover.

Connect, which replaces the Mentions stream, is a round-up of your mentions plus what other users you follow, and who follow you, are doing. Instead of seeing a list of tweets which mention you, you see a mish-mash of actions from other users.

Discover is a collection of trending topics and ‘stories’ - real time news which Twitter is so useful for. Discover also contains suggestions of people to follow.

All of which is fine, and works well on the website. But on your mobile? Not so much. The simple format of all tweets, mentions and DMs was popular and the app was fast and effective in its previous functionality.

So the changes signaled a mass search party for a Twitter mobile alternative. There’s plenty out there, but a winner has emerged - Tweetbot.

Tweetbot app for iPhoneTwitter app for iPhone

Not only does Tweetbot have the simplest UI with fast, easy to use channels we all want - all tweets, mentions, DMs, it also saves a channel for Favourites and Search - but the latter two can be changed if you wish, to lists, profiles, retweets.

In short, Tweetbot is Twitter from ye olde times, fast and simple, but customizable if you do want the extras (but they’re not forced on you).

See also: Path mobile app gets more sharing features in version 2

Instapaper - saving and syncing bookmarks and favourites on your mobile phone

Once upon a time there was the web. It was made of sites which contained pages. People had to use a 'browser' to access these pages. It was disorgansied but fun. 

These days of course the same information comes to us via our mobile phones we carry in our pockets.

In the not-too-distant future we all wear them on our wrists. 

For now, while we still stuck inside the “in between” bit, a sort of purgatory between browser and apps, we shuffle between both. It can get a bit messy trying to organise and make sense of all the available information out there. You see, the web isn't yet clever enough to find you yet. You still have to find *it*,

And when you do, then what? Your mobile handset is still a bit awkward to consume information (remember, we’re in 2012 still, and constrained by atoms as well as bits.) Your tablet device, such as the iPad, is however perfect for it. Except for the fact that it won’t fit inside your pocket, unless you’re ultra geeky and wear a ScottyVest jacket.

My favourite tool when I spot something on a mobile which I want to remember and take a deep soak in later when I’m propped up on sofa/in bed/at desk is Instapaper. This is a nifty app which bookmarkets your favourite websites/pages/RSS feeds into a plain, simple reader which is perfect for a tablet.

Instapaper - saving stuff to read later

Stumbled across a great blog post (hint, hint) but about to meet your loved one for lunch? With Instapaper you can save it for when you’ve got time and fewer distractions to read it.

It already works in sync with apps such as Reeder and Twitter, and bookmarking sites such as Pinboard. It is also a private tool (unless you choose to make everything you save to Instapaper public) which is quite a noble, quaint notion in this age of social media sharing.

Once you’ve signed up, here are some easy instructions to installing the Instapaper bookmark on your mobile. On the iPhone it works better than Apple’s very own Reading List because once it has been saved to Instapaper, you don’t need wifi or 3G connection to see it.

As well as Pinboard, Instapaper accounts can be synced with other bookmarking / cloud computing tools such as Evernote. This gives you greater access over Android as well as iOS, and any internet browser.

It also works with Flipboard, Pulse, Seesmic, StumbleUpon, Tweetbot, Hitpad... and many, many more.

See also: Cloud computing - best text editors to sync your work across mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktops

What's Apple got that Microsoft hasn't?

So what is it with this company called Apple?

Why has this maker of computers and mobile phones become so, well so huge? 

Many much more qualified people have attempted to answer this - and so I won’t try and do the question an injustice.

I understand that the best marketing is about discovery. And the best brands are about status. But the current clamour for Apple? I can’t quite put my finger on it. But I can spot the difference.

Microsoft Windows storeApple store

I was at a mall in Atlanta, Georgia, recently (killing time before catching a plane home) and I came across two shops within 50 yards of one another. One, a standard Apple store which was packed, pretty much heaving with staff and customers all playing with white consumer electronic devices and spending a lot of money.

The second, a Microsoft store. No, I’d never seen one of these before either. And yet, there it was, shiny as a button, wielding an equally impressive line-up of gadgetry, with some truly impressive looking Windows Phone 7s on display. But, with less than a dozen customers inside. And roughly the same number of staff.

One mall, two shops, two companies selling pretty much the same gear. The contrast could not have been more different - one was almost deserted, the other packed to the point of being uncomfortable.

Why is this? I had a good look inside the Microsoft store and it was pretty amazing. There were giant screens with free-to-play Kinect games; row upon row of Windows 7 mobile phones to try out; a smorgasboard of laptops and desktop PCs all switched on and whirring happily away.

In the Apple store you could barely breathe; there was no machine that didn’t already have one, two or more people already on it; the staff were rushed off their feet but still there were customers waiting quite a long time to find someone to hand over their money to. It was, in short, a bad shopping experience.

See also: If you could only have one mobile handset, which would it be? (Poll)

Starbucks coffee iPhone app - a first step towards true mobile payment technology?

Coffee chain Starbucks has recently introduced a new iPhone / iPod Touch app so users can buy drinks via their mobile handsets.

The company has developed the app for iPhone 4S and 4, 3GS and 3, and the iPod Touch.

It’s not a stealth introduction of Near Field Communication to the UK. You have to download an app and then sync it with a Starbucks loyalty card - so you could just as easily carry the card with you. Doh!

But it does allow you to top up the app as you go, and that has already come in handy for me when I’ve found myself in a Starbucks without any cash. (Yes, I know, I could just use my debit card, but it’s more fun to use a phone, okay?)

Starbucks iPhone app - pay with your mobile

To use it, you order your drink as usual, then open the app, press a ‘touch to pay’ option and then wave it in front of a small, square screen. (While people queuing behind you raise their eyes to the ceiling, obviously).

The Starbucks app - which has not, at the time of writing, come to Android (although it does have a US version), Windows Phone or Blackberry phones - also allows users to find their nearest branches of Starbucks on Google maps. And, you can create a favourite drink, and use other such useless functions such as finding out more about coffee beans.

Starbucks iPhone app - find a branch

I was one of the deluded sods who predicted that 2011 would be the year that Near Field Communication took off in the UK. I envisaged being able to swipe my phone - without the need to open specific apps - at any coffee shop, supermarket till, train ticket machine, and whatever the cost of my purchase would simply be added to my monthly phone bill. The retailers, banks and mobile carrier, I dreamily predicted, could work out the messy details and leave me to swan about with my day.

Not so fast. Turns out the shopkeepers are reluctant to pay for the equipment, the credit card companies are reluctant to let their customers walk away, and the mobile phone carriers are, er, just reluctant unless it makes them a fat load more cash.

Which means it’s going take someone - Apple? Google? Microsoft? - to make a seriously popular phone with this functionality, in a simple and fun way which will make life easier for the customer and the businesses.

In the meantime, the Starbucks app is a teeny tiny first baby-step towards this wallet-free utopia, and I shall be getting myself an extra frothy latte to celebrate.

See also: Jawbone UP, the iPhone app and wristband that can measure how much you move and sleep