Blackberry Announcements:

What to Look Forward To

 

In the midst of Blackberry’s two-year turnaround plan, the company is focusing more on mobile software and security offerings. Chief Executive John S. Chen wants to show the shift from the company as a pure device maker to a company powering business services on a variety of devices.

 

In line with the ongoing company changes, Chen announced Blackberry’s jump back into touch-screen phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this month. The company announced the five-inch Blackberry Leap and teased a curved phone with a slider keyboard that “might be coming later this year”. The leap phone’s specifications seem middle of the road; a high but not too high definition screen, a rear and front-facing camera, average processor and memory specs, and a slightly heavy weight. For business users it promises to go the distance with battery though, claiming a 25-hour battery life.

 

In addition to teasing a curved phone, there are also plans to follow up the high-end Porsche edition Blackberry, released last year. Analysts state that despite the company’s move towards becoming more service focused, it is still beneficial to release new phones. To learn more about Blackberry’s future plans, visit here.

Valet Anywhere:

Affordable and Secure Parking in NYC

 

For those who drive in any city, especially NYC, it is easy to understand and commiserate with the struggle of affordable and easy parking. Valet Anywhere is here to change that, making parking the least of your concerns.

 

The Valet Anywhere app is now available for download and is currently serving NYC. You start by telling the app your destination and requesting your valet. Once your valet arrives, you hand over your keys and your car is parked for you. Pickup is just as easy – you request your car or schedule a return and receive it back within 15 minutes. On-demand valet is available between 14th and 57th Street, and another option of long-term parking is available all over Manhattan and in parts of Brooklyn. The best part is the hourly cost of on-demand valet, ringing up at only $6 (or $42 daily).

 

Valets are trusted, with ample background checks and training, your car is insured under the company’s policy, and cars will never be left on the street but instead will be securely parked in a garage. Learn more about easing your driving and parking troubles here.

On A Mac?

Preview Office 2016 Now!

 

For almost five years, Mac users have been stuck using Office 2011, feeling less than loved by Microsoft. That’s all about to change as Microsoft shifts priorities with the Office 2016 version coming to OS X sometime this summer. Luckily for Mac users, a public preview of the productivity suite is already available.

 

The 2016 version of Office introduces a user interface balancing somewhere between Windows’ modern look and the traditional layout of the 2011 version Mac users are accustomed to. The ribbon interface is still there, but the overall look is cleaner and less cluttered. This includes layout tweaks without making huge changes to how the suite is actually used.

 

Some welcome changes include a range of small things, like the support for keyboard shortcuts not previously available to larger changes, like the integration of Microsoft’s cloud storage service OneDrive. OneDrive for Business and SharePoint are also available, and co-authoring is much easier to use than before. In addition, PowerPoint’s look and feel is more modern, Outlook is included in the suite, and if you don’t subscribe to Office 365 Microsoft is exploring selling it as a standalone product.

 

To learn more about the preview, and the issues that should be fixed before the final release, visit here.