Back to BlackBerry or how anyone uses Android as a phone is beyond me

I gave up my BlackBerry Q10 a few months ago. The keyboard started double typing, producing multiple letters for certain keystrokes. I replaced the keyboard myself and was very proud of the mixed black and white look I created by installing a white keyboard. But then the headset jack starting failing periodically and I shoved the device in a drawer and picked up a Moto X.

How anyone uses the Moto X or any Android phone in business is beyond me.

The address book is slow. Once you've found the contact, clicking the correct part of the screen to initiate a phone call isn't a sure thing. And conference calls! The operating system simply can't handle extensions. If you have to dial into a conference call you have to toggle back and forth between your calendar item and the phone dialer, an exercise in extreme frustration. I resort to either looking at my computer or writing down the extension. I tried the app MobileDay which is supposed to fix this. I doesn't. It never leaves enough time for Free Conference, which connects very slowly, before it auto dials the extension and messes everything up. The idea that you have to get an app to make conference calls when BlackBerry has had this built-in for a decade is beyond me. And I continue to click the Android screen in the hopes it will recognize a string of characters that looks like and is a phone number, just as BlackBerry has for a decade. Nope. Doesn't work.

I pulled my Q10 out of the drawer last night, fiddled with the headset jack, and perhaps it's working now. I sure hope BlackBerry can get their build quality together for either Classic or Windemere in the fall. I'll use my Moto X as a nice little pocket computer because that's what it really is.

PS: I sure will miss the Moto X feature that knows when I'm driving and will read my texts to me, and allow me to answer them flawlessly by voice.

Addendum: iOS does have the feature that allows one to seamlessly dial extensions with a second click. An iPhone will properly recognize a number in a calendar item such as (123) 456-7890 x12345. That Android does not is bizarre but as far as I can ascertain, it does not. So, I'll wait for the new iPhone.

things I miss now that I've turned off my BlackBerry

I recently switched to Android (Moto X) from BlackBerry (Q10).

I'd used a Nexus 4 for a while as a back-up phone so nothing was new to me but I'd always also used a BlackBerry. Now I'm sensibly down to just one phone. I don't regret the consolidation but here are a three really big things that BlackBerry, amazingly, still wins on:

• Sound profiles. Incredible that you need an extra app to manage sound profiles and that all that's baked into the OS is Silent, Vibrate and Sound. On a BlackBerry it's been easy, for years and years, to customize and create custom sound profiles so that you can manage exact what notifications of what you get and in what form (flashing light, sound, vibration). The app that seems to be the top provider of this functionality for Android is called Sound Profile. It seems to work fine but features icons that make even the old BlackBerry OS7 look modern in comparison. I cringe every time I use it.
• Unified InBox. I know that there are apps like Dropbox's Mailbox that provide unification of different e-mail addresses and some great additional functionality. But my BlackBerry 10 also integrated Facebook, Linkin, Whatsap, text messages, and other messaging into one, single interface and stream of messages.
• Phone calls. BlackBerry is still so much better at making phone calls (as long as the physical device works--which is why I threw mine away in frustration). The integration with the address book and calendar is so far superior. Hyperlinks to do one click phone calls are so much better, including most especially connecting into a conference call with a dial-in code.

And a smaller thing:

• BlackBerry Travel. I know that there are lots of other Android options, but the BlackBerry Travel app is just so perfect.

BlackBerry 10 is very hard to figure out at first and truly wonderful for one handed use once you get the hang of it. Android feels old and simple in comparison. But hey, now I can use beautiful apps like VSCO Cam.

BlackBerry can truly make the claim that it's the device that helps you get things done. Unfortunately, that's not enough anymore.

Addendum:

My Moto X has a nice little app that allows set-up of automatic profile changing for Work, Driving, and Sleep. The Work profile is particularly helpful, scanning your calendar for meetings and putting your phone into a silent mode during meetings with auto-texting options for important contacts. But this is still not a replacement for the centralized notification and profile management system that BlackBerry has had forever.

