Posted on January 15, 2009, at 3:54 pm .
UPDATE 2: I’ve added some quick initial impressions of the BOLT Browser after the jump. If there’s something you’d like to know about, post a comment!
UPDATE: Because of the huge traffic influx, we’ve heard that some of you are still waiting for your download link from Bitstream. To tide you over, we have a gallery of BOLT screenshots for you after the jump. Hold on tight!
One aspect of the BlackBerry experience that underwhelms, despite serious improvements recently with the Storm and the Bold, is the BlackBerry Browser. Browsing the web on your BlackBerry is packed with glitches and speed issues, making your BB a second-class citizen compared to the iPhone’s Safari browser.
Bitstream has just launched a private beta of a new J2ME browser called BOLT, which they claim is much faster than Opera Mini and utilizes less resources (thus saving on battery life). We’ve just installed it ourselves, so stay tuned for impressions, but if you’d like to be one of the first people in the world to try the new BOLT browser, head on over to the download page and use the following referral code: berrycool. Post a comment and let us know what you think!
Download BOLT BlackBerry Browser
BOLT BlackBerry Browser Screenshots and Impressions
Posted on August 29, 2008, at 9:34 pm .
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
Posted on August 28, 2008, at 8:06 am .
Curious to know what exactly you’re missing with the BlackBerry Bold? RIM’s Knowledge Base is now listing the official new features in device software 4.6. Nothing hugely new (that Q hotkey for the vibrate profile is nice to know, and switching to Bluetooth headset mid-call is nifty), but now we’ve got all the updates in one spot.
(via RIMarkable)
Get the short version of the new features in BlackBerry Software 4.6 Features behind the jump!
Posted on August 26, 2008, at 8:04 am .
The latest report from mobile advertising agency AdMob ran through some numbers based on the four billion ads they’ve served up. As you can see, Nokia remains top dog in mobile browsing activity, capturing a solid 34% of the global share thanks primarily to heavy adoption in Africa and Asia, followed up closely by Openwave (AKA WAP) at 29%. BlackBerry took a sad little 3% slice of the pie, right along side Motorola, Palm’s and Apple’s browsers. The BlackBerry 8300 and BlackBerry 8100 are still on the American Top Ten handsets list, though the top four spots are taken by Motorola. Even internationally, the Pearl does alright, getting 9th. place. In terms of geography, Indonesia has seen about ten times more traffic than last year, and Asia on the whole has seen a significant increase in activity.
(AdMob via Electronista)
Posted on August 13, 2008, at 9:34 am .
BlackBerry Answers, a rather underwhelming mobile support service launched in July for North America, released internationally recently, although it’s still only in English. The results tend to cover the more basic stuff (good luck finding results on tethering or OS upgrades), but the answers that are there tend to be pretty well-documented. If you’re still learning your way around the BlackBerry environment, it might be worth your while to bookmark the help page on your mobile browser. Maybe we can see some more language support soon…?
(Support Community Forums via BerryReview)
Posted on August 1, 2008, at 8:21 am .
The biggest social bookmarking website out there, Digg, is now mobile, and accessible at m.digg.com. From there you can scope out the top stories, digg ‘em, access your account and check out the profiles of other commenters. A pretty solid start, but it’s weird that you can’t comment from the mobile site, or digg comments. What would be really nice is if a mobile app were made that added the digg option from your BlackBerry Browser menu, but that’s just crazy-talk. Still cool, and don’t forget, you can check out Diggnation and other awesome Revision3 shows on your BlackBerry at m.revision3.com.
(via BerryReview)
Screenshots behind the jump!
Posted on July 28, 2008, at 8:30 am .
One of the bigger upgrades with the BlackBerry Bold is the browsing experience, which you can see clearly in this video from Boy Genius. You get a look at the general rendering capability of OS 4.6, as well as speed differences between EDGE and Wi-Fi. I’d be curious to see how 3G compares… On the whole this is a much needed update – the poor BlackBerry browser has been a point of contention for plenty of users for a good long time. You guys happy to see the problem fixed? What’s the next biggest issue RIM needs to tackle?
(via BGR)
Posted on July 24, 2008, at 8:03 am .
Opera’s monthly report for June has taken a look at the popular handsets that folks are using with their mobile browser, and what sites they’re going to. After running down country-by-country top 10 lists, it was pretty interesting to see the stark differences between the Chinese (dominated by Nokia) and the American (which was almost all BlackBerry). The UK also has almost half of their list occupied by BlackBerry, with the 8310 nabbing top spot. Speaking of which, the BlackBerry 8310 holds 5th. place worldwide in the popularity contest among Opera users. This State of the Mobile Web report is a pretty cool idea on Opera’s part, especially if you’ve developed a taste for this kind of thing with Google Trends. If you’re sick of the BlackBerry’s browser, you can get Opera Mini by visiting http://mini.opera.com/ on your mobile.
(Opera via Pinstack)
Posted on June 25, 2008, at 7:55 am .
You’ve seen some of their fine white label work with Yahoo!, but Vlingo’s going it alone with their new application which promises to control pretty much everything on your BlackBerry through voice. All BlackBerrys come built in with a voice dialling app, but Vlingo is going to do a lot more than just that… You’ll be able to text and e-mail by dictation, open applications like Calendar and Maps, search your address book, and make web searches using Vlingo. One very cool feature Vlingo’s packing is Note2Self, where you can pull the classic “Note to self: Pick up laundry. Groom cat. Begin plans for global domination”, which then get tacked onto your tasks, or sent to yourself as an e-mail or text. Super-awesome. I’m really excited about the possibility of third-party apps plugging into Vlingo, too. Tune in to our next podcast to get the full down-low on the new software.
Click this link to download Vlingo for free or head to m.vlingo.com on your BlackBerry.
Posted on June 17, 2008, at 9:52 am .
Selling a house can be a pain in the neck, and not to mention stressful. Knovolo just announced a new way to get your home’s information onto the mobiles and BlackBerrys of interested buyers. The Real Estate Text Link service works by sending SMS messages with mobile web links that have full housing listings. Sellers can put up their properties for a fee, and buyers can get all the info they need on their BlackBerry or other mobile. Head on over to Knovolo to give it a shot.
