A new report from Boy Genius Report asserts that the upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS, which has already been pushed back until late 2012, is basically a failure and won’t be able to compete with other modern smartphones operating systems. This is especially true when you consider more advancements to iOS, Android and Windows Phone 7 will come before BB10 hits shelves.

BGR’s anonymous inside source said that the PlayBook 2.0 OS, which will be released in February, is a window into what BlackBerry 10 will be. Looking through the window isn’t a pretty thing, though, because crucial things like native e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger still don’t work. “Email and PIM [is better] on an 8700 than it is on BlackBerry 10,” the source said. ”RIM is simply pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don’t have a working product yet.”

RIM, however, has responded to the report by saying it is inaccurate and says it that BlackBerry 10′s release date has been pushed back to ensure everything, including e-mail and Messenger, runs smoothly. The company’s (lengthy) official response sent to VentureBeat is below:

“RIM made a strategic decision to launch BlackBerry 10 devices with a new, LTE-based dual core chip set architecture. As explained on our earnings call, the broad engineering impact of this decision and certain other factors significantly influenced the anticipated timing for the BlackBerry 10 devices. The anonymous claim suggesting otherwise is inaccurate and uninformed. As RIM has previously explained, and as Mike Lazaridis reiterated on the earnings call, we will not launch BlackBerry 10 devices until we know they are ready and we believe this new chip set architecture is required to deliver the world class user experience that our customers will expect. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply false. We appreciate the interest in our future platform and we will continue to work hard to deliver that platform as soon as possible. At the same time, we also remain very excited with the success of our recently launched BlackBerry 7 smartphones and we believe these products offer a very compelling choice for both new customers and the almost 75 million BlackBerry users around the world.”

It’s hard to tell what exactly is happening behind the scenes, but at this point, I’m willing to give RIM the benefit of the doubt on this. Yes, at this point, the BB10 OS is probably terrible and undercooked. But RIM has already set expectations low and has another year to deliver its savior OS on time within company projections.

CNET has decided to say that BGR’s report means that Co-CEOs Lazaridis (pictured) and Jim Balsillie are “lying” about the reason for the delay of BlackBerry 10 until the end of 2012. As seen in the offical statement above, RIM says the delay is because of a new chip, but BGR’s source says it’s the under-baked software.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say the company is flat-out lying. If the goal is to have an advanced integrated chipset with LTE and a great new OS, that doesn’t mean the delay can’t be for both reasons.

Filed under: mobile, VentureBeat

From VentureBeat

Clearly, the numbers show that iPhone consumers are using their devices for games, while Android users are using other kinds of apps. Xyologic, a research firm that indexes and search mobile app stores, reported that the number of app downloads on the Apple iTunes App Store for the top 150 titles in the U.S. more than doubled in 2011 to 97 million from 37 million a year earlier. On Android, the number of app downloads for the top 150 grew four-fold in 2011 to 125 million from 29 million a year earlier.

In the Apple App Store in the U.S., 100 of the top 150 downloads were games, while the remaining 50 were non-game apps. On the Android Market in the U.S., the number of games in the top 150 was 65. Game downloads on Apple outnumbered other apps by a three-to-one margin, or 71.5 million downloads for games versus 25.6 million for non-game apps. On Android, there were 91.5 million non-game app downloads, compared to 33.4 million game downloads.

On Apple, the game “usage is mostly driven by game publishers who find Apple’s system working well for their business model,” said Matthaus Krzykowski, co-founder of Xyologic. On Android, payment issues held back game publishers from fully embracing the platform, he said. He said that the dominant form of monetization on Android is advertising, with less emphasis on free-to-play, where users play for free and purchase virtual goods with real money. Game publishers on iOS have shifted to the more lucrative free-to-play model.

Here are the top 25 downloaded publishers on Android in 2011, with links going the traffic descriptions for each publisher.

Google, Facebook, Rovio, Adobe, DroidHen Casual, Outfit7, Magma Mobile, Glu Mobile, Go Dev Team, Kittehface Software, Skype, Notes, Nikolay Ananiev, Swiss Codemonkeys, NHN Corporation, Yahoo, Handcent, Pandora, Al Factory Limited, Kaufcom Games Apps Widgets, Verizon Wireless, Runnergames, Backflip Studios, Polarbit.

And here are the top 25 downloaded app publishers on the iPhone in 2011. All but one of these are game publishers (Burbn is the creator of Instagram).

Glu Mobile, Gameloft, Big Fish Games, Rovio, Capcom, Chilingo, Storm8/(TeamLava), Outfit7, Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts BV, Gamevil, Halfbrick Studios, DeNa/(Backflip Studios/Ngmoco), Zynga/Newtoy, NaturalMotion, Pocket Gem/(Streetview Labs), Tencent, NimbleBit, PopCap, Playforge, Clickgamer, Com2uS, Burbn, Orangenose Studios.

