Android rush

Click on any of the image below to start downloading BBM on your mobile device.

Facebook Messenger App Redesigned:

PLEASE NOTE: *Only for Android 4.0 and iOS 6 or higher. Tablet devices not supported. Data plan required. Please check with your service provider for availability, costs and restrictions. AND DO NOT download any BBM for Android and iPhone that is not from BlackBerry Limited.

Here’s what to do to get past the line-up:

1. Visit BBM.com from your iPhone or Android browser to download BBM.
2. Once the BBM app has been installed, open it.
3. When asked to “Enter your email address to check if you can start using BBM”, use your email address if you signed up to be notified about BBM for Android and iPhone.
4. Get started with setting up BBM

Note to iPhone users: Apps can take up to a few hours to appear in the App Store so if you don’t see it right away, it will be there soon.

Apple recently launch the premium iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C. Due to these reasons, Apple has regained the top spot in the smartphone market in the U.S. for the month of September according to reports from Counterpoint Research.


iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C despite being introduced to the market on the 20th of September was able to give Apple 39% of the smartphone market in the U.S. with Samsung coming second at 29%.

iPhone 5S was the top selling smartphone for the month while Samsung Galaxy S4 came second and iPhone 5C came third. Samsung had led in the U.S. in the month of August with a 37% share to iPhone’s 17%.
It must be noted that this is different from operating systems but very soon, we should expect a tighter battle of OSes in the U.S. because of the new launch of two Apple smartphones.

Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak popularly known as Woz has revealed that he will not get any of the newly launched iPad Air and the iPad Mini 2,


Steve Wozniak revealed that he was on a flight to the United Kingdom when the announcement of iPad Air was being made and he could not follow it live. He has however gotten information about the two products since and is not impressed.

“I am constantly following the gadget world but I was on a plane and missed all of the keynote but when I finally took a look at the devices, the iPads didn't hit my needs,” 

he said at the Apps World in London.

Apple Announce New Tab. iPad Air & Review

Steve claimed he would have preferred an iPad with a larger memory like 256GB which will allow him to put his media files because… he doesn't have broadband in his house.


“Yes it’s thinner but I wanted storage. I don’t have broadband at home, so I carry all my personal media in the iPad. So I was hoping Apple has a 256GB iPad.” he said about the iPad Air. “So I emailed my wife and said I didn't want one of those.”

“It is really sad as I was the one that had a 1MB line back in the day when everyone else was on dial up. I was the king of the hill.” 

he said about the broadband.

“I am thrilled to tell you that we are about to officially resume our rollout of BBM for Android and iPhone customers around the globe!” 

-Andrew Bocking on Blackberry’s blog.


“In the next few hours, people will start seeing BBM in Google Play, the App Store and in select Samsung App Stores – where it will be free to download.”
he further said.

BBM was supposed to be released last month but was cancelled after an unofficial BBM version for android was downloaded by users. Blackberry claimed this version of the app had issues and cancelled the proposed plan.

The app will be available in Google Play Store, Apple Apps Store and some Samsung app stores in hours. Of course everybody on both platforms will be able to download the app but not everybody will be able to use the app.


UPDATE 1: BBM for iPhone is now available for download in the App Store. The app weighs in at 30.9MB and requires iOS 6 or later. I've included a couple of screenshots below, and you can download it right here.



UPDATE 2: And now the BBM for Android app has appeared in the Google Play Store. I've got some screenshots of the app below the iPhone app images, and you can download the app for yourself right here. BBM for Android is 13MB in size and requires Android 4.0 or later.



After the suspension of the initial plans to roll out BBM last month, Blackberry implored people to sign up for updates about the app. Only those who signed up will be able to use the app right away.
Anybody not yet on the list will supply his/her email and be placed on a queue. The concerned parties will be notified when they are qualified to use the service. This according to reports was to reduce the load on Blackberry servers.

Apple is hoping to reverse the trend on Tuesday. The company is expected to reveal its first revamped iPad in a year during an event in San Francisco.


But don't expect Apple to produce a radically new device in an effort to turn the tide -- the new iPad will likely be a marginal upgrade from the current version. Apple is expected to unveil a slightly thinner and faster iPad with a fingerprint sensor.

"What are they supposed to do, add wings and make it fly?" asked Colin Gillis, senior tech analyst at BCG Financial. "It's a tablet. There's only so much you can upgrade."
During Apple's fiscal third quarter, which ended in June, iPad sales fell to $6.3 billion -- a 27% drop over last year. But this year, Apple didn't get a boost from a new version of the tablet. The company released a new iPad in March 2012, while the fourth-generation iPad came out in November. Even though last quarter's iPad sales were weak, tablet revenue jumped 40% and 22% in the prior two quarters.



