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.
· http://www.polyphonicringtonez.com/wap/index.php: Someone forgot to tell them to register a short domain name, but their ringtones are FREE, so I guess that makes up for the effort you have to put in to get to the site.
· http://www.8ung.at/morph: Free themes and ringtones for your BlackBerry.
· http://www.blackberrywallpapers.com: Just like it sounds: they offer wallpaper of places, girls, cars, music, animals, cartoons, logos, sports, etc.
· http://mobile.blackberry.com/: another directory for news, sports, weather, games, BlackBerry extras, etc.
June 07, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Google Maps J2ME Viewer
Immediate disclosure: I couldn't get this application to show me anything... but it may work for you (I'm using a 7280 on AT&T Wireless). Someone pulled together an application that runs on J2ME capable mobile phones that allows you to view Google Maps on your cell phone, it's called GMapViewer. You can read more about it here or download it with your J2ME capable cell phone / PDA here.
If you do happen to get it running on your BlackBerry, you should send an email to the author of the application so that he can update the compatability list.
May 17, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
ARSSR (Another RSS Reader)
Jay from Virtual Reach wrote to let me know that his company (Virtual Reach.com) recently released version 1.1 of their RSS Reader called Newsclip. It's key enhancements include support for RSS 1.0 and Atom, multiselect in the article list and improved handling of malformed documents and network connection issues.
Try it out or buy it now on handango.com.
May 16, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Abidia Wireless 3.0: Ebay for your BlackBerry
The Abidia guys recenty released version 3.0 of their BlackBerry Ebay solution with a ton of new features including the ability to bid directly from your handheld, viewing an items current price or image, and the ability to sync with your overstock.com auctions account.
You can purchase it for $29.99 per year or $3.99 per month. More information on abidia.com.
May 11, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
New RSS Reader for BlackBerry
John over at litefeeds.com sent an email out a couple weeks ago that didn't get around too until tonight. He's created a J2ME RSS reader which works in conjunction with a web-based application to allow you to read all your favorite RSS feeds on the go. You can install the application OTA at mobile.litefeeds.com and then head on over to litefeeds.com to import your existing feeds (a nice touch was the ability to import my feeds simply by entering my bloglines username). After the import is complete you need to specify which feeds you want to enable for your mobile device (makes sense, I have ~150 feeds that I subscribe too, not all of which I'd be interested in reading on my BlackBerry). There are a couple things that could be improved, but the bottom line is that it works. Try it out.
April 19, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Software Coupon at Handango
Spend $25 or more dollars on BlackBerry software on the handango.com online store and use coupon code 'C2A24765' during checkout and you'll receive a $5 discount (offer ends April 30, 2005). You can see all the BlackBerry software available on handango.com at http://www.handango.com/blackberry.
April 11, 2005 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Instant Messenging using Webmessenger
I started using a BlackBerry a couple months ago, initially I was excited by the thought of having a full keyboard and anywhere anytime access to online activities like IM, IRC or SSH. My enthusiasm was quickly snuffed out when I found that the BlackBerry 7280 I had was handcuffed; no socket connections which means no IM (unless you want to use the lame mMode WAP IM that comes with AT&T phones), no SSH, no J2ME applications that make network connections (unless you have access to MDS, which I don't yet). Things are looking up now though with the release of BlackBerry version 4.0, which gives you direct TCP/IP access to sockets!
So last night I downloaded and installed Webmessenger, the de facto instant messenging client for the BlackBerry. Even though they say that MDS is required, I was able to install and get it working with 2 different instant messenging servers (AIM & Yahoo!) in about 5 minutes. Once I got beyond the "wow I'm instant messenging using Yahoo! and AIM on a device no bigger than my palm!", I was impressed by the ton of configuration options:
· Buddylist view (which allows you to toggle the display of groups, the display of offline buddies, group / buddy sorting order, show online buddies on top, etc..)
