Industry coverage, news, original feature articles, how to guides, videos, podcasts and reviews of BlackBerry service providers, software, accessories, hosted exchange providers and more
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?
Subscribe to the BBGeeks RSS Feed
Add to De.licio.us | 
Digg This! | 
Technorati
Filed under : Quick Tips 7 Comments
Today's Featured BlackBerry Accessories:
Related Posts:
Sick of saving everyone’s numbers as their work contact?Create a WiFi hotspot with your BlackBerry
Which microSD cards will work with your BlackBerry?
Text messaging, email, IM cost us $650 billion
iPhone may be great, but won’t overpower BlackBerry
7 Comments ↓
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!
[...] a word on OTA downloads from ThemePark. You need a membership to be able to do this, which is a novel idea. [...]
[...] 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, [...]
[...] a program which can download podcasts right to your BlackBerry. Yes, we’re talking OTA. We’ll have the details after the [...]
[...] 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 [...]
[...] 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. [...]
[...] since Didiom does offer paid access to its million-song library, from which you can download songs OTA. Details and info after the [...]
Leave a Reply