BBHub reader Scott Kane is not able to come up with an explanation of why a series of BlackBerrys he has used all seem to totally lose their Bluetooth connection in his automobiles.
"I have had problems with the 7100, 7105, 7290, 8700, and now 8100 all dropping my Bluetooth connection in my car," Scott tells us.
He adds that his vehicle has a U-Connect from DaimlerChrysler factory installed. Not only has it been happening in five different cars and five different BlackBerrys.
By now, the first indications of a failure are familiar to Scott. He says that while the BlackBerry Bluetooth connection is fine and reliable at first, then before long then the BlackBerry starts showing "connection to U-Connect lost."
Removing the battery and then placing it back in provides temporary relief. But do you agree with Scott and me that constantly having to do this is a pain?
"At first I thought it to be the car," he writes. "But now that I've been through 3 cars and countless BlackBerry devices I think the problem lies in the BlackBerry."
"The launch of the two new BlackBerry handsets reinforces over-arching vision of delivering true mobility to Australian businesses and their employees, Vodafone Australia Business Markets general manager Edward Goff said.
Goff actually did add something newsworthy: broadband-modem enabling dashboard software in the BlackBerry 8707v will launch in September.
CNET is out with "Pick the right BlackBerry for you," a post offering a side-by-side comparison of six of the newest BlackBerry models.
The new posting offers summary reviews, editors and users ratings, pricing info and technical specs for the BlackBerry 7130c, BlackBerry 7130e, BlackBerry 7100i, BlackBerry 7105t, BlackBerry 8700g, and BlackBerry 8700c. There are also video demonstrations of the 7100g, 7100i, 8700c and 8700i.
Interesting: the side-by-side display of both the CNET editors and Users' ratings show the BlackBerry 7130c in the lead with an 8.3 "Excellent" rating from the editors and a "Spectacular" 9.0 rating from Users who offered their opinions on the device through the CNET site.
Several security experts think that because of the increasing number of smartphone users as well as the comparative
ease of spreading viruses across these platforms, that smartphone security will be tested this year.
Attacks on smartphones haven’t reached the critical mass needed but it will happen sooner rather than
later,” antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab CEO Eugene Kaspersky, tells Red
Herring.
"Mobile phone attacks scale very well for fraud," Internet Security Systems chief technology officer
Chris Rouland also tells the publication.
"Phone viruses are propagating quickly and they have only been gated by the fact that there are not enough
smartphone users today," he told the magazine.
Rouland added that because phone carriers would likely have to bear the $100-per-incident cost of cleaning infected
handhelds, only a few hundred infected phones are enough to cause a problem.
Yet network security executive Simon Klalaf disagrees. The Vernier Networks CEO tells Red Herring that the
financial incentives that spur malware writers to develop viruses are not there for smartphones.
“Putting a worm on laptops where the objective is to steal financial or personal data is a bigger problem for
everyone,” he tells Red Herring.
Keith didn't design these themes, but he is making them available for free. These theme screens aren't downloadable
individually, but they can be downloaded as a grouped Zip
file.
BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and 3.4 million subscriber mobilkom Austria today launched the BlackBerry
8700v in that nation.
The 8700v joins the BlackBerry 7100v and BlackBerry 7290 in the lineup of Austria's largest mobile carrier.
"Austrian customers can purchase the new BlackBerry 8700v and benefit from mobilkom austria's fast network to
experience the full capabilities of this new device," Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, CMO, mobilkom austria said in a
prepared statement. "The BlackBerry 8700v is a great addition to our portfolio of BlackBerry devices for
both business and individual customers who need to access information while on the go."
Boris Boege of Skylab Mobile Systems writes to tell me that their
GPS mapping tool "Spot for Blackberry" now supports all Bluetooth enabled Blackberry devices in combination
with a Bluetooth GPS receiver.
Former versions were only compatible with BlackBerry 7520 and BlackBerry 7100i. Both of those
models have an integrated GPS receiver.
Now, Spot for BlackBerry has been rev'd to support the BlackBerry 7100 Series, the BlackBerry 8700 Series as well
as the BlackBerry 7250 and BlackBerry 7290.
"Spot for Blackberry" costs $49. A time limited demo version is available free for download.
If you have a BlackBerry 7100, and want to create your own ringtones, you may wish to consider downloading and
installing Millennium Studios' BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder
Package.
The Package includes:
A digital video with ringtone creation instructions:
A link to software that helps you convert sound files from the .wav or ,mp3 format to the BlackBerry
format;
5 MB of hosting space on the Millennium Studio's ringtones web server, with uploading privileges for six
months;
10 free ringtones, pre-configured for your BlackBerry and available on Millennium Studios' web server for you
to download and install on your BlackBerry if you wish.
Total cost is $24.95, but Club Handango Members pay just $22.46.
Click the Read link below this post and you'll ring up Handango.com's BlackBerry 7100 Series Ringtone Builder
Package page.
With MiniRingtone for BlackBerry, you can create your personalized ringones from your (legally, of course) downloaded music files on your PC or from CD tracks.
You choose your favorite .mp3, .wav and.aiff audio, import it into the MiniRingtone utility on your PC, edit your selection and then synch up your BlackBerry to your PC to import your new ringtone.
MiniRingtone for BlackBerry works on all 7xxx series BlackBerrys. The utilty costs $24.75, but Club Handango Members pay $22.28.
Click the Read link below this post and your browser will take you to the MiniRingtone for BlackBerry page on Handango.com.
This morning, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and SprintNextel have just announced the BlackBerry 7100i. This product will go on sale beginning this week.
Oh, can we chortle just a little? We've been writing scoops - with product shots- for more than a week now. But now that it is official, I guess most of the "regular" media, including the "tech" press, will be treating this as brand new news.
But let's remember why you are here - not to see us chortle, but to get info about this new model.
Here's what you want to know about the BlackBerry 7100i:
As you can see from the pix scanned in from a Nextel sales brochure you're not supposed to see just yet, the BlackBerry 7100i has joined the BlackBerry 7520 in the SprintNextel BlackBerry arsenal.
Looks like the BlackBerry 7520 is being positioned for its QWERTY keypad, while the BlackBerry 7100i is being pitched on the merits of its "slimmer, phone-like form and SureType keypad."
"I was in a Nextel store today and they had a brochure with the 7100i in it," Tommy writes. "But
the people had no release date."
Next comes a Nextel followup from the same Tommy:
"I was in a Nextel store today and the had a brochure that had the (BlackBerry) 7520 and 7100I
side by side comparision," Tommy writes. "I asked the guy at the counter what the release date
was and he said he was a sprint guy and wasn't sure...."
Typical. The retail sides of the Sprint and Nextel business have some integration left to go.
Tommy, (to paraphrase The Who, the greatest rock band ever) "we can hear ya."
Keep us posted, Tommy - and all other readers with reports of BlackBerry sightings.
