Important Note: Scheduled Downtime

Hello faithful readers of TSR! I am writing to let you know that we will be experiencing some scheduled downtime at about 1pm EST.

What’s happening? Well, this is just the BEGINNING of all sorts of exciting things that will be happening here at TSR, and we appreciate your patience as we upgrade our servers and prepare to launch a whole new website!

Soon TSR will be getting a new look and we’re happy to celebrate that with you! In the meantime, please enjoy some hold music while our servers are upgraded.

Please note: this downtime could be anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours. We hope that it won’t take long, but the powers that be have advised us of the worst case scenerio, too. We want to be up front with you and make you aware of that.

We’ll send out some flares when the site is back up!

Thank you!

TSR Staff

RIM Announces BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge Finalists

RIM just announced the finalists for the BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge, and we’ve got them here for you! Here is the flash that RIM just sent out, breaking it all down:

The BlackBerry Partners Fund™ today announced the North American finalists in the third annual BlackBerry Partners Fund “Super Apps” Developer Challenge.

Selected from across seven categories – Productivity, Fun & Games, Knowledge, Sharing, Navigate & Explore, Multi-media, and In the Know – the applications were judged on quality, user experience and how effectively they incorporate “Super App” characteristics, which take advantage of the BlackBerry® Application Platform’s unique capabilities. The North American Finalists are:

• Dictionary and Thesaurus – Dictionary.com: The only free dictionary app for BlackBerry smartphones is from Dictionary.com. Their well-known reference content from Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com includes more than 500,000 words, definitions, and synonyms. The app also features phonetic and audio pronunciations, spelling suggestions and Dictionary.com’s popular Word of the Day that is enjoyed by millions of people.
• Poynt: Poynt enables users to find businesses, retailers, restaurants, movies, gas prices (US only) and weather information. It uses GPS or cell-site location to quickly deliver the information users need, whenever and wherever they need it, right on their BlackBerry smartphone.
• Vayyoo: With Vayyoo® it has never been easier to capture and share life’s moments in one BlackBerry application. Whether users are out with friends, having fun on vacation, or witnessing breaking news, Vayyoo makes capturing and sharing moments simple by integrating the camera, location, email and many other BlackBerry smartphone features.

For your reference, today’s announcement of all 12 regional finalists is online at:

source – RIM PR email

Angry Birds 2 and Multiplayer – Coming Soon!

Rovio has infected the smartphone world with an incurable addiction to their incredibly popular Angry Birds game for Android and iPhone.  How best to treat an addiction?  Release teasers to keep your following drooling for more, and that is just what Roviio’s CEO has done with mention on Angry Birds 2.  This won’t be just another set of new levels, no, no, this is going to be from the enemy pig point of view!  Have such a fierce allegiance to the Angry Birds that you could not foresee switching to the dark side?  You may change your tune when the game hits the market in the near future.  If history is any predictor, this sequel will draw you in and proceed to remove all other worries in your world.  Nothing else will matter.

On to the second, possibly more interesting news, MULTIPLAYER!  Soon you and your friends will be able to share your addictions, battling the evil pigs (or birds…) together!  There is less information about this version of Angry Birds as the development team is still analyzing the best way to bring the multiplayer experience to everyone’s favorite game.  Rest assured it is in the works!

These new versions should keep your addictions going strong for up until they release Angry Birds 3 – Birds on Patrol (insert other threequel reference here…).

Source: tipb.com

 

 

Tabbed Browsing in WP7 with Browser+

WP7 is pretty new to the world, but that hasn’t stopped Browser+ from pumping up the native browser on your new Windows smartphone.  This app accomplished a major advancement that developers until now hadn’t been able to do:  modify a native application.  What else makes Browser+ special? Tabbed browsing and other unique features like “incognito” mode that hide your web history from wandering eyes.

