Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on wining Lord Stanley’s Cup. With the season over the Hockey Scores Application won’t be of too much use over the summer. However it will return with a new version next season updated and refreshed and ready for a new year. Thank you to everyone who made use of this application over its inaugural season.
Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup
Pixelated Plus celebrates one year anniversary
Today Pixelated Plus celebrates its first anniversary, after first becoming available in BlackBerry AppWorld on May 31st, 2009. Originally only available for the BlackBerry Storm only three copies were bought the first day. Now Pixelated Plus is the 15th most popular application in AppWorld, and supports 15 different BlackBerrys. We would like to thank all of those who have supported Pixelated Plus over its first year.
Pixelated and Pixelated Plus for Pearl 9100 and 9105
Pixelated and Pixelated Plus have both been upgraded to version 2.1 adding support for the new BlackBerry Pearl 9100 and 9105.
This version also adds an internal link for email support, as well as a few bugfixes.
The full list of supported devices for Pixelated and Pixelated Plus now include the 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9100, 9105, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, and 9700 (min OS 4.6).
The object of the game is to change the colour of the squares until the entire screen is a single solid colour. This is done by using the coloured buttons on the bottom of the screen to change the colour of the square in the upper left hand corner to that of those surrounding it. Changing this square to the colour of those around it, allows it to slowly grow until it fills the entire screen. The ultimate goal is to clear the screen in as few moves as possible.
BlackBerry OS adoption updates
As an update to our look on BlackBerry OS5 adoption rates, in April the 9530 saw 81.4% of users running OS 5. We first looked at this issue in Novemeber and again in January.
Using our data BlackBerry Cool has showed a comparison between between the first month of OS 5.0 on the Storm and on the Tour. The early upgrade rate on the Tour has been quicker, but at only 71.1% it is well behind where the 9530 is today.
Meanwhile Al Sacco has acquired some data on the overall OS marketshare. While the data reflects our statistics of decent upgrade rates on the Storm and Tour, it also shows plenty of 4.5 and 4.6.1 systems still around. 44% are still using OS4.5 or earlier which means that for alot of people their operating system is over two years old, and prevents them from using a single one of our products.
10,000 Farkle Version1.1
10,000 Farkle has been updated to version 1.1 adding some new features. 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.
New to 10,000 Farkle are in game achievements, backup/synchronization, smoother animation, and the option to turn animation on and off.
Smoother Animation
Version 1.1 of 10,000 Farkle smooths out the animation of the dice rolling to give the game a better flow.
Achievements
New to version 1.1 are in game achievements. They can be an easy way to track your progress through the game, and to show off your accomplishments to others.
Backup/Synchronization
10,000 Farkle now offers backup/restore synchronization through BlackBerry Desktop Manager. This allows you to back up your settings, achievements, and high scores to your computer and to allow them to be kept if your BlackBerry needs to be reset or if you upgrade to a new model.
How to play
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.
Supported Devices
10,000 Farkle requires a minimum OS of 4.6 and supports the 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, and 9700.
More Information
Video Demonstration
Pixelated adds support for Bold and Curve with Version 2.0
The free game Pixelated, one of the ten most popular games in BlackBerry AppWorld, and currently the fourth ranking free application has been upgraded to version 2.0. This new version adds support for the BlackBerry Curve and Bold so that the application now supports almost all devices. The full list of supported devices now includes 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9650, 9700 (min OS 4.6).
The new version of the application also adds a number of new features, including such as an Achievement system, and the ability to backup/synchronize game settings.
Greater Device support
All versions of the BlackBerry Curve and Bold are now supported, in addition to the devices that already were. This brings the full list of supported devices to the following: 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, and 9700. The game will also support the 9650 when it launches.
Achievements
In game achievements can be an easy way to track your progress through the game, and to show off your accomplishments to others.
Synchronization
Pixelated Plus now offers backup/restore synchronization through BlackBerry Desktop Manager. This allows you to back up your settings and achievements to your computer and to allow them to be kept if your operating system needs to be reset or upgraded.
Interface Improvements
Parts of the interface have been upgraded for a better and easier experience. Additionally theme support has been greatly expanded so that Pixelated now works with a greater number of custom themes.
Pixelated Plus Version 2.0
Pixelated Plus Version 2.0 is now available for download from BlackBerry AppWorld. This version comes with a number of improvements ranging from greater device support to achievements and synchronization, to the much requested move counter.
Move Counter
A move counter has been by far one of the most requested enhancements to Pixelated. While it has no effect on the gameplay it can help you know how well the current game is going so you can better manage your moves. The move counter can be turned on from the options menu.
Greater Device support
All versions of the BlackBerry Curve and Bold are now supported, in addition to the devices that already were. This brings the full list of supported devices to the following: 8330, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, and 9700. The game will also support the 9650 when it launches.
Achievements
In game achievements can be an easy way to track your progress through the game, and to show off your accomplishments to others. While Version 2.0 will keep any best scores and statistics earned in early versions of the game, all achievements must be earned after the upgrade to version 2.0
Synchronization
Pixelated Plus now offers backup/restore synchronization through BlackBerry Desktop Manager. This allows you to back up your settings and statistics to your computer and to allow them to be kept if your operating system needs to be reset or upgraded.
