J's BlackBerry Blog

I'm Still Alive! I'm Now a Writer at BerryReview!

2011-04-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Dear loyal follower(s),

I apologize for my neglect of this, my little blog. I will continue to post here, but there will be fewer articles because my new blogging focus has moved to www.BerryReview.com.

I have been a more passive member of BerryReview for a couple of years. They have been running monthly contests for readers to win a BlackBerry PlayBook. Every comment on the blogs or forums or any tip submission counted as an entry to win. In February, I decided to have a go at the PlayBook and started posting as much useful content as I could. The editor, Ronen Halevy, noticed some of my posts and asked if I wanted to contribute to the site as a writer. I, of course agreed and I have been writing for BerryReview ever since.

Unfortunately I did not win the PlayBook in February, but I've been having a great time getting my writing out there to a bigger audience.

Check out some of the articles I have posted so far (most recent first):

Review and Giveaway: iFrogz Timbre and Ozone Earbuds With Mic (this contest is active until April 9th, 2011 11:59 EDT. Go enter right now!)
Spring is Here! BlackBerry Fitness App Roundup, 50% Discount and Giveaway! (this contest is active until April 7th, 2011 11:59 EDT)
Top Secret: App World For PlayBook
Screamager: Retro Style Message Scrolling App for PlayBook
BBM Video Icon Shows Up on the PlayBook
LiveProfile Cross Platform IM App
Video: PlayBook Run-Through Featuring Elmo!
BlackBerry Traffic Updated to Version 2.0!
Android's App Market Threatening Apple for Supremacy
Video: PlayBook Demo at SXSW
Need More Cowbell? With the Free PlayBook Percussion App, You Got It!
Are you a BlackBerry Addict? Ask Yourself These 3 Questions
BlackBerry Manners and the Rising Popularity of the Lack Thereof
Stressed? Take It Out On A StressBerry!
Are You in Love With Your BlackBerry?
Free Solitaire Game by Odesys
PlayBook App: Talk Clock
A Future of QNX and BlackBerry OS 7...

My BlackBerry Is Not Working!

2011-02-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

My sister in law just showed me this absolutely hilarious video clip. It features the legendary Ronnie Corbett from the UK.

If you are not one of the over 11 million that have checked this out, its definitely worth the 2 min 53 seconds.

BlackBerry PlayBook vs. Apple iPad

2011-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

The highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook is set to launch in the next few months. I have waited to post anything on the PlayBook for as long as possible to get a real idea of what its all about and the details. As I have researched and compared, I have been hard pressed to find anything that the iPad does that the PlayBook can't do better. Of course Apple is working feverishly to fix all of their mistakes and release the iPad 2, but that is not surprising.

As shown above, the iPad lacks flash. Flash seems to me like it is a basic feature of any browser. According to Steve Jobs, Flash is a relic. “Flash was created during the PC era –- for PCs and mice,” he says, “but the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards –- all areas where Flash falls short.” Some of his arguments are actually logical and make sense, but it seems like the iPad is trying to be something its not; a highly advanced, futuristic device. Flash may be a "third party layer of software" between developers and potential amazing apps, but Flash is also the source of over 50,000 games and 75% of all video on the web. If nothing else, the lack of Flash is an annoyance that necessitates workarounds. This flies in the face of Apple's intuitive, easy to use reputation.

A screen comparison shows that the iPad's is obviously larger (9.7" compared to 7"), but the resolution is very close to the same (1024 x 768 on the iPad, and 1024 x 600 on the PlayBook), meaning higher pixel density on the PlayBook. This also means that the PlayBook is much more portable.

What about the camera? Well RIM could have tossed a low-res vga camera into the PlayBook and would have beaten iPad hands down since iPads DO NOT HAVE a camera. Perhaps cameras are considered third party hardware that would just get in the way of the brilliance of the sleek, aura that Apple fanboys everywhere adore. Either that, or Apple forgot. I'm pretty sure the iPad 2 will have a camera. The PlayBook boasts not only a front facing 3MP camera for videoconferencing, but there is also a rear facing 5MP camera that shoots true 1080p video - a first for any tablet or smartphone.

Although processor comparisons are subjective due to different operating systems and hardware, it comes down to this: the iPad has one core running at 1GHz, the PlayBook has 2.

Recently there have been questions regarding the battery life of the PlayBook and whether it can compete with the iPad. RIM’s Jeff McDowell, senior vice-president for business and platform marketing, rebuffs analysts battery life concerns. According to McDowell "It’s going to be equal or greater than the iPad with smaller battery size."

The one thing that Apple has the upper hand in is apps. Obviously Apple's App Store is second to none with over 250,000 (all very useful) apps to choose from. About 25,000 of these are optimized for the iPad. However; along with the announcement regarding battery life of the PlayBook, McDowell also let out that RIM plans on having about 4,000 third party PlayBook apps available at launch which is impressive. It took RIM months to get that many in App World.

The PlayBook has managed to outspec the iPad in many key categories (a rare feat for any RIM device) and will provide real competition for a good share of the growing tablet market. What do you think?

BBM Groups!

2011-01-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

I've been messing around with BBM groups for a while now and they are amazing. It is a great way to stay in touch with family and friends, coordinate work or school projects or get to know complete strangers from across the world. BBM groups make it easy to chat and share pictures and files. The other thing I really like about the BBM groups is the privacy aspect. You're not sharing pictures with anyone who might see them. Only people in the group see what you share.

A big thanks to Joseph Holder over at crackberry.com for reminding me of the goodness of BBM groups and posting a great article about them. I highly recommend his article that you can find here.

BlackBerry Torch 2, Apollo (Curve), Monaco (Storm 3) and Dakota (Bold) Pics and Specs!

2011-01-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the brand new devices RIM has been working on have surfaced and they look very nice. From what I've learned about the specs, these are much improved versions. More details below.

The BlackBerry Dakota. (Bold)

Looks like a tribute to the Bold 9000 in terms of size and style. It Mixes the full QWERTY with a touchscreen and records HD video. Very sweet.

The BlackBerry Monaco (Storm 3)

Rumored specs of the Monaco:

1.2GHz processor
3.7-inch 800 x 480 capacitive display
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Tri-band UMTS/HSPA
5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording
8GB eMMC (storage for apps and data), 512MB of RAM
microSD slot
Magnetometer
Proximity sensor
Accelerometer
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
2.4GHz b/g/n and 5GHz a/n Wi-Fi + UMA
3G Mobile hotspot
Optical trackpad
1230 mAh battery
BlackBerry OS 6.1
OpenGL ES 2.0

The BlackBerry Apollo (Curve)

Full specs of the Apollo:

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Tri-band UMTS/HSPA 7.2Mbps
Bluetooth 2.1
Wi-Fi b/g/n
GPS
NFC
512MB of eMMC, 512MB of RAM
5-megapixel camera with flash
HVGA 480 x 360 display
1050 mAh battery
Tavor MG-1 800MHz CPU
BlackBerry OS 6.1
11mm thin

The BlackBerry Torch 2

Here's what I've found for specs of the Torch 2:

1.2GHz processor
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
Tri-band HSPA 14.4Mbps
3.2-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive display
8GB built-in memory
512MB RAM
Bluetooth 2.1
GPS
NFC
5MP camera with flash
Magnetometer
1300 mAh battery
BlackBerry OS 6.1
OpenGL ES
14.6mm thin

Which one do you want? I'm leaning towards the Torch 2 but it looks like it doesn't support HD video recording. The Dakota and Storm 3 do support it, but I love the big touchscreen-full keyboard combo.

Free FaceChat App From JaredCo

2011-01-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

After trying the free 'Chat for Facebook' from App World I was greatly disappointed. It was not user-friendly and cumbersome to navigate.

The FaceChat App by JaredCo makes things a little easier. As you can see above, the chat interface is clean and familiar and you can use enter to send messages. The one hiccup people might run into is logging in. It requires your username which is different than your email you normally use to login to the site. You can easily find your username by going to your profile on a computer. Your username will be whatever is after the '/' after www.facebook.com in the address bar. For example: My username is jay.harker and I found that in the address bar of my browser. www.facebook.com/jay.harker.

Download FaceChat here.

Either that, or don't.

