That being said, there have been a number of times where I have caught myself back tracking and saying “If only I could print this out”. These situations are few and far between but occur none the less. Most often when trying to explain things to much older people who are not as plugged in as I am.

For times like these it would be handy to have a device that would allow me to print off a quick series of instructions or a diagram or two. I do not think I will ever change my attitude towards the act of printing as a whole, but I do understand that as long as their are non tech savvy folks out there, there will always be a need for print media.

If only there was a portable device one could carry with them for just such an occasion.

Introducing the PrintStik – a truly Mobile Printer

The PrintStik is portable printing in its truest form, consisting of a single unit that measures 1″ X 10.75″ x 1.5″. With a weight of just over one pound when the paper cartridge is inserted, the PrintStik is easily stored in a briefcase, backpack or Messenger bag.

The general idea is that you can have the ability to print anywhere, any time as long as you have a Windows laptop or BlackBerry within range of the device. The PrintStik carries a roll of twenty pages at a time which are easily replaced when depleted. It also boasts a printing speed of 3 pages per minute, a rugged design that requires little maintenance and affordably priced replacement consumables.

Unboxing the PrintStik

The PrintStik comes with only a few accessories, each intended to extend its functionality depending on where it is being used. You get the PrintStik itself and a high quality nylon case for protecting it while in transit. The nylon case is sturdy and looks like it could be water proof. That being said, I can find no claims of water proofing so we will go with water resistant for the purposes of this review.

Along with the device and case you also get a USB cable and a number of power adapter options for international connectivity when charging.

Overall, there are not a lot of extras included with the PrintStik but in fact you get everything you need.

Putting the PrintStik to the Test

Once the appropriate files are installed on your BlackBerry you will notice that a new item is added to many of the contextual menus. In email there are now options to “print” “Email List Print” and “Attachment Print”. When in the browser there is now an option to “Web Page Print.

Checking out the Setting options for the PrintStik Software

After you have installed the required files on your BlackBerry you will notice a new icon has been added to your BlackBerry desktop. I am not sure what they were going for with the icon but it is a jumbled bunch of black and gray with what appear to be gears poking out at the top. In any case, look for that icon and click it to view your PrintStik customization options.

Among the items you can customize are print margins (T,R,L,B), print mode (Small, Normal, High Quality), font styling, and a handy “save paper setting” (remove white space, only printable, full page). There are also options to configure printer server settings, wireless mode settings (WiFi or GSM/CDMA) and a registration option.

Everything here looks standard and functions as expected.

Printing from the computer via usb and from the BlackBerry using Bluetooth

Printing out a document while connected to a computer was quick and easy. Once the drivers have been installed from the included CD, the process for printing is exactly the same as with any other printer. Just select file > print and choose the PrintStik from the available printers.

Printing via Bluetooth through the BlackBerry was slightly more complicated but easy enough once I bothered to read the instructions. Turns out you have to go into the apps you installed on your BlackBerry and set a bunch of permissions to “allow” before you can discover the PrintStik. These instructions are included in a PDF on the CD that contains the device drivers.

When the PrintStik is plugged into your computer it defaults to the usb connection. When it is not plugged in it defaults to Bluetooth right away and is available for pairing. To get your BlackBerry working with it you need to enter into the Bluetooth settings and search for the PrintStik. If you are prompted to enter in a pairing code you should enter in four zeros (0000).

I had no issues printing anything from either the BlackBerry or my PC. I did not attempt to use the Bluetooth on the PC to try a test print because, umm, well I don’t use it and this is a BlackBerry related review =) For what it’s worth, I am sure it functions just as well as the other two options.

Final Thoughts on the PrintStik

So what is the final verdict here? Is the PrintStik the best thing to happen to printing in a long time?

If you are absolutely positive that you need to print things and you need this type of functionality while on the road then the answer is yes. The PrintStik is a solid buy. The print quality is lacking but I imagine people using this for quick printing of mostly text so ultra crisp lines may not be a requirement.

The print quality produced by the PrintStik is in line with what you would see from a fax machine. Text printed is entirely legible but any images you attempt to print will be of extremely poor quality. The inks used are non smudging which is impressive considering the nature of the paper used. The paper is similar to the type spit out by debit machines so I was pleasantly surprised that the ink was quite stable.

Another note about the paper is that due to it’s quality (thin) it does not tear very evenly when being removed from the PrintStik. I found that I got some very rough edges on my documents. If you are planning on using this to print out information for clients you may want to consider the impression torn edges will leave.

