BlackBerry Cool

BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0 now available for download

2009-11-24T16:48:29Z

It’s pretty normal for RIM to announce something before it’s available but I thought it would be better to ignore the embargo time of 10AM EST and wait until Media Sync 3.0 was available and I can tell you to go download it. While the official download time is noon EST, I’ve been getting emails saying you can actually go right now and download it.

The latest BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0 adds 2-way photo sync with your PC via files and folders. The latest version is all about making the experience more user friendly and simple, which they have definitely done.

Here is a quick summary of the latest update:

PC to BlackBerry sync:

• Add folders for syncing with option to optimize pictures for device.
• Smart memory management: optimizes photo size, allowing for storage of more pictures on device.

BlackBerry to PC Import:

• Media Sync alerts users when new pictures are available to import when device is connected to PC (via pop-up on the pictures tab).

Highlights of Music sync with BlackBerry Media Sync:

• Sync Options include specific playlists or random music.
• iTunes and Windows Media Player compatible.
• Supports all media capable BlackBerry smartphones.

BlackBerry Media Sync will be available for free on Desktop Manager CD or by download from RIM.

System Requirements (Windows):

• Windows Vista.
• Windows XP SP2 or later.
• Windows 7.
• iTunes version 7.7.1 or later.
• Windows Media® Player version 10 or later.

System Requirements (Mac)

• Mac OS X version 10.5.5 or later.
• iTunes version 7.7 or later.

Okay now for some impressions. When it comes to downloading pics from my BlackBerry to the PC, it was incredibly easy and smooth. Media Sync was able to download 228 pics from my device (most of them the largest size and superfine quality) in a matter of seconds. It took maybe 3 or 4 seconds to import the whole batch. The music sync experience is better, but I’m still not 100% on board with how music is handled between a desktop and BlackBerry. I know it’s all a legal issue with 2-way music syncing, but it would make the experience much better.

Super BabyGO! giveaway winners announced

2009-11-24T15:48:34Z

Thanks to everyone who commented on the Super BabyGO! giveaway post. We are in the process of getting the winners their free copies of this cool app.

If you didn’t win, stay tuned because we will surely have more from the Zeebu Mobile team coming. If you didn’t get a copy but you want to try it on a free trial, go ahead and grab it from their site.

Super BabyGO! is available for $5.99, or on a free trial from App World.

The 25 winners are:

kylersmom
Paul108h
Teresa
rammohan
Javi
Doug
Al
WinoOutWest
Chris
Edri
Kevin
Larry
Jose
Rolando
Natalie
Dan L.
Patrick
luca
Doug C
Pthomas
Robert
David
reggielee
John
PDM

Giveaway: Super QWERTY launches apps from the keyboard

2009-11-24T15:28:49Z

One of the more popular apps for BlackBerry is QuickLaunch, a simple app that gives you access to any preset application with a few clicks. In the same style is an app called Super QWERTY that provides you single shortcut key access to all your apps. Just launch the app with “q” from the main screen and follow up with the next corresponding key for whatever app you would like to launch.

Super QWERTY are giving away 30 copies of the software for you to try it out. Just use the coupon code BBCOOLSQWERTY to get one of 30 free copies.

Super QWERTY is also available on a free trial or purchase for $3.99.

Drop us a comment and let us know what you think of this app.

Leaked OS 5.0.0.341 for the BlackBerry Storm 9520

2009-11-24T15:24:40Z

The BlackBerry Storm 9520 has a leaked version of OS 5.0.0.341 available on RS. There’s no telling how long it will be up so make sure you head over now before it gets pulled. We’ve heard the build is stable but if you find otherwise, comment and let everyone know. Also, you may have to be a premium member to download if there are no slots available.

Download OS 5.0.0.341 for the BlackBerry Storm 9520.

Cortado launch Flight Mode application for in-flight productivity

2009-11-24T18:32:56Z

Cortado have introduced their latest app, Flight Mode, which aims to help you be more productive while in-flight. Before Flight Mode closes down all wireless connections and turns off the device, incomplete emails are downloaded from the mail server. When the device is turned back on, the wireless connections remain disconnected, but you can read and respond to messages while offline.

UPDATE: Just inserted the features list for this app as it wasn’t clear.

