XM and QuickPlay Announce First Universally Available XM Radio for BlackBerry

“XM the nation’s leading provider of satellite radio with more than 9 million subscribers, and QuickPlay Media, the leader in mobile TV and video solutions, today announced that XM Radio Mobile has selected QuickPlay’s OpenVideo(TM) as the first media management platform to make XM Radio Mobile universally available on select BlackBerry(R) smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM). The service, which can run across major U.S. mobile service providers’ networks, enables consumers to get 20 exclusive XM channels of commercial-free music and 24-hour comedy programming for just $7.99 per month with an option for a complimentary 24-hour trial.The XM Radio Mobile offering provides BlackBerry smartphone users withunlimited access to a wide selection of the most popular commercial-freemusic channels, including XM’s 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s decade channels,20on20 (Top 20 Hits), Ethel (New Alternative Rock), The City (Hip-Hop/R&BHits), XMU (Indie Rock), Watercolors (Easy Jazz) and Highway 16 (NewCountry Hits). Customers can also listen to XM comedy channels, The Virus(outrageous uncensored talk) and XM Comedy (uncensored comedy). “Together with QuickPlay, XM Radio Mobile will provide BlackBerry userswith access to a compelling selection of XM’s acclaimed music and comedyprogramming virtually anywhere they go,” said Vernon Irvin, EVP and ChiefMarketing Officer, XM Satellite Radio. “Today’s announcement reinforcesXM’s commitment to making our industry-leading content available toconsumers in ways that fit their lifestyles.” All XM channels are easily accessed via a simple user interface withgraphical icons for content genres and channels. While listening to one XMRadio Mobile channel, users can see the song title, artist and album, aswell as what’s currently playing on other XM Radio Mobile channels.Subscribers can also multi-task as XM Radio Mobile can run in thebackground while the user accesses other data applications on theirBlackBerry smartphone. BlackBerry smartphones supported by the XM Mobile Radio service requireBlackBerry Device Software 4.2 or higher and include the BlackBerry(R) 8800Series, BlackBerry(R) 8700 Series, BlackBerry(R) Pearl(TM) Series andBlackBerry(R) Curve(TM) Series smartphones with a BlackBerry data plan onmajor U.S. mobile carrier networks. The service, and a complimentary24-hour trial, is available via a downloadable application that can beeasily accessed by visiting http://www.xmradio.com/bb from the BlackBerrysmartphone’s browser, or by texting “XM” to 47201 and clicking on thedownload link provided. Subscribers can opt to have their purchase chargedto their credit card or where available billed directly to their serviceprovider. “QuickPlay Media is thrilled to partner with XM, the leader in audioentertainment, to offer BlackBerry smartphone users the ability to easilydiscover and enjoy music and comedy from XM Radio Mobile, regardless ofwhich U.S. service provider they subscribe to,” said Wayne Purboo,president and CEO, QuickPlay Media. “Additionally, we are proud to continueto expand our portfolio of services for the BlackBerry platform, includingthe first audio streaming service for BlackBerry, called QuickPlayer; andthe first free video streaming service for BlackBerry, calledVideoStreams.”

LG Telecom may adopt Google platform for 3G data service

“South Korea’s LG Telecom Co. may adopt Google Inc.’s Android system for its third-generation mobile data services, its Chief Executive Jung Il-Jae said Thursday. “We’re adopting an open-standard software platform for our 3G data services and Google and other companies have already shown interest in us,” Jung told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a ceremony launching its new data services.”We’re willing to talk with foreign carriers and content providers to help spread mobile Internet services.”Android is an open-standard software platform for mobile phones developed by Google. ” via marketwatch.com

Upcoming Nokia E90 Firmware v200.34.72

v200 upgrade!! “Users of non-network branded Nokia E90s should check NSU right now. There’s a new firmware update, v200.34.72, with Flash Lite 3, a new Quickoffice, and more. More details below. No idea why they should jump from v7.4 right up to v200, though! Read on…. [Updated: the update seems to have been pulled]

  • Flash Lite 3 added, with Flash video support
  • Support for Web runtime is probably here as well, it tends to come along with FL3 – can anyone confirm this?
  • Maps won’t open (for me, at least), you get instructed to go to the web for the latest version. Clumsy. On the web, v1.0 is shown and v1.02 is served up, which at least installs and runs fine. I’m sure the latest v2.0 beta would, too.
  • New ‘Set up Internet telephony’ shortcut on standby screen
  • Includes Quickoffice 4.1.27.5, many enhancements over the old 3.85, although without the extra functions of the v4.5 and v5.0 paid upgrades. There are also extra options in Quickmanager, specifically more rebrands of Epocware products. The new Quickoffice is apparently back-ported from the version which will be standard in S60 3rd Edition FP2.
  • Application opening and booting seem faster. I don’t think that v200 has demand paging though – seems more like optimisations.
  • A boat load of bug fixes and tweaks. The ‘Today’/# bug in Calendar seems to have gone away. Anyone confirm this with a decent size Calendar dataset? Also, let’s hope Web is more stable!” More photos here: