Posts Tagged ‘Investors’

New free LBS app Centrl integrates web, maps and social networks

September 21st, 2009 BBerryNews

centrl_facebook

Location based services have been getting an incredible amount of attention by investors and consumers alike. LBS adds another layer of data to our mobile experience, and has the ability to enrich almost any application we use today.

Centrl is the latest LBS application for BlackBerry (also available for other platforms) and it is completely free of charge. The service also lets you login from your existing accounts (Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, Friendster, Ning, Hi5, bebo, Orkut, iTimes, or Sonico) which means there’s no need to register.

Like any good LBS application, Centrl pulls in data from Yelp, Citisearch, Wikipedia and other databases, in order to help users find location sensitive information. The app will also broadcast your whereabouts, and help you connect with friends and users.

One particularly unique feature of this application is that it offers a free IM client that is displayed on the map. Users who are viewing the service on a PC, can communicate with users who are on their mobile, virtually in real-time and without fees for both sides.

Try it out for yourself! Again, Centrl is a free service that will only get better as more users get on board. See who is using it in your area.

Download Centrl for your BlackBerry OTA by pointing to http://centrl.com/bb/centrl.jad from your BlackBerry browser.

[Via]

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009



Posted in BlackBerry Cool Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Comments Off

Skype arrives on App Store – where is the BlackBerry client?

September 15th, 2009 BBerryNews

skype_logo_1_medium

Skype needs to get its public relations team aligned with their developers because there are some serious inconsistencies in what the we’re hearing from mainstream media and what is actually being delivered.

For example, on March 20th, 2009, The New York Times reported that Skype “will make its free software available immediately for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch and, beginning in May, for various BlackBerry phones, made by Research in Motion.”

Yesterday, the Financial Post reported that Skype “is reportedly developing an app for the BlackBerry.”

If one had to guess, the delays are likely caused by changes in ownership at Skype. When these organizational changes happen, projects are sometimes put on hold and reevaluated. As you may remember, Skype was bought by a group of investors including the Canadian Pension Plan’s investing wing for almost $2 billion USD.

Skype, where is the BlackBerry app?

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009

Posted in BlackBerry Cool Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Comments Off

Roundup of Nortel bids: RIM exceeds highest bid by $375 million

July 22nd, 2009 BBerryNews

nortel_broken

At the moment, there are three major bidders for Nortel’s technology: RIM, Nokia and MatlinPatterson. RIM’s bid exceeds the leading bid by $375 million and Nortel is still dragging its feet. While Nortel is clearly holding off in the hopes of getting a better bid, it may hurt the company’s prospects in the end. If the company does not accept RIM’s bid, it stands to lose the $375 million and accept the next lowest bid. Lets take a look at all three bids:

RIM

RIM has offered to pay $1.1 billion US for Nortel’s CDMA and LTE technology. RIM is not only the largest bidder by far, but it is also a Canadian company, just like Nortel. Canadians can still remember when Nortel’s stock plunged and investors lost millions of dollars. It would be great to see this failed company pass along a Canadian made technology to a company that will employ Canadians and keep the investment local.

Nokia

Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint European venture, has offered to bid $650 million. While they have said they would raise this bid, it is still $450 million short of what RIM is bidding.

MatlinPatterson

MatlinPatterson is a US private equity firm who have offered to pay $725 million US. MatlinPatterson currently owns about 10 per cent of Nortel’s $4.2 billion US of debt. What’s nice about the MatlinPatterson offer, is that the company ultimately wants keep Nortel, a 127-year-old Canadian technology icon, intact as a single company.

© Kyle for BlackBerry Cool, 2009


Posted in BlackBerry Cool Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Comments Off