Johnluffa

Here are my recent reading from the blog world of BlackBerry.

(1) TwiXtreme

Yet another Twitter application for BlackBerry. Interesting looking app - I must say.
Since I am already armed with a few Twitter Apps [TwitterBerry,TweetGenius, SocialScope] - I will have to give this one a miss.

(2) FaceBook 1.7

Currently running 1.6.0.21 - Interested to see what the new version has to offer.

(3) Power Saving Tips

Useful tips on how to saving that precious battery life.

• Shutdown un-used radio connections [Bluetooth, GPS]
• Shutdown un-used Applications.
• Reduce screen backlight and mute TrackBall sounds

Am sure you have more, so let’s hear them.

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Here are my recent application downloads.

(1) Vlingo

Use Vlingo to instantly send text, tweets, email, search, dial and more just by speaking

(2) Enhanced Gmail Plug-in

Sync your Gmail Contacts, Calendar and Messages with your BB.

Which apps have you recently added?

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Accessing BlackBerry App world for the first time may give the following error to some users with data plans:

“Upgrade your service to a plan that includes browsing and discover a world of possibilities at BlackBerry App World. Contact your service provider for more details.”

This actually isn’t a service plan related issue .

It turns out that T-Mobile BB handsets comes with content lock as standard, and as a result disrupts access to BlackBerry App World.

Content Lock have been put in place to prevent access to 18-rated material.

To resolve this issue simply give T-mobile customer service a call (T-mobile UK150/US611) and ask them to remove “Content Lock”.

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I have just waited 6 minutes for my BlackBerry to boot up after doing a battery-pull.

A mighty long time in an emergency.

In fact, a mighty long time in the world of BlackBerry.

Generally, BlackBerry tends to take a while to get going, but 6 minutes takes the biscuit…

It must be one of the only times BlackBerry users have no control over their devices.

For me, its always a case of “what to do?… what to do?…” to kill time.

That said, It is surprisingly quick to switch-on from an “off” mode state, but never the case when performing a system restart or a battery-pull.

House-keeping that involved deleting unused files and applications from the system memory brought no obvious improvement.

So what will? System restore is certainly out of the question.

Do you have any suggestions or proven practices that speeds-up loading times?

Share your Thoughts

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It has finally arrived!

The long awaited public version has now been released.

WordPress for BlackBerry, gives you the freedom to blog on the go.

To install:

Simply point your BlackBerry browser to http://blackberry.wordpress.org/install and then follow the instructions.

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With the explosion of social media applications for mobile platforms and the ever increasing demand for connectivity, the component that gets hammered the most is the humble battery.

Am I the only person not getting enough battery power from the BB Bold?

Earlier on today, I posted the following question on Twitter :

BlackBerry Help: Who knows of any good battery power saving tips?

I received the following responses:

@matthoffman : Lower screen brightness and disable “auto dim backlight” feature

@kaw636rider : make sure all your programs are closed plus the twitter program it kills the battery

Very useful work-around tips.

I find myself closing programs down too, espercially the power guzzling apps.

In fact, my friends timeline on Twitter is now delivered on-demand as oppose to a timed delivery.

Reducing backlight certainly buys you extra power, mind you - I must give ‘auto dim’ disabling a try as well.

I was actually pleased to hear about (WiFi Disabler) - an application that shuts downs your WiFi radio once out of range.

Do you have any power saving tips you wish to share?

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Over the years I have downloaded several BlackBerry apps that have brought value to my user experience and I have also uninstalled many for one reason or the other.
Some have stood the test of time and some have recently been a huge hit with me.

BB App World is great, and has brought my attention to a few wonderful BB apps, but I have also picked up one or two dodgy apps from there too. I actually make a point of duty to read product reviews before I hit download.

To keep or not to keep

I am very particular about what I stick on my BlackBerry - it can’t be just anything just for the sake of it. To aid this decision, I usaully have a mental checklist of some basic requirements.

• Space usage
• Quality of Application
• Usability

With that said, here are my top 5

# 1 Viigo
My one stop shop for Breaking News, RSS Feeds, Audio podcast and much more. Their most recent update v3.1.330 now supports Twitter.

Site Map # 2 WordPress for BlackBerry
The very application that I am using to write this post. I love it - works just like the real thing. The product is still under development but was fortunate to have been given the Alpha version to test. It’s currently not available to the public yet - will keep you posted on release date.

# 3 TweetGenius
Love the interface of this twitter app - check out my previous post on this.
BlackBerry Twitter Experience with TweetGenius

# 4 Google Mobile App
This is my direct access to google search engine. Included in the bundle are Google sync, Mail, Reader.

# 5 MemoPad (yes, the default BB app)
What would I do without my MemoPad. This has to be one of my heavily used app on the Bold. I can compare it to notepad on windows - lightweight and dependable.

What are your top 5 BlackBerry apps?

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On the home screen, hitting the BlackBerry menu hotkey on a particular application gives you several menu items, including an option to ‘Call Voice Mail’…all well and good.

But try doing this on every application icon and you are guaranteed to be given ‘Call Voice Mail’ option each and everytime - Why???

I can see the need in certain areas of the interface, i.e PhoneBook, Call Logs, Calender icons - but finding this option on my weather channel icon menu or on other unrelated applications seems odd.

Although I haven’t quite reached the point of annoyance yet - I guess it’s just one of those things you tend to overlook.

Clearly by default, ‘Call Voice Mail’ option is set to all application menus regardless of it’s type.

Surely, a designated icon or button could have been used instead.

In fact, the (1/w) button achieves this, however, there is no voice mail symbol to indicate this.

In a nutshell, RIM clearly wants us to call our voice mail service, as they have bombarded us with many options to do so - however, it could have been made easier by simply providing a ‘Call Voice Mail’ icon or by displaying a symbol on the universal voice mail key.

I don’t believe there is a way to alter this.

Do you know of a way around this? Better still, have you noticed this on your BlackBerry?

User: Johnluffa | BB: Bold | OS: v4.6.0.216

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It’s been a very sad day…

I can’t believe the greatest entertainer ever lived is no longer with us.

In fact,  I cant believe I am writing this, I’m in complete disbelief.

I heard the breaking news while I was driving home and had to pull over.

May you soul rest in peace Michael - You’ve truly been a gift to this generation and to many more to come.

(As a small tribute from Johnluffa.com, I have posted one of my favorite Michael’s songs)

What are your memories of Michael Jackson?

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“Once you go BlackBerry you never go back” seems to be the revised saying.

Which leads me to ask, how many people have you converted to the addictive world of BlackBerry?

I have found myself on a number of occasions singing praises of the BlackBerry and as a result lured/convinced several to the force.

The scary part is finding some of your recent converts in a worst off state - a complete sold-out BlackBerry evangelists.

Have you lured anyone to the beloved BlackBerry?

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