Mini Review: BlackBerry PlayBook USA On-Device GPS Map (Offline Map)

Developer: Skylab Mobilesystems Ltd.
Web Site: AppWorld
Rating:
Price: $9.99

[qrcode pix=120]http://nhcbba.com/downloads/Skylab_Offline_Playbook[/qrcode]

Skylab recently released a bunch of city and country offline maps for Blackberry Playbook. This was very exciting news, as currently most the map applications require downloading the maps online and caching the trip. However, Skylab seems to be playing marketing games here, as the data is only on device when you browse to a location and cache it online.  So this is really not a real on-device map like many other GPS apps in different platforms (TomTom, Igo, Navigon) where the full map is stored on your device. Those apps will work fine perfectly without any data connectivity. On the other hand Skylab’s software will not.

IMO Updates BlackBerry Beta Instant Messaging App

IMO let us know that they have updated their BlackBerry Beta Instant Messaging app this week. The first release was decent as a cross platform IM client and this beta is throwing in more features. Check out the change log and new features below:

 

• Voice IMs: send instant voice message IMs up to 30 seconds long
• Send files from your device or capture pictures and send instantly!
• Facebook Chat and Steam Chat support
• Group messaging: create chat groups with other friends using imo (chat groups also available on the web, and on our iPhone, iPad and Android beta apps

The app is still waiting to go live in App World but you can pick up the beta directly at

https://imo.im.[qrcode pix=120]IMO[/qrcode]

via:bbreview

Check out the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Community

Now that the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet is being used in a wide variety of industries by a range of various professionals, I thought it would be prudent to throw a spotlight on one of the more interesting communities involved with the product, as well as how you can get involved and provide feedback. I had the pleasure of speaking with John H., a member of the Beta Programs team at Research In Motion® (RIM®). Check out the conversation below!

Hi John, can you give us a quick introduction to what you do at RIM?

Sure, Luke. RIM’s Beta team operates programs for new software through the BlackBerry® Beta Zone. My colleagues and I are members of the beta team and are specifically interested in the BlackBerry® Tablet OS; what people think of it, how they use it, what they’d change, and what they love about it. It is essential to our job to make sure the voice of our customers is represented internally.

So what is the “Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community”?

The community is open to anyone in BlackBerry Beta Zone and is an open forum for discussions about the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

 

How does RIM work with the members?

We’re in the discussion boards every day reading what people are sharing with us. Also, after every new software release, we capture the feedback of users through a survey once they’ve upgraded. Because we develop these devices for our customers, as I mentioned previously, it’s very important to us to have a solid understanding of their needs, thoughts, and requests.

Where does feedback go after it’s provided by the community?

My team is very close to stakeholders and product owners at the company who coordinate the product development process. We then use this information to contribute to building and developing top notch mobile technology. All of the feedback is important to us, and we’re always looking for important trends, which is why it is important for users to weigh in with their thoughts on hot topics in BlackBerry Beta Zone.

How can individuals get involved?

The process is simple – BlackBerry Beta Zone is free and easy to join. After signing up or logging in, they can look for the Global BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Community in the “Eligible Programs” area as displayed in the image below. They can then hop into the discussion boards and let us know what they think. It’s our promise that posts and opinions are read, and we often respond with our own thoughts and interactions.

Thanks for your time John! It sounds like a great opportunity to become involved in the future of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

We definitely have an exciting opportunity here to shape the future – we’re looking forward to everyone’s thoughts!

---

Tell us about your experience on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Head over to the BlackBerry Beta Zone today and share your opinion!

