BlackBerryInsight

Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry Smartphone

Hendrik — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:51:41 +0000

Remember the odd BlackBerry video from China a few weeks ago? There was a lot of speculation, what BlackBerry it was and if it was a genuine BlackBerry at all. But it turns out to be a true BlackBerry, designed by Porsche Design. The Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry falls in the group of luxury designs, which seem more and more common. The standard design for BlackBerrys just don’t cut it anymore.

The Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry is a BlackBerry OS 7 device with top notch hardware commonly found in all OS 7 devices. The usual 1.2 GHz processor is used to power the Porsche, similar to all other OS 7 devices. In fact the only question for a customer is, whether he/she likes the Porsche or not. It’s totally a question of taste and visual appeal. Are you going to buy this luxury phone? It looks okay to me, but I’m familiar with Porsche Design price levels, so I better stick to my normal BlackBerry for now.

Easy Smiley Pack 2.0 released

Hendrik — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:50:51 +0000

Easy Smiley Pack 2.0 by S4BB has been announced quite a while ago. Finally the product is finished and everyone can enjoy the new version for free. This small app is your first choice if you want to add more smileys and country flags to your messages. In fact there are so many of them, I wish there was a reduced version which only contains the best smileys and most common flags. Despite the 630 included mini graphics, S4BB has done a great job organizing everything in categories and once you know what you want you can easily find it.

630+ images total
210 country flags
250 smileys
150 ASCII art images

Get it free now from the BlackBerry App World: Easiy Smiley Pack 2.0.

BlackBerry Torch 9860 Review

Hendrik — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:00:33 +0000

What once began with the BlackBerry Storm has now evolved into the BlackBerry Torch 9860. The old SurePress technology is gone and now a capacitive touch screen makes input easy. The release of the BlackBerry Torch 9860 already happened in late August and depending on which country you are located at, you most probably can already buy a 9860.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into the review.

First impression

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is a piece of it own. If you are used to the usual screen on top, keyboard below design then the Torch 9860 will be a bit unusual to you. I didn’t bother much with the Storm BlackBerrys, because I really didn’t like the SurePress technology. So the BB Torch 9860 made a nice first impression for NOT having a SurePress screen. The other thing that struck me, were the keys below the screen. The call, hang up call, menu and back buttons are not the usual touch buttons, but real physical buttons. I’m not sure how to rate this, but these buttons somehow break the otherwise perfectly elegant impression. Like all BlackBerry devices, the 9860 has a feel like it’s made of steel. No loose parts. No funny noises when holding the device firmly in the hand.

BlackBerry OS 7 on the Torch 9860

RIM has done its job to polish the BlackBerry OS 7 and make it ready for touch devices. Originally BB OS 7 was labeled OS 6.1, but then RIM re-branded it to BlackBerry OS 7, which makes an appropriate choice, since there are a lot of improvements and two that really stick out: Liquid graphics and the Webkit Browser.

Liquid Graphics

Liquid Graphics is supposed to deliver a really smooth experience when doing just about anything on the Torch. In fact RIM added a Adreno 205 GPU to make sure animations and loading of graphics doesn’t hit the processor. Previously graphical animations had a heavy impact on the responsiveness of the device, however now almost everything runs very smooth. Sometimes I could sense a very tiny lag when zooming in and out of websites in the webbrowser, but that is a really small lag hardly worth mentioning. There is definitely improvement from previous devices (I’m talking about the Storm here). Last but not least, Liquid Graphics is a marketing term that sums up all the improvements both in hardware and software that have been made to achieve a lag free visual experience.

Webkit Browser

If you tried to use the internet on OS 6 or older BlackBerry smartphones, you probably downloaded a third party web browser like the Opera Mini. That is no longer necessary as the Webkit Browser finally delivers the experience that you expect from a modern web-browser. If you often surf the web, then getting a OS 7 device is a good choice, and the BlackBerry Torch 9860 is a particular good choice. The huge screen is quite impressive.

The Torch 9860 screen

The huge screen is not only helpful when surfing the web, it just rocks when doing just about anything. The capacitive touchscreen is 3.7 inch in diameter, features a 480 x 800 pixels WVGA resolution and 16 million colors. The colors are bright and lively. Searching the contacts is no problem even in bright sunlight. 253ppi will make sure text is crisp and sharp as on a ebook-reader device.

