Software
DVD Converter for your BlackBerry
If you've got a young kid, you've probably got a video camera for capturing all the seemingly normal stuff that we can do as adults but that is just plain amazing when a one year old does it. Thing is, most people don't carry about portable DVD players to show off all the new stuff that the kid... but you have a BlackBerry. If you've ever wanted to show a movie on your BlackBerry that you've got on a DVD (or more likely: you want to show off some internal presentation to a client or you're a real estate agent and you want to show a potential buyer a video), then I've got some software you should check out.
Wondershare BlackBerry Converter Suite includes Wondershare DVD to BlackBerry Converter and Wondershare Video Converter for BlackBerry. With this software, you can convert DVD or video to AVI, 3GP, MP4,WMV,MP3,AAC and WMA for playback on BlackBerry with with high output quality and fast conversion speed.
You can convert your DVD by selecting the subtitle and audio track you prefer, convert multiple video files at a time, trim your DVD and video files to capture your favorite video clips, crop movie video, set movie effects, and capture pictures from your movies and so on.
The software converts your videos to AVI, 3GP, MP4,WMV,MP3,AAC and WMA (all of which are supported on the BlackBerry) and you can merge DVD titles/chapters into one file and merge multiple video files into one file. It also supports video cropping and trimming.
You can buy it now for $39 or take it for a test drive.
February 18, 2008 in Reviews, Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Big Brother, Google Maps and your BlackBerry
The guys at Skylab Mobilesystems have done it again: they keep creating these applications that I can't imagine living without. The latest is called Mobile Tracker and is described in their press release like this:
By taking advantage of the already built-in GPS receiver of the BlackBerry 8800 series, MobileTracker is able to record tracklogs. Those tracklogs are saved on the BlackBerry's internal micro SD-Card and can be viewed directly in Google Earth once you have the BlackBerry connected to your desktop and click on the tracklog file. To provide more flexibility it is possible to configure the delay between position recordings. So if you are on a ship crossing the Atlantic you can also set the delay to 5 minutes. MobileTracker works everywhere on the world, even without network coverage.
So now when my kid turns 16 and wants to drive the car around, I just stick my BlackBerry in the car and have it pump out updates to a website that understands the tracklog file (I don't believe it can do this now but my kid is only 2.5 years old so they've got 13.5 years to get their act together). Does anyone believe this isn't going to happen in 5 years? Kids everywhere are going to be devastated. When is the first transmission blocking phone going to come online?
Anyway, you can read more about MobileTracker and check out a cool demo on YouTube.com.
MobileTracker is available for $24.99.
May 22, 2007 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bored? Try wattpad.com
I honestly can't imagine that you're bored if you have a BlackBerry since you probably don't stop receiving emails, but in case you're all caught up with your email (just as unlikely), you should head on over to wattpad.com and download their BlackBerry client to start reading and sharing stories via your mobile. The site and software is free of charge.
May 22, 2007 in Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
vCardMaster from S4BB
The guys over at S4BB have released yet another program for your BlackBerry. This one is called vCardMaster and it is a program to attach vCard, vCalendar and iCalendar files to a mail.
You can purchase it from their website for $19.99.
May 22, 2007 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mologogo Public Beta for Blackberry 8800
Noah from Mologogo is looking to get some beta testers for the new version of Mologogo (a free service that will track you and your friends using GPS). If you've got a BlackBerry 8800 and you use Cingular or T-Mobile, follow the directions below to get started and test it out:
You can download the software over the air by using your Blackberry Internet browser to go to bb.mologogo.com. Follow the instructions on the page to download.If you are unable to download it directly to your Blackberry, you can go to bb.mologogo.com using your computer, and download a file that you can then install using the Blackberry Desktop Manager.
You will also need to register at www.mologogo.com to begin using the application. Note that Mologogo uses your data connection to download maps and for posting location updates, so you need make sure that you have a data plan (preferably an unlimited one).
For more information about mologogo, check out their website: http://mologogo.com/.
