[Ken from Ireland]

Yes, part of my reason for swapping SIMs between phones often is that there are times when what you really want is a phone that fits in your coin pocket and has a battery that lasts days, or one that takes great video and collects your emails. The occasions when I want one that takes two hands to wield and has more memory than my laptop are quite limited. My z10 is still the best all rounder though.

[Mr4aces]

So I just went on eBay and purchased a used 9900 (AT&T) for about $75. I'm not sure what good it would do for me since it's not upgradable to OS10 and can't be used with Blackberry Blend. I suppose I can keep it as a backup.

My reasons for this insanity? (lol)

My replacement iPhone 5s has auto rebooted 5 times and this is the second replacement unit I got from the Apple store. I need the iPhone for the many apps I use daily that are not available to Blackberry devices. Another reason is that I miss the keyboard and tool belt. The new Classic is too pricey.

Anyway, do people still actively use these older 9900/9930 devices from 2012, which run on single core with 768mb of ram? What do you do with it besides calls and texting/emailing?

It will connect to BlackBerry Desk Top. The original Blend

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Mr4aces]

I made the mistake of up grading the BBM months ago. Does anyone have a link to down load the prior version of BBM? The upgraded version does not do multiple sharing. If I could upload that version I would be in absolute heaven.

My ATT Classic sit in the drawer, the Priv is used like a Passport for line 2. During the day I also forward it to the 9900.

I bought spare parts to assure it will live forever.

If they would remake this phone it would sell like crazy. No need to change the OS7 just 3g of memory. Even 2g would make this phone "faster than a speeding bullet" Lol

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Michniks]

I was trying to create some very simple table in Excel on my Z30 using office mobile/docs to go... Today I took my Bold 9900 to work and waiting for the bus 10min I was able to do it the same, what I did on Z30 and took me almost 30min...! No way, to use full touchscreen devices for excel, etc... Only mouse or in case of BlackBerry - trackpad!

I'm lucky, that my friend from IT department gave me second Bold 9900 for free in perfect condition!

Only one minus for me is that it has keyboard QWERTZ , not normal QWERTY. Its only two symbols but it make huge difference!

[idssteve]

I was trying to create some very simple table in Excel on my Z30 using office mobile/docs to go... Today I took my Bold 9900 to work and waiting for the bus 10min I was able to do it the same, what I did on Z30 and took me almost 30min...! No way, to use full touchscreen devices for excel, etc... Only mouse or in case of BlackBerry - trackpad!

I'm lucky, that my friend from IT department gave me second Bold 9900 for free in perfect condition!

Only one minus for me is that it has keyboard QWERTZ , not normal QWERTY. Its only two symbols but it make huge difference!

Yep, 9900 is absolute KING of single handed Excel! Classic's trackpad makes it pretty good but BB10 itself lacks some capabilities that should be "no brainer". Myself & 26 coworkers still prefer our 9900s for excel editing during QC data entry marathons. My company is prepared to keep our 99s usable just as data entry handsets, if nothing else. Over wifi only, if necessary.

We abandoned our 99s to jump into the Z10, its first month. Based mostly on BlackBerry's reputation and our favorable experience with previous BBs. Our productivity tanked. We kept telling ourselves WE were the problem and just needed more time to learn the "newer & better" technology. 9 months later I clumsily crushed a foam cup of HOT coffee (with creamer & sugar) all over my Z while answering a VERY important call. Still get teased about that here in the office but I was never happier to wreck a device!! Lol

We then jumped into the Q and only after getting it in hand did it sink in that the !?*# thing had NO !?*# toolbelt! Ahrg!!! Fool me twice, shame on me. lol. So much for trusting BlackBerry to know what's best. Lol. Those Qs last about 3 months before a coworker failed to disconnect a conversation with a client. That client listened to his order being processed and managed to extrapolate info about his competitor for a competitive bid. Both are clients of ours. Being honest, he declined the bid and fired us. At least until we assured him that we'd returned to our 9900s. A TRUE business phone, with PHYSICAL "end" key. "Soft end" poses privacy issues that have not been adequately considered, IMO.

Oh well, you can tell when I'm on my 99... Posts ramble on & on... Lol.

Btw, idk if there are other differences involved but if changing from QWERTZ to QWERTY is just a matter of KB swap, 10 minutes & $10 to swap... ?? I just don't know what additional software, etc you'd need??

[Michniks]

In case of changing keyboard QWERTZ to QWERTY. Chcanging physically keyboard to the normal QWERTY is not a solution. You have to do this on software level. I put a question on polish BlackBerry forum. We have 3-4 private specialist in hardware and software issues. And one of them tell me that, there is possibility and write a manual, how to change keyboard software - but it works only on OS which isn't the newest - something about 7.1.0.4XX... I have to ask another person in Poland. If it works I will put here info.

