Can Happy Feet and Sherlock Holmes help save the PlayBook?
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has launched a new movie store app for owners of its tablet, which has struggled to gain market share since it launched last year.
The lack of a movie store and the lack of native e-mail were two of the chief criticisms of the tablet when it was first launched. The e-mail issue was solved this February with the unveiling of the new PlayBook 2.0 operating system.
The BlackBerry Video Store, run by Rovi Entertainment, was launched in the U.S. earlier this year, but made its Canadian debut Wednesday. According to a spokesperson, users can sample before they purchase, with movie and TV trailers available free of charge. Happy Feet 2 and Sherlock Holmes: Games of Shadows, were among the thousands of movies available for rent or purchase.
“Customers . . . can also begin watching media as soon as they start to download a file. They won’t have to wait for the entire file to transfer before they can begin enjoying great entertainment,” said spokesperson Nick Manning in an e-mailed statement.
According to a recent study from Strategy Analytics, Apple’s iPad has roughly 68 per cent of the global tablet market, with tablets running Google’s Android operating system in second, with 29.3 per cent. Microsoft tablets have 1.2 per cent share, while the “other” category, including PlayBook, also has 1.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, RIM’s BlackBerry took a hit in the content department Wednesday with news the New York Timeswas jettisoning its BlackBerry app, while keeping its iPhone and Android apps.
RIM executive Martyn Mallick said BlackBerry is still a good way for newspapers to engage their readers, despite the NYT decision.
“Our base of 78 million BlackBerry users worldwide represents a significant opportunity for content partners to reach their audiences. There are more than 2,100 News and Information apps for North America alone with millions of downloads to date,” Mallick said in an e-mailed statement.
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