The mobile Internet does not need apps

The CO-CEO of Canadian Blackberry smartphone maker Research in Motion (RIM), Jim Balsillie has said that Apple's idea that smartphones need apps is just plain silly and will die out quickly.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Balsillie said that you can bring the mobile to the web, but you don't need to go through some kind of control point.

Apple's system for apps involves everything going through a central control point where they can be purged of anything that Steve Jobs does not like, he said.

However Balsillie said that you do not need to convert the Internet so that it is the perfected mirror of Steve Jobs' will.

The Internet should not be about a set of proprietary rules, it needs to be a platform that allows you to use your existing web content, not apps, he said.

Balsillie predicted that the era of smartphone applications would "pass real quick".

He also said RIM will be flogging a tablet next year called Playbook that will be cheaper than the Ipad. It will have a 7-inch display, smaller than the 9.7-inch screen on Apple's Ipad, and will be able to run Adobe's Flash video software.

Balsillie downplayed news that Google is building near field communication (NFC) chips into a second generation Nexus smartphone that it is readying for release. He said that RIM will also be moving to NFC chips soon.

Source: The Inquirer