Interface Improvements
Parts of the interface have been upgraded for a better and easier experience. Additionally theme support has been greatly expanded so that Pixelated now works with a greater number of custom themes.
Slow OS 5.0 adoption rate
The adoption rate for BlackBerry OS 5.0 continues to be slower than expected. When first looked at one month after release 61% of 9530 users had upgraded to OS 5.0.
An update to this study shows that the adoption of OS 5.0 is now up to 73%.
Still more than 1 in 4 users have still not updated to the newer OS, and at this point seem unlikely to do so.
Future BlackBerry Browser scores 100/100 on the Acid3 test
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.
OS 5.0 on the BlackBerry Curve 8330
A few models of the BlackBerry Curve 8330 are now being upgraded to operating system 5.0 which will make them compatible with the Hockey Scores and 10,000 Farkle applications. As this is older hardware, the applications may run a bit slower, but we are still happy to add compatibility for these very popular devices.
Hockey Scores updated to Version 1.6
Hockey Scores for Blackberry has been upgraded to version 1.6 for all supported devices, and is now available for free through BlackBerry AppWorld.
The Hockey Scores app that is the simplest and most effective way to get NHL scores from across the league straight to your BlackBerry. It is lightweight and fast in order to give you scores and statistics can be updated as quick as possible, and require no effort your part.
Version 1.6 of Hockey Scores is supported on all BlackBerry Devices with OS 4.6 or newer. This makes the upgrade available to everyone who previously used version 1.3 or 1.5 of the application. The full list of supported devices at this point include the 8220, 8230, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, and 9700.
10,000 Farkle released for BlackBerry
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.
Hockey Scores for BlackBerry updated to Version 1.5
Hockey Scores for Blackberry has been upgraded to version 1.5 for all supported devices, and is now available for free through BlackBerry AppWorld. In addition to resolving the issue the caused the service to temporally go down, a number of new features were added improving the battery life and providing additional game statistics.
The Hockey Scores app that is the simplest and most effective way to get NHL scores from across the league straight to your BlackBerry. It is lightweight and fast in order to give you scores and statistics can be updated as quick as possible, and require no effort your part.
New Features
- Improved Battery Life
- Face Off Percentage
- Hits
- Corsi Number
- List of Goal Scorers
- French Language Support
- Font and Colour options
Supported Devices
Version 1.5 of Hockey Scores is supported on all BlackBerry Devices with OS 4.6 or newer. This makes the upgrade available to everyone who used version 1.3 of the application. The full list of supported devices at this point include the 8220, 8230, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, and 9700.
Corsi Number
Unlike Hits and Shots on Net, Corsi Number is a bit of a more unknown statistic and could use some additional explanation. In short it is a measure of how much offensive possession a team has. The Corsi Number is named after Buffalo Sabres goaltending coach Jim Corsi who helped popularize the statistic. The Corsi Number is calculated as the differential in shots, including not just shots on net, but also missed shots, and attempts blocked. This can be calculated for either individual players or the for the team as a whole. The Hockey Scores application calculates this for the team, and also displays a “-” rather than any negative Corsi number in order to avoid overstating the difference between the two teams, as technically one team’s Corsi number is always the inverse of the other team’s.
Pearl Flip note
The Peral Flip version of Hockey Scores for the BlackBerry 8220 and 8230 does not display the goal scorers due to limitations in the screen size. All other statistics and options are however included.
BlackBerry OS 5.0 adoption rates
On October 26th Verizon made OS 5.0 officially available for the Storm 9530. Simply having the a newer and better operating system available however does not mean that people will actually use it.
Given that we had a large amount of data available from users who downloaded the popular Pixelated application, this was used to analyze the uptake of OS 5.0 among this population.
A few notes on the sample set. Only Verizon customers using the original storm 9530 were looked at so that different roll out dates from other carriers would not affect the data. OS 5.0 had already been out a full work week before the start of this data to give a reasonable amount of time for those who wanted to upgrade to have that opportunity. Pixelated had already been available for the Storm for awhile at this point so these numbers are not skewed towards early adapters nor are the numbers skewed towards those that don’t know how to use their phones as all, as this population has gone and downloaded a third party application. Data from the beginning of the month and the end of the month were treated the same.
The findings showed an OS 5.0 adoption rate of 61% on the BlackBerry 9530 over the month of November. While this is well over half, given the many noticeable improvements on OS 5.0 it is surprising to see the number of users still on 4.7
Hockey Scores BlackBerry App
Now available for free in BlackBerry App World is the Hockey Scores app that is the quickest and most effective way to get NHL scores from across the league straight to your phone.
This is done in a simple and efficient way so that the scores can be updated as quick as possible, and require no effort your part.
The application is now available through BlackBerry AppWorld and supports most devices running OS 4.6 or newer. Supported devices include the Pearl Flip, Bold, Tour, Storm, and most Curve models. The full list of supported devices include the 8220, 8230, 8350i, 8520, 8530, 8900, 9000, 9500, 9520, 9530, 9550, 9630, 9700