R.I.P. Palm & Rim & Maybe Blackberry as history repeats

In January of 2009 Palm had one of their biggest and most exciting months in years. The announcement of a completely new Operating System for Palm and new hardware to support it, the Palm Pre. Stocks were dropping drastically a few months before and something had to be done with the outdated Palm line ergo Web OS and the Pre.  Literally for the first year after the major announcement the Pre was a desired phone and since it was exclusive to Sprint it was a desired phone to have because not everyone could have one. In fact this phone remained popular until Htc announced the Evo which spec wise blew the Pre away. Hence the beginning of the end for Palm. Palm was focused on Web OS and its future but made some major mistakes on the way with replacing a certain CEO which crippled a certain innovation that was Web OS. Then marketing out to other carriers and losing the exclusivity with Sprint after bigger and better phones came out with better overall hardware and performance on al other carriers Palm just couldn't seem to compete. The major issue wasn't the lack of having a good OS, that was only a small part, but the lack of innovation and exclusivity and keeping up with the times in terms of hardware specifications. The one thing everyone wants is what? What they can't have right? Until they get it, then it gets old relatively fast, unless there are constant updates to improve performance and ease of use. Apple and Ios are great examples of this idea, making something old new again, at least in terms of the operating system. They maintained exclusivity to AT&T for years and built up that wow factor by being an exclusive product for years. The trend here is exclusivity and keeping things fresh. For Palm with the announcement of the Palm Pre plus and 2 it was much of the same old thing and many people were disappointed with the hardware specifications of the phone. Before Palm even had a chance at releasing the Palm Pre 3 Stateside it was over and the sellout to HP had already been done. Had the hardware been more up to date and exclusivity been more of a factor and yes even had the openness been there for more developers sooner then maybe Palm would have had a better shot. Even losing exclusivity they could have maintained if there were more of a open development community to support the OS. Without going into a completely new novel here look at Android for a moment. Hundreds of devises released a year from different manufacturers and on different carriers, some exclusive and some not. Android has thrived because of not just over saturation as far as mobile devices are concerned but because of the openness of the operating system. Developers can make an old phone like new again with a custom rom or tweaks here and there. Even an Motorola Droid can be made like new again with a custom Rom. Sure the specs are outdated but having an open operating system and developers who back it has really helped Android stay fresh for so long.
As for Rim errr I mean Blackberry in my opinion they are following the path of Palm but at a much faster rate. The announcement made yesterday for BB10 and the new hardware to support it is just not feeling fresh and new or exclusive. Maybe if it was only being announced as exclusive to a certain carrier at first and had better hardware to back it or something a bit more innovative rather than feeling like a mash up of certain already on the market operating systems then yes they would have a shot but that's just not the case. So the question remains. Is history repeating itself? From the looks of things thus far it seems so, but who knows maybe Blackberry will have a hat trick of some sort to pull in the tides of followers who are jumping ship. Then again maybe not.. R.I.P. Rim & Blackberry?

RIM no wait Blackberry's there you have it folks

So with the anticipated arrival and announcement of the new BB10 and the hardware that comes with it what are you the reader/viewers initial thoughts? Well I for one am not impressed, at all. Sure they are trying to make a comeback but it's like the Storm all over again. The actual hardware itself isn't that great and even the guys over at Boy Genius agree this just doesn't seem like a hero phone much less a flagship phone. Looks like my prediction of the top three were indeed correct. Sianara Blackberry, hello Android, Ios, & Windows! Follow the link below for a full first impression from BGR..
http://bgr.com/2013/01/30/blackberry-z10-review-306613/#more-306613

Rims Big Or Not So Big Day Tomorrow

So as most of the tech world knows tomorrow is a make or break day for Rim. At least in a sense of how the next year is going to look for them.  At 10 AM tomorrow 01/30/2013 Rim will unveil the curtains on their new BB 10 OS and X10 and Z10 units. So far this is a highly anticipated event for many consumers that have a close place in their heart for Rim and even the not so close to heart. The OS has a complete overhaul when compared to its dated BB OS that is out now. With that said we shall see tomorrow how everyone responds and just how much Rim is banking on their new Savior OS and devices.
Other news Htc is having a press conference on the 19th of February possibly unveiling their M7 device, more rumors and speculation on Apples new iPad and iPhones, and lastly Lg Google Nexus 4 is back in stock. Have a good day readers!

