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It wasn't all keynotes, lectures, and roundtable discussions at last week's BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco. Programmers, business folk, and even some journalists got a chance to test their skills maneuvering a motorized robot through an obstacle course--using a BlackBerry Storm as the controller (video below).

Love for Legos at BlackBerry Developer Conference--photos

A development group within BlackBerry-maker RIM conceived of the Robot Challenge, and constructed four bots from a Lego Mindstorm set. It also built four identical obstacle courses that include a zig-zag gauntlet, a ramp, and a shooting gallery. Players who weren't able to get their robots over the finish line within the two minute time window were subjected to a groan emitted from the Storm app. What else?: "Wah, wah waaaahhh." Contestants got one shot to make their scores count.

Frequent gamers performed better on the whole, said Sarim Aziz, Senior Application Development Consultant for RIM, and the author of the robot controller app. The winner, James White of the TDC Group, zoomed his robot over the finish line in just less than a minute (56.95 seconds, to be exact.) The reward for his skill? A shiny, new BlackBerry Storm2--and a zippy Lego Mindstorm robot.

Don't like something about an app? Don't just sit there--pitch a fit.

(Credit: CNET)

Want great software for your mobile phone? Keep up the complaints. That was the message at a Tuesday session of the BlackBerry Developer Conference here in San Francisco aimed at developers. But it's a dictum that applies to all smartphone owners.

In the symbiotic relationship between the application developer and the user, a well-placed critique is key to a good programmer improving their mobile application. The motto of the squeakiest wheel getting the most grease may seem obvious, but the importance of user feedback becomes even clearer when articulated in dollar signs and numbers.

A single-star rating for an application on a review site or storefront can severely limit its chances of getting downloaded, and therefore of making money.

"This is the curse of the one-star," said session speaker Stephen King (not that Stephen King), CEO of app testing company Mob4Hire.

His company's research suggests that the bulk of users feel comfortable downloading new mobile software that gets four stars or above. With 69 percent of people discovering apps based on rankings, reviews, and friend recommendations, and the mobile app industry growing 26 percent year over year, according to Juniper Research, there's real money to be made or lost. Addressing peoples' complaints isn't just a best business practice; it may directly affect the bottom line.

(Credit: Xobni)

A few months ago, e-mail search app Xobni told us they were creating a version for BlackBerry. At the BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco on Monday, we got a look at it.

Xobni on the Windows PC is an Outlook add-on that quickly finds e-mail messages and attachments. On BlackBerry, Xobni will integrate with your e-mail account, where it will extract addresses, phone numbers, and social networking details to automatically create a secondary address book for your phone. You'll be able to use Xobni for BlackBerry to quickly find contacts--including those you have not physically added to the native address book yourself. That expanded address book goes for everyone who has ever sent you an e-mail, been cc'd in an e-mail, or even mentioned in a message.

With the premium Xobni Plus Outlook add-on, you can access this secondary address book by typing into the Compose field. Integration isn't quite so tight in BlackBerry. On the Bold, Tour, and new Curve 8900s, you'll access contacts by flicking up on the track pad to get to to the stylized Xobni address book.

Then search by a contact's name, domain name, or by a keyword to speedily find the person you're looking for. As with Xobni on the desktop, you'll be able to send your calendar availability to a contact, get Facebook to supply contacts' Xobni profile picture, and view Twitter feeds and LinkedIn and Hoovers information from the BlackBerry.

In creating its own address book--instead of adding contacts to the native address book--Xobni makes a statement. Unlike Gwabbit, which adds the information from a signature block into a new record, Xobni finds e-mails and phone numbers anywhere in the message. Besides that, Xobni CEO Jeff Bonforte believes that inserting contacts into your native address book means "you've already lost the battle." Instead of adding contacts one-by-one, Xobni builds you a social roster behind-the-scenes, and adds social networking plug-ins in the process.