May 22, 2007 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Documents To Go for BlackBerry
Jason from DataViz wrote in a couple weeks ago about the port of Documents To Go to the BlackBerry platform. If you've been living under a BlackBerry bush for the last couple years you may not have heard about DataViz: Documents To Go will enable users of BlackBerry devices to access, view, edit and create Native Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint® files on their devices. Natively. Pretty sweet.
You can read more about Documents To Go for the BlackBerry platform on their website and keep up on DataViz by reading their excellent blog 'Office Mobility Blog'.
May 22, 2007 in Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Pinger... really cool
Joe from Pinger.com wrote back March (wow I'm way behind, sorry!) about some new functionality that they're offering over via Pinger.com that gives you the ability to send voice mails to anyone in your Pinger.com address book by calling pinger (858-274-6437), saying the name of your contact and then leaving a voice mail. The really cool part come next though: you can create 'groups' on pinger.com and then leave a voice mail that gets distributed to all the members of the group by saying the name of the group and then leaving your voice mail.
One of the less noticed parts of this that I like is that your contacts don't live on the phone: one of the biggest pains is moving from one phone or carrier to another only to have to re-enter all your contacts and all your phone numbers. Having the phone numbers on pinger.com means you can place calls to pinger.com all day long without having to have a single number on your phone. Also, for those of you who don't actually want to talk to the person you're calling but really just want to leave a voice mail, pinger is a god send.
Check out the cool demos they have on their homepage or read about some of the 'why' questions on their FAQ page.
May 22, 2007 in Accessories, Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MySpace for your BlackBerry?
A couple weeks ago I got an email from Marc at MobilePlay about a new service they're offering called eXpress It!, which is billed as a Social Networking Service for mobile phone users. The service allows you to create a web page via your web browser that you then send to your phone (which they can do for you) and then you can forward that page to any of the people in your address book either by sending an email (probably the preferred method if you already have a BlackBerry) or by MMS. I'm not sure how the whole MMS thing is going to work out since I've never received one but email seems like a no brainer. In fact, I'm really surprised that something like this hasn't taken off: business cards seems so old and so wasteful. The only reason to have a business card is so that you can give it to some marketing / sales guy at conferences to get free t-shirts. Any reasonably connected business person has a laptop or PDA that they can and should be entering information into a regular basis. Sending a rich email or MMS message seems way more intelligent, faster and more compelling.
Check out the site @ mobileplay.com.
May 22, 2007 in Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BerryDialer: Use multiple calling cards on your BlackBerry
With the cost of international phone calls through Skype and other VOIP providers so low, I'm not sure why someone would ever choose to use a calling card, but I guess if you're on the go and don't have a laptop, then a calling card makes sense. If you're one of those people, you absolutely must check out the BerryDialer program, available from mobilesoftmarket.com, which gives you the ability to enter one or more calling card numbers into your BlackBerry and then not have to enter them again.
March 16, 2007 in Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tube 2 for BlackBerry
There's a number of subway / metro applications available for your BlackBerry, the one Ryan sent me today looks like one of the nicer ones. The screenshots of the maps look really nice, crystal clear almost and the application can overlay your route on map.
Tube 2 is available for London, New York City (soon!) and Paris, each city is $10.
March 16, 2007 in Reviews, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry v2.1.8
The guys at NewsGator released version 2.1.8 of the NewsGator Go! for Blackberry product, which is an RSS reader for your BlackBerry. Since I'm a giant feed fan, I though I'd point out two things about this product that are especially important for the enterprise:
- synchronization: If you read a post in NewsGator Go!, it's automatically marked as read in any other NewsGator client you use. I'm subscribed to over 200 feeds and while I'm not on the go that often, the ability to read a feed on your mobile device and then not have to see it again is a really big thing.
- access to internal feeds: if the company you work for uses any sort of Web 2.0ish applications that tend to produce RSS feeds like bunnies make babies then you'll appreciate the combination of NewsGator Go!, NewsGator Enterprise Server and your BlackBerry because you'll be able to subscribe feeds that live inside your firewall, something that most feed reading applications won't be able to do. Big.
NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry is available for $29.95, you can download a free trial as well.