FREE Aces Traffic Pack Puzzle Game

2010-12-25T22:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Ronen at BerryReview for letting me know about this free game. This version includes 40 levels of increasing difficulty, great graphics and sound effects, stat tracking and a tutorial mode to get you started. Its a fairly big app at 3.5MB but it could be worth it to pass the holiday time away.

Get it here.

Happy Boxing Day!

Free Animated Christmas Theme by MMMOOO

2010-12-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a festive theme to liven up your BlackBerry for the Christmas season! I am usually not a fan of animated themes but this one I can handle. The animation is subtle enough not to be annoying (twinkling lights on the tree) and the icons and screen layout are actually bearable. Most of the time all of the effort is put into the animation and the layout and icons are just tossed in. There is great integration of the theme thoughout other applications as well. It has a very cozy feel to it and I think this one just might survive through the holidays for me. Then its back to my all time favorite: SEIS with OS 6 icons by Ninja Themes. More info on that one here.

You can get the Animated Neon Christmas Theme at App World. Here's a direct link.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

More BBM Avatars

2010-10-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

Some more of my favorite BBM Avatars:

HOT! BBM Phantom Avatars

2010-10-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

You may or may not have seen these on your friends' BBM profiles. They are the latest craze and are pretty cool. Some look totally invisible or like a default icon UNTIL you hover over them! Then the hidden picture/message is revealed! Pretty cool. Here are some of my favorites:

To put one of these on your BBM profile, just save it to your SD card and change it to your profile pic.

Any questions? Just let me know in the comments!

Copter! Free Helicopter Game!

2010-10-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

The classic helicopter game is now available for BlackBerry and its free! Copter is very simple and extremely addictive.

For non touch devices, push and hold any non-control key to make the helicopter go up. And release to let it fall. For touch devices simply touch the screen to go up and release to fall down. Avoid the obstacles and see how long you can survive! How far can you go?

Get it at App World here: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/14276

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

Best Tic Tac Toe Game is Free! Oh and its the best!

2010-09-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Another free game from XIMAD BlackBerry Applications and this one is a hit as well. I know what you're thinking...ok, maybe I don't, but I THINK I know what you're thinking. How fun can tic tac toe be really? Well it CAN be fun, especially when you play the 6X6 mode against a very challenging "phone" (what we used to call "computer" back in the good old days). I played 3 times so far and the blasted phone has won 2 and I managed to tie the third game.

The game looks great and its a great way to kill some time. I also like the custom features of playing against another living human and adding names. Simple, addictive and fun. Just like Look and Listen (simon says clone) which I reviewed earlier: http://jsbbblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/free-look-and-listen-game.html

You can get Best Tic Tac Toe at App World: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/13819

BBM updated to 5.0.1!

2010-09-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

BlackBerry Messenger has been updated from 5.0.0.57 to 5.0.1.38.

Highlights of BBM v5.0.1 include:
• Bug fixes to improve the overall user experience
• Simplified sending of pictures and voice notes
• More user-friendly wording and organization in menus
• Support for a simpler, one line view of contact list
• Support for both deleting an unsent chat message (Shift-Del) and escaping out of a chat while retaining an unsent chat message (Escape button)

Get it at App World or www.blackberry.com/messenger

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

Free Look and Listen Game

2010-09-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

Just came across a new free game on App World. Its just like the old Simon Says games you grew up with. Mimic the pattern. There are small, unobtrusive ads that keep it free. I've played it once without sound (my prof would not enjoy it as much as me) and its pretty fun. See how many you can get!

Check out Look and Listen - Memory Game! You can find it at http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/14238

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

FREE SEIS Theme with OS 6 Icons

2010-08-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ninja themes has put together a really nice looking free theme they call SEIS. It features a bottom dock of 10 small customizable icons, a top dock with 2 customizable icons (perfect for weather slot), and the sounds icon is at the top and cannot be changed.

I love the look of the OS 6 icons. This theme doesn't have much to it, but it has everything I look for in a theme:

Fully featured homescreen with lots of icons
Wallpaper friendly
Weather slot
Solid color scheme
Cool icons
Runs fast

You can get more information and download here: http://ninjathemes.net/2010/08/06/free-theme-seis/. It is compatible with 9700, 96xx and 8900 models running OS 5.0.

