[PostMortem]

Not that Chris has the time to read these, but I completely agree that BB10 needs to be Visually Stunning. Along with a lot of the things that he mentioned in his article (linked below) what I would like to see is the ability to use dynamic backgrounds or even the ability to turn short video clips into a dynamic background. Not that this would be a selling point, although for some it might, but one thing I have noticed when going into carrier stores is that the phones displaying dynamic backgrounds seem to be catching people's attention.

It would make an impression to have a dynamic background going while the phone is on display. I know when I went to get my 9810, the first thing that grabbed my attention was another phone that had a dynamic background going. I thought, that's neat. I mean one use could be to tie a dynamic background to a weather app where if it is snowing the phones background displays snow falling and blowing around, or rain falling and hitting the screen, or wind or lighting, etc. The point is to get people to notice the phone and maybe pick it up and play with it. It would be a great way to show how well QNX can multitask.

Am I alone in thinking this would be great. Even giving a demo to a friend whose looking to get a new phone takes on a new affect and leaves the person with a good impression.

Focusing on the fine points: BlackBerry 10 home screen needs to be visually stunning | CrackBerry.com.

[CrackBerry Kevin]

I'll forward the thread onto Umi...

I think the big thing that Umi and I both discussed prior to him writing that article is that the key is to clean up what's there NOW. Your suggestion is good, but the time to launch is too close to start really changing up the homescreen experience in terms of how it works. Things like live wallpapers, adding widgets, etc. etc. are all nice, and probably possible, but will have to wait for BlackBerry 10.1, 10.2 or BlackBerry 11 or however they choose to advance the platform.

What's really important is that they clean up what's there NOW to make it smoking hot. The flow experience is sexy, but the icon / active frame designs they've been showing off so far are chunky. They look dated before it's even hit the market. It appears RIM is changing it up, which is good. I voiced this to RIM at BB Jam in San Jose every chance I had.

Also what's important, and what Umi pointed out, is that just in general RIM needs to be very aware that anything they show off publicly will be judged. So even if what's going out is a preview version, it's probably best that it look damn sexy. And then if you want to surprise people, make the final go live version even damn sexier.

K

[richardat]

More or less agree with everything here....OP, I agree, some REAL pizazz would have helped, but things seem to far from that right now. So troubling that RIm is responding to forum users that the icons look bland and "ugly"?!! Geez.....what the heck...at this point?? Really makes on question the internal directions.

But yes....I don't think prettier icons actually matter that much at this late date. Yeah....better looking icons is good, but it's fluff, and if it's basically going to be as we see, then the focus must be on the perfect execution of the OS. If reviewers say, this is a rock-solid, legitimate, ready-to-go alternative, then the environment for growth is set. I think it's the best one can ask for right now. If their are features lacking, or it's buggy, and the reviewers catch it.....ugh.....

[PostMortem]

Kevin, thanks for taking the time to respond. I do agree with everything he said and you added. I guess we have to take it one step at a time. I still think that it would be something great to put on there as soon as possible to draw in those upgrading from non-smartphones. This number is going to continue to ramp up.

Can't wait to see what else we find out from your trip to Bangkok. Looking forward to some good reading.

[PostMortem]

I agree with you regarding the necessity of the OS being rock solid and getting great reviews, but going by what we have seen so far, I'm leaning towards not worrying about that area. The more I see and read about BB10, the more it seems to be pretty solid. Not to mention that they keep saying that they still have a lot up their sleeves that they're not revealing.

My focus has moved on into supporting Chris Umi in that it NEEDS to be visually stunning. It needs to grab people's attention when it is on a shelf and make them want to pick it up. I don't think that icons alone will make that happen (although it will help in not making people look the other way if they sexify it). I think that in order to grab the attention of those starting fresh or even just going in to the store for any other reason and they see something dynamic happening on the screen, it would go a long way.

I mean how cool (and more importantly-practical) would be to come in from outside raining and see rain and lighting on the screen or something similar. Moving objects or effects naturally grab people's attention.

[notfanboy]

Actually I don't think this is a problem at all.
Judging on aesthetics alone, and this is very much a matter of opinion, here is how I rank the various OSes from most visually appealing to least.
I'm going with what my gut tells me when I'm browsing the different phones on display at stores.

1. Windows Phone - colorful, fresh, stylish designs
2. BB10 - fresh new design, uncluttered
3. iOS - the icons are great, but the grid of icons just looks so boring and dated
4. Android - A garish, cluttered mess. For whatever reason, the store displays overuse the widgets. I believe that in-store experience contributes a lot to the impression that Android is confusing. I prefer my home screen to be 50% empty, and I like simple wallpapers.