March 16, 2007 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Squirting with your BlackBerry
You guys have all heard about that other MP3 player right? The one that squirts? Well, it turns out you can 'squirt' using your BlackBerry as long as you have a Pearl or an 8800. You can read the feature length story here or the BlackBerry Blog short and sweet version here:
- Turn on Bluetooth on both devices, set the trusted field to 'yes'.
- From the sender: Home screen --gt; Media. Select the file and then click 'Menu --> Send Using Bluetooth'.
- On the recipient: Home screen --> Media. Select the appropriate media type and then click 'Menu --> Receive using Bluetooth. Click save.
March 05, 2007 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
GPS / Mapping Tool 'Spot' version 4.1 available
For all you geocaching nerds that also have a Blackberry: run and don't walk over here to check out version 1.4.1 of the GPS / Mapping tool called Spot by SkyLab Mobile Systems. Version 1.4.1 adds support for the Blackberry Pearl and 8800 and has a cool feature where you can load up GPX or LOC files onto your Blackberry memory card and then browse locations on a map. Current users can upgrade for free, new user pricing is $49 USD for GPS and Bluetooth Blackberry devices. More information is available on their site and in the discussion forums.
March 05, 2007 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Talk-Now: No more 'I not available. Please leave me a voice mail.'
Talk-Now: No more 'I not available. Please leave me a voice mail.'
How lame is voice mail? Can we all agree to get rid of it and just go with sms or at least make some improvements to it (like the iPhone voice mail UI) so that I don't have to dial 1... wait... you have 3 new messages... wait.. to listen to your voice messages, press 1... 1... wait.. argh..
To that end, Sue (representing Iotum) sent me an email a couple weeks back about a product called Talk-Now, which is in technology preview stage (fancy term for beta?) that basically takes the presence information that you're used to in IM and moves it to your phone so you never have to make a call without knowing whether or not someone is available on the other end, thereby totally eliminating voice mail! Wheee!!!
Check it out (it's an OTA download) at iotum.com/blackberry.
February 20, 2007 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
YouTube.com to Your BlackBerry
This is a pretty cool product for all you proud dads that take way too much video of your kids but can't show anyone. The guys at S4BB created an application they're calling BlackBerry Web Video Generator that lets you paste in a Youtube.com URL and then spits out a video optimized for your BlackBerry Pearl or BlackBerry 8800. It only costs $15.99 to have the ability to annoy anyone within earshot with videos of your screaming kid.
Editors Note: I have a kid. He's pretty cool so I say this all in jest as a proud dad who blogs way too much about his own kid.
February 20, 2007 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MobileSoftMarket Holiday BlackBerry Software Sale
MobilesSoftMarket, "Your favorite online mobile store" is running a special on a number of their BlackBerry software products from December 1st till December 24th. You can use discount code LG2MC9 during the checkout process to get 25% off. Start your shopping now!
December 06, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Video Generator 2.0
The guys at S4BB. recently launched version 2 of their BlackBerry Video Generator (formerly called BlackBerry Video Creator). This is a Windows application that converts your home or work videos to a format that can be played back on a BlackBerry Pearl. It supports a number of video formats and can be purchased at MobileSoftMarket for $39.99 $14.99.
December 06, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Splash ID: should you store your bank, credit card and password information on a BlackBerry?
One of the featured items in the October 2006 IT BlackBerry newsletter is a piece of software from the same company that makes SplashPhoto (which I just blogged about) called Splash ID. The article describes Splash ID as software that allows you to store information
"... including user names, passwords and credit card, calling card and bank account numbers -- in a secure Blowfish encrypted format that you can access quickly on your BlackBerry device or desktop computer."Now I'm all for the secure storage of this stuff, but what happens if you lose your BlackBerry? Can anyone else access your most personal information 'easily'? I don't mean to pull a Bruce Schneier on these guys, but can someone who has actually used the product explain how your data is protected if you misplace or lose your BlackBerry? Looks to me like a single password controls access to all of your information.
November 07, 2006 in Reviews, Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
SplashPhoto: image management for the BlackBerry
Kevin sent me a link to a new software tool called SplashPhoto made by a company called (naturally) SplashData. SplashPhoto is both handheld / BlackBerry software and desktop software. The desktop software gives you the ability to edit and organize images and then synchronize the catalog of images to your BlackBerry. Looks like a great tool to me, especially for BlackBerry users in real estate and field customer service technicians.