Features:

Click on the Flight Mode icon on your BlackBerry before take-off.
Flight Mode will start downloading incomplete e-mail content – either from the last 24 hours or all remaining incomplete messages, depending on your settings. Note: Flight Mode will not automatically download e-mail attachments.
Once the countdown is complete (default: 60 seconds), all wireless connections are disconnected and the device will be switched off.
Turn on your BlackBerry again once you’re airborne, and all wireless connections will remain deactivated – indicated by the now green Flight Mode icon. Simply click the Flight Mode icon again to reestablish the connections after landing.

Cortado Flight Mode costs USD 2.99 and is available on BlackBerry App World or from the BlackBerry Cool store.

Cortado Flight Mode is available for handsets running BlackBerry OS 4.3 or higher.

Trusting 3rd Party BlackBerry Apps: What Can They Do?

2009-11-24T14:16:07Z

BlackBerry Cool has been asking me about what BlackBerry apps can do and recently the notion of malicious applications has come up. In this article, I address what third party apps can do, and how it relates to the safety of your personal data.

The first area to look at are you emails. Emails can contain very private personal information including username/password combinations and if the user isn’t diligent, credit card information. It is possible to listen for incoming messages and pull out their contents, so you should always be cautious of any app looking to alter email permissions. I would have to look more into whether an app can read all of your existing messages that were already on your device before the app was installed. I can’t think of a good use case for this so I obviously haven’t tried it myself.

Username and Password information are commonplace with third party apps. As for stealing 3rd party passwords, it all depends on how the 3rd party app/service is storing things on the device. For example, a developer can listen to framework calls (I won’t divulge how) and check to see what parameters are passed into those calls (for example the identifier that specifies where a password is kept in persistent storage).

This sniffing technique opens up some fairly big holes in terms of security, and definitely makes it a bit tricky to properly manage passwords. However, RIM does indeed provide some sophisticated technology to ensure your passwords are properly protected in persistent storage. For example, there is a way to ensure that ONLY your app can access particular data, which effectively blocks data mining. BUT, and this is a big but, once your app pulls that data out of persistence and back into RAM, anyone can use the sniffing technique to get at your passwords. HOWEVER, now it’s much harder to do. With RIM’s protection methods, an attacker now has to have physical access to your device to sniff for data, so it would be impossible to write an app that automatically pulls out your data.

A 3rd party app can, without having to ask for permissions (in most cases, depending on the device security settings):

Read your entire contact list.
Read your calendar.
Read your memos.
Pull out unprotected information from the persistent store.
Listen for incoming phone calls and collect data on those calls.

That’s as much as I can think of off the top of my head. Ultimately it’s buyer beware. Companies like Multiplied Media (I’m the lead developer for Poynt), who strive to uphold the highest levels of trust and integrity between ourselves and ours users have built up that level of trust over time. There’s always the potential risk, just like with anything else, that an app might be doing things that you aren’t aware of or don’t want it to do. The good thing is there are many so called white-hat developers out there that are watching for these apps and will alert the community when a bad apple shows up.

Although RIM does have a fairly rigorous approval process, they have opted to treat App World more like an open market than Apple’s App Store. This gives BlackBerry users a leg up, because they can evaluate for themselves about what is good or bad (the true invisible hand market paradigm). But like in any free market, there can be products that don’t do what they say they do, or do more than they say they do. Ultimately what it comes down to is being informed as a consumer. Luckily there are great blogs like BlackBerry Cool to facilitate the information sharing process among consumers

I would invite as many developers as possible to join in that effort to ensure a fair and clean BlackBerry application community.

NOTE FROM EDITOR (KYLE): I have spoken with Mobihand recently about their vetting process for applications and they have assured me they take their commitment to customers seriously. When issues arise, as they did with NetworkAcc, they look into them. In this case, what Mobihand learned was inconclusive, so they decided to leave it in the catalog and let users decide for themselves. But they have an adaptable system, and are willing to work with bloggers to customize the store front. In this case, I have asked them to exclude NetworkAcc from our store, and I will ask them to do so with any other products that are questionable in what they offer.

SmrtGuard releases version 2.02 with free trial for new users

2009-11-23T22:32:07Z

We’ve covered SmrtGuard a lot in recent months because they have a solid product we can stand behind. Well they’ve gone version 2.02 and the latest version comes with a free trial for new users. The free trial is risk-free as well, because now you can sign up without any payment information.