Will the last BlackBerry user please turn out the lights?

I just couldn't take it anymore. After replacing my keyboard on my BlackBerry Q10, the headphone jack failed. I'm done.

looking for BlackBerry

Our family of four has four BlackBerrys and no landline. One of my sons was sitting in the bath texting and the screen on his Bold 9700 went dead. Probably condensation. We couldn't awaken it, though the phone was running. So we went off to the mall to get a new BlackBerry. At Walmart the BlackBerry Torch model with no keyboard was being offered for $0 with a two year commitment. But the stand that would have held the display model was empty. The salesman said his BlackBerry rep was in the day before, dropped off five devices, and they were now sold. He didn't know when they'd get more. At Target we learned they don't sell BlackBerrys. BestBuy had the Bold for a Spring which we aren't using. For AT&T there was one lone model, the Torch with keyboard for a $50 upgrade price. AT&T's own store only carries the Bold for $199. We went home. I ordered a Curve from AT&T online. My impression of this little sojourn? BlackBerry is obvious struggling to even get shelf space. Meanwhile, it launches a new phone...in Indonesia. But I'm sure the aspiration there is for an iPhone (though I've heard from an Indonesian friend that sometimes only BBM will get through, not even standard text messages).

BlackBerry really is the new feature phone. They effectively don't have a smart phone and hardly have a smartphone offering. And that means they don't have much of an offering in North America because feature phones here are end of life.

But I still do love my BlackBerry. I was using it to navigate somewhere because BlackBerry Traffic beats Google Navigation on my Android ever time. Better directions. And more reliable connections (thanks also to Verizon vs. T-Mobile). So, I wanted to use my Android to get on a conference call while my BB Traffic did it's thing. No go. First, I had updated the calendar event in Google calendar from my computer browser an hour before and it still hadn't pushed to my Android (but Google had pushed it to my BlackBerry)! When it finally appear on my Andoird, and I clicked the phone number in "location" where I usually store it, the phone app did open up but it didn't recognize the x123 for extension. And for some reason the phone app kept freezing and wouldn't make a call. Pull over. Switch phones. Try to get the Android to navigate. Nexus S can't find GPS. I make the call with ease on my BlackBerry with a few simple clicks of the REAL KEYBOARD and I remember why I'm still stuck with those Canadians from RIM.

Why I just purchased the SAAB of Smartphones

Why did I just purchase the SAAB of Smartphones, friends want to know. Or less accurately, why did I just purchase a new eight-track tape player in the era of Spotify?

There just aren't any physical keyboard phones out there, at least in the United States, other than BlackBerrys. The integration between e-mail and phone just works so right. The thing is first and foremost a phone with e-mail rather than a computer with a phone built-in. And it the nicest device in my hand--curved in all the right places, unlike the slab that is the current iPhone. Since it's the inanimate object that I touch daily more than any other, that's really important.

Yes, I've tried virtual keyboards. I have a Nexus S too. But for actually doing real typing, I simply can't get adjusted to virtual keys. Same reason I still use a ThinkPad. Can't get used to a trackpad.

Now, if anyone could find me an Olivetti portable ... I really miss the way that thing typed and Mom gave it away when I was off at college.

the URL to be able to download Skype onto your Verizon BlackBerry Bold 9650

http://mobile.vzw.com/download/Bourbon/BB9650/Skype_mobile.jad


Because even though your BlackBerry 9650 is pictured on the Verizon/Skype website and the site says it's compatible, when you try to download through normal channels, Verizon and Skype will say your phone isn't compatible but it is ... sort of ... at least on my phone with BlackBerry 6.0 it does work but not very well. Takes FOREVER to connect a call. Only time I use it is when I have to take a Skype call on my mobile.

