Posted by Mauricio on Oct 6, 2009 at 10:14 AM | Comments
Salomondrin has provided a hardware update for the BlackBerry Dakota (formerly codenamed the Magnum) claiming that it will come with a “liquid lens”, a lens technology that mimics the human eye and is without moving parts.
Here are some details about the liquid lens from PalmInfocenter (gets a bit technical):
Philips’ FluidFocus system mimics the action of the human eye using a fluid lens that alters its focal length by changing its shape. The new lens, which lends itself to high volume manufacturing, overcomes the fixed-focus disadvantages of many of today’s low-cost imaging systems.
The lens consists of two immiscible (non-mixing) fluids of different refractive index (optical properties), one an electrically conducting aqueous solution and the other an electrically non-conducting oil, contained in a short tube with transparent end caps. The internal surfaces of the tube wall and one of its end caps are coated with a hydrophobic (water-repellent) coating that causes the aqueous solution to form itself into a hemispherical mass at the opposite end of the tube, where it acts as a spherically curved lens.
The shape of the lens is adjusted by applying an electric field across the hydrophobic coating such that it becomes less hydrophobic – a process called ‘electrowetting’ that results from an electrically induced change in surface-tension. As a result of this change in surface-tension the aqueous solution begins to wet the sidewalls of the tube, altering the radius of curvature of the meniscus between the two fluids and hence the focal length of the lens. By increasing the applied electric field the surface of the initially convex lens can be made completely flat (no lens effect) or even concave. As a result it is possible to implement lenses that transition smoothly from being convergent to divergent and back again.
Sounds awesome right? The Dakota is rumored to be RIM’s first touchscreen + QWERTY keypad combination BlackBerry so it would make sense that they upgrade other hardware and features as well.
I tried to find more info about this technology as far as pixel capability (and other info) but it looks like Philips removed the FluidFocus item from their site because of a legal patent issue. If you happen to find more info about this please let me know in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 5, 2009 at 5:38 PM | Comments
This one definitely caught me by surprise. According to a tip sent to CrackBerry Kevin the new BlackBerry Messenger will be released globally on October 7th, less than two days away!
BlackBerry® Messenger 5.0
Launch Date: Global – October 7, 2009
BlackBerry® Messenger is an instant messaging application that allows BlackBerry Smartphone users to send and receive instant messages with other BlackBerry Smartphone users.
BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 is the latest release.
Features:
Enhanced SMS -Allows for a conversational chat-like user experience with a single contact list for the most personal mobile-to-mobile communications
Note: BlackBerry® Device Software 5.0 and later is required for the SMS functionality.
Avatars - Users can choose a picture from the BlackBerry Smartphone gallery and save it as their personal avatar, which will be seen by their contacts. They can also view other avatars in the contact list and zoom in on the avatars of contacts participating in a conversation by selecting “View participants.”
Large Media File Transfer - Users can send/receive large file transfers up to 6 megabytes for pictures, files and audio.
Note: BlackBerry Device Software 5.0 is required to receive large media files.
Enhanced Group Functionality - Allows for the ability to update, share & communicate with a subset community.
Bar-code Identity - A user can add a contact to the BlackBerry Messenger contact list by displaying a 2-dimensional bar code that invitees can capture with their device cameras.
Reliable Contact Backup and Restore - Contacts are backed-up on a server and do not require the need for BlackBerry® Desktop Manager.
Many of us have been using the leaked version of BBM 5.0 but it’s not perfect and is most likely an early release compared to what is internally available today. According to the leaked tip the “Enhanced SMS” feature of BBM 5.0 is only available to BlackBerry users who are running OS 5.0 or later. I wonder if this means an OS 5.0 launch is also around the corner? That would definitely be a nice surprise!
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 5, 2009 at 1:31 PM | Comments
BGR was able to get some internal Verizon documents showing current and future launches of a bunch of devices for the Sam’s Club and Target stores. Among these devices were the BlackBerry Curve 2 and the Storm 2.
Launch date rumors so far: Storm 2 on or around October 25th or mid-October, Curve 2 some time in late November. Anyone else hear anything about upcoming BlackBerry devices for Verizon or other carriers? Let me know in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 5, 2009 at 12:44 PM | Comments
We’ve seen videos and some pictures of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (Onyx) but I don’t think any of them have shown the device in as good a quality as the pictures over at DailyMobile (besides for BGR’s anyway). The one in the pictures seems to be newer than the ones we’ve seen so far if you consider the OS it’s running (v5.0.0.261) but other than that it doesn’t look any different physically.
The Bold 9700 has already appeared in AT&T’s systems and some releasedates were leaked (so far pointing to a November launch), so right now all we have to do is wait less than two months to get our hands on this awesome BlackBerry.