More striking is the fact that Apple no longer dominates in tablets. Apple's global tablet market share currently stands at 32%, down from 60% a year ago, according to IDC.
That's because rivals are taking advantage of Apple's lack of major updates: The tablet market share controlled by Samsung, Acer and Lenovo tripled last quarter from the previous year. That kind of wild changing of the guards is common for markets that are in their infancy -- but it still isn't particularly good news for Apple.
Although the iPhone gets the lion's share of Apple hype, the iPad is still extremely important to the company's overall business.

"The iPad is the company's second-largest revenue stream, so you definitely can't discount it," said Gillis.

Apple is also expected to update the iPad mini on Tuesday, giving it a much more robust upgrade. Most notably, the mini tablet is expected to get a Retina display, significantly upgrading the resolution of its screen.
The "mini" category of tablets that includes the iPad Mini, Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 is primed for skyrocketing growth, analysts believe.
"The seven-inch is absolutely dominant right now, and we expect it to stay that way for some time," said IHS iSuppli tablet market analyst Rhoda Alexander.


Tablets with screens smaller than eight inches accounted for only about a quarter of the tablet market in 2011, according to IHS, but the consultancy predicts the category will take a majority 55% share this year and grow to 57% by 2017.
Meanwhile, medium-sized tablets like the iPad are expected to fall to a 37% share in 2017.

"Apple caught a lot of heat for launching the iPad Mini, with critics saying the low end isn't where the competition is," Alexander said. "But they've overcome the naysayers pretty quickly."

Google today updated its Maps app for iOS with new features and support for the Arabic and Hebrew languages. You can download the new version now directly from Apple’s App Store.

The biggest improvement is that accessing navigation is now faster and you can also expect faster and more accurate re-routing. The added route and traffic overview should also be helpful, especially when you’re driving.

The new tips and tricks section is only really for those who don’t consider themselves power users. Nevertheless, you may want to flip through it to see what you find.

Here’s the full Google Maps 2.3.4 for iOS change-log:

• Faster access to navigation, complete with route and traffic overview.
• Tips and Tricks available in the side menu.
• Arabic and Hebrew now supported, including voice guidance in navigation, where available.
• Bug fixes.

This appears to be a minor update, and we’re not just saying that because the version number has barely budged. The first two additions are relatively minor, and they were added to Google Maps for Android back in September. That being said, the third point is obviously a big deal in the Middle East.

Google is likely working on bringing the latest Maps features on the desktop (see below) to both Android and iOS. We’ll keep you posted when that arrives.

In a matter of weeks, possibly this month, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available for download on Android phones and Apple’s iPhone. Already, Samsung has been reported to be running adverts to spread this news. Readers of BlackBerry blog CrackBerry reported seeing TV ads in a few different African countries during the last Manchester United vs. Chelsea match. The advert briefly appeared on Samsung Ghana’s YouTube account before being taken down.

Samsung Ghana’s Facebook page is currently teasing users with the status, “Another messenger is coming on Samsung phones sooner than you think… what is it?”

Last month, Samsung Africa revealed BBM would become part of the Samsung Messenger Hub, but didn’t announce a date.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Blackberry  CEO, Thorsten Heins, at the BlackBerry Live conference in May,  had earlier made the announcement that BBM which had been the major attraction to Blackberry phone, apart from the pride of owning one, was to become a multi-platform application. Now, the company has offered some insight as to why it is making this move. According to a Wall Street Journal report, BlackBerry might decide to spin off one of its divisions.

CLICK IMAGE TO GET THE NEW BB Q5 FULL SPEC. REVIEW

BlackBerry is trying to determine whether it should spin off its BlackBerry Messenger service to a separate company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the plans. The newly formed company would be known as BBM Inc., according to the Journal’s sources.

As BlackBerry faces the prospect of potentially having to part out its more valuable assets for sale, BBM is a natural opportunity that comes to mind, and the recent decision to take the messaging platform to both iOS and Android makes a lot more sense once one considers that it means diversifying the brand prior to a potential sale.

The possible BBM spinoff comes after BlackBerry announced that it had appointed a special committee to explore “strategic alternatives” for its ailing option. BlackBerry claims to be open to any and all options, including selling its operation to another firm.
Culled from UpdateNigeria

There have been a lot of rumors about the leaks of the smarthphone, and the hotly anticipated budget iPhone that Apple is expected to unveil next month.

Jimmy Lin, a well known Taiwanese actor and singer, posted a couple of pictures on Weibo of what he claims is the iPhone 5C. Its actually the same thing that we’ve been seeing in recent leaks, however it does contain FCC and other relevant markings on the back.
Despite all the fake news However, nothing is confirmed by Apple and one can’t really be sure about these unofficial leaks