Free App Friday!

2010-08-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Handango's Free App Friday is pretty sweet today. HollerID normally sells for $9.95 and for TODAY ONLY its free! HollerID announces the first name of the caller. Its compatible for BB as well as win mobile, symbian and android. Not bad for free.

Check it out here: www.handango.com/content/Free-App-Friday (must be on a computer)

Jay
(jforce)

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

Free Hangman Game Updated to 2.0

2010-06-28T19:42:00.001-07:00

As I was checking out the Top Free apps on App World I noticed there's a new #1 app. Its a very simple hangman game from Spice Labs.

I hadn't heard of it before now but apparently this is the updated version with improvements like direct keyboard input and lots of words to keep you busy for months.

Check it out at App World.

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

BlackBerry 9800 Slider Pictures

2010-06-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

Not much to explain here. Check out the 9800 goodies.

BatteryEx: Free Battery Monitor

2010-06-06T15:32:00.001-07:00

As I have kept up with Operating System updates I have found improvements in battery life. I'm running 5.0.0.610 on my 8900 and am very pleased with its efficiency. A few days ago I played music through headphones for 8 straight hours and still had 25% battery remaining! Nevertheless, I am always looking at ways to tweak and improve my Javelin.

Enter BatteryEx. It places an icon on your homescreen displaying your battery level. You can also optionally display the voltage and temperature. Another feature is that you can add a small icon at the top of the homescreen displaying the battery level.

It seems pretty accurate and could be useful when you're low on juice to monitor your levels.

In the paid version, there is a 'Booster' feature. I'm not exactly sure what this does, but it sounds pretty obvious.

Get it here:

http://www.freewareblackberry.mobi/download-batteryex.html

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

CardStar: Free App Slims Down Your Wallet And Makes You Cool

2010-05-25T22:48:00.001-07:00

CardStar is an app that let's you leave your loyalty cards at home and also makes you look super tech savvy (nerdy). The clerks at the grocery store will be so impressed when they ask for your card and you pull out your BB! "Just scan this please," you'll say.

"Scan your phone?!" they will undoubtedly respond incredulously.

"Actually, its a BlackBerry Smartphone Device™®, and yes, scan it"

Just think of how you will be admired. I know you want it. Get it OTA here: http://m.metova.com/cardstar.xjad

More info here: www.mycardstar.com

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

Video of BlackBerry 9800 Running OS 6

2010-05-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone. Looks like the video has been removed cuz its way too top secret. I'm sure there will be more to come.

This thing looks very impressive.

More goodness today on the BlackBerry 9800 Slider. This time in a near four minute video showing off the device with an AT&T splash screen. While some navigating looks a bit rough, we do get a much better look at BlackBerry 6 than we have recently, so you don't want to miss it. For those who don't know what BlackBerry 6 is all about, it will feature some key enhancements:

Crisp, more immersive visuals, including new graphics, animations and transitions
New WebKit browser; it's high-fidelity and very efficient, for fast, rich browsing with support for multiple sessions (i.e. tabbed browsing)
Multi-touch support (e.g. pinch to zoom) while browsing, viewing photos, etc.
Graphical, context-sensitive menu pop-ups
Redesigned core apps, plus a new media player UI
New Home Screen experience; multiple views based on content type (All, Favorites, Downloads, Media, etc.), universal search
New app for integrating RSS and social networking feeds

We also get a decent look at the native Youtube integration with the OS itself in this video. You don't have to take my word for it - check out the video above and see how it compares to the BlackBerry 6 preview video shown off at WES. Be sure to drop a comment with your thoughts.

Source: The Berry Fix

BlackBerry Help Homepage Updated Finally! New Wallpaper and Ringtones.