What’s new in v2.02:

• Risk-free Trial without payment information.
• Added Remote Backup Function to allow ad-hoc backup to be trigger remotely. (Issue a remote backup before a remote data wipe).
• Added a new Location History Tab on the SmrtGuard Dashboard that displays all of your historical locations.
• Remote Listen feature now allows users to issue call forwarding remotely. This is useful when users forget their smartphone at home but need to re-route calls to another phone.

You can check SmrtGuard out today in either monthly, semi-annual, or annual service subscriptions.

RIM dominates the top selling smartphones in Q3

2009-11-23T22:13:17Z

The BlackBerry Curve 8300 was the top selling smartphone in the US again, according to the NPD Group. RIM beat out the iPhone 3GS and 3G which came in second and third. What really drove home sales for RIM was taking the rest of the top 5 with the Tour and Storm.

NPD is saying the BOGO campaigns (Buy One Get One) were largely responsible for the Curve taking the lead, and prices for the devices are lower than ever. Globally, prepaid BlackBerry plans are driving sales, and regions such as Asia and Latin America are going to be big revenue generators for RIM.

Preview a cool new baseball game You Make The Call

2009-11-23T15:56:17Z

mySportRules.com is developing a series of new mobile apps around the complete rules of sport and is currently seeking feedback on their first BlackBerry game.

You Make The Call, is a cool new game that uses full motion video. You’re the umpire and you have to make some difficult calls in various baseball game scenarios. Make the right call before the clock counts down and add up your score. Challenge your friends!

NOTE: This is a preliminary demo only and not all the features are fully functioning. However, the good folks at mySportRules are giving BlackBerry Cool readers an advanced preview, in the hopes that you’ll leave some helpful feedback.

The game demo can be downloaded and played on newer devices such as the Bold, Storm, Tour, 9700 and Curve 8900. The demo was built exclusively for the high resolution devices and will not play properly with low res devices (older Curve models, Pearl etc).

BlackBerry OS v4.5+ (Bold, Curve 8900 etc.)

Go to http://www.mysportrules.com/bbcool/4.5 from your BlackBerry to download OTA.

BlackBerry OS v4.7+ (Storm, Tour etc.)

Go to http://www.mysportrules.com/bbcool/4.7 from your BlackBerry to download OTA.

MySportRules.com are asking:

What do you like the best about the game?
What do you dislike the most about the game?
What was your overall user experience?
How likely is it you would buy this game: Not Likely / Somewhat Likely / Very Likely?
Do you have any other comments or suggestions?

Magmic makes national news with Kaglom number 1 in Japan

2009-11-23T15:20:07Z

Magmic has made national Canadian news recently as Kaglom made number 1 in Japan. Their app is free in App World and Apple’s App Store.

Jeff Bacon presented the app to the CBC, and even went on the streets to showcase it to some local Ottawans. It’s just too bad he presented it with the iPhone, because he’s a BlackBerry genius. Remember his column on BlackBerry Cool? It was awesome.

“We were responding to some customer feedback and adding a few more features,” said Jeff Bacon, director of engineering at Magmic. “That caused it to pop up on some new release charts in iTunes and the customers in Japan really picked up on that. Within a couple days of releasing the updates the game was No. 1 in Japan.”

Bacon said it is too early to tell how many Japanese iTunes users have downloaded the game. However, he said to date Ka-Glom has been downloaded more than five million times.

For video, see the CBC official site and skip to around 13:30.

The BlackBerry Storm2 makes a big push into Italy

2009-11-23T14:40:08Z

Recently the BlackBerry Storm2 was introduced to Italian customers via Wind and Vodafone Italia.

On Wind, the device will cost 499Euros (about $750 USD), and customers will be able to get unlimited email and internet for 12 Euros per month ($18 USD). From Vodafone Italia customers will be able to pick up the device from €0 to €399 depending on the contract length. Ciao!

Free Twitter app Seesmic uses yfrog for pics

2009-11-23T22:10:00Z

Seesmic is a free Twitter app that is like UberTwitter but without the ads. The service has been around for a little while now and they recently announced their partnership with yfrog to offer pics.

One of the upsides of the app is that it offers one click URL shortening, but as a downside, it does not offer Tweetvid functionality. If you’re a big yfrog user this could be for you.

UPDATE: Sorry about that, you can change the media provider to use Twitpic in the settings.

