My thoughts on the BlackBerry Z30 ... a personal review

I've had enough time with the BlackBerry Z30 (what can be categorized just as a phablet) to provide my thoughts around the current BlackBerry flagship (perhaps until the Z50 surfaces during the latter part of 2014).

Size:

Yes, as you can clearly see, the BlackBerry Z30 is a wee bit bigger than the Z10 (my last go to BlackBerry device, now residing in my drawer), and while it doesn't look substantially bigger, that bit more screen real estate makes all the difference.

It still sits nicely in your hand, and although quite weighty, doesn't feel awkward or that it's about to slip out of your grasp. I do miss the textured back of the Z10, as the Z30 is less textured, but possibly feels more upmarket.

Literally, this should have been where BlackBerry started with the full touch 10 devices, size wise. It just feels right, and not too large in your pocket.

Given its size, and no physical buttons on the front, it does command the looks, and most comment how clean it seems.

Battery:

Yes it does have a removable rear, but no it is not for a removable battery. For the first time that I am aware of (at least with the devices I have owned since 2004), the Z30 does not have a removable battery. The removable rear is for the SIM Card and the micro SD card (I'm currently using a 32gb micro SD Card).

The non-removable battery has caused me a few moments of anxiety ..... since the Bold 9780, I have always carried at least one spare battery, and would go through 2 batteries during the course of a busy day ......but unlike some smart phones, I could keep moving.

I guess my problem is that I am so used to carrying spare batteries (right up to the Z10), and now I can't. But on the positive side, the battery of the Z30 is 2,880mAh (as compared to the Z10 at 1,800 mAh), so even with the increased landscape, it is much better, and lasts a lot longer.

Where as I could almost get to lunchtime on one battery with the Z10 (no topping up of charge), with the Z30 I can easily get to late afternoon. And I don't switch off wifi or bluetooth when out and about (something I used to always do to conserve power on my previous BlackBerry devices. But I do carry an external/portable battery, just in case (old habits die hard).

Operating System:
I am currently running the leaked 10.2.1.1055 (thanks to @CrackBerry and @BerryLeaks) and I must say I am mightily impressed with the depth and thoughtfulness of this OS.

A lot of features were brought back from the legacy OS's which has made the Z30 all the more welcoming. That and the better processing power of the Z30, has made my life using BlackBerry so much easier .......Back to the Future anyone?

Sure, there are a couple of glitches and bugs in this leaked OS, but it is a leak, so what would you expect.

A couple of highlights for me:

• The quick settings (drop down menu) activated by either dragging down from the top of the screen, or simply tapping between the battery meter and the time, to quickly and efficiently adjust your BlackBerry to what you are doing (ie. adjust your alarm, turn on the flashlight (yes, flashlight), flight mode, battery strength, screen brightness, etc)
• Dark themes .....yep, love them
• Mark prior emails as read (ye ha!)
• Flashlight now built in
• Updated Android runtime ......what that means, is basically =, with the help of some savvy developers out there, you can easily run free Android apps, without the need to sideload them. My Android app market of choice is 1Mobile Market, and some of the Android apps I am running (without issues) are:

1. Pinterest
2. Feedly
3. Pulse
4. StumbleUpon
5. Springpad
6. Path
7. Qantas
8. Shazam
9. Zoho CRM
10. Nespresso
11. Kaching
12. Boomerang
13. Facebook Pages Manager

Lack of Australian Carrier / Retailer support:

I am disappointed in the Australian Carriers / Retailers and their total lack of support in providing BlackBerry Z30 accessories, even such basic accessories such as a sleeve or case ... nothing, nada, zip. And retailers wonder why Australians spend so much money online??

To purchase my Z30, I did so from a retailer as the Telco I have my plan with, didn't have any in stock, nor appeared interested in getting any in ... seriously?

Summary:

I am very happy with the progress BlackBerry has made, and the smoothness and responsiveness of the Z30, as compared to the Z10, is very noticeable and evident. There is a lot more to the eye with the Z30 ... you just need some time to explore.

Well done BlackBerry.

My thoughts for now,

TferThomas

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

Almost 6 months later....my updated thoughts on the BlackBerry Bold 9900

Well it's been almost 6 months since I first started using the BlackBerry Bold 9900, and it is timely to give an update on my thoughts of the device.

I thought the best way would be to do a then and now comparison, as follows.

"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."

6 months on, the keyboard of the 9900 remains my firm favourite of all BlackBerry devices & variations. To say it is comfortable is an understatement, and provides a compelling argument for physical keyboards in Smart Phones. I do hope RIM keep a physical keyboard within the range of BB10 devices.

"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."

I have now successfully (or is that unsuccessfully) dropped the 9900 3 times, and no traction from the smooth battery cover is clearly the culprit. Luckily, no real damage apart from the odd bodywork scratch.