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• BlackBerry PlayBook: Now Available At a Store Near You
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• The BlackBerry PlayBook Tour is Coming to a City Near You!

http://bizblog.blackberry.com/

This Morning AT&T users in New York City had suffered a partial phone outage but restored now

We’ve been inundated with a flood of tips from Big Applers this morning, and we just confirmed ourselves — a large sect of AT&T users in New York City aren’t receiving calls. Even the ones who aren’t just holding it wrong. It seems as if outgoing calls operate just fine, but folks trying to dial in are greeted with eternal ringing. As in, it doesn’t even go to voicemail. We’re assuming the engineers at Ma Bell are all over this as we speak, but be sure to let us know how wrecked your Big City life is due to this in comments below.

Update: Right on cue, AT&T pinged us to say everything should be back to normal. The formal quote is below: “Wireless voice service has been restored and is back to normal now after a software issue occurred during routine maintenance which caused some customers on Long Island and in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan to experience voice service disruptions this morning. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers.”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

via: engagdet

MetroPCS will begin transition to VoLTE early next year

US carriers were quick to acknowledge their allegiance to Voice over LTE (VoLTE), a 4G VoIP-related technology first demonstrated in February. Ever since that time, however, talk of deployment plans have been replaced by crickets. MetroPCS was the first to break the silence, as CEO Roger Linquist announced at this morning’s quarterly earnings call that his company’s “planning to begin introducing VoLTE-capable handsets early next year to move voice as well as data traffic to [its] LTE network.” The outfit’s wasting no time making the full transition to 4G, as it’s already begun migrating its SMS and MMS services to this service. An increasing sense of urgency is likely hitting the company hard, as implementing VoLTE will ease some of the burden of its limited spectrum by devoting more bandwidth to 4G. What’s better, the anticipated timeframe may even allow MetroPCS to beat Verizon to market — which has also targeted 2012 as a launch date for its equivalent service — as well as AT&T, currently aiming for a 2013 takeoff. No matter what, we’re ecstatic to soon be flooded with more HD-clarity calls than we care to take.

PhoneScoop

Connected Planet
Engadget

NHCBBA TIP: Sometimes it is best to set your 3G BlackBerry Smartphone to 2G (EDGE) only

One of the features of your 3G BlackBerry Smartphone that is easy to forget but can come in really handy given certain circumstances is the ability to change your Network Mode. When you go to Mobile Network Options, under Network Mode you have the options of 3G, 2G and 3G & 2G, with the 3G & 2G option being the one that is typically selected by default. This default option means that if 3G is available for the cellular network you’re connected to you will default to 3G, but if the 3G signal gets too weak or you move out of 3G network range, you’ll automatically drop to a 2G network (known as EDGE) which is more than likely to be present. Compared to 2G, 3G connections offer faster data speeds and simultaneous voice and data (on GSM), so most people prefer 3G to 2G when given the option. Thus, the default setting of 3G & 2G works pretty well for most people, most of the time. However, it can make sense to try changing up this option is if you find yourself in a location where all of a sudden your trusty BlackBerry seems to start working like crap even though you’re clearly connected to 3G – it could be that your device would be better off dropping down to 2G but for whatever mystical reason it doesn’t want to downshift. Allow me to illustrate with a real life example from this past weekend:

I spent the weekend getting some R&R at a buddy’s cabin in a cottage/camping area called Spruce Sands, which is a 15 minute drive away from the town of Gimli on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg. Gimli recently got its network upgraded to offer 3G (yay…finally!). Back at my buddy’s cabin, all of the devices present (a Bold 9780, Torch 9800, Bold 9700 and an iPhone 4) were clearly connected to Rogers and the 3G signal looked strong, displaying full bars. So based on appearances, it seemed like Gimli’s new 3G network reached outside of town to the area where I was staying. I wasn’t paying super close attention to my phone nor using it that much during the day (getting some R&R, remember?), but my Bold 9780 did seem a bit wonky. My battery was almost dead (despite barely using the phone), I had some undelivered BBMs, and it seemed to take everybody in the cabin a few tries to make voice calls. The service felt suspect, but since I was seeing full bars on 3G (and was having a good time drinking), I didn’t think to do anything about it.

