Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Leo Garcia on 30-09-2009
Today we are looking a procedure that most of us will do at one time or another while owning a BlackBerry which is unlocking. Keep in mind, this will only work on GSM devices, or "World Phones" like the 8830WE, Storm or Tour. If you are like me, you will sometimes want a BlackBerry from another carrier to run on your own carrier. Or maybe you want to sell it and increase resale value while opening yourself up to more potential buyers. All you need to do is get an unlock code and follow our quick session and your on your way!
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CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry 101: How to Unlock Your BlackBerry
Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
The much awaited Desktop Manager from Mac is finally coming! RIM promised to release it in September but I guess they just meant they would issue yet another press release saying it was coming on October 2nd at 1PM EDT. The funny part is that the press release title, RIM Launches BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac Users, implies RIM has already launched it…
Nothing else new here other than the fact that it will only work with Mac OS 10.5.5 and higher with a BlackBerry OS 4.2+. I guess late is better than being promised MMS support and only getting it months later.
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 9:33 am. |
RIM Finally Releasing Desktop Manager for Mac on October 2nd |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Bla1ze on 30-09-2009
Fabian Heuwieser has been back at work on his awesome and most importantly useful BlackBerry applications. This time around he has created LaterFlag, an application which allows you to flag your emails in two ways (high or low priority) for follow up at a later time. Best of all it's a free application.
Most of you who are running a 5.0 leaked OS will have noticed this type of service is indeed integrated into the OS, but those of you on older devices where 5.0 is not available are going to want to grab this one for sure. Is it just me or does Fabian seem like a porcrastinator to you all? First LaterDude, now LaterFlag - the man likes to put things off, but I'll assume it's just to make us great apps for our devices. Thanks go out to Fabian for bringing us just what our devices need, no more..no less.
CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. LaterFlag - Flag Your Emails For Follow Up
Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
This Gizmodo story about the Apple Genius bar really caught my eye since I live in NYC. It turns out that one Gizmodo reader, Manoj, tried taking his phone into the iPhone genius bar in NYC for dropping calls. His iPhone reported that it dropped about 22% of calls and he thought something was wrong.
Turns out that Apple claimed the device is fine. He claims the “Genius” said that dropping 30%+ of calls in NYC on AT&T is “NORMAL.” I can’t wait for AT&T to lose the iPhone exclusive. If they renew it I am definitely switching carriers!
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 8:01 am. |
Dropping 22% of Calls is Normal on AT&T in NYC??? |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Kevin Michaluk on 30-09-2009
It's the last day of September and RIM promised to have BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac officially available by then. Unfortunately, you can't download it today but they did fire off a press release letting us know it will be here this Friday, October 2nd, at 1pm EDT. A couple more days won't kill us, so it's allllll goood. THANKS RIM!!!!!
Press Release
RIM Launches BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac Users
New software makes it easy to sync data between Mac applications and BlackBerry smartphones; free download scheduled to be available on October 2
WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 30, 2009) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) has exciting news for Mac(R) users that want an easy and reliable solution that syncs their contacts, calendar appointments, tasks and notes with their BlackBerry(R) smartphones. A new version of the BlackBerry(R) Desktop Manager software has been developed specifically for Mac users. The new desktop software is scheduled to be available for free download from www.blackberry.com/mac on Friday, October 2 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
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CrackBerry.com's feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. RIM To Officially Launch BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac on October 2nd!!
Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
Aerize let us know about their latest app called WiFiX. It lets you force applications to work over WiFi when it regularly would require a data plan. This means that apps like Google Mobile, Google Maps, BlackBerry Maps, and more can be forced to work over WiFi even if they are not setup to do so.
I can see people who don’t have a data plan using this but I would be interested in hearing how you plan on using it. The app is 50% off for a limited time to $4.99 after which it bumps up to full price. It comes with settings preconfigured for
- Google Maps Mobile
- Google Mobile App
- BlackBerry Maps
- Yahoo! Go
- WeatherEye
There is one caveat it will not work with applications that require secure https/SSL connections. The options are configurable from the general BlackBerry options screen so there is no icon for the app. It comes with a 7 day free trial you can pick up at www.aerize.com or from your BlackBerry at m.aerize.com.
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 7:00 am. |
Aerize WiFiX – Force Applications to Work Over Wi-Fi |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
Anybody surprised? Vlingo just released the data from a study/survey they commissioned by independent panel research firm Toluna on driving while texting. They released it right before the Distracted Driving Summit this week. Driving While Texting has become a big issue for politicians and many states are trying to pass laws or have already passed laws on the subject.
The interesting part is that Vlingo’s study shows that these laws have very little impact on driving behavior. They found that:
Data from Vlingo’s Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report shows that two of the top five worst offending states (TN, NJ, AL, ID, OK) have some form of DWT/mobile phone ban in place or pending (one of which is focused solely on young drivers). Of the five states with the best records (AZ, VT, RI, OH, MI), only Rhode Island has a ban on DWT and it only applies to those under the age of 18. 36% of respondents did not know if they live in a state that currently has a ban on DWT.
The study even goes on to reinforce Vlingo’s product by showing that almost 70% of those surveyed would use voice recognition while driving if they could speak the messages and have incoming messages read to them. I guess that means people should check out www.vlingo.com for their solution. Or maybe just use the free DriveSafe.ly app to read their emails for them and block distracting phone calls.