"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)."

OS7.1: while not that different to OS7.0 it definitely is much more stable & reliable. Previously I have had not much joy with OS 7.0 with the Bold 9900 bricking more than 30 times (bricking is a generic term, meaning rendering the device unusable, whether stuck in a constant reboot cycle, or one of those nasty little JVM errors). Now with OS 7.1 the bricking has seemingly ceased to exist for me. *a deep sigh of relief*

"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)."

No change here (although I do think the boot time with OS7.1 has been reduced compared to OS7.0), and this all still rings true.

"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)."

My second device being used simultaneously to the Bold 9900, is a Torch 9810. Both devices' OS makes full use of the touch screens, and a big boon for me is the holding of pressure on the touch screen over an icon, to open up a quick menu panel: brilliant. Both devices aren't entirely perfect for one handed operation (Bold 9900 is very broad & reach with just one thumb is a little hard at times (but brilliant for thumbing out messages with both thumbs, accurately and very quickly), and the Torch 9810 is just a little top heavy (slider extended). I am currently waiting for a Bold 9790, as I believe this BlackBerry will be as close to perfect for one handed operations.

"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."

Has the battery life improved with OS7.1? In short, maybe a tiny bit, but not to any significant level. I always carry a spare fully charged battery, and with a shorter boot time, I am not off the air for long. 

"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."

I am still happy to live with the poor battery life, but did notice on my recent trip to India (on the Vodafone network......Edge signal only) that the Bold 9900 fairly chewed through the battery life (even with the network settings as 2G only) (My 2 spare batteries came in very handy!), where as back in Australia on the Telstra Next-G network, battery life was better??? Confused? Yes, me too, but a happy form of confusion, as Australia is my home.  Having said that, battery life still seems to be better than the iPhone and various Androids that were on the same trip as I was (India).

"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."

The challenge is still there......for the knockers.....if you are basing your out dated opinions on an older BlackBerry device, try a Bold 9900 and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. In a recent comparison between two colleagues' iPhone 4S and my Bold 9900 (all 3 on the same Australian network) going to the same webpage, the Bold was consistently and noticeably quicker in rendering the webpage. Hmmm...

"Good job RIM."

I am still happy with my BlackBerry Bold 9900, and have not found a compelling argument from any other manufacturer / OS to even consider switching. Biased, yes......but with very good reasons to be so.

TferThomas

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

Accessory for my BlackBerry Torch 9800: Cocoon's Grid-It

Is it really an accessory for my BlackBerry Torch 9800, or a mobilised accessory? Does it really matter?

This is the small version of Cocoon's Grid-It (available in 3 sizes), and given my passion for black (BlackBerry, black leather satchel (seen partly in the background), etc), of course it had to be black (it does come in other colours).

The purpose of the Grid-It for me anyway, is to keep neat and tidy all the bits and pieces I use during my mobilised life.  Can you see:

• Ear phones
• Spare Torch battery
• Extendable micro USB cable
• Mobile 3G USB Stick
• A couple of rechargable portable power devices
• Spare cable
• Place for other items (like BlackBerry OEM headset) in zippered rear section

And it is perfect for me during my regular flights around the country..... simply pull it out of my satchel and place in the seat pocket. Absolutely perfect!

No more ferreting around trying to find bits and pieces.......all safely secured.

BlackBerrys and battery life

For anyone who didn't know the BlackBerry has an almost unequalled ability to run multiple appplications in the background, meaning you can actually multitask on a BlackBerry (unlike other smart phones, which require you to close an application, prior to running another).

You can also run media in the background as well, and many a time have I had my tunes playing in the background whilst using twitter, reading my RSS feeds on Viigo, or even composing an email or text message.

There is a downside to this multitasking though.... it does put a strain on the normal battery. But I do have a couple of suggestions for you, plus the little gadget shown above.

Here are a couple of setting changes you can make which will improve battery life:

• If you have Wi-Fi and don't use it regularly, switch it off
• If you don't use BlueTooth, switch it off
• Check any applications that auto refresh (twitterberry, Google, SocialScope, Viigo, yatca and similar), and only have the ones you need to auto refresh set that way... the other's switch to manual updates
• If you are listening to music, when finished listening, turn the music off (otherwise it will run in the background and use battery power)
• But the biggest killer of battery time is low reception levels. The BlackBerry will hunt for better signal strength, and therefore use more power.

If all else fails, and you don't want to lash out for another battery, there is a stop gap solution:

• The Energizer portable charger

It takes 2 x AA batteries and has almost enough grunt to fully charge my BlackBerry Bold from almost empty to full, and has saved me at a number of airports over the past few months. and for Australian readers, Coles is currently selling these at AUD $15 (roughly half price).

I hope this helps out with prolonging your battery life on your BlackBerrys.

Enjoy,

TferThomas