The software costs $29.95, comes with a 60-day money back guarantee and can be tested for 30 days for free. They also maintain a group on groups.yahoo.com for support if you have trouble installing / using the product.
November 07, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
EQO Mobile: VOIP / IM for BlackBerry
BlackBerryBlog.com reader Tien sent me an email last week about EQO Mobile, which is a VOIP and IM client available for a ton of phones but most importantly available for a slew of RIM phones. The IM client smartly works with AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber, GoogleTalk and Skype and the VOIP works with Skype. They also have a nice community with blogs and forums if you have problems with the installation or use of the product.
Sign up for an account now or visit the homepage for more information.
November 07, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Transclick: Language translation software for the BlackBerry
The folks at RIM ran a developer contest a couple weeks back and the winner of the contest was a company called Transclick, who created a product that can translate an email from one language to one of approximately 16 other languages with a single menu click. You can download Transclick for BlackBerry version 2.0 and then you have to create an account to use the product.
If you're a developer wanting to take advantage of their language translation tools, they have a developer site just for you.
October 18, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Video Poker
The title of this blog post probably sounds like a spam email, but believe you me, this is the real thing. Poker on the BlackBerry. Only $5, get it now from CrucialSoft.
October 18, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
NaggieGrams
That's the title of a 'feature' in Naggie 2.0, which means the guys at Naggle came up with not one but two great names. That's all to say that wow, remote location specific nagging. I wonder how specific the GPS is. Could I send an email to wife who is sitting in the bedroom and remind her to get me a beer on her way past the kitchen? That would be AWESOME. In any case, there are a boatload of cool features in Naggie 2.0, all of which you can read about here.
Naggie is available via Handango for the BlackBerry 7520 and the 7100i for $18.00.
October 18, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Merck Manual for BlackBerry
A couple weeks ago the folks at Unbound Medicine released a piece of software called 'The Merck Manual for Mobile Devices', which naturally runs on a BlackBerry and aimed at healthcare professionals. It's basically a front end to The Merck Manual, which according to Wikipedia is one of the world's most widely used medical textbooks. First published in 1899 (yeah, 1899), it's now available on a PDA a little bit bigger than a stack of cards. Yeah technology.
You can buy it online at unboundmedicine.com for $49.95.
October 18, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry DVD Tracker
The guys at CrucialSoft developed a new application that gives you the ability to keep track of DVD's that you share with your friends. Share a DVD, punch in the friends name and the name of the DVD into your BlackBerry and you'll never lose track of who has what when again! Check out the screenshots or download it now.
September 15, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Metro Maps for NYC and Madrid
If you happen to be one of the thousands of BlackBerry blog reads that also lives in New York City or Madrid (that would be in Spain for those of you who failed geography), head on over to the CrucialSoft website and download the Metro Network (subway system) map for your area. It's freeware and the maps live on the BlackBerry so you don't have to have data coverage for the map to work (which is important since you'll be using it UNDERGROUND). Here's the links to the appropriate versions:
August 24, 2006 in News, Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Feed Reader for the BlackBerry: LiteFeeds
John Goodall, one of the founders of a company called LiteFeeds, wrote to tell me about a new RSS reading service with some pretty impressive features. You can:
* synchronize with your online reader
* Post articles to your blog from your mobile.
* Bookmark articles to your del.icio.us account from your mobile.
* Email articles to friends from your mobile using nicknames.
* Receive email alerts for important subscriptions.
* synchronize with Bloglines.
* View secure feeds such as your Gmail or corporate feeds.
And most importantly, the service is free. Check it out if you have a chance!
June 23, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Skip Mobile
So here's an application that I've needed *forever*. Every time I fly somewhere I would do one of two things: a) I would send the travel confirmation email to my BlackBerry and hope that I didn't delete it from my inbox or b) I would print out every page of the confirmation and try to keep it with my books, charging cables, laptop, clothes, etc. Skip Mobile is a application for your BlackBerry that manages your travel itinerary so that you don't have to go through all that hubbub. It's free, works on your BlackBerry and automatically syncs itineraries booked through Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia. Awesome.