Features of Browser+

• Tabbed web browsing
• Incognito mode – hides web history
• Dedicated search button

The video above of the Browser+ experience is from WMExperts/wpcentral.com.  They put together a good overview of the app detailing the features and shortcomings (no landscape support, no trial).

Last but not least, pricing!  Browser+ runs $0.99 in the Marketplace, cheap enough to not warrant a trial in all reality.  Looking to beef up your native browser in your fancy new WindowsPhone7?  Check it out in the Marketplace and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: wpcentral.com

 

 

Dell Streak – Looking Hot In White!!!

Best Buy sure seems to have a fancy for the sexy, white smartphones lately. Looks like the white version of the Dell Streak is available in select stores for in-store pickup only. It can be reserved for and paid online if you don’t feel like hanging out at the store. More information below:

Best Buy is now selling its exclusive white Dell Streak in select stores across the US. It’s only available for in-store pickup right now, though it can be reserved and paid for online if you don’t want to spend too much time in the store. Boxes containing the white Android tablet appear to still be in transit, as stores that didn’t have any on Monday got some yesterday, so keep checking availability at your local Best Buy if you really want one.

Whether the store will eventually lose the exclusivity on the color remains to be seen, but I kind of hope it does because the Streak in white is actually quite lovely in person. It has a smooth silvery-white finish with a touch of shimmer to it and is much nicer than I expected it to be. It may not appeal to everyone, but I think customers would appreciate having more than just black (in the US) or black and red (in other countries) to choose from.

Source: StreakSmart

I admit that I’m a fan of the white version. It just brings a sleek and modern look to the Dell Streak. Gonna pick one up? Hit us up in the comments if you do.

Jon Rubinstein From Palm: You’ll See Us In A Different Light Next Year

Jon Rubinstein from Palm (the new man in charge) announced that we’ll see a drastic increase in the number of Palm smartphone offerings over the next 12 to 18 months. Exciting news as I believe competition drives innovation. Rubinstein also hints at an upcoming tablet that is in the works. I’m just wondering if tablets will remain relevant in the near future. Many people in the smartphone industry see tablets as pure fad. I guess we shall see, right? More information following:

While Palm didn’t announce anything at the Web 2.0 Summit that’s taking place this week in San Francisco, Jon Rubinstein, the head of the new organization that is now a part of HP, had some choice words to share:

“Palm created the PDA (personal digital assistant) space with the Pilot and the smartphone space after it with the Treo, so by birthright, Palm should have owned the smartphone market, but it just lost its way. It’s a very similar story to what happened with Apple.”

When asked about why he green lighted the merger with HP, he answered: “We needed more resources. We could not compete in a fashion that would allow us to be one of the premier companies in the marketplace. And HP needed a strong mobile strategy around which they could innovate–one that would allow them to control their own future and not rely on the kindness of strangers.”

The “kindness” he seems to be referring to is Google’s Android operating system, which while technically open source, is really just a neat and tidy little package that companies take and bundle on their hardware with hopes that people buy their handset because it has X, Y, Z features and comes in A, B, C colors.

Finally, when asked about where Jon sees the company going, he says: “We’ve got some great products in the works. Some smartphones, a great tablet coming. I think we have several products that will be hits when they come out … Everyone forgets, we just closed this acquisition in July … This time next year, you’ll see us in a very different position.”

I’ve got to admit, if Palm came out with a new device tomorrow that ran the old Palm OS, and updated the Palm Desktop software to run on today’s modern operating systems, and stuck it in a gorgeous body, I’d buy it. Something about that old OS just brings back such fond memories. It worked. Period. It was also so easy that anyone could use it.

Must. Not. Buy. Treo 680. Off. eBay.

Update: Another quote, this time via EE Times: “If you are a webOS aficionado out there, be patient. The pool of webOS devices is going to grow very dramatically over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Source: IntoMobile

What do you think of this? Excited that Palm is getting back in the smartphone game? Give us a shout with your reaction.