That being said, there are definitely a couple positives when it comes to printing. I found the ability to just print enough paper to handle your needs impressive. If you were forced to print an entire page every time you initiated a print your supply of paper would be used up very fast. The price of materials was also decent. You can get a three pack of printing/paper cartridges for $24.99. This may be more expensive than some solutions but none of them will fit in your pocket.

I appreciated the fact that the PrintStik comes packaged with all the connections you will need to adapt to power supplies around the world. It would not be a truly portable printing solution if they had skimped on the adapters.

As far as compatibility is concerned, the PrintStick could support a few more devices. Currently there is no support for printing from a Mac. This is something I would like to see addressed in the future. When it comes to the BlackBerry you will need to have OS 4.5 or higher in order to connect which should not be a problem for most.

If you are looking for a portable printing solution for your BlackBerry you would do well to check out the PrintStik. It can be purchased directly from Planon for a price of $299.99.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: PrintStik PS910 from Planon

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: PrintStik PS910 from Planon

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Another Storm 2 review

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Another Storm 2 review

Folks are diving into podcast listening, watching their favorite videos, and storing large numbers of pics and music on their high capacity SD cards. On top of all of that, there is an ever expanding market for BlackBerry Accessories that allow access to all the multimedia goodness.

Today we are going to take a look at the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset. It promises to deliver superior sound while maintaining all of your phone and music functionality with no wires involved.

Introducing the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is comprised of two ear buds attached to a lanyard leading to the main device unit. The ear buds come with a variety of sizes so that you can be sure to get a snug fit and trap in all that audio greatness.

The entire setup is worn around the neck with the main device unit hanging across your chest like a pendant. This is not the standard form for Bluetooth headphones, but it did not prove to be an issue aside from the fact that you always have this pendant swinging around. I did not do any kind of exercising while testing it out but I imagine it could get pretty annoying rather quickly. The length of the lanyard cord is adjustable though, so you can play with it until it sits as comfortably as possible around your neck.

Because the pendant style setup involves a continuous loop around your neck there could be a potential choking hazard if it were to get caught on something. To combat this, Sony has included two handy safety release points on each ear. These will snap apart once any significant pressure is applied. Rest assured, the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset will not choke you.

As far as the mechanics of the Sony Bluetooth headset are concerned, everything is as you would expect from a set of wireless headphones. There is a microphone located below the right ear bud which makes talking to your contacts easy. In most cases you only have to speak in normal tones in order to be heard properly. Due to the exposed nature of the microphone however, wind interference was occasionally an issue during testing. This was remedied by cupping a hand around the microphone during particularly windy moments.

Tell me about the buttons

There is a call handling button located just below the left ear bud that easily connects and disconnects you from any incoming call. While it felt a bit awkward reaching up to my ear to initiate the function, I got used to it pretty quick. Given that I would prefer to wear the whole unit underneath my jacket or sweatshirt on most occasions, the placement of the call handling button is actually ideal.

The actual pendant portion of the Bluetooth unit is where most of your switches and buttons are. All of the standards are included. You will find volume controls, track skip controls, an on/off button and play/pause for your music. There is a small backlit display that gives you a visual indicator of when the device is ready for pairing or currently paired, battery status, Bluetooth status and more. This display is also used for track information when playing music through the headphones.

As far as pairing goes, the process could not be simpler. Just initiate the pairing on the Sony headset and use your BlackBerry to discover it. The pairing code is the standard 0000. Pairing with my BlackBerry Bold took less than 30 seconds and I was up and running.

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset is capable of pairing with multiple devices at once (up to 10). There is a switch on the side of the pendant unit that allows you to select single connection mode or multiple connection. If you are only pairing with your BlackBerry you will choose single but if you have another media device you would like to stream from you can use the multi-connect function to hook the headphones up to all of them. It is important to note that if you want to listen to music, the last device you pair will have to be the one broadcasting the music.

My Overall Impression

Let me start off by saying that I had high expectations for the Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset. It looked stylish with its orange and black color scheme. It promised great quality sound and it was wireless! I hate wires and was in search of a truly portable, wire free solution to music on my BlackBerry.

The reality of what I received was slightly less impressive than what I had envisioned.

The unit looked slick but I am not really a fan of the whole pendant hanging around the neck look at all. As I said above, not entirely a deal breaker but just awkward overall.

The promised sound quality was delivered as far as I am concerned, the Sony HBH-DS970 performed head and shoulders above a wide variety of ear buds, and headsets I had been using previously. The ability to swap out the default ear buds for one size larger made all the difference in the world. Plus I am sure the people on the bus were appreciative of the fact that I could no get some decent volume without forcing them to listen to my carefully crafted playlist. (seriously – I took a poll).