By mid-afternoon of day two after hearing others in the cabin complain about the same issues I noticed the day before, I finally decided to do something about it, and changed my Network Mode to 2G. Boom. Issues Fixed. By switching to EDGE only mode and ignoring 3G connectivity, every issue we experienced went away and our devices were back to running normal (with exceptional battery life I might add on EDGE). Apparently we were picking up the town’s 3G tower still but were near the limit of its range, which meant we were ignoring the much closer towers that offered EDGE only. And that really horrible battery life was the result of the radios working excessively hard to try an maintain that 3G connection when we were clearly getting out or range.

Long Story Short: If you find your 3G data connectivity appears to be ok but all of a sudden you’re experiencing poor battery life, undelivered BBMs, delayed SMS messages and calls dropping, try switching to 2G only. It might save you from a ton of aggrevation!

Via: cb

IMO Launches Multi-Protocol Instant Messaging Client

 

Imo.im has launched their multi-protocol instant messaging app for BlackBerry. Also available on Android and iPhone, imo is a web-based communications service that enables users to hold text, voice and video chats across multiple instant messaging protocols.

The Beta app currently supports MSN, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Facebook, AIM/ICQ, Jabber, MySpace and Hyves with more features being added in the coming weeks. This web-based instant messanging suite supports concurrent sessions so you can be logged in on the desktop and on your phone simultaneously.

Appearing in BlackBerry App World soon,

imo is currently available as an over-the-air download.[qrcode pix=180]https://imo.im/blackberry[/qrcode]

via: bbcool

Five Tip Monday's – BlackBerry smartphone shortcuts

 

It’s the Start of a new week, so that means it’s Five Tip Monday’s!

The focus this week: Five BlackBerry® smartphone shortcuts to help you speed through daily tasks. Some of you might already be using these tips, but for those who aren’t familiar with the following, here are some things you might want to know.

Cellphones are dangerous / not dangerous: little tykes under the spotlight

In the rough and tumble debate surrounding the mobile phone’s ability to cause cancer, both sides agree that our young ones — indeed, some of the heaviest users — could be at an increased risk for cellular-induced tumors. According to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the radio emissions from mobile devices penetrate much deeper into the brains of children, and in the case of little tykes ages five to eight, their noggins will absorb twice the energy of the average adult. This, combined with their developing nervous systems, has brought concern for the welfare of our youngest mobile-savvy citizens, and led to a European study of nearly 1,000 (informed?) participants. Data was gathered over a four-year period, which relied upon self-reporting methods, where youngsters were found to not talk very often, and typically sent text messages instead — big surprise, right?

While long-term risks remain unknown, the researchers conclude that “a large and immediate risk of cellphones causing brain tumors in children can be excluded.” In other words: little Suzy won’t begin sprouting cancer cells overnight. While you doting parents may find comfort in the latest research, you might consider stopping short of giving the mischievous rascal an unlimited voice plan. After all, gossip still spreads best at the school yard.

[Image courtesy Derek Olson (flickr)]

The Wall Street Journal

 

Engadget

 

Verizon Wireless wins J.D. Power customer care award

J.D. Power and Associates announced on Thursday that Verizon Wireless ranked highest in the company’s 2011 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study, Volume 2. The carrier’s overall score was 770/1000, which was above the average 761 score in the ‘full service’ category. T-Mobile came in second place with a score of 766, followed by Sprint (752) and AT&T (751). J.D. Power and Associates also noted that non-contract customers have shorter wait times than customers with contracts (5.5 minutes versus 4.4 minutes). “There is also a disparity between the contract and non-contract segments in terms of the quality of the experience with the service representative,” J.D. Power and Associates senior director of wireless services Kirk Parsons said. “In particular, non-contract customers are considerably less satisfied than are contract customers in the areas of knowledge about plans; personal concern for customers; and apathy towards customers.” Boost Mobile ranked the best among non-contract carriers with a score of 763.

 

Read on for the full press release.