BlackBerryInsight

The glorious year 2006 is over and we are going to fall into the next year 2007. What have we seen this year?

1) Well, with no alternative to the number one revolution, we have seen the release of the BlackBerry Pearl! The new device on the market that is supposed to bring more and more consumers to RIM’s already well established (business) customer base. This device came with a lot of new features for all users who missed the multimedia features in their BlackBerry. Technically we can talk about a multimedia revolution that came from Canada. This revolution brought us camera support, memory card support, a new BlackBerry OS 4.2 which itself brought the BlackBerry Maps application for navigation purposes.

2) The BlackBerry went international. Since the first BlackBerry was released in North America many many years ago it became more comprehensive and more international. The BlackBerry for example has one of the best internationalization Integration I have ever seen on a mobile device. It is so easy to change your input method. You can write Chinese, Japanese and even Thai without any problems. So the BlackBerry is now purchaseable in the main markets of the world including Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, USA, Canada, Europe, Middle and South America, Africa and most Arabic countries.

3) Besides the multimedia revolution we have seen the technology revolution in the field of network technologies. Since a long time we have BlackBerrys for GSM networks, for CDMA networks and for the IDEN network. Now, we have seen new BlackBerrys (e.g. 8707g) that are compatible with the new 3G (UMTS) technology. And we need this new technology. Everyone needs it! Coming around with a lot of services we need a broadband solution for our mobile devices to keep up with the rest of the world. Actually, I am not that fan of videos on my mobile but it’s some kind of cool if you can bring a short clip to your friend and have fun watching it.

4) Last but not least: We went public. Something like an IPO for the BlackBerry community without any charge. BlackBerryInsight started his service in May 2006 and is by now one of the Top BlackBerry resources on the net. And we are expanding. We will stay right here to serve your need for information and bring these information to a bigger audience. The BlackBerry itself is still growing and we think the BlackBerry will penedrate the market more and more by time. As we have seen before, the concept of RIM is going to rule world, not just the USA and Canada. We will keep writing for you and help you to be part of the BlackBerry revolution which becomes more and more multimedial.

That’s it for now. Your BlackBerryInsight Team wishes you a happy new year celebration!

Also interesting:
What 2007 will bring to us

Share This

Note: If you have a Mac OS X / Macintosh machine you should take a look to How to install 3rd party applications (Mac OS X).

There’s a whole exciting world of applications for your BlackBerry out there. Installing those applications is a pretty straightforward process, though there are occasional issues that crop up. If you do encounter problem, there’s usually an easy solution. This article will talk about the steps to install a new application, and then discuss the most common problems that people encounter.

There are two ways of installing applications to your BlackBerry. You can download the software over the air (OTA) using the web browser on your device, or you can install an application from your PC using the RIM Desktop Manager.

To install OTA, you must have a URL for the sofware you want to install. The URL will point to a JAD file somewhere on the Internet. After entering the URL into the browser on your BlackBerry, it will prompt you to verify that you want to install the application. Say yes, and if all goes well it will install on your BlackBerry.

Downloading Google Maps

Success!

The second method of installation uses the RIM Desktop Manager. Applications meant to be installed from the Desktop Manager come with two files: an ALX file and a COD file. First, connect your BlackBerry to your PC using a data cable. Once the device is attached, launch the RIM Desktop Manager. Then launch the Application Loader from inside the Desktop Manager.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Click the “Add…” button in the Application Loader and specify an Application Loader File(.alx). The application should now appear in the list of items to install. Follow the instructions from there to finish the installation and it should appear on your Blackberry.

Piece o cake. Unless it didn’t work. If you hit a problem fear not. There are things you can do.

“No System Software was found for your handheld.”

No System Software Found

Lucky you. You’ve either upgraded your handheld OS, or gotten a new BlackBerry for your birthday. Either way, your Desktop Manager doesn’t know how to talk to your BlackBerry. It is lacking the device software for your model of BlackBerry.

You’ll have to download and install the latest device software and service packs from your carrier. To see which device software you have installed on your computer, go to the Desktop Manager Help–>About and click the Device Software tab.

 
“No additional applications for your handheld were found”

No Additional Applications

First, make sure the .alx file and the .cod file are in the same directory. The Application Loader uses both files to install to your BlackBerry. If that isn’t the problem, then upgrading the Desktop Manager might help. You can download the latest version from your carrier or directly from RIM: http://www.blackberry.com/support. More detailed information on this can be found at: BlackBerry Install Error: No additional applications designed for your device found!

 
Invalid Digital Signature

If you are running a BES BlackBerry, there is a setting in the BES that doesn’t allow the installation of 3rd party applications unless they have been signed. You will have to contact your BES administrator to change this setting.