May 06, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express Edition
If you're running a 'smaller' business (ie: one with 15 or less employees) and you have a BlackBerry or you're thinking about purchasing one, now turns out to be a good time. The good folks at RIM are giving away an 'express' edition of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server that comes with one user license and the ability to purchase up to 14 more. At the time of this writing, each additional user is $99 if purchased individually, $429 for 5, $699 for 10 and $3299 for 50 (source).
The original email said it was a limited time offer, so you should go check it out now!
May 06, 2006 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BES Performance Pack
BES Performance Pack
In an age where everything has to get recorded so that we can all be happy and 'compliant', the BES Performance Pack from itrezzo should be a welcome gift for any BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrator. From their site:
The itrezzoAgent BES Performance Pack helps you get a pulse on your internal BlackBerry deployments, new user provisioning, migrations, client licensing, server resource utilization, and potentially reduce help desk staffing requirements.Need more information? Check it out on their website:
http://www.itrezzo.com/BES_Software_BlackBerry_Performance_Reporting.htm
May 06, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Naggie
A number of the software products I read about fall into the category of "must be useful for someone just not me", but I can say without a doubt that Naggie falls into the "holy crap what a great idea, I'll take two!" category of software appliations. In short, Naggie is a location aware todo list which gives you the ability to set reminders for certain places. So for instance, if you're like me you look in the fridge and you notice that you're all out of Dew and you think to yourself "next time I'm at the store, get more Dew!" but then you go to the store to pick up diapers for the kid or something you TOTALLY forget about the Dew. Happens all the time to me. Naggie would TOTALLY solve my problems. The only problem is that it only runs on the 7520... argh!
Go check it out anyway, great idea! And if you have a 7520 and you download it, let me know how it works.
March 25, 2006 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New version of Spot for BlackBerry
Boris wrote to mention that he released a new version of Spot for BlackBerry which now includes support for the 7100 Series, 8700
Series and the 7250, 7290 models via a Bluetooth GPS receiver. If you missed my original post, Spot provides GPS mapping for the BlackBerry.
Get your Spot here, but only if you pick up a Bluetooth GPS receiver first.
March 25, 2006 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
More on Remote Access to PC: AppSwing
A couple weeks ago I got an email from Neil Thompson in response to my posting on 2/3 re: Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2.0. He mentioned that his company (called AppSwing) makes something similar. I couldn't find any screen shots of the application working on a BlackBerry on his site, but if you're looking for something like this for your own company, you should give him a call.
AppSwing available @ appswing.com.
March 25, 2006 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Google Talk for BlackBerry Devices
While poring through the mobitopia blog postings, I noticed that Google released a BlackBerry client (or did RIM release a client for Google Talk?) for their chat program called Google Talk. To download it you have to be using IE because they do some 'stuff' to determine whether or not you have the BlackBerry USB driver installed, which is lame, but whatever. I guess this would be cool if any of my friends actually used Google Talk, but Talk does support Jabber, so maybe someday this will be useful.
Get it here.
March 25, 2006 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Google Local for mobile
Remember the first time you saw Google Maps? If you're anything like me, you probably thought it was the coolest thing on the web since the jib jab commercials back in 2004. Google somehow managed to do it again with the introduction of Google Local for mobile (still in beta of course), which brings almost all the functionality of Google Maps to your BlackBerry. There are a couple things that take getting used to, but for the most part, this is by far the best application I've downloaded for my BlackBerry. Download it now.
February 03, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Remote Desktop for Mobiles 2.0
Mentioned in BlackBerry Hacks (an excellent resource for those of you who want to do it all on your BlackBerry) near the end of Hack #40 is an application called Remote Desktop for Mobiles. In short, it gives you the ability to control your home or work PC from your mobile phone or BlackBerry. It's Windows only and you'll have to have a hole punched in your firewall for port 6100 for it work, but wow, what a cool idea. And it just so happens that version 2.0 was released near the end of last year. There are a couple screenshots available, after you see them, take it for a spin for free.
