Blackberry Mania,Themes and games

Dr Jane Adler & Dr Robert Karlsberg asked:


With BlackBerry owners numbering in the multi-millions, and new devices and applications coming on the market every day, mobile messaging devices have become a essential business tool.

Yet these devices represent a larger potential threat to your career success than any economic slowdown, company setback, or aggressive new competitor.

The problem is not with the technology, of course. Having the ability to work on collaborative projects while on the go, and access to information wherever you are, is a real advantage.

The problem with the BlackBerry, or any messaging device, lies in how you manage it.

The very existence of mobile messaging devices - like pagers before them - implies that the messages they carry demand an immediate response.

It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or what else you are doing. A text message, like an email or cell-phone call, can make something seem urgent when it’s not. It can also distract your attention from more important things, whether it’s the project you’re completing, the conversation you’re having, or even the road you’re driving on.

If you’re not suffering from the symptoms of a “Blackberry Addict” who can’t seem to attend a child’s school play, eat a family dinner, or sit through a meeting without acknowledging and responding to messages, you may think you’re OK. But think again.

While rudeness to companions and the inability to ever slow down and relax may be cause to limit your messaging, the major compelling reason is what messaging does to your productivity.

A study by researchers at London’s Kings College found that workers distracted by email and phone calls suffered an IQ drop of 10 points. While the effect was temporary, it was more than double the IQ drop of people under the influence of marijuana.

To many people these findings are astounding, however to psychologists, they are no surprise.

Whenever you engage in multiple tasks, like text-messaging while having a conversation, or driving while talking on a cell-phone, whether you realize it or not, you decrease your ability to perform well in either one. Switching back and forth between activities isn’t much better. It takes time for your brain to shut down one function or thought process and start up on another.

So what can you do to avoid the dark side?

KNOW YOUR GOALS - Decide what matters most in every area of your life. When you know what’s really important, you can decide what to respond to right away and what to defer. Everything isn’t critical!

CHUNK YOUR ACTIVITIES - Set aside a block of time to work on writing that report. After a brief break, review and respond to emails. Schedule another time for phone calls, etc. You’ll increase your productivity and your efficiency when your brain doesn’t have to constantly switch tasks.

KEEP YOURSELF FOCUSED - Be proactive, not reactive. Set clear priorities in advance. Ask yourself, “what’s the most valuable thing I can do with my time right now.” Schedule that task first, then the next most important and so on. Focus in one thing at a time. Shut down message alerts and direct all calls to voicemail until your next scheduled time to check messages.

There’s no denying the advantage of technological tools, but keep in mind their dark side as well. Concentration is the key to productive efficiency. You can’t afford to let every incoming message or call break your focus. Make sure you stay in control.



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anonymous asked:


Wave’s recent Smart Phone report, the results showed a rapidly evolving two-horse race between Research In Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry and the Apple (AAPL) iPhone - with second tier companies like Palm (PALM) and a host of others being shoved to the sidelines.

To follow-up, this report takes a closer look at the features users love and hate most about their BlackBerrys and iPhones as part of a March 2008 survey of 864 smart phone owners.

The previous report showed excellent consumer satisfaction levels for the two top rated smart phone frontrunners - with Apple sporting a 79% Very Satisfied rating for its iPhone models and RIM grabbing a highly respectable 54% rating for the BlackBerry. But what is it about these two brands that have consumers so very satisfied?

RIM BlackBerry

We first asked RIM BlackBerry owners. By an overwhelming margin, the feature they liked most is the BlackBerry’s extraordinary access to email (56%).

No other feature comes even close in terms of popularity. As respondent MBR29407 explains, “The email integration of the BlackBerry 8800 is probably its single best feature, but I am constantly amazed at the quality of the phone itself.” NEW06507 adds “I like the seamless way my BlackBerry works with corporate email, and the way you can call a number from within an email by highlighting it.”

BlackBerry owners also reported a few key dislikes, number one being the speed and quality of its Internet browsing experience (13%). A second major dislike was the size of the keypad (11%), with owners complaining that the keys are too small and cause too many typing errors. “The overlaid keyboard (two letters per key) and TrueType feature make my BlackBerry slow to type messages without errors,” reported respondent PET91787.

The Apple iPhone

By far the most lauded feature of the iPhone among owners is its seamless integration of a Phone, iPod and Internet browser (36%). As respondent DSL06271 puts it, “The feature I use most is the iPod, but it’s the integrated whole that makes it so much fun to use.”

Respondent BOB04545 adds, “I love the iPhone. It is revolutionary. I love being able to jump on the Internet, send email, get maps, weather forecasts, instant message, and make phone calls.”

The second most popular feature is the iPhone’s touch screen interface, followed by its ease of use.

In terms of dislikes, there is no doubt about what iPhone owners hate most. It’s the speed of the AT&T EDGE network. No surprise then that the number two criticism is the requirement to Use AT&T.

Users also expressed particular unhappiness with the iPhone’s lack of copy & paste functionality.

Mirror Mirror On the Wall

So now that we’ve briefly reviewed the evidence, which smart phone is the fairest of them all?

The answer is clear - both Apple and RIM dominate the U.S. smart phone industry and are in the process of overwhelming the competition. Each has a super-loyal cadre of users that fervently support their phone brand - and each has extraordinary room to grow.

