[thewzard]

I cannot live without UMA and all of the time saving shortcuts on my Bold 9700 (u for unread messages, t for scroll to top, c to create email, start typing a name to call/text/email, etc.) for that matter. Everything just seems to take so much longer on a touchscreen phone. Yes, I want a phone that I can set to 3G without missing dozens of calls a day. I want a phone that can browse the internet beyond a mobile friendly website. I want a phone that I can install more than 3 or 4 apps before running out of application memory. And I want a phone that doesnt remind me that its memory is full every few hours when I have almost nothing installed on it!! Not to mention that it seems to be silently discarding/deleting emails from my handset when this happens in order to free up some memory. And I really hope thats all it's discarding /sigh. That being said, outside of a few apps that iPhone/Andriod users get to have I'm pretty content with my Blackberry Bold 9700 because I can kick some serious work productivity *** on it. Not to mention we get UMA.

Which brings me to my current predicament. I have read article upon article about how the Blackberry Z10 is the second coming of the Messiah for us Blackberry users because we can finally browse the web, install apps without rebooting, and our Blackberry now looks like it belongs in the room with the other kids his age. Great. Welcome to 2007. How about productivity? Isn't that the reason we've stuck behind Blackberry all this time? I love Blackberry and I really believe in their brand and corporate philosophy but dare I say if Apple had released an iPhone with a physical keyboard I would have jumped ship a long time ago. As much as I despise Apple's lack of concern for it's customers/followers and hate it's corporate philosophy, Blackberry has really tested my patience for the past few years with the reboots and this lack of memory crap.

So when are we going to start talking about how quickly we can get stuff done on the Z10? I've already read some disheartening news about having to hold down a message on the BB hub to get into the submenu to delete and other basic functions. Why can't they allow you to click the email once and leave that email highlighted if you want to scroll from there you do and if you want to access more options for that message you use the three dot key and tap tap and BAM you've deleted an email in milliseconds without having to hold down and sit/wait at any point. Also, what genius thought of copying the iPhone by putting the save button on top of the phone instead of on the bottom of the phone like they put the browsers address bar? You enter a new contact and you dont want to have to move your thumb all the way to the top to click save!! Having save on the top right corner of a form/window when you are typing on the bottom of it seems so counter-intuitive to me. Someone please show me some light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for the Blackberry Q10 and hopefully by then they'll have UMA on the BlackBerry 10 finished and ready to go. Which even then if they don't fix some of the productivity issues I would much rather wait for a version of the Q10 that has the Blackberry buttons similar to the Bold 9900. Honestly I love the 9900. If it had UMA (and ideally more memory) I would have upgraded a long time ago. Moving forward a bold 9900 +UMA and BB10 would make me one happy little camper.

I'm sorry for venting guys I know I'm just preaching to the choir here. You all feel my pain and frustration. I really want to see BlackBerry come back but if they forget the things that made them unique before the Z10 what's to stop people from migrating to iPhone/Andriod now that the flagship BlackBerry phone looks more like an iPhone/Andriod than ever?

[RoverSpitfire]

Fast? Depends on your perspective.

Yes the phone belongs in the room with the other kids, but I think it's really fast, coming from an iPhone. Everything is slow and awkward with multiple presses, and pauses for happy animations in iPhone. So getting into the BB10 and being able to use flow, having everything in the Hub so I don't have to jump apps, being able to switch apps without having to stop and press a physical button: all of that adds up to an experience that is lightning quick in how I consume, produce and share information.

And the virtual keyboard on the Z10 is the best virtual keyboard I've ever used. In one day I am more proficient and faster than after 4 years of using iPhones and iPads.

So coming from an iPhone, yeah it's fast. Coming from a QWERTY BB where a power user has memorized all the shortcut keys that I could never find the time to memorize? Probably not. But that my friend is why the Q10 will be for you!

