Senin, 28 Februari 2011

MasDika.Com - BlackBerry News and Reviews You Can Use

MasDika.Com - BlackBerry News and Reviews You Can Use


RIM Releases Free Analytics Service for Developers – Java Only for Now

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:34 AM PST

Developersdrafting RIM Releases Free Analytics Service for Developers – Java Only for Now

RIM Releases Free Analytics Service for Developers – Java Only for Now

 

I have to commend RIM on some fast turn around for their Analytics Service Beta. Usually RIM announces services, SDKs, and APIs about a 12 to 18 months before they actually release them. With the Analytics Service they announced it in late September 2010 and now in the end of February we have a public beta available. There are some catches though. The new Analytics Service SDK is only available for Java BlackBerry Smartphone apps so that keeps PlayBook and WebWorks developers out in the cold for now.

Other than that the Analytics Service Beta remains free and is still powered by WebTrends. It includes an SDK, developer documentation, and a web reporting interface.

Here is a high level view of the information it provides developers:

  • Overview metrics showing active users, new users, frequency of use, engagement in duration and depth of use, number of screens viewed, and conversions
  • Detail in usage of screens, content, media, features, products, in-app search, and in-app ads
  • User information including country and language, device characteristics, carrier, connection type and errors

 

Features include:

Enterprise-class analytics

  • Put over a decade of digital analytics experience on your side by using an analytics tool powered by Webtrends

Easy

  • With the addition of just a few lines of code to your app, automatically enable basic measurements such as screen views, sessions, unique users, technical platform data and country location data
  • Immediately start viewing reports with a zero learning curve, web-based reporting interface

Insightful

  • Choose from provided convenience methods to measure specialized metrics appropriate for your app like app ad performance, most popular search terms, media consumption and custom conversion events

Open

  • Export reports by file download or REST API
  • Import data into Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets for additional analysis and display options

You can learn more about the Analytics Service Beta over at this link on RIM's website. Alternatively Distimo already offers a service like this for free which is already out of beta.

Distimo Monitor Offers Developers Free Analytics Tool for App World

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:34 AM PST

DistimoMonitor thumb Distimo Monitor Offers Developers Free Analytics Tool for App World

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Distimo Monitor Offers Developers Free Analytics Tool for App World

The Distimo team let us know that their popular app store analytics tool Distimo Monitor now supports BlackBerry App World. That means BlackBerry developers can now use the free Distimo Monitor tool to gain valuable insight into the performance of their apps and their competitors. With this announcement Distimo supports the Apple App Store, Google Android Market, and now BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store so developers get cross platform coverage if they develop on multiple platforms. I am not sure how this will compare with RIM's own upcoming free analytics tool for developers but they definitely have the jump on RIM and Webtrends.

Distimo Monitor provides developers a comprehensive dashboard that includes the total daily downloads, revenues and rankings worldwide of their application(s). It also allows the developer to see how they stack up against their competitors by comparing their own apps against competitive apps in any country. Developers can then use this knowledge to adjust pricing and distribution channels to maximize the growth and revenue streams of their apps.

 

Features unique to Distimo Monitor:

  • Free to use for an unlimited number of applications
  • Support for multiple stores including the Apple App Store, Google Android Market, BlackBerry App World and Nokia Ovi Store
  • No code insertion required in the developer's application
  • Comprehensive data analysis for developers including data exports
  • Works on touch-enabled devices including the iPad

Check out Distimo Monitor at www.distimo.com/monitor

Free BlackBerry App Analytics Service for Developers from RIM and Webtrends in 2011

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 09:32 AM PST

DevCon Logo Free BlackBerry App Analytics Service for Developers from RIM and Webtrends in 2011

DevCon-Logo

Free BlackBerry App Analytics Service for Developers from RIM and Webtrends in 2011

The service will be powered by the proven Webtrends analytics team and will let developers add measurements to their applications. The only catch seems to be that it is for OS 4.5 devices and up.

 

This is a pretty big move for RIM since many developers have had to build their own analytics information gathering into the apps and it has been hit and miss. With this offering coming "Soon" in "Early 2011″ RIM will give developers access to feedback from customer usage which is invaluable in seeing how users are using an app. According to RIM it will cover the ability to track application use, frequency, loyalty, screens accessed, and features used. Pretty cool!

