3rd Party Apps Work Over Bridge After OS Update

This was not announced by RIM with the recent OS update but 3rd party apps including Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook work now when you have it connected via bridge. This means you don’t have to have Wi-Fi connection to use your PlayBook. I tested this as soon as Poky from BlackBerry India told me about it. Facebook, and Blaq worked as soon as I opened the apps. I know it works because I am nowhere near a Wi-Fi connection. The regular browser also works. Not sure if RIM did not mention this because they did not want to make the carriers mad or it is a glitch. I think this is really awesome the fact that it works and I hope they do not do away with it.

Let us know if yours also works over Bridge?

via:bbreview

AT&T enhances network in part of Manhattan you probably won't visit

If you’re walking through New York City today, you may notice that your AT&T phone just got a little bit faster. But you probably won’t. The carrier activated a new broadband cell site in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay area in Midtown — somewhere between Times Square and the Upper East Side — in a five-block area that few tourists ever visit. The company says the upgrades are part of a larger plan to enhance coverage across the nation and eventually roll out 4G LTE coverage, with help from recently acquired T-Mobile — that is if all goes well in court, of course.

 

BlackBerry Curve 9360 Also Sporting Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot

One of the features RIM has been very coy about in BlackBerry 7 has been the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. We saw it pop up in documentation and even devices before but all the devices RIM has been showing off don’t have it featured. They also seem to be glossing over mentioning it on any of the devices they have announced. We are pretty sure that it is coming to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9810, 9850, and 9860 but RIM has not confirmed it as far as I have seen.

 

That is what makes it interesting to see the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot feature show up on the lower end BlackBerry Curve 9380. As you can see in the pictures the feature is there and alive. I am sure RIM is going to find a way to make sure carriers get paid extra for you to use the feature but I think it would be a huge boon for PlayBook users. It would simply allow you to tether to your BlackBerry using Wi-Fi though I am curious what it will do to battery life.

I know quite a few of you are waiting for RIM to release such a feature. Let us know why!

AT&T announces throttling plans, gently reminds us why the T-Mobile acquisition is so great

AT&T today officially confirmed what so many had expected for some time now: the carrier will be throttling select users’ unlimited data plans. The move, which takes effect on October 1st, is a response to a “serious wireless spectrum crunch,” according to a message issued today. The changes will not affect most customers, according to the company, primarily targeting those who fall within the top five percent of heavy users in a given billing cycle. Once the new period begins, speeds will be restored. Even with this new plan in place, however, the company says that the spectrum problems still won’t be resolved — it does have a simple solution, however, explaining that “nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges.”

Full text after the break.

Facebook 2.0 Officially Releases Tomorrow in App World

We all know that Facebook 2.0 has been in the Beta Zone for some time now. The app has had a few updates and is very close to releasing publicly in App World. Today we have found out that this is very true, in fact so true it is coming out tomorrow.

Phone Remote Controls Your BlackBerry Phone from your PlayBook

Simply Apps knows how to push the envelope! They just released a new application in App World called Phone Remote for the BlackBerry PlayBook. It performs a nice and simple function of remotely controlling your BlackBerry smartphone from your PlayBook over Wi-Fi. They compare it to a remote desktop app for your BlackBerry. You can then use your tablets larger screen to control your BlackBerry. The main restriction now is that it only works over Wi-Fi if both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Future upgrades will add further access.

 

I can’t really think of a good real world use for this if you already have BlackBerry Bridge but I guess you can run 3rd party apps that are not available on the PlayBook. For $2.99 the Phone Remote app is relatively cheap. You can pick up the main PlayBook app and the companion BlackBerry control app at the links below:

• Phone Remote app for the BlackBerry PlayBook[qrcode pix=150]https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/48489[/qrcode]
• Phone Remote Pairing App for your BlackBerry smartphone[qrcode pix=150]https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/48489[/qrcode]

via:bbr

The Power Button and Charging your BlackBerry PlayBook

Today, I wanted to share with you some information on how the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet charges and how the power button works. Let’s start by talking about how the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet charges:

When you plug in your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, if it is off and the battery is fully charged, it will turn on automatically. In the event the battery isn’t at 100%, it will not automatically turn on, and you’ll notice that BlackBerry PlayBook tablet displays a flashing yellow LED, which means is currently charging. In case you want to use it while it’s charging, all you need to do is tap the power button once and it will start up. When you are finished, you can leave the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on or turn it off, and either way, it will continue to charge as long as it’s plugged in.

