Month: April 2010

BlackBerry Themes: Where To Get Cool Themes For Free?

Yes, we all agree that the default BB theme is boring. After using a BB for a bit longer, we realize exactly what we want.

For me, I want the homescreen to tell me what’s my next meeting. To the missus, she just wants to see her face on the homescreen. To some, they want more shortcuts on the homescreen. And the list goes on and on….

Google up BB themes and you’ll get more links than you can handle. Put I’m sticking to just one source: pimpmyberry.com. Point it using your BB and you’ll get to install the themes via OTA.

Here are some samples from my BB.

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BlackBerry OS Quick Review: BlackBerry Curve 8520 OS5.0

Just a quick blog. I recently upgraded my wife’s BB8520 from OS4.6 to 5.0. The whole process took about 30-40mins via Desktop Manager 5.0. It was very automated. Plug in via USB cable. Desktop Manager runs its thing. Asked me yes, no? I click Yes. After a while, done. OS5.0 installed.

I’m not an expert in BB8520 but these are the 4 obvious differences I noticed:

  1. Viewing picture is a peach. Just flick motion on the trackpad to go next or previous.
  2. Long press ‘Q’ to toggle between ringer profile ‘vibrate’ and ‘normal’.
  3. Pictures uploaded to Facebook etc are no longer ‘pixelated’ (due to resized).
  4. A visible status bar when the BB is restarting from a hard reset or battery pull.
  5. Re-styled camera interface. Well, minor.

If you know more about this, please share! Thanks.

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Snippet: Thoughts On Microsoft Kin: The Power Of Instant Messaging, the way of the future?

Somehow, the humans rather message each other than making calls. Give them the hardest keypad where to get the letter ‘C’ means you have to depress 3 times, messaging is still preferred.

But the reasons are obvious. Messaging via SMS is cheaper than making calls. It’s 99% guaranteed that SMS sent is SMS received. And it give both parties flexibility to respond at convenience.

Phone calls nowadays are left for situations where you need immediate respond, for people with vision problem, people in love and telemarketers. Among other reasons, of course 🙂

But with costs and convenience behind messaging, what’s better than SMS is Instant Messaging. That’s exactly the next thing for telcos and cellphone manufacturer to aim for.

BlackBerry trumps in this. Apple is catching up. Nokias are there too. I’m not so sure about other brands. So, when Microsoft announces Kin, the world is happy.

Gone will be the days when IMs are only meant for ‘smartphones’.

With competition, consumers will get better pricing. And in just a matter of time, data plan packages will affordable to the masses.

The future is obvious: Everyone will get an Instant Messaging device one day. For their kids, their moms and opahs.

Smartphones? What’s that?

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App Review: Opera Mini for BlackBerry

While I just did a simple review of Opera Mini for iPhone, I think it’s fitting to do a same review, only now, it’s for BlackBerry.

In iPhone, Opera Mini sucks. Mainly because it had to stand up against Safari. To me, that’s suicidal.

But in a BlackBerry, the table turns. It’s easy this time because in truth, the BlackBerry Browser is one of the most pathetic browser for a mobile device. Next to it, the Opera Mini shines like Ironman amongst underwear-wearing super-mortals.

I’d recommend Opera Mini for BlackBerry hands down. It’s faster than the BB browser. It has a great interface. It supports ‘tabs’. And couple that with BB’s ability to multi-task, it’s a revelation.

In real-world usage, the Opera Mini is very practical. For example, when clicking a link from a Tweet, you’ll see that you’ll have option to open the link either in the ‘native’ or Opera browser.

And if you keep clicking on new links, it just keeps opening new tabs. Meaning you will not lose your previous pages.

I’ve tried Bolt Browser. But Opera Mini edges it with its ability to have tabs and integration into the BB ‘menu’ list.

When viewing pictures in the internet, just press the trackpad for 1 or 2 seconds and an option will pop up to either save or do something with the image. Cool.

The only gripe is that it does not align to the ‘normal’ BlackBerry shortcuts. For example, I wish that it goes to the top page when pressing ‘T’ or bottom thru ‘B’. Bolt Browser uses the standard BB shortcuts, making adaptation easier.

But anyway, the BlackBerry Browser is a very easy act to BEAT. I’d recommend Opera Mini anytime as a ‘default’ alternative.

