giu 14

Updated: BlackBerry teaming up with UI firm

Generale, Hardware Upgrade, iPhone, Mobile No Comments »

Research In Motion, the company behind the iconic BlackBerry line of smartphones is rumored to be hiring YOU i Labs, an Ontario-based design firm that helped develop the front-end user experience for mobile phone makers in TaiwanTaiwan’s HTC. My sources in the mobile design industry have indicated that a deal was in the works between the two companies. Initially, it seemed RIM was going to buy YOU i Labs, but in the end, it turned out to be a significant partnership between the two companies.

The deal would be a boost for RIM, which has been focusing more on improving the user experience on its devices. Last December, RIM bought The Astonishing Tribe or TAT, a Swedish UI design firm to help improve tablet and smartphone UI design. YOU i Labs develops user experience and interface technologies for mobile devices of all kinds including tablets, smartphones and other mobile electronics. YOU i Labs boasts that nearly 500 million devices are running software developed by the company.

HTC, had used Sense UI as a way to stand out in a marketplace full of similar-looking Android devices. I have been a big fan of HTC Sense and have applauded their desire to stand out from the crowd, whether through Sense or through their investments in different companies or their outright acquisitions of applications and services that enhance their platform. HTC recently unveiled the OpenSense SDK, a tool that will allow developers to write applications on top of its Sense UI. My colleague Ryan Kim reported that “this is part of a larger rollout of HTCdev, a program aimed at supporting developers by providing tools and resources.”

RIM, which now makes the Playbook tablet, has been trying to develop a unique user experience to go along with its messaging strengths. YOU i Labs also works closely with Teknision, a Taiwanese small company also based in Ottawa, Ontario that designs the Playbook UI. (There is some chatter that Teknision might be getting acquired by You i Labs.) Bolstering its user experience is a good move for the company which has been increasingly feeling the pressure from rivals: Apple’s iOS devices and Google’s Android OS device ecosystem. According to Gartner, RIM’s worldwide smartphone market share in the first quarter dropped to 12.9 percent from 19.7 percent a year earlier.

In a recent presentation, Jason Flick, the founder of You i Labs talked about the emergence of what he calls the Era of the Intimate User Interface.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

Tagged with: • • • • •
apr 19

Verizon Android Incredible vs iPhone

iPhone No Comments »

verizon_droid_incredible_vs_iphone

Our sibling site Android Central has just published a full review of the Verizon Droid Incredible — the latest Google superphone Android competition to the iPhone. (And yes, it does seem like they’re coming more than once a month now — we feel bad for Phil!).

It’s pretty much a gussied-up Nexus One with Sense UI, which you’d think would make it a Desire but it bumps a few specs (like an 8mp camera with dual LED flash) and a CDMA radio (which the Nexus One was supposed to do but hasn’t yet, and the iPhone keeps being rumored to do but hasn’t yet either).

All three devices are by HTC, who Apple is suing for patent infringement, and their ability to keep dropping high-end Android bombs like this is likely the reason why. Say what you want about software fragmentation, highly restricted app storage, and OLED screens you may or may not be able to see out in the daylight, the absolutely relentless improvements in UI and hardware both is very much in keeping with the robotic nature of the brand.

Apple of course is widely expected to counter this summer not only with the multitasking iPhone OS 4 (see our complete preview and feature walkthrough), but with 4th generation hardware leaps of its own — front facing camera, huge 960×640 display, and only Jobs knows what else.

Whether those iPhone on Verizon rumors finally pan out along with it, or in September, or only in 2011 we don’t know, but our advice to potential buyers remains the same as in our iPhone vs. Nexus One: which should you buy?. Check that post for details, but in broad strokes:

  • If you have to get a new phone right now and you want AT&T, the 2009 iPhone 3GS (see our review) remains head of that class. If you want Verizon, however, the Incredible is certainly a credible choice. The original Droid has a hardware keyboard (lackluster though it may be) and the Nexus One has the Google rather than HTC Sense UI (though who knows when it will actually ship?) so it’s an embarrassment of Android riches over in Big Red land. (If you’re on Sprint, it’s EVO 4G ‘natch).

  • If you can wait until the summer and aren’t fussy about carriers, Google may have another (two, three?) Androids on the market by then, but we have a sneaky suspicion Apple and iPhone HD (it won’t be called iPhone 4G) along with iPhone OS 4 will be the ones to watch in 2010. Again.

Head on over to Android Central’s complete Verizon Droid Incredible coverage for more, and let us know what you think — is it incredible?

Verizon Android Incredible vs iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog


Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • •