Tag: Blackberry

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News Technology

New RIM domains hint at BlackBerry 10 apps like Flick, Newsstand, Peek & more

Blackberry 10 Smartphone

Earlier this month, a photo of the upcoming BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone was leaked online that hinted at some new apps.

Now, RIM has registered several domains that likely reveal more about the lineup of apps including Flick, Flow, Hub, Keyboard, Newsstand, Peek, PlayOn, Remember, Story Maker, Time Shift, BBM Video, BBM Voice, and Voice Control.

The leaked photo of the device that surfaced on September 3, showed several apps including Facebook, Pictures, Remember, Maps and Story Maker.  While the photo didn’t offer many details, RIM’s latest round of domain registrations may provide more clues.

On September 14, Research In Motion Limited, bought up dozens of names through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.

The list of domains includes names like BlackBerryFlick.com (Whois), BlackBerryPeek.com (Whois), BlackBerryPlayOn.com (Whois), BlackBerryRemember.com (Whois), BBMVideo.com (Whois), BlackBerryStoryMaker.com (Whois), BlackBerryTimeShift.com (Whois), and BlackBerryVoiceControl.com (Whois).

The majority of the names were registered publicly to RIM, like BlackBerryPeek.com.

BlackBerryPeek.com

A handful of names like BlackBerryHub.net were registered anonymously using MarkMonitor’s Whois privacy service DNStination.

BlackBerryHub.net

Here’s a look at many of the new registrations:

bbmvideo.com
bbmvideo.net
bbmvideo.org
bbmvideo.biz
bbmvideo.info
bbmvideo.us
bbmvoice.net
bbmvoice.org
bbmvoice.biz
bbmvoice.info
bbmvoice.us
blackberry10os.us
blackberryflick.com
blackberryflick.net
blackberryflick.org
blackberryflick.biz
blackberryflick.info
blackberryflick.us
blackberryflow.net
blackberryflow.org
blackberryflow.biz
blackberryflow.info
blackberryflow.us
blackberryhub.net
blackberryhub.org
blackberryhub.biz
blackberryhub.info
blackberryhub.us
blackberrykeyboard.net
blackberrykeyboard.biz
blackberrykeyboard.info
blackberrykeyboard.us
blackberrynewsstand.net
blackberrynewsstand.org
blackberrynewsstand.biz
blackberrynewsstand.info
blackberrynewsstand.us
blackberrypeek.com
blackberrypeek.net
blackberrypeek.org
blackberrypeek.biz
blackberrypeek.info
blackberrypeek.us
blackberryplayon.com
blackberryplayon.net
blackberryplayon.org
blackberryplayon.biz
blackberryplayon.info
blackberryplayon.us
blackberryremember.biz
blackberryremember.info
blackberryremember.us
blackberrystorymaker.com
blackberrystorymaker.net
blackberrystorymaker.org
blackberrystorymaker.biz
blackberrystorymaker.info
blackberrystorymaker.us
blackberrytimeshift.com
blackberrytimeshift.net
blackberrytimeshift.org
blackberrytimeshift.biz
blackberrytimeshift.info
blackberrytimeshift.us
blackberryvoicecontrol.com
blackberryvoicecontrol.net
blackberryvoicecontrol.org
blackberryvoicecontrol.biz
blackberryvoicecontrol.info
blackberryvoicecontrol.us

At the time of this story being published, none of the domain names appear to resolve to a web page.

UPDATE 1 – SEP. 16, 2012:  You may have noticed that BlackBerryFlow.com was missing from the list.  The name was owned by Kevin Michaluk, the Founder and Editor In Chief of CrackBerry.com, as recent as July 2012.  According to Whois history, Research In Motion acquired the name from Michaluk in late July.  It’s unknown whether RIM paid cash for the name or if it was simply handed over.  CrackBerry.com is one of the most trafficked BlackBerry community sites on the internet.  Quantcast reports the site gets over 8 million monthly visitors.  I’ve reached out to Kevin by email to learn more about the transaction and will update this post if I hear back.

UPDATE 2 – SEP. 16, 2012: Kevin Michaluk was nice enough to provide a quick history on the domain in the comments below. You can also read about the domain BlackBerryFlow.com, along with information on the other names mentioned in this story in a CrackBerry.com post that was published earlier this evening.

Talking about this story: CrackBerry.com, CrackBerry.com Forums, N4BB BlackBerry Forums, BBin, BlackBerry Empire and BlackBerryOS.com

(Image of BlackBerry 10 Smartphone via N4BB)

Categories
Disputes News Technology WIPO

Research In Motion wins domain dispute over BlackBerry10.com, BlackBerry10.net

BlackBerry 10

Research In Motion will soon be in control of the domain names BlackBerry10.com and BlackBerry10.net, after a single-member arbitration panel with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ordered the names transferred to the device maker.

