The BlackBerry Thread

Can't deny how badass making voip calls through BBM is, haters.
 
Can't deny how badass making voip calls through BBM is, haters.

Can't deny how badass having a phone that doesn't take 3 minutes to boot is, fanboy! :p

No but in all seriousness, calling through BBM is pretty cool.
 
Can't deny how badass making voip calls through BBM is, haters.

Is BBM7 still in Beta? I've been waiting for the final release before I upgrade, the VoIP feature sounds excellent.

Also, no one's mentioned this yet so I may as well: BlackBerry 10 launch event is set for January 30th, and we should see the first phones go on sale throughout February. If I remember correctly the QWERTY model is going take some extra weeks to launch after the full touchscreen however, but nevertheless I am very excited! If it's anything like the experience on my PlayBook then it should be very, very good. And it's launching with over 100,000 apps, not nearly as much as Android nor Apple but it should be more than enough to cater to the needs of most. As the CEO put it, "We don't have 1,500 Solitaire apps." :p
 
BBM 7 is still in beta, but usually their beta apps are stable enough to download without worrying.


Also, I can't wait to actually get my hands on both BB10 phones. I love BlackBerry because of their keyboard, but the full touch phone is tempting. From what I've seen the QWERTY phone will basically look like the 9900/9930 but with a larger touch screen replacing the trackpad/call/end/back/menu buttons? I appreciate the idea of that, but a little bit different design more along the lines of the construction of the full touch phone would be nice.

The apps don't really interest me that much from a personal standpoint. I really only use 9 or 10 apps on a daily basis, just because those apps cover everything I need. I do realize though that to stay competitive in the smartphone market you can't survive without good apps, so its good to hear developers are behind BB10.

Is it still true that you will be able to install Android apps on BB10? If so, there's all the apps you will need.
 
Also, I can't wait to actually get my hands on both BB10 phones. I love BlackBerry because of their keyboard, but the full touch phone is tempting. From what I've seen the QWERTY phone will basically look like the 9900/9930 but with a larger touch screen replacing the trackpad/call/end/back/menu buttons? I appreciate the idea of that, but a little bit different design more along the lines of the construction of the full touch phone would be nice.

The QWERTY should actually have a similar design to the full-touchscreen I believe, although you can expect the keyboard itself to be virtually the same as the 9900 because of how good that keyboard is.

The apps don't really interest me that much from a personal standpoint. I really only use 9 or 10 apps on a daily basis, just because those apps cover everything I need. I do realize though that to stay competitive in the smartphone market you can't survive without good apps, so its good to hear developers are behind BB10.

Is it still true that you will be able to install Android apps on BB10? If so, there's all the apps you will need.

Yes and no. Having used Android Player (the application that BB10 will use to run Android apps) on my PlayBook, there's two main problems with it.

1. Unless you know how to convert and sideload Android apps, you are limited to apps that have already been ported by developers for use in Android Player. IM+ and the WordPress app, for instance, run within Android Player despite being downloaded straight from BlackBerry App World. There isn't even any indication on App World that they have been ported however, you only find out once you run the app. So any apps outside of App World won't be simple to install.

2. The percentage of Android apps that fully function within Android Player is actually quite limited, even once you figure out how to convert and sideload them. This may be improved upon by the time BB10 comes around, but it's unlikely to ever be a significant percentage. BB10 is quite simply not Android, and it will lack a lot of the runtimes necessary for many Android apps.

Having said that, I'm not particularly troubled by apps either. I have very-nearly all the apps I could possibly want on my Torch right now, and if BB10 can bring even more, then all the better!
 
Apps I use:

Browser (if you count that as an app, and not part of the OS)
BB Traffic
Spotify (and absolute must on my next phone)
Twitter
Nobex Radio
Facebook (rarely)
MemoPad
BB Calendar
standard BB email

And thats just about all I need. I don't bury my nose in my phone when I go out like the rest of the world.
 
Finally got around to ordering the keyboard for my PlayBook. Taking my time with it actually paid off, as Staples is currently selling it for $50 cheaper than usual! Scheduled to arrive on Monday, can't wait :D
 
I've no idea if RIM will eventually take these down or what not, but some high-quality pictures of the full-touchscreen BB10 phone were leaked today, as well as a video (with Vietnamese commentary). Damn it looks good! :cool:

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There's more photos here and here.
 
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Looks like my RAZR HD, and honestly the OS looks uninspiring.. I mean I honestly feel like they should have gone the Android route while adding all the BB goodies.
 
Looks like my RAZR HD, and honestly the OS looks uninspiring.. I mean I honestly feel like they should have gone the Android route while adding all the BB goodies.

I guess they felt like nokia did: They'd be just another Android OEM fighting for a piece of a crowded market. While parts of the OS look a bit played out, a lot of it is new and interesting.
 