The full report can be requested at http://vlingo.com/habits.
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 6:08 am. |
Vlingo Study Shows There is a Market for their Solution |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by David on 30-09-2009
Recently, Gizmodo posted a side by side comparison of many bluetooth headsets. In the post, author John Herrman, talks about the status of A2DP technology itself and whether an investment in a stereo bluetooth is worth the price tag. I have reviewed two of these headsets in the past (the MOTOROKR and the Jabra HALO) and I thought I might add my two cents about the status of A2DP technology and whether the lack of wires is worth the wallet bite.
Technology:
- Range: Like any electrical signal, the bluetooth audio signal gets weaker depending on what medium it travels through. When traveling through a metal (copper) wire with insulation the signal loss will be minimal. But when traveling through the air signal loss will be much greater. One way to get around this problem is by boosting the power of the signal to make up for the loss through transmission. However, when the signal is created via a battery powered cell phone, the range of the signal is limited by the power of the battery. The biggest problem with current A2DP technology is the compromise it has made when it comes to the allowable distance between your cell phone and the A2DP headphones. The most likely use for A2DP technology is by those who wish to keep their cell phones/iPods in their pockets while listening to music. However, between the moving around of the cell phone/iPod when in a pants pocket and the distance from the pocket to the headphones, both tested bluetooth stereo headsets lost signal quite frequently, making the listening experience unusable.
- Sound Quality: When the iPod first came out, audiophiles complained that the quality of the music reproduced was inferior to that of the original analog signals. But with the success of the iPod, we saw that most people just don’t care as long as the quality of the music is decent and listenable. iPods and stereo bluetooth headphones are products that are meant for people on the go, who are expecting a satisfactory mobile listening experience–not a mobile symphony reproduced in a sound studio. With that said, both the MOTOROKR and the HALO produce some pretty decent sound (with the HALO winning out between the two). You can’t expect a crazy amount of bass considering the size of bluetooth stereo headphones (decent bass needs decent space), but they both make a pretty good effort. While sound quality can be improved in the future, I don’t think that it is the biggest problem with mainstreaming A2DP stereo headphones.
- Control Functions: Because the A2DP stereo bluetooth headphones are supposed to allow a user to keep his or her cell phone or iPod safely put away while listening to music, it is imperative that there be a way to control both the volume and simple control functions of the audio source from the headphones themselves. But because the headphones sit atop the user’s head, the controls must be pressure sensitive. Otherwise, you may find yourself pushing a button into your head in order to change a song. With the MOTOROKR S9HD, that was the exact problem. The buttons were a hard push and located on the ear itself–hurting my ear every time I tried to push a button. The HALO however fixed this problem with a soft push button and a touch sensitive controller. All in all, the control technology seems pretty usable thus far and not in need of much improvement.
- Portability: This is one of the main drawbacks of current A2DP headphones. A2DP headphones are predominantly used on the go. In that sense, they have to be easy to take out of a pocket, use and put away. However, all A2DP headphones reviewed thus far were way to big to fit normally into a pocket (unless you want to provoke endless “is that a pair of headphones in your pocket or…” jokes). Unless you are going to leave them around your neck for storage, you have to carry around a bag to put these away–making the whole mobile listening experience less fluid. In the future I hope to see a pair of wireless earbuds that I could just drop into a pocket and forget about, but until then carry a bag.
Price Point: With the limitations on range, A2DP headphones are nice, but not nearly good enough for every day use. This makes it hard to justify a heftier price tag for a nicer pair. I mean what good is a nice pair of headphones if they don’t really do what they are supposed to. So until a reliable range is increased for pocket distance, I suggest buying a cheaper A2DP headset to play with or holding off completely.
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Posted by David for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 5:00 am. |
A2DP: The state of Stereo Bluetooth Technology |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
This is a little turn of events. Primetime2Go left most people unimpressed with their TV download service that only worked over Wi-Fi. mSpot hopes to change things up with movies by letting you stream movies from Paramount, Universal, & The Weinstein Company to your BlackBerry on all major US carriers.
You can access their catalog from their mobile site and rent a movie for $4.99 each or a monthly membership that starts at $9.99 for four movies. Pretty cool since it uses the BlackBerrys native browser. Depending on the movie the rental lasts from 24 hours to 5 days.
Check out the details at this link
via TechCrunch via PinStack – Thanks Tashanna!
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 4:38 am. |
mSpot Wants to Stream Movies to Your BlackBerry |
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Filed Under (Blackberry News) by Ronen Halevy on 30-09-2009
Last time we heard about the white BlackBerry 9000 Bold we discovered that it was probably not an actual release device but rather third party casings that you could pick up online. According to the BoyGenius’s latest screenshots it looks like we may have to swallow our words. AT&T’s systems are showing a BlackBerry 9000 Bold in white alongside the upcoming BlackBerry 9700 Bold in charcoal.
So anybody counting down the days until AT&T releases the 9700? Personally my black/chrome bold is so scratched up it needs to be replaced…
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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 30, 2009, 1:50 am. |
White BlackBerry 9000 Bold & Charcoal 9700 Found in AT&T Inventory |
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