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Leaked OS: OS 5.0.0.643 for BlackBerry Storm 2 9520

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OS 5.0.0.643 for the BlackBerry Storm2 has been leaked and is available online.  The download links for these leaked OS posts go down fast so download now and make your decision if you want to install later.

Brent over at Simple Mobile Review did a post on Shrink-OS which allows you to remove components of the OS install you won’t use to free up additional memory making your Blackberry perform faster and giving more room for you apps.   Memory isn’t as huge issue on the Storm2 like it is the original Storm, but, it does go quickly so give Shrink-OS a go if you currently are short on memory on your Storm2.

Download OS 5.0.0.643 for the BlackBerry Storm2

DISCLAIMER: THIS LEAKED BLACKBERRY OS IS NOT SUPPORTED BY YOUR CARRIER, RESEARCH IN MOTION, OR RIMARKABLE. INSTALL AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, BACK UP YOUR DEVICE.

[Source BBLeaks]

If The Upcoming WebKit BlackBerry Browser Has Legs How Will Mobile Web Traffic Trends Change?

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I have used the BlackBerry Browser on a regular basis and while it is not as functional as mobile Safari, or, functional at all depending on your point of view, it does allow you to accomplish specific tasks. I view the browser on the BlackBerry as utilitarian much like many other features on the device.  RIM tends to build apps to solve problems, not necessarily in the most graceful way. I was reading an article on ARS Technica that made me think of how Robb describes the poor web browsing on a BlackBerry.   Recent data from NetApplication shows mobile browser usage by operating system. This is the same standard data we usually see, but there was something here I have never noticed before.  Windows Mobile beat out the BlackBerry in web usage over the month of March.  Given both companies have almost no mobile web browsing traffic, Windows Mobile almost doubled web browsing of BlackBerry. Take a look at the market share numbers data.

First, lets look at the sales of smartphone for the last 3 months of 2009 in the United States only.WebMarketShare2009.png
41.6% – Blackberry
25.3% – iPhone
18.0% – Windows Mobile
6.1% – Palm
5.2% – Google

Now take a look at smartphone sales worldwide for 2009.
47.0% – Symbian
21.0% – Blackberry
15.0% – iPhone
9.0% – Windows Mobile
5.0% – Android

Regardless of  if you look at US only or worldwide numbers, BlackBerry market share is at least 2x the market share of Windows Mobile. Despite having twice the number of devices on the market, Windows Mobile users browse the web almost twice as much as Blackberry users. The new WebKit BlackBerry Browser cannot come fast enough. Here is an excerpt of the article from ARS, pay close attention to the last sentence.

Excerpt from ARSTechnica

The iPad’s Web share grew steadily from April 3 until the weekend following the launch, April 10 and 11. At that time, the number peaked at 0.04 percent both days, before settling back down as users went back to work. Comparatively, NetApplications recorded an average of 0.04 percent for BlackBerry devices over the month of March, while all versions of Android together came in at 0.07 percent, as did Windows Mobile.

Once RIM provides a solid web browser will their market dominance in the US impact the browser usage share in a meaningful way? Will we see an explosive growth in web usage by Blackberry users and apps that leverage the web browser window? Or are Blackberry users already use to finding alternate ways to get web content, thus growth will be gradual? Personally, I can see a huge uptick for Storm users but for the traditional Blackberry devices without a touch screen, is this a big deal? What is more important the web browsers or the apps that leverage the web browser? So many questions, just give us a solid browser already!

Google Sync For BlackBerry Updated To Version 0.7.3

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I used Google Sync on Blackberry to keep my Exchange and Google Contacts up to date. I just wanted to get past the world of having an up-to-date contact in Exchange but not on Google. Despite Google Sync getting updated in march to 0.7.2 Google has pushed another update 0.7.3. In classic Google fashion there are no details about the update.

Point your phone to Google for the update. Another option is to send your phone a message that the update is available. Same URL above just click Download app from m.google.com/sync and you will get the dialog below.

GoogleSyncUpdate.png

Personally, I never let sync touch my calendar but for my wife she used sync all the time as her life was in GMail. If you notice anything new please comment.

Truncated Messages… What Causes Them?

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Is there a correlation between truncated messages and mailbox limits? I work at a company that restricts my mailbox to 200MB. I know it is like living in the stone age it only takes a couple 17MB excel files or large power point emails before I hit the limit.

Recently, when I was getting close to my mail limit I noticed that a large number of my messages started to show up truncated. These are not long messages 25 – 50 words on the top end. Using the Get Plain Text options returns the full message. This problem has been happening from all sources emails via blackberry, webmail, and GMail. I cannot put my finger on the logic as to why some messages are showing up as truncated.

The funny thing is after I cleaned up my mailbox the truncated messages stopped. Not a single truncated message since cleanup. Are they related? Does anyone else get these truncated messages?

