TECH411.ORG

By Jon Cohen

Their is no doubt that FREE is GOOD! Blackberry users have known this for a few years now. Blackberry owners have had a leg up on the rest of the mobile phone market by offering a free service to allow users to chat with each other. The service was called PIN-ing in the beginning and developed to become an application on the Blackberry simply known as BBM.  I was a member of the elite club of BBM (Blackberry Messenger) users for many years. In fact I was lucky enough to be one of the first users in North America ( I hacked my blackberry at the time with the OS from China).

Today I am using an iPhone and it was a hard decision to make, switching away from RIM the Blackberry makers. But now after 6 months or so with the iPhone 3GS I am happy I have made the move.

A bit of history

It should be noted that I had been using the Blackberry since 2003 and was a HUGE fan of the device. I had owned over 10 different models in the 6.5 years of using Blackberry and I was always wanting the newest and best model. I had gone as far as buying US models of the phone and unlocking them to work here in Canada. (Ironic since RIM is a Canadian company) So the title of Blackberry FanBoy would have been appropriate.

I did indeed try twice before 2009 to move away from the Blackberry by getting the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G. In both older models of iPhone I was not happy with the speed, the functionality and the lack of key features. It should be noted as well the the two iPhones mentioned were using OS 1.0 and 2.0, both an immature operating system in my opinion.

Back to the future

Now that I have made the move to iPhone, it would be very hard for me to go back to the Blackberry. I really love the iPhone and all of the Apps that are on the App. store. The two things that I found are missing on the iPhone when compared to the Blackberry where; 1. Spell Check, 2. Chat Client like BBM.

Well it was pointed out to me by a friend that Apple does have an App. for Spell check, it is not free but it does work most of the time. But until today Apple didn’t have an App. for Chat. This is were “Ping” [iTunes Link] comes in. It is a slick chat client that will give you a nice clean look and feel and also offers a unique user name for your iPhone or iPod Touch. With this unique user name this App. gives iPhone users the same FREE chatting capability that PIN-ing gave Blackberry users in the early days while still embedded this functionality in an App.

Ping is not perfect, but it will get there. Right now the App. which launched on Sept. 29th. 2009 is getting a lot of good hype and more and more users are joining Ping by downloading the App. and signing up. (No actual sign up is required)

The early tests I have done on Ping have shown great function, it is easy to use, and it is quick and the notification option works like it is suppose to.

Their are a few concerns that I have and I hope to interview the developer to see if he can address these issues.

Firstly if Ping can grow and still function? With so many users of the iPhone can a P2P chat app scale to handle the large volume of iPhone users.

Second, what is the privacy policy? Since the chat is P2P it must so through Ping’s servers and because of that I would want to know if it is encrypted, as well if it is publicly visible to anyone other then the two people chatting.

Third, user name? How is Ping going to avoid the issues that have plagued Twitter and Facebook with regards to user names being untrue. I expand on this questions by using this example;  if Oprah is my user name what will stop me from letting people believe that I am the real Oprah (TV Star)? How can Ping police this, what is there plans to validate the user is who they say they are.

Forth, Battery drain. Since I have installed Ping I have noticed a bit of battery drain (5%-10% loss)  and I assume that since Ping does use notification service that when I turn that function off my battery life will improve. It would be great if the developers of Ping would be able to figure out a way to improve battery life while keeping notification on.

In closing, as it stands today, Spell Check App and Ping App fill the only two voids I had on my iPhone following the switchover. If Ping can not or does not address user concerns thenI will have no choice but to re-think if I’d want to continue to use this App. My assumption is that like most developers the authors of Ping [iTunes Link] will want to have a great product and will welcome constructive feedback like the kind listed above. Once again I will state that Ping is a great App. Go out and  downloaded it ASAP (While it is still free).

By Jon M. Cohen

Looks like the boys over at Research in Motion have finally jumped on the “App Store” bandwagon. Following in the footsteps of both Apple’s App Store on iTunes and Google’s App Store for the Android OS. Today RIM launched their very own branded App Store called App World. A move that is not totally surprising considering the great success that Apple has seen. But the Blackberry App World has a long way to go to catch up with Apple’s 35,000+ Applications. With the upcoming App Store for the Palm Pre being highly talked about, it was a smart move for Blackberry to get the ball rolling on this App World program. The only question is if it is not a bit too late? The App market has become over saturated in the last number of months and as evidence to that we see the ongoing discounting of Apps in the iTunes store. These discounted prices unfortunately destroy the basic value system for all other Apps on all other platforms. Therefore when we look at the 475 apps that Blackberry is offering we cringe at the idea of paying $11.99 for Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile or $9.99 for SplashMoney Personal Finance. What most Apple developers have realized over the past 10 months is that the correct pricing for Apps is in the sub $4.99 price point. It is to be assumed that like any free market economy that as soon as more Apps are made, and their is a greater competition that the prices will be lowered.

