[Afourtrackmind]

BlackBerry. Play to your market. Develop a native, free office suite for bb10. Get TAT on the interface. Make it powerful. Make it easy to use.

Not easy, I know. Just do it.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[Michael Magliocchi]

Blackberry already owns Docs To Go. What else are you expecting? I dont know of any other office suite style software that even compares on mobile.

[just_luc]

Blackberry already owns Docs To Go. What else are you expecting? I dont know of any other office suite style software that even compares on mobile.

Actually docs to go is a product of DataViz.. they aren't blackberry owned, but I agree with your sentiment that it's an adaquate mobile office suite..

[ranzabar]

Umkay

Posted via CB10

[eldricho]

Actually docs to go is a product of DataViz.. they aren't blackberry owned, but I agree with your sentiment that it's an adaquate mobile office suite..

I thought BlackBerry owned the majority of their assets and development team
Edit: added link

http://m.crackberry.com/dataviz-make...esearch-motion

Posted via CB10

[FFR]

Actually docs to go is a product of DataViz.. they aren't blackberry owned, but I agree with your sentiment that it's an adaquate mobile office suite..

I believe blackberry purchased data viz.

[just_luc]

Huh.. well there ya go..

Posted via CB10

[Afourtrackmind]

What I mean is that docs to go isn't very feature rich. See full mean deal. No compromise. Rethink the interface to be use able on a day to day, task to task as opposed to just being able to view make simple edits. Should be able to import photos, videos and audio into the spreadsheet or a word doc. Should be able to interpret bac codes with the camera and load that data directly into a cell. There's a lot of power on these phones. I thought BlackBerry owned dataviz too and thought it should be heavily invested in. I think you should be able to edit pdfs and annotate with software already built in.
Docs to go is a great start but I think it needs to be further followed through. Make it a full business machine in the palm of your hand. This would lend to BlackBerry strengths and help market it as a business tool.
Just my thoughts.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[Afourtrackmind]

Bac codes = bar codes

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[Andrew4life]

I don't so much care for the editing aspect but rather the display aspects.
I want to have my powerpoint presentations display ALL of the animations and timings. Not just the simple transitions or the simple object movements. Unfortunately I use a lot of animations in my presentations and I can never use the Z10 to present my powerpoints.

[Afourtrackmind]

Yup, all that stuff too. A complete set of office tools.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[badiyee]

well, unless the team can somehow build a full fledged suite that can interpret MS word and others without breaking it (like openoffice), i don't think it will happen.


Probably what BlackBerry can do at the moment is build more features into the intepreter. Or license a brand new company to do the dirty job.... Lotus for BlackBerry maybe?

[Afourtrackmind]

I think that's what I'm getting at. Open office and libre office are both fully fledged packages. They're just really resource hungry and often don't run very well on win/mac. Open office is not so bad on Ubuntu tho, don't know about libre office for Ubuntu tho. But the point I'm making is an organization can make very useful office packages for free. What could be done with some money and the team that built the platform? Probably very fluid software that could use the os's code far more efficiently.

BlackBerry makes the os, and likely have a budget (open office and libre are not really well funded as they're free), I think it is possible to create a better experience built in to the BlackBerry os. I think the office software is far more important to the fate of BlackBerry than is having Netflix. The office experience is already ok and I'm very happy to have these tools, I just believe that this should be the USP that BlackBerry should be actively developing and lead where they supposed to be the leader.

This is an investment I think BlackBerry can't afford to not make.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[Troy Tiscareno]

I think you are VASTLY underestimating the complexity of what you are asking, and the time, money, and resources needed to do this, and you also overestimate BB's software prowess. BB isn't a software company, and never was. That's not their corporate DNA. Other than OS work, their only real "app" has been BBM, which compared to an office suite is dirt simple, and yet they've been working on cross-platform BBM for a year or more, and where is it? In fact, it's going to be for iOS and Android 4.x only (not truly cross-platform), and it's going to be limited to text messaging.

Microsoft, for example, has many THOUSANDS of top software devs in the Office group, and they've been working on it for 20+ years, so they have tons of experience, and it still takes 3+ years between versions. BB has maybe DOZENS of software devs that could work on this; they'd have to hire thousands more, and it would be a 5-year-mission at least to get a useable product out that meets your goals. And after all that, you want it to be FREE?

Why not just ask BB to pass out free gold coins with every BB10 phone purchase? Or free QNX-powered cars with every phone you buy? Those are equally feasible ideas at this point.

[Afourtrackmind]

I do understand how difficult getting good products to market is. I do it for a living. I get your point tho, and you'll see I've noted this in the original post.

To not do something because it is difficult is the same as giving up and moving on. Making the transition to bb10 wasn't easy, but necessary. I feel the same about this.

They're already halfway there. But some creativity and hard work are in order if I want to be using bb10 in the next three years and I'd like to see my investment in BlackBerry go somewhere. Rather than *****, I've chose to share my ideas and hope that maybe one of them is considered. I would love to work with BlackBerry here but we all know that isn't going to happen. The is is why I've posted in armchair.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[Afourtrackmind]

Also, it's not free. That doesn't exist. It should be included in the process, kinda like the browser. This is a strategic play. They have large cash reserves and only a couple dozen programmers? I find that difficult to believe, but I don't know.

I think you may be misinterpreting what I'm getting at.