Android vs. Blackberry

I just bought an Android phone, a Nexus S, the "pure" Google phone without the additional skins and features that manufacturers like Motorola bundle in with their Android variants. I'll use it for its hotspot feature, for its seamless integration with my Google accounts, including Google Voice, and for Kindle reading and other functions for which the Android is really just a tiny tablet.

But I've kept my BlackBerry Bold and am surprised at how several applications that ought to be better on the Nexus are so much better on the Bold. This is mostly the challenge of physical keyboard vs. touchscreen. But it's also, I think, that the constraints of the BlackBerry force application developers to hone the functionality they provide.

Take Gmail for example. Google makes for BlackBerry a very nice application that allows you full access to your Gmail. It does need an update for BlackBerry OS 6.0 because the search function display doesn't work correctly. But compared to the native Android application, I find the BlackBerry Gmail application easier to navigate, easier to delete and archive items quickly, easier to see the threads of a conversation, and certainly much easier to use to compose messages.

Foursquare is another example. The ability to quickly check-in to places is much simpler, quicker, easier on the BlackBerry than with the Android app. Of course the Android app looks nicer, but it's not faster to use.

Applications that require scrolling and larger screen real estate, like maps or a browser, are obviously so much better on a touchscreen. But if you use a smartphone for basic business applications requiring accuracy and speed, BlackBerry has perception to counteract not functionality.

wonderful support from @AmazonWireless not so much from @attnetwork

Bought a BlackBerry via Amazon Wireless because it was much less expensive than buying the upgrade through AT&T. The device arrived. Worked great. I threw out the packaging. And then a week or two later, the phone started malfunctioning, randomly turning on and off. This was definitely a hardware problem. I called AT&T to see if they could resolve the issue. The said that I could return it within the 30 day "buyers remorse" period but ... oops! ... I'd thrown out the packaging so no, I couldn't. I'd have to wait until the thirty day period was up and then go through the warranty services department. And in order to extract all this information from them and tell me that they couldn't help me, I had had to first go through a song and dance, giving them the IMEI number from the phone (twice) and going through the various procedures they wanted to go through with me to verify that I knew what I was talking about.

If Amazon is in the loop, always call them first.

I called Amazon second. What a different customer support team! No questions asked. Didn't need the IMEI number. Didn't question whether I knew what I was talking about. Happy to exchange the phone. Yes, it would be ideal if I had the original packaging but they could make an exception. What a joy to deal with Amazon (as usual) and what a pain to deal with AT&T (as usual). Amazon trusts their staff, doesn't require that they go by the book. AT&T requires its staff to follow a script in everything, from the way they say hello to the way they say good bye. Painful, painful.

Only challenge is that the BlackBerry model is out of stock at Amazon, so it will be a week. But with such good customer support, I'll forgive them that.

link to the little known app for BlackBerry for Quickbooks

It exists! Here's the link for your BlackBerry: http://sbm.intuit.com/qbm/install/bb

You need to sign up for Intuit's Quickbook Connect service, which you can do from the Online Services drop down menu in QuickBooks (2009 and newer).

Intuit's fake BlackBerry "app" for QuickBooks

Intuit has been making some progress bringing QuickBooks, their business level accounting package, into the new century for small business by creating some online services that link to the desktop software program. For example, the online document repository is nice, though I can't discern how you extract your documents if you decide to discontinue the service. And they have a partial online version of the desktop application--QuickBooks Connect--that allows other users to have access to key vendor and customer functionality. Very nice interface and as far as I can tell, good functionality.

When I opened QuickBooks recently I fell prey to their come-on about upgrading to their 2011 package, in part because of a suggestion that they had an app for BlackBerry. Talk about deceptive advertising! First, they imply that you need the 2011 version of the desktop program to run their new mobile applications (in fact, 2009 will work). Then they suggest that they actually have a BlackBerry application. But no. It's just a BlackBerry browser version of their QuickBooks Connect service. QuickBooks has such a monopoly, I suppose they can get away with it. I know there are lots of online accounting packages but I haven't been able to find one that is at the level of QuickBooks. They're either too simplistic or much too expensive and complex for my needs.