· Logstore (which allows you to log your IM conversations much like Trillian)
· User preferences (automatic login, can be configured to remember your username / password, etc..)
and the integration with the BlackBerry, specifically the ability to "Switch To Ribbon" which in effect minimizes the application but keeps it running the background, which is handy if you want to get some actual work done on your BlackBerry.
The price is pretty steep ($48) and recurring (per year, the traffic for each IM client passes first to their servers and then on to the respective IM implementation so the recurring fee does make sense) but if you've got to have IM, this is the application you want to have.
January 04, 2005 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry Handheld Software v4.0 Released for AT&T
If you're using a BlackBerry on AT&T (soon to be Cingular), version 4.0 of the handheld software was released a couple days before Christmas! You can download version 4.0 for your 7780, 7280, 7230, 7210, 6280, 6210, and 6710 as well as an updated version of the Desktop Software (also at version 4.0). Why am I excited? This means that AT&T is now supporting all the great version 4.0 features that I talked about a couple weeks ago including the enhanced BlackBerry Browser, native XML suport, offline form submission, better attachment viewing, calendar, phone and tasks enhancements, global search, pictures application, categories for each PIM type... Read them all here.
(note: make sure that you download and install the version 4.0 of the Desktop Software first!)
December 27, 2004 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
BlackBerry English-Russian Dictionary
If you happen to be traveling to Ukraine or any other Russian speaking country (but man Ukraine would be an interesting place to be right now) and you have a BlackBerry, you can use the just released English-Russian Dictionary offered by Beiks. You can download it here for $19.95 or browse their catalog of Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish or Turkish dictionaries as well.
December 15, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Extending the Enterprise With BlackBerry
I have a longer essay to write about this sometime, but it's interesting to read about all the companies that are deploying J2ME applications on the BlackBerry platform. Case in point: Manulife Financial recently deployed the mWholesaler sales force solution from Pyxis (a local MA company up the road from the home of BlackBerryBlog.com). I'm not really listening all that well to the Palm / MS Smartphone community, but it seems that RIM / BlackBerry has a compelling solution for organizations that want to provide wireless access to enterprise data. Palm doesn't sell server software, so that means if you want to deploy an application to a bunch of Palm devices, you have to write your own custom server-side solution, wire up encryption, make sure that everything is locked down appropriately and hope for the best... oh and if you want the ability to push alerts or any of the other features that the BlackBerry enterprise server offers, you'll have to write those yourself. With the BlackBerry platform, you can deploy your applications through BlackBerry Enterprise Server, encryption is automatic and you get all the great little benefits of having the BlackBerry Enterprise Server in place...
December 02, 2004 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Emergency Workers: Get Your BlackBerry
You know you've got something good when you hear that the BlackBerry platform is being used by emergency / disaster recovery planning crews to organize themselves. Onset Technology has a software application called METAmessage that includes Message Blast, Instant Conference Calling, Handheld Document Storage and an Emergency Data Access Gateway. So all you Treo lovers can gloat about your cameras and MP3 capabilities, but know if that something really goes wrong, the emergency crews that come in won't be using a Treo; they'll be using a BlackBerry.
December 02, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
HeadlineHawk: RSS and Top Stories Delivered Via Email
Here's an interesting application that is made specifically for the email friendly BlackBerry device. HeadlineHawk is (as far as I can tell) a free server-side application that you send commands to via email; it then sends replies via email. It's like HTTP except instead of clicking a link in a browser you send an email and instead of displaying a page, you get an email. The bonus is that it's sticky; if you close your the BlackBerry Browser you lose whatever you were looking at; the results of a HeadlineHawk session stay in your inbox until you're done with the emails sent to you. The downside is that it's pretty verbose; retrieving an RSS feed to be sent to your inbox means typing in: "RSS www.blackberryblog.com/index.rdf". IMHO, this would be a great J2ME application; instead of having to remember commands, you click on a button in the J2ME application or choose from a drop down list. The J2ME application can then switch you back to your email client or listen for results in the email client.