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App Review: Opera Mini For iPhone / iPod Touch

This is probably one of the most interesting app in recent history. Mainly coz at long last, there is an alternative for the all-time superior Safari browser.

As usual, downloading is a peach via App Store. The real question is: Will it be as good (or better) than Safari?

Well, it took me just 3mins to find out.

In short, I found myself going back to Safari for web browsing. Here’s why:

1) It’s laggy. I’m not sure why. But its graphic transitions are not as smooth as how apps in iPhone should be. To me, for an app to be called an iPhone app, this is a potential deal-breaker.

2) It’s mega slow. First, I thought it was my internet connection. But when I tried the same site via Safari, the URL opened straight away. The problem is, the slowness is noticable. Yup, it’s that bad.

3) No multi-tasking. For iPhone users, we know very well that most Apples prop apps could run in background, especially Safari. This is an important feature if you’re an advance web surfer. Unfortunately, Opera is killed once you switch to other apps.

However, if you are a forgiving person, unlike myself, i’m sire tou would enjoy the multitudes of shortcuts and features that this browser gives you.

I love the 9 shortcuts to tour favorites. I love the simple access to toggle between windows. In fact, there are lots to like. But only if you forgive the shortcomings mentioned earlier.

Since it’s free, why not give it a shot and try it yourself. I’ve done that. And I’ve also deleted it.

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iPhone OS4.0: Wow! Breakthrough stuff! NOT!!! iPhone users… you have been punk’d!!!

OK, the iPhone OS4.0 is out and seriously, it got the WHOLE world excited. Come May/June, there will be loads of iPhone users upgrading to this version, even though it’s speculated to be sold at USD9.99. But the irony is, amidst all of these excitement, I just think that iPhone users have been seriously punk’d by Apple.

Let’s forget the yippedeeda and take a step back. Below are the top breakthroughs of OS4.0:

1) Multi-tasking! Yahoo! Yes, that’s the word you can clearly see on every iPhone-users’ forehead. But, the thing is… multi-tasking on a mobile device has been around since ages. My old 2004 HP iPAQ could multi-task. So does the dinosaur-age Nokia 6230i.  Let alone ‘ANY’ BlackBerrys, Androids, Symbian and WinMo devices. iPhone users: You have been punk’d!

2) Creating Folders! Waaaah! What a breakthrough! NOT! C’mon guys, this is stupid. How hard could it be for a software developer to create a ‘folder’? Any Symbian Nokia could create a folder. Multiple folders actually! iPhone users… you have been deprived.

3) Unified Inbox! I can centralize my Yahoo, Gmail and Exchange mails into 1 folder? Wow! Yeah right. Apple almost made BlackBerry users fainted at this juncture. This is a joke. BlackBerry users have been centralizing all of their emails, SMS, FB notifications, IMs and etc into 1 single INBOX since the ice-age. Head down, iPhone users.

4) Digital Zoom for Camera! …. wtf? Even the lowest spec Nokia cameraphone could do this.

5) …. seriously… need I go on?

There’s no point getting all excited over OS4.0. In fact, it’s actually Apple making amends to the shortcoming of a premium-priced gadget. Instead of saying “we have been making breakthroughs bla bla”, they should be saying “we are truly sorry it took us this long, our developers are morons and have been taking longer breaktime”.

The truth is, iPhone users have been waiting for these for the longest time. Especially multi-tasking. It was unfair of Apple to short-change their customers all these while. I took the BlackBerry route just because I could not comprehend the high price of iPhone versus its limited features.

Actually, I was expecting more from OS4.0. I expected Apple to bring iPhone up to a proper acceptable spec – which they did. But I also expected them to put a few more ‘zing!’ into the iPhone. Y’know, stuff that other phones do not have, as an added advantage for a premium-priced tool. Y’know, something iPhone users to show-off to the Droids or Berries. Sadly… none.

Apple still thinks that their multi-touch UI, Safari browser and vast collection of Apps are enough to sway people from the competition. Well, they better get their developers back from breaktime soon, coz just as they put their software up to the normal standard, hardware wise – they have started to lose quite badly with their 2007 design (e.g. screen of 480×320? Nexus have double of that!).

Should anyone get an iPhone 3GS now? I’d recommend waiting for the 4th-gen iPhone. It should be announced in June’10.

But, at the end of the day, the iPhone is still one the great phones out there. And I’m a huge fan… from a distant.

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