The replay of my BlackBerry Live presentation with Brian Scheirer and Suavek Zajac can now be viewed on the BlackBerry Live site.
A recording of the presentation along with the slides can be found on the right side of this page. You can also download the full Powerpoint slides and the complete source code of the sample app.
Last week while in Orlando I had the opportunity to talk with Adam from CrackBerry. We talk about my history of writing BlackBerry apps, some of the new announcements made at the event, and I show off my Starbeams game.
Yesterday I was interviewed by Michael Li of The Gadget Masters. I show off a few of my BlackBerry 10 apps including the soon to be released, version 3.3 of Pixelated.
The above video is the talk I gave this spring at Rochester BarCamp on why selling apps is an international business. The full slides from this presentation are available for viewing online at ebscer.com/BarCampSpring2012/presentation.html
Twinkle, which was named a Regional Selections Winner in the 2010 BlackBerry Super Apps Challenge, has now been updated to version 2.0 in BlackBerry AppWorld. The new version of Twinkle includes the ability to import events into Twinkle from the Calendar, integrate with Universal Search, and navigate through the application with keyboard shortcuts. Additionally the update includes a few bug fixes, and the option to use yellow as a background colour.
Twinkle is a simple application that allows you to set and keep track of upcoming and past events. Twinkle will tell you how far away an event is, and allow you to add it to your BlackBerry’s calendar. Twinkle gives you the ability to add and edit events, lets you keep track of how soon something is, or how long it has been.
While it has always been possible to send a copy of new Twinkle events to the calendar, in Version 2.0 it is now possible to import existing Calendar events to Twinkle. This is done by adding a menu option to the calendar, and is demonstrated in the video below.
On BlackBerry devices running OS6, Twinkle will now integrate with Universal Search. The titles of the events will be searchable at any time, and will allow you to open up Twinkle straight to that event.
Also new in this version are keyboard shortcuts, for all full-qwerty BlackBerry devices. ‘e’ and ‘enter’ both open up the currently selected event for editing. ‘c’ allows you to create a new event. ‘n’ moves the selection to the next event, while ‘p’ moves the selection to the previous event.
Twinkle supports all BlackBerry devices running OS 5.0 or higher. This includes the 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 8910, 9000, 9100, 9105, 9300, 9330, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, 9670, 9700, 9780, and 9800.
Liar’s Dice is a recently released game for BlackBerry that is based off of the classic dice game of strategy and deception. The game involves seeing only your own dice you must bet on the combined dice in play without getting caught in a lie. It is also known by the names Perudo, Dudo, and Cachito. Version 1.1 of the application adds support for more devices as well as a few additional features.
BlackBerry Curve 85xx and 93xx devices as well as the Bold 9000 are now supported (although still requiring a minimum operating system of version 5.0). In addition, the application has been optimized to run smoother, make the dice roll animation optional, add icons to the menu options, as well as a few bug fixes.
The object of the game is to catch your opponent (the computer) betting too high. Bets are placed on both your own dice which you can see, and your opponent’s dice which are hidden from you. You begin each round by making a bet. The computer then has an opportunity to either call your bet a lie, or to bet higher then you. Then it is once again your turn to call your opponent’s bet or to bet even higher. This continues until eventually a bet is called. Then if the bet is too high the caller wins, or if the bet is not a lie, the bettor wins the round.
The game has two main game modes. The “High Score” mode is the default mode, points are awarded for each round, and the first to gain a given number of points wins. The amount of points that the game plays to can be selected from the options page, allowing for shorter or longer games.
The second game mode is an “Elimination” mode in which the loser of each round loses one dice for the following rounds, and the last player with any dice left is the winner. This game is more dynamic as there are a different number of dice in play each round. Additionally these games in this mode typically play faster than high score games.
Version 1.1 of Liars Dice requires at least OS 5.0 and supports the 8520, 8530, 8900, 8910, 9000, 9300, 9330, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, 9700, and 9800. It is anticipated that the 9780 will be compatible as well when it releases early next month.
Today Research in Motion showed a preview of their upcoming Webkit based browser which at the end scores a 100/100 on the Acid3 test. Video demo below.
BlackBerry has come along way in regards to the Acid3 test in a short amount of time. When I first looked at the BlackBerry’s performance on the Acid3 test 9 and a half months ago it only scored a 54/100. Then along with the release of OS 5.0 just 4 months ago BlackBerry improved to 91/100 on the Acid3 test. It has since improved so that it now scores a 93/100.
Now it looks as if they have aced the test, and even more importantly is the speed at which it passes. Currently it takes over a minute to get to the full score, the speed in the video is much quicker than that. Overall javascript speed in the browser looks to be much improved, as well as pan/zoom speeds. Overall it looks to be a great improvement coming to the BlackBerry Browser, and hopefully will be released soon.
10,000 Farkle is a dice game that requires both skill and luck. Points are awarded for various dice combinations, but if a roll fails to contain any combinations the turn ends with no points awarded.
4 Game Modes
-10 Turns
-10,000 points
-local pvp
-vs cpu
10,000 Farkle is available for the BlackBerry Storm, Tour, Bold, and all versions of the Curve with at least OS 4.6. The full list of supported devices are the 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, and 9700.
Farkle gives you six dice to roll and awards points for a straight, three pairs or three or more of the same number. Fewer points ares also awarded for each individual 1 and 5. Any dice that do not score can be re-rolled for additional points. If all 6 dice can be scored, all of the dice can be re-rolled on the same turn.
The skill in this game comes from knowing how far to push your luck, and which scoring combinations to take, and which to re-roll.
The default game mode gives you 10 turns to score as many points as you can. The 10,000 point mode is the traditional way to play, where the goal is to reach 10,000 points in as few turns as possible. The two competitive game modes “vs Friend” and “vs Computer” both use the traditional race to 10,000 points.
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