[Drew808]

OP I think you are looking for something like live wallpapers for android to be implemented for BB10 which won't work because the active frames cover most of the screen. As far as the weather aspect my HTC phone with HTC sense displays the animated weather based on my current location. I don't see RIM using live wallpapers and active frames which will drain the battery considerably.

[jasonvan9]

OP I think you are looking for something like live wallpapers for android to be implemented for BB10 which won't work because the active frames cover most of the screen. As far as the weather aspect my HTC phone with HTC sense displays the animated weather based on my current location. I don't see RIM using live wallpapers and active frames which will drain the battery considerably.

live wallpapers is a possibility, active frames or not... what if i wanted to put a short clip of my son taking this first bike ride as my background instead of just a picture? what about the lock screen background? there is massive potential there to have the background portray more information to the user, like animated weather background instead of just showing a picture of a sun and a number... or a cloud with blue spots... this is the beauty of BB10, anything is possible, its all layers on top of the OS (QNX). The future looks bright, but i think the challenges of creating that whole system right now before launch would be a large undertaking, why add another piece to the puzzle so soon, just make it work first, people will appreciate that, thats all they wanted out of the past BB devices... make it work and add the "pizazz" later

[Sith_Apprentice]

I am going to have to be the voice of dissent here. With your running application tiles potentially updating all the time, having a live background behind it would become very distracting.

[belfastdispatcher]

OP I think you are looking for something like live wallpapers for android to be implemented for BB10 which won't work because the active frames cover most of the screen. As far as the weather aspect my HTC phone with HTC sense displays the animated weather based on my current location. I don't see RIM using live wallpapers and active frames which will drain the battery considerably.

One does not negate the other, they can both coexist. Some people might not use active frames in favour of a info displaying wallpaper, the same way you can have it on BBOS.

[pblakeney]

Who's to say active screens won't happen or be there at launch, just because we've not seen it....... Well you know the rest. Also, a hot looking designed case would be great to draw the eye of all user's.

[kraski]

I agree with Drew808 -- live wallpapers drain battery, unless your device is sitting in the charging stand a lot. My tablets may, from time to time. My phone -- rarely. But there's a better solution, possibly. There was a weather app (maybe more that one) back when I had a WM device, that had animated icons for various conditions. I might be wrong, but wouldn't something like that in a tile use less cpu &, therefore, less battery drain?

[Cesare21]

I am going to have to be the voice of dissent here. With your running application tiles potentially updating all the time, having a live background behind it would become very distracting.

It could be distracting, yet again it may not be. I could be wrong here (forgive me O Father, I don't have a PB) but if I wanted not to have active screens, but just say shortcuts to my 8 last used apps; I should be able to do it. I think the refresh timeout can be changed like in PB. Again, don't quote me on this.

One does not negate the other, they can both coexist. Some people might not use active frames in favour of a info displaying wallpaper, the same way you can have it on BBOS.

The wake up screen could have an animated/live wallpaper (like a weather app) and the landing screen could have active frames. Again this should be customized by the user. Rightly said BD, one should not negate the other.

I agree with Drew808 -- live wallpapers drain battery, unless your device is sitting in the charging stand a lot. My tablets may, from time to time. My phone -- rarely.

Although it's a battery drainer, I think most people will realize this and may turn it off if they require it. Again, it should be left to the user.

Bottom line, an animated/live wallpaper is very catchy and will add to the coolness quotient of BB10. RIM should also concentrate on making the BB10 experience cool to break out of their rut as 'old' phones. When folks walk in to a store, they see a live/animated wallpaper on a 'berry, it's instant identification that 'berry is 'NEW'.

Good point OP.

[anon(4018671)]

I think the OP makes a great point. Just to fling an idea out there, make an animated background, simple & somewhat transparent and flowing. RIM could have several different colours to chose from and a few different types of "material". Things like plasma, lava/molten, smoked glass, glass/chrome shimmer. The backgrounds are already semi transparent/layered anyway and with motion "added" it would tie in nicely with the Flow concept of BB10. I'm sure they have more important thing to do right now though

[mithrazor]

I am going to have to be the voice of dissent here. With your running application tiles potentially updating all the time, having a live background behind it would become very distracting.

People have a choice to have a static background or a dynamic one. So that issue isn't that big of a problem.

But having the choice would be nice. Plus it's the multitasking way. The BlackBerry way.

[PostMortem]

I can see why it wouldn't be a problem for you, but think of all the people looking to upgrade with no specific device in mind. Or those that have left BlackBerry because it lacks appeal to them. I can think of 5 people that left BlackBerry because they felt it was too stale and old. Those may come back when they see "what BB10 can do while walking past a display doing the aforementioned things.

[PostMortem]

One does not negate the other, they can both coexist. Some people might not use active frames in favour of a info displaying wallpaper, the same way you can have it on BBOS.