Hate to say it, but depending on if Spotify decides to support BB10 I may or may not just stick with my 9930. If Spotify makes an app for BB10, then great, I'll get the QWERTY device ASAP. If not, the 9930 lives on.

I use Spotify way too much to be without it, and as far as I know, there's nothing identical to it out there.
 
Hate to say it, but depending on if Spotify decides to support BB10 I may or may not just stick with my 9930. If Spotify makes an app for BB10, then great, I'll get the QWERTY device ASAP. If not, the 9930 lives on.

I use Spotify way too much to be without it, and as far as I know, there's nothing identical to it out there.

Spotify is currently working on a web player (I believe it's in closed beta at the moment, although there are ways to gain access to it) that I have heard works brilliantly on the PlayBook, so it should have no issues on BlackBerry 10 either. It's one of the great things about BB10, the browser is extremely compliant (Very high HTML5 scores, Flash support), allowing you to use all sorts of web apps.
 
Doesn't sound very good.

Why can't there just be a dedicated app? Spotify is a big enough company to be able to spend resources on developing an app for a still steady community of BB users.

I've already voiced my opinion in Spotify's community site, if there is no BB10 support then I no longer have any reason to pay for Spotify Premium and they lose my money.
 
Unfortunately a lot of developers have decided to sitout BB10, despite the incentives RIM has been offering. If BB10 does well there's a possibility they'll make the shift, especially since it's not all that difficult from a development standpoint - porting the Android version would only require a few tweaks to make up for any difference in runtimes between the OS'.

However, I have a suspicion that web apps will become much more popular in the next few years. It allows you to focus all your development resources on one app, rather than splitting them between several platforms. And with the abilities of HTML5 these days, web-based apps no longer have to be significantly weaker than native ones.
 

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It looks like an iPhone with "Blackberry" written on the bottom. Grid of apps, with the bottom row replaced by two buttons. The dots that show which homescreen with the search icon on the left have a half decent chance of violating an Apple patent. Looks uninspired to me, but their strong point is probably QWERTY designs anyway.
 
Oh I know it has a lot of striking similarities to not only the iPhone, but several other phones. But from all the various demonstrations of "BlackBerry Flow" I've seen thus far, I really think the actual user experience of the OS will be something pretty unique. I'll be visiting my carrier to try the L Series out shortly after launch, and I'll be sure to report my findings here - chances are I'm going to buy it if I like it. I might wait for the QWERTY model, but some of the leaked photos of it so far haven't been very promising, plus the virtual keyboard on the full-touch model looks extremely well-done. Guess we'll find out for sure on January 30th.
 
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Re: The BlackBerry Thread

Oh I know it has a lot of striking similarities to not only the iPhone, but several other phones. But from all the various demonstrations of "BlackBerry Flow" I've seen thus far, I really think the actual user experience of the OS will be something pretty unique. I'll be visiting my carrier to try the L Series out shortly after launch, and I'll be sure to report my findings here - chances are I'm going to buy it if I like it. I might wait for the QWERTY model, but some of the leaked photos of it so far haven't been very promising, plus the virtual keyboard on the full-touch model looks extremely well-done. Guess we'll find out for sure on January 30th.

The virtual keyboard uses technology and prediction by SwiftKey. It'll be excellent.

I actually like the qwerty model leaked myself. The larger screen appears to have allowed RIM to make the physical keys larger. As a member of the fat thumb club, larger keys will make it far more palatable to me.
 
The virtual keyboard uses technology and prediction by SwiftKey. It'll be excellent.

I actually like the qwerty model leaked myself. The larger screen appears to have allowed RIM to make the physical keys larger. As a member of the fat thumb club, larger keys will make it far more palatable to me.

My biggest gripe with the leaked model is this:

BlackBerry-X10-N-Series-2.jpg


The icons, in my opinion, are just too large for the screen. However, the overlapping dots at the bottom seem to indicate that the GUI isn't final, so maybe they'll adjust it before launch. Even so however, it just doesn't seem to have quite the same high-quality look as the touchscreen model, though it could be just because the full-touch has been leaked in high-resolution by now, while the QWERTY leaks are still grainy and low-res. Hence why I'm waiting till launch to make a decision, but right now I'm leaning towards the full-touch.
 
Re: The BlackBerry Thread

My biggest gripe with the leaked model is this:

BlackBerry-X10-N-Series-2.jpg


The icons, in my opinion, are just too large for the screen. However, the overlapping dots at the bottom seem to indicate that the GUI isn't final, so maybe they'll adjust it before launch. Even so however, it just doesn't seem to have quite the same high-quality look as the touchscreen model, though it could be just because the full-touch has been leaked in high-resolution by now, while the QWERTY leaks are still grainy and low-res. Hence why I'm waiting till launch to make a decision, but right now I'm leaning towards the full-touch.

i can see why they went the large route, although hopefully they'll let you make them a bit smaller.

In somewhat related news, a friend has swayed me to consider picking up a BB playbook.
 
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