If their major hurdle is software, why hasn't this become a priority at BlackBerry hq?

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[cgk]

To complete with the big players you also need versions of Skydrive/google drive, needs to be available free online on the web, need to integrate with a fully feature gmail/office 365 solution.

So once you've spent south of $10 billion, you are ready to fight out for a tiny marketshare.

They have large cash reserves

They don't relative to the sector - they have about $3-4 billion which is a tiny pot for simply competing in mobile - trying to take on google/Microsoft headon in terms of office software? Forgot it.

[Afourtrackmind]

What's wrong with Dropbox?

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[cgk]

What's wrong with Dropbox?

Zedtenislessoffensive.

Nothing I use it myself but if it is competing against the big players you need to have native option.

[Afourtrackmind]

I don't really agree it has to be an in house solution, it just has to work. Whether they partner to offer the service or build in house I don't the is the crux of the issue.

Would it not be possible to leverage BBM for this? I'm not saying I have the solutions, because I don't. I'm just spit balling ideas.

Zedtenislessoffensive.

[iN8ter]

Blackberry already owns Docs To Go. What else are you expecting? I dont know of any other office suite style software that even compares on mobile.

A Web/Cloud based Office Productivity offering along the Lines of Office Web Apps, Google Drive Docs, or iWorks on iCloud? They don't have that.

@ Bold: Probably because you haven't really used any other mobile office suite.

[iN8ter]

well, unless the team can somehow build a full fledged suite that can interpret MS word and others without breaking it (like openoffice), i don't think it will happen.


Probably what BlackBerry can do at the moment is build more features into the intepreter. Or license a brand new company to do the dirty job.... Lotus for BlackBerry maybe?

Someone clearly hasn't used OpenOffice with complex documents, nevermind spreadsheets and especially powerpoint presentations, where it falls flat on its face.

The only 3rd party office suite that is seriously usable for serious work without a bunch of compromises or headaches is Corel WordPerfect Office.

[iN8ter]

What's wrong with Dropbox?

Zedtenislessoffensive.

It's a third party service. they cannot control it. they cannot force DropBox to integrate a Web version of Documents to Go on top of their Web App and having your service depend on the existence or good will of a third party is not cool. This is why Apple created iCloud. This is why they have iWorks. This is why they're doing iWorks on iCloud. This is why they created Apple Maps.

You want your own ecosystem to be as self-contained and independent as possible. It gives you a lot more freedom for innovation, iteration, and integration.

As to your other question about BBM, it would be possible to leverage BBM as a collaboration/communications tool similar to Hangouts and Skype in Google Drive or SkyDrive. I suppose there are other things that can be done but nothing major, which isn't already done in current office software (even web versions) that track changes or offer IM/Video Calls/Voice Calls alongside document editing like SkyDrive or Google Drive. I suppose things like "Send via BBM" from the Web App (using your BBID) would be kind of useful, since BB does not have their own PIM services like the others.

Can you imagine what kind of experience they could have tailored up if they actually had services to match their competitors. Think about it for a bit. Doing it in-house is the best way to go, and certainly the most reliable way to go. However, I can see good reason for a company that doesn't have as much cash as their competitors to partner with someone for something like Cloud Storage, yes.

[Troy Tiscareno]

What's wrong with Dropbox?

In addition to what n8ter#AC said, there's also the danger that DropBox could have service outages, get sued, get bought, or go out of business. They could have epic security failures, or lose data. Even though BB would have zero control, or even influence, over any of this, they'd take a HUGE hit if they had integrated with DB and steered their customers towards them.

The ONLY way to do it right is to do it yourself, where you have full control of the entire experience. Unfortunately, BB sold off its previous "cloud", and doesn't have the cash or the expertise (or the time) to build a new one.

[Afourtrackmind]

Yes, apple and Google have been very successful with each if their own strategies. But to copy them because they're doing them isn't a solution. The trick is to leverage your strengths and find a way to work past weaknesses. BlackBerry doesn't have the ability to market ecosystem in the cloud and I think they'd be foolish to try.
First, Dropbox is not getting bought up anytime soon. Apple already tried and was rejected. I find it difficult to imagine Google could be more compelling. Also, office to go is still available for ios, I don't know if it's available for Android, but would be surprised if it wasn't. Even if a competitor bought it, I doubt support would fall off a cliff.

Secondly, lets talk about BES. Isn't this kinda already the backbone to secure data transfer anyway?

What I'm saying is docs to go need to be developed waaaaaaaaaay further to include some real usability. It needs to function like a proper spreadsheet or document arranger but with a touch interface. It needs to be BlackBerry killer app. It needs to come out if the silly single icon and have an icon for each major function directly on the desktop.

Why is there an icon for the camera and pictures? Why is there a camera icon anyway. It's unmovable and living on the bottom of the home screen. I need a spreadsheet that allows me to whip up a variety of different scenarios from the device. Not just view and edit others. I need to be able to import different media directly into the cells of my spreadsheet, hyperlinks, photos.... This stuff was possible with far less processing power than was available on desktops not too long ago. Bb10 interface and use of the swiping gestures showed me some incredible potential from BlackBerry. I can tell it's in there. My z10 is very close to replacing my work terminal, if the office package was better, it would.

Yes it's hard. But it needs to be done. Amature hour is over BlackBerry.




Zedtenislessoffensive.