Virtual keyboard is not for everyone

While the huge screen is perfectly made to watch videos in HD resolution, look at holiday photos and other forms of media, writing serious amounts of text with the virtual keyboard can be a pain. Just to be clear, writing 10 normal sized emails and a few more SMS every day is perfectly fine with the Torch 9860, however if you are a journalist or have some other reason to write a lot of text on the screen, the virtual keyboard can’t compete with a hardware keyboard. Journalists and authors, be faithful to your BlackBerrys with a physical keyboard!

Hardware and battery

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 comes with a single core 1.2 Gigahertz processor, supported by the aforementioned Adreno 205 Graphics-CPU and has 768 Megabytes of RAM. That’s more than previous devices and it’s enough to power all current applications. Despite the huge screen and the powerful hardware, the battery of the BB Torch 9860 survives more than 1 day of intensive use. And that’s exactly what I expect from a BlackBerry device. There is already 4 Gigabyte internal memory, which might already be enough depending on your needs. If it is not enough, there is a slot for a microSD media card with a upper limit of 32 GB.

Digital camera

The digital camera is another improvement from the last generation of BlackBerrys. With 5 megapixels pictures are sharp and colorful. Video has also improved and now 720p HD videos can be recorded. While this sounds like a good thing, the video autofocus needs some improvement. There is no problem with pictures, but when recording a video the focus reacts to slow for my taste sometimes. Playing around with the video function for a while you will soon learn which situations can cause the slow auto focus, but I’d prefer if I could just video anything I want without any focus issues.

The best thing about the Torch’s camera is, it is better that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 camera, which only has 3.2 megapixels. If taking photos is important to you, then and you are thinking about a OS 7 device, give the BlackBerry Torch 9860 some extra points in you list.

Conclusion on the BlackBerry Torch 9860

The Torch 9860 is a great phone and I can recommend it to everyone. As the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is hitting the shelves at the same time, you have to think about which one better suits your needs. Are you already used to phones without physical keyboard, then take the Torch. If you don’t need to write large amounts of text everyday, then the Torch is for you. I don’t need to talk about the overall quality, it’s the usual high RIM quality. Maybe the best way to decide is, just put the Torch 9860 and the Bold 9900 next to each other and pick the one that looks more beautiful to you. And I have to admit, the WVGA is really impressive yet elegant, so I’ll have the BlackBerry Torch 9860 with me for a while and see how it helps me getting things done.

BlackBerry Torch 9860 Technical details

Device:	BlackBerry Torch 9860
Operating System:	BlackBerry OS 7
CPU:	1.2 GHz single core processor
Camera:	5-megapixel auto-focus camera, image stabilization, geo-tagging, 720p HD video-capture
Extras:	GPS, digital compass (magnetometer), accelerometer, Wi-Fi, 3G

If you have any questions or are a Torch 9860 owner yourself, leave a comment and tell me what you think.

BIS blackout? I couldn’t care less!

Hendrik — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:23:34 +0000

Angry because your BIS/Internet is not working? For me Internet is as fast as always, maybe even a bit faster than usual because these BIS users no longer clutter the limited mobile bandwidth each mobile cell tower provides thanks to the blackout.

Why?

I don’t use BIS, because it disturbs my work!

Push Email is only for important people, not for productive people

I’m very busy. And the last thing I need is an email disrupting my meeting, creative work or other thing I’m working on. Push Email sends me Emails whenever there is a new email. This is not for me. I check my email when I decide to check it. And once people discover I have Push email and receive emails instantly, they think they can send me when ever they are in the mood to send me anything, it lowers the bar for them just send me any crap message.

BBM for more disruption of valuable time

Like to chat? Then you need BBM. Want to be productive? Shut down your BBM or just throw out BIS altogether. I don’t know why professionals need BBM. And even casual users could resort to any instant messaging platform. Looking at my friends, only about 1 out of 10 has a BBM, but 9 out of 10 have Skype.

Encryption that falls apart

BIS encrypts your messages? Well it does, but the encryption is so weak, that RIM better stops talking about it in their advertising. Don’t think so? Read about the BIS encryption here. It’s either BES or nothing.

I like my BlackBerry without BIS

Thanks to not using BIS, my Internet works like every day. Don’t know what my fellow BB users are talking about. It saves me a tiny bit of money, because I don’t have to pay the extra bucks for the BlackBerry plan. I still stick to the BlackBerry, because it is a top notch phone. Seriously! I regularly laugh at people telling me their battery is out. Hardware Keyboard? The BlackBerry has it. Slick and elegant design? Check! Internet without BIS on a BlackBerry? Just flip the right switches in the settings and it works.

