[Q10Bold]

Here's a preview of what tomorrow's post will be about (assuming delivery happens tomorrow as promised):

Attachment 265288

The best thing is- you can use this charging pod on your Q10, too
Ok it wont charge but the phone stays inside anyway

Posted via Q10Bold

[anon(6038817)]

A Bold Experiment: Day 16 - Charging Pod



Before I got my BlackBerry Bold 9930, I learned a good lesson from owning a PlayBook: good accessories make a huge difference.

I bought 2 rapid charging stands, 2 micro-HDMI to HDMI cables, and a Bluetooth Mini Keyboard Case for my PlayBook and they have greatly enhanced its usefulness and lasting appeal for me.

So it was without hesitation that I decided to buy 2 charging pod bundles for my 9930.

Why Two?



Simple: one for home, one for work. No longer will I have to have a charging cable draped over my desk, or have my phone connected to my computer via a USB cable to charge it. Just place it in the charging pod and I'm good to go. Obviously, I'll take a charger with me while I'm away from home and work for an extended period of time - in this day and age it's foolish to travel without bringing along chargers for your mobile devices. But it just got that much easier for me to keep my Bold charged and ready for action!

What's In The Box



The box includes the charging pod/stand, USB cable, and a wall adapter. It's all loose inside the box, not secured to any cardboard or anything, but it doesn't really need to be. This equipment was made to last.

Design



The charging pod looks quite simple, yet elegant and effective. It has a cradle where you place the phone. Inside the cradle are 2 metal prongs that correspond with the 2 metal contacts on the bottom of the Bold. You may have to shift the phone a bit after placing it in the pod to make sure the prongs are lined up with the contacts.

There's also a soft green light that indicates the pod is indeed plugged in and receiving power.

The pod is not particularly heavy - at least it doesn't feel like there is any extra weight that has been added to it. Extra weight is unneccessary because of the angle of the phone when it is docked. It's quite secure and not in danger of popping out of the cradle or falling backward easily.

Docking/Charging Features



You can set the phone to do nothing when you connect it to a charger or charging pod, or you can have it display the clock.

You can also have it enter bedside mode - one of my favorite BlackBerry features. This allows you to disable the LED & radio, dim the screen, and switch to a different sound profile. That way you don't have to fiddle with those settings every night before going to bed so the phone doesn't pester you with notifications and such. You can even restrict bedside mode to only be enabled between specific hours.

No other smartphone platform that I am aware of (except BB10, of course) has this same bedside mode functionality built into the OS. iOS has a "Do Not Disturb" feature, but it's not nearly as customizeable, nor does it activate or deactivate depending on the phone's charging status. With Android, you actually have to download 3rd party apps and utitlities to try to get the same kind of functionality, and they can be hit or miss.

But these "antiquated" legacy BlackBerry phones have had this feature since the Bold 9000, which was released 6 years ago!

Conclusion

As I said in the beginning, good accessories make a huge difference. And the charging pod for the Bold 9900 series is no exception. These pods will sit right next to my PlayBook rapid charging stands and will make it that much easier to use my Bold at home and work. And they are cheap, these days! I bought mine on Amazon for $34.50 total, including Prime 2-day shipping.

I highly recommend picking one or two of these up if you have a 9900 series.

[anon(8063781)]

So I tried taking pictures of documents with my Bold 9900 like I do with the iPhone, and unfortunately, I just can't get a decent shot. They're all blurry and illegible. I tried moving out to get out of any possible macro zone, and changing the lighting, and it still didn't work. Conclusion: you need auto-focus to take good pics of documents.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the cradle review. I plan to get one for home and one for the office. One of the nice things about old technology is that the accessories are dirt cheap on eBay. When the classic comes out, and I'm unable to resist self-Christmas-presenting, I know I'm going to be paying through the nose for accessories.

[anon(8063781)]

So I finished writing my post, and there's the review. Get out of my head, Newfangled! Two charging cradles, indeed.

[flyingsolid]

Do you have a link to the item page? Might get one for the 9930 as I have the cradle for the 9650.

[anon(6038817)]

Do you have a link to the item page? Might get one for the 9930 as I have the cradle for the 9650.

Amazon.com: RIM Desktop Cradle Dock Charging Pod OEM Desktop Charger for AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon BlackBerry Bold 9900 9930 -Black: Cell Phones & Accessories

[anon(6038817)]

So I finished writing my post, and there's the review. Get out of my head, Newfangled! Two charging cradles, indeed.

Great minds think alike, eh?

[Ray III]

I got the charging pod too. There seems to be a button inside, probably to avoid shorting out on the metal frame if inserted upside down or something. I put the phone in standing straight up with a little press down, then tip it back. It's possible to put it in too gently and have it not charge.

After using something like this, I can't stand charging my phone with a cable.