The dotcom URL has directed users to a Google 404 page for months, which triggered a discussion thread over at CrackBerry.com where one user joked that it meant that Google was clearly buying RIM.

BlackBerry 10 is the next operating system from RIM for its BlackBerry line of smartphones and tablets and it is expected to launch in 2013.

RIM has a lot riding on BlackBerry 10, so it makes sense as the company ratchets up its marketing strategy, that it owns the matching domains.  In this case, both names were owned by the same person, so RIM was able to file one complaint (WIPO Case D2012-1146).

At the time of this story, BlackBerry10.com continues to send visitors to a Google 404 error page.

Full details of the decision have not yet been published online.

(Image of BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour via BlackBerry.com)

Categories
News Technology

Research in Motion (RIM) acquires BlackBerrySpin.com domain name

BlackBerry Spin

BlackBerry Spin

It looks like Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) has privately registered the domain name BlackBerrySpin.com after it recently expired.

On March 25, 2012, the domain name BlackBerrySpin.com (Whois) was registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor, where other web properties that RIM owns like BlackBerryTablet.com (Whois) are managed.

As with any domain registration, it may be nothing more than a defensive measure to protect RIM’s intellectual property.  In fact, it may just be a reference to the BlackBerry PIN — the personal identification number assigned to each device.

RIM is also close to launching a new BlackBerry. 

According to Bloomberg, “Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) plans to give software developers prototypes for its new BlackBerry smartphone platform in early May, signaling RIM is a step closer to debuting a handset it’s betting on to lift sales.”

At the time of this story, the domain does not resolve to a web page nor has RIM announced anything about a “BlackBerry Spin” product.

[Updated 4:40pm Est:. It appears RIM acquired other domain names that had expired and were previously owned by the same registrant — LawleyCorp out of Canada.  RIM also got its hands on BlackBerryBytes.com (Whois) and  BlackBerryWhine.com (Whois).]

Discussion: Geeky Gadgets and N4BB

(Image of BlackBerry World Keynote via BlackBerry.com) 

Categories
News WIPO

Research In Motion files complaint with WIPO over BlackberryTablet.com

Blackberry Tablet

Research In Motion (RIM) filed a complaint this week with WIPO over BlackberryTablet.com, ahead of the company’s launch of its own tablet in early 2011.

Although Research In Motion has named its tablet, Playbook, the company is going after the owner of BlackberryTablet.com who first registered the domain name nearly 1 year ago on January 24, 2010. 

Ever since Apple introduced the iPad, tablets have been in demand, but this is the first such case filed with WIPO over a tablet domain name, but it likely won’t be the last.  According to the reports from CES 2011, over 80 tablet launches will be taking place in 2011. 

Research In Motion isn’t the only company missing its name

A quick glance at some of the bigger names launching tablets, shows that Research In Motion isn’t the only company who doesn’t own their name + tablet.  Only a handful of companies appear to have registered their name in time.  Not even the mighty Apple which leads the tablet market with its iPad owns Appletablet.com.  The domain name was first registered back in 2006 and serves as an online resource guide for Apple products.  Apple doesn’t own iPad.com either.

Motorola which is launching the Xoom in the first quarter of 2011 doesn’t own MotorolaTablet.com.   The owner has the name up for sale.

Toshiba missed registering its domain name.  Toshibatablet.com was registered in February 2010 to an Adam Feber who currently has the domain parked at GoDaddy.

Dell, so far, might be the only exception in the lot.  The company does own Delltablet.com and it redirects the domain to its homepage on Dell.com.  The company which launched its own tablet called “Streak” in 2010, also owns DellStreak.com.  And if Dell pays attention to the domain aftermarket, it has a chance of getting the generic domain streak.com, which has been put up for sale with a reserve price range of 10,000 – 24,999 EUR in the upcoming GreatDomains auction starting January 20th.

Samsungtablet.com, Panasonictablet.com – neither name is owned by the company and you’ll be hard pressed to find very many manufacturers that own their company name + tablet.

Research In Motion and WIPO

Research In Motion has filed dozens of complaints over the years with WIPO over domain names and it has had success in having a large portion of the names transferred.  Cases the company have won include RIM.com, researchinmotion.com, blackberryworld.com, blackberryguru.com, and dozens of other cases.

Currently, Research In Motion has other cases active with WIPO where a decision has not been made, including blackberrybing.com and blackberrybridge.com.

As the tablet market heats up, companies will be suiting up to duke it out with owners of domain names.

But there’s one domain owner who won’t have to worry about a battle – he’ll just have to worry whether to turn down huge offers or to develop the domain name into the top online tablet destination – Aron Meystedt of XF Investments who owns Tablets.com.    As I first reported in the beginning of November 2010, Aron who also owns the first .com domain ever registered (symbolics.com), acquired Tablets.com for an undisclosed amount.

If you’re actually curious about the Blackberry Playbook which is expected to be forthcoming in Q1 of 2011, here’s a preview of its features.