Xyologic also released the November top download data for both the iPhone and Android. On iOS, Zynga’s Words With Friends free-to-play app was No. 1 with 3 million downloads, followed by Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift from Chillingo and 101-in1 Games by Nordcurrent. On Android, Facebook was the top app in November, with 5.3 million downloads, followed by Brightest Flashlight Free and Facebook Messenger.

[Disclosure: Xyologic cofounder Matthaus Krzykowski was previously VentureBeat’s advisor on mobile issues and remains an occasional contributor.]

Filed under: games, mobile

From VentureBeat

On the bright side, $41 million certainly gives a company room to experiment, and Color executives have promised that improvements will come quickly.

Color is a photo/video app. The idea is to organize photos and videos by events and groups, rather than by user– so that you can see all the photos taken at a party you attended, even if you aren’t friends with some of the photographers. Color is also supposed to become smarter about who your friends are as it sees where you use the app and with whom.

After watching co-founder and president Peter Pham’s demo last week, I thought that Color offered a really promising model for social interaction on phones. Once I downloaded the app for myself, however, I was left scratching my head about what exactly to do, especially when there was no one using the app with me.

The Palo Alto, Calif. startup released an update today with significant improvements for Apple’s iOS devices (the Android update is planned for tomorrow). There are now new icons for navigating the photos — you can see photos from events that are “Nearby”, a “Feed” of relevant photos, and a “History” of groups that you participated in. And yes, there are actually words underneath each of the icons explaining what they do, so you don’t have to stare at icons and wonder. Color says that the update also improves the app’s speed.

Even though these changes are relatively superficial, I’m still encouraged. By making it a little easier to navigate, Color is taking a step in the right direction, though there’s still lots of room for improvement. Pham has admitted that there were problems with the user interface and promised that there are more updates coming soon.

Calling all mobile executives: This April 25-26, VentureBeat is hosting its inaugural VentureBeat Mobile Summit, where we’ll debate the five key business and policy challenges facing the mobile industry today. Participants will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. The invitation-only event, located at the scenic and relaxing Cavallo Point Resort in Sausalito, Calif., is limited to 180 mobile executives, investors and policymakers. We’ve pretty much finalized the invite list, but have a few spots left. Request an invitation.

Companies: Color

People: Bill Nguyen, Peter Pham

This is a big change in Acer’s strategy. The company has previously focused on the high-volume consumer PC business, trying and failing for a long time to overtake Hewlett-Packard as the number one PC manufacturer.

The CEO responsible for the previous strategy, Gianfranco Lanci, resigned yesterday after many disappointing months. During the fourth quarter of last year Dell overtook Acer as the number 2 PC maker in the world. This year did not start well either: Acer’s stock price has plummeted 22 percent since March 25 when the company slashed its first-quarter sales forecast.

Now the company is leaving cheap consumer notebooks and the quest for market share behind. It is focusing on profitability.

“There is good consensus among the board members that the tablet is the way to go,” Chief Financial Officer Tu Che-min told Bloomberg.

It’s no wonder tech companies would like to be like Apple with high margins and desirable products. According to Bloomberg, Apple had 21.5 percent profit margin last year. Acer had 2.3 percent. But it’s not easy to transform a company from a mass producer of netbooks to a high-margin brand. Acer knows that, and that’s why it is searching for a new CEO who is a leading player in smartphones and tablets.

Moving to tablets won’t be an easy task. Apple dominates the market with the iPad, and the competition is fierce. Motorola’s Xoom, BlackBerry’s Playbook, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab and HP TouchPad are just some of the devices trying to find their place in the market. Acer has its own Picasso tablet that uses the Android operating system, but there in no information available on the release date or pricing.

Tags: Galaxy Tab, iPad, market share, pc, PlayBook, tablet

Companies: Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, HTC, Samsung

People: Gianfranco Lanci, Tu Che-min

Via VentureBeat

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak definitely wants a Verizon iPhone. He’s a big gadget fan and thinks that Verizon is the best cell phone network in the United States. He is excited about the mobile hot spot since the connectivity saves him on occasion. Wozniak is a fan of choice. He said he doesn’t like it that the Android phones have had the Verizon network all to themselves. He also can’t wait to get the 4G LTE version at some point in the future and would love to have a phone that could access two different networks.

We caught up with him today at the press event for the Computer History Museum’s Revolution Exhibit, which opens Thursday in Mountain View, Calif. Check out the video of the ever-talkative Woz.

Tags: iPhone, Verizon iPhone

Companies: Apple, Computer History Museum

People: Steve Wozniak