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- Review: Rivet Leather Folio for BlackBerry Playbook
- Which Carrier Will Sell the BlackBerry Bold 9900 first?
- Devs: BlackBerry PlayBook NDK Beta Coming to Beta Zone Soon?
- BlackBerry Curve 9360 Also Sporting Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot
- External speakers: Getting quality sound out of small devices, a review of the Bowers & Wilkins MM1 and the Jawbone Jambox
- BlackBerry Curve 9360 Has NFC Built In? (Pictures)
- BlackBerry App World 3.0 Now In Beta Zone!
- ZonaSnap Screenshot App Adds BBM 6 Integration
- BlackBerry Torch 9860 & Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.296 Found Online
- BlackBerry Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.303 Found Online
- Unannounced BlackBerry Curve 9360 OS 7.0.0.244 Found Online
| Review: Rivet Leather Folio for BlackBerry Playbook Posted: 05 Aug 2011 12:57 PM PDT
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars Web Site: Rivet Price: $79.90 Rivet has recently released their Leather Folio for Blackberry Playbook and they were very kind to send us a review unit. The black leather case fits snuggly to the Playbook and provides decent protection with access to all the buttons. The unit comes in a cardboard box that is nearly twice the size of the unit, with no instructions. When I pointed this to Rivet acknowledged both issues and they are working on it. To get the unit to the market quickly, they used their existing boxes for iPad folio. It is a good thing their shipping company is not charging by volume, rather by weight. Usage: The Playbook fits in snugly into the case. It is very lightweight and does not add too much to bulk to the unit. Initially the lid was bending slightly upwards, at the line where you fold it to make it a stand. The lid takes around a week to stretch and fit perfectly. So when you get the case and use it for the first time just give it some time. While the case protects most of the Playbook, there is weak spots I found. First one would be at the back of the unit, where there is an opening for the camera:
The opening is great for using the camera while Playbook is still in the case, but I believe it is too big and makes the back/camera vulnerable to drops/spills. The second part is the top of the Playbook. This really is tough spot to cover though, as the case has to leave spots open for microphones, headset jack and other buttons. At least the corners are fully covered. The corners are most prone to damages.
Other than these minor issues, the case works great. The lid stays in place with the aid of a red elastic band. You can quickly slide the band, fold the lid to the back and your Playbook is ready to use. The lid also can be folded near half ways to convert into a useful stand. This can be quite handy when you are watching your favorite show.
The ports on the bottom of the Playbook are accessible only when the lid is folded back. For my daily use, this never presented an issue.
The case is bit pricier than some others. However, Rivet has used high quality leather for their case, it feels great, it is built to last and it will keep your Playbook protected. There's a soft interior lining and the outer shell is made using rigid plastic. When all these are combined, it gives a great protection against shock and other types of damage, while keeping the bulk to minimum. The Playbook looks great and stylish in Rivet Leather Folio as well.
Overall, I love the Rivet Leather Folio for Playbook. It is stylish, lightweight and offers great protection. Highly recommended. Pros: Lightweight High quality leather Case doubles as a stand Cons: Camera can be susceptible to damage. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Remzi Turer for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 3:57 pm. | Review: Rivet Leather Folio for BlackBerry Playbook | Leave a comment |
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| Which Carrier Will Sell the BlackBerry Bold 9900 first? Posted: 05 Aug 2011 10:54 AM PDT
There is rampant speculation going on about release dates for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930. Its a pretty sure thing that some carrier in North America or internationally will launch the Bold 9900 before the Torch 9810 or 9850/9860 launch. The whole situation sort of reminds me of the BlackBerry Bold 9000 launch which came out in Canada before the US though thankfully this time it is not an AT&T exclusive. So I thought we could have some fun placing gentlemen’s bets on who gets the 9900 out first. My bet is sadly on Rogers though I wish it was AT&T or Verizon. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 1:54 pm. | Which Carrier Will Sell the BlackBerry Bold 9900 first? | 7 comments |
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| Devs: BlackBerry PlayBook NDK Beta Coming to Beta Zone Soon? Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:34 AM PDT
It looks like developers waiting for RIM to release the BlackBerry PlayBook QNX Tablet Native Development Kit (NDK) won’t have much longer to wait. According to BBNews.pl the public beta of the NDK will be opening up soon but we don’t have an exact date. It looks like you will be able to apply to participate in the beta through the Beta Zone so keep an eye out over there. The NDK is a huge deal for developers since the PlayBook QNX is POSIX Compliant which means quite a bit of code and even full apps can be ported easily. It also gives developers a whole lot more power than the Flash or WebWorks SDK’s. At the beginning this will be mostly for games and high end apps but once RIM releases a UI framework manager things should get really interesting. Keep an eye out on the PlayBook development landing page for more details If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 11:34 am. | Devs: BlackBerry PlayBook NDK Beta Coming to Beta Zone Soon? | 8 comments |
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| BlackBerry Curve 9360 Also Sporting Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:16 AM PDT
One of the features RIM has been very coy about in BlackBerry 7 has been the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. We saw it pop up in documentation and even devices before but all the devices RIM has been showing off don’t have it featured. They also seem to be glossing over mentioning it on any of the devices they have announced. We are pretty sure that it is coming to the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Torch 9810, 9850, and 9860 but RIM has not confirmed it as far as I have seen.