Using all the functions of the Bluetooth headset was intuitive enough, the only major issue with talking on the phone was the wind factor as described above.

I did however have some serious issues with the Bluetooth connectivity on the particular model I received for testing. The standard operating distance should have been up to 30 feet. During my testing however, I could not get more than 4 feet away from the device without sound clipping in and out. This happened on both music and phone calls. As a matter of fact, often enough, whenever I physically moved the BlackBerry out of the line of sight of the Sony HBH-DS970 it would clip clip away.

I do not want to dismiss a quality product because I may have received a faulty one so I went ahead and read some other reviews of the Sony HBH-DS970 online. Nobody else complained of the types of issues I have been experiencing so I am willing to chalk it up to a bad batch.

I guess it is just a case of buyer beware as usual. If you find your unit is clipping audio, send it back right away and get one that works.

The Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset can be purchased from the BBGeeks Store for $89.95.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: Sony Ericsson HBH-DS970 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

We’ll catch you up on everything ‘Berry that happened over the course of the week. Not only that, but we’ll rank ‘em by importance, so you can more easily skim the items and read the ones of most significance. If you only have time to read one article, for instance, you might want to head down to our 5-star section. It’s All the BlackBerry News Fit to Geek.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac leaked
I wanted to make sure this went on top, even though PC users might not consider it a five-star link. There are plenty of Mac users reading BBGeeks, myself included, so it’s to our delight that Desktop Manager for Mac was leaked. Here’s the Rapidshare download link. It took me a little over a minute on a cable connection to get everything. It’s in beta still, of course, version 1.0.0, so you might encounter a bug or two. I’ll see if I can find any as I explore it today. Expect a post expounding on this tomorrow.

Storm 2 to hit October 14th?
We’ve long speculated on the release date of the BlackBerry Storm 2 — and by “we” I mean the entire BlackBerry community. There have been various indicators, but perhaps none more concrete than Verizon marketing material depicting an October 14 release. Of course, the actual images have since been removed — it seems everything Storm-related goes up and then comes down within a few hours. I can assure you that they were there, though, and did in fact say October 14. Again, this is probably the ideal release date, barring any setbacks. I’m still banking on November, but October is looking more and more likely.

BlackBerry 9700 coming to T-Mobile in November?
In addition to release information on the Storm 2 this week, we also learned a bit about the BlackBerry 9700, which is set to be the first 3G BlackBerry for T-Mobile. According to TmoNews.com, we could see this hit shelves the first week in November. Again, this makes plenty of sense. It’s going to be a hot device — not only the first 3G Berry on T-Mobile, but it’s also essentially the Bold, just smaller, and with an optical trackpad. November always makes sense, because that puts it in line with the holidays. With T-Mobile rolling out more 3G markets recently, this could be a perfect match.

RIM already working on a second Tour?
The BlackBerry Tour just hit shelves in July, but it looks like RIM could already have a follow-up in the works. The BlackBerry Essex will be the next version, and will feature an optical trackpad and WiFi. What it looks like, from an outside perspective, is that RIM was already so far along with the Tour when they 1) developed the trackpad an 2) Verizon announced it would allow WiFi on devices. So they released the Tour, but this is the device that it should have been. There’s not much else known about it, so we could get a number of new features by the time it hits market. If you’re having trouble keeping up with all of these potential new devices, check out BBCool’s writeup.

Verizon cuts Storm price to $50
Unsurprisingly, Verizon is preparing for the release of the Storm 2, as we noted above. One measure they’re taking is further reducing the price of the original Storm. They dropped it from $199 to $149 a few months ago, and now it’s down to just $49.99. So if the Storm 2 is going to be a bit rich for your blood, you can can lock down an original on the cheap.

RIM improves BIS spam filtering
I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently there was a problem with spam emails to BIS email users. RIM fixed the issue, and recently let us in on the trick. Apparently they’re using software to evaluate the emails based on IP address. That means that the emails aren’t even getting to your BlackBerry. Which brings up the question of false positives. On another website we had to block a whole IP range from commenting, and we wondered how many false positives that would turn up. Same question applies here.