Regardless, it's worth a look. You can try it out by sending an email from your BlackBerry device to: "start@HeadlineHawk.com" with a subject of "register [device-manufacturer] [device-model]" (ie: "register RIM 7280").
December 02, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Sprucing Up Your BlackBerry For The Holidays
Just in time for Christmas, Markus from Germany sent me a link to an application his team developed just for the holiday season called SantaMagic. It's an advent calendar, requires only 150KB of memory and best of all, all proceeds will be donated to www.care.org. Pick it up on Handango, it's only $.99 cents.
December 02, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
marketStream Data now available via Blackberry
If you're a 'financial professional' (ie: you make cash hand over fist) you can now get real-time Dow Jones news sent directly to your Blackberry handheld through a company called TeleCommunication Systems:
Financial professionals are now able to select TCS' Market Data application as well as real-time Dow Jones news covering specific asset classes in their preferred language: Dow Jones Newswires' services in English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Dutch are available to marketStream users. Additionally, marketStream users are able to access the premium Dow Jones Economic Alerts service, which informs them of market-moving Treasury announcements as they happen.
You can download a free trial from marketstreamlive.com after filling out a short registration form.
November 12, 2004 in News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and ICQ for your Blackberry: veriChat
Om Malik brought VeriChat to my attention this past weekend. It purports to be "... an always-on, unified instant messaging (IM) application for RIM BlackBerry devices... that keeps you connected to Yahoo!, ICQ, MSN & AOL." Unfortunately, just like many other applications I download, the Blackberry is hampered by the carriers because they don't provide a full TCP-IP stack unless you're on an MDS server. The interesting thing about this service is that it's a subscription; the connections to AIM, MSN, Yahoo and ICQ are all made through a proxy unlike Trillian which has the libraries for connecting to each service on the client. While I'm sure the guys at PDAapps are good and trustworthy, it's still another hop (which means lag) and it also means that they could watch every conversation you have via IM, which is probably not something you want if you're using this for business. On the other hand, the ability to connect to each service with one application and it's always-on connectivity are incredibly useful; I'm not sure why Blackberry hasn't included something like this in it's native stack because it would be the second most used application on the Blackberry behind email.
If you're lucky enough to have an account on an MDS server, you can download a trial version of this application here, which will work for 30 days. The full version costs $34.95 plus a $29.95 subscription renewal every year.
November 08, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
LexisNexis for the Blackberry
If you've got a friend who also happens to be a lawyer and said friend also happens to have a Blackberry and this lawyer friend also has a subscribtion to LexisNexis, send them on over to http://www.lexisnexis.com/handheld/ where they can download a J2ME application for searching LexisNexis and accessing LexisNexis Publisher topics from the Blackberry. A friend of a friend had access to LexisNexis and let me play with it once. LexisNexis is the Google of the darknet: all the stuff you can't get too with Google (all the places you've ever lived, how much you paid for the house, how much your loan was for, etc..). Combine that with a Blackberry? Wicked cool.
By the way, that lawyer friend with LexisNexis? Don't ever do anything to piss them off.
October 25, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Application from PeopleSoft Plus A Blackberry Synchronization Rant
Internet.com reported today on the rollout of an application designed for the Blackberry platform from PeopleSoft called "PeopleSoft Enterprise Sales for Blackberry". I mention it not because you can actually buy them now or use them as a regular Joe Average Blackberry user, but more because it these applications seem pretty, well, cool. The application from PeopleSoft is a Sales Force Automation (SFA) tool that keeps sales reps always up-to-date with all the information they need to continually bother people like me(did I say that?). The cool part about it is this "trickle sync" technology they talk about: "... a data synchronization method based on the BlackBerry push and always-on architecture, ensures data accuracy by detecting when a wireless connection is available and automatically refreshing data. As a result, users can access and update data at any time without synchronizing data on their own." From the looks of it, they're probably using a combination of some of the cool 'push' ability that you get with a Blackberry Enterprise Server and the Record Management System in J2ME Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) to send out information from the server that handles SFA duties directly to the handheld and then letting the handheld store only the information related to that particular sales rep. Sounds like a winner, especially since the user doesn't have to do the synchronization. I've found with my own Blackberry and prior experience with a Palm that I synchronize my PC, laptop and PDA alot less frequently than I should, so this automatic handling of synchronization sounds like a wonderful tool.