 
A fatal error has occurred while updating your handheld’s software. Please try again. Unspecified error encountered [J:0×0000000A]

That (most helpful) error message appears because the application you are loading requires a more recent version of the handheld operating system than you have. You will need to go to your carrier’s website and download a more recent version of the OS.

Found via allblackberry.com
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Share This

Some weeks ago we reviewed the new BlackBerry Video Generator 2.0. Just some days ago the conversation below came up. So you can find some more comments on this product there.

Share This

Our top rated article “Implementing Getting Things Done with your Blackberry” took his place in the The Personal Development Carnival on November 19, 2006 at the Creating a Better Life Blog. We are so proud to be mentioned there and will continue to bring our high quality article to a bigger audience. We hope our reviews and product tests will be useful for you. We would also like to see critical comments on what we write. If there is anything you don’t agree with our you absolutely agree with, feel free to use the comment function to place some words.

Share This

We are receiving a lot of mail and comment inquiries regarding the question: “Which Bluetooth GPS receiver should I buy?”

This is a good question as there are thousands of Bluetooth GPS receivers out there. So we did some research and checked out which one is worth to buy. All receivers listed below will work with your BlackBerry and you will be able to turn your BlackBerry into a real orientation system.

P.S.: I am using the Holux GR 231 Bluetooth GPS receiver in private GPS session on the road and am quite satisfied.

Of course, you need the right software to do something with your current position. Because that’s all such a GPS receiver delivers. The most important part in this case is the software. If you are looking for a real navigation system that gives you turn-by-turn direction like you might know from your car, you will be pleased using the BlackBerry Maps application. This application is free and is a part of the BlackBerry OS 4.2 (How to upgrade your BlackBerry OS). If you want to do more with your BlackBerry, let’s say hiking, biking, geocaching, you will need something else. A more comprehensive and more sophisticated program will fit your needs.

Spot is the best tool we know for turning your BlackBerry into a real orientation unit. It helps you to find places, manage your waypoints and is able to integrate maps from an endless pool of free map services on the Internet. It has a free demo version for those of you who want to check out the features before purchasing a license.

Looking for more recommended BlackBerry stuff? Take a look to our BlackBerryInsight Store!

Related Links:
» Spot in version 1.4.0 available
» Spot GPS Tool supports BlackBerry 8703e
» Spot - new devices supported (BlackBerry 8707g and Palm Treo 680)
» Spot supports the Pearl officially
» BlackBerry and GPS

Share This

As you can see, I have some favorite programs and I like to blog about them. One of them is “Spot”. It’s user manual tells us this an abbreviation of “Skylab’s positioning and orientation tool”. The new version comes with some incredible new features I was always requesting. Of course, I requested more. Anyway, I love the new ones like “Map Configuration Saving”. This means, it is now automatically saved ones you make changes in the map’s layer manger. As Spot supports several kinds of maps like OGC WMS map services you can also add your custom web server whichholds your private (or company driven) map data. Since the first version came out you could add your custom WMS to the map layers. That’s no news. But this setting could not be saved. Bad - very bad because this forced you to enter the information every time you restarted the program. Also the currently activated map was not saved so every time the default map appeared you had to change the map setting on every restart of the program. This is all gone!

There is also another new feature I would like to mention. The so called “Location State Indicator”. This is a neat point with the colors green, yellow and red. This indicator shows you the current state of your GPS:

• Green: GPS is available and delivers a position
• Yellow: The GPS device is searching and tries to find satellites
• Red: GPS is out of service

This means you are always aware of what is going on.

One bad thing, the Google Maps has been removed from the layer list. This layer didn’t work since 2 or 3 weeks so this is not so bad. I guess Google changed something in their API. Whatever, I don’t miss that layer there is also another new one which provides street level data as well. This new one is not as nice rendered as the Google Maps one but it brings the data and works fine. And, as mentioned before, you can add your own map server as well.

There are now new shortcuts to zoom levels and several maps in the screen menu of the “Map” screen:

• Zoom:Country
• Zoom:Region
• Zoom:City
• Zoom:Street
• Map:Satellite
• Map:Topo 1
• Map:Topo 2
• Map:Streetlevel

Quite convenient to use! If you would ask me.

Ah, one more thing to mention: The update is free for all current users of “Spot”. You just need to get the new files from the product site and overwrite your old one. The new version is released for all platforms including BlackBerry, Palm, Symbian, Nokia, Siemens, Motorola and other Java mobile devices.