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 5, 2009 at 10:46 AM | Comments
YouTuber scott4551 uploaded a video of the BlackBerry Storm 2 doing some web browsing while connected to WiFi. Here is what scott4551 goes over in the video:
When the WiFi is connected the pages load very fast
May take a second or two to gain the address
Animated weather screen, pretty smooth
Tries to automatically view mobile versions of web pages
Some websites take longer to request the page but once found it loads quickly (hardware or WiFi issue?)
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 4, 2009 at 10:43 PM | Comments
UPDATE It’s been announced! Check out the full press release after the jump for all the details about RIM and Adobe working together to bring full Flash support to BlackBerry devices. *
Back in August I mentioned a rumor that RIM and Adobe were working on making BlackBerry devices Flash-enabled. Adobe and RIM will finally be announcing Flash support for BlackBerry tomorrow at MAX!
Tomorrow at MAX, Adobe’s worldwide developer conference, Adobe Systems Incorporated will announce with partner Research In Motion (RIM) their progress in bringing Flash support to BlackBerry devices.
RIM, the company behind BlackBerry’s wireless platform, including email and touchscreen technologies, is joining Adobe’s Open Screen Project, a 50-organization-members-strong organization that aims to promote better apps for richer mobile, television, and desktop browsing experiences for users.
The rumor so far is that Flash support will be available for BlackBerry devices by next summer but at the rate RIM is going with their development I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an earlier launch. Of course, as history has shown us, Flash support could also be pushed back. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 3, 2009 at 7:10 PM | Comments
Earlier this morning RIM rolled out BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) version 2.8 to all North American carriers. This update includes some features and enhancements that many of us have been waiting for:
Two-way wireless synchronization [every four hours] with Google Mail Contacts and the Address Book on the BlackBerry smart phone:
Synchronize Google Mail contacts quickly and easily to the BlackBerry smart phone
Add or edit Contacts and the Contacts are automatically updated, whether they are updated on the computer or BlackBerry smart phone
Note: Two-way wireless Contact synchronization with Google Mail Contacts requires BlackBerry® Device Software 5.0 and configuration through email settings on the BlackBerry smart phone. Additional requirements and constraints may be found within the BlackBerry Internet Service 2.8 Documentation Kit. This feature is not supported on BlackBerry smart phones with BlackBerry® Connect™ software.
Enhancements to email setup and settings:
Automatic Login now supports most billing identifiers, which allows new subscribers with wireless service providers that use PIN, IMEI, or ESN as a billing identifier to create BlackBerry Internet Service accounts from the BlackBerry smart phone, without having to create a login user name and password
Note: This feature will be available approximately one week after the BlackBerry Internet Service upgrade.
Windows Live Hotmail revalidation:
With BlackBerry Internet Service 2.8, new Windows Live Hotmail mail integrations will be defaulted to a protocol that is designed so as not to require 90 day reauthorization.
Note: Existing BlackBerry smart phone users accessing Windows Live Hotmail using Microsoft MSP will still be required to revalidate their Windows Live Hotmail account every 90 days.
The roll out seems to have gone smoothly for the most part. Did you experience an outage in your area or had to re-add/validate your email accounts after the update? How about the features, are you satisfied with them or would you like to see some more enhancements in the future? Let me know in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 1, 2009 at 1:35 PM | Comments
A few days ago I mentioned that RIM is rumored to be working on an official BlackBerry Twitter client but at that time there weren’t too many details available as far as features or a launch date.
According to Salomondrin the BlackBerry Twitter client will be launching on November 16th of this year and it will be a VPL release through carriers. Sal says that this client will include “push” which will allow for automatic refreshes without having to manually refresh or set a refresh time. Here are some other features mentioned by the Polish BlackBerry site BBNews.pl:
Notification of number of new tweets on the home screen with icon, like text messages
Main app opens friends timeline
Ability to view followers
Follow/unfollow functions
Create direct messages, replies and new tweets
Keyword search and saved results
Tweet photos directly from camera or memory card
View photos from other tweets
View trending topics
Address book integration
Considering that RIM has total access to the BlackBerry interface like no other Twitter app, I’m really excited to see how deeply these features will be integrated. In addition to this Twitter client being available in the BB App World, word has it that it will eventually come pre-loaded on BlackBerry devices.
Now that you know some more details about this official BlackBerry Twitter client, will you stick to your current app or scrap it for this one? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 30, 2009 at 5:38 PM | Comments
It looks like this week is the week for leaks. BGR was sent a screenshot of Best Buy’s inventory showing the Verizon BlackBerry Storm 2 (9550) dummy units as being in stock on October 25th!
According to BG there is a good chance that the Storm 9550 will be launching on or around October 25th because the actual units usually get sent out a bit earlier than the dummy units.
If this holds true then Vodafone customers might see it sooner with Canadian BlackBerry users seeing a launch soon after Verizon’s.
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