Still on BlackBerry – Love my Z30

Yup!

Still on BlackBerry Full Time … learning a LOT in the technical software and apps creation space. but I LOVE my Z30!

Birthday tomorrow hoping I win a Passport!

Post I made on Crackberry.

Since I work in I.T., my device is on BES10 as an EMM/MDM deployment, and I’ve been using it on/off as my primary device for 12mths now. I gotta say I’m pretty lucky to work for the enterprise I do, and my managers are the shiznit! Moreover I’m glad that this particular enterprise is smart enough to know the importance of security and collaboration on a global scale and has chosen BES5, BES10 and soon BES12.

I love this Z30 … I’ve tried using iOS/Android/Windows Phone 8.1, only the later comes close but the UI is a layout nightmare. This is what I LOVE about BB10 and why those other OS’ keep me running back.

Email:
– I’ve used mobile email since early EPOC, S60 (various apps, incl LonelyCatGames), UIQ, Windows SmartPhone Edition, iOS, Android, etc. All on Consumer or Corporate accessible/managed and the efficiency, layout, features is bar none! I’m preaching to the coire here but to remind you all what you’re going to miss when you leave.

Keyboard:
– First it was the physical ‘qwerty’. The Touch-based came along and changed the game yet again!
Touch typing, auto-complete, Auto-Text (which was ill renamed to Shortcuts, arrgh!) is incredible and BlackBerry NEEDS to showcase this as the industry innovator in this space. They should’ve patented this!

Keyboard is a Keyboard is a damn FINE keyboard! Physical or Touch, the BlackBerry keyboard remains the hallmark of the brand. There is a reason for it, it’s because save for the Passport irregardless of which model you use and what year you used it, then you’ll feel right at home. The functions and features are throughout the UI and the OS and made available to ALL third party applications including those in Android runtime. It’s a simple thing to choose to allow this, yet when you use different apps on Android (and not changing the keyboard or installing third party) the layout completely changes and you’ll need to adjust.

Native Apps: The power of Peek and Flow … the seemlessness and the power and efficiency still has me clinging and clutching my BlackBerry Z30. The Q10 I tried for a week was just too small a screen to really enjoy this, even on 10.3.1 that made space so efficient just isn’t enough.

With Qt/C++ applications on BB10 … I AM THE USER! I am in full control I choose what it has access to. In this day and age of such mature mobile and desktop OS’ I cannot believe how secondary the USER has become, no longer serving us but we serving them, developers of greed and immorale practices and corporations that rape our information, ahem Google.

My BIGGEST pet peeve is when I choose to launch an application, I already know what app I’m launching, so WHY in GOD’s name am I flashed a space screen of the app logo (company or app name) before the UI is loaded? And why for so long?! Bloomberg does this and since the Android port for all except the Passport it’s taking longer to load with each version for my more than capable Z30.

File Manager (Personal/Work Space):
Love the simplicity of the UI layout and the power! This software was able to handle 2 externally connected USB chips (via external non-powered hub), MicroSD, and Box.net, and I was able to file transfer WHILE viewing data from one of those sources! Powerful. No other file manager is this powerful … sure I’ve seen a few Android ones but man the UI is a crappy mess, un-necessary adds.

Why do I love BlackBerry?
– They have always had a vision and only once made the mistake to follow vs leading
– They take their time before releasing products so there are minimal if any flaws.
– This Z30 has dropped from 4′ serveral times with a VERY small dent on the corner.
– BB10 does what I needed 2yrs ago and what I want it to do now. I’m not consumed nor caught up in social media and trying to be the centre of everyone’s desires, dreams and social conversation. I do well on my own I don’t crave to be a social butterfly/****** lieing to the world about my own happiness or endeavors. I stop at Twitter to learn more or randomly post an opionion on technology or share music and FB to keep in touch with close and old friends and families when we don’t call one another every day!
– I get my job done and well without the need for a computer 40% of the time.

 

BB10 Inconsistencies Need Fixing Before New Devices – Mr Chen

Hello Mr Chen,

Thus far you’ve done a fantastic job of steering the BlackBerry good-ship in the right direction while fixing it’s wheels and tires. That said this ONLY helps the investors … but you’re forgetting that you and the rest of your team – not just the executives, directors and managers but EVERYONE still have a business to run that focuses on the “End to End Solution”.

That “End to End Solution” is broken in at least 2 areas while one remains operating efficiently and powerfully on all cylinders (BES). The two areas that are hurting are directly related to your sales of hardware and eventually cost of R&D/Deployment/Support Tiers for BES. These areas are the BB10 OS itself and the hardware.