Just go to Seesmic.com from your BlackBerry to Download the app.

Interview with App Developer Fabian Heuwieser

2009-11-24T13:58:50Z

My wife and I just returned from Europe for our anniversary. While we were there, we stopped in Munich to meet up with Fabian Heuwieser. Fabian is one of those people that you have to meet if you’re in Europe. He’s a sharp, friendly and fun guy to hang out with and of course, a BlackBerry application developer. We chatted with Fabian after a beer at the famous Hofbräuhaus in Munich to see what he had to say about his upcoming application, thoughts on the BlackBerry platform and what his wishes are from RIM to help him make applications more quickly and better looking. Check out the video and drop Fabian a line on Twitter via @fabianmh.

Leaked pics of the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 Stratus

2009-11-20T21:33:45Z

Gotta love Salomondrin for leaking pics of the upcoming BlackBerry Pearl 9100 aka Stratus. The 9100 is apparently a 3G Pearl for the GSM network. It has SureType, an optical trackpad, 3G, WiFi and the version we’re seeing is running OS 5.0.0.350. Too bad Sal’s YouTube was taken down by RIM legal. Those lawyers are killing the Internet, 1 leak at a time.

Conclusions from testing the BlackBerry Bold 9700 battery

2009-11-23T04:32:44Z

Testing the BlackBerry Bold 9700 battery has been an interesting experience. I always thought consumer electronics manufacturers embellished their battery life expectancies in order to impress the buyer. In this case, RIM has actually slightly under-stated the Bold 9700’s battery life, and really proved themselves to be an honest company when it comes to their battery life marketing. Could we say the same for Apple? I challenge TIPB to do the same with the iPhone, and see if it can play 39 hours of music off radio and last 29 hours with heavy usage. Speaking of Apple…the BlackBerry Bold 9700 lasts longer than the best iPod.

Just look for yourself, the BlackBerry Bold 9700’s battery, lasts longer than that of the best iPod available.

In Part 1 of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 battery stress test, we threw RIM a bone and checked out the music playback with the wireless connections off. For the second part, it was important to test how long the battery would last given very heavy usage. During the 29 hours that the BlackBerry was on, it went through the following:

About an hour of voice over 8 phone calls.
10 SMS messages received, 7 sent.
13 Tweets from UberTwitter, 9 of which contained a pic.
Google Maps running the whole time and updating Latitude.
About 8 hours of music streaming and playing via Bluetooth.
Received about 30 emails and replied to around 15.
The remaining time spent with all connections on and pulling data.

This is the first BlackBerry that I have been able to run more than 1 full day of usage without charging. There are definitely updates and optimizations made to the OS that make music playback more efficient, as well as general improvements to the device that make the battery last longer than any other BlackBerry. If you’re interested, I could do similar experiments with other BlackBerry smartphones. Anyone want to know about the Storm2 battery?

This BlackBerry test proves that the Bold 9700 has a killer battery.

Special thanks goes out to Slacker for white listing my account so it can be played in Canada. Now if only the lazy bureaucrats can get their act together, Canadians would have an awesome music device.

New Elecite theme Sentient with cool animations

2009-11-20T10:24:36Z

Elecite have a new theme out called Sentient. It looks pretty cool and features an animated shield with 6 customizable icons. It’s easy to use and the navigation is pretty user friendly. As with most Elecite themes, the icons could do with a little work.

Sentient is $6.99 and available for the Storm, 8900, 9700, Bold & 9600 (OS 4.7 & 5.0).

BlackBerry Cool readers get 25% off eBooks at Fictionwise

2009-11-19T22:51:07Z

Personally, I’ve never read an entire book on my BlackBerry, but I might just give it a try. Viigo is a part of my daily reading habits and if the font size were right, and the interface was clean, I could see myself going through a full eBook on my BlackBerry.

If you want to try it out, or you’re looking for another book, Fictionwise are offering BlackBerry Cool readers 25% off with the coupon code “blackberrycool25″ (sans quotes). The coupon is good until the 30th of November.

Some instructions from Fictionwise:

For Fictionwise.com customers, every MultiFormat (unencrypted) eBook and every Secure eReader eBook will work on your BlackBerry. When you log in to your Fictionwise.com account from your BlackBerry, note that you will only see listed those eBooks that work with eReader for BlackBerry. You will not be shown eBooks that don’t work, such as Secure Microsoft Reader eBooks, etc. If you see it on your BlackBerry, you can download and read it.

