[CrackOp]

Overview (probably everybody knows)

• awesome screen resolution&ppi, lightweight
• poor battery, touch event acting weirdly, freeze/crash all the time ...

Technical

1. System seems to treat screen orientation oddly (portrait as landscape, and vice versa). For instance, for the game Tetris, you need to edit MANIFEST.MF and set the screen orientation to landscape so that it will actually run in portrait mode. Developers will get confused if this problem isn't going to be solved.
2. The microphone seems to be on the top (probably another one hidden in the bottom), and the louder speaker is on the bottom of the device. So if you want to make VoIP phone calls (ex. Spare Phone), it's a good idea to hold it upside down.
3. As we all know, sys.* cannot be uninstalled directly due to the "permanent" system action. However, they can be uninstalled indirectly. You can't sign any sys.*.bar package so you'll need a debug token installed on the device. Here's the way:
   
   1. get the original sys.*.bar file; (Well, actually any package with the same package name and id will do, but to avoid the hassle, just grab & modify the original one)
   2. delete all *.SF, *.EC inside the META-INF folder of the archive (4 files);
   3. edit META-INF/MANIFEST.MF:
      1. replace Package-Author and Package-Author-Id with values of yours;
      2. remove the line of Package-Author-Certificate-Hash;
      3. change Application-Development-Mode to "true";
      4. find Entry-Point-System-Actions, remove "permanent" from the list.
   4. install the modified bar package. the result should be a Mode Error. Don't worry about that.
   5. uninstall the sys.*. now it will work.
   6. so now you shouldn't be afraid of testing any sys.* bars.
   
   (Don't know how to install/uninstall? Try my PlayBook App Manager)
4. I've tested sys.* bars from the os2.0. Unfortunately messages don't work in portrait mode. So if anyone has the sys.* bars form the os2.1beta, please reply or pm me.
5. sys.clock, sys.voicerecorder, sys.youtube and sys.podcasts works perfectly.

[Snuupy]

sys.pictures/videos work with a few resolution issues, but they work overall.

sys.clock working.

sys.weather broken.

Edit: If anyone wants me to test a few apps for them, feel free to reply to this thread.

Edit 2: App world not working.
Edit 3: Bridge broken.

[mapsonburt]

That's why they call it an "Alpha"... But it does worry me that they'd be clueless enough to put the mic/speaker upside down... Thanks for the sneak peek.

[big bb]

They did that so that it can not function as a phone so that people cant sell them, and so that they get them back when the test period is over

[Steve Rizla]

The phone has two speakers. The one on the bottom is for speakerphone/playing videos/mps, etc. and then there is one next to the front facing camera as in any other phone.

The mic is at the top of the phone but it picks up voice just fine when holding the phone right side up(i've tested it).

The small battery and the fact that you you have to return the phone, whether you release an app or not, are probably the main reasons why you will not be able to use the phone as a daily driver.

[Snuupy]

Just tested, music app works fine (though everything is super small)

[CrackOp]

That's why they call it an "Alpha"... But it does worry me that they'd be clueless enough to put the mic/speaker upside down... Thanks for the sneak peek.

I'm not complaining. Just want to point out some facts that RIM should be aware of.
I understand the battery-weight trade-off and that's okay. And no preloaded apps? No problem. After all it's a dev device and I can surely invent my own. But RIM should really fix the frequent freezes/crashes with an update and it's indeed annoying. You should at least provide a reliable development/test environment. If it freezes, how would I know if it's OS's fault or my app causes it? Sometimes it even freezes right after I reboot the system.

[CrackOp]

The phone has two speakers. The one on the bottom is for speakerphone/playing videos/mps, etc. and then there is one next to the front facing camera as in any other phone.

The mic is at the top of the phone but it picks up voice just fine when holding the phone right side up(i've tested it).

The small battery and the fact that you you have to return the phone, whether you release an app or not, are probably the main reasons why you will not be able to use the phone as a daily driver.

You are right. I wonder if they are working in a left/right channel scheme. (<==Updated: No, it's not the case.) When both speakers are used, apparently the bottom one is louder so if you can hear via the top speaker, everyone near you can also hear the voice from the bottom one.

For the mic thing, I think maybe there are probably two microphones, one on the top, and the other one hidden in the bottom.

[CrackOp]

Just tested, music app works fine (though everything is super small)

Thanks for all these tests. Some apps form os2.0 works perfectly, only with a smaller background image and/or smaller buttons, which are totally acceptable.
I just wish I could get os2.1beta's sys.messages. Lol.

[CrackOp]

They did that so that it can not function as a phone so that people cant sell them, and so that they get them back when the test period is over

Well they can just brick every device remotely, unless someone keeps his device always offline OR blocks blackberry server on the router. Nevertheless, I just make the most use out of every device on my hand.

[Snuupy]

Hey OP, I got messages for the 2.1 beta, works great in portrait - not so much in landscape.

Edit: 2.1 beta files are on the interwebs.

Edit 2: Contacts doesn't work

[CrackOp]

Hey OP, I got messages for the 2.1 beta, works great in portrait - not so much in landscape.

Edit: 2.1 beta files are on the interwebs.

Edit 2: Contacts doesn't work

I can confirm that sys.contacts from os2.1beta doesn't work. However sys.contacts from os2.0 works in landscape mode.

[Snuupy]

If you've got any other files you'd like me to test, list them here.

Edit: Orb Live works great, except it likes to put up errors after it's done a song, but it now plays movie files!
Robot Unicorn is broken ):

[Pete6]

You are right. I wonder if they are working in a left/right channel scheme. (<==Updated: No, it's not the case.) When both speakers are used, apparently the bottom one is louder so if you can hear via the top speaker, everyone near you can also hear the voice from the bottom one.

For the mic thing, I think maybe there are probably two microphones, one on the top, and the other one hidden in the bottom.

RIM did this with the 9000. It was a huge phone but loved by many. At the time it was reckoned to have the best sound of any phone. It would play back in stereo on speakers.

RIM has a great depth of cell phone technology and innovation from years of research and tests - this is without its store of patents. It should be able to make a phone that has better sound that any that came before if it wishes to.