I’ve been using BB10 off and on roughly 90% since launch here in Toronto on February 1st (Telus/Rogers/Bell Mobility where not prepared by the huge volume of demand initially). I know this OS inside and out both as a consumer and as a Jr. BES Administrator so I think there some things many fans, readers, and existing BBOS users are curious about and having a hard time transitioning. No this post is NOT about what is missing in BB10, it’s about what it fails at in delivering what is already there.

BB10 inconsistencies:

Browser. Please STOP touting this as the worlds fastest (desktop/mobile) and most powerful browser – it is NOT! Amongst all the imrpovements made in its rendering and performance it fails in one VERY important aspect should ANYONE consider BB10 an actual mobile platform …. BOOKMARKS!! Bookmarks live and exist SOLELY on the BB10 Browser itself! Sure you can share them via Remember/Evernote, Email, SMS, Twitter, BBM, or WhatsApp or anything else … BUT … it must be done 1 at a time! You CANNOT SYNC to the desktop (not even in BBLink), you cannot sync with IE, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox! Yet all your competitors, including MS Windows Phone platform has this ability to cross sync with at least 1 desktop browser!

BB10 Browser Issues:

– Cannot sync with any desktop browser, if it could with at least one major one we’d be on the right track!

– Cannot delete more than one bookmark at a time.

– No List view of bookmarks on New Tab Page!

– No ability to jump to the bottom of the page!

(yes I’d like to jump to the bottom of pages of blog articles to join into conversation at times)

– Running two browsers at once MUST be of the same or higher OS version; Arrrgh!

Let me show you what happens when you use the internal BB10 browser on any OS version, and mistakenly install (side-load) another BB10 version that is sourced from a lower version … quite funny actually.

^ Sure I don’t expect everyone to be side loading the core native BB10 applications but some of us just love to use more than one 😉 (Say run all tabs incognito, while another BB10 browser run unabashed).

UI Home Screen:

Please for god sack make the home screen rotate in landscape!! Get modern will you BlackBerry! Many of us BB10 users are dying to use this on the desktop via Mini-HDMI to HDMI connection to LCD’s with Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard.

Also while you’re at it BlackBerry, make the BB10 in 10.2.x and in 10.3 especially natively accept gestures used by glasss trackpads (think of Apple’s magic trackpad, a thing of futuristic beauty! Until you make one of your own at least not restrict those of us with slim pickings for ability to use gestures in BB10 via bluetooth connected trackpads! For heavens sake!

There is a lot more such as Button placements in BB10 Browser, apps with Close buttons at the very TOP of the screen – makes absolutely no damn sense because almost EVERYONE using a smartphone or even a feature phone holds it from the botton to the middle NOT AT THE TOP!! so their thumbs have to stretch to the top which isn’t great for one hand holding with those of us with girly-man hands (genetics not my fault!)

So BlackBerry … start USING your smartphones internally by ALL staff … day IN and Day OUT! completely with no access to a computer for both personal and work and only THEN will you see the errors of your ways to make this BB10 OS sublime for ALL potential users!

QNX Cloud: Potential first client … Ford Sync.

Hi Everyone, 

In the past several months a LOT has been going on in the smartphone market and especially with BlackBerry. Most recently was the announcement of QNX Cloud, BlackBerry’s culmination of MDM/EMM & M2M business (started in beta mid 2013), and the announcement just last week of “Ford Sync units dump Microsoft in favour for QNX in the future” as reported by CrackBerry.com (of which I’m a member of as Supa_Fly1; my twitter handle. 

So many members have posted in the comments of their blog entry as …. ‘this is big news’ or ‘this is huge’ … but I started to think it’s just ‘good’ news … there is much more that had me left wondering, wanting, and hoping that BlackBerry is hugely considering with Ford (or any other manufacturer really). So as always I posted on the fly … (and not to insult anyone)

Man you guys think so small, ‘now we need devices to match’. I’m not trying to insult just trying to highlight where all of us need to be in our conversations as a community!

 

We have bigger thoughts in our aspirations where we want BlackBerry to aspire to, developers take notice of the demand pent up waiting to be available in services, API’s, etc.

 

We need BB10 to connect with what QNX Cloud can do and connect to our cars – Mapping, sensors, alerts, theft, nearby gas stations, airport or public parking with rates per location, quicker routes, school crossing zones for speed reduction on safety, pedophile watch for those that have kids that walk home, yet have cars so neighbourhood watch is increased for kids in our hoods for those that have cars bit no kids!

Think beyond what is typical, apply technology to help what we fake for granted and could really use effectively!

 

That’s where I’d like to see our conversations get to. Show developers there is an interest into these practical applications and the need or want to have then developed!! Savvy?! ;

BlackBerry 10, and BlackBerry as a brand and company has been kicked around left, right, and center in the family jewels when they’re down .. most comes from users of other platforms most especially residents in the United States, carriers included (with one only brave enough to be vocal – T-Mobile USA’s CEO). Unfortunately … a lot of the hate kicking done on BlackBerry is due to a LOT of users of the competition not understanding nor knowing what BlackBerry’s expertise and potential is beyond (security of the device). 