TruncatedMessageWork.png

Why Do Blackberry Users Love BlackBerry Messenger?

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I just don’t get what is so special about BlackBerry Messenger except it only works with BlackBerry Users. Despite being a technology junkie I have never been able to get into Blackberry Messenger. Considering how many people love this feature can someone shed some light on what is so good about Blackberry Messenger?

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Giveaway: Win a 3 or 12 Month Copy of Slacker Radio Plus

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If you’re an audiophile like we are winning a copy of Slacker Radio Plus is the ultimate prize. The team over at Slacker Radio was kind enough to give us a few copies of Slacker Radio Plus to giveaway. Learn More about Slacker Radio and Slacker Radio Plus.

We have 3, three month subscriptions and 1 Grand Prize One Year subscription to Slacker Radio Plus. Regardless, of which you win you’re getting access to a massive free music streaming library with the ability to access on your phone or computer.

How to win

Leave a comment here with a valid email address before Friday, April 9th 2010 @ 5PM ET

Motorola Droid + Bath Time = Using Blackberry Storm

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Imagine looking at a happy baby about 17 months old holding your mobile phone while sitting in the bathtub. That was the exact moment I lost my Motorola Droid and went back to the Blackberry Storm. The sound of water running in the bathtub drowns out the sound coming from the Droid’s speaker, my solution I had it next to the tub during bath time. (Note to self buy one of the recommended speakers from Brent) I was listening to Buzz out Loud (BOL) podcast and the podcast went silent. This is not abnormal on a Droid if a new message arrives but the silence was a bit too long. While rinsing the soap form the hair of one kid I looked over to see my smiling son holding my phone as the notification light rapidly flashed green. UGGGGHHHHH!

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Say A Command… Does Voice Command Activate At The Wrong Moment?

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I am going to go out on a limb and assume that many BlackBerry users have no clue you can reprogram the side buttons on their BlackBerry devices.  RIM has provided this little known feature for some time now. The reason I say this is because, far too frequently, I hear the classic statement, Say a command. I have been in meetings, elevators, planes, bathrooms, and even the movies and heard this break the silence of the room.

Maybe Buttons Are Bad?

I’ve personally hit the voice dialing or camera button on my BlackBerry Storm so often that I’ve just disabled them both. I am sure some iPhone fan will explain that this is exactly why Steve Jobs hates buttons.  I don’t believe that the side buttons on a BlackBerry are a design flaw because they are very actually very useful.  It is just that most BlackBerry users forget to lock their device before they put it into their pocket.

Change The Defaults

I, myself, don’t need dedicated buttons for the BlackBerry camera or voice dialing as they both have prime spots on my home screen on opposite sides of the screen, so, if your like me and you want to disable or reprogram the buttons dedicated to camera or voice dialing on  your device, do the following:

Got Options –> Screen/Keboard and scroll down until you see Right Side Convenience Key Options and Left Side Convenience  Key Options.  You can set them to nothing, as, I have, or to something less annoying than the voice command prompt or your BlackBerry camera for those times that you accidentally hit the button.

The Train Wreck Called BlackBerry App World

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Just over a year ago, Rod Simmons from Simple Mobile Review, wrote a great guest post for us on his thoughts on moving to the BlackBerry Storm from and iPhone user point of view.  Now he’d like to get something off his chest about BlackBerry App World.

Is it just me or is the Blackberry App World a train wreck. Navigating for apps in App World is like getting a grain of sand in your eyes at the beach. You can still see but it annoys the crap out of you the entire time. RIM needs to get a clue, looking to Apple for inspiration would get some benefits but their mobile store is only marginally better. Here are a couple minor changes that could greatly improve the user experience.

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Thoughts On The BlackBerry Storm From An iPhone User

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A colleague of mine that happens to be an iPhone user but had to get a Verizon BlackBerry for work decided to write down his thoughts on the BlackBerry Storm.  I posted his commentary below and would like to know what you guys think…

I am what Apple people would call a recent switcher but I converted  from the Apple iPhone 3G to the Blackberry Storm.  I have been an extremely happy iPhone user since it released nearly 18 months ago.  I suffered through all the bugs, dropped calls, user interface issues, and many other  issues.  I got the Blackberry because I had to switch to a corporately managed phone plan on Verizon and the Storm is the closest experience to an iPhone I could get.

The Calm before the ‘Storm’

While I waited for my Storm to arrive  I used a BlackBerry 8830..  In the following paragraphs I’ve chronicled my initial experiences, both as a business and casual user of my BlackBerry Storm.  I am tolerant of technology and understand that bugs are part of technology and I trust that good companies will sort out the bugs quickly.   In many cases I’ve outlined where I feel the Storm/Verizon could have learned from its iPhone/ATT competition.

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