A cool simple piece of tech.

I love tech, that's very obvious. And I am always on the lookout for tech that makes my life easier and more efficient. 

I came across this piece of tech that fits perfectly in with my tech travel kit. Why? Simple...it takes up virtually no space (read credit card sized), replaces cumbersome data transfer usb cords, fits easily in my Grid-It and looks great!

Money well spent!

My thoughts for now,

Thomas

4 weeks with my BlackBerry Z10 .....my personal review

Disclosure: I was given my BlackBerry Z10 by the BlackBerry Australia Social Media Team. The comments here are my own, and not of BlackBerry.

4 weeks ago I received an email from one of the members (thanks Tori!) of the Blackberry Australia Social Media Team (@BlackBerry_AU on twitter), asking me if I would like to be provided a new BlackBerry Z10. Now I must admit, I was waiting for the BlackBerry Q10, as you know, my preference is for the physical qwerty keyboard. But this was one of those opportunities not to be turned down.

So, my new BlackBerry Z10 arrived in the mail the following day, with a little note (see photo).

So after 4 weeks of use, what do I think of the new BlackBerry Z10.... and how does it compare to my previous Blackberry handsets (7100g, 8100, 8300, 9000, 9700, 9780, 9790, 9800, 9810, and 9900)?

This review is not about specifications, facts and figures ....that's all been done before. My review is from someone who has been a user and fan of BlackBerry devices since 2004.

First and foremost, this is my first real touch screen BlackBerry handset. Yes, my wife had a BlackBerry 9860, so yes, there was one previously in the family, but I didn't use it. I was assured by a friend and long time BlackBerry supporter (thanks Gary!) that my typing would actually be quicker on the Z10's virtual keyboard, compared to my Bold 9900's physical keyboard. Having such a long history with the BlackBerry physical keyboard, I did wonder how exactly I would adapt to the Z10's virtual keyboard, but it only took literally a week for it to become almost second nature.

Keyboard:
I have used various virtual keyboards on other manufacturers' devices, and also the highly rated Swiftkey, but the things which stand out for me with the Z10's keyboard ....word prediction, learning your way of typing, and its knowledge that you will make mistakes. Unlike other keyboards, I feel that the Z10's was designed knowing people make mistakes when typing on small keyboards, and it knows it had to correct the mistakes. It does this well, and makes my typing look rather good, while not sacrificing speed. It is more than a match for the best of the BlackBerry physical keyboards so far.

Word substitution still exists! And one feature I am so very please to see. If you're looking at efficiency best practices on a smart phone, word substitution is one key element. To find it, go Settings>Language and Input>Automated Assistance>Word Substitution. If you've never used it (or it's predecessor, Auto Text), take a look: you will never look back.

Fit and feel of the BlackBerry Z10 hardware:
This feels like possibly the heaviest Blackberry yet, not surprising, considering it is the biggest. But it does fit nicely in the palm of your hand, and the textured rear facia helps out here. Even though it is bigger than an iPhone 5, but smaller than a Galaxy S3, the Z10 is definitely big enough to be effective, but still can be operated efficiently held in one hand navigating by the thumb of that hand. And it still feels right thumbing out emails, social media, etc, with the Z10 cradled within your 2 hands. I think BlackBerry got the size right (my iPhone friends have shown quite a deal of screen size envy, and my Galaxy S3 friends have been surprised the new BlackBerry is as big as it is).

Unlike the BlackBerry 9860 (the last full screen BlackBerry prior to the Z10), there is no physical buttons for calls, menu, escape and select/enter ....rather, everything is done on the screen, some of which is reminiscent of the BlackBerry PlayBook. Which is no accident, for those not in the know .....both devices run versions of QNX (BlackBerry 10 being the latest incarnation, and something the PlayBook is mooted to be receiving later this year). One thing I miss from the PlayBook is the diagonal swipe to show / hide the keyboard (hopefully BlackBerry can introduce this to the Z10 later?).

And this is the start of a common thread in my discovery of the BlackBerry Z10's traits .....it embraces what is "now, and the future" for smart phones, but with a solid dose of the the time proven best practices of previous BlackBerry devices gone by.

The BlackBerry Hub:
I was a little sceptical at first when I first read about and saw pictures of the Hub ....the centralised inbox for the BlackBerry 10. This is place where all of your emails, BBM, texts, WhatsApp & other notifications and social media arrives (note: you can choose which accounts are incorporated into the Hub). I thought I would exclude social media from the Hub, but felt I should include all and see how it flies. 4 weeks later, all accounts are still included in the Hub, with no complaints.

Productivity wise: the Hub promotes productivity due to hiding the inbox and notifications away (revealed bu swiping up from the bottom of the screen and drawing to the right (upside down L), so you aren't distracted by every single notification. And more importantly, accessible from within any and all apps.....simply peek at the hub, for a quick overview, and back to what you were doing. Ingenius!

A lot of developers and users alike are calling for more apps to be included into the Hub, and maybe this is a good thing, maybe not, so only time will tell. For now....I am a fan of the BlackBerry Hub.