That is what makes it interesting to see the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot feature show up on the lower end BlackBerry Curve 9380. As you can see in the pictures the feature is there and alive. I am sure RIM is going to find a way to make sure carriers get paid extra for you to use the feature but I think it would be a huge boon for PlayBook users. It would simply allow you to tether to your BlackBerry using Wi-Fi though I am curious what it will do to battery life. I know quite a few of you are waiting for RIM to release such a feature. Let us know why! If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 11:16 am. | BlackBerry Curve 9360 Also Sporting Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot | 5 comments |
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| Posted: 05 Aug 2011 08:15 AM PDT Whatever device you have, chances are, your stock speakers are underpowered and underwhelming. Speaker quality simply isn’t a high priority on cutting edge devices because typical consumers value portability and size over sound quality and bass; and unlike a display, that can be made both high quality and small (think Retina display, Super AMOLED), speakers can’t be made smaller without sacrificing quality and volume. But external speakers give you the best of both worlds–they let you rely on small, portable internal speakers when portability is a primary concern, and let you plug in to some power when you have an itch for some bass. Read on to find out more about two of the best options out there, the feature heavy and super portable Jawbone Jambox and the ear-meltingly awesome Bowers & Wilkins MM1 powered computer speakers.   Setting expectations: Readers of my prior hardware reviews know that I like to set realistic expectations before jumping in, often asking “does the device deliver on its promise?” Surprisingly, the marketing teams for both Jawbone and B&W paint an accurate picture of what to expect right on the box.
                        What you came for–the Sound:The clarity of the sound that you are going to get from your speaker is going to be directly dependent on the size of the driver (the cone-like structure in the speaker). A larger driver produces deeper sounds best, while a smaller driver produces higher sounds best. The larger B&W MM1 speakers are big enough for have larger and smaller drivers for distinct deep and high sounds. The Jambox compensates for its small drivers by using a new system of producing deep bass–a flat structure called a moving-wall passive bass radiator.
Features:
Final Notes: The Jambox is $179.99 on Amazon. It is stylish, ultra-portable and bluetooth capable, making it the ultimate travel companion for your device. It will give you sound that is a hundred times better than anything you can get out of your phone or tablet speakers and will even throw in some bass too. With that said, the B&W MM1′s are really the ultimate showstopper in the home or office setting. The sound is a million times better than anything any of your current speakers will produce. That is why, not surprisingly, they go for $499.95 on Amazon. While I can’t tell you if these prices are worth it for you, I can tell you that if you do decide to pick one of these up, your ears will not regret it. *Note: Jawbone and B&W provided test units for this review If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by David for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 11:15 am. | External speakers: Getting quality sound out of small devices, a review of the Bowers & Wilkins MM1 and the Jawbone Jambox | 4 comments |
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| BlackBerry Curve 9360 Has NFC Built In? (Pictures) Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:49 AM PDT
We mentioned when RIM announced the BlackBerry Torch 9810 & 9850/9860 that we were surprised they did not have NFC built in like the Bold 9900 and 9930. We just assumed that meant that previous reports of the BlackBerry Curve 9360 packing NFC were also incorrect. One of our new tipsters did some sleuthing and found that the BlackBerry Curve 9360 actually HAS NFC according to its OS. Odd right?