[thewzard]

I feel like going from an iPhone/Andriod to a BlackBerry Z10 is a no-brainer *if* you can live without certain apps which even then you could sideload them onto the Z10 so it shouldn't be a big deal. Sure it requires extra work and some computer/IT knowledge but at least the option is there for folks that absolutely want/need specific apps. After using my playbook, using an iPhone/iPad or an Android phone/tablet seems seriously dated. I'm not really concerned about the move from an Apple/Android device to a Z10. Some people will complain about certain key apps missing like Amazon Kindle, Skype, Netflix and etc. but it's nothing that can't be solved with time as more developers, that have been waiting for the new BlackBerry OS to come out before creating an app for BlackBerry users, start rolling out their apps.

I am concerned however about giving up the things that have kept me loyal to Blackberry thus far. Is anyone at CrackBerry considering doing a video comparing common everyday business/personal functions on the Blackberry OS7 phones vs the Z10? Things such as dialing/texting/emailing a contact, saving a new contact, creating an email, etc. all from the lockscreen. Since I cannot go buy one for another month at least I really wish someone would cover the productivity aspect of the Z10.

[thewzard]

I'm thoroughly surprised that more folks aren't interested in this topic.

[Dimitri.69]

I'm thoroughly surprised that more folks aren't interested in this topic.

To be honest, UMA is a great feature but with Rogers, they took it down. So really only the older models will be able to get UMA & Rogers does not have a UMA plan anymore.

To be UMA is not really a thing i would want as i get charged more on my plan to have it.

[ThaMunsta]

Rogers came out with unlimited Canada wide plans to fill the gap. I just changed my plan over and now can pretty much call anywhere for as long as I want. I don't call the US so this is perfect.

I used to live off UMA too and it was great for when I was up north and had to send texts over wifi because network coverage was flaky. I feel your pain.

[thewzard]

If you've never experienced UMA its like going from a 56Kbps modem to DSL/Cable for the first time. Not necessarily in terms of speed but in terms of what the technology opened the world up to. There are many places in Miami that are deadspots where I am typically the only person in the room with phone service because I jumped on wi-fi. Hi-rise condominiums being one example (after the 40th floor good luck trying to get reception from any carrier). Airports, hotels, government buildings, office buildings, remote locations when traveling, traveling abroad (big savings), while on an airplane (yes I can confirm that UMA works on gogo or whatever it's called). Living without UMA after being exposed to it is like jumping into a time machine and going back to 1998.

Maybe cell phone coverage in other parts of the US and Canada is good enough that UMA is marginal at best but to me UMA is indispensable.

[luvsql]

I am with Rogers and have a 9900 and the wifi calling $5 plan. I require it as I have no reception at my house (no I don't live in a basement and live in Toronto - Rogers just has crappy reception where I live). Without wifi calling/UMA I cannot use my phone indoors for phone calls, receive phone calls or make/receive text messages. Rogers One Number doesn't support Corporate customers, which I'm a part of.

So basically from 6PM at night until I get in my car at 8AM the next morning, I only have data coverage. Do you know how annoying and frustrating that is?

[grover5]

There are two types of wifi calling. As i understand it one is hardware based (UMA) and the other is software based which is what the 9900 and Android phones have. UMA is much more stable and allows you to hand off from wifi to a cellular signal without dropping the call. The software version drops the call during the hand off. In my opinion UMA is far superior and I was happy to see it stated in another thread the other day that the Z10 had UMA built in. Is that not the case? I was looking forward to having UMA again as I loved it on my 9700 and hate the wifi calling on my 9900.

[luvsql]

I would even take the software version as I don't care about the handoff. There is no option on the device itself to set this option as it was on my 9900 so it's not even a software option.

[luvsql]

I was told by a Rogers Rep at the BB conference in Toronto on Monday the Z10 had UMA (full). Rogers says no. Doesn't work on the Z10 so I guess it's a no. Why is this information not readily available to customers?

[Chems]

The blackberry Z10 comes with 11.3GB of usable internal memory storage...but how much of this is allocated specifically to application memory space?

[SangreNegra]

The blackberry Z10 comes with 11.3GB of usable internal memory storage...but how much of this is allocated specifically to application memory space?

WTF... Wrong thread? ;-)

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[thewzard]

I'm hoping that at some point someone gets official word from BB on the hardware based UMA feature.

