Rabu, 16 Maret 2011

BerryReview.com Giving Back to the BlackBerry Community

BerryReview.com Giving Back to the BlackBerry Community


RIM Recommends Disabling JavaScript in BlackBerry 6 for Security

Posted: 16 Mar 2011 01:56 AM PDT

BlackBerry Browser Vulnerability

I knew the exploit found in the BlackBerry 6 Browser at Pwn2Own would get a nice knee jerk reaction from RIM security. RIM was supposed to investigate to see if the vulnerability in the new BlackBerry 6 WebKit browser existed in new releases and it looks like they have. They have posted up a new Knowledge Base article talking about the new CVSS Score 6.8 vulnerability. The crazy thing is that RIM suggests and instructs users to disable JavaScript in the WebKit browser to protect themselves from this vulnerability.

That is a pretty tall order from RIM. The new BlackBerry 6 WebKit browser is THE best part of the BlackBerry 6 experience and it would not be so without JavaScript. I dare you to try it out. You will suddenly notice websites stop working left and right. Buttons you click on will stop working along with many other functions that require JavaScript.

I think this is a perfect chance for RIM to treat their actual customers right and run around the carriers with a quick marginal OS upgrade to fix the issue. RIM has for awhile had the ability to perform marginal updates compared to total OS updates. What do you think? The other option is for RIM to continue to recommend disabling JavaScript until every carrier puts out an updated OS build sometime in 2013.

Thanks Tim for the tip! via PocketBerry

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 16, 2011, 4:56 am. | RIM Recommends Disabling JavaScript in BlackBerry 6 for Security | Leave a comment |


BlackBerry OS 6 Video Camera Scene Modes and Image Stabilization

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 02:55 PM PDT

Video Settings Video Settings2

One of the features RIM snuck into BlackBerry 6 was improving the video camera options along with the regular camera. While the camera has some easy to select scene modes the video camera hides them in the options menu for some reason. It also has image stabilization off by default on mine. I found the close up scene was really good for taking a video of another BlackBerry screen or a product you are going to put on eBay. The image stabilization is also a nice touch and sometimes results in better videos at events like marathons.

Thanks to nah.uhh for pointing out the tip!

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 5:55 pm. | BlackBerry OS 6 Video Camera Scene Modes and Image Stabilization | 14 comments |


Leebo theme for BlackBerry OS5 and OS6 Devices

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 01:04 PM PDT

For my inaugural post on the BerryReview Blogs I have chosen to write about my favorite theme for OS5 and now OS6, Leebo by Wu-Wei. I have always loved minimalist themes, and keeping my homescreen clean. With using this theme, I have been able to maximize the use of the homescreen shortcuts embedded by RIM and Wu-Wei.

This theme allows the user to use a multitude of personal wallpapers with great integration. As we can see, the notifications are across the top, and are not cut off. The clickable signal meter launches Manage Connections so turning on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is a snap. Clicking with nothing selected on the homescreen launches the first app in your app menu.

Anybody looking for a change from the normal themes should take a look at this one for sure!

The call screen and menus were unedited and left in their native simplicity.

The following hotkeys are programmed:

E – FileManager Pro
F – Facebook
G – Google Maps
J – Calendar Pro
R – Meterberry
Z – Clock
0 – Profiles
$ – SMS/MMS

Wu-Wei has really done a nice job with this one with customizations and adding a weather slot.
leebo1 leebo2


And a Hidden Today

There are so many versions of this theme, that it can really suit anyone's needs!

Wu-Wei has also been kind enough to report known issues supplied by users and are as follows.
Known Issues
• I have a boatload of variations. I know, my head swims when I look at the list too. Sorry if that’s confusing, but I’ve been doing my best to accommodate everyone’s particular preferences…so there’s a lot there to choose from.
• Battery charging icon misbehaves on Home Screen and Application Screen – does not show pulsing lightning bolt while charging, in fact does not show anything while charging until battery level is 100%, then shows old style ‘plug’ icon.
• The 3G bullets are linked to WiFi on the Home Screen, so if you are connected to WiFi and on 3G, the bullets will disappear from beside the 3G indicator and will be repositioned. (Cannot be changed)
• Notifications and network information are slightly skewed (like 1/2 a pixel for notifications) between Home Screen banner and Application Screen banner. This is partly due to the fact that a different icon format is used on each banner for notifications.
• Larger notification icons, like MeterBerry battery meters and WeatherBerry ‘thermometer’ icons are clipped in application banners. This only occurs on later versions of my theme (1.1.x and higher). I have not determined why the banner was resized between versions. It’s nothing I changed.
• I’m sure there are more quirks that have been pointed out, but let me know if you notice something odd and I’ll do my best to fix it.

