Aviate Beta Invites Went Out Today, We Have Two to Give Away

Alright folks here we go, we have two Aviate invites to give out to our readers. There's going to be a little work on your part,

1. +1 this post 

2. share this post with either Facebook or Google+

3. comment on this post

Ok folks let the games begin...

Source: Google Play Store

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Gives Farewell Speech

Ballmer hinted in the memo for his abrupt leaving announcement, and in subsequent interviews, that the timing for his exit wasn't his choice. Asked if it was a sudden decision in an interview with ZDNet, Ballmer said: "I would say for me, yeah, I've thought about it for a long time, but the timing became more clear to me over the course of the last few months."

Picking (I've Had) The Time of My Life as his sign-off song, Ballmer choked back the tears to tell the equally emotional audience, "Microsoft is like a fourth child for me. Children leave the home, but I guess in this case I'm leaving the home."

His emotional reaction and speech again suggest that Ballmer's Microsoft exit isn't of his own volition, although this isn't the first time Ballmer has had emotional outpourings on stage.

Equity Firm Looks To Take BlackBerry Private

BlackBerry has signed preliminary paperwork with a consortium of equity companies that could lead to the company going private, reports the Globe and Mail. Fairfax Financial Holdings has cobbled together a handful of companies and offered $9 per share for BlackBerry, valuing the smartphone maker at about $4.7 billion. "BlackBerry has fallen on hard times recently, but we have every confidence it will be successful again," said Fairfax CEO Prem Watsa. "We're trying to make sure it remains in whole in Canada. We're looking at any possibility for the good of the company, its customers and its employees." BlackBerry announced that it is exploring strategic options for the business following poor adoption of its BlackBerry 10 platform.

BlackBerry Pauses BBM Release For Android And iOS

BlackBerry has released an official statement in regards to the BBM for Android and iOS delay, below you can read the statement from BlackBerry.

Prior to launching BBM for Android, an unreleased version of the BBM for Android app was posted online. The interest and enthusiasm we have seen already more than 1.1 million active users in the first 8 hours without even launching the official Android app is incredible. Consequently, this unreleased version caused issues, which we have attempted to address throughout the day.

Our teams continue to work around the clock to bring BBM to Android and iPhone, but only when it’s ready and we know it will live up to your expectations of BBM. We are pausing the global roll-out of BBM for Android and iPhone. Customers who have already downloaded BBM for iPhone will be able to continue to use BBM. The unreleased Android app will be disabled, and customers who downloaded it should visit www.BBM.com to register for updates on official BBM for Android availability.


When the Apps go live be sure to follow the links for a direct link to the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store download page.


We also got out hands on the official, unofficially release Android APK. If your interested in taking it for a spin message us....

Nestle Outs October Android KitKat Launch

Nestle Germany's Facebook account for Kit Kat has been taking full advantage of the increased traffic this Android partnership is getting it, and has been posting all sorts of teasers for the upcoming platform release. Of course, that’s going to attract as many smartphone fans as candy fans, and the company’s been fielding comments from both.

In response to a query about the software release, Nestle posts through this Kit Kat account that "Android 4.4 KitKat will be available in October".


Source: Nestle Kit Kat (Facebook page)

Quickoffice For Android And iOS Available For Free

Google has announced, starting today we’re making Quickoffice for Android and iOS available for free, for everyone. With Quickoffice, you can edit Microsoft® Office documents across your devices, giving you the freedom to work with anyone no matter what hardware or software they’re using.  Plus, it’s integrated with Google Drive storage so you can safely access your files from anywhere. Also, if you sign in to your Google Account from the new Quickoffice app for Android or iOS by September 26, 2013, you'll get an extra 10GB of Google Drive storage for two years, which will be added to your account in the next few weeks.


Download Quickoffice for Android: http://goo.gl/Y5TQxz 
Download Quickoffice for iPhone and iPad: http://goo.gl/m21Uhp 

*UPDATED* BBM Coming To Android And iOS, Is It To Late For BlackBerry

BlackBerry has confirmed that it will release BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iPhone later this week. The BBM for Android app is expected to be available starting at 7:00 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 21, while BBM for iPhone will hit the App Store at 12:01 a.m. local time on Sept. 22. BlackBerry notes that BBM for Android will require version 4.0 or higher. BBM for iPhone will be available to users on iOS 6 and iOS 7.

BBM for Android and iPhone features:

• BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
• Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
• Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
• Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don’t have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.

BBM gives you a private social network for active, real conversations and it has more than 60 million customers on BlackBerry alone. The overwhelming majority use BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. BBM customers collectively send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps. Messages on BBM are typically read within seconds, reflecting how truly engaged BBM customers are.

• It’s immediate. BBM is always on so you are always connected. And because messages on BBM are typically delivered and read within seconds, it’s the closest thing to a live conversation.
• You trust it. BBM always tells you that messages are delivered and read. BBM conversations come alive on a private network you can count on.
• You control it. BBM allows you to choose your contacts and how you share your information. BBM uses a PIN so you don’t have to give anyone your phone number or email address.

Update: You can now download and install BBM for Android by following the link. However BBM will not finish the setup process but will allow you to download and install on your device. We'll keep you posted on details.

Source: Inside BlackBerry

Sprint Acquires Handmark To Boost Advertising Services

Sprint has acquired Handmark, reports AllThingsD. Handmark is a mobile app and services company perhaps most well known for its Pocket Express app for Palm smartphones. In recent years, Handmark has turned toward mobile advertising, and it is this expertise that attracted Sprint's attention. "As a long-time partner of Sprint, we've worked together on some of the mobile industry's most successful initiatives," said Handmark founder and CEO Augie Grasis. "Joining forces is a natural progression to our relationship and will help scale our mobile media business." Sprint will put Handmark's assets to use with its Pinsight Media advertising unit.


Source: AllThingsD

Google Wallet For iOS Now Available For Download

Google today launched an iOS version of its mobile payments app. The official Google Wallet app is now available for download in the App Store, complete with many of the same features included with the recent Android app update.

Once installed, the Google Wallet app for iOS allows users to send money to other people with a valid email address, add loyalty cards and offers to the app and scan credit and debit cards that can then be used to send money and make online purchases. Google Wallet requires iOS 6 or later and is compatible with the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad.


Source: Apple App Store

Google Acquires Mobile Sharing App Bump

Bump, the mobile app that lets users share photos, videos, contacts, files and more by physically bumping their devices together, today announced it is joining Google. There’s not many details about the acquisition in a short message posted on Bump’s website by its CEO and cofounder David Lieb, but it does confirm that “the Bump team is joining Google.”

"Our mission at Bump has always been to build the simplest tools for sharing the information you care about with other people and devices.  We strive to create experiences that feel like magic, enabled behind the scene with innovations in math, data processing, and algorithms.  So we couldn’t be more thrilled to join Google, a company that shares our belief that the application of computing to difficult problems can fundamentally change the way that we interact with one another and the world."

Bump says it uses “math, data processing, and algorithms” to allow users to share data wirelessly through its mobile app, but didn’t share how Google might take advantage of the technology. Lieb confirmed that Bump, and the company’s photo sharing app Flock, “will continue to work as they always have for now; stay tuned for future updates.



Google Play Store App link
Apple iTunes App link
Bump website link