As far as time lines go, Xobni is looking at a closed alpha release sometime in December. Bonforte expects a beta early next year, and the final release a few months after that. The pricing model is still undecided.

Xobni for BlackBerry will first be available on the Bold, Tour, and Curve 8900. Storm users will have to wait a little longer.

EA demos a 3D car-racing game on the BlackBerry Storm.

(Credit: Photo by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

"OpenGL ES" and "Eclipse" may not mean much to you if you're not an application developer, but ordinary BlackBerry owners will soon be able to benefit from the string of announcements uncovered on Monday at RIM's second, annual BlackBerry Developer Conference.

BlackBerry-maker RIM announced on Monday enhancements to its BlackBerry application development platform--including four APIs for developers to more easily integrate ads, payment services, geolocation, and push notifications for third-party developers.

What does that mean for you? The new tools and features for developers should make it easier for them to create richer apps and do so faster. For instance, new support for OpenGL ES, a graphics API, makes it possible for developers to create 3D games for BlackBerry. Electronic Arts (EA) hopped on stage to demo the car-racing game Need for Speed-Shift on the Storm. The game includes new touch controls, like swiping to activate a speed boost or touching the screen to apply the brakes.

Very soon you'll start seeing visual themes and widgets available for purchase and download in BlackBerry's App World. RIM's new BlackBerry Theme Studio 5.0 will let developers include ringtones in themes. As a result, a theme you download through App World might replace your default ringtone with one that matches the visual theme, like the "Batman" theme song to mirror your "Batman" wallpaper. The ringtones sound very cool, but are limited to BlackBerry phones running the 5.0 operating system or higher.

As Apple has done, RIM will soon be adding the capability to make in-app purchases on a BlackBerry.

(Credit: Photo by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

In addition to finding themes and widgets in the App World for the first time, you'll soon be able to buy premium content not only through PayPal, the current purchasing model, but in 2010, through your monthly phone bill. ... Read more

Could Intel's new Moblin 2.1 OS make a dent against Windows in the mobile and desktop markets?

At this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the chipmaker debuted a beta version of its Moblin 2.1 open-source operating system targeted to run on a variety of devices, including smartphones, Netbooks, nettops, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and in-car systems.

Moblin 2.1 will compete with other open-source operating systems like Google's Android and bump up against Microsoft in the burgeoning nettop arena.

Originally developed for Netbooks, Moblin 2.1 (short for mobile Linux) will come in three flavors--one for handhelds, another for Netbooks, and a third for nettops.

In the market for handheld gadgets such as smartphones and MIDs, Moblin 2.1 will run on Atom chip-based devices. The beta demoed by Intel at IDF showed off capabilities for touch-screen and gesture input. The new interface will also let users switch among different open applications and will provide shortcuts to social-networking apps.

The Moblin 2.1 Web browser will also support Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight 3 technology to run interactive Web-based apps.

August will be an important month for Android.

(Credit: Google)

Starting Saturday, August 1, we'll begin to see many new applications appearing on the Android Market. We reported several weeks ago on the second Google Android Developers Challenge (ADC2), and August 1 is the day submissions begin. The official launch of the MyTouch 3G on August 5 should also reveal some new apps.

To be eligible for ADC2 and a chance at the $2 million dollar prize, applications must be submitted during August. Because any app that was published to the Android Market prior to August 1 is ineligible for the contest, several developers have chosen to conduct private betas so they could get user feedback before the competition began.

I've been lucky enough to participate in several betas for some exciting new apps. Hollowire has been hard at work on Open Gesture and is planning a public release early next week. Its app provides gesture controls similar to what we have seen demonstrated with Donut.

ChickenBrick Studios is another developer planning to enter ADC2 with its new game code-named ProjectInf. It's a massive multiplayer game with social aspects that looks promising in its early stages.

Google has since posted new terms and conditions which clarify the voting process. On August 31, the submission period will end, and public voting begins. Google will release an application to the Market that allows users to randomly download, review, and score the the entries. Community members will judge the apps based on the following criteria.

