Microsoft to Bring Old Titles to Smartphones

A fake Blackberry app appeared on the Google Play Store and quickly attracted a lot of downloads. Blackberry had announced earlier in the summer that it was bringing its Blackberry Messenger service to Android and to iOS but did not say when. A cunning developer took advantage and uploaded a bogus app which was soon removed from the Google Play Store.

BBM is the popular Messenger service that Blackberry is bringing to both iOS and Android / © BlackBerry

The bogus application carried the name "Blackberry Messenger BBM". The first warning sign that the app was indeed a fake was the developer name which was listed at RIM. As many people know the company Research in Motion changed its name to Blackberry earlier this year.
Hundreds of thousands of users downloaded the app, which when opened promised that the BBM app would start working on June 27th. If that wasn't enough to convince a user that this app was not the real thing then the next screen should've given it away. The app would then ask for whether to allow the advertising network StartApp to install icons, bookmarks and other such annoying junk on your phone.
Blackberry has said that an app is coming but did not specify an exact date, choosing instead to be vague and say sometime this summer. No official date has yet to be announced as to when the app will be available on the rival operating systems.

BlackBerry CEO says iPhone UI is old, lacking innovation

Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins was very outspoken about BlackBerry 10 and its place in the smartphone market.

Heins touted BlackBerry’s new OS, mentioning that the company has seen a fair amount of early adopters who have switched from another platform to BlackBerry 10 OS. BlackBerry may not be winning by a long shot, but it enticign customers to leave iOS and Android. Heins notes that the release of several high-profile devices has loosened Apple’s grip on the smartphone market and Apple has been slow to overhaul iOS.

“Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market … They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that,” Mr Heins said.

“History repeats itself again I guess … the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old.”

This statement will no doubt cause a stir, especially since BlackBerry is on the death watch listof many analysts. So what do you think? Is iOS old and musty?

Torchlight Free on Good Old Games – Grab It Before June 20!

Good Old Games has a major sale going on some classic titles. To sweeten the pot, the site’s also giving away a download ofTorchlight for free!

The title says it all: to celebrate the beginning of our phenomenal 2013 #noDRM Summer Sale, we’re giving away the hack-and-slash masterpiece Torchlight for absolutely free to all of our users, for both Windows and Mac. You have exactly 48 hours to grab your copy of that incredibly fun and addicting action-RPG, complete with a level editor and a sensational MP3 soundtrack. No strings attached, and–of course–absolutely #NoDRM!

All you need to do, is to visit the Torchlight product page and put it in your cart. You’ll pay exactly $0.00 for it, as long as you complete your purchase before Thursday, June 20, at 12:59PM GMT.

The “Summer of No DRM” is happening until July 5th, with daily deals. So, after you nab your free copy of Torchlight, you might consider grabbing both Alan Wake AND Alan Wake’s American Nightmare for just $4.48 (sale ends tomorrow morning). There will be new daily deals throughout the sale.

The sale ends July 5 and the Torchlight giveaway ends on Thursday, June 20 at 8:59 a.m. ET. Check out all the deals and be sure to grab your free Torchlight download.