[anon(6038817)]

It fits in quite nicely on my desk at work!

[texn884]

I have my 9930 in the drawer and charge it from time to time. I have the Q10 and a few of you say you go from the Bold to the Q10 and back again.

How do you do that with your carrier? Mine are Sprint phones

[Lefty724]

My charging pod is still 2 weeks away but I just bought one for the Q, not the Bold.....until tonight lol.

I'm basically running the same experiment as Newfang except my Bold is on a whole other line (thus keeping my Q10 close by, I know cheating lol) and I have noticed a few things myself.

The Bold 9900 is way easier to navigate. Calendar, phone, text, email, etc is a lot easier with the tool belt. Also, the 9900 is an absolute beast with emails. I get my work (Go Daddy hosted site) and personal email instantly while I have to manually refresh the Q10 when I remember. The track pad is heaven compared to using the little circle for precise position.

The browser on the Q10 is also better, but the 9900 is not too far behind imo. I don't use the browser much, I mainly use apps for my reading. I wish BBO7 had Tapatalk since it's a super important app to me.

The Q10 OS is way faster and snappier than BBO7 though. Also, I like the spell check and punctuation correction a lot better on the BB10.

As of now, the Q10 has better battery life (new oem battery), but I just received the new battery for the 9900 today, so I'll check back. I always like to order a fresh battery for all of my devices, since it gives me a piece of mind.

I also ordered a few sim adapters so once they come in, I'll give the 9900 a full 2 weeks to see how they compare.

Posted via CB10

[Soul_Est]

My charging pod is still 2 weeks away but I just bought one for the Q, not the Bold.....until tonight lol.

I'm basically running the same experiment as Newfang except my Bold is on a whole other line (thus keeping my Q10 close by, I know cheating lol) and I have noticed a few things myself.

The Bold 9900 is way easier to navigate. Calendar, phone, text, email, etc is a lot easier with the tool belt. Also, the 9900 is an absolute beast with emails. I get my work (Go Daddy hosted site) and personal email instantly while I have to manually refresh the Q10 when I remember. The track pad is heaven compared to using the little circle for precise position.

The browser on the Q10 is also better, but the 9900 is not too far behind imo. I don't use the browser much, I mainly use apps for my reading. I wish BBO7 had Tapatalk since it's a super important app to me.

The Q10 OS is way faster and snappier than BBO7 though. Also, I like the spell check and punctuation correction a lot better on the BB10.

As of now, the Q10 has better battery life (new oem battery), but I just received the new battery for the 9900 today, so I'll check back. I always like to order a fresh battery for all of my devices, since it gives me a piece of mind.

I also ordered a few sim adapters so once they come in, I'll give the 9900 a full 2 weeks to see how they compare.

Posted via CB10

SIM adapters will work just fine with the 9900. I use one with a Nano-SIM in my 9900. I do recommend sanding the SIM down so that the chip sits level with the bottom side of the SIM adapter for peace of mind.

[Rootbrian]

My charging pod is still 2 weeks away but I just bought one for the Q, not the Bold.....until tonight lol.

I'm basically running the same experiment as Newfang except my Bold is on a whole other line (thus keeping my Q10 close by, I know cheating lol) and I have noticed a few things myself.

The Bold 9900 is way easier to navigate. Calendar, phone, text, email, etc is a lot easier with the tool belt. Also, the 9900 is an absolute beast with emails. I get my work (Go Daddy hosted site) and personal email instantly while I have to manually refresh the Q10 when I remember. The track pad is heaven compared to using the little circle for precise position.

The browser on the Q10 is also better, but the 9900 is not too far behind imo. I don't use the browser much, I mainly use apps for my reading. I wish BBO7 had Tapatalk since it's a super important app to me.

The Q10 OS is way faster and snappier than BBO7 though. Also, I like the spell check and punctuation correction a lot better on the BB10.

As of now, the Q10 has better battery life (new oem battery), but I just received the new battery for the 9900 today, so I'll check back. I always like to order a fresh battery for all of my devices, since it gives me a piece of mind.

I also ordered a few sim adapters so once they come in, I'll give the 9900 a full 2 weeks to see how they compare.

Posted via CB10

Tapatalk is available in BlackBerry World, same for the CrackBerry version too, I believe. Might wanna search the forums or blogs too, if the CB one cannot be found.

Posted via CrackBerry 10 (CB10) application using my BlackBerry Q10.

[flyingsolid]

Tapatalk is available in BlackBerry World, same for the CrackBerry version too, I believe. Might wanna search the forums or blogs too, if the CB one cannot be found.

Last time I tried to buy the app it came through as not for sale. A large problem of BBOS is the applications in BlackBerry World are starting to rot.