Who wins, girlfriend or BlackBerry?
Okay, so if you’re here you probably hold your BlackBerry in high favor. However, it can sometimes go too far. Such is the case of Molly Schoemann’s boyfriend. At least Molly is taking it in stride, composing a humorous piece on her battles with her boyfriend’s BlackBerry. It’s a short, light-hearted read, and especially apt if your significant other is particularly addicted to the Berry. Me? I choose women every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

BlackBerry on the police force?
Here’s an idea that might catch on: the Baltimore Police Department is buying all its patrol officers. No, it won’t be mainly an email thing. Instead, the devices will be used to “allow officers to run warrants, check vehicle registrations, and pull up criminal histories and suspect photos.” Sounds like a productive use to me. I hope we get some follow-up stories on this one.

Stolen BlackBerry? BlackBerry ER will help you recover it — as long as you have a GSM model, and the criminal falls into common patterns.

Adding extensions to BlackBerry contact numbers. Because what good is a Berry if you can’t add in an extension?

A walk-through of TwiXtreme. Yet another BlackBerry Twitter client, and yet another one I enjoyed very much.

Facebook 1.7 headed to BlackBerry soon. Here’s a quick but sparse preview of the new BlackBerry Facebook app.

Freedom Mobile Slim Keypad for BlackBerry review. Cooper checks out this full keyboard for your BlackBerry.

Simplify your RSS with Arr! SS. There are plenty of BlackBerry RSS readers, but this one is nice because it doesn’t hog memory.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the Week of 8/31/09

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry News From The Wire for the Week of 8/31/09

I set up all the settings that were required, I clicked to find my location and . . . nothing. An hour later, still searching for satellites =(

With no obvious solution I jumped on the forums and saw a couple suggestions. I went outside to a local park in the attempt to free up my sight lines and get a quick lock. I downloaded Google Maps and attempted to get a quick lock through them. In the end I had no luck. I then decided I would try out an external GPS solution because I am definitely a glutton for punishment.

Turns out it was the best decision I had made so far.

Introducing the GlobalSat BT-368 Bluetooth GPS Navigation receiver

What you first notice about the BT-368 is that it looks like a mini iPhone, complete with the silver bezel and all. While it would be ultra cool if it was in fact a mini iPhone, instead the BT-368 gets it’s cool points from hooking up with all the slick new phones available on the market and providing stellar GPS connectivity. That means that even though you are a BBGeeks and would never touch another device, a family member may be in another camp all together yet still be able to borrow the BT-368 to hook it up with their phone as well.

The GlobalSat BT-368 Bluetooth receiver come packaged with a car charger, a universal power plug and a mini USB cable. This ensures that no matter where you end up you will always be able to charge your GPS unit to full capacity and ensure that it is juiced up enough to guide you to the next stop on your path.

Just to recap, you can use this awesome GPS receiver in any country and with many current phones and smart phones. This is a great value that can not be overlooked.

So what is under that tiny little hood

The BT-368 is a prime example of great things coming in small packages. here is a rundown of some of the more important specs:

• High capacity rechargable battery
• Can access 20 parallel channels for superior GPS connectivity
• NMEA-0183 compliant protocol (Default: GGA,GSA,GSV,RMC Support: VTG,GLL,ZDA) and SiRF binary protocol (yeah I really don’t know what thi stuff means either)
• Extreme fast TTFF at low signal level
• SiRF StarIII chipset
• Operation range of 10 meters (33 feet)
• Dimensions : 40 x 70 x 9.2 mm, weight : 30g

My Experience with the GlobalSat BT-368

Not much to sy here other than I absolutely loved how reliable, fast and accurate this particular receiver was when put to the test. Given that I could not even get the standard BlackBerry GPS functions to activate, I had little to no expectation of success. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it fresh out of the box and was up and running in minutes.

I took the BT-368 with me walking, bike riding and cruising on down the highway. I gave the actual unit to a friend and had them cross the road while I watched the BlackBerry for an interupted signal. In all cases, I was patched in and tracking very accurately. Unfortunately I could not test / compare the accuracy of the BT-368 against the standard GPS of the Bold due to my earlier connectivity issues.

As far as the Lithium Ion battery life is concerned the device says it is rated for approximately 10 hours but I only managed to squeeze out just over 9 before having to recharge.

The Final Verdict

The GlobalSat BT-368 is a phenomenal GPS receiver and should be considered a must have for anyone who wants accurate GPS locating functionality for their cellular phone, laptop or PDA. It is great for families who may want to swap between devices and it is so small that you won’t even notice that it is tucked inside your bag, purse or pocket. When driving, the unit can be placed anywhere in your vehicle and the connection is seamless.

If you are interested in purchasing a GPS unitfor your BlackBerry, the GlobalSat BT-368 Bluetooth GPS Receiver is available through the BBGeeks Store for 99.95

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: GlobalSat BT-368 Bluetooth GPS Receiver

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: GlobalSat BT-368 Bluetooth GPS Receiver

So click on over here to hear the BBGeekcast (10 min, 20 sec)

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss future episodes!