Download Links
Right now these are for QWERTY devices, i hope Wu-Wei makes a torch version

Here is a list of all the customizations Wu-Wei has done and OTA download links.
OS5 Devices
leebo05 3.0
leebo06 3.0
leebo06 Pink 3.0

leebo05 3.0.1 (Default meters)
leebo06 3.0.1 (Default meters)
leebo06 Pink 3.0.1 (Default meters)

leebo06 4.0 User Defined Fonts
leebo06 Pink 4.0 User Defined Fonts

OS6 Devices – MANY VARIATIONS
Basic Version
leebo 1.0.4

Variants:
• leebo 1.0.4.1 (Battery meter visible on home screen (very popular request))
leebo 1.0.4.2 (No G key mapped, launches Google Talk if installed )
• leebo 1.0.4.3 (E – FileScout )
• leebo 1.0.4.4 (UK version, £ – SMS/MMS )
• leebo 1.0.4.5 (UK with battery meter)
• leebo 1.0.4.6 (UK with battery meter and network )
• leebo 1.0.4.7 (No hotkeys; battery meter, network and profiles icon )
• leebo 1.0.4.8 (US version – Battery meter and network )
• leebo 1.0.4.10 (US version – network and date only )
• leebo 1.0.4.11 (1.0.4.2 with no battery meter )
Weather Slot Version
To show, hit W. To hide, hit 1 (alt-W).
leebo 1.1

Weather Slot Variants:
• leebo 1.1 Pink
• leebo 1.1.0.2 (Weather slot at top left )
• leebo 1.1.0.5 (Weather slot at top left, S key mapped to Universal Search)

Weather Slot and Hidden Today
leebo 1.7

Weather Slot/Hidden Today Variants:
• leebo 1.7.0.1 (No battery meter on Home Screen, for MeterBerry/BattEx/SmartBIndie users)
• leebo 1.7.1.0 (1.7 style – plain vanilla – no weather slot, no today areas, no battery meter on home screen)
• leebo 1.7.5.0 (No weather slot, no battery meter, E – FileScout)
• leebo 1.7.5.1 (No weather slot, WITH battery meter, E – FileScout)
• leebo 1.7.5.2 (No weather slot, adjusted clock area to accommodate 24 hour time setting, E – FileScout)

Now please remember that his theme is free, and Wu-Wei has a lot of time invested in this keeping the users happy. I am hoping a lot more people enjoy this theme and please don't forget to support the developer with a donation if you like the provided version.
PayPal donation Link

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Posted by Fubaz for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 4:04 pm. | Leebo theme for BlackBerry OS5 and OS6 Devices | 11 comments |


BBM Social Platform Goes Into Public Beta

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 11:50 AM PDT

ScreenHunter_27 Mar. 15 13.41RIM has sent a press release letting us know that their BBM social platform is now open to developers in public beta.  They announced it back at DEVCON 210 and they now have the first public release.

To read more on the features check out our previous post on at this link.

NOTE: This is for BlackBerry 3rd party developers, it does not mean that RIM will make BBM a cross platform. It will allow 3rd party developers to integrate some features from BBM into their applications. Thanks to Marc for noticing the reader confusion.

Press release below:

This means that the BlackBerry developer community can now take advantage of the powerful social aspects of the ultra popular BBM service (an active user base of over 28 million). The BBM Social Platform was first announced at the BlackBerry DEVCON 2010

Press release Link

Enhanced Developer Experience – Empowering features

With this beta release, Java developers have access to APIs and features that allow them to build important functions into their applications. They are user permission based and include accessing and updating fields in the user's profile, creating custom areas within the user's profile, initiating and embedding chats with friends, initiating file transfers, sharing applications virally with friends in their contact list.

Developers also have the ability to test the exact workflow and BBM integration that they can expect to see on a live device. This is made possible by special simulators for BlackBerry smartphone OS 5.0 and 6.0.

More developers will take advantage of the amazing features of the BBM Social Platform starting in April 2011 when full support for the BlackBerry WebWorks platform is planned to be added.

Enhanced End User Experience – More than just chat

With this release the BBM Social Platform revolutionizes social interactions. The end user’s experience can now be extended beyond just messaging/chat to a whole new breed of socially engaging apps including multimedia, gaming, location-based services(LBS), VoIP, video and commerce. What was previously a solitary experience becomes now a social experience. Users gain the ability to discover new apps with friends and share real-time experiences and content with their inner circle. They enjoy the full advantages of the BBM community – always-on and unparalleled immediacy and responsiveness.

More information about the BBM Social Platform and how it enables developers to add social Super Apps features to their applications can be found on the BlackBerry DevBlog at http://devblog.blackberry.com/2011/03/bbm-sdk/

Additional details regarding BlackBerry Messenger and links to BlackBerry Messenger SDK Beta download pages and to the BlackBerry Messenger Getting Started Guide are available at www.blackberry.com/developers/bbm

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Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 2:50 pm. | BBM Social Platform Goes Into Public Beta | 6 comments |


A BlackBerry Wedding Poem…

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 10:48 AM PDT

BlackBerry Poem

It has been awhile since we mentioned the best BlackBerry themed wedding toast. Now we have a new wedding poem courtesy of long time reader ShvartzBerry. He wrote this poem for his BlackBerry junkies sister and brother in law. It also included the above monogram with their initials etched in slightly into an A, R, and Y.

