[jhawksley]

I was just checking out the liveblog Gizmodo is doing on the new applications now available for the iPhone/iTouch, and I have to say, I am a little jealous.

iTunes Remote. Pandora Streaming Radio. Midomi Audio Recognition. AOL Radio. A decent To-Do list app. All are of which are free.

I never really realized how much BB is suffering in the software area until today, and quite frankly, I am more than a little disappointed with how hard RIM has made it for developers. Heck, Steve Jobs has made every mobile OSX developer distribute their software through his store, and there' are already over 500 apps on the first day! You can say that RIM has a closed platform, but last time I checked the iPlatform was using FairPlay for applications!

I think we can all agree that it is time for RIM to step up their game. Just having push email and corporate communications support is not going to cut it any more. Heck, if Apple released an iPhone with a decent keyboard and a couple shortcut keys, I can only help but wonder if my loyalty to my 'Berry would falter.

How big of a hit will RIM take from all of this? It remains to be seen. In the mean time, I'll just watch my Apple stock continue to climb as I wait for RIM's answer.

[gs warrior 88]

Not jealous at all. iphone is a piece of over hyped crap to me.
BTW let me add that i had one and sold it 2 weeks later.

[Kevtigger]

Not jealous at all. iphone is a piece of over hyped crap to me.
BTW let me add that i had one and sold it 2 weeks later.

I agree, Iphone is very over hyped.

[brothamoveson]

It really is.

[suba]

Joel,

I agree with you completely sir.
Apple is lightyears ahead of RIM in terms of software development. The systems in place through Apple are quite amazing actually. Jobs is an inspriing business man, and Apple is an inspiring company.

That being said. The launch of Bold and Thunder will be the ultimate answer to your questions and mine. There is absolutely no way that RIM will survive if they don't step up to the plate with their next gen devices and software.

Now that Apple is threatening the corporate side of the mobile business, RIM will have to wake up, no question.

I am a die hard Apple fan. I have owned 3 laptops, (iBook, MacBook, and MacBook Pro), hand full of iPods, and a professional editing system for movie production. However, I use a blackberry 8800, not because my work requires, and not because I couldnt find an iPhone.. Simply because Blackberry has an intangibility that Apple couldnt touch.

That feeling, which I suspect many of us on these forums share, may soon change if RIM doesn't perform.

Good choice with the Apple stocks, my portfolio loves them too

[shorynot]

I am jealous of any provider that has the option for streaming pandora. So yeah, I guess that is the one and only thing I envy in regards to the iphone

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[bmcclure937]

Anyone who does not agree is probably not open-minded!!

Sorry to break it to everyone, but jhawksley is right!! This is a great thread... and it will cause some debating (I am sure!)

Overall, I totally agree!! Third party apps can be a hassle with your Berry, do not lie!! And once you find the app you need you usually have to dish out for it! The iPhone is very functional and it is a great device.

In no way does this mean I do not love my Berry, I do!! And in no way does this make the iPhone better than a Berry...

An iPhone is good for a number of reasons
A Berry is good for a number of reasons

They are both smartphones and they are both great devices. If both companies provide competition and take time to learn from each other... the two will continue to be the best smart phone makers around!

[oakie]

i could go buy one right now if i wanted to, so no reason for me to feel jealous. i'm on the way out the door to go buy one right now, actually.


i just wont make it a keeper or tos my blackberry until they make a slider version with a qwerty keyboard, though. spent enough time with the first one to know i dont like their keyboard implementation.

[gs warrior 88]

Basically what it comes down to (for me anyways) is functionality.
It all depends on how you use your phone. Right now the berry works for me because i use it for work through email, text and IM. I don't listen to music on my phone, or use the net (that much) where i need an iphone. Yes it is a great phone but my berry does everything i need it to do and thats all i need.
it's just a matter of preference. each phone has their pro's and con's. But jealous..I am not.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

@OP, I agree with you, on the fact that RIM is behind in the software game. As far as UI is concerned Apple has a leg up(or two) on RIM- no question about it. And as you stated 500 Apps on the first day? Nice. However, the Thunder, RIM's answer to the iphone is going to suprise a lot of people. RIM has went way out on a limb for this one. Trust me! I'm not of fan of Apple or touchscreen, so I'm sticking with RIM regardless.

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[bmcclure937]

@OP, I agree with you, on the fact that RIM is behind in the software game. As far as UI is concerned Apple has a leg up(or two) on RIM- no question about it. And as you stated 500 Apps on the first day? Nice. However, the Thunder, RIM's answer to the iphone is going to suprise a lot of people. RIM has went way out on a limb for this one. Trust me! I'm not of fan of Apple or touchscreen, so I'm sticking with RIM regardless.

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And Crucial makes a wonderful point... I totally agree!

Apple has a great media experience, wonderful apps, great great great UI and easy to develop for!!

RIM has a number of things going for them as well... such as business oriented features. Now do not attack me about this and bring up MobileMe, I think MobileMe is great... but we have to wait and see how it goes!!

I am extremely supportive of Apple and I am only waiting for the day (if it ever comes) when the iPhone has a slider QWERTY!!