February 03, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
MobilePlay
Got a note a couple weeks ago from Sara who wrote to let me know about a new application that her company released called MobilePlay, which in true Web 2.0 spirit is in beta. From what I can tell, it's kind of like having MSN on your BlackBerry: advertiser supported news, games, content, travel, hotels, weather, etc.. If you're interested in that sort of thing, you should check out the BlackBerry specific tutorial. or download it for your BlackBerry if you're reading this on a crackberry.
February 03, 2006 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry MDS v4.0 Upgrade pack: MDS Studio
The latest issue of SDTimes has a short article about the new MDS Studio which is part of the upgrade pack that RIM recently released. The main feature the article talked about was the ability for developers to point to a WSDL file (which is an XML file that describes a web service for those of you who don't wear propeller hats) in MDS Studio and the IDE will automatically generate an application for you (with the caveat that users who use this application must have the MDS runtime installed on their BB's and the BES you're using must install the MDS Services for Web Services component).
This sounded like pretty cool stuff, so I had to try it out... after digging out some space on my hard drive and clicking past all the open source license agreements (
including Derby, Axis, Bouncy Castle Crypto library and Eclipse / WSDL4J), I opened up MDS Studio and created a new project. The first step when creating a project is to point to a WSDL file, of which I've got a couple... I popped in the WSDL URL, it brought up all the available methods for that endpoint and then automatically created an entire application with screens for every one of the available methods. NICE. Our local BES is running an older version so I couldn't test out a deployment, but I HIGHLY recommend you check this out if you're doing any kind of BlackBerry development. It looks very cool AND it's based on Eclipse (which I've complained about them not using before) so there will be very little cognitive dissonance if you're a avid Eclipse user like I am.
Download MDS Studio now (and make sure you've got about 700MB of free space on your machine)
December 15, 2005 in Code, News, Platform, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Ringphonic: ringtone jukebox for the BlackBerry from Handango
If you've got one of the BlackBerry 7100 series or the brand spanking new BlackBerry 8700 series and you like music, you should check out the recently released Ringphonic application from Handango. You can pay about $10 per month for access to eight ringtones, about $7 per month for four ringtones or $2 per ringtone on a pay as you go plan. You can read more about it here.
Now, I'm all for companies making money, but seriously... I can buy a song on iTunes for $.99. Why would I buy a ringtone, which I presume is much shorter than a regular song on iTunes, for twice as much? Is the value simply that I can play it on my phone for 10 seconds, in the process bugging everyone on the T with me? So here's an idea for Apple: sell the song AND the ringtone for $1.50 (instead of $.99) and then make a cell phone / smart phone ringtone standard... give the operators a couple cents kickback for every ringtone you sell and undercut every one of these small companies licensing small amounts of music that make ringtones and sell them for $2.00.
December 08, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Monitoring Your BlackBerry Enterprise Server
My friends at Epoch Integration up in Canada have been busy working on software that helps administrators manage BlackBerry Enterprise Server installations. The press release for their latest version reads as follows:
NeedTEXT Monitor is a network management solution specifically designed to monitor BlackBerry Enterprise Server v2.2 and higher and BlackBerry Wireless Handhelds within enterprise organizations. The product has been adopted by many companies, such as BASF, Albertsons and Hyatt Hotels, looking to maximize the availability of their BlackBerry service to handheld users. By providing automated, 24/7 monitoring, NeedTEXT Monitor proactively identifies system issues or events that could cause an interruption in BlackBerry service and sends detailed alerts to system administration staff. The software also gathers key performance metrics for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry users, enabling reports and charts for use in everyday management of the BlackBerry deployment within the organization. For example, administrators can report on message activity across all of their BlackBerry Enterprise Servers simultaneously and use the resulting data for load balancing and capacity planning initiatives.
For more information, visit the NeedText Monitor site.
November 16, 2005 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry, Ribs and the FDA
Got an email from Paul Stadter of Unbound Medicine about a new product they released for the BlackBerry:
Unbound Medicine in conjunction with Tarius is excited to announce the release of 21 CFR Handheld. This is of interest to anyone whose work includes compliance with FDA regulations (for example pharmaceutical companies, medical device Manufacturers and food processors). Mobile regulatory professionals can now consult the complete Title 21 of the Code of the Federal Regulations (CFR) as well as Federal Register updates from any location using a BlackBerry.