RIM talks about security threat of DDOS attacks on carriers

2009-11-19T21:00:17Z

Scott Totzke, RIM’s vice-president of BlackBerry security, recently spoke with the press about the potential of the DDOS attack by hackers using BlackBerry devices to target wireless networks. The thought is that because the BlackBerry is essentially a smaller PC, it could be used in a similar manner to overload networks.

But is this really a big concern? I have to agree with Ronen at BerryReview, that someone stealing personal data with an application seems like a bigger concern. All you have to do is build an application that accesses user data, and sends it back to the company’s servers. If they wanted to, a company could use the data on your BlackBerry for malicious purposes.

It seems like only a matter of time until someone in Nigeria figures out how to submit a malicious app into Mobihand. While App World might have a vetting process that looks at what the app is accessing, I can guarantee you the Mobihand network isn’t diligent enough to catch something like this.

Remember, Mobihand are the same people who sell NetworkACC, a bogus application that claims to speed up your mobile network. Not only is the app bogus and a waste of money, but I bet you eMobiStudio are gaming the review system because their app is filled with 5 star reviews. Mobihand have such a weak review system that anyone can write a hundred positive reviews about their app.

We can only hope that if a malicious app shows itself, the good people at BlackBerry Cool, BerryReview, CrackBerry, etc. will find out and spread the word not to download it.

Bplay launches Embrace your City themes

2009-11-19T18:46:33Z

Bplay has launched a new line of city themes. They’re pretty basic themes with changing backgrounds and easy to read icons, but they do a good job of representing your favorite city.

Embrace Los Angeles
Embrace New York
Embrace Paris
Embrace London
Embrace Rome
Embrace Berlin
Embrace Vancouver
Embrace Tokyo
Embrace Beijing
Embrace Barcelona

Check out all of their featured cities here.

Free hockey scores application available in App World

2009-11-19T18:14:31Z

There is a free app in App World called Hockey Scores that lets you check NHL scores across the league. The app is updated frequently but it’s not clear whether it takes advantage of the Push APIs from RIM, which would push the scores to the device in near-real time.

Hockey Scores is free in App World and available for almost every device.

Rumor: BlackBerry Curve 8530 to launch December 10th

2009-11-19T15:48:38Z

There are some rumors going around that the BlackBerry Curve 8530 will be launching December 10th. Barring some unforeseen testing issues, this date will probably stick. With an 8530 on the way to Verizon as well, this device is going to get a decent spotlight. Remember, this is the same 8530 that we discovered will feature OpenGL, so there is some awesome app potential. It will be interesting to see if the carriers even mention it.

GreenTech BlackBerry theme by HedoneDesign

2009-11-18T22:17:32Z

HedoneDesign have prepared a new theme designed for OS 5, called GreenTech, which was made using the latest BlackBerry Theme Studio 5.0. GreenTech features an easy-on-the-eyes green color, with large time, battery and signal icons.

Because it was developed using the Theme Studio 5.0, this theme is compatible with all the latest devices including Storm2, Storm, Tour Bold 9700, 8900 and 9000. On the other hand, popular but older devices like the 8330 aren’t compatible.

GreenTech is available for $3.99 until November 23rd (regularly $7.99).

BlackBerry Storm2 and Storm game Revball now available

2009-11-18T21:13:31Z

Nickel Buddy are really cool BlackBerry game developers because they’ve been putting out quality games specifically with the BlackBerry Storm in mind. The latest is called Revball and it’s a paddle ball type arcade game.

While the game is available for the Storm2, it doesn’t use the multitouch feature which is a pretty key element of the device. As a Storm2 user, I’m always on the hunt for content that uses its unique features, but a Storm game is good fun regardless.

Revball is $4.99 and there is more information available on the purchase page.

OS 5 for the BlackBerry Curve 8520 leaked

2009-11-18T19:19:21Z

CrackBerry and BlackBerryOS are reporting a leaked OS 5.0.0.348 for the BlackBerry Curve 8520. RIM have said that it won’t be longer than 2010 before we start seeing OS 5 rolled out across a larger gamut of devices so it shouldn’t be long until this is official. So if you want it now, and you’re okay with some third party apps not working, then go ahead and give it a try. Usual caveats apply.

