MySpace app for BlackBerry a RIM record-breaker
Remember that little old BlackBerry app for MySpace that premiered last week? Apparently it struck a chord with users because RIM reported just after midnight on Friday (EST), that it hosted more downloads for the product's first week than it has for any other app.
While 400,000 downloads in one week for the BlackBerry-compatible MySpace software is a drop in the bucket compared to Firefox 3's 1 million downloads in 24 hours, it did beat out the initial release of RIM's Facebook app.
RIM did not reply with comparative numbers.
In a statement, RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie regards the download count as a proof of "an evolving consumer lifestyle where social connectivity and information access are more important than ever." Yet, the spike could as easily correspond to a more concerted marketing push, to a growing adoption of BlackBerry phones among consumers versus business users, or to first-time BlackBerry owners responding to the sexier looks of the Bold and Storm.
Either way, RIM has a lot of work to do if it wants to join Mozilla in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Give RIM a break...it's obvious after reading these kinds of points and the CNET BB Storm review that most everyone at CNET is Apple/iPhone biased and will basically put down anything RIM does by drawing some meaningless correlation to something that does not fit into the same category. Read the BB Storm CNET review! Wow...you can't get much more superficial than that. "The keyboard is cramped"...what? Have you used the iPhone? The iPhone keyboard is about half the size. Tried typing on a Pearl? At best it's 25% of the size of the Storm's.
Anyway, I'm an iPhone user...but I still appreciate the efforts of the BB RIM. It's great for it's audience and is a major step forward for RIM. I just hate to see reviewers just skim the surface in racing to put out a review. It's like reviewing a new Ferrari F430 for a auto magazine and spending the entire time talking about the color of the car...skipping over the engineering and tech altogether. It just doesn't make sense! I hope CNET will make an effort to provide more in-depth reviews...or not place reviews online that simple scrape the surface.