I love my BlackBerry, but I feel this is the right moment to say what I have preached for years. Ditch your BIS, Love your BlackBerry!

Peace!

S4BB Launches their new Facebook Site

Hendrik — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:20:11 +0000

App maker S4BB has sent us an Email in which they announce their Facebook launch. Even better, they also do a giveaway with some really hot BlackBerry stuff. You don’t want to miss that. Here is their mail:

Dear BlackBerry and S4BB friends,

Over the past few years S4BB Limited has developed a wide variety of apps for BlackBerry®, Android and iPhone. We like our job and seek to bring our users only the very best apps. In the process of creating apps, user feedback and input is much appreciated. Therefore we’ve set up our own Facebook page.

On our Facebook page users will have the opportunity to share feedback and ideas. We will publish sneak previews, early screen shots and do special offers and giveaways via our page. We believe that the best apps are created when developers and user work hand in hand.

To kick start our page we’ve organized a sweepstakes in which you can win some amazing prizes. The winner will get a BlackBerry® PlayBook and a Bold 9900! Second prize is a Torch 9800 and as a third prize we giveaway some fun BlackBerry® gadgets. After all, who doesn’t like free gadgets? All you have to do is go to http://bit.ly/s4bb_sweepstakes and:

1) Like the S4BB Limited Facebook page.
2) Enter your name to receive the prize in case you win.
3) Share an app ideas or favorite apps.
3) Enter your email

The sweepstakes are open until October 24th and world-wide entries are accepted. We will announce the winner on October 27th. By the way, the more friends a participant invite; the bigger the chance to win. Go to http://bit.ly/s4bb_sweepstakes join now!

Cheers!

Get in contact with S4BB: S4BB’s Facebook Page

The RIMcloud is coming

Hendrik — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:37:38 +0000

We don’t know when, but a cloud service similar to Apple’s iCloud or Amazon’s Cloud Drive is on the way for BlackBerry friends. RIM won’t develop the cloud system themselves, instead they want to spend $ 100 million on the Irish software company Newbay Software from Ireland. This is totally fresh, so RIM didn’t have a opportunity to say anything regarding this. Therefore I call this just the RIMcloud. BlackBerryInsight will write an update as soon as we hear the official statement from RIM.

I was wondering for quite a while when will RIM start its own cloud service? Currently BlackBerry users have to depend on external tools like DropBox and other cloud services and that is not acceptable when I have to dish out €10 a month for a BlackBerry plan on top of my Internet plan. The pressure is on RIM to deliver. I really hope to see the RIMcloud ready when the first QNX phones hit the stores.

What can we expect

The idea of using the cloud as storage for all kind of data is that you can access anything from anywhere. Add a new contact on your BlackBerry smartphone and a split second later it will be on all other devices connected to your account, for example your BlackBerry PlayBook. Besides synchronization the backup of your data is also guaranteed.

Here is a list of expected functions:

Store all kind of files, including presentations, music, video, documents, pdf, zip files and many more in the cloud.
Store and synchronize contacts, todos, notes, calendar, emails, sms, call log and other personal information through the cloud.
Backup your data so you never lose anything, even when moving to a new device.
Conveniently share your data with friends, family and coworkers.

This is what I expect, as I said RIM didn’t say anything so far. I think a RIMcloud would be a really nice addition to the current services of RIM. With such a service I don’t need to fear when I lose my device or when I just want to upgrade to the next generation phone.

When can I play with it?

Good question. I don’t know. It will take some months and I’m sure it comes in form of a major OS upgrade. It may be possible, that only QNX phones and tablets will be able to use that, because I can hardly imagine RIM to integrate the cloud service in the not-QNX BlackBerry OS, because that operating system is probably being abandoned with the upcoming QNX operating system.

RIM is playing catch up, but I’m happy to see them moving. With this addition QNX superphones could be what everyone wants!

New BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 promotion video

Hendrik — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:02:04 +0000

I just saw this new Torch commercial and want to share it with you.

A productive BlackBerry Bold 9900 or a social media oriented BlackBerry Torch 9860? What is your preferred choice? Write a comment and enjoy your weekend!