RIM and Webtrends to Launch Free BlackBerry Analytics Service
Analytics service offers developers deep insight into how customers are using their BlackBerry smartphone applications
San Francisco – BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Webtrends today announced they are working together to deliver free enterprise- class analytics to the BlackBerry® developer community. The BlackBerry® Analytics Service, powered by Webtrends, will allow developers to quickly and easily add measurement into their applications.*
BlackBerry developers will be able to use the mobile analytics service to discover insights about how customers use their apps and to evolve their applications in ways that will drive loyalty, increase use, and potentially lead to new and more successful avenues for revenue and monetization.
"Feedback from our customers and development partners has always shaped our BlackBerry products and services, and so we understand the need for deep, rich and accurate analytics. We also know that access to such metrics is a top priority for BlackBerry developers as they try to make their applications stand out in an increasingly crowded market," said Curtis Sasaki, Vice President, Product Management at Research In Motion. "With just a few lines of code, developers can add Webtrends analytics and gain access to a very broad range of insightful measurements."
The BlackBerry Analytics Service is powered by the Webtrends Mobile Analytics platform. Using the Webtrends SDK, BlackBerry developers can integrate metrics tracking into their applications to capture events deemed relevant. Developers can track application use, frequency of use, loyalty of users, screens accessed and features used. The Mobile Analytics platform provides real insight into how their applications are being used, helps developers better understand adoption and allows them to measure success against their usage goals.
"BlackBerry developers will now have better access to complementary, enterprise-class mobile analytics technology and services," said Alex Yoder, CEO, Webtrends. "Webtrends has a truly powerful and incredibly comprehensive platform for creating, measuring and improving content across all digital channels and mobile is no exception. We are thrilled to deliver insight and value to the BlackBerry developer community."
The BlackBerry Analytics Service powered by Webtrends will be freely available to the BlackBerry developer community when it launches in early 2011.
-more-
September 27, 2010
Quick Links:
For RIM insights into developing for the BlackBerry Platform, visit http://devblog.blackberry.com and follow @BlackBerryDev on Twitter.
Visit the BlackBerry Developer Zone at www.blackberry.com/developers for the latest news, information and updates for BlackBerry developers throughout the year.
Also, visit the new BlackBerry Developer Video Library at www.blackberry.com/go/developervideolibrary to view a variety of instructional videos.

RIM Skipping CTIA Wireless 2011? Focusing on BlackBerry World?

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 07:58 AM PST

BBCTIAbooth RIM Skipping CTIA Wireless 2011? Focusing on BlackBerry World?

 

RIM Skipping CTIA Wireless 2011? Focusing on BlackBerry World?

It was just last week when I asked if RIM will be making any new device announcements at CTIA 2011 this week. I was talking the idea over with a colleague and he pointed out to me that RIM is not a listed exhibitor at CTIA Wireless 2011 this week. As far as I remember RIM has been showing up at CTIA Wireless since around 2007 so this is an interesting departure. They even used to make device announcements at CTIA instead of WES since WES was more focused on business solutions.

That looks like it all may change this year now that WES has been rebranded as BlackBerry World. I was hoping to at least hear about a launch date for the BlackBerry PlayBook at CTIA but it does not look like that will happen. It also looks like the new rumored device announcements will be waiting until BlackBerry World in the beginning of May. Not a surprise but I thought some of those devices might have a chance of coming earlier… Still it means that BlackBerry World will be bigger than we expected on the consumer side.

What do you think?

PS: It seems like RIM might still have some involvement with CTIA this year since Tyler Lessard, VP of Global Alliances and Developer Relations for RIM, will actually be a panelist at one of the sessions.

Photo Credit: CIO.com from CTIA 2009

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The BlackBerry Development School of Hard Knocks and What RIM MUST Do to Fix It!

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 06:54 AM PST

Stressedout The BlackBerry Development School of Hard Knocks and What RIM MUST Do to Fix It!

 

The BlackBerry Development School of Hard Knocks and What RIM MUST Do to Fix It!

Over the weekend something interesting happened. The first domino to fall was an incredulous yet whiney blog post by Jamie Murai on how just getting up and running developing WebWorks applications for the PlayBook is a pain. While that is really nothing new the interesting part was that RIM actually responded to Jamie's rant on their blog.