CORRECTION: Intuit sent me an e-mail for the link to the QuickBooks BlackBerry application, the real deal. It IS actually an app. Now it would be nice if one could find this link on the QuickBooks website somewhere ... or through a search engine ... and it would be nice if when you sign up for the Connect service, the link that one gets to got you to this app instead of to a link to use for your BlackBerry browser!

tactile familiarity (just replaced my BlackBerry)

My BlackBerry died. Kept shorting out, in a sense--constantly restarting. I spent a while looking at Android phones, including the new "BlackBerry killer", the Motorola Android Droid Pro on Verizon with the same form factor as a BlackBerry. But I ended up replacing my BlackBerry Tour with the Bold, essentially the same phone. Why?

When smartphones become such an extension of ourselves, it's hard to convert to a different kind of tactile experience. Body part upgrade and replacement isn't easy.

My fingers are so used to the BlackBerry keys that even switching to a BlackBerry-like device such as the Droid Pro just didn't feel right, literally.

How to Fix a Stuck BlackBerry Trackball

via lifehacker LINK

Use thoughts on Enhanced Gmail plug-in for BlackBerry

The Enhanced Gmail plug-in for BlackBerry finally seems to be working. Even though it was released in August, it took until this Spring for the BlackBerry Internet Service to actually produce results, as far as I can tell.

What are those results?

Instead of having to use the (very good) separate Gmail for BlackBerry application, you can use the BlackBerry native e-mail application and get most of the functionality of Gmail.

What works: Yes, you can use a Gmail for Apps account instead of just a standard "@gmail" account. You get access to your labels, you can "star" an e-mail and your e-mails are threaded. You also get sync of deleted items, something that seemed to be missing before. In other words, it seems to provide full sync functionality.

What doesn't work: I'm not sure yet. Yesterday, marking items as read was only working from Gmail to the BlackBerry and not the other way round. Today, as I write this, I just tested that functionality and it is working. I'll report more as I test this thing.

But key: Google's own Gmail for BlackBerry stand-alone application, while really great, is a battery hog. Using the native BlackBerry application extends my battery life by hours. But you'll still want to keep that application on your device because there's nothing like being able to search all your mail from your handheld. And the interface is has some definite advantages over the native application (though some downsides too, like not displaying images).


Update: The lack of "mark read" updates from Gmail to the BlackBerry mail application is really really annoying. The improvement of battery life however is great, in comparison to hitting "refresh" all the time with the Gmail for BlackBerry stand-alone application.


Update 2: It's not that the "mark read" updates don't work. It's just that they take forever, hours even. Haven't had time to figure out on what frequency but it's many many minutes at very least and doesn't seem predictable. FAIL!

a few notes on @sugarsync @timr and GMail for BlackBerry

Addendum to the previous post:

1. Still testing SugarSync. Certainly doesn't sync as quickly as I'd like to the BlackBerry platform but this may be  due to challenges on the handheld end and no fault of SugarSync. In any case, for time tracking, I've gone back to the expensive but excellent Timr instead of trying to manage a spreadsheet synced between desktop and handheld.

2. Wiped my BlackBerry of all contacts and e-mail and reset e-mail using my Google Apps account into the BlackBerry native e-mail client. Working much better--before it was so slow as to be unusable--but still testing this.

BlackBerry, legacy, documents and @sugarsync

RIM is in a bit of a Microsoft catch with the legacy distinction between its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) vs. its consumer BIS offerings. (These are the two types of service that connect your BlackBerry to your e-mail.)

In order to provision the very most basic type of sync functionality you have to (a) be part of a corporation with BES installed on its servers (b) deal with managing outsourced BES or (c) deal with multiple add-on applications and various kludgey, fussy setups to get your mail, calendar and contacts to sync between your BlackBerry and your desktop. In either case, you won't have push GMail (which Android, iPhone and Windows Mobile, ironically, do have). BlackBerry has recently tried to fix this but their GMail fix slowed down my BlackBerry Tour to the point of unusability.

