Study: BlackBerry has twice the failure rate of iPhone

November 14, 2008 · Filed Under Apple, Gadgets, Iphone, Phones, blackberry, cellphones · Comment 

Apple’s iPhone has half the failure rate of RIM’s BlackBerry in the first year of use, a study carried out by a mobile-phone warranty firm has found. 

The SquareTrade study

Figures from the analyst firm Canalysys, released last week, showed Apple has now overtaken RIM in the global smartphone sales stakes.

SquareTrade had to project their figures for the iPhone’s failure rate over a two-year period, as the handset has not been available for that long — nonetheless, that rate came in at between nine to 11 percent. The equivalent failure rate for BlackBerry handsets was 14.3 percent, with the Treo coming in at 21 percent.

Breaking the figures down, the most prominent malfunctions for iPhone users appear to be touchscreen-related, accounting for a third of all reported issues with that handset. However, 12 percent of iPhone users reported accidental damage to their handsets within the first year of use — the average for other handsets is nine percent.

“It’s likely that any iPhone owner can guess the reason iPhone accidents are so common,” the authors wrote. “After two minutes of handling an iPhone, it’s impossible to escape noticing that the handsets are incredibly slippery. The form doesn’t help, either. The dimensions make for a difficult grip, especially for those with small hands. These two factors conspire to make the iPhone more accident prone than just about any other handset model we’ve seen.”

The report’s authors also noted that fewer than half-a-percent of iPhone owners reported battery problems after a year of use, compared with around one percent for BlackBerry and Treo users.

SquareTrade’s study did not take into account software issues handled directly by the retailer or fixed by firmware updates.

ZDNet UK has requested comment on SquareTrade’s report from both RIM and Apple, but had not received it at the time of writing.

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MySpace Comes to BlackBerry

November 13, 2008 · Filed Under Iphone, Phones, Software, blackberry · Comment 

Poor BlackBerry. It used to be the cool kid on the block, the hipster everyone wanted, and all the gadgets wanted to be. But then the iPhone came along, and now BlackBerry is always one step behind. Where the iPhone is riding a fixie with a top-tube pad, the BlackBerry gets around on a mountain bike. With fenders.

berry-space.jpgAnd so it is with applications. The iPhone is all about the FaceBook, whereas BlackBerry has just got around to hooking up with yesterday’s hot-thing, MySpace. Download the clanky looking application, called myspace for BlackBerry smartphones, and you’ll be able to “share events and experiences as they happen”. Here’s the feature list:

Send and receive MySpace mail

Update your Status and Mood

View and send Bulletins

Add comments

Post your photos

And much more.

BlackBerry even has its own MySpace page (welcome to 2004!) which is typically hard to navigate. Links fire you off to download pages and the BlackBerry store, but there is no way to actually preview any of the “features”. If you do manage to navigate the labyrinthine maze and arrive at the support pages, you’ll most likely end up at the same error page we did.

Obscure, hard to use and frustrating. The more we think about it, the more it seems that MySpace users are going to love it.

Product page [MySpace]

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BlackBerry Storm to Hit Verizon on Nov. 21

November 13, 2008 · Filed Under Phones, blackberry · Comment 

Bbery_storm

It’s official. The first touchscreen phone from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion will be available nationwide on Nov. 21 through Verizon Wireless.

The BlackBerry Storm will be available for $200 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract.

The Storm will have a 3.2 inch screen, built-in GPS, touchscreen navigation, media player, 3.2 megapixel camera, video recording capability and access to an App Center along the lines of iPhone App Store or Google Android marketplace.

The launch of the phone comes just three weeks after RIM released the BlackBerry Bold through AT&T. The keypad-based Bold, which was supposed to debut in the summer, was much delayed and is now effectively available for free through Wal-Mart after a $200 rebate discounting the entire cost.

Meanwhile, in the last few days Verizon and RIM have been burning up the airwaves with nationwide television ads of the Storm. But getting consumer attention for the device during the holiday season won’t be easy.

The Storm will compete with Apple’s iPhone, which is priced at $200, and with T-Mobile’s recently launched G1 phone, the first to carry Google’s Android mobile operating system. The G1 will cost $180 with a two-year contract.

What RIM is hoping will set the Storm apart from its competitors is a touchscreen that mimics the ‘click’ tactile response that comes with typing on a keypad. The phone also offers feature such as cut and paste of text that the iPhone lacks.

An early review of the Storm by Wired.com pegs it as the first touchscreen device that could truly be a stiff competitor to the iPhone, though it is unlikely to ever match the iPhone in terms of its “cultural cache.”

Photo:Daniel Salo for Wired.com

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