You can also subscribe to the BBGeekcast in iTunes.

Highlights include:

The BlackBerry Tour has finally been announced, but we’re still awaiting a release date. Indicators are that it will hit Telus on July 15, but that’s not set in stone. Will it reach the U.S. first? Maybe. It would make sense if it did, but it’s no guarantee. Two things we do know: it will hit both Verizon and Sprint, and it will be $199.99. No big surprises there.

Another new device, the Onyx, has been reviewed and has also gotten an upgrade. First was the software, which identified it as the 9020, therefore in the Bold family. Second is hardware. Yes, they’ve updated it with the optical trackpad. So that’s something to be excited over. It’ll probably hit AT&T, and almost certainly drop before the holidays. This and the Storm 2 will be the next devices on the watch list after the Tour.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeekcast: June 19, 2009 – Episode 69

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeekcast: June 19, 2009 – Episode 69

Introducing BlackBerry Battery Power for those on the go: Freedom Mobile Power Supply

When picking BlackBerry Accessories to review I try and focus on items that will enhance my/your productivity or mobility. In this case I have chosen the Freedom mobile Power Supply because I tend to kill a fresh Bold battery in a very short amount of time.

While I actively take steps to reduce my BlackBerry Battery drain, I often find it necessary to plug my device into my USB at work or the wall charger at home. Many times this is inconvenient and I find myself wishing I could just leave. Sometimes I leave without a full charge and kick myself later when the Berry dies on the road.

With the Freedom Mobile BlackBerry Power Supply those pesky “wasted” minutes in the office or at home are a thing of the past. I can walk around freely, knowing that I have more than a full charge in my back pocket.

Breaking it down: What does the freedom Mobile Power Supply do and How does it do it?

The Freedom Mobile Power Supply is a tiny gadget that easily fits into your pocket or purse. It measures approximately 4 inches in height by 2.5 inches wide and 1 inch deep. The only time you will notice/remember that you are packing this accessory is when you see your low battery indicator flashing.

Using the Freedom Mobile Power Supply is a painless procedure. The steps involved are minimal.

1. Charge the mobile power supply through either your wall charger or your USB port on your computer.
2. Wait for the indicator light on the mobile power supply to turn green indicating a full charge.
3. Put it in your pocket/purse
4. Plug the mobile power supply into your BlackBerry mini USB port fo a full charge while on the go.

The Freedom Mobile Power Supply holds more than a full charge for your BlackBerry. In some cases it hold up to 2X a full charge. This means you have guaranteed power at all times and the comfort that comes along with knowing that you will not miss that call or BBM that you have been waiting for (assuming your network coverage is up to snuff).

Here are the results from the initial testing for mobile unit charge time, charge capacity and BlackBerry charge time:

1. Mobile Unit Charge Time: I put the Freedom mobile Power Supply through 3 full charge/discharge cycles for this review and each time the results were nearly identical. In each instance, the power supply took between 4.5 to 5 hours to charge from a completely flat state. This is a little longer than the documentations claims of a 4 hour charge, but not something to split hairs over.
   
2. Mobile Unit Charge capacity: The documentation states that the mobile power supply will hold “up to” 2 full charges for your BlackBerry device. Throughout each round of testing I was only able to get 1.5 full charges out of it. This probably has to do with the capacity of the Bold battery compared to say that of the Pearl.
   
3. BlackBerry Charge Time: For every initial charge of my Bold with the Freedom mobile Power Supply it took between 3 and 3.5 hours to go from a dead battery to a full charge. On the subsequent charge (2nd from the power supply) the timing was approximately 1.5 hours to a 60% charge. This left the power supply completely drained.

Final Thoughts on the Freedom Mobile Power Supply

This is one BlackBerry accessory that is worth every penny. I no longer have to think about when I am going to stop to charge my Bold. I keep the Freedom mobile Power Supply in my pocket or bag on longer trips and relax. It has even come in handy for friends who are not quite as savvy. I have given their BlackBerry devices a “jump” on more than one occasion in the past couple weeks and they have all been amazed at the power of this tiny gadget.