Apple Fan, but Berry addict... gonna stick with my Curve. And I cannot wait to see what the Thunder has in store. At this point, Apple and RIM are both totally amazing but their devices are aimed at different crownds. With the iPhone 2 and the next-gen Berries... each company is crossing into other boundaries and trying to expand into different markets. Apple is trying to get into the business world and Berry into the Media world

Just my 2c!

[gs warrior 88]

And Crucial makes a wonderful point... I totally agree!

Apple has a great media experience, wonderful apps, great great great UI and easy to develop for!!

RIM has a number of things going for them as well... such as business oriented features. Now do not attack me about this and bring up MobileMe, I think MobileMe is great... but we have to wait and see how it goes!!

I am extremely supportive of Apple and I am only waiting for the day (if it ever comes) when the iPhone has a slider QWERTY!!

Apple Fan, but Berry addict... gonna stick with my Curve. And I cannot wait to see what the Thunder has in store. At this point, Apple and RIM are both totally amazing but their devices are aimed at different crownds. With the iPhone 2 and the next-gen Berries... each company is crossing into other boundaries and trying to expand into different markets. Apple is trying to get into the business world and Berry into the Media world

Just my 2c!

Your right on point with that one!

[Morenina]

Not jealous at all. BB does what I need it for. I'm not trying to replace my laptop with a handheld device. I'm trying to bridge the gap between here n there.

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[dmnall]

Well I can throw my 2 cents in here. The new 3g iphone has some pretty sweet functions like iTunes remote but not enough to convince me to switch over to the iphone. I love the fact that the iphone has the best web browser available on any phone, but the new 4.5 BB browser is getting better. I think Apple has a great lead on the ui, media and web browsing, however, I still do not see apple taking away the market share when it comes to enterprise e-mail! RIM has the market cornered when it comes to that, plus RIM had Push e-mail since they released the BlackBerry! So I for one am a little jealous of the media features and the remote iTunes control is killer, however, it is not enough to make me want to jump from my BB and plus the Bold is going to be a better phone in every possible way!

Charlie

[Vodka Smash]

Streaming of Pandora would do it for me! I'm rediscovering so much music thanks to Pandora.

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[Arninetyes]

I'm quite disappointed by the generally mediocre (or less) quality of the Blackberry apps I've tried. BBSmart Alarm works fine, and Google Maps is great.

But - I've tried a couple of nice themes, only to find they slow down my Curve, or are buggy beyond belief. The response time to input is noticeably slower - and no, memory is no problem. My 8330 is hovering around 38mb free. I just tried AutoStandby. It doesn't seem to matter what permissions or options I use, I keep getting errors and 'program terminate' messages. Had to give up. I have tried a couple of other small programs, and they've been so disappointing I just deleted them.

Okay, "Bookworm" is pretty cool. A much better time waster than Brickbreaker (for me, anyway).

I'd like to see a better class of apps for BB.

So, yeah. I guess I am a bit jealous that the iPhone gets all the attention. And no, I'm not interested in developing for the BB. I'm not a programmer and have no desire to start now.

[reeneebob]

I am gonna have to get my *** over to Apple and see whats new for my iPod Touch!

*runs*

[EKinnamon]

Pandora is totally .... awsome. I was all excted that I saw mobile use was up at Pandora, then let down when I saw that BB was not on the list. Not sure what needs to happen to 'bridge' this gap, but this would take BB a nice big step into the media direction.

[cutdacheck2003]

How can you be jealous of a device that doesnt have MMS?

Lets face it if I wanna send grandma a pic of the baby (which is already hard enough for her to grasp at the tender age of 67)
Shooting her an email is almost impossible!

[integratedtech]

The Iphone is a toy a BB is a high performance sports car....Oh and did I forget to mention that my BB activated on the same day I got it.....not like those new Iphones LOL

I agree that Iphone really does have some nice features but I will keep my BB and I think that even though the Bold will even out the playing field on 3G the Thunder will be the Iphone Killer.

[jtriplett1080]

Yeah, what he said!

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[reeneebob]

Anyway, if I can sidestep the rampant Berry fanboi bleating...

The app store is FANTASTIC. If I am not careful, I will need to remove a few tunes from my iPod Touch.

Sorry, RIM, gotta give Apple this one. The app store blows away ANYTHING on the market for Blackberry.

[xtracrispy69]

I think as a whole the blackberry community, especially app developers need to smarten up. Really, 30 bucks for miutunes? 7 dollars for themes? Just take a clear look at the other phone communities and the way we get stiffed is hilarious, just because blackberry seem to be more of a status symbol or associated with business folk. Not only does RIM have to smarten up, so does the development community across the board

[bgivnin]

While I probably won't get an iPhone (unless the Bold has a ridiculous release date of October or costs $400+), you cannot deny the concept and implementation of AppStore. It's like a software version of iTunes. Brilliant.

With that said, of the apps that are on that page, I only found 5 that I'd even use (all free), but I think I could find applicable sites on the internet on a Berry and bookmark those sites and get the same results. Sure, it won't look as pretty, but it still works and that's what I care about most anyway.

Pandora needs to make a Berry app. It's that simple. I don't care about AOL Radio, but I've had a Pandora account for some years now and I do love it. I'd absolutely love for that program to be available on the Berry.

[anon(13322)]

No, I'm definitely not jealous.

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