While I commend Tyler Lessard for sticking his neck out and responding to Jamies Open Letter his best response would be to actually change the parts he concedes are counter productive. The thing is that Jamie gave up early. He did not even get the chance to experience the full school of hard knocks that is starting to develop for the BlackBerry platform. It is not that developing for the BlackBerry platform is impossible its simply that RIM goes out of their way to make something simply into an overly complex process.

Let me give you a perfect example. RIM came out with a wonderful newfangled technology to allow developers to push notifications to your BlackBerry. You would think developers would jump all over themselves to get in on this technology. Trust me I know why so few have. RIM first makes them fill out a 2 page form to request testing access to the push service. You then have to wait a few days for them to provision this and open their firewall to your IP address which can take forever. Once you are all up and ready you then need to request YET AGAIN from RIM a 2 page form to move the push service into production. All of this could simply have been done with a nice web form with everything provisioned automatically. I know that both Google and Apple do it that way so why can't RIM?

Here are a few other things RIM could do in one day that would make the lives of new BlackBerry Developers that much easier:

 

  1. STOP making us register for EVERY SINGLE download from your site. It would not be as bad if one registration was good enough for everything but its not. Just turn these stupid registration forms off for now. How many submissions from "aaaaa@aaa.com" do you need?
  2. Make code signing key requests INSTANT. Is there a reason you need to wait up to 48 hours to approve them? Better yet why do we need YET ANOTHER registration form for signing keys.
  3. What is with the overly complicated code signing? Why are they restricted to one PC? Why do I have to get an email every time a code signing key is used (3+ times per signing)?
  4. Moving on to App World registration. Why does this take so long? I was lucky enough to have a copy of BerryReviews Articles of Organization so I did not need a letter from a notary public. Seriously though. Who are we kidding with this notary public stuff? It is time to kick RIM legal to the curb along with all their crazy requirements.
  5. Stop writing legal agreements for developers that are longer than the US Constitution and then force developers to scroll down the whole page to accept it THREE TIMES!
  6. As Jamie rightly pointed out start packaging all of the installers into one app. They got this right with the Java Eclipse Plugin but the WebWorks SDK for the PlayBook requires 2-3 installers.
  7. PLEASE try out your own documentation RIM before you publish it. For example, quite a bit of the documentation from RIM on how to compile and deploy a PlayBook app on a Mac OSX machine is simply wrong. Anybody who would have tried the command would have realized that. I am telling you I cannot be the only one who thought using a command line utility to build and test an app is ridiculous. The fact that you forgot to put the "./" before the Mac Terminal commands simply means the documenter didn't even check to see if it was right.
  8. Allow developers to leave comments on documentation NOW. Just add disqus to the bottom of every documentation article. That way developers can at least help you fix the shoddy documentation jobs once we figure it out.

Those are simply 8 examples off the top of my head where RIM adds complexity where there shouldn't be any. I am truly looking forward to the BlackBerry PlayBook to blow my socks off and have been developing some cool apps for it. Still it just saddens me that RIM seems so shocked that asking developers to have a notary public sign their proof of identity is reasonable. Maybe we need some of these Adobe Flash Evangelists to be  BlackBerry Developer Evangelists at RIM?

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Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 05:15 AM PST

Picture3 thumb Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff Picture5 thumb Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff

Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff

 

When I first tried out Angry Farm I was having issues with this game lagging on my BlackBerry Torch but they seem to be resolved with a reboot. Now that I have had a chance to play this Angry Birds for BlackBerry knockoff I have to say I am pretty impressed with Smarter Apps and their Angry Farm game. The game dynamics are about the same as Angry Birds with different animals at play.

Picture4 thumb Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff Picture6 thumb Angry Farm Game for BlackBerry is a Decent Angry Birds Knockoff

My favorite part of the knockoff is how Smarter Apps describes the game:

 

Help the angry animals fight back to clear the farm of marauding foxes. The angry animals are armed with a catapult and they fly through the air like furious birds before colliding spectacularly with the foxes who are hiding inside protective farm structures.

I think by now Rovio should have been able to put together a Angry Birds game for BlackBerry so its no surprise they already have a knockoff. If you want to get in on the Angry Farm fun you can pick up a copy of the Angry Birds clone for BlackBerry for $4.99 in the store.

Let us know what you think of Angry Farm in the comments!

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Documents to Go v3 Leak Hints that Future Versions May be Free?

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 03:42 AM PST

DocstoGo3 thumb Documents to Go v3 Leak Hints that Future Versions May be Free?