PS. Today I received second gift from IT Department - iGrip Car Mount and Charger for the BlackBerry Bold 9900

[axllebeer]

So I just went on eBay and purchased a used 9900 (AT&T) for about $75. I'm not sure what good it would do for me since it's not upgradable to OS10 and can't be used with Blackberry Blend. I suppose I can keep it as a backup.

My reasons for this insanity? (lol)

My replacement iPhone 5s has auto rebooted 5 times and this is the second replacement unit I got from the Apple store. I need the iPhone for the many apps I use daily that are not available to Blackberry devices. Another reason is that I miss the keyboard and tool belt. The new Classic is too pricey.

Anyway, do people still actively use these older 9900/9930 devices from 2012, which run on single core with 768mb of ram? What do you do with it besides calls and texting/emailing?

Ditch the iPhone and just use Hotspot on your 9900 with an iPod touch. Problem solved.


Posted from my Q10 via the power of "Q"

[edgarfranco47]

i still use my 9900 and my Q10 and my daily driver is my priv... and i must say with my 9900 i love the keyboard so i find myself reverting to my 9900 often!



Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[Michniks]

Btw, idk if there are other differences involved but if changing from QWERTZ to QWERTY is just a matter of KB swap, 10 minutes & $10 to swap... ?? I just don't know what additional software, etc you'd need??

http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe...yboard-726351/

It works. I have now QWERTZ working like QWERTY

[BBerryPowerUser]

I had to jump on the older thread bandwagon.

I swear by my 9900 and Playbook (BRIDGED) for my primary business line. Nothing compares. In my office, I typically leave the 9900 in the charging cradle with the clock up and running, while the Playbook (also in a charging stand) takes the brunt of the emails, texts and social media. I'm slim on Social, so I only do Twitter and LinkedIn with a very small amount of business Facebook. I'm not personally a fan of posting my meals and telling people I'll be out of the country for 2 weeks so my home is open for burgling.

When I am traveling, the 9900 is the best communication tool bar none. Nobex Contact Capture is amazing, BlackBerry Travel sets the automated travel itinerary so high nothing comes close to that level of automation.

I have an iPhone 4s that I use (no SIM) as an iPod for streaming music, as I do with my iPad 2. These devices are excellent for music casting machines, and they do amazing things with Apps, but for business, they fall short for my needs. Very short. I happen to like Slacker Radio and Slacker STILL works with the 9900, as long as you have a subscription. So that's a big plus for me. The 9900 can also deliver my music fix during travel.

I also have a Passport and a Z30 and a Q5 (I swap SIMS) on my personal line, and I like BB10 very much. If I had to use it for business, I'd be OK, but I prefer os7 and the 9900. Like the iPhone is a music machine, the 9900 is a business machine. Case closed for me.

[idssteve]

It seems too self evident that the 9900 was actually carried AND used by top RIM management. Including ML & JB themselves. Using the product your company sells might be referred to as "eating Alpo", in some circles. A reference to an Alpo exec who publicly opened & ate a can of Alpo to demonstrate confidence in his product. A GOOD thing that BB10 fatally lacked, IMO.

After his infamously embarrassing demo, its hard to say JC ever really carried and used a Priv. Lol. Also abundantly obvious, BB10.3.2 devs really never used the abomination they call a calendar, IMO.

The countless refinements embedded throughout our 9900's very obviously resulted from a labor of love SOMEwhere at RIM. Likely starting with ML & JB themselves. JC, etc, really needs a healthy dose of Alpo, IMO. Lol.

[David Tyler]

The countless refinements embedded throughout our 9900's very obviously resulted from a labor of love SOMEwhere at RIM. Likely starting with ML & JB themselves. JC, etc, really needs a healthy dose of Alpo, IMO. Lol.

To quote a certain forum frequent flyer... "WOOF!"



Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[anon(6038817)]

You guys are making me feel nostalgic for the legacy BlackBerry experience! If only I didn't have to use one of the major carriers to get BIS. I'm on Ting, which is very inexpensive and fantastic for swapping between my BB10 devices, but no BIS support means I can't just pop the SIM in my 9810 and go.

Sent from my BlackBerry Torch 9810 using Tapatalk

[axllebeer]

You guys are making me feel nostalgic for the legacy BlackBerry experience! If only I didn't have to use one of the major carriers to get BIS. I'm on Ting, which is very inexpensive and fantastic for swapping between my BB10 devices, but no BIS support means I can't just pop the SIM in my 9810 and go.