Notifier Sends BlackBerry Notifications to Your PC or Mac over Wi-Fi

Notifier is an interesting new app to hit App World. The concept of the app is that it sends notifications from your BlackBerry to your PC or Mac from your BlackBerry over Wi-Fi. While there have been apps that do this in the past I am kind of digging the notifications on this one and the use of Wi-Fi. Right now it seems to only do notifications for phone calls, SMS, and battery alerts but hopefully more will come soon with email and the ability to view the email.

There is a desktop and BlackBerry app that work together to make the magic work and for $0.99 it is a pretty cool app.

Check out Notifier in App World at this link.[qrcode pix=170]https://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/45823[/qrcode]

via:bbr

How to Diagnose Your PlayBook Wi-Fi Connection & View Status

 

I have had quite a few users ask me similar questions in the last few weeks so I thought I would address it with a simple post. There is a nice and slightly hidden set of features in the Options->Wi-Fi menu that you can access if you click on the little Wi-Fi icon with the question mark at the bottom left of the Options->Wi-Fi menu pane.

 

Say for example you want to know what the current speed of your connection is to your access point then hit the drop down menu and select “Wi-Fi Information.” Then scroll down to connection data rate. For some reason mine always shows 24Mbps even though my laptop is reporting 130Mbps in the same location.

From that dropdown menu you can also access you Wi-Fi logs to see what is going on. You can also diagnose your PlayBook Wi-Fi internet connection by testing it out with a Ping or checking on the routing with a traceroute or DNS Lookup. I don’t understand why RIM didn’t make that option button a bit bigger but there is a load of information in here.

Let us know if you find any other tips like this!

via:bbr

Will RIM Update the PlayBook OS for Next Saturdays Saudi Arabia Launch?

Sky pointed out in the forums that STC confirmed on their Facebook page that the BlackBerry PlayBook is launching next Saturday in Saudi Arabia. That begs the question of if it will ship with Arabic language support. The current BlackBerry PlayBook OS only supports English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch and UK English. I had one of the devs testing out 1.0.6 in the Beta Zone (coming by the end of the month) check if it supported Arabic and it was not there. We also had STC state in May that the PlayBook would launch in Saudi Arabia starting June 25th (next Saturday) with full Arabic read and write support. On the other hand the PlayBook rendering in their announcement is in English…

 

So will RIM launch the PlayBook in these countries without support for the native language or is there an OS update in the wings just waiting to swoop down. RIM has confirmed that the PlayBook will be launching in 16 new markets by July 10th which also includes countries like India and Indonesia that don’t currently have their native languages supported.

What do you think? Will RIM be rolling out an OS update very soon?

Here is what STC posted on their Facebook page:

Starting from next Saturday, we will be the first telecommunication company in the country to provide the new experience from BlackBerry in the tablets world, the BlackBerry PlayBook, which will be available at our stores.. with the possibility of using our FREE Wi-Fi service in over 2000 locations across the Kingdom for a whole year and with no limits on the data that you want to use. To know the locations, head to: http://m3com.com.sa/

There are three editions of the device:
16 GB for 2099 SAR
32 GB for 2699 SAR
64 GB for 3099 SAR
All these editions work with Wi-Fi technology and a 1Ghz Dual processor, using BlackBerry Tablet OS7, with a 7 inches touch LCD screen and a 1G memory. You will enjoy 2 cameras, one on the front of the device (3 megapixel) and the other one from the back side (5 megapixel), you can also record high quality videos, the device has a video output as well. You will also be able to enjoy playing audio files MP3, AAC 5.1 & WME 5.1, in addition to total and full Bluetooth experience. Using Wi-Fi you will be able to download many free and priced applications from the BlackBerry App World on your BlackBerry PlayBook.
To remind you about STC BlackBerry Packages:
Monthly Package: 99 SAR with 1000 MB, unlimited usage of BlackBerry Messenger and E-mail, in addition to FREE 5 MB while roaming.
Weekly Package: 29 SAR with 120 MB, unlimited usage of BlackBerry Messenger and E-mail.

via:bbr