Native Google Play app heading to BlackBerry 10?

It's no secret that those on BlackBerry 10 have taken to sideloading Android apps onto their BlackBerry 10 devices to fill the app void. Sheesh, one of the first things I did when I started using my Z30 was sideload Instagram onto it! Well, we have some good news care of a few leaked images that turned up in CrackBerry forums earlier: images of Google's PlayStore running natively on a BlackBerry 10 device. 

Say it ain't so? Could an influx of apps be coming to the little ecosystem that could? Highly unlikely. Word that came with the image above is that the next iteration of BB10, BB10.2, could come with the Google Play store as a native app. 

Or this could be a clever sideload job to trick everyone. No comment from Google or BlackBerry, yet, but that doesn't mean they don't intend on commenting either.

Stay tuned...

via [CrackBerry forums]

The Pro's and Con's of: buying a "Smart TV"

If any of you follow my technological meanderings, you'll know I also write about technology for Toronto-based Notable.ca, the website run by - and made for - young professionals. Last week I posted about my time using a monstrous 80" Smart TV from Sharp and it had me thinking: rather than regurgitating my work, site to site, why not take some of my posts on other sites and turn them into something creative here? So I am. Starting today, I am going to write a quick, easy to use, pros and cons post focused on emerging and innovative technologies that I get to spend time with.  Something you can use as a cheat sheet; print it out and take with you the next time you're shopping for said product. 

Click to read more ...

Thorsten Heins out as BlackBerry President & CEO

By Corey Herscu

(Pictured above: Now former BlackBerry President and CEO, Thorsten Heins (right) and Rogers President and CEO, Nadir Mohamed (left) at the Rogers launch of the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone)

Today did not turn out, at all, how anyone would have expected. On the morning that many anticipated Waterloo-based BlackBerry Ltd. would accept the nine-dollar-per-share Fairfax offer, something else happened: a very public corporate shakeup. On the chopping block? BlackBerry President and CEO Thorsten Heins. 

According to reports from the Globe and Mail, BlackBerry has officially axed Thorsten Heins, a few of it's directors, and will be shuffling its board a bit.

Further, after searching for months to find a suitor, BlackBerry has apparently declared that they’ve abandoned their plans to sell, specifically the $4.7-billion with Fairfax Financial, and will forge ahead in the smartphone and OS race will plans to raise $1 billion in funding.

Who saw this coming? Stay tuned for more....

via The Globe

A native Instagram app for BlackBerry 10? Say it ain't so!

You read the link right. but it's not what you're thinking; or is it?

BlackGram, the first native instagram substitute for BlackBerry 10, has finally arrived in BlackBerry World for download and offers many of the features we have come to appreciate from the real-deal including:

• Account creation
• Profile picture change
• Full browsing: followers, following, liked.
• Search users and tags
• Like, unlike, comment, follow and unfollow
• Select a picture from your albums or take a photo with the camera
• Edit the image with the integrated editor and native filters
• Original Instagram filters (server-side)

However, of course, because it's not official from Burbn (makers of Instagram), there are a few caveats to overcome: because of the costs associated with running the image-processing server, the app isn't free; also, related to the aforementioned server, processed images take a bit longer to show up in your feed.

Aside from the above, it's the best alternative to the sometimes buggy sideload options presently available to BlackBerry diehards. Being said, go buy it, and support the hardworking devs who made this app possible!

via CrackBerry