Rim, Apple, Windows, Android & The Other Guys

So today I am simply writing just to recap on the outlook of things thus far for the year. Simply put just throwing out random predictions. Rim it's do or die and only time will tell withing the next few weeks how consumers will respond to the new hardware and software being released by the once Canadian giant. Prediction.... It's not looking good in my opinion. Apple rumors have been flying off the shelves per usual like hotcakes and so far its Iphone 5s, 6 to a cheaper model that loks like a ugly step child from the ipod touch and ipod classic mash up. Ios 6.1 released today, lets see how the battery drain issues hold up. Windows, what can I say about them other than I am still impressed, no blown away by the ease of use and simplicity of the overall os. However their app store is severely lacking in some very necessary apps, where's Pandora, Square, I heart radio, Instagram? Android well I am predicting a good year for Samsung with their SGSIV and also HTC for their Flagship models. This leaves the other guys, ubuntu, possibly firefox, etc. People are looking for intuitiveness, exclusivity, great hype, marketing, responsiveness, and ease of use. So it's a saturated open ball game here as to which small guy will make it on top if any. Another prediction is Windows will have a year to catch up and actually compete with the bigger guys ie Android & Apple if they market right and come out with some great apps and work with manufacturers for better hardware. Other than that this is all I have for today people. Hit me up with any questions or thoughts and thanks for reading.

The Future Of Rim

So with the announcement of Rims new Blackberry 10 devices and Os coming in the next few days there is much stir and anticipated excitement. Maybe even some anxiety? For good reason it is possible that Rim is hyping up its product for a possible stock increase and then sell of its mobile division. As a few other sites have suggested, Lenovo is possibly eyeing the purchase of its mobile division and if so what is the future of Rim overall? Time will tell but I will make a premature prediction that within the year we will see three dominant mobile operating systems and Blackberry will not be in that tier. Windows, IOS, and Android all have a pretty solid future, even with Windows Mobile being the underdog in the three it still has the backing and history to potentially become a serious competitor and possibly threat to IOS or Android in the not so distant future. With this said Blackberry has a make or break year ahead of them and with all the hype and marketing going into it will it be enough? Time will tell..

Htc 8X First Month

Well if anyone knows me or what I do as a hobby on the side they will say that I don't keep things very long when it comes to cars, women, or cell phones. The first two however are not so much a priority at this time. I will say though that I have owned the Htc 8X now for more than three weeks and am going into week four as I write this post. So far this phone is still keeping me amazed by the responsiveness and the just ease of use of getting from one application to another and I am still learning everyday. I will start out with the pros and work my way into the cons which are few and far between.

Pros: Touch responsiveness, ease of use, screen resolution and viewing angles, speedy camera and designated camera button, solid sound quality, simplistic operations, word documents, built in photo editor, Lte, good signal strength, wireless charging, and great sync capabilities with Google and Facebook.

Now for the negatives and again I reiterate that they are minimal but annoying and apparent.

Cons: App store is missing some of the big more well known apps(ie:Pandora), Facebook app needs a lot of work, no gmail app or google maps app, limited in camera functions, the built in maps is weak and defers you to verizon navigator for actual voice gps, build quality at times is questionable only due to the screen being almost too sensitive at times.

With that said I am pretty well satisfied with the phone overall and plan on keeping it for a while or until I find something to better entertain me that works well.

Update: Pandora does plan on supporting Windows 8 which I confirmed with Pandora and will be giving a year subscription for free!

Recap on 2012 phones I have owned

So it's been way too long since I have done an update on here and I cannot even begin to apologize for my laziness. This article is going to be short but sweet. Basically it's a checklist of phones I went through last year and my thoughts and reviews. As of 2012 I went through the Motorola Bionic, Iphone 4, Iphone 4s,  Iphone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3,   HTC DNA,  HTC 8X. These are all in order according to how much I like them and rate them. Bionic needs no introduction as it was somewhat of a flop in my opinion, a lot of hype but not much punch, score 6. Iphone 4, 4s, 5 I will sum up in as little as possible in order not to write all day about it. Basically each one has small incremental upgrades to the ram, camera, processor, or screen size. Overall score in order would be 8, 8.5, 9. Nuff said. SGS3 well that was a great phone, speedy, relatively fluid, decent screen resolution, not so great outdoors and stock touch screen was not always responsive, but overall I give the phone a 8.5. The HTC DNA has an amazing screen, great resolution, visible outdoors, responsive, good touch screen but maybe a little too large, and overall great performance, score 9. Lastly HTC 8X, what can I say, it's Windows Mobile 8 and as much as I have bashed them in the past I can honestly say that this phone along with the OS is amazing, sure it's not IOS or Android and needs more infrastructure in the apps section but this phone is AWESOME! Great responsiveness given the dual core snapdragon S4, good photos and speedy camera, touch responsiveness and predictive texting is phenomenal, over all call quality is great as well, Beats Audio is more a hype than anything but it fares well. Load times for stock internet explorer are amazingly fast when compared to the SGS3 and DNA and scrolling was a breeze as well. Screen resolution on this phone is higher than an Iphone and easily viewed in outdoor situations. Down sides, maybe the build quality overall could have been more sturdy feeling and lack of apps like Pandora and Square?!? Really? Good news though, I contacted Pandora and was told by a rep that they are working out a deal that should pass by the end of January 2013 for Pandora with a free year subscription! So overall score on the phone I'd say 9.25 which fares slightly over the DNA mainly because the phone is comfortable in the hand and the responsiveness is amazing. Hopefully I will be updating on more new releases soon, really looking forward to testing out a Blackberry 10 unit soon. Thanks for reading!