RIM Promises Loyal Blackberry Customers Getting Sneak Preview of BlackBerry 10

RIM Promises Loyal Blackberry Customers Getting Sneak Preview of BlackBerry 10:

RIM is looking to please their enterprise or “loyal” customers to reassure its “corporate cash-cows” that the BlackBerry 10 OS will be arriving to save the day and restore their devices that has lost their glimmer and shine. Someone sounds like they might just be getting a little jealous of the Android fad. According to RIM CIO Robin Bienfait, while the analysts may just be predicting failure for the Canadian company due to the android and apple fad, “the reality is straightforward: We have over 78 million customers that need our services on a day-to-day basis, and we’re firmly committed to the launch of the BlackBerry 10 platform.”
Many people would disagree with Bienfait’s statement. Sure BlackBerry can be a good platform but many would agree that Android and iOS offers a whole lot more than the BlackBerry OS currently offers. Currently we don’t know what the sneak preview of the BlackBerry 10 OS looks like so it’s not really right for those people to make that claim at this point in time.
“All companies need to go through changes in their evolution” Bienfait says, “and it is our turn right now.” CEO of the Candian Company, Thorsen Heins, said something about the companies financial results earlier this month. Bienfait went on to say that RIM is relying on it’s cash reserves to carry the company through the changes. “I’m confident that we’re well positioned” she insists. “What’s important is that we have a clear direction, are pivoting rapidly, and are absolutely committed to achieving these goals.”
The CIO has also revealed that RIM plans on giving it’s loyal customers a sneak preview of the new BlackBerry 10 OS. This is to convince them that it’s worth getting. Not only that, they are also looking for suggestions for improvements. ”In terms of meeting the needs and expectations,” Bienfait says, “we’ll be partnering with many of our enterprise customers to allow them to take a look in advance of the launch, so they can see for themselves what we’re working on.”
RIM originally planned on releasing BlackBerry 10 in late 2012 but it has now been delayed to a early 2013 release. It is unknown how RIM will be selecting  customers that will get the sneak preview of the BlackBerry 10 OS. Neither is it confirmed when this sneak peak will be released. For all we currently know it could be another couple of months before the sneak peak releases. I’d assume they’d release soon to keep the hype up of their new OS, that’s just speculation though.
As a side note, the BlackBerry 10 picture looks a lot like iOS, I wonder if Apple will start another litigation to once again, claim the world of technology as their own.
If you’ve gotten the Sneak Preview yet or have any idea when it should be releasing, let us know in the comments below!
source: Slash Gear

My BMW Remote app finally launching on Android

My BMW Remote app finally launching on Android:






It's been a long time coming for BMW-owning Android users — the My BMW Remote app first launched on iOS in Europe back in 2010, before coming to the US this February. And while an Android version was initially promised last year, it's now finally on the way. BMW says that the Android smartphone version is now available — though it doesn't appear to be live in Google Play just yet — and it includes all of the same functionality as its iPhone counterpart, letting you unlock doors, turn off headlights, and more. "By extending our My BMW Remote app to Android devices as well, we are responding to the recent rapid spread of this operating system," said Dr Eckhard Steinmeier, head of BMW's ConnectedDrive platform. While the app itself is...
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Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida on Socom: “It’s not done”

Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida on Socom: “It’s not done”:
The latest entry in the Socom franchise disappointed a lot of long time fans. It wasn’t the true evolution of the series that fans had expected Zipper to deliver, but at the same time, expectations were quite high. Needless to say, Sony shut the doors of Zipper Interactive last March, only to leave hopeful fans wondering about the future of the Socom series. … Read more

Analyst Believes Medal of Honor Warfighter Will Suffer Because of Prior Game’s “Poor Quality”

Analyst Believes Medal of Honor Warfighter Will Suffer Because of Prior Game’s “Poor Quality”:

There was a lot of hype behind Danger Close’s Medal of Honor reboot that launched back in 2010. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on its lofty promises and left many gamers feeling shortchanged. As such, analyst Doug Creutz believes the success of the upcoming sequel will likely suffer due to the “poor quality” of its predecessor.

According to a research document from Forbes, the Cowen analyst speculates that the disappointment surrounding the prior game, coupled with Warfighter’s lukewarm reception at E3 will really hurt the sales of EA’s upcoming military shooter. Bearing that in mind, Cowen lowered their 2012 sales projections for the game from 2.3 million to 1.4 million copies.
“This is based on a very soft performance since E3 in Amazon’s top-selling game rankings compared to other recent titles. We think the most likely culprit for apparent gamer disinterest is the poor quality of the last ‘Medal of Honor’ game in 2010,” Creutz explained.
Were you disappointed with 2010′s Medal of Honor reboot? Do you think Danger Close has what it takes to turn the franchise around? Let us know in the comments below.