2010-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Remember that little gold plus sign icon called "BlackBerry HELP!" on your BB that sends you to a terribly outdated site that hardly ever gets new content? Well surprise surprise, its been updated. Not too much, but it looks like the ringtones section has has some significant upgrades. Lots of categories, and they're actually pretty cool. I can't tell you how many times I've been cruising Walmart (yes, I go there...sometimes) when I hear the default 'crystal' notifier 3 times from some poor BB owner who doesn't know any better. Your notifications can say so much about you! Gotta personalize people! Find some tones that you love and put em to work. See an earlier post on how to do this: Ringtones and Notifications. This was written before OS 5.0 was released which makes things a lot easier.
There have been an outstanding 6 new wallpapers added! Its really just 2 with different text and zoomed, but they're not bad I guess.
As for themes, I don't know why they bother. The themes link just takes you to another link to Bplay. I guess there are plenty of themes on App World right now. I just don't see the point of keeping this link active. The only reason I can see is pretty obvious I guess: $$$. Bplay has got some deal going with RIM. There is also a link to Bplay for premium ringtones. Ringtones should never be paid for in my opinion; especially on a BlackBerry where you can make any song or sound ANY notification.

Anyway, check out the little gold plus signs when you get a chance. Or if you've hid that icon because it has been useless for so long, click this link on your BB browser:

http://mobile.blackberry.com

GPSLogger: Free GPS App with Compass, Speedometer, Elevation and More!

2010-05-05T11:47:00.001-07:00

Just tried this simple, but feature rich GPS app called GPSLogger. The compass and GPS coordinates are quite useful. You can save your current location and then select 'guide me home' from the menu and it will somehow take you back. Not sure how it does this yet as I haven't tried that feature out.

One of the surprising options I found is to set your BB to vibrate and notify you when you have traveled a specified distance. This could be extremely useful for runners and bikers. You can even set it to alert you at every mile. I think that's pretty sweet.

Give it a try! Its free. More info and download links below.

http://www.blackberrycool.com/2009/05/25/free-gps-app-gives-full-gps-functionality-for-blackberry/

Sent from my BlackBerry 8900 Javelin.

New Free Theme for 97xx, 96xx, 9500 and 89xx. BB Pro v5

2010-05-03T11:45:00.001-07:00

My new theme of choice is called BlackBerry Pro Version 5. Its clean and simple and there are a lot of icons on the main screen without clutter. Counting the weather slot, there are 16 icons on the main screen. The 7 large ones are customizable and the small ones on the bottom are not. Update: Natemz has updated his masterpiece to version 5.1 which makes all icons customizable. The weather slot in the top right corner always displays the temp and conditions (I use weathereye). To use the weather slot, just move your weathereye icon to the first position.

The theme is available for the 9700, 96xx, 95xx, and the 8900. There isn't an 8900 version listed, but I used the 9700 version without any problem since the resolution is the same. I like that you can choose from 7 different colors as well. I've tried the black and am now using the blue.

I highly recommend this theme.

More info and download here:

BB Pro v5 by Natemz 95xx

BB Pro v5 by Natemz 96xx

BB Pro v5 by Natemz 9700

Enjoy!

J's BlackBerry Blog

I'm Still Alive! I'm Now a Writer at BerryReview!

My BlackBerry Is Not Working!

BlackBerry PlayBook vs. Apple iPad

BBM Groups!

BlackBerry Torch 2, Apollo (Curve), Monaco (Storm 3) and Dakota (Bold) Pics and Specs!

Free FaceChat App From JaredCo

FREE Aces Traffic Pack Puzzle Game

Free Animated Christmas Theme by MMMOOO

More BBM Avatars

HOT! BBM Phantom Avatars

Copter! Free Helicopter Game!

Best Tic Tac Toe Game is Free! Oh and its the best!

BBM updated to 5.0.1!

Free Look and Listen Game

FREE SEIS Theme with OS 6 Icons

Free App Friday!

Free Hangman Game Updated to 2.0

BlackBerry 9800 Slider Pictures

BatteryEx: Free Battery Monitor

CardStar: Free App Slims Down Your Wallet And Makes You Cool

Video of BlackBerry 9800 Running OS 6

More Pics of the BlackBerry 9800 slider and 9670 clamshell Running OS 6.0. Is the BB 10 coming?

BlackBerry Help Homepage Updated Finally! New Wallpaper and Ringtones.

GPSLogger: Free GPS App with Compass, Speedometer, Elevation and More!

New Free Theme for 97xx, 96xx, 9500 and 89xx. BB Pro v5