Apps:
Its a fact that Blackberry users have always been behind in the number of apps available to them, when compared to Apple and Android, but things have changed for BlackBerry 10. The vast majority of the popular apps are now on BlackBerry 10, with more to arrive.

The big one for me was Skype....and while not official for the Z10 yet, I sideloaded a version onto my Z10 and it works perfectly ("sideloading" is a term used to describe the process to get a non-BlackBerry Application World app loaded onto your BlackBerry 10 device. The app file is downloaded onto your computer and via a linking program (computer and BlackBerry) is loaded onto your BlackBerry 10 device (that has been already USB connected to your computer)). I have also read my favourite fitness app, Endomondo, is coming to BlackBerry 10 as well.....happy days!

There has been quite a discussion around Android apps that have been ported to BlackBerry. While in a perfect world, all of the apps on offer would be "made for BlackBerry" the positive of the Android ported apps has been the access for the BlackBerry 10 user. And no doubt as time goes on, these apps will be updated and tweaked, making them much more "made for BlackBerry".

I've also read quite a few complaints about the cost of apps ....seriously? For the record, I am happy to pay for an app, if it gets the job done, that I have purchased it for ...no problems. If it happens to be an Android ported app, then paying for it also is not a problem.

I have felt somewhat hampered by the current twitter apps on offer .....I currently have 3 loaded (Twitter for BlackBerry10, Neatly and Blaq: the last two I paid for). The Twitter for BlackBerry10 does not have multiple account ability, but the other two do. All three are quite sluggish and sometimes unresponsive, but they are all slowly being improved.

No more rebooting after an upgrade / deletion of an app either, which is most welcomed.

Battery life:
Compared to my old Bold 9900 running OS 7.1 (where I could only just get to lunchtime), I can get to mid to late afternoon with the Z10. And still following the BlackBerry tradition of a removable battery means I can carry a spare battery to keep moving (the first accessory I purchased).

Oh yeah, and if you have to reboot the Z10, the reboot takes far less time than on a BlackBerry 7 device. And when you reboot, you are presented with a rather lovely BlackBerry symbol with the progress bar circling the symbol.

So what do I think overall?
For a brand new device and new operating system, I do believe BlackBerry have delivered a very capable smart phone, and one that is the equal or superior to many devices in the market now. More importantly, it continues to be improved, as do the applications.

Transitioning from a physical keyboarded BlackBerry to a full screen BlackBerry with no hardware buttons, and no physical keyboard has actually been rather painless and quite smooth. I've enjoyed the ride. Welcome back to the game BlackBerry.

My thoughts for now,

TferThomas

Action Starts Here ... #BlackBerryByChoice

BlackBerry Bold 9900: my initial impressions

Having used the Bold 9900 for the past 2 weeks, I thought it was about time to put pen to paper and describe my impressions thus far.

A lot has already been written about RIM's newest flagship device, both good and bad, but having used a BlackBerry of one from or another since 2004, I think it is my turn.

One of my favourite devices, size wise, especially keyboard, was the first Bold.....the 9000. and I was one of the many BlackBerry users shattered when RIM introduced the successor to the 9000, the 9700, and, for me, its cramped keyboard. That said, we are a adaptable bunch, for it wasn't long before we were all rocking the 9700 and thumbing out emails, tweets, posts and the like from its keyboard.

So I move onto the Torch 9800 and then the Bold 9780......and now the Bold 9900. And it took me all of about 2 minutes to re-accquaint back with the larger keyboard....welcome home!  And loving it! And while we are on the keyboard etc, I really do like the highlighted surrounding of the trackpad......rather cool.

The Bold 9900 is of course hefty but oh so slim (for a BlackBerry) and feels great cradled between my hands, or in one hand......but, and yes I understand the NFC requirements, but a smooth back plate??? Hmmm, not too happy about this, and already I have caught my Bold twice as it slid off a couple of places (where normally a BlackBerry would not). Unfortunately for me, I prefer my BlackBerry devices to be naked, so a skin is not the answer. Need to be a little more careful though.

OS7: well yes, it is an evolution of the BlackBerry OS and a nice one. Anyone coming from OS6 will immediately feel at home. I like the icons and colours. I also like the way you can manage the panels (yay.....now only have one panel: All).

The higher spec single core processor was both urgently needed but gratefully received. There is significantly less hour glassing than ever before, and things do seem to move around much more fluidly. Yep, happy with this. The increased RAM is also appreciated. Boot time has been reduced further....nice (not that you have to reboot the 9900 as often as previous devices, but good to know, nevertheless).

Touchscreen: I wondered whether this for me would be a redundant feature, and pleased to say I was wrong. The touch screen for me is very useful to hunt around for the needed application & to click on it to open, something easily achieved while holding the 9900 in one hand (and there are lots of times you only have one hand to operate your BlackBerry with).