BlackBerry Curve 9360 launched in Indonesia’s hot smartphone market

Hendrik — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:00:59 +0000

If RIM wants to be successful, they have to look at the hot markets in Asia. This week RIM is launching the BlackBerry Curve 9360 in Indonesia, one of the hottest markets in Asia for any smartphone company. Indonesia has 240 million inhabitants and they use almost 170 million mobile phones (2009). Such numbers are a bit difficult to measure, because some people have more than one phone and others have bought their phones abroad, but it is a good indication that there are mobile phones in Indonesia. In fact, there are more than in Germany or Japan. You can buy a BlackBerry Cuve 9860 for Rp3,599,000 from the RIM partners PT. Comtech Cellular, PT. Selular Media Infotama and PT. Teletama Artha Mandiri.

There is a lot of potential in Indonesia for RIM. Go to any place in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and you will mostly see RIM and Apple Smartphones. Android is a minor player there. I think it’s a good thing to see the 9360 finally arrive there. That will surely improve the number of sold OS 7 devices when looking at international markets. And Indonesians can finally buy their 9360s at local stores instead of resorting to grey-imports.

DropBox v1.0.55 for BlackBerry released

Hendrik — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:27:25 +0000

The latest version of DropBox is here. DropBox is a cloud service for everyone, allowing to share documents and files across multiple devices and with friends. The basic version is free (for most people the basic version is more than enough) and there is a premium version that comes at a monthly fee.

Just made a photo? Drop it into the DropBox box. Now all your devices have access to it. And friends can see it from their computers too, if you give them permission to do so with a click. I can’t emphasize enough how much I love this file sharing tool, because its really simple and intuitive to use. We have written about the DropBox for PlayBook Version before, which is similar to any version of DropBox.

Whats new in 1.0.55?

Security codes, so that only you can access your DropBox on your device.
Save email attachments to Dropbox.
Various Bugfixes

v1.0.55 has been around for a while, but this release is the official release. If you don’t like test versions, then this is the moment to grab this official release.

Download: DropBox on the BlackBerry App World

Do you like the DropBox app? Share your opinion in the comments!

New PlayBook competitor costs $61

Hendrik — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:33:58 +0000

Today the cheapest tablet computer ever has been announced. The Ubislate, also known as Aakash. In terms of price it beats anything on the market, costing only $61. It beats the Amazon Kindle Fire, which will cost $199 and it beats the low cost computer of the OLPC initiative (One Laptop per Child), which sells for $100. Obviously it beats all Android tablets, the iPad and the PlayBook. Unfortunately, at this moment it is only available in India. RIM, you can feel at ease for the moment.

When there is demand, after a while a product will appear. The people in India want a tablet PC, but they can’t afford those pricey ones from the USA and Canada. So they make their own one. Suneet Singh, a Canadian with Indian roots managed the making of the Ubislate. I’m sure he wants to help his country, but such a cheap price for a functional tablet is remarkable. And it’s a commercial product for everyone who wants one. There is a even cheaper government supported version for schoolkids and students in India.

The Ubislate costs Indian Rupees 2999, which equals a little less than $61 or € 45. It features Android 2.2 Froyo, a 366 MHz CPU, a acceptable 800×480 Pixel screen, 7 inch wide, has 2 USB connectors and 2 Gigabyte internal memory, which can be extended with a media card. To connect to the Internet, it has built in W-LAN support.

I have to say, I’m kind of surprised. Some well known companies repeat every day, that quality has it’s price. I can agree with that. But how is a tablet at $61 possible, when others claim that for this price you can’t even get a battery? The hardware really is that cheap. I hope that the Ubislate tablet will be exported to Europe and the USA and Canada. Some competition can’t hurt, can it? Companies in the Western world are used to high margins. They sit back enjoying their monopolies. A comfortable situation, that will be exploited eventually by a new player on the field.

RIM really should think again what to do with the PlayBook 2, if they decide to do it. Do we really need another industry standard tablet at $500?

Want one? Get one at the Ubislate / Aakash Website.

BlackBerryInsight

Porsche Design P’9981 BlackBerry Smartphone

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Easy Smiley Pack 2.0 released

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BlackBerry Torch 9860 Review

First impression

BlackBerry OS 7 on the Torch 9860

Liquid Graphics

Webkit Browser

The Torch 9860 screen

Virtual keyboard is not for everyone

Hardware and battery

Digital camera

Conclusion on the BlackBerry Torch 9860

BlackBerry Torch 9860 Technical details

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When can I play with it?

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