BlackBerry The Number 1 Selling Smartphone In The UK 2011
With all the news surrounding RIM and BlackBerry currently you would be forgiven for thinking that the above headline was misleading, to say the least. In fact we have just been sent this press release from RIM’s PR co in the UK and they state:
"The latest results from data firm GfK show that BlackBerry® was the #1 selling smartphone in the British market for the second year running. It continues to dominate the market, grabbing 26.3% of December sales and averaging 27.7% through 2011".
Does this come as a surprise to you? Read on, you may find even more surprsing facts below…
Subscriber Base
"The BlackBerry global subscriber base grew 35% year on year in December to 75 million. The UK customer base is going from strength to strength with over eight and a half million active subscribers by the end of 2011".
As we know BlackBerry launched its latest operating system, BlackBerry 7, in August 2011 introducing a portfolio of stylish new smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold 9900, Bold 9790, Torch 9860, Torch 9810, Curve 9380 and Curve 9360.
The update to BlackBerry 7.1, announced earlier this month, will be rolled out in the coming months.
This software update builds on the strengths of BlackBerry 7 to further enhance the mobile experience on BlackBerry. It includes BlackBerry Tag, the latest innovation in Near Field Communication (NFC), which allows users to share contacts, photos and files by tapping their devices together. Friends can be added to BBM, contact information exchanged, documents shared as well as multimedia content, all in an instant. Another key feature of 7.1 is that you can now turn your BlackBerry into a mobile hotspot that can be shared by up to 5 Wi-Fi®-enabled devices, including laptops and tablets such as the BlackBerry PlayBook.
PlayBook 2.0
PlayBook 2.0 was announced at this year’s CES show and will be available in February. The new software will allow customers to stay even more connected and productive in their personal and professional lives. Key features include native email with integrated social network messaging capabilities. Updates from popular social networking sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn will all appear in the integrated inbox. It also brings a wealth of apps with thousands more to choose from across gaming and lifestyle to business and productivity including Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Groupon, Thomson Reuters, Zinio and many more.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
