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Joe

What does OTA mean and how does it work?

Posted by Joe on October 29, 2008

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We oftentimes use lingo here on BBGeeks that might be foreign to some users. In an effort to clear up any confusion as to what we mean with certain acronyms, we’re going to take the time to explain as many of them as possible. First up: OTA.

The acronym stands for Over The Air. This usually refers to downloads. You might see links saying OTA. In such an instance, it means that you can download the application directly to your device, without having to download it to your computer and load it with BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

The advantage of downloading OTA is that it’s one process. Instead of using multiple devices and taking multiple steps to download and install software, OTA downloads offer instant installation. Once you hit “Download” (example shown below), that’s it. You’re done. The application (or theme) is yours.

The disadvantage is that it uses your data plan. For those of us in the U.S., that’s not much of a problem. We have essentially unlimited transfers from our BlackBerry devices, so Over The Air downloads mean little in the long run. However, up in Canada there are caps on data usage, so downloading applications over the air can eat into that and run up your bill.

I hope this explains things on a basic level. Any questions?

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Filed under : Quick Tips 9 Comments

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9 Comments ↓

#7761 Paul on October 29th, 2008 at 9:20 am

WTF? Why do people always post “In Canada we have limits on our data plans”? I’ve had UNLIMITED data from Telus since Feb 2008!

#7783 Two themes from BlackBerry ThemePark | BB Geeks on October 30th, 2008 at 10:13 am

[...] a word on OTA downloads from ThemePark. You need a membership to be able to do this, which is a novel idea. [...]

#7899 How to recover deleted text message from your BlackBerry | BB Geeks on November 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am

[...] your BlackBerry Browser to http://www.dexrex.com/mobile/blackberry. You’ll go through the OTA download process. If you do, let me know how it works. If I get around to testing it myself, [...]

#8717 PodTrapper podcast aggregator for BlackBerry | BB Geeks on December 26th, 2008 at 9:27 am

[...] a program which can download podcasts right to your BlackBerry. Yes, we’re talking OTA. We’ll have the details after the [...]

#8901 How to watch video podcasts on your BlackBerry | BB Geeks on January 7th, 2009 at 11:00 am

[...] The problem, as it is with most multimedia and your BlackBerry, is that it’s tough to perform OTA. Today we’ll go over downloading, converting, and transferring video podcasts to your [...]

#8916 MSN (Windows Live Messenger) on your BlackBerry | BB Geeks on January 8th, 2009 at 8:31 am

[...] to do this is to navigate to http://www.blackberry.com/livemessenger from your BlackBerry device OTA. You then have to agree to the terms and conditions, which will bring you to the download screen. [...]

#9827 Didiom iTunes stream now available for Bold, Cuve 8900 | BB Geeks on March 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 am

[...] since Didiom does offer paid access to its million-song library, from which you can download songs OTA. Details and info after the [...]

#16949 Haider on December 29th, 2009 at 4:52 am

Can you please tell me if I can create personal folders for the SMS messages on my BB curve 8900?

Thanks a lot

Cooper
#16963 Cooper on December 29th, 2009 at 10:32 am

Unfortunately you can not make sub folders in your Sms on the BlackBerry

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