How many of have experienced a lack of access to your GMAIL account via the app on your Blackberry? As of November 22nd, this function will no longer be available – unless you have had it previously installed.

Those who have a lot of patience can access the web through their Blackberry and visit their Gmail account, but anyone who has ever had to access the web on their BB knows that this is not the best option as the web browser is agonizingly slow.

The following is an exerpt from an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal on November 10th.

In a statement, RIM [Research In Motion] played down this development.

“Since 2009, RIM has incorporated native support for Gmail in BlackBerry [operating system] 5.0 and above, which means that a separate Gmail app is not required,” the statement said. “The large majority of users who access Gmail on their BlackBerry smart phone already rely on the native support (provided through BlackBerry Internet Service) rather than the separate Gmail app.”

The development comes as RIM deals with product launch delays, a plunging stock price and a rapidly decreasing share of the key U.S. smartphone market.

RIM’s share of the U.S. smartphone market had fallen to 11.6% as of the end of June, according to research firm IDC, behind Google’s Android-powered phones and the Apple iPhone. Five years ago, RIM had 48% of the U.S. market.

After an embarrassing service outage…left millions of BlackBerry users without access to email, many analysts worried that BlackBerry users would begin migrating to Apple and Android devices at an even faster clip.

RIM said…that it was investigation reports of fresh delays for BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, but did not provide further details.

Google’s decision to end support for Gmail on BlackBerrys comes as the Internet giant increasingly focuses on a key RIM rival: Apple.

Earlier this month, Google unveiled a Gmail app for Apple’s iOS operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. But the app was hobbled soon after its release on Nov. 2 by a bug associated with its notifications feature. Google apologized and pulled the app for repairs.

Google’s Gmail ranks among the most popular Web-based email services, and the company has said the service has around 200 million users. According to data from comScore Inc., the number of unique visitors to Gmail rose 31% in October compared with the same month last year, reaching 59.6 million. The number of visitors to Yahoo Inc.’s email service, meanwhile, fell 1% to 93.5 million, while visitors to Microsoft Corp.’s email service fell 3% to 44.5 million, according to the comScore data.

In a statement posted online, Google said that while Gmail users on the BlackBerry will be able to continue consulting Google’s guide for troubleshooting in the app, the guide “will not be maintained or enhanced.”

—Amir Efrati contributed to this article.

Write to Will Connors at will.connors@wsj.com and John Letzing at john.letzing@dowjones.com

The Wall Street Journal online ran a piece about outsourcing your Social Media outreach. Take a look. Just click on the link below….and thanks, Rob – for calling attention to it.

@robdelman: Hire a pro like @MuttMediaNY! Firms Get a Hand With Twitter, Facebook – WSJ.com (http://ping.fm/1ItxZ)

The crux of the piece was how leading European newspaper and magazine publishers were calling on the European commission to strengthen their copyright protection so as to generate an income stream from their online counterparts.

The problem from the point of view of the publisher, is that information is so – almost too – readily available and transmitable that it is impeding their ability to control dissemination of the news.

Welcome to the not-so-new world, publishers! This is what makes the internet great, in my opinion. Yes, printed media will experience a loss of revenue. There are some that attempt to make the consumer pay for the online couterpart to the written word, but in my view, this is a futile effort at best. I, for one, view these pay-per-view entities as an impediment to the spirit of the web.

Only a handful of newspapers or magazines have had success in charging readers to use their sites, as the article points out – among them The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

What the European publishers want is greater control over the reproduction of their creative works.

My question is how would this function? If one did a Google search, would the results be the same and would certain articles be free while others offered at a premium.

Not on board with this one only because years of getting information easily and free have spoiled me, and trust me – you too.

Image Courtesy of Amazon.com

Click here for demo of the recently released Kindle 2 courtesy of Amazon

The Wall Street Journal has announced that the new Kindle will be introduced to the market tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be a full-court-press demonstration of the product and marks it’s formal debut.

We’ve been witnessing the decline and deterioration of certain businesses with the onslaught of increased internet use and our collective desire to “go green”. This, along with the recent economic downturn and loss of print advertising revenue has precipitated many magazine closings.

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When consumers can get content online, why pick up a printed publication? There are many reasons to support these new technologies and concerns about our environment shouldn’t be discounted. I wholeheartedly support the reduction of our carbon footprint and minimizing waste, fuel consumption and the like, however there is something to be said for the tactile enjoyment we get out of our daily routine of drinking a cup of coffee or tea while reading our favorite newspaper. I get that, even though I’ve long thought that the New York Times is way too big and cumbersome, especially on a crowded train.

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Consider this. By the time you read your newspaper, the news it delivers is already hours-old. On your electronic device of choice, you have access to news items that specifically interest you – as outlined in your preferences and is as current as possible. As a result of this new-found, real-time news reporting, I wonder if the integrity of what is being reported is the same. How can news items be as effectively sourced and verified? This is an important consideration. In their haste to disseminate the news and beat all competition to the so-called punch, public figure privacy has suffered and yes, I think some jounalistic editorial liberties have been taken.

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My apologies for going off on a rant (thanks, Dennis Miller) but I think it’s a legitimate debate. But back to the Kindle…I’m interested to hear if any of you own one and what you think – about the product itself or any of the issues I’ve raised here. Leave a comment or send me an email at feedback@muttmedia.net

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