You can download your own copy of the Blackberry App World HERE.

System Requirements

To ensure that your BlackBerry® smartphone will support BlackBerry App World™, it must have the following system requirements:

BlackBerry® Device Software version 4.2 or higher

BlackBerry smartphones with trackballs or SurePress™ touch screen

BlackBerry App World is only available to customers in US, Canada and UK and may not be available on all networks

How to check your operating system from your BlackBerry smartphone:

Click “Options” from your BlackBerry smartphone

Select “About”, then click. Your BlackBerry smartphone operating system information will be displayed

By Jon M. Cohen

So, maybe you have not heard about the craze called Twitter. You may be thinking that Twitter is a product sold at the supermarket or at the hardware store, but the fact of the matter is that Twitter is an upcoming and popular social networking website. It allows you to do something called “Micro Blogging”. The idea is to share a thought or what you are doing in less then 140 characters. 

One of the nice things about Twitter is how friendly it is to use. Simple to setup and simple to use. It also allows for users to do Micro Blogging from many different devices. Some of the most popular devices are the twitter.com website, the mobile phone SMS option, or smart phones who have a application that integrates with Twitter. (e.g.. Apple iPhone’s Twitter App or Twitterberry on the RIM Blackberry)

Some of the functions of Twitter are to allow people to “Follow You”. In other terms this means you let them read the text that you are writing. As well you can follow others too. So if you want to see what a friend of yours is doing, you can choose to follow them and then you will receive updates on what they are thinking or doing as they update their profile. Users as well can send direct messages to people and in turn can receive direct messages. (Thus if you want to comment to someone privately you can send them a direct message.)

Twitter has seen its share of mainstream media popularity in recent times. From CNN using it to discuss election news and notes, (e.g. USA Presidential Election 2008) to the winning candidate from that election (i.e. Barack Obama) using it to connect with voters. It is suggested that during the period between Apr. 2007 – Nov. 2008, Obama was able to use Twitter to connect  with about 120,000 voters. (He has over 155,000 people who have subscribed (Follow) to his Twitter feed worldwide.) The shear ability to connect to that many voters makes the use of Twitter as a communication tool a revolutionary medium in today’s society.  It is assumed that going forward all major electoral parties will be using Twitter to increase their connection to the voters.

Another noted use of Twitter was the ability to give live personal description of the massacre in Mumbai (Nov. 2008). What took place during this troubled time was that people (tourists staying in the hotel as guests) were able to post updates about the siege during the standoff while being hostages in their hotel rooms. In fact it was these Twitter posts that told friends, and family that loved ones where alright! As well also allowed the army to know where the terrorist were in the hotel.

At this point you may be asking yourself why would you want to share (broadcast) what is going on in your life with millions of people worldwide? You may want to know why do people even want to know what is going on in your life? The answer to both can be summed up in to one concept, content! That’s right, if you are interesting and write interesting stuff people will read it. North Americans especially consume a huge amount of content and really look for new media like Twitter to fill this desire. Therefore when you make your new Micro Blog posts I would suggest that you think for at least a minute or two about what you are going to write and I hope that you will keep it interesting.

Now get out there, log in to http://twitter.com and start posting today!

The Blackberry has been evolving for many years. It started off as a clumsy, hard to use device in a world that was not ready for RIM’s level of communication. Now, RIM has captured a consumer market that was once held by Palm, and taken the cellular phone market share away from both Nokia and Motorola. I have tested and used over 7 different Blackberry models and by far the Blackberry Curve rates as one of my top choices. With its full QWERTY keyboard and pearl scroll wheel, this communication device is extraordinary. It does not hold the same “wow” factor that you would find with some other smart phones (such as the Apple iPhone), but it holds its own when it comes to functionality, ease of use and clarity of phone calls.

Blackberry Curve

Some changes that RIM has made over the years have greatly impacted this device and its function. The one that I noticed immediately was the weight of the unit. Unlike a lot of the older Blackberry models, the Curve really is light and adequately fits in the palm of my hand. As with all Blackberry devices, using your thumbs on the keypad is important to getting functionality from the device, whether it is typing or just navigating the Blackberry OS. This phone, which is also a PDA, digital camera, MP3 player, timer, alarm clock and web browsing unit has a great battery life and can be used on any GSM network (may need to unlock the phone). Bluetooth is built in and most models feature a GPS as well.

Some of the points to keep in mind when considering this device for yourself are; do you want to have WiFi in your handheld device? How important is video playback? Are you prepared to incur the sometimes-expensive service costs from your cell phone provider? The real test of a product is its longevity in the market place and its ability to create a constant demand from consumers. The Blackberry brand has successfully done both of these things for a number of years, and I expect this to continue in years to come. In closing, this Blackberry Curve is a great handheld! It would be best suited for the business user or the sharper then average consumer. It gives a lot of power in a small package, and leaves the user with a great experience. It gets a “buy” rating from us.