BlackBerry's danger is that they are stuck with BES as system that allows command and control security from the corporate IT center and seem loathe to provide effective and competitive solutions on the consumer end and small business end. Sounds a bit like Microsoft.

But there is one area of mission critical business functionality that BlackBerry is as behind the times as the rest of the mobile platforms and that's document sync. With the partial exception of Android, the ability to read and edit documents on a mobile platform and sync them back to your desktop is still only provided by add-ons. A company called SugarSync seems to be filling that gap most effectively. Combined with DataViz Documents to Go, you can get the sort of document sync functionality that BlackBerry should be offering natively. SugarSync doesn't offer document editing and DataViz only offers syncing via desktop cable or with a BES server, with its own software installed as well. But together, they're a great combination. Now I can have a spreadsheet, for example, of my time and activities log on my BlackBerry always in sync with the Excel spreadsheet on my PC. And my novel too can get more work done by being in both places at once. Further, SugarSync has the same backup functionality as offerings like Mozy and Carbonite, but with a far larger offering and full offerings for all the top North American mobile platforms.

a list of the best BlackBerry add-on applications for productivity

My excuses for using a BlackBerry are (a) Verizon delivers great voice quality, as does the BlackBerry Tour (b) physical keyboard and (3) it doesn't seduce me with an almost infinite variety of wonderful time sucking applications.

Here are what I've found to be the core productivity applications. With the addition to the list of the wonderful Timr app for timetracking, I don't know why you'd want anything more (except true e-mail sync without a BlackBerry Enterprise Server ... grrr!). The following are in descending order of utility (to me). The first two get assigned BlackBerry function keys for easy access.

1. GMail. Specialized application. Not push mail but the next best thing. Great to have my entire e-mail database at my mobile fingertips.
2. Timr. My new favorite. Wonderful new application for time tracking with OTA sync to a Web interface.
3. Kindle. A beautifully executed BlackBerry application. You really can read an entire, full length book on a BlackBerry.
4. TweetGenius. Makes Twitter even easier to use than on a full sized browser. THAT is an amazing feat of design brilliance.
5. Pandora. Has worked wonderfully for me except when it once started blasting the Yeah Yeah Yeahs our of the speaker during a funeral service (really). Still haven't figured out what happened.
6. Google Sync. In the background, this syncs my Google Calendar to my BlackBerry calendar. Invaluable. Without this or something like this I'd have to ditch my BlackBerry. I wonder if RIM has any idea of the utility that Google delivers to their platform?
7. Google Maps. A lifesaver.
8. Bing Search. I've found it moderately more useful for mobile than Google.
9. Google Search.
10. PageOnce. This is a great tool for consolidating all sorts of information like airplane itineraries from multiple carriers and credit card transactions and balances. It's strange that their website isn't as nice as their BlackBerry application. 
11. Evernote. It works ok for notes but needs a revision. Great for capturing photos of receipts and syncing them up to the cloud and then to my desktop.
12. Yammer. Super for posting Yammer updates to your company.
13. BeejiveIM. Excellent IM application that includes everything but Skype.
14. IM+ for Skype. Waiting for the new Verizon-Skype deal to hit my BlackBerry. This program does work fine but it's pricey.
15. Salesforce. Surprisingly how much data they make accessible through this application. Fast and nice. And with the Spring 2010 release, it's available on all platforms as a data access (but not comprehensive data editing) tool.Publish Post
16. Facebook. Adequate. Not great.
17. Google Voice. Useful occasionally for looking up voice mails poorly converted to text.

BlackBerry device primer (for @rabble and others

A few people has asked me for a BlackBerry device primer. Here it is. Not exhaustive but will help if you choose if you're buying one of these devices. Unlike Apple, there are subtle variations among seemingly identical BlackBerrys depending upon the country and carrier. More details at the BlackBerry site.

