The voice of the BlackBerry community.
A bit of a slower week newswise, though still plenty of interesting Bold-related stuff, including upcoming AT&T availability, OS 4.6 browser speeds, as well as some fresh pricing info on the BlackBerry 8220 and some more confusion on the BlackBerry 9500’s naming scheme. This is Simon’s last podcast on BBCool, so you better soak it all in.
Click here to listen to the BlackBerry Cool Podcast: Episode 39
While BlackBerry Cool was the first website on the Internet to bring you competent speed testing of the BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G web browsers, it seems as though our initial tests were not as definitive as we would have liked them to be. This past week, we have been working with Kevin from CrackBerry.com, who has been trapped in BlackBerry purgatory trying to get any sort of positive browsing experience. While we suggest you read his two long and passionate posts on the subject (which describe crackberry addiction better than anything else on the Internet), here are the problems in a nutshell:
– The BlackBery Bold from Rogers has some serious issues when you attempt to enable Javascript support while browsing the web over 3G.
– There has to be some sort of issue with the Bold and WiFi/HotSpot Browser that pops up under specific circumstances. I don’t know what is yet, but I’m sure there’s something up.
While we were initially surprised to hear that Kevin had been having such problems, because we had not encountered them at all in our testing. However, out of BlackBerry unity, we agreed to give him some help and adopt his testing methodology. Once we did, it became clear that we were facing (some, but not all of) the same problems as Kevin. Which means that something is going on with the BlackBerry Browser.
Click here to read more about BlackBerry Cool’s BlackBerry Bold Browser testing
Various Nokia handset enjoy a little function that automatically changes the calling profile (vibrate, quiet, etc.) based on your GPS location and the time, which fellow blogger Gordon Dewis would love to see on his BlackBerry Curve so much that he’s putting $50 out there for anyone willing to cook the app up. Personally, I think anyone who made something like this could make a hell of a lot more than $50 after putting it up on Handango and MobiHand… Some of the features needed include…
1. the last-known location as determined from the GPS using proximity to a waypoint (eg: “when I am within 200m of this location, use the Quiet profile”).
2. GSM cell ID (eg: “when I am ‘here’, use the Loud profile”).
3. time of day/day of week ranges (eg: weekdays between 0900 and 1700, use the Normal profile).
This sounds like a great project for any budding coders, or even more established ones looking for a quick distraction. Of course, there may be some difficulties in automating the profile-changing process that I might not know about. Any devs out there think this app is doable? Anyone else who would like to see this come to life can chip into the bounty via Paypal (paypal AT dewis DOT ca with “BlackBerry bounty” in the comments).
(via Gordon Dewis)
Yeah, that new bottom-bar Precision Zen theme is pretty slick, but some of us are still plenty happy with the oldies, like Today and the slightly-newer L theme. Well, it looks like someone over at Howard Forums has managed to hack in the old styles onto the Bold, and they look alright! Of course we’ll have to wait until the official Theme Developer Kit for OS 4.6 comes out before we can see some stuff that really takes advantage of the Bold’s screen and processor. The Plazmic CDK for 4.5 was just released late last month, so it might take awhile before we start seeing some proper shiny new themes, but this does get us day-dreaming about what’s next.
Thanks Nu!
(via HowardForums)
Indian carrier BPL is now offering BlackBerry Connect on a wide variety of handsets, including the Moto Q9h and the Nokia Communicator. BlackBerry Connect brings all of the back-end goodness like push email, data security and personal information syncing of BlackBerry to other platforms like Symbian and Windows Mobile. Clearly BlackBerry services are picking up at a decent clip again since that security mess awhile back, and I think we’re all pretty glad to see it.
(via EFYTimes)
No doubt all of this BlackBerry 9000 talk is driving your average American BlackBerry fanboy a little nuts since AT&T still doesn’t have it out yet – but apparently sales reps are quoting a September 12th. release date and a $299 pricetag (presumably on a 2-year plan), although there are conflicting reports that it could be as late as October 2nd. The BlackBerry Bold’s browser has been suffering from some hefty JavaScript issues, and we’re left to wonder if that’s to blame for the ongoing delayed US launch. Those rumours of a delay were certainly no joke, but it also makes sense if you take into account the big OS 4.6 patch due in September (which will hopefully fix both 3G and browser growing pains) as well as T-Mobile BlackBerry 8220 launching around the same time. AT&T needs something to punch back with, right?
(Gizmodo via BlackBerry News)
Can’t wait? BlackBerry Bold specifications behind the jump…
Well, so much for those dreams of a $50 pricetag. The latest Rogers ad materials are showing off the upcoming flip BlackBerry Pearl for $149.99 on a three-year contract – not what you’d call a generous back-to-school offer for the students who might be interested in grabbing one of these. Previous info was confirming a $50 promotion, but at this point it’s all up in the air until launch, ballparked for around mid-September. Word has it T-Mobile customers will also be getting the Kickstart – hopefully they’ll have more humane pricing.
(via CB)
Second picture of promo material and BlackBerry 8220 specifications behind the jump!
Remember Golden Shellback, those guys who were waterproofing iPods, BlackBerrys and all sorts of other electronics? Well, we had a chance to talk with Sid Martin about the process, when we can expect it to go public, the possibility of manufacturers like RIM picking it up, and how much it might cost you. For more info and updates on Golden Shellback, be sure to check out their site.
Hit the jump for the interview with Golden Shellback, as well as key snippets…
Yep, it’s that time of the year again – bust out the books, call in the loans, and register for classes. Anyone going to college or university has a nice, big, juicy school year ahead of them, and that means it’s time to gear up. Your BlackBerry’s no exception, of course, and can provide plenty of helpful tools to stay on top of your assignments and study for tests. Of course it’s not all work, and there’s a lot your BlackBerry can do to keep you comfortable in the student lifestyle. Here are our top five BlackBerry apps for students heading back into the classroom this fall.
Check out the top 5 BlackBerry apps for students!
The open source customer relationship management software SugarCRM has updated to version 5.1, featuring advanced reporting and analytics, new wireless HTML client, tracker reports, data import enhancements, and module builder enhancements. The new software will offer BlackBerry and iPhone a completely revamped interface, but it looks like the handheld app, Field Force, is still only working with Sugar 5.0. Hopefully we can see an upgrade on that end soon. Head on over to SugarCRM for the latest version.
(via BusinessWire)
The voice of the BlackBerry community.
