Otterbox has been known to make high quality and durable cases for BlackBerry phones for some time now. They recently released their Otterbox Commuter Series for the BlackBerry 9700. I promptly handed this case over to my good buddy, Choco. He is a man’s man. We once went on a camping trip and he was asked to bring back firewood…he returned with a truck tow strap around his chest and a tree that he later cut into pieces. He opens beer bottles with his teeth. This is the guy to test the Otterbox. So what did Choco think?
Likes
The Otterbox came in nice packaging, it was good looking but I didn’t have to have a chainsaw and pry bar to open it *Note: He does carry these tools anyway* The materials are solid. It didn’t feel cheap where I could tug on it a couple of times and it loosen it up). I found all of the cut outs to be clean and smooth to the touch. The device feels a little bigger without being bulky which gave me a better grip. I found that the push buttons on the outside of the case work well and that everything maintained responsive. The case also doesn’t add very much weight to the phone which is important to me. I didn’t feel like the phone tried to fall out of the case, so it really inspired confidence.
Dislikes
The phone no longer fits in the holster and it doesn’t come with a replacement holster. I also found it troublesome to see the LED indicator from certain angles. The screen protector is a nice touch, but as most screen protectors, they can be a little tough to apply properly. Finally, I found the hard plastic doesn’t go all the way around, so whenever you want to plug in the charger or headphones it pulls back a little. I do suspect that it might stretch after a while, though.
Overall, the Otterbox Commuter for the 9700 is a winner. It has a great feel in my hands, it protects my BlackBerry when I forget to do so and it does it in a slim enough package that I can still stuff it in my pocket without feeling awkward.
There you have it folks! Choco is a fan of the Otterbox Commuter. If you have any questions about it, please post it in the comments and we’ll make sure you get taken care of!
Are you tired of knuckleheads calling you to offer glaucoma surgery for your dog in Guatemala? Are you a person that is called on your BlackBerry for a long distance offer and you respond with “how long is it?” Well, if the fun is gone from tormenting telemarketing drones, read on. Why? Well, PrivacyStar, is giving away 5 one year subscriptions to its service to help you provide these pesky callers an atomic wedgie and a Chuck Norris-style roundhouse kick to the face *THWAP*.
What does PrivacyStar do, exactly? Let me call the horse and have him tell you straight from his mouth. *whistles*.
PrivacyStar is a simple-to-use mobile app that enables users to take complete control of their phones by blocking any and all unwanted callers, using Caller Lookup to identify unknown callers and easily report unwanted telemarketing violators to regulatory enforcement authorities.
Sound good? Leave us a comment, we’ll use some special algorithm and knock out five winners by Monday. Good luck!
Xobni (inbox backwards) is getting closer to having their application prepared for BlackBerry goodness. If you’re unfamiliar, Xobni is currently an add-on for Outlook that makes searching a snap. It indexes your emails, then allows you to search them all with keywords, names or just about anything else you can throw at it. From there, it sorts out contact information with their social network information, files that you’ve exchanged and it makes it easy to email those folks that you’ve previously corresponded with but weren’t important enough to make your contact list. Okay, so you got lazy and you forgot. Nonetheless, the goodness that is Xobni in Outlook is coming to BlackBerry. Check out the video above and get more information on the upcoming release.
With BlackBerry being historically such a business device, it’s only fitting that there be a proper LinkedIn application – the social network defined specifically for business. With the upcoming LinkedIn app you’ll be able to review profiles before a meeting, integrate LinkedIn contacts into your BlackBerry contacts and know when you’re receiving LinkedIn messages via a hip new icon. Hit up the video for more details.
Slacker Radio sat us down at CES to show us their new Slacker Radio 3.0 for BlackBerry. They’ve showed up with a new, clean interface. One of the most compelling updates, though, is the ability to wirelessly cache your stations. With Slacker 3.0 and wireless caching enabled, your device will search first for wifi, then 3G if wifi isn’t available, late at night. It will also confirm that you have your phone plugged in, so your phone doesn’t cache the stations and you wake up with a dead battery. Once the cache is done, you wake up to fresh coffee and a some steaming goodness of new music. Check out the video for more details. You can expect Slacker 3.0 very soon.
Spracht, a little company from Mountain View, California, made a new and cool Bluetooth headset. Sure, everyone has noise cancellation and wind protection and full duplex. Blah blah blah. Spracht’s new Aura EQ launches with a few cool features. First, it is capacitive, so you slide your finger up the headset to raise the volume or slide it down to lower it, all the way to mute. Next, you have the ability to adjust the audio with an 8 Band EQ. Finally, in true Whisper 2000 fashion, you can turn the headset into an audio booster so you can hear better in noisy situations, like CES. Expect the Spracht Audio EQ in March with pricing around $79.
The BlackBerry Presenter is BlackBerry’s newest announcement that has been over a year in the making. At an initial price of $199, it truly was designed for the road warrior in mind. The BlackBerry Presenter is a device that connects your OS 4.6+ device to a projector to present your most beautiful PowerPoint presentations. It is able to display about 90 to 95% of the transitions from PowerPoint. If it can’t it’ll substitute it with “fade in/out” with the same timing to not throw you off. Additionally, if you’re on a BES you can stream your presentation off your server. They’ve made the setup drop dead simple and it’ll auto-configure the resolution. Additionally, the pairing is done for you via a piece of software and you can have numerous Presenters set up campus wide and select the one you’d like to use. It’s powered by Micro USB and outputs via VGA or S-Video to a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA). How many of your PowerPoint ninjas are interested?
How many times have you been eating a pastry as you realize that your BlackBerry is below, getting covered in crumbs…and maybe a little saliva? Now, I’m not judging you, but you might want to check out Cyber Clean which helps you become a less disgusting slob with their magical compounds that pick up the crumbs and grime and traps it. Honestly, the stuff reminds me of Nickelodeon Gak, just not as runny.
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.
If you’re here, you likely have heard, RIM has rolled out BlackBerry Internet Service aka BIS 2.8. One of the features that has been added to this release is the ability to synchronize Gmail contacts to your device. Unfortunately, providers oftentimes don’t give you any notice that they’ve updated and finding the version of the BIS that you’re on can be a pain. Fortunately, I’ve dug up a way for you to be able to tell whether it’s been updated to BIS 2.8. Thanks to RIM’s help section, it explains where you can turn the contact synchronization on and off, via the menu system.
1. On the BlackBerry® Internet Service web site, in the left pane, click Email Accounts.
2. Click the Edit icon beside your Google Mail™ email address.
3. Select the Contacts check box.
4. Click Save.
After you finish: To stop synchronizing your contacts, clear the Contacts check box.
So if you don’t see this option, you’re not on BIS 2.8 yet. If you do see this option, you’re all set! Remember, you have to be running OS 5.0 to use this feature. Let us know if this feature is available from your provider in the comments.