Exactly what I was thinking when I read his message. I'm well aware that some Android devices already do this. BlackBerry lost 3 of my family members to one of those devices. I can't say that it was because of this feature, but I'm sure that as they walked by the display, it caught their attention (much like it did mine, but I use BlackBerry for certain things that are not yet offered to be in other systems).

[PostMortem]

Who's to say active screens won't happen or be there at launch, just because we've not seen it....... Well you know the rest. Also, a hot looking designed case would be great to draw the eye of all user's.

I do not disagree with this. I was gearing my post as a response to Chris Umi and felt I needed to get that out because he did not mention something like this at all.

[PostMortem]

I agree with Drew808 -- live wallpapers drain battery, unless your device is sitting in the charging stand a lot. My tablets may, from time to time. My phone -- rarely. But there's a better solution, possibly. There was a weather app (maybe more that one) back when I had a WM device, that had animated icons for various conditions. I might be wrong, but wouldn't something like that in a tile use less cpu &, therefore, less battery drain?

What you're saying is true, but does not support the idea of making the device visually appealing or stunning. When they're on display, they will be connected. We as the users would likely have it turned off when not connected to a power source.

To go along with Kevin's 'rant' about the iPhone inability to go into Bedside mode automatically when connected, it could be done that way. Profile could potentially be set to act this way. If RIM wants to say that BB10 is a computing platform, it will need to be robust. Since the possibility of themes are slim, at least they can give the user something like this.

[PostMortem]

It could be distracting, yet again it may not be. I could be wrong here (forgive me O Father, I don't have a PB) but if I wanted not to have active screens, but just say shortcuts to my 8 last used apps; I should be able to do it. I think the refresh timeout can be changed like in PB. Again, don't quote me on this.



The wake up screen could have an animated/live wallpaper (like a weather app) and the landing screen could have active frames. Again this should be customized by the user. Rightly said BD, one should not negate the other.



Although it's a battery drainer, I think most people will realize this and may turn it off if they require it. Again, it should be left to the user.

Bottom line, an animated/live wallpaper is very catchy and will add to the coolness quotient of BB10. RIM should also concentrate on making the BB10 experience cool to break out of their rut as 'old' phones. When folks walk in to a store, they see a live/animated wallpaper on a 'berry, it's instant identification that 'berry is 'NEW'.

Good point OP.

Thank you! My sentiments exactly. RIM needs to make people believe that their devices are not 'boring' and only for business oriented people. I agree that they have a user base that they appeal to (I'm one of them) but if they don't do these things that user base may just stagnate while non smart phone users continue to adopt other devices. RIM has done a lot, I'm not in any way saying that BB10 is not amazing from what we have seen so far, which is a small slice of the piece, but that's for those of us who follow smartphone tech. They need to POP with anyone that takes a glance at it if they want to catch the attention of the masses.

[PostMortem]

I think the OP makes a great point. Just to fling an idea out there, make an animated background, simple & somewhat transparent and flowing. RIM could have several different colours to chose from and a few different types of "material". Things like plasma, lava/molten, smoked glass, glass/chrome shimmer. The backgrounds are already semi transparent/layered anyway and with motion "added" it would tie in nicely with the Flow concept of BB10. I'm sure they have more important thing to do right now though

That's a great idea, I like where you're going with that.

[PostMortem]

People have a choice to have a static background or a dynamic one. So that issue isn't that big of a problem.

But having the choice would be nice. Plus it's the multitasking way. The BlackBerry way.

Hahaha..."The BlackBerry Way". That's great, I love it. I hope you don't mind if I use that.

[Rockstar3331]

Does anyone know what the screen quality of the bb10?
It needs to be on par with iOS and droid. When the torch came out with
The lower quality less vibrant screen it was a real letdown right from the
Get go.
When shopping at mobile stores the brightness of the screen draws you to the product.
I hope rim mgmt doesn't cheap out on this feature.

[Cesare21]

Does anyone know what the screen quality of the bb10?
It needs to be on par with iOS and droid.

Heck, the PPIs (pixels per inch) are waay better than the competition (at least till now) for the L series BB10.

[Drew808]

Recently I went to a Sprint store with a coworker to get a replacement battery for her old SGS1 and while waiting she saw the SGSIII. The first thing that caught her attention was the size and clarity of the display and how fast it was. She had no idea if it was ICS or Jellybean but she knew it was an android phone and that she would still have her apps if she switched phones. She never once played around with the OS to see if she was able to multitask or looked for any new features; just that the phone was pretty and faster than the previous one. Blackberry needs to nail the hardware and provide some type of ecosystem to give users who don't necessarily care about the OS a reason to buy the devices.