Battery Life: in one word; hopeless. Sorry, but I cannot get through 2/3 of a day without running out of juice. Screen brightness is set to 10%, most apps set to either not auto-refresh, or set at a longer refresh interval, WiFi switched off (don't really use it too much anyway), and while this has made a little difference, there is still a way to go. Spare battery has been ordered and that will sort the problem for now. Perhaps later OS upgrades may/may not alleviate the problem. But in essence, running a smaller battery, than the previous 9780, but with bigger screen, and touch, etc, doesn't quite add up.

Charging: Here's a little hint. If you have a PlayBook, use the rapid charger for your Bold 9900 (charges oh so much quicker). I have also found that the previous car chargers I have been using, now no longer charge the Bold 9900. So I purchased a Motorola Rapid Charger for the car, and this one works perfectly.

But the battery life is something I can put up with, especially given the improvements to both hardware and software, that RIM have implemented.

Challenge: to all of you who went to another manufacturer: try out a Bold 9900, and see what you think. For me, staying with the BlackBerry brand has been worth it (and the sometimes pain associated with previous lesser spec devices). Try it for yourself.

Good job RIM.

TferThomas

Why I chose the BlackBerry Torch 9800 over the Bold 9780

If anything is perfectly clear, when it comes to me and my BlackBerry preferences, one thing is abundantly clear... I am not a fan of touch screens. In fact, you could say I dislike touch screens.

So the simple question is, seeing as my Torch arrived today (well at least I believe it has (I am in Melbourne at the moment, and it arrived at the Brisbane office today, and I won't get to confirm this, until Friday evening), is .... why?

If you follow me on twitter, you know my perfect BlackBerry device is one with the qwerty keyboard; the type RIM has spent so much time (and no doubt money) perfecting. And that is not a term taken lightly. But I simply haven't come across a better mobile device keyboard, that I can thumb out emails, tweets, etc more efficiently.

I recently purchased a Torch, but that was for my wife (she served out her apprenticeship on a 9630 Tour), and what I can say, is she took to the Torch, like a duck to water, and it is quite impressive to watch her put the Torch through its paces. But she mainly prefers the touch screen.... almost always ignoring the keyboard.

Now my day to day job is an International Business Manager for a global training company, which specialises in time management, workload management, project management and productivity training. One of our signature programs is Working Smart with BlackBerry (http://www.prioritymanagement.com.au/training/time-management/blackberry), and one that fellow BlackBerry Alliance Members have started taking notice of. The reason? Well, there are phones out there which are more personal devices but have some business tendencies...... and most are touch screens. And there are decision makers out there who prefer the touch screen devices. Our training provides the BlackBerry user with a solid grounding in not only the functionality of the BlackBerry device, but more importantly, how they can save significant time, and plan their days more effectively, by using the BlackBerry as their productivity tool. And a happy BlackBerry user will not have to look elsewhere at other devices. So now, I have fellow BlackBerry Alliance Members starting to refer their clients to myself and Priority Management.

Invariably, during meetings, there will be, as a general rule, BlackBerry users and other devices (touch screens) are normally present.... how to bridge the gap with both? Quite simply, the BlackBerry Torch covers the ground beautifully.

For the touch screen device user, the Torch touch screen walks the walk (and remember, the Torch was specifically designed to operate as 1. a touch screen device only, 2. a keyboard device only. and 3. a combination of both) so we have that type of user covered. For the traditional BlackBerry user (or other lesser keyboard devices) slide out the Torch's keyboard, and let your thumbs do the talking (of interest, apart from the raised lips around the keyboard, the Torch's keyboard is a dead ringer for the Bold 9700's keyboard, and that, my friends, is a good, no, great thing).

So for business, networking and to support our position as a BlackBerry Alliance Member, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 was the most appropriate BlackBerry device, and the Bold 9780 became an also ran.

And that is why a new BlackBerry Torch 9800 arrived for me today (not that I can get my hands on it until Friday evening).

TferThomas

Working Sm@rt with BlackBerry... overcoming the digital deluge

One of the biggest concerns which is raised with me when someone is considering using a BlackBerry, is will the BlackBerry take over my life? And without the proper groundwork, training and implementation of that training, any device accessing email, internet and the like, can try to take your life over.



Priority Management (whom I work for in their Brisbane & Melbourne offices in Australia) have a very effective half day training program for BlackBerry devices, & it's called Working Sm@rt with BlackBerry.



In their words...



"If you have a BlackBerry, and have learnt the basics, we have the process for increasing your productivity.



We created this workshop in conjunction with Research In Motion when the world's largest distributor of BlackBerry devices wanted to train their employees to use this tool more effectively.



Graduates of this class maintain increased productivity and enhanced on the job performance by knowing how to match the right process and skill set when using their BlackBerry."



This half day training program is delivered either in a training room environment (for a group of individuals or a group from a specific company), or across the internet wherever in the world you are, via WebEx (as long as you have a computer accessing the internet and you have a landline.... you need to "play" with BlackBerry during the training).



For more information, check out Working Sm@rt with BlackBerry at Priority Management http://prioritymanagment.com.au/ or email me thomas.s@prioritybrisbane.com



Get your life back! Use the BlackBerry for what it is intended for.... a tool to assist your productivity.



Thomas