Related Links:
Spot GPS Tool supports BlackBerry 8703e
Spot - new devices supported (BlackBerry 8707g and Palm Treo 680)
Spot supports the Pearl officially
BlackBerry and GPS
New Version of Spot GPS Application Released by Dave Mabe - the author of BlackBerry Hacks

Looking for a Bluetooth GPS Receiver? Take a look to our Recommended BT GPS Receivers!

Share This

Faster, Better and More Features.

That is the summary of the new version of NextAction!. It took a long time but now it is out. As mentioned before this version is also available in German. The most important feature to mention is the Notes Support which enables you to add notes to every task from within NextAction! on your BlackBerry as well as from within your favorite task application (e.g. Outlook, Lotus Notes, Groupwise, Act! etc.). So these notes are synchronized as well when you are synchronizing your BlackBerry with your desktop. There are also a lot of other neat neat improvements which make the live so much easier. Why don’t you just take a look for your own below. The update is free for all current users of NextAction!.

The “added features list” reads as followed:

• » German language localization (German version only)
• » Notes support
• » SPACE to mark a next action as done/undone
• » Tasks: “n” to add a new task
• » “c” switch to contexts
• » Contexts: SPACE hide/unhide selected context
• » Contexts: ENTER rename context
• » Add/Edit next action: save next action
• » Contexts: “n” add new context
• » Contexts: “e” context up
• » Contexts: “x” context down
• » DELETE deletes the selected next action
• » Contexts: DELETE deletes the selected context, tasks will remain but disassociated from the context
• » Configurable delete confirmation for next actions
• » Configurable delete confirmation for contexts

Related Links:
» NextAction! - The GTD Implementation - Suggestions?
» Implementing Getting Things Done with your Blackberry
» NextAction! (English Edition)
» NextAction! (German Edition)
» NextAction! (German Edition) at MobileSoftMarket - Instant Download
» David Allen’s GTD Forum
» BlackBerryForums.com
» Productive Talk Compilation: 8-episode podcast with GTD’s David Allen

Share This

Some days ago we reviewed the Standard Edition of this new sudoku game. Now we can find the right version for the current time: pre-christmas. So right now you can solve your puzzle with some stylish Christmas like backgrounds which - I guess - changes the atmosphere, right?

We also found a screenshot that shows exactly what I mean:

Except the Christmas specialization the features are the same like these from the Standard Edition:
The features are described as followed:

• » Over One million unique puzzles
• » Intuitive user interface
• » Multiple difficulty levels - for beginners and sudoku experts
• » Partially solved puzzles are automatically saved to resume later
• » Sudoku Solver
• » Hints support
• » Undo support
• » Easy installation via BlackBerry Desktop Manager
• » Multiple integrated themes
• » Optimized graphics for all BlackBerry models

You can currently get this Sudoku Expert - Christmas Edition at MobileSoftMarket for $12.99 or at Handango for $14.99

Share This

Terratial Technologies is probably best known for their best selling Ring Tone Megaplex. This service gives you access to a variety of Ringtones to download to your BlackBerry.

And now they have a new product to complement their Ringtone library: HollerID Nametones. HollerID gives you access to a library of Ringtones that correspond to nearly 1800 of the most common American names. This allows you to download Nametones to your BlackBerry and associate them with the contacts in your address book. Then when someone from your address book calls, their name is announced.

Selecting a Nametone

Navigating the HollerID Nametone website was very simple. In just a few clicks I was able to get to a name and sample the various voices that can be used to announce the name. For each name, there are a number of different male and female voices used to announce, for example “Mike is calling”.

Nametone Playback

You can download samples of the various voices and play them to see which one you like. Some of the voices are purposely hard to understand, making it likely that you’ll be the only one who can figure out what the nametone is saying.

Saving a Nametone

After you select a voice and save it your device, it’s easy to go into your contacts and associate that nametone with a particular contact.

Associating a Nametone with a Contact

Terratial’s HollerID Nametones retails for $19.95 for unlimited downloads for a whole year. You can get it at their website: terratial.com.

Found via allblackberry.com
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Share This

Referring to one of my former articles I am searching YouTube these days for BlackBerry related videos. It is unbelievable what people do if they want to be mentioned somewhere. Right, they got me! I could not stop myself from posting this but it really hurts my heart. A friend of mine told me some wise saying some time ago I don’t want to repeat because it might cause trouble with the law … however, the final conclusion was: “No violence against computers!”

As the BlackBerry is some sort of PDA and it has quite a lot of power - take the 87xx series with their 617 MHz CPU which is 77 times faster than my first PC with its 8MHz! - the BlackBerry is a computer, a digital information device too. So it breaks my heart if I see these Asian (I guess Hong Kong) people using the BlackBerry as a football.

Related Links:
BlackBerry Videos at YouTube

Share This