You can find out more about 21 CFR Handheld on the Unbound Medicine site.
Now I bet that the cross section of users who read this blog and who also work in FDA related activities is really small, so I apologize for all of you who could care less, but all this talk about the FDA and the BlackBerry reminded me of food, specifically Blackberry Barbequed Ribs.
November 16, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New BlackBerry Google Maps Client
A commenter posted a link to another BlackBerry Google Maps client, this one called J2ME Map. The screenshots look pretty cool, but I get the feeling this one is bleeding edge, so install it at your own risk (and let me know how it looks if you do!).
November 01, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Handango InHand
The guys from Ascendo helped Handango put the InHand application together, which according to the site:
... is an on-device software catalog that simplifies the process of finding, installing and purchasing software applications and games for BlackBerry devices. InHand provides a new avenue -- the device itself -- for accessing mobile software downloads. The catalog is an easy-to-use system that allows BlackBerry users to access available software.
If you're new to your BlackBerry and want to quickly try out some applications, this would be a great place to start.
November 01, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Mologogo
Here's a wicked cool application for all you hipsters out there: mologogo is a free service that will track a friends GPS enabled cell phone from another phone or on the web. They have a BlackBerry client you can download from the downloads page. For those of you who know what a wiki is, they have one of those too.
If any of you have a GPS enabled BlackBerry (ie: 7520 or 7100i), I'd love to know how this thing works out.
November 01, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
GPS: Spot for Blackberry
I just got back from a weeklong business trip in California, which meant hour long trips to and from Boston to get to the airport. On both trips Boston Coach had a GPS system that alerted the driver where the next turn was, which exit to take and and which side of the highway the exit was on, I was really impressed (it was probably something like this). It just so happened that when I got home that I got an email from Boris Boege of Skylab Mobilesystems who mentioned that they just released version 1.1.2 of their BlackBerry GPS product called Spot. It's described:
Spot connects the worldwide GPS positioning with access to satellite maps. A huge amount of mapping services like: street level maps, geological surveys, altitude profiles, weather and environmental monitoring maps, and much more of them are available on the internet free of charge.
Find out more here:
http://www.skylab-mobilesystems.com/en/products/spot_bb.html
October 22, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Virtual Reach Begins Beta Testing for Newsclip 2.0
Those Canadians sure are busy these days. The guys at Virtual Reach (based on Toronto, CA) released the beta version of their Newsclip software (which gives you the ability to read RSS feeds on your BlackBerry), which will eventually be version 2.0. The feature enhancements include:
·Automated updating of content and news headlines delivered directly to your handheld;
·Rich content rendering, including HTML and other images for all feeds that provide such;
·Multiple single views with standard categories – "All Items", "Saved Items", "All Read Items" and "All Unread Items";
·Server based application with personalization functionality for greater optimization of content;
·Efficient data compression for faster transfers and downloads
You can read more about Newsclip here and Virtual Reach here.
September 28, 2005 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Developer Gaming Challenge
The RIM folks are sponsoring a contest (grand prize $14,500!!) for BlackBerry games.
We are challenging BlackBerry developers and the mobile developer community to create the hottest new game for Java™-based BlackBerry devices.Enter for the chance to win outstanding prizes, promotion on the BlackBerry website, and the opportunity to sell your game and have it promoted on the Handango Software Store for BlackBerry.
The BlackBerry Developer Gaming Challenge is intended for independent software vendors who can build and market a game designed for BlackBerry. All game entries must be in English, color and use Java technology.
More information here:
http://www.blackberry.com/developers/promos/devcontest.shtml
September 28, 2005 in News, Platform, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
RepliGo Professional for BlackBerry
One of the complaints I hear time and time again about the BlackBerry platform (at least where I work) is the support for attachments (or lack thereof). If you hear the same complaints you should head on over to Cerience.com to check out their RepliGo Professional for BlackBerry product, which:
... allows you to see your email attachments the way you were meant to see them — like the original!... RepliGo Professional supports PDF, Microsoft® Word, Excel, PowerPoint®, zip archives, fax and images files. All formats are optimized for the best viewing experience while retaining the document’s original formatting, fonts, colors, graphics, charts and images.