Which brings me to the rant (one that other people have eloquently stated already): synchronization is a big problem. And not just for corporate users. I have a laptop with contacts in Outlook that when connected to the corporate network can see every contact my company and a personal address book within Outlook... that syncs with my Blackberry. I have contacts stored in Gmail but that doesn't syncrhonize with anything yet. Email is all over the place. My calendar is stored in Outlook and my Blackberry and getting data out of Outlook, while possible, is a pain. I'm not going to touch the thousands of photos and MP3's stored on my home computer and mirrored on my laptop... when and how will someone come up with a solution for synchronization? Could trickle sync be a start? Why doesn't Blackberry offer some kind of trickle sync technology with every Blackberry they sell? Where does SyncML fit into this?
October 25, 2004 in News, Platform, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Top Blackberry Software from Handango
The kids at Handango released the mobile software edition of the Google Zeitgeist -- for the first time including top Blackberry software downloads (download the entire PDF report here), which I list below for your reading pleasure:
1. WebViewer: Reqwireless WebViewer is a fast HTML Web browser that gives you access to the real Web on your BlackBerry.
2. Aces Texas Hold'em - No Limit: Go ALL IN with this fast and furious No Limit Texas Hold'em poker game! Play No Limit Texas Hold'em just like on TV!
3. Reqwireless Value Bundle: This value bundle includes Reqwireless WebViewer 3.5 and EmailViewer 3.0 for the RIM BlackBerry
4. Sol Mania: Play the most popular solitaire card games - Freecell, Klondike, Pyramid, Golf, Scorpion, Yukon, Spiderette, Canfield, Australian Patience and more.
5. MyFlashlight: Flashlight - very useful when you are stranded in the dark!
6. EmailViewer: Reqwireless EmailViewer is a rich email client with support for HTML, images, Word/PDF attachments, Hotmail access, spam filtering and more.
7. ImageWallet: Download personal images right to your BlackBerry!
8. CryptMagic: Now you can save your passwords, credit-card numbers, PINs, TANs and other confidential data safely and securely on your BlackBerry handheld.
9. English Dictionary: Vast English Dictionary for RIM's Blackberry
October 19, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Blackberry, Google, SMS and J2ME
If you read my post about the new Google SMS service and you're not sure that you can remember all the flags for searching AND you can download J2ME applications on your Blackberry (you should have no problems downloading applications if you have an account on a Blackberry Enterprise Server that has the Mobile Data Service installed and configured for your account), then you should point your browser over to http://www.thauvin.net/erik/j2me/beta/GooglME.jad to download a J2ME application that Erik Thauvin wrote. It takes care of all the flags and syntax of the SMS, let's you choose which service you want to use (ie: Google Local, Froogle, Google Search, Definitions), and it keeps a nice tidy history of your searches. It looks like it's been tested on the Blackberry 7210 so far, so it you download it and use it on a different Blackberry, let him know.
October 13, 2004 in Software, Tips by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Blackberry for your Palm
Good news for users of wireless Palm devices: RIM announced today that they will be releasing BlackBerry Connect software for existing Palm OS-based wireless devices, like the Palm Tungsten W pictured to the left. This announcement is another adjustment of the ship that points to RIM understanding that their business is not about handsets; it's the platform. The Tungsten (not to mention the Treo) had all the features except for always-on Blackberry email plus it offered expandability, infrared, a built-in camera (in the case of the Treo) and a stylus for those that prefer point and click. In short, the only reason you'd want to carry around a Blackberry 7200 series instead of a Treo would be the push email that the Blackberry offered. No more.