 

Documents to Go v3 Leak Hints that Future Versions May be Free?

 

Over the weekend Documents to Go v3 for OS 6.0 devices leaked but some people seem to have issues installing it. From what I can tell you must remove your current version of Documents to Go before installing this leaked version since it will just duplicate itself. It also only works with OS 6.0 devices so no luck for older OS users.

The thing is that this leak seems to include the full premium version of Documents to Go for free! Now that RIM owns all the DataViz assets in that field that would be the logical move. Robert let us know that this leaked version also includes the Repligo PDF Reader 2 (called PDF to Go) for free which would be even cooler. It would also nicely fit with the PlayBook which RIM has not stated if Documents to go will be free.

Either way if you are interested in the leaked beta you can download it OTA at this link or at this link. Thanks to Robert for the tip via BBh-plus forums

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BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.49 and Maps 6.0.0.31 Leaked for OS 6.0

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 03:01 AM PST

BBMUpdate thumb BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.49 and Maps 6.0.0.31 Leaked for OS 6.0

 

BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.49 and Maps 6.0.0.31 Leaked

The latest OS 6.0.0.481 leak included a new update to BlackBerry Messenger bringing it to version 5.0.1.49. We have already seen version 6.0 of BlackBerry Messenger leak so this is nothing crazy new. It is also older than the version 5.0.2.11 being played around in the BlackBerry Beta Zone. Still this version is confirmed to fix the cursor bug in the BlackBerry Messenger app.

There was also a newer version of BlackBerry Maps in this latest .481 leak bringing BlackBerry Maps to v6.0.0.31.Both of the updates do not seem to add any features but may include some bug fixes. Kudos to the BBH-Plus team for extracting the links below:

 

NOTE: Both of these leaked versions are for OS 6.0 devices only! PLEASE Backup your device before installing since you never know what might happen with a leaked update. Proceed at your own RISK!

Download BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.1.49:

Download BlackBerry Maps 6.0.0.31:

Leaked BlackBerry Messenger Version 6.0

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 02:56 AM PST

bbm mast thumb Leaked BlackBerry Messenger Version 6.0

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Leaked BlackBerry Messenger Version 6.0

RIM announced details about the upcoming BBM 6.0 at Mobile World Congress earlier this week and now we have a leaked version of it.  This version is only compatible with OS 6.0. We are not sure what this build includes and not sure how stable it is, install at your own RISK.

Some of the features that RIM highlighted include:

  • File Transfer API – This allows developers to create apps that transfer files between users without any backend infrastructure. This can also be used to transfer moves in a chess game or share the full contents of an article.
  • That same File Transfer API will also will allow for users to send songs to friends. Maybe make a VoIP call, or even send Video Chats (hopefully?) Theban says in the video this will be the infrastructure RIM will build more functionality on.
  • Initiate a game play with a BBM friend. If friend does not have the game it will direct them to App World to download it.
  • Chat with other people using an app in real time. In other words you will be seeing way more dating sites showing up with BlackBerry apps.

OTA LINK

I installed with no problem but was asked for a keycode after reboot, the keycode provided for the last Betazone update worked for me. Others are saying you may need to delete the official version before installing. Try at your own luck.

Warning: This is not an official release and is recommended to do a backup before installing.

Source: BBH-Plus

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BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.2.11 Now in Beta Zone

Posted: 28 Feb 2011 02:50 AM PST

BEtaZoneBBM thumb BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.2.11 Now in Beta Zone

 

BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.2.11 Now in Beta Zone

Quite a few readers let us know that the they were notified that BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.2.11 is now available in the Beta Zone. While most of us are waiting for a beta, leak, or official release of BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 its interesting to see RIM still improving the current version. If you login to Beta Zone and are part of that program you will immediately get the popup shown above with the following info:

New BlackBerry Messenger 5.0.2.11 software is available for you to download.

This is a standard maintenance release. You won't see many new features in this build, but it does provide a few bug fixes:

  • If you are running BlackBerry® 6.0, a cursor might not have appeared when you scrolled through previous messages in a chat.
  • If you turned on content protection, when you received a new message, you might have seen a “Content protection is enabled” message.
  • If a person invites you to become a contact during a multi-person chat with you, and if you accepted the request, the contact might not have appeared on your contact list.

Join in on the discussion boards if you have any feedback on the app!

Head on over to www.BlackBerry.com/beta or directly to the program beta site at this link.