Posted on March 28, 2011, at 3:41 PM .
When RIM announced BlackBerry Protect, the first thing on our mind was “what will that do to SmrtGuard?”. SmrtGuard has been providing BlackBerry users with a similar service for a long time before RIM decided they wanted to eat their lunch and now that the Protect app is out of Beta, it’s a good time to compare the two apps/services. Protect is a great move on RIM’s part because it offers a great backup/lost device service for free, which adds a lot of value to the whole platform. SmrtGuard also has a free version, allowing users to dip their feet in the SmrtGuard pool before taking the plunge to the full featured version. So which offers more value?
Continue reading ‘Lost Device and Backup Service Head-to-Head: SmrtGuard Versus BlackBerry Protect’
Posted on February 26, 2011, at 11:42 AM .
Angry Farm has been generating a lot of buzz lately, mostly because BlackBerry users have been craving their own version of one of the most popular mobile games ever made. The game’s addictive and fun gameplay, as well as its creative use of a touchscreen, put it a notch above the rest. A lot of users are probably curious about what it’s like, especially considering the $4.99 pricetag with no trial.
Some of the App World reviews of Angry Farm are pretty harsh, comparing it to the iOS version in terms of physics and responsiveness. While I have played Angry Birds for the iPhone, I played a polished version and can’t speak to the very first version they launched. It’s important to remember that in the app business, it’s not uncommon to launch first, churn and update your product until it’s totally polished. It’s a Guy Kawasaki approach to app development and while it may bother some users, I think it’s more important to rush a product to market so you have the dollars to improve it. We know the guys at Smarter Apps and they’re good at what they do. They’ll surely keep an eye on this product and update. Also, they have explicitly promised “free upgrades to all existing customers forever.”
Continue reading ‘Review of Angry Farm: The Angry Birds Clone for BlackBerry’
Posted on January 24, 2011, at 1:07 PM .
Currently, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 by Electronic Ats is being featured in the App World carousel and considering how much of a huge success the franchise has been in gaming history, it was hard to avoid paying the $2.99 to give it a try. While UMK3 has a pretty wide range of device support, the Torch was used for this review.
When you boot up the app, be sure to be in landscape mode. UMK3 doesn’t support portrait mode, due to the way the game is played. As you can see from the below screenshot, the controls use a virtual joystick and two buttons (one for regular attack and the other for a special). Fighting is done with a basic combination of ‘down+special’ or ‘back+attack’. As with most mobile games, you’re seriously limited by what you can do with the device, and the cramped key space means that developers have to get creative with how you play the game.
Continue reading ‘Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for BlackBerry by EA Review’
Posted on December 28, 2010, at 5:30 PM .
Motek, the company behind the popular screencapture app Screen Muncher, has recently released a QR code reader called Code Muncher. The app plays off the marketing success of Screen Muncher, by using similar branding and the recognizable “munching” sound whenever a QR code is read.
Code Muncher is available free as an ad-supported app that scans and reads 2D QR codes by simply launching the app and pointing your camera at them. As soon as the app recognizes the QR code, the famous “Motek Muncher Monster” will eat the code and allow you to view web sites, send SMS messages, call phone numbers, and save contact information from it. So how did it fare in testing? Hit the jump to find out.
Continue reading ‘Review: QR Code Reader Code Muncher by Motek’
Posted on December 10, 2010, at 3:12 PM .
We talk a lot about mobile payment systems here at BlackBerryCool because it’s a fast growing industry with some pretty awesome implications for retail and business in general. The BlackBerry, being a secure and ubiquitous device, is the ideal platform for capturing mobile payments and we’ve recently come across a pretty awesome solution called Wireless Merchant.
Wireless Merchant is a two in one application for BlackBerry. The first application is a Credit Card Processing Module which allows merchants to process their clients’ credit cards and receive an authorization almost immediately. The second application is an Order Entry/Billing Module which integrates directly to back office accounting systems (Sage ACCPAC ERP, Sage BusinessVision and QuickBooks). This application brings the customers, items, pricing, taxes etc. into the BlackBerry and allows the merchant to process an Order, Invoice, Credit Note and/or a Quote while automatically updating their accounting system and creating a domino effect. All of this backend updating is done in real time.
Continue reading ‘Wireless Merchant Mobile Accounting and Payment Solution Comes with Competitive Pricing’
Posted on November 24, 2010, at 4:58 PM .
The BlackBerry Style is official and has launched on most carriers for $99.99 on a 2 year contract (after a mail-in rebate). With TELUS, the Style will be $49.99 on a three year contract. The Style comes in steel gray and royal purple, as well as the standard black and features BlackBerry 6 out of the box.
The Style is an interesting form factor that has been hugely popular over the years but isn’t necessarily a modern trend. When you look at the devices that are gaining a lot of steam and popularity, a clamshell form factor doesn’t come to mind. Still, you can’t deny the prevalence of these devices and if anyone is going to do it at a good price point and modern design, it’s RIM. I’ve been using the device for about a month now, so lets take a deep look at this device, and see what it’s like. Hit the jump for the full review.
Continue reading ‘BlackBerry Style 9670 Review: The First Clamshell, Full QWERTY BlackBerry’