Here is the poem:

Now is your time! As the torch is passed to the next generation, to continue the legacy of your predecessors, and do so in style. Together you will handle all the curves that life throws at you. You will weather all the storms that may come, using the pearls of wisdom you have learned from previous generations. Together, as you tour life's greatest mysteries, you will boldly write a new chapter in the playbook of life.

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Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 1:48 pm. | A BlackBerry Wedding Poem… | 6 comments |


BreakingNews Beta Adds Scrolling RSS Reader to your Homescreen

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 09:02 AM PDT

 RSS feeds3 rss feeds 4

One of the things I have always wanted RIM to add to the homescreen was widgets like weather and news. I didn't think it was possible until a friend pointed out that ShaoSoft has an open beta of BreakingNews that scrolls the headlines of RSS feeds on your homescreen. The widget (for lack of a better word) lets you enter in a few RSS feeds and change some options to show in a news ticker. You can select up to 5 feeds and set an interval for them but the app is in a progressive beta so more feature are being added.

Rss feeds 2 RSS feeds

Check out the progress of the beta over at this thread in the CrackBerry forums. You can pick up the beta to try for yourself at this OTA install link.

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 12:02 pm. | BreakingNews Beta Adds Scrolling RSS Reader to your Homescreen | 9 comments |


When BBM Makes it to the PlayBook Will it Have Video Chat and a New UI?

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 08:00 AM PDT

BlackBerry-PlayBook-660x495Many have questioned whether the PlayBook will have a PIN or not and why does it not have BBM? The current BBM on BlackBerry devices was made for the current BlackBerry OS and not for the kernel that makes up the QNX software.  It has been said that the PlayBook may run BlackBerry apps but I think RIM could do better. BBM is based on PIN # +BIS the Wi-Fi only PlayBook does not seem to have a PIN and no way to support BIS that we know off. We know that RIM is working on their own video chat application but is likely to be a new app not a BBM based.

My thoughts  are that if RIM plans to eventually put QNX on BlackBerry devices I would think that they will have to make a new UI and improve BBM to work better with the QNX OS instead of just porting the OLD BBM to the PlayBook.  That means that they could start from scratch and probably do away with a lot of bugs found on the current version of BBM. With the QNX OS I would think they would have more flexibility in creating a better looking UI and add more options. If they are not currently planning on doing this which many  users of BBM have ask is "will RIM add video chat to BBM?"

I believe that if they are planning on doing that on the current BBM would be hard but if they developed a new BBM with the QNX system they could probably pull this off. That may explain why we have not seen a native BBM app for the PlayBook. This are mainly speculation but it would be awesome if RIM did bring this to both the PlayBook and future BlackBerry devices.  The current BBM is great but it lags specially in group chats, and is a battery hog.  This would give RIM a chance to improve BBM and not be stuck with the limitations of the OLD system.  Who knows maybe RIM is already working on this, but if not it sure is a good dream right? Share your thoughts or ideas below.

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Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 11:00 am. | When BBM Makes it to the PlayBook Will it Have Video Chat and a New UI? | 16 comments |


CoTweet Enterprise Client for BlackBerry Released

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 07:04 AM PDT

cotweet cotweet2

CoTweet is a tool/service that many companies use to manage their social presence and control multiple users. I think even RIM uses it along with HootSuite for some of their Twitter accounts. I am happy to say that CoTweet has finally released CoTweet Enterprise for BlackBerry that gives users access to CoTweet on the go.

The app promises to let you manage the conversations you company has going on Twitter from your BlackBerry which is nice.I am not sure how that fits with Twitters current stance to do away with 3rd party apps but I think the enterprise focus might let CoTweet stick around. Its funny that their screenshots in App World say "Inbox for iPhone" but since do not have an account I could not get screenshots of my own.

If your company uses CoTweet or is looking for an enterprise Twitter solution check out CoTweet Enterprise in App World at this link.

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 10:04 am. | CoTweet Enterprise Client for BlackBerry Released | 3 comments |


US Carrier Speed Claims Put to the Test by PC World

Posted: 15 Mar 2011 05:48 AM PDT

While BlackBerrys currently do not support the latest 4G standards yet (though that will change with the PlayBook soon) its interesting to see which US carrier is currently offering the fastest speeds. PC World's Mark Sullivan put the top 4 US carriers to the test to see which ones offered the fastest laptop and the fastest smartphone data speeds and the numbers are telling. I know many of you also have laptop data cards which is what I found most interesting in the test. PC World checked the 3G and 4G network speeds in 260 locations in 13 cities so it is pretty thorough though there are many areas where even 3G has not made total penetration. So here is a breakdown of the results:

PC World Speed Test2 PC World Speed Test

Verizon takes the cake with their 4G LTE network from Laptops they are the slowest provider for smartphones. T-Mobile is pretty much up there with around 2.3 to 2.8mbps connection speeds which is impressive for a network that really is 3G but is called 4G.

Check out the full results at this link. Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 15, 2011, 8:48 am. | US Carrier Speed Claims Put to the Test by PC World | 7 comments |


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