The Freedom Mobile Power Supply can be purchased from the BBGeeks Store for $49.95. Get yours today and never be caught with a dead Berry again.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: Freedom Mobile BlackBerry Power Supply

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: Freedom Mobile BlackBerry Power Supply

]]> http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/geek-review-freedom-mobile-blackberry-power-supply-882568/feed/ 4 http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/using-your-blackberry-hands-free-while-driving-882592/ http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/using-your-blackberry-hands-free-while-driving-882592/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 15:11:13 +0000 Cooper http://www.bbgeeks.com/?p=2592 New laws are popping up everywhere that’ll make it illegal for you to punch keys on your Blackberry behind the wheel. Sure, it’s not safe, but sometimes we can get more done by communicating while in transit. What’s a commuting Blackberry addict to do?

The Canadian province of Ontario and State of Colorado are the latest places ready to ban the use of handheld devices while driving.

The Colorado handheld ban, (House bill 1094, sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder) has passed a vote of the Senate Finance Committee. Colorado’s ban permits Bluetooth and hands-free devices if your over 18. The penalty is a class A violation and a fine of $100.

In Ontario, Canada the new law is a little more costly – violators will face a penalty up to $500. The Countering Distracted Driving and Promoting Green Transportation Act bans all electronic devices while driving. That means no calling, texting, emailing or even feeding your Tamagotchi while on the road.

Stay Connected While Driving

We agree that when you’re driving you need to keep your eyes on the road. But as much as we want to do the right thing, how many of us are guilty of checking our email at a red light or worse?

In the interest of keeping our BBGeeks driving back to us, we’ve compiled a short-list of devices that will legally keep you connected to your Blackberry. For starters, you can pick up a Bluetooth headset for a little as $30 – hook it up to one of these in-car communication options and your Blackberry is at your command.

Ford Sync, TomTom 910 and iLane are all good but very different systems depending on what you’re looking for – entertainment, GPS navigation or pure Blackberry communication.

Ford Sync

If you own certain Ford models, the Sync system (developed with Microsoft) provides access to your phone’s and SMS messages. What’s truly cool about Sync is that it’ll let you use voice commands to control your in-car MP3 player. But Sync is ultimately an in-car entertainment system, not really a messenger. The system can cost from $700 to $1500 depending on whether you want a screen – then it’s forever built into your car.

TomTom GO 910

TomTom is a GPS navigation system with some added communications bonuses. The navigation on many TomTom models delivers fun text-to-speech (TTS) instructions, you can actually change the voice to fit your mood.

The 910 goes a step beyond pure GPS by providing the ability to connect with your cell phone to give you hands free voice communication through your Blackberry. It’ll even read your incoming SMS messages. Another cool feature about the TomTom that won’t get with Sync is that you can take it with you to another car and just power it up through a cigarette lighter. The GO 910 is a $500 premium GPS system.

iLane

The most complete in-car Blackberry messaging solution is this little device made in Waterloo, Ontario. It might not control your MP3 player or give you directions to your little cousin’s recital, but it was specifically designed to be your Blackberry’s in-car voice.

With iLane you can call your contacts by name and have access to SMS messaging, calendar and all your email accounts including web-mail. It reads your emails and lets you reply with a recorded 1GB voice message. What about digital entertainment? While it might not be as cool as your MP3 collection, iLane will read you select content directly from the web – including tech-new and blogs like BBGeeks.com. iLane is the mid-priced option at $600.

Voice recognition systems have brought connected automotive technologies a long way. Nowadays you can talk to your car for access to news, entertainment and all your messages without risking the ire of Johnny Law.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Using your BlackBerry hands-free while driving

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Using your BlackBerry hands-free while driving

]]> http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/using-your-blackberry-hands-free-while-driving-882592/feed/ 1 http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/theme-review-wednesdays-sidewinder-no-smoking-super-mario-882211/ http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/theme-review-wednesdays-sidewinder-no-smoking-super-mario-882211/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:03 +0000 Joe http://www.bbgeeks.com/?p=2211 It’s time again we dust off a few BlackBerry themes and give them a review. I joked to a colleague yesterday that it was time to say the same thing about a different batch of themes, but the more of these features I write the more I realize just how many unique themes are out there. Plus, I try to pick the themes blind — in other words, I won’t go test a theme and then decide if I want to review it. The good and the bad should be on display, so I pick three and that’s that. If it’s bad, you’ll know it from the review. This week we go back to a pair of theme developers from last week, Jason Calhoun and Cherri Chiodo, plus one from BlackBerry Theme Central, which I don’t believe we’ve yet included in TRW.