Going forward I’m no longer going to use BlackBerry is secure as a simplistic argument … this is no longer a true fact – although how they implement security, how to respect user privacy, that is a factual argument to make, but in another post. 

QNX, and QNX Cloud as a business service offering (maybe consider it a full end-to-end solution: QNX Cloud, QNX implementation, Code, UI Layout, and panel components sourcing), had an incredible potential to create huge revenues for BlackBerry, increase BlackBerry brand name recognition in a positive light and also increase end user awareness and respect … but it all comes to how it is implemented, reported on successes, and hooking up USA domestic clients and international businesses. 

Let’s hope this deal also leads to QNX Cloud being licensed for services and implemented.

now THAT would be HUGE and for BlackBerry to showcase that not just initially but also how much money and how happy the top brass at Ford is with QNX Cloud over time and their plan say in mid to late 2014 to implement this across a lineup of their 2014-2019 fleet …. THAT would be something BlackBerry with QNX could showcase for future deals!

 

Also it would help the BlackBerry brand gain proper respect in the USA and builds stronger ties to strengthen data partnerships with US carriers!

 

THIS IS why I complained about Alec may not be the right guy to lead QNX Cloud over the long haul. It’s more than pushing this service … it’s a platform to create STRONGER respect for the entire brand not just with carriers (it helps them pull in a LOT of money!) but also in the consumer eye where developers will really see benefits for … he did ok with BBJam for developers across the world, initially … but over the long haul I disagree (we’re behind in the app race game – I don’t care too much about the race, but quality and necessary apps like financial banking, analytics, mortgage, construction metrics etc SHOULD’VE been ready tested and in App World before BB10 launch last January 30th!).

 

Now this deal with QNX and Ford has not been made official yet but many reports are stating it is already begun. We shall see, and I’ll be focusing on BB’s QNX Cloud in the future. 

FINALLY! – Got my Blog BACK!

Not sure WHY my logon ID was reverted to an old and very ancient ID but I’m back. I’ve been posting like mad on crackberry.com pissing off, helping, guiding and well just placing information and help there. 

in the months I’ve almost given up on this blog I’ve switched to Android one final time – STILL HATE IT, and I still miss the iOS ecosystem (back on Mac OS X as well). 

 

New year big changes let’s see of BB can keep up the momentum of good positive changes in 2014 they’ve been able to maintain thus far. 

Reuters Eikon – Coming soon to BB10

Investors, countrymen, BlackBerry loyalists … lol ok you get the humor here.

In all seriousness investors are going to love this news if you haven’t read or heard already. One of the top investment information service company’s Thomson Reuters is bringing Eikon to the BlackBerry 10 platform this summer.

Previously an application solely developed for iOS (iPhone and largely iPad) I’m happy to see the development moving to BB10. This was announced at BlackBerry Live 2013 and it looks like Thomson is wasting no time or development cycles in making this happen. Considering the competing product/service from Bloomberg Markets+ along with the serious nature of bad practices at Bloomberg where Bloomberg News reporters were using proprietary data to snoop on clients, this is a very opportunistic time for Thomson Reuters. And this isn’t just chump change but enough to affect Bloomberg’s 7.9Billion in revenue reported in 2012 going forward.

This is about financial data analysis, reported correctly without insider knowledge from (their clients but from) the service that gathers the information. This is applications, service revenue and partners.

It also looks as if Thomson is almost complete with the application as shown in the following picture below – sourced from site: http://thomsonreuterseikon.com/features/market-analysis-app/

In an industry where seconds and milliseconds matter, Thomson Reuters Eikon Mobile ensures you have instant access to the breaking news and financial content you need to seize new opportunities first. No matter where you are when they occur.

EDIT (MORE TO ADD): BlackBerry Business Blog

Thomson Reuters Eikon is designed to provide a powerful and intuitive next-generation solution for you to consume real-time and historical data, connect with the financial markets community and execute financial markets transactions. In summer 2013 Thomson Reuters Eikon will be delivered on BlackBerry 10 and fully integrated into the core OS features for a smooth user experience. You will be able to set custom alerts for market data and automatically sync news with your desktop. There are plans for a new dashboard for BlackBerry that will make finding the news and quotes you’re looking for easier than ever.

We are truly excited about all of the releases and announcements at BlackBerry Live this week, and continue to work with partners to bring even more applications and functionality to the BlackBerry smartphones. These top-notch partner apps give you, the business user even more tools to stay productive throughout the day, so you can keep business moving while you are.

Thomson Reuters Eikon