Today there are over a billion cell phones in the world, and our surveys have picked up a seismic shift occurring among U.S. consumers towards the high end smart phone market. In simplest terms, that’s where the momentum lies.

And as consumers gravitate towards quality multidimensional cell phones - i.e., smart phones - our research shows both Apple and Research In Motion are the big winners. In other words, just as the Apple iPhone has captured the hearts and minds of its user base, so has the RIM BlackBerry.

RIM BlackBerry: While the Apple iPhone boasts some of the highest satisfaction rates we’ve ever seen in a survey, the bottom line for RIM owners continues to be, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Respondent PAN18809 demonstrates RIM’s extraordinary hold over business users when he writes, “My BlackBerry enables one simple truth - work is something I do, not someplace I go.”

RIM’s enormous strength in our business user surveys (73% market penetration) strongly suggests they’ll maintain momentum in their core market going forward.

Apple iPhone: For all its momentum, there are still some core issues iPhone owners want to have resolved - and first among them is 3G capability. According to the survey, that’s the number one feature iPhone owners want integrated into the next generation of the iPhone (19%) - even more so than third-party software (18%), GPS functionality (15%) or E-mail integration (10%).

The same holds true among respondents who say they are interested in but haven’t yet purchased an iPhone. One-in-four say they are holding out to wait for the next generation iPhone (14%) or for 3G network compatibility (11%).

But the bottom line in this horse race is Apple and Research In Motion are both giant winners, while the rest of the smart phone manufacturers lose.



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anonymous asked:


RIM’s Smart Phone Arms Race Escalates

Two weeks before the new Apple 3G iPhone was released, a ChangeWave consumer survey showed it was likely to have a tsunami-like impact on the smart phone market. We all know what happened next - an extraordinarily successful 1 million units sold in the first weekend.

But what does that mean for current market share leader Research In Motion (RIMM)?

The consumer survey showed the 3G iPhone catapulting Apple into the lead in terms of planned consumer smart phone purchases for the next 90 days. Note that RIM remains the leader among current smart phone owners in the consumer market, and RIM holds a huge lead in the corporate market.

Yet despite its current lead in both markets, RIM isn’t taking the Apple 3G challenge lying down. The Canadian manufacturer has multiple plans in motion to counter Apple’s momentum among consumers, including an already announced new product release (the Bold) and two likely additional product releases (the Thunder and Kickstart).

To get a sense of the market potential for RIM’s new smart phone arsenal, we surveyed 3,567 consumers on their reaction to the new RIM counteroffensive. The survey was conducted in the aftermath of the Apple 3G announcement (June 17-23), but before the new iPhone model was released.

Preparing For Multiple Battles

Consumer respondents were presented a brief description containing key features of RIM’s new smart phone models, along with a follow-up question asking them how likely they were to buy each model if and when it becomes available. The survey found the new RIM releases each showing considerable potential among consumers once they actually get into the marketplace.

- A total of 4% of respondents report they’re Very Likely to buy the new RIM/BlackBerry Bold when it becomes available. Another 13% are Somewhat Likely.

- Slightly less positive but nonetheless significant, 2% of respondents say they’re Very Likely to buy a RIM/BlackBerry Thunder when available. A total of 13% are Somewhat Likely.

- Another 2% say they’re Very Likely to buy a RIM/BlackBerry Kickstart when it becomes available, and 11% are Somewhat Likely.

The Victors and The Vanquished

Our recent surveys show Apple and RIM on a clear collision course in the consumer smart phone market, as the three new RIM phones get set to counterattack the market assault from the Apple 3G iPhone.

“These results show consumers hungry for all varieties of BlackBerry,” said analyst Tobin Smith, who added, “it appears like when it comes to the BlackBerry, the adage ‘if you build it, they will come,’ certainly holds true.”

We will, of course, closely measure the initial reaction once consumers have their new BlackBerries - and if it turns out that the initial reviews on RIM’s new releases aren’t great and consumer satisfaction goes down, then RIM will almost certainly receive rough treatment from the Street.

The strength of these early survey results on the demand for RIM’s new products points to a potentially powerful counteroffensive to Apple’s 3G iPhone, according to Smith. “The real losers in this smart phone battle will most likely be the second-tier players, who could find themselves increasingly pushed to the sidelines as the two Goliaths battle for market dominance.”

To find out which manufacturers are most at risk because of the RIM counteroffensive, we took a close look at the impact of the new RIM releases on the rest of the industry.

The survey found that current RIM customers are two-to-three times more likely to buy the new RIM models than the customers of other manufacturers. The survey also found that the new RIM releases have a significant potential to lure away customers from other manufacturers - with Palm (PALM), Motorola (MOT) and Samsung the most vulnerable.

Apple customers, on the other hand, appear least likely to buy any of the new RIM phones.

As the old adage goes, to the victor goes the spoils - and by the looks of things, Apple and RIM are both victors. The Apple iPhone has captured the hearts and minds of its user base, and so has the RIM BlackBerry. Fortunately for both, the global consumer and enterprise smart phone markets are big enough to support both Apple and RIM - it’s the other cell phone manufacturers that look like the real losers.



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