Sidewinder

The second I saw the home screen on Jason Calhoun’s Sidewinder theme, I knew I would dig it. You can notice right off the bat the way it differentiates itself visually from other themes. Rather than having the dock run along the bottom, it forms a semicircle on the right side of the screen. This allows for seven home screen icons, far more than any other standard Curve themes. The panel containing the carrier, battery indicator, new messages, and signal strength lie on the left side, so it doesn’t make one side look too crowded and the other too empty. The only change I can possibly suggest is to slide the clock over to the left hand side as well.

Once you hit the Applications Menu, everything is pretty standard. Some of the icons are unique — including a personal favorite in the Manage Connections one (a satellite). Everything is pretty easy to discern if you’re familiar with the standard BlackBerry icons. Plus, as always, you can read which icon it is at the bottom of the screen. The font is standard, and the dialog box is actually neat looking, with a green question mark icon next to the prompt. Not that any of this helps the theme function better. It functions just fine, but Calhoun certainly added some grace notes to the design.

If you’re a fan of Zen themes but want something different than a bottom dock, I’d recommend checking this out. It’s a pretty cheap option, too. You can get the Sidewinder theme at the BBGeeks store for just $5. Not bad for a basic, aesthetically pleasing theme.

Super Mario Pipes Animated

I haven’t knowingly reviewed anything from BlackBerry Theme Central, but after seeing the Super Mario Pipes Animated theme, I had to give them a shot. As with every 20-something male, I was obsessed with Super Mario Bros. growing up, always racing my friends to see who could beat the latest game first (I destroyed my friends in the race through Mario Bros. 3 — it was embarrassing for them, I’m sure). However, I should have taken their spelling of Super Mario — Supermario — as the first indicator of an annoying theme.

Okay, so the home screen looks neat. It’s an animated image of one-up mushrooms and pipes, but at first i thought that there were no actual functions on it. After all, there are no icons. Silly me. After scrolling furiously, just to be sure, I saw that sometimes, if I scrolled correctly, a character would pop out of one of the warp pipes. Keyboard Lock, Messages, Phone, Calendar, and Address Book are the defaults, and I didn’t see an easy way to change that. They’re basically hidden, though, making them of little use to me.

The Applications Menu is just a mess. Yes, it’s nice that many of the icons have the application name below them for easy recognition. However, it’s an absolute necessity, since the icons have nothing to do with the application and everything to do with icons from the video game series. Because the icons aren’t blocked they can blend into the background, making them difficult to discern. And as an added bonus, some of the icons just don’t show up. You have to scroll to them to get the icon to pop up. Again, I celebrate the spirit, but the execution is just obnoxious.

If you like having power-up mushrooms as your battery indicator and fire flowers as your signal strength, this theme might be for you. I’m staying away, though. As I’ve always said, I’m a function over form guy, and this theme is all form and no function. You can get the Super Mario Pipes Animated theme at the BBGeeks Store for $5. It’s for OS 4.5 and up only.

No Smoking TodayPlus

I love me a good TodayPlus theme, and no one delivers interesting themes like Cherri Chiodo. So we’ve got a good match today, right? Well, after the Super Mario theme, I damn well hope so. Thankfully, Cherri delivers once again. The No Smoking theme is a rather basic one, featuring messages and calendar on the home screen right above a row of five icons. Pretty standard stuff, but it’s nice to see it put together so well. The gray, smokey background gives the theme an eye-pleasing design.

As is Cherri’s trademark, the icons are not what you’d get from a standard theme. She blocks them off so that there’s no chance they blend in with the background. It’s easy to do when you have a dark-ish image. Man icons feature black in them, and if there’s black in the background there’s a chance for confucion. Thankfully, by making definitive blocks Cherri avoids this issue completely. The icons are easy to recognize, which makes the theme all that much better. As I always recommend, at least from a personal level, with Cherri’s themes is that you change the font if you find the comic font a bit much.

Cherri’s theme runs a bit more expensive than the others, hitting the $6.99 price point. You can get the No Smoking theme at the BBGeeks Store, of course. This link is for the Curve version, but if you type “No Smoking” into the search bar, the other versions, including the Bold, will come up.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Theme Review Wednesdays: Sidewinder, No Smoking, Super Mario

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Theme Review Wednesdays: Sidewinder, No Smoking, Super Mario

]]> http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/theme-review-wednesdays-sidewinder-no-smoking-super-mario-882211/feed/ 1 http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/geek-review-berrybuzz-alerts-for-blackberry-882203/ http://www.bbgeeks.com/blackberry-reviews/geek-review-berrybuzz-alerts-for-blackberry-882203/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:00:51 +0000 Joe http://www.bbgeeks.com/?p=2203 One thing I’ve always wanted to do with my BlackBerry is really customize the call and message alerts. Not that the BlackBerry defaults are bad. It’s just that sometimes I’m away from the phone or more than 15 minutes, at which point the LED stops flashing. Sometimes I want my phone to vibrate and ring at the same time. Sometimes I want a different LED for my SMS than my email. Then I stumbled across BerryBuzz, a custom alerts application for your BlackBerry. I downloaded it to see how good it actually is. Is it worth the $6 price tag?