[Lefty724]

Tapatalk is available in BlackBerry World, same for the CrackBerry version too, I believe. Might wanna search the forums or blogs too, if the CB one cannot be found.

Posted via CrackBerry 10 (CB10) application using my BlackBerry Q10.

Been searching for it with the Q10 (BB10) and with the Bold 9900 (BB07). Can't find it anywhere?

Any links or help would be awesome!

Posted via CB10

[madcat72]

i tried looking for tapatalk, looks like they've abandoned bb altogether, all links are dead.

i manage to find a link to BBW that actually worked, i tried purchasing it and no can do,

Sent from my BlackBerry 9790 using Tapatalk

[madcat72]

Sent from my BlackBerry 9790 using Tapatalk

[Ray III]

E-mail those guys and see what their problem is. I can see ending support, but it makes no sense to just stop selling an already-built app.

[Ray III]

Quick search indicates Tapatalk is ignoring BlackBerry users, even those who paid for a nonexistent app.

Try this link. I don't know if it works because I don't use an app, I just post from my browser.

http://d.blackberryrc.com/file/2011/...p/Tapatalk.jad

[anon(6038817)]

A Bold Experiment: Day 18 - GPS Navigation

Today was the perfect day to test out GPS navigation on the Bold 9930. I needed to travel to a public library about 1.5 hours away. I had never been there before, so I needed to rely on the Bold's GPS capabilities.

I didn't take screenshots as I was doing it, but I did take some screenshots of the apps I used later to do this writeup.

Maps App



I used BlackBerry's Maps app to search for the address, and it found it just fine. This hasn't always worked for me in the past, so I also have the Google Maps app installed as a backup.

This app is very nice and pretty quick. It has a lot of features, but for my purposes I just wanted to see the route on a map and also see...



turn-by-turn directions.

Traffic App



There is a companion app called BlackBerry Traffic that actually does turn-by-turn GPS navigation with voice prompts. There is a menu option in Maps that lets you send an address over to Traffic. A very convenient feature!

Traffic gave me a couple different routes to choose from, and it also shows potential traffic problems along each route.



All I had to do was tap on the route I wanted, and the navigation began.

The Traffic app has different screens that let you see the Next Maneuver, Road List (directions), Traffic View, and detailed Trip Info.

Verdict

My BlackBerry Bold 9930 got me to my destination accurately and safely, today. I had a USB adapter and charging cable in the car with me, and I just kept it plugged in during the trip. The external speaker was plenty loud enough for me to hear over the din of freeway traffic on a very rainy day. And the screen displayed the info I needed to see at a glance. All-in-all it was a good experience and now I know I can rely on my Bold to get me where I need to go.

[Mr4aces]

Newfangled you have done a really good job on this thread I give you 2 thumbs up.

Q1: Did you try BB Social Feeds* yet? I just now used it after having a 9900 for 3 years and doing it the hard way. Fantastic app I am able to take care of all my Twitter accounts and not be bothered by uninteresting feeds.
*BBM corrected to BB Social Feeds

Q2: How are you viewing CB. I up loaded the CB app and it sucks. Slow and I'm unable to perform all the functions.

[Mr4aces]

Ooh , now I feel like buying a charging cradle !

When I moved 2 years ago I packed the charging cradle. I spent a half a day digging in boxes and found it. So I have the cradle on the counter, charger next to the sofa and another in the bedroom.

Newfangled BTW: I uploaded the RC21 hybrid yesterday and boy what an improvement. I made a mistake of uploading a back up to my replacement 9900. Whatever was wrong with my old phone transfered to this phone. I wiped it clean and reloaded the OS and RC21

[mnc76]

Newfangled you have done a really good job on this thread I give you 2 thumbs up.

Q1: Did you try BBM yet? I just now used it after having a 9900 for 3 years and doing it the hard way. Fantastic app I am able to take care of all my Twitter accounts and not be bothered by uninteresting feeds.

Q2: How are you viewing CB. I up loaded the CB app and it sucks. Slow and I'm unable to perform all the functions.

Yeah, the BBOS version of CB forums is mediocre at best. Using the mobile website is a much better experience than the app.

Posted via CB10

[goodayeh]

Newfangled you have done a really good job on this thread I give you 2 thumbs up.

Q1: Did you try BBM yet? I just now used it after having a 9900 for 3 years and doing it the hard way. Fantastic app I am able to take care of all my Twitter accounts and not be bothered by uninteresting feeds.

Q2: How are you viewing CB. I up loaded the CB app and it sucks. Slow and I'm unable to perform all the functions.

Re : Q2

I agree with you - don't like using the CB app.
I 'm on Opera Mini , always 4 or 5 tabs open.

[flyingsolid]

It's unfortunate that the theme builder was never released for OS7 otherwise I would have liked to hear your take on themes and the general design versus what OS 10 may have in 10.3.