Sent from my BlackBerry Torch 9810 using Tapatalk

I didn't know there were carriers that didn't offer BIS. I have been educated tonight.

Flicked via the BlackBerry Keyboard

[EFats]

I've always wondered about the swapping out between BBOS7 and BB10. How do you switch between BIS and regular data on the same line?

I just do it. Don't seem to have any issues. BB10 to BB7 I have to re-register the device and activate e-mail again, but with the awesome trackpad, it's like 10sec job is all. Switching the other way, it just works, don't have to do anything other than turn one device off & the other on.

9900 is still a pleasure to use. In many ways BB7 is better than BB10 (e.g. how I can flag emails right in the inbox & set reminders on them). Nothing wrong with BB7 even in 2016 except for the weak browser. If it weren't for the slow browser AND crap camera, I would've never bothered to move on to BB10. I still love my 9360, which, yes, still works and gets some use once in a while. Aside from the Q10, none of the phones since BB7 are the 'right' size. Way too big (and I'm including Android & iOS)

[to boldly go]

I happen to like Slacker Radio and Slacker STILL works with the 9900, as long as you have a subscription. So that's a big plus for me. The 9900 can also deliver my music fix during travel.

Now that I have a Q10 my Bold 9900 won't be seen with a simcard for awhile. I already miss it. But I did enjoy my OFFLINE Slacker play list at work today on my Bold. Slacker will be mine for as long as Slacker is with BlackBerry 7. And the BB10 online-only but still customizable version is good for a backup while a little bare-bones.

The good old 'Radio for Blackberry' player app from BB World still works great too, and fills the gap somewhat for those of us so badly missing the demise of Live365 radio. Music Finder Pro for grabbing songs online, Pandora still works, and Jazz Radio (desktop version), Accuradio, anyways these are the ones I'm using on the Bold now.

hah! I just realized I am presently looking at, using for Slacker, and talking about my Bold 9790, not my 9900. The phone that taunted me by being a Bold but even SMALLER, therefore BETTER, but alas its locked to a carrier across the planet and can be a wifi streamer or a phone without data browsing.

The Q10 ruined all my hopes and dreams about finding an unlocked 9790. Now I dream of a Q10 with a toolbelt and my Life Shall Be Complete.

Or that Bold with a little more RAM.

Just kidding, Bold, I love you just as you are ; )

[anon(9721108)]

Now that I have a Q10 my Bold 9900 won't be seen with a simcard for awhile. I already miss it. But I did enjoy my OFFLINE Slacker play list at work today on my Bold. Slacker will be mine for as long as Slacker is with BlackBerry 7. And the BB10 online-only but still customizable version is good for a backup while a little bare-bones.

The good old 'Radio for Blackberry' player app from BB World still works great too, and fills the gap somewhat for those of us so badly missing the demise of Live365 radio. Music Finder Pro for grabbing songs online, Pandora still works, and Jazz Radio (desktop version), Accuradio, anyways these are the ones I'm using on the Bold now.

hah! I just realized I am presently looking at, using for Slacker, and talking about my Bold 9790, not my 9900. The phone that taunted me by being a Bold but even SMALLER, therefore BETTER, but alas its locked to a carrier across the planet and can be a wifi streamer or a phone without data browsing.

The Q10 ruined all my hopes and dreams about finding an unlocked 9790. Now I dream of a Q10 with a toolbelt and my Life Shall Be Complete.

Or that Bold with a little more RAM.

Just kidding, Bold, I love you just as you are ; )

I tried Slacker years ago, didn't think much of it. When I discovered TuneIn all the others were history. Still works amazing. Tried it?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[BBerryPowerUser]

I tried Slacker years ago, didn't think much of it. When I discovered TuneIn all the others were history. Still works amazing. Tried it?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

TuneIn is a good app and certainly has its place. Most of what you get on TuneIn is digital streaming of terrestrial broadcast FM stations, not selected playlists or albums/songs on demand. And the quality of the stream is many times very low, well under 128 k. I've encountered streams that were probably around 64k and some I swear around 32k, sounding more like AM than digital. Yet for tuning in WUCF Jazz Orlando while I am in Honolulu, it's fantastic, that's for sure. I have TuneIn Pro, so I can RECORD my favorite Jazz radio shows and listen later. That's a plus.