1. Originality of Concept Does the application introduce a great new idea; for example, a new angle on social applications?
2. Effective Use of the Android Platform Does the application take advantage of Android's unique and compelling features, such as built-in location-based services, accelerometer, and always-on networking?
3. Polish and Appeal Is the application easy to use and aesthetically appealing?
4. Indispensability Is the application compelling and essential, such as a game the user just can't put down or a utility she can't live without?

When public voting is complete, a panel of judges selected by Google will rate the apps. The official rules have been tweaked so that the community judges make up 40 percent of the vote while the expert judges account for the remaining 60 percent.

In addition to new apps for ADC2, be on the lookout when the myTouch 3G hits store shelves. There's a host of new apps they are recommending with their official AppPack. Sherpa was one of those new apps that debuted early, but more are coming. Facebook has confirmed they are launching an Android app, and this might be the day when we finally see it.

Here's an interesting solution for anyone who has a killer idea for an iPhone app but doesn't know the first thing about software development: Moobila turns your idea into an app and markets it on the App Store.

Actually, the company specializes in turning existing corporate software into iPhone apps, thereby eliminating the need to train or hire programmers.

But Moobila also provides an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to see their ideas turned into potentially money-making software. You pay for the development; you keep whatever revenue it generates.

Want to see a few proofs of concept? Moobila has already developed three iPhone apps, including tape-measure replacement iFlipMeasure and iPicolo, which lets you upload a photo to multiple social-networking sites at once.

You'll have to contact Moobila for a quote, of course, as no two apps are alike when it comes to development. But hourly rates start at around $15-20, according to a company rep.

The Creative Zii EGG in all its Android-loving glory.

(Credit: Zii.com)

We knew Creative was up to something when that Zii Egg FCC application flew past us earlier this month, but we had no idea it would be this awesome, or this confusing. Turns out the Zii Egg (what an unfortunate name) is a multitouch-wielding, HD video-playing, dual-camera-having (front and back) rival to the iPhone and iPod Touch, running on Google's Android OS (see all the official specs over at Zii.net).

You can grab a 32GB model now for $400, but don't expect it to be fully baked. Creative is announcing this as a "developer edition" in the hopes that the Android community will pick up the platform and run with it. I guess it takes a village to beat an iPhone.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that we may never actually see the Zii Egg released to consumers as an official Creative product. The company is looking to sell rebranded Zii Eggs directly to other manufacturers as an OEM product.

For a company that's been trickling out half-hearted products all year, it seems odd that Creative would make something with such unprecedented appeal, only to lob it to open-source developers and slap someone else's name on it. Then again, maybe it's smart enough to know it has made a product that's potential is beyond Creative's capabilities to execute. If this thing ultimately becomes a phone (all the ingredients are there) Creative is likely just being cautious about entering the mobile phone market as a newcomer.

(Via DAP Review)

GoCart/ShopSavvy was a winner of the first Android Developer Challenge.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Starting in August, Google will open submissions for the second Android Developer Challenge (ADC2). With close to $2 million in prizes, expect to see some amazing entries.

The first Android Developer Challenge gave us many of the top applications available today. The 50 finalists included Locale, TuneWiki, PicSay, GoCart, Compare Everywhere, and more.

The challenge
For the second challenge, Google has changed the format of the contest. This time around, the Android community will play an important role in deciding the winners. Sometime in late August, a voting application published on the Android Market will allow users to sample the submissions for each category and vote for their favorites.

Instead of 50 finalists, there will now be 200 finalists divided into 10 categories. They'll be selected based on the score they receive from the community votes. The official contest categories include:

• Education/reference
• Games: casual/puzzle
• Games: arcade/action
• Social networking
• Lifestyle
• Productivity/tools
• Media
• Entertainment
• Travel
• Miscellaneous