Basically, there are four form factors. All of them have the same software functionality--though some are now shipping with the 5.0 operating system rather than 4.x, depending upon carriers. The first two form factors are aimed more at consumers, the second two more at corporate, though those lines are blurry.

Pearl. This is the smallest BlackBerry. In both flip-phone (two almost identical variants) and bar-phone (four variants) it features the smallest screen and a SureType keyboard that has two letters per key. The keyboard works surprisingly well, once you learn to trust it. Some versions have Wifi. Some have GPS. All current ones have cameras.

Curve. This is the second smallest. It's often the cheapest and doesn't seem to be as well made as other full-keyboard BlackBerrys. Keyboard has smaller keys with gaps between them. Newest model has a trackpad instead of a trackball. GPS. Wifi. No 3G. Three variants currently listed on the BlackBerry site.

Bold and Tour. The original Bold was the largest of the current BlackBerrys. This has been replaced by one that is very similar to the Tour but not identical. Bold is GPS (in the U.S. that means AT&T and T-Mobile); Tour is CDMA (in the U.S. that means Verizon and Sprint). Tour2 (which might be renamed as a Bold for CDMA) will close the gap between the two by switching to a trackpad and including WiFi. All are 3G. These devices are the corporate workhorses of the BlackBerry line and are very well made.

Storm. This is a CDMA model and is the only BlackBerry without a physical keyboard. The Storm2 improved the SurePress "clickable" touchscreen and features surprisingly good typing feel. This is the only BlackBerry with a screen the size of an iPhone or Android phone. WiFi and 3G. Like the Bold and Tour, high quality manufacturing is evident.

Android is to Google Apps and GMail as BlackBerry is to Microsoft Exchange

Forget the whole question of whether Android and BlackBerry can compete with the iPhone around apps. For the business user who primarily uses their smartphone for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, the question is how easy it is to sync between phone and laptop. Unless RIM (BlackBerry) extricates itself from near monogamy with Microsoft and Microsoft Exchange servers, there's going to be a clear divide: if you have made the switch to Google Apps for Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, you're eventually going to make the switch to Android as well. IF you have a corporate IT department of some sort or use a hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server, connecting your BlackBerry with your Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks is quite easy. But if you're using Google for these applications, there is no easy and complete solution. Instead, you have to cobble together various components, including Google's sync tool and the special GMail application for BlackBerry. But if you switch to Android, setup and sync with your main business productivity applications couldn't be simpler. Hopefully BlackBerrys will soon be able to sync better with GMail. But if not, any ascendancy of Google Apps is going to eat away at BlackBerry sales. (Same point made by Fred Wilson, AVC.)

I can get a new phone through Verizon in a few months . . . about the same time Google's Nexus One will launch with Verizon . . .

History of the BlackBerry from Engadget

well written history of the BlackBerry from Engadget: LINK

Primer on smartphones for sole proprietors or small workplaces

Several people have asked me in recent days to recommend a first-time smartphone. Common threads that you've asked for are:

1. a work phone for sole proprietors or people who work in a small workplace 
2. a phone that doesn't rely upon enterprise tools like a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or Microsoft Exchange Server and therefore the ability to provision all features on your own
3. a focus on the core business functionality of a smartphone, to keep in sync with your desktop or laptop's mail, contacts, calendar, and not games and other consumer functions.

(Photo from Time magazine article, from L to R: iPhone, Motorola/Google Droid, and BlackBerry LINK.)

In this quick and decidedly not exhaustive review--that will be subject to corrections--I'll briefly summarize the four main types of smartphone prevalent in the United States with respect to their ability to deliver core business functionality. But to jump to the conclusion: I'd go for an iPhone on ATT, a Google Android device, specifically the Motorola Droid (or later ones with 2.0 software) if you're on Verizon, OR a BlackBerry, particularly on Verizon, if you need the best voice quality possible and lean towards the "phone" part of smartphone rather than the "smart".