Slacker Plus or Premium, like all other premium services, has a stream quality far superior to most free services, and Slacker employs live HUMAN Curators to assemble the playlists, rather than computer algorithm song selections. Unlike TuneIn, Slacker, Spotify (that also works on a 9900 with subscription), Apple Music (if you are an Apple Fan) and Google Play Music are music subscription services, not terrestrial radio digital streaming services. Although Apple Music does stream select FM stations via it's service, and they are very high quality streams on par with FM bandwidth. I suspect Apple Music has high standards with regard to what terrestrial FM stations feeds them as far as bandwidth quality. I've compared TuneIn streams of FM stations with Apple Music and the streams at Apple Music were of higher fidelity, and it was very apparent.

What I like about Slacker is that it is the only subscription service to offer a $3.99 per month "PLUS" membership, and not just a $9.99 per month Premium membership. The "Plus" membership gets you unlimited stations streaming with unlimited skips, but you can't call up albums or cuts "On-Demand" like you can with a full $9.99 per month premium subscription, you can't rewind and you can't "scub" the track to get to your favorite part. They do offer those features, but only with the Premium subscription, not the Plus. Personally, I just need the station/playlist streaming service. The Plus membership seems like a good compromise to my wallet and to my ears.

It all comes down to what you like and what you want out of a music service. There is no universal answer to what will work for you because like most things, it is highly subjective.

[anon(9721108)]

TuneIn is a good app and certainly has its place. Most of what you get on TuneIn is digital streaming of terrestrial broadcast FM stations, not selected playlists or albums/songs on demand. And the quality of the stream is many times very low, well under 128 k. I've encountered streams that were probably around 64k and some I swear around 32k, sounding more like AM than digital. Yet for tuning in WUCF Jazz Orlando while I am in Honolulu, it's fantastic, that's for sure. I have TuneIn Pro, so I can RECORD my favorite Jazz radio shows and listen later. That's a plus.

Slacker Plus or Premium, like all other premium services, has a stream quality far superior to most free services, and Slacker employs live HUMAN Curators to assemble the playlists, rather than computer algorithm song selections. Unlike TuneIn, Slacker, Spotify (that also works on a 9900 with subscription), Apple Music (if you are an Apple Fan) and Google Play Music are music subscription services, not terrestrial radio digital streaming services. Although Apple Music does stream select FM stations via it's service, and they are very high quality streams on par with FM bandwidth. I suspect Apple Music has high standards with regard to what terrestrial FM stations feeds them as far as bandwidth quality. I've compared TuneIn streams of FM stations with Apple Music and the streams at Apple Music were of higher fidelity, and it was very apparent.

What I like about Slacker is that it is the only subscription service to offer a $3.99 per month "PLUS" membership, and not just a $9.99 per month Premium membership. The "Plus" membership gets you unlimited stations streaming with unlimited skips, but you can't call up albums or cuts "On-Demand" like you can with a full $9.99 per month premium subscription, you can't rewind and you can't "scub" the track to get to your favorite part. They do offer those features, but only with the Premium subscription, not the Plus. Personally, I just need the station/playlist streaming service. The Plus membership seems like a good compromise to my wallet and to my ears.

It all comes down to what you like and what you want out of a music service. There is no universal answer to what will work for you because like most things, it is highly subjective.

I will definately try Slacker the next time I am on the road! Hopefully the free version still has a lot to offer.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[BBerryPowerUser]

I will definately try Slacker the next time I am on the road! Hopefully the free version still has a lot to offer.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

None of the free version of any of the "on demand" music apps work on the old BlackBerries. You must be a subscriber for any of them to work. This includes Slacker and Spotify.

This is because there has not been a version upgrade in years to those apps, and for FREE versions, these companies want to push you ADVERTISING. The old versions of these apps do NOT support advertising, so they do not work for free. You have to have at least the PLUS subscription to Slacker ($3.99 per month) for it to work on your 9900. This is because any of the subscriptions bypass all ads, so the apps works as it did 5 years ago before these companies started pushing out ads for their free versions.

TuneIn works for free because it is not an ON-DEMAND music app as it is basically for terrestrial streaming of FM and NOT for on-demand music, so it was designed around ads to begin with from the get-go.

[anon(9721108)]

None of the free version of any of the "on demand" music apps work on the old BlackBerries. You must be a subscriber for any of them to work. This includes Slacker and Spotify.

This is because there has not been a version upgrade in years to those apps, and for FREE versions, these companies want to push you ADVERTISING. The old versions of these apps do NOT support advertising, so they do not work for free. You have to have at least the PLUS subscription to Slacker ($3.99 per month) for it to work on your 9900. This is because any of the subscriptions bypass all ads, so the apps works as it did 5 years ago before these companies started pushing out ads for their free versions.