Facebook Ad Clicks Generate from Bots 80% of the Time, says Limited Run

Facebook Ad Clicks Generate from Bots 80% of the Time, says Limited Run:
With 900 million users worldwide, it seemed logical for Facebook to open a line for advertisements. The fact is marketers can easily be attracted with the number users the social network presents until an e-commerce store builder said majority of clicks from ads which can be found on Facebook are inorganic.

Limited Run claims that 80% of the clicks that the social network is charging them came from users whose browsers had JavaScript turned off. A technology research was conducted in 2010 and it showed roughly only 2% of computer users in the U.S. have the JavaScript in their browsers turned off. This data was the one that pushed the company to build their own analytics software only to find out that 80% of the clicks from Facebook are generated by bots. Moreover, the company also said that bots are being used to load pages to eventually drive up advertising costs.
To show its disappointment, the firm will delete its official Facebook page in a couple of weeks but it went on to narrating why it had to come to this.
“A couple months ago, when we were preparing to launch the new Limited Run, we started to experiment with Facebook ads. Unfortunately, while testing their ad system, we noticed some very strange things. Facebook was charging us for clicks, yet we could only verify about 20% of them actually showing up on our site,” according to the post on Facebook.
JavaScript is the best way an advertiser can verify every click done by the user. But when it’s turned off, a click maybe difficult to determine. However, online advertising are often paid per click irrespective whether a click will lead to sales or not. In the case of Limited Run (supposing its claims are true), it is paying clicks which only about 15% to 20% have the possibility of conversion; the rest of the clicks are all junk but it still has to pay for them.
“We’re currently investigating their claims. For their issue with the Page name change, there seems to be some sort of miscommunication. We do not charge Pages to have their names changed. Our team is reaching out about this now,” a Facebook spokesperson said to assure other advertisers.
It’s not the first time that an ad agency complained about the company’s advertising practices. In fact, Search Engine Journal revealed last week about a system that would send multiple likes to a page in a short period of time.
Limited Run, however, did not provide screenshots or any relevant photos to their claims.
Source

Sony says statement about Android 4.1 not coming to 2011 Xperia models given out in error

Sony says statement about Android 4.1 not coming to 2011 Xperia models given out in error: There's some good news for owners of 2011 Sony Xperia devices today, as it appears that a Sony Mobile spokesperson that recently claimed that some 2011 Xperia models wouldn't be receiving Android 4.1 did so "in error." That's according to a new blog post on the official Sony Xperia Product Blog, in which Sony explains that it's still "actively investigating Android OS upgrades for all devices." The company adds that the Android 4.0 push for the Xperia S and its 2011 Xperia smartphone lineup is...

Samsung’s emails reportedly support Apple’s claims

Samsung’s emails reportedly support Apple’s claims:

In a recent development in the ongoing legal clash between Samsung and Apple, Apple has plans of defeating Samsung by nitpicking on Samsung’s own statements. The Cupertino based giant’s court brief says that Samsung was knowingly, willfully and blatantly violating its designs patents, and making products which feel, operate and look like its iPads and iPhones. They also claimed that the evidence suggests that similarity of Samsung’s products with Apple’s is not an accident or as the South Korean giant would euphemistically say, ‘natural evolution’. Apple also added that this similarity between their products “results from Samsung’s deliberate plan to free-ride on iPhone’s and iPad’s extraordinary success by copying their intuitive user interface and iconic designs. Apple will reply on Samsung’s own documents, which reportedly tell an unambiguous story (sic)”

Samsung was allegedly warned by Google during the designing process of its tablets and smart-phones. Google and other group of esteemed designers actually warned Samsung that its Galaxy Tab 10.1 is unacceptably too similar to Apple’s iPad. Few of them even went to the length of call it an ‘iPad with a Samsung’s logo’ on it. Apple told that interestingly most of its claims against Samsung are supported by Samsung’s own emails.

Both the giants are all set to lock horns in the legal battlefield. Even, Samsung is ready with a basket full of proofs as alibi for charges against it. One that stands out among these is a 2006 internal design presentation that shows a mobile UI which was flaunted by iPhone a few months later. The South Korean company also has plans of counter-attacks with evidences showing that Apple’s iPhone design was copied from prior Sony design. With this endless patent battle picking up the heat, it will be interesting to watch whether this issue is solved down the line in future or get stuck in an impasse.