Orbis Blog » Apple

Does Blackberry still have Juice?

Kellie Rose — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 16:08:42 +0000

In 2003, BlackBerry introduced the first modern smart phone. This was a breakthrough device in the market that not only functioned as a telephone, but also allowed users to send and receive email and text messages. The need for mobile email access was clear, as email was a popular and vital means of communication in the business realm. People who frequently traveled needed a more efficient way to access their email without having to find a computer. Due to its early success, BlackBerry was widely referred to as “CrackBerry” in the United States, which alluded to its excessive use and obsession by its owners. Use of the term CrackBerry became so widespread, that in November 2006 Urban Dictionary, named “crackberry” the “Urban Word of the Day.” Although BlackBerry was the pioneer for the Smartphone industry, their future today is in jeopardy due to the recent success over the past few years of the iPhone, Windows and Android phones.

Blackberry is set to launch their new Blackberry Q5 handset on August 13th. The new device targets a more affordable audience than the high-end Z10 and Q10, and targets the legions of BlackBerry Curve owners who are approaching the end of their respective contracts. Blackberry plans to heavily target these consumers during the all-important back-to-school season.

Despite the emphasis on hardware, Blackberry’s future does not rely solely on the success of their new devices. Blackberry’s business model is changing with the launch of the Blackberry 10 platform. They are trying to be portrayed as a software company, and not just a device manufacturer. The company is focused on expanding the BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 deployments — including support for iOS and Android devices. In addition, Blackberry plans to extend its BBM social messaging service across multiple platforms and leverage its secure BlackBerry Global Data Network. The goal is allow Blackberry to be successful in the enterprise world regardless of which device a consumer has.

As of August 6, Samsung has announced their partnership with BlackBerry Messenger, BBM and is spreading the word quickly. They announced that BBM for Android will be available in Google Play and Samsung app store free of charge.

It has been 10 years since the BlackBerry Boom from the first Smartphones. In the beginning, BlackBerry was the hot commodity that everyone wanted to get their hands on. Now, 10 years later, BlackBerry is finding itself trying to reinvent their brand image as more than just a device maker by signing Blackberry 10 deals with the other device manufacturers.

Blackberry should continue to maintain some market share in the smartphone device segment, but they have lost a large portion of their users to other major platforms. Thus, Blackberry will need to continue to evolve as a software solution to stay relevant.

Last week, BGR shared the first picture of BBM for Android running on a handset and the app has reportedly been made available to early beta testers ahead of its public release. With group chat applications such as GroupMe and WhatsApp dominating the cross-platform group chat market, Blackberry is in desperate need for a successful launch of BBM. Time will tell what the future holds for Blackberry.

Don’t forget to setup Find My iPhone

Alex — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:15:19 +0000

It was almost a year ago that somebody smashed the passenger side window of my car and stole my messenger bag which contained, among other things, my month old iPad. I was parked right outside the Trader Joe’s on 22nd Street where there were plenty of people walking around (it was 6:30pm). There was even a guy from Trader Joe’s directing traffic around their parking lot. Yet nobody saw or heard anything. And of course there weren’t any security cameras monitoring the area where I was parked. I was pissed. My Trader Giotto’s Tomato Basil Marinara sauce never tasted so bitter.

But I was most angry at myself for not setting up Find My iPhone. Had I taken a few minutes to set this up, I would have at least had a fighting chance to recover my iPad. So if you’ve got an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac make sure you enable Find My iPhone, which will help you locate your device on a map, play a sound, display a message, remotely lock your device, or even erase all the data on it.

In order to setup Find My iPhone, you’ll need to first setup iCloud on your device. This can be done by tapping the Settings icon on the Home screen, selecting iCloud, and entering your Apple ID. You can use the same one you use for iTunes or setup a new account. (detailed instructions here) Once iCloud is setup, make sure Find My iPhone is set to On.

Now, if your device is ever lost or stolen, you can download the free Find My iPhone app on another iOS device. Then login using the same Apple ID you used to setup iCloud. If your device is online, it will locate it on a map and allow you to play a sound on the device (useful if you’ve misplaced your phone or iPad). If you’re running iOS 6, you can enable Lost mode, which will allow you to enter a message that will be displayed on the device, a phone number where you can be reached, and a four digit passcode to remotely lock the device (if you already set a passcode on the device, it will be used). For even greater security, you can remotely erase all data on the device. If you get the device back, you restore your data from a backup (which conveniently can also be done through iCloud).

I have a new iPad now, and Find My iPhone was the first thing I setup. And if I’m ever craving Trader Ming’s Pot Stickers, I make sure to lock my bag in the trunk.

Apple and Amazon Security Flaws

Alex — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 22:39:37 +0000

Recently, tech journalist Mat Honan was the victim of an ‘epic hack’ as a result of some pretty serious security flaws at Amazon and Apple. First, his Google account was taken over and deleted. Then his Twitter account was compromised, his AppleID account broken into, and all of his data on his iPhone, iPad and MacBook were remotely erased. Pretty scary stuff.

How was this accomplished? Well, Honan got the details from the hacker in exchange for promising not to press charges. Strong passwords are important but they are not enough; flaws in many customer service systems can allow hackers to reset your password and access your data. Ultimately, all they needed was Honan’s email address, a billing address (which they got from the Whois information for a domain registered under his name) and the last four digits of a credit card on file.

Turns out that all you needed to get into an iCloud account was a billing address and the last four digits of a credit card on file. The hackers called Amazon and told them they were Honan and wanted to add a credit card to the account. All you needed to do this is the name on the account, an associated email address, and the billing address. Amazon then allows you to input a new credit card number. After doing this, the hackers called back and told them that they lost access to the account. By providing the new credit card number and the billing address, they were able to add a new email address to the Amazon account. After this, they went to Amazon’s site and sent a password reset to the new email address, which allowed them to see all of the credit cards on the account — not the entire numbers, just the last four digits.

Pretty scary stuff. Apple and Amazon have quietly closed these security flaws, but you can be sure more holes will be discovered. Honan’s main recommendations are:

1. Don’t link together key services (i.e., your iCloud and Google accounts)

2. Don’t use the same email prefix across multiple accounts (i.e., mhonan@gmail.com, mhonan@me.com, mhonan@wired.com)

3. Backup your data — Honan lost photos covering the entire lifespan of his daughter, in addition to documents and emails that were stored in no other location.

Hopefully the Apple won’t fall too far

Kelly — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:22:40 +0000

It has been an eventful week for Apple. On Tuesday, Tim Cook had his first product launch as CEO with the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4S evoked mixed reviews from the public. Many were hoping for the release of the iPhone 5 and were disappointed that the latest iPhone still featured the number 4. While there is no iPhone 5 (yet), a new voice activated personal assistant named Siri did make her debut.

Here comes the sad news. On Wednesday, Steve Jobs passed away. The longtime CEO of Apple lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. The world is abuzz with Steve Jobs tributes, videos and quotes. Jobs was an innovator who had his hand in game-changing products and captivating marketing campaigns. So what does the future hold for Apple?