As you can see in these pictures the BlackBerry Curve 9360 reports back that it has NFC along with the same options as the Bold 9900. Also notice the little NFC lightning bolt style icons in the picture above. The main oddity is that it does not have the NFC antenna in the battery door like the Bold 9900. I am not sure what to make of that. Let us know what you think! If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 9:49 am. | BlackBerry Curve 9360 Has NFC Built In? (Pictures) | 6 comments |
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| BlackBerry App World 3.0 Now In Beta Zone! Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:23 AM PDT
The time has come for BlackBerry App World 3.0 to start its public beta. RIM let us know that the download is now available for BlackBerry smartphone users in the Beta Zone. It has a slick new look and now splits out Apps, Games, and Themes. Check out all the new features below and in the announcement blog post. New features include:
You can pick up the new version of App World in the Beta Zone at www.blackberry.com/betazone If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 9:23 am. | BlackBerry App World 3.0 Now In Beta Zone! | 3 comments |
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| ZonaSnap Screenshot App Adds BBM 6 Integration Posted: 05 Aug 2011 06:12 AM PDT
I was waiting for this app update to drop and Javier from ZonaBlackBerry let me know it is public. ZonaSnap is my favorite BlackBerry screenshot app and it just got better. Back in OS 5 it used to be able to send screenshots over BBM but that was unavailable in OS 6. Now thanks to the new BBM Social Platform you can once again send screenshots to BBM contacts. New Features include:
You can pick up ZonaSnap for $1.99 in App World with a 30 day free trial If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 9:12 am. | ZonaSnap Screenshot App Adds BBM 6 Integration | One comment |
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| BlackBerry Torch 9860 & Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.296 Found Online Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:58 AM PDT
You can pick up OS 7.0.0.296 for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 @ fileserve.com You can pick up OS 7.0.0.296 for the BlackBerry Torch 9860 @ fileserve.com Warning: This OS will not install on any other BlackBerry besides the one mentioned above and is not an official release.If you do not know how to upgrade your BlackBerry OS please start by reading this step by step guide.Don't forget to delete the vendor.xml file located in c:program files>common files>research in motion>apploader to install it on a different carriers device. Don't forget our usual warnings: do not download and install these updates if you don't know what you're doing. Incorrect procedure or just bad luck could render your BlackBerry inoperative or unstable. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 8:58 am. | BlackBerry Torch 9860 & Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.296 Found Online | Leave a comment |
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| BlackBerry Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.303 Found Online Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:54 AM PDT
You can pick up OS 7.0.0.303 for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 @ fileserve.com Warning: This OS will not install on any other BlackBerry besides the one mentioned above and is not an official release.If you do not know how to upgrade your BlackBerry OS please start by reading this step by step guide.Don't forget to delete the vendor.xml file located in c:program files>common files>research in motion>apploader to install it on a different carriers device. Don't forget our usual warnings: do not download and install these updates if you don't know what you're doing. Incorrect procedure or just bad luck could render your BlackBerry inoperative or unstable. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by the BerryReview Team for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 8:54 am. | BlackBerry Bold 9900 OS 7.0.0.303 Found Online | 2 comments |
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| Unannounced BlackBerry Curve 9360 OS 7.0.0.244 Found Online Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:51 AM PDT
You can pick up OS 7.0.0.224 for the BlackBerry Curve 9360 @ fileserve.com Warning: This OS will not install on any other BlackBerry besides the one mentioned above and is not an official release.If you do not know how to upgrade your BlackBerry OS please start by reading this step by step guide.Don't forget to delete the vendor.xml file located in c:program files>common files>research in motion>apploader to install it on a different carriers device. Don't forget our usual warnings: do not download and install these updates if you don't know what you're doing. Incorrect procedure or just bad luck could render your BlackBerry inoperative or unstable. If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:
Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, August 5, 2011, 8:51 am. | Unannounced BlackBerry Curve 9360 OS 7.0.0.244 Found Online | Leave a comment |
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