September 27, 2004 in News, Platform, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Blackberries and RSS Feeds
A couple weeks ago the guys at FeedBurner released a beta version of their RSS Reader for the Blackberry platform (which according to Steve is a pretty straightforward port of the same version they released for phones using MIDP 1.0). I downloaded it this morning to my 7280 on the AT&T Wireless network (no Blackberry Enterprise Server yet, working on that...), the installation went flawlessly and I was able to download and view feeds within a couple minutes. Couple reflections / things that could be better:
a) when viewing a feed that hasn't been updated yet (i.e. a feed that hasn't been downloaded yet), I get a Java error: "Uncaught exception: java.lang.illegalStateException" and the application exits. I'm sure this will be fixed by the time the application goes live, but make sure that you choose 'Menu --> Update" for each feed before you try to view the feed.
b) Pushing the scroll wheel in to view the menu defaults to the 'Exit' option. Is there a way that this can be modified so that 'Exit' is not the default?
c) The 'escape' button doesn't work on all the screens; I think this is as simple as providing a key listener for the escape button on each screen (ie: the 'Preferences' screen, the 'Register' screen)
d) Thinking differently for a second: the Blackberry is really good at reading and writing email right? So why not make a version of this application that can read and write feeds that you want to read and then save those to a server and have the server email you the text of a post (example: rss2email), thus taking advantage of what the Blackberry does well: email. This implementation is only slightly different than what Bloglines does right now... you enter all the feeds you want to read, Bloglines will go out and retrieve the feeds every n minutes and then you read them from any computer. Using a server-side aggregator instead of a desktop aggregator saves the publisher some bandwidth, the server can splice and dice the feed into something readable for the Blackberry and you can read your feeds in your email client. As a sidenote, there's an interesting discussion over on OreillyNet about RSS and email.
e) I know it's possible to add options to the menu; it would be nice to be able to browse a blog using the browser, have the browser auto-discover feeds and then have an option in the menu to add the feed to your list of feeds. This would probably require some hacking in the browser application provided by Blackberry, so it may not be possible, but it sure would save alot of keystrokes.
Finally, it's interesting to hear Steve mention that "... any application that looks remotely like a WAP stack .." was given alot of criticism at a meeting he attended recently and that more and more of the applications being written for portable devices have to be rewritten for each platform to take advantage of the particular nuances of each device.
September 27, 2004 in Code, News, Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Apples & Blackberries
No, it's not a recipe for a pie (although this does sound good); PC World brings good news for the 3% of us who don't use Windows and the .000034% of us who have a Mac and a Blackberry (or want one). Called PocketMac Blackberry Edition, the software (priced at $29.95) allows Mac users to synchronize data between their Blackberry and Entourage, Address Book, iCal, Now Contact, Now Up-To-Date and even Stickies.
September 19, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Using Ebay from your Blackberry
If you absolutely have to keep on top of your ebay auctions, you should definitely look at the application that abidia offers called Abidia Wireless [RIM]. It works over WAP or BES and is compatible with the 5800, 6200, 6700, 7200, 7500 and 7700 series of Blackberries.
One of the interesting aspects of this MIDP 1.0 application is that (the WAP version at least) requires you to enter your carriers WAP settings directly into the application. I've written a couple of J2ME applications that make wireless conections to servers and one of the differences between the Blackberry 7280 and the Nokia 3650 is that this code:
InputStream is = null;
OutputStream os = null;
HttpConnection conn = null;
String query = ""
String requestMethod = HttpConnection.GET;
String name = "http://mysite.com/";
try {
conn = (HttpConnection)Connector.open(name + query, Connector.READ_WRITE);
conn.setRequestMethod(requestMethod);
conn.setRequestProperty("Connection", "Close");
is = conn.openInputStream();
int code = conn.getResponseCode();
String type = conn.getType();
if (code == HttpConnection.HTTP_OK) {
//....
works fine on the 3650, but the same code on the 7280 (no BES) produces:
java.io.IOException: Could not find a service book entry for IPPP
Anyone know why?
September 18, 2004 in Software by ajohnson | link | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)