[jimmypowder]

Dont get me wrong,I love my blackberry.My whole family has them but I have to say I envy the iphone users that have such great internet radio streaming,productivity,etc. apps. The Blackberry apps available are a joke
compared to whats available for iphone users.Rim is literally in the stone age
in relation to Apple.

Is there any chance Rim's App store will have some decent apps? I have my doubts considering the phone carrier(verizon in my case) has the final say
on app approval and not Rim.

Give me your thoughts on this folks.

[NJBlackBerry]

Still different markets. The iPhone is a consumer device. With all of the flashy games to match. The BB is still designed for the Enterprise. Although some of the new models will break through to consumers (like the 8220 Pearl Flip).

RIM's app store will have applications if the developers are out there.

I'm not holding my breath. Although Phonesaber would be cool.

[jimmypowder]

I dont know why you could't have it all .Blackberry has a superior email device.
If they added great apps(consumer and business) they would have a superior overall phone.

[NJBlackBerry]

Go for it!

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by jimmypowder

I have my doubts considering the phone carrier(verizon in my case) has the final say
on app approval and not Rim.

They do?

[jimmypowder]

Yes the carrier will have the final approval not Rim on any app which is not the case with iphone apps.Apple has the control.

What that means is less innovative apps for Blackberry phones as Verizon
would certainly nix many apps that might hurt their revenue stream.

[JSanders]

Sorry, you are wrong. Verizon does not have final approval of third party apps on your BB.

Verizon has no authority whatsoever on signing of the API's; RIM provides that. Verizon has disabled GPS on their BlackBerrys purely due to the revenue stream it can attract. Otherwise, I don't know of anything they have blocked or have final say over.

Streaming audio is available on several apps for the BB, already. Here is another that offers great promise as well. FlyCast - Now your smartphone is complete

Productivity? Can you post specific needs? I would be willing to bet $1 that there are many more and more useful "productivity" apps available for the BB than the iPhone.

I know you said you love your BB, great and all, but if you need something other than to state inaccurate and vague generalities, please state your need. I am betting (other than the infamous Phonesabre that NJ yearns for so dearly, it's been done.

[BBFanboy]

Originally Posted by jimmypowder

Dont get me wrong,I love my blackberry.My whole family has them but I have to say I envy the iphone users that have such great internet radio streaming,productivity,etc. apps. The Blackberry apps available are a joke
compared to whats available for iphone users.Rim is literally in the stone age
in relation to Apple.

Is there any chance Rim's App store will have some decent apps? I have my doubts considering the phone carrier(verizon in my case) has the final say
on app approval and not Rim.

Give me your thoughts on this folks.

I'm not sure I agree with you.

First - what are the great productivity applications on the iPhone - all I have ever seen are a bunch of games.

The Blackberry apps that are available are no joke, they function. The iMilk application is a joke.

When I think of stone age I think of something that is not just primitive and simple but is missing functionality. That seems to describe the iPhone with no cut&paste more than a BB

The Blackberry seems to do everything I ask of it and it does it well. The iPhone, not so much.

[NJBlackBerry]

What the RIM App store has to do to succeed is to be very easy to use. That is the prime advantage of the Apple App Store - it is REALLY easy to use. That's the key - many applications are there for the BB - including some incredible games - but they are not always easy to load.

[TroyDBrown]

Q1 of 2009 is when we will starting seeing a really nice app store for BlackBerry. Yes RIM has been behind in the consumer market. The focus until recently has been enterprise and trust me admins don't want all these apps on corporate devices.

Just as the Apple iPhone started as a consumer device and they now want a piece of the enterprise market RIM sees the benifits of the consumer market and is moving forward.

Early next week I will have a full write up on whats to come in '09 at BlackBerryNews.com

[mymitsu3kgt]

Also the newer, faster processor like in the Bold will open up more possibilities for apps. The old 300Mhz could have limited the "flashy" apps. (I don't mean Adobe Flash)

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by jimmypowder

I dont know why you could't have it all .Blackberry has a superior email device.
If they added great apps(consumer and business) they would have a superior overall phone.

You could say that about a number of devices:

"If ____ added _____ they would have a superior overall phone."

As someone else stated above, Apple and RIM started off from different starting points and they each have their own deficiencies. Developing tech doesn't happen overnight.

[CureMS]

Just have to add my .02 - as for the "Stone Age", that's where I'm from! It seems to me that RIM has a much more diverse consumer base in spite of its enterprise design. BB provides an excellent enterprise solution, has newer phones coming out all the time with flashier options to appeal to independent young users, and it has the widest middle ground available to appeal to those of us stone age (middle-age?) professionals. RIM (along with 3rd party apps) provide excellent productivity solutions and fun stuff available for any age and ability.

The one consumer marketing issue I note is the development of more applications specific to consumer hobbies (personally I want a genealogy program). I doubt there can ever be a superior overall phone simply because we all want it to meet our own personal needs and desires. IMHO, the BB will never be perfect, but it is the superior phone for me at this time, which is why I just purchased my first.

I hope Verizon's GPS decision comes back to bite them sometime. I've never changed carriers because of a particular device but I have frequently changed carriers because of the comparative cost and value of the services being provided (VZW to Sprint to TMO).

And as for apple -- yes, the iPhone is flashy and tempting but as with other new tech toys, it probably wouldn't end up meeting my needs. (And BTW, I was a MacAddict for many years but sadly moved to the PC world because of compatibility and cost.) And since I choose not to go to AT&T, iPhone is out of the question anyway.

There's a lot to be said for the Stone Age.

Sorry for the rambling!

[ejmccartin]

Wirelessly posted

Originally Posted by CureMS

Just have to add my .02...

Sorry for the rambling!

Very eloquent rambling.

[Frank Castle]

If you look beyond the thousands of games on the iphone there is not a whole lot that is actually worthwhile. Most of the major apps are either already available for Blackberry or coming. Granted most of the apps that will push the envelope will likely require Bold / Storm and newer devices as you need faster CPU / more memory to do these things. Iphone has the advantage of being really a small computer that can function as a phone. Blackberry is more of the opposite. Eventually it will be a wash as developers get comfortable with Blackberry developement as Mac OS X is already known and I would image fairly ease to port.

Like the video game wars I'd be interested in what (if any) application exclusives can be had. That would be a huge win for one side.