Download OS 5.0.0.348 from MegaUpload.

If you’re getting the error “File Temporarily Unavailable”, all you have to do is keep refreshing the screen. It took me about 15 refreshes to finally get the download to work.

TELUS launches the BlackBerry Storm2

2009-11-18T18:44:24Z

The new BlackBerry Storm 2 is now available at TELUS on their 3G (CDMA) network for $199.99 on a 3-year contract. You can also buy the device sans contract for $599.99, but it’s rare that anyone commits that much cash up front these days. In any case, we’re hoping this device does well for TELUS.

See the TELUS site for more details of the upcoming BlackBerry Storm2.

Zeebu Mobile launch Super BabyGO! with 25 copies to give away

2009-11-18T14:27:20Z

Super BabyGO! is the latest update to the BabyGO! franchise by Zeebu Mobile. The first version of the app, is a free sample of how the game works, and this version has some great new features you and your kid would like.

Once downloaded, the app locks the BlackBerry and lets your 0-2 year old push the keys and hear the corresponding sound. The app also features a growing section of downloadable content to keep things fun. Instead of letters and numbers, it can deliver cute animals as well as multiple languages.

Super BabyGO! is available for $5.99, or on a free trial. You can get more details and download information from their site. Also, Super BabyGO! is soon to be in App World so feel free to check it out then.

The folks at Zeebu Mobile are also providing 25 licenses to winners who comment and tell us “what games/toys your kids love to play with.” We’ll select 25 winners at random and email them licenses.

Deal of the Day Reminder: Wrath retro space shooter for the Storm

2009-11-18T14:02:00Z

Wrath is a retro space shooter for the BlackBerry Storm. Using the accelerometer or touchscreen, you control your ship as it picks up power-ups and blasts space aliens. If things look like they’re getting messy, click the screen to super-nuke everything.

One of the coolest features in this game is the ability to listen to your own music while you play. Just make a playlist in the BlackBerry Media player, and Wrath will use it for the in-game music.

Wrath, the retro space shooter for the BlackBerry Storm, is on sale for $2.49 (regular price $4.99).

Dope Wars more awesome on BlackBerry as Druglord Wars

2009-11-18T13:51:37Z

Berry Wars has been given a huge update and is now a visually stunning BlackBerry game called Druglord Wars. The game is just like the original Dope Wars, where the aim is to buy low and sell high, all the while avoiding the cops.

Some new features to the game include:

Global online leaderboard to compare your skills to the world.
17 drugs to buy and sell in 11 beautifully rendered cities.
18 weapons and storage containers to take down enemies and hold more drugs.
Over 125 custom designed images just for BlackBerry.
Save games and preview progress before resuming.
Unlimited gameplay mode to see how far you can take your drug empire.

The game is currently on sale for $3.99 until November 20th (regularly $4.99). Druglord Wars is available for OS 4.6 and up with 480×320 or 480×360 screens, and there are plans to support 4.5+ with 320×240 soon.

Stress Test: How long can the BlackBerry Bold 9700 play music? (Part 2)

2009-11-20T00:33:58Z

UPDATE: The Bold 9700 battery just died. The BlackBerry Cool official time is 19:22, exactly 29 hours. This is 29 hours while using the device heavily. Let’s see an iPhone do that!

UPDATE: 16:19 and 26 hours into the test, with 10% battery left. Part 2 of the test has sort of changed. It started off as a test of the music playback under more strenuous network conditions and has turned into a test of how long the battery will last under power user conditions. I’ve been playing music, tweeting, taking pics, using Google Maps, running several other apps simultaneously, making and taking calls and constantly pulling data from both Maps and Twitter. There was a break when I went to sleep but I left all the connections and apps running so it was still very much active.

UPDATE: 14:16, 24 hours into the test, and the battery is at 25%. Something I’ve noticed is that making calls depletes the battery much faster than anything else. I knew this intuitively but the test really made it obvious. Streaming music doesn’t seem to have much impact on battery life at all.

UPDATE: 10:40 went through the night and we’ve been back on WiFi, radio for a couple hours. At 30% and around 20 hours we’re definitely going a full day no problem.