Integration

Unlike many other similar applications, BerryBuzz creates its own listing in your Options. The icon still appears on your Applications Menu, but you can go ahead and hide the icon. No sense in keeping it around if it doesn’t actually function. If you click on it, it will remind you that BerryBuzz is now in Options. So let’s head over there.

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Keep the LED flashing

You can customize a number of alerts by clicking on the BerryBuzz menu in Options. We’ll start from the top and work our way down.

You can turn off BerryBuzz at any time and return to the natural device settings. This helps eliminate the need to uninstall and reinstall, and since the program doesn’t take up much memory it’s something that can stay on your device. In fact, you could consider it an additional profile setting and turn it on and off as needed.

After turning on BerryBuzz, you can take advantage of the ability to extend the flashing LED beyond 15 minutes. As you know, when you get a new message on your Berry, whether SMS, MMS, PIN, or email, your red LED will flash for 15 minutes. After that, it ceases until you get another new message. You can set it to Never, as pictured, and have that LED flashing until the end of time. This is helpful if you leave your Berry at home for certain trips. For instance, I don’t take mine to the gym anymore, so I leave it at home. When I come home, the thing isn’t flashing unless I got a message in the past 15 minutes. With BerryBuzz I don’t even have to check the thing when I get home unless I see a flashing LED.

Change colors of alerts

Another advantage of using BerryBuzz is the ability to set multi-color LED alerts. You can do this globally for email or you can do it address by address. For instance, I have three email addresses connected to my BlackBerry, each serving a different purpose. I can go in and change my Gmail alert to blink purple, my work email flash orange, and my for-fun email flash turquoise. That way, I not only know that there’s a new message, but I know to which address it was sent. If there are multiple new messages in different addresses, the LED blinks in a rotating fashion, which is pretty if nothing else.

This also applies to PIN messages, SMS, missed calls, and Calendar alerts. You can set everything to a different color, so you know exactly what type of messages sit in your BlackBerry. For instance, I might let an email or SMS sit unread for a while, but if I have a PIN message, I know it’s probably urgent so I jump to it. It also allows me to ignore calendar alerts, as the blinking light indicates that it is a calendar alert, and that itself reminds me of what I have to do.

BerryBuzz also has the option to set incremental reminders of new messages. You can set this from 60 seconds to 60 minutes, or turn it completely off. What it does is send you an additional reminder that yes, you have a new alert and that you’re a terrible person for not paying it any attention. I don’t personally use this function, but I can absolutely see how it can benefit BlackBerry users.

Vibrate while ringing

A complaint I often hear, and voice myself, about the BlackBerry is that the vibrate and ring option is actually vibrate and then ring. The two do not happen simultaneously. With BerryBuzz, however, you can set that right up. On the bottom of the options are settings for incoming calls. You can change the LED color for this as well.

There is the option not only to vibrate while ringing, but to set the duration of the vibration. By default this is set to a two-second vibration burst, followed by a two-second pause. You can change this, of course, and it ranges from 0.25 seconds to 5 seconds.

Final thoughts

For the money, BerryBuzz is a highly useful application. The custom alerts save time, which is always a plus. It might be a matter of seconds, but it can extend further than that. For instance, if I’m working on a project and get an email to my for-fun email address which isn’t particularly fun (a bill, invoice, complaint, or an otherwise nasty email), I can ignore it while I forge ahead with my current work. If I had seen the email I probably would have read it, thus affecting my mood. But because it’s in a non-important email address, and because I can see that before even looking at the subject line, I can continue until the time is appropriate to read it.

Also, the vibrate plus ring function is something I’ve been wanting for a long time. Not that I miss a lot of calls because of it, but it’s something I’m used to. Three vibrations and then a ring just doesn’t cut it. Vibrations while ringing ensures that I can hear/feel the call even if my Berry is encased and shoved in my front pocket.

As I mentioned above, the price is right on this application. You can get BerryBuzz at the BBGeeks Store for just $5.95. For an application that will get eternal use (rather than the novelty applications which you stop using after a month), the value stretches far.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: BerryBuzz alerts for BlackBerry

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Geek Review: BerryBuzz alerts for BlackBerry

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