Check out their screen shots, pretty nice looking!
September 04, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
New J2ME Google Maps Viewer
If you tried out the Google Maps J2ME Viewer I mentioned back in May and it didn't work for you, head on over to freek.ca and download the aptly named 'HelloWorld' J2ME application for Google Maps. It has support for both BES users and direct TCP users.
September 04, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry + Location API
This is probably old news for some of you (I'm catching up slowly) but the folks at RIM released BlackBerry JDE v4.0.2 a couple weeks ago. Noteworthy in and of itself, but the big note in this release is the inclusion of support for JSR 179, the Location API for J2ME*1. Mobile location based services have to be one of the hottest things going on these days (witness Where 2.0). The ability for your handset to know where in the world it is (and hence where you are) has the potential to enhance just about everything you do on your BlackBerry: the address book can show you where you are relative to one of your contacts, the calendar might be able to alert you that not only do you have a meeting but that you are 100 miles away from a meeting happening in less than hour.. you're gonna be late! Your wireless internet experience is transformed by applications that know where you are automatically, no need to punch in a zip code or an address. Associate your tasks with a location and the Task application could ping you about something that you need to get done that's right around the corner. Maybe it could automatically compute the quickest route between your stops for the day based on your starting point. What about a mobile Amazon-esque application called "WhereShouldIGo?" that pinpointed your location and then suggested places that you might want to visit based on your previous travel history and the clustered results of 5,000,000 other users?
Back to the Location API and the BlackBerry JDE. If you download and install the JDE you'll find a demo application (called GPSDemo) which is a simple travel computer, recording route coordinates, speed and altitude. It retrieves your location from the Location API (technically the LocationProvider) every 10 seconds and then sends it to a server every 100 seconds all the while displaying your latitude, longitude, altitude, heading and speed on the screen. Interested? Read the JavaDocs.
The downside? The Location API is currently only available on the Nextel platform via the 7520.
*1For those of you who aren't Java developers, JSR stands for Java Specification Request; it's the process through which members of the Java Community Process (JCP) make additions and modifications to the Java platform, which of course the BlackBerry is based on.
July 29, 2005 in Code, News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Consilient: BlackBerry Enterprise Server for the rest of us
Karen Murphy wrote in to tell me about the latest release of Consilient2 software which allows users of the Cyrus email server platform to use BlackBerry Enterprise Server. It's noteworthy because I didn't know that there were companies that were filling the holes left by RIM; obviously there are alot of companies not using Exchange, Notes or Groupwise. If you've always wanted to use a BlackBerry but your email server isn't one of those big three, check out Consilient2.
July 29, 2005 in News, Platform, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
PowerPoint on the BlackBerry
Nik Shroff from Impactica wrote to tell me about a new product his company is working on that allows you to view MS PowerPoint attachments in their full glory (rather than the text that the BES attachment service turns one into). I'm not sure if they're offering it in beta, but you should email Nik if you'd like to see what they're up to. You can read more about the product on their site: http://www.impatica.com/imp4bes/index.html
Update 07/29/2005: Nik wrote in to let me know you can download demos of converted PowerPoint application here:
7100 series:
http://www.impatica.com/rim/demos/7100/Impatica_for_BES.jad
7200 or 7500 series:
http://www.impatica.com/rim/demos/7200/Impatica_for_BES.jad
7700 series:
http://www.impatica.com/rim/demos/7700/Impatica_for_BES.jad
July 16, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Free Stuff!
Some helpful chap on the Yahoo! BlackBerry group posted links to a couple sites that offer FREE STUFF for your BlackBerry! Here's a summary of each:
· http://www.blackberry.net/go/mobile/: This is a good BlackBerry homepage. Lots of sites that offer free content formatted for your BlackBerry.
· http://www.adamdaley.com/wap: Free ringtones! You can download TV ringtones, rap, rock, sound effects, etc.
· http://www.vodaberry.com/: Err, apparently this one isn't free. It's $20 for 4 months of access to their site which will create a ringtone from your MP3.
· ht