[dd3]

me too. went out tonight, no network signal where I needed to be, but free wifi.....on way home 3 missed calls and 2 messages....thats why UMA and wifi calling are necessary.

[norbi99]

I am in the same boat. No UMA or WiFi calling is a dealbreaker for me. Just came from a store and the rep said the feature is listed on their internal site but could not find the setting anywhere on the phone. He said it could come later with a software upgrade.
Apparently they did the same with BB9900. I will not get the phone till I don't see the feature on the phone, that is for sure...

[Dimitri.69]

I am in the same boat. No UMA or WiFi calling is a dealbreaker for me. Just came from a store and the rep said the feature is listed on their internal site but could not find the setting anywhere on the phone. He said it could come later with a software upgrade.
Apparently they did the same with BB9900. I will not get the phone till I don't see the feature on the phone, that is for sure...

You do realize its not only BlackBerry fault here? Carriers do not support it anymore has more products come out. For instance Rogers has something called Rogers One Number. This is the same as WiFi calling but you download the program on your pc and use it threw there without being charged minutes or texts. You can talk all you want without being charged. This is the pain reason why WiFi and UMA calling was taken out.

Posted via CB10

[cannonco]

I agree with you that UMA is a great asset to the Blackberry line. I live in a place where the cell signal is spotty at best and use my home WiFi network to make my phone calls. When I bought my Z10 I did not realize that this option was not included (you would have thought that Blackberry would have kept that option, I would have paid $50 more just to ensure it was on the phone). I do not know if Blackberry can develop a patch during their software update to allow the phone to make calls on the WiFi network. If so I hope they recognize this flaw and rectify it soon.

[scrannel]

OK, so I probably missed it scanning your original tome, but what carrier are you with? I am with T-Mo USA, and they seem to be one of the few dedicated to making wifi-calling functional. UMA, as such, is history here. T-Mo went to Kineto (software) which I had on my last Android phone, and was pushed OTA to a bunch of Android phones. Obviously does not require special hardware like original UMA. Now T-Mo is using IMS as their wifi-calling software, and this was pushed to 9900s. It's on most Android phones at T-Mo. It has been promised as an OTA upgrade for the Z10 and perhaps the Q will come with it. It's a great option, especially when overseas.

[purpledog10]

I know this isn't the answer to the issue, but I relied on uma with my 9700 at home and at my parents ' home because cellphone coverage is so poor. I'm with T-Mobile. So now with my z10 4G I get great signal at home and don't need the uma, haven't tried it at my parents ' house yet. This is just an observation, not given as a recommendation or solution!

Posted via CB10

[wxmancanada]

To be honest, UMA is a great feature but with Rogers, they took it down. So really only the older models will be able to get UMA & Rogers does not have a UMA plan anymore.

To be UMA is not really a thing i would want as i get charged more on my plan to have it.

The service and plans still exist, you just have to ask them for it.

+1 to all the people saying that it's more about living in an area without reception - during the summer months I live on a lake in the middle of nowhere, the best cell signal I can get is one bar of EDGE on the roof. They added UMA access to my plan, for free, because of this.

[rider997]

I love Blackberry and I really believe in their brand and corporate philosophy but dare I say if Apple had released an iPhone with a physical keyboard I would have jumped ship a long time ago.

That's what the Q10 is for... :-)

Why can't they allow you to click the email once and leave that email highlighted if you want to scroll from there you do and if you want to access more options for that message you use the three dot key and tap tap and BAM you've deleted an email in milliseconds without having to hold down and sit/wait at any point.

You can. Tap the message, double-tap the three dots at the lower right. Message deleted. Takes less than 0.5 second for each deletion.

[scrannel]

The service and plans still exist, you just have to ask them for it.

+1 to all the people saying that it's more about living in an area without reception - during the summer months I live on a lake in the middle of nowhere, the best cell signal I can get is one bar of EDGE on the roof. They added UMA access to my plan, for free, because of this.

Adding it to your plan does nothing unless the phone has the software. Big misunderstanding. People do it all the time. My wife's BBerry has UMA, the Z10 does not. At least for now. T-Mo seems to be dedicated to the technology.