UPDATE: It’s 02:29, 12 hours into the test. The batter reads 40% and I have been using a very decent amount of apps and data. Holding the BlackBerry Button, it shows the following apps: Messages, UberTwitter, Home Screen, BlackBerry Messenger, Media, Radio Companion, Setup Wizard (I switch devices a lot), Visual Voice Mail, Google Maps, Browser, Gmail and Phone. I’m going to give the updates a rest until around 8 AM.

UPDATE: It’s 23:11 and I have been out and about for the past 2 hours. During that time, I wasn’t listening to music but I was burning through data and the battery pretty fiercely. I was Tweeting pics, using Google Maps and calling friends. I’m not sure if this corrupts the test or anything, but I’m back at the office and on WiFi, streaming music on Bluetooth. At 55%, the battery is still going strong. We’re about 9 hours into the test.

UPDATE: 20:11 and the battery is at 65%. I’ve been using the device pretty intensely over the past 6 hours. On a normal day, I’ll probably use 20 minutes on headphones and the BlackBerry Media Gateway for 30 mins the odd time. So far, I’ve used about 5 hours of streaming Nobex on WiFi and Bluetooth, and another hour on radio and headphones.

UPDATE: The time is 18:14 and the status screen is telling me the battery is at 80%. By the looks of the meter, I would say it’s around 95%, but we’ll see. We are almost 4 hours on WiFi, taking in emails, BBM, and SMS, streaming music using Nobex and playing it via Bluetooth over the BlackBerry Media Gateway. Go baby go!

UPDATE: The time is 15:55, just over an hour into the test and the battery hasn’t budged, we’re still full bars. I’ve had a few BBM’s, and about 10 emails come in through WiFi, all the while streaming music using Nobex and playing it off the BlackBerry Media Gateway. Things might change if I leave the office and get off WiFi.

UPDATE: Okay we’re good to go. I have the Bold 9700, running all connections, using EDGE, roaming on the Rogers network and this bad boy is sucking in data like a Dyson vacuum. The time is 14:22 and we’re starting off on WiFi, at my office, listening to the Bold 9700 via Bluetooth on 7.1 surround sound. I know, it doesn’t make a difference that it’s 7.1 but it’s still cool. I also made sure to make the amplifier read Bold 9700. Oh yeah, and I’m running Nobex Radio Companion for the music because Pandora and Slacker figured out I’m Canadian. We’re full battery.

So it turns out the BlackBerry Bold 9700 can play music for up to 38 hours, as advertised (the BlackBerry Cool official time is just short of 39 hours).

It seems as though we tested the Bold 9700’s music playback in a similar way that RIM would test it. There might be a standard for such a test somewhere, and maybe the National Institute of Standards and Technology could comment.

Let’s get on to Part 2 because it’ll be much more interesting. Playing the Bold 9700 with the radio turned off is really throwing RIM a bone. It’s time to test the Bold 9700 under some decent Power User conditions. For Part 2 of “Stress Test: How long can the BlackBerry Bold 9700 play music?”, I’m going to use the device as a primary communication and music device. I think the following conditions would be cool:

Radio On.
WiFi On.
American SIM and device roaming on Canadian Network.
Streaming Slacker Radio during down time.
Headphones On, Volume Full and Bass Boost On.
When at office and home, connected via Bluetooth and playing to stereo (this is a personal shout-out to BlackBerry Cool Reader Caspan).
Taking emails, calls and SMS.
Taking advantage of GPS and maps when appropriate.
I might even take a pic or two.

So take your guess, how long will the Bold 9700 play music under heavy usage conditions? Comment your predictions and we’ll see the discrepancy.

Update on Cellcrypt voice encryption for BlackBerry

2009-11-17T22:40:47Z

The last time we wrote about Cellcrypt, they were showcasing their secure mobile voice encryption software for BlackBerry at WES 2009. The company and BlackBerry app have come a long way and we got to talking with them last week at BBDC.

Since WES, the company has received FIPS 140-2 certification, a standard approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. At BBDC, the company announced that their product is available for the BlackBerry Bold 9700, as well as Curve and Pearl series devices.

Cellcrypt’s product has become more relevant than ever with the ongoing media coverage behind a group of hackers looking to crack the standard GSM network. The hackers say they’re doing this in order to send a message that 2G GSM calls lack proper security encryption, and they could make their code book available to anyone via torrents. While the process is purely academic, and not likely an imminent threat, it still demonstrates a need in the industry for greater voice security.