TuneIn works for free because it is not an ON-DEMAND music app as it is basically for terrestrial streaming of FM and NOT for on-demand music, so it was designed around ads to begin with from the get-go.

ah ok well that makes sense. No biggie, I'm good enough with Tunein. I even use it on my iphone/ipad. As long as I can get "The Very Best Of Art Bell" I'm rockin'

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

[to boldly go]

Just one more note on the Slacker topic, for the BlackBerry OS7 version, while there is (was?) an android version that has the offline listening premium feature, I found that version to be primitive and quite clunky on BB10. Slacker Premium $9.99/mo lets you have offline albums, stations either from Slacker or your own mixes, and your own playlists. When you hear a song you like you can quickly add it to one of your playlists so you have the song to hear again later, and of course your playlists can be used even if you don't download them. Its value really shines for people like me who love to have music available but don't have unlimited data or wifi, and spend time where there isn't an internet connection available. I see it as a money saver rather than an extra cost.

[BBerryPowerUser]

Just one more note on the Slacker topic, for the BlackBerry OS7 version, while there is (was?) an android version that has the offline listening premium feature, I found that version to be primitive and quite clunky on BB10. Slacker Premium $9.99/mo lets you have offline albums, stations either from Slacker or your own mixes, and your own playlists. When you hear a song you like you can quickly add it to one of your playlists so you have the song to hear again later, and of course your playlists can be used even if you don't download them. Its value really shines for people like me who love to have music available but don't have unlimited data or wifi, and spend time where there isn't an internet connection available. I see it as a money saver rather than an extra cost.

Good points.

I have Apple Music, as well as Amazon Prime Music. So I don't need Slacker's "Premium", and I don't think they have anywhere near the albums available on either Apple Music or Spotify. I do enjoy Slacker's human curated playlists and I do listen to my "Plus" subscription often on my BlackBerries.

I have also signed up for the 3 month trial of Google Play Music. This has the advantage of getting you Youtube RED included at no charge since Google now owns Youtube. A nice value, especially for the 3 month free trial. I will probably continue this and drop Apple Music.

Spotify is also FREE for unlimited album/song streaming on demand. On a laptop and some tablets, it is even commercial free. A nice perk for free.
Each music service has pluses and minuses that you learn if you try them all. Some are pretty equal and some are not. It's highly subjective, but having a choice in music streaming delivery is nice.

The only drawback to using a 9900 as a music "machine" is trying to "Cast" music to a WiFi receiver. Yes, you can Bluetooth out, but most audiophiles will prefer WiFi casting similar to Apple's "Airplay", but via DLNA on a BlackBerry (10). On BB10, they have brilliantly set up a media server (audio or audio/video) built into the BB10 architecture that is on par with iPhones Airplay. In fact, I think it is superior because it allows native FLAC streaming, and you can set up your BB10 device and the SD card holding your music files as a music SERVER if you wish. It's really very amazing that BlackBerry did all this with BB10. I would wager that most BB10 users don't use half of the great music features of the 10. But it is also not quite as good as iPhone's Airplay because Airplay can CAST ANY media to Wifi Receivers including TuneIn, YouTube, and all Music on Demand apps like Spotify and Slacker. Blackberry can not do this. You can only Cast music on the device or via the BubleuPnP app, you can cast from other devices (using them as a music server) through the Blackberry to a DLNA WiFi receiver.

Back to the 9900 and we have Slacker and Spotify if you have a subscription, and you can play music stored on the device in a variety of formats via Bluetooth but no DLNA WiFi Casting. That's not bad for an old legacy device that is made for hard-core business and not hard-core music delivery. It is rudimentary, but it works for most. The fact that a legacy business machine can stream music from a an on-demand source at all is pretty amazing.

[David Tyler]

...On BB10, they have brilliantly set up a media server (audio or audio/video) built into the BB10 architecture that is on par with iPhones Airplay. In fact, I think it is superior because it allows native FLAC streaming, and you can set up your BB10 device and the SD card holding your music files as a music SERVER if you wish. It's really very amazing that BlackBerry did all this with BB10. I would wager that most BB10 users don't use half of the great music features of the 10.

>sputter!!<

I had NO IDEA, and I have had three BlackBerry 10 phones!!! No one tells you this stuff!!

...That's not bad for an old legacy device that is made for hard-core business and not hard-core music delivery. It is rudimentary, but it works for most. The fact that a legacy business machine can stream music from a an on-demand source at all is pretty amazing.

Got that right.



Passport SE: All the snooty prestige of a device with a precious metal in the name at less than half the price!

[anon(9721108)]

Just curious are there any good police scanner apps?

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk