[bobo616]

Hi,

I am currently an iphone 4 user, I have recently tried a nokia lumia 820 for a week as I am bored of the look of IOS and wanted a bigger screen and sadly the WP OS doesnt live up to my expectations but this looks like it could be a blessing in disguise as I had completely discounted Blackberry's due to recent perception of them and the fact I thought they were only aimed at business users, I think BB10 looks great but as I am an iphone user I have lots of questions about what blackberry can currently do. Most of these have been spawned from my experience with the lumia so it will look as though I am bashing window OS but I have just put these points so other people can see how restricted WP is and I am hoping RIM isnt.

My main theme is privacy and my main usage of the phone will be video\photo capture of my kids and internet browsing. I do use apps but not hundreds of them so the amount of apps blackberry world has isnt too important as long as it has enough good apps rather than just repeated apps.

I really do think from what I have seen that BB10 will be huge if it lives up to the demos shown so far.

Anyway here are my questions, I appreciate there are a lot but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

1. Will you be able to to save apps to an SD card if the new blackberry touchscreen phone has one as WP didnt let me do this, if not do you know how much storage will be on board?
2. Can you edit videos on blackberry phones either via the OS or an app, again WP wouldnt let you do this?
3. Can you password protect or encrypt photos and videos? WP cant protect videos.
4. What are the cameras like on blackberrys in general?
5. Are Blackberrys sold sim free in the UK, if so how much would the new touchscreen phone likely be?
6. How are apps vetted, as the risk of malware on android has always put me off?
7. Can you backup your phone locally or does it have to be to the cloud? WP you can only backup to the cloud.
8. Can you restrict on an app per app basis if they can access my contacts, photos, location etc or do you only get to review this before you install it? WP doesnt.
9. Are you able to add contacts or calendar items without them syncing across to a cloud account, again some people may want to access these details from multiple places, I dont and I want the choice? WP forces these synchronisations.
10. Can you assign individual or group contacts different text alerts, I used to be able to do this years ago on my Sony C902 but it took Apple years to do it and it seems WP has followed the same path?
11. If I dont hear a text alert will it alert me a couple more times a few minutes apart like IOS does? WP doesnt.
12. Are you able to add or view the custom dictionary or add to the autocomplete suggestions, such as typing lm autocorrecting to lmao? You cant on WP.
13. Are you able to select all text using copy and paste? Cant on WP.
14. Are you able to select a different search engine inthe web browser rather than just Bing or Google, again being a private person I prefer to use a search engine such as Startpage.com or duckduckgo? Are there other browsers in the store to choose from? WP you cant.
15. Are you able to see how much mobile\cellular data my phone has used, this isnt massively important to me as I am on an unlimited plan but I would like to be able to check it? Again you cant on WP.
16. Are you able to see how much space an individual app is taking up, some apps may only be a few mb to start with but they can grow such as Twitter, I want to be able to see where my space is going, especially if I cant put apps on the SD card or if I am running out of space? WP you cant
17. Does the status bar show at all times so I can see how my battery or signal is all the time? WP you cant.

Thanks again.

[knowledge_6]

Hi,

I am currently an iphone 4 user, I have recently tried a nokia lumia 820 for a week as I am bored of the look of IOS and wanted a bigger screen and sadly the WP OS doesnt live up to my expectations but this looks like it could be a blessing in disguise as I had completely discounted Blackberry's due to recent perception of them and the fact I thought they were only aimed at business users, I think BB10 looks great but as I am an iphone user I have lots of questions about what blackberry can currently do. Most of these have been spawned from my experience with the lumia so it will look as though I am bashing window OS but I have just put these points so other people can see how restricted WP is and I am hoping RIM isnt.

My main theme is privacy and my main usage of the phone will be video\photo capture of my kids and internet browsing. I do use apps but not hundreds of them so the amount of apps blackberry world has isnt too important as long as it has enough good apps rather than just repeated apps.

I really do think from what I have seen that BB10 will be huge if it lives up to the demos shown so far.

Anyway here are my questions, I appreciate there are a lot but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

1. Will you be able to to save apps to an SD card if the new blackberry touchscreen phone has one as WP didnt let me do this, if not do you know how much storage will be on board?
   i don't know if storage amounts have been disclosed, but i'm assuming the same as the PB.. 16, 32gb etc.. as for saving on the sd card.. no one knows.. but i assume it will have this ability, but don' quote me
2. Can you edit videos on blackberry phones either via the OS or an app, again WP wouldnt let you do this?
   again this has not been disclosed, but from the demos i see some sorta story maker icon
3. Can you password protect or encrypt photos and videos? WP cant protect videos.
   not sure
4. What are the cameras like on blackberrys in general?
   the cameras are pretty decent.. but again the new cameras are completely different.. from what we have seen from demos it has autofocus, and timeshift.. timeshift allows you to go back and forth in time to set the right moment (i.e if someone's eyes were closed u can focus on the face and change to a point in time where their eyes were open.. or u can change the entirety of the photo) hope that makes sense
5. Are Blackberrys sold sim free in the UK, if so how much would the new touchscreen phone likely be?
   from the sounds of it RIM might be selling them directly.. i am not 100% sure though..
6. How are apps vetted, as the risk of malware on android has always put me off?
   Blackberry just passed FIPS, which ensure highest security.. and i believe RIM has a high standard for security on apps.
7. Can you backup your phone locally or does it have to be to the cloud? WP you can only backup to the cloud.
   you can backup locally through desktop manager and have an actual file that is saves to..
8. Can you restrict on an app per app basis if they can access my contacts, photos, location etc or do you only get to review this before you install it? WP doesnt.
   usually when you open an app it asks you to set permissions depending on what the app needs to access to function.
9. Are you able to add contacts or calendar items without them syncing across to a cloud account, again some people may want to access these details from multiple places, I dont and I want the choice? WP forces these synchronisations.
   if i understand u correctly is to have a local calendar on your device.. the answer is yes.. it doesnt have to sync anywhere..
10. Can you assign individual or group contacts different text alerts, I used to be able to do this years ago on my Sony C902 but it took Apple years to do it and it seems WP has followed the same path?
    yes you can
11. If I dont hear a text alert will it alert me a couple more times a few minutes apart like IOS does? WP doesnt.
    you don't need too cause you have the LED that blinds you and tells you u have a notification..
12. Are you able to add or view the custom dictionary or add to the autocomplete suggestions, such as typing lm autocorrecting to lmao? You cant on WP.
    yes you can on the old BBOS device.. on BB10 it will learn how you type and store it automatically.. so if you type "yoooo" a lot it'll store it and recognize it next time
13. Are you able to select all text using copy and paste? Cant on WP.
    u mean is there an option to select all? in the old BBOS there was a "start selection" option.. then u can select whatever text u want and then paste it.
14. Are you able to select a different search engine inthe web browser rather than just Bing or Google, again being a private person I prefer to use a search engine such as Startpage.com or duckduckgo? Are there other browsers in the store to choose from? WP you cant.
    yes
15. Are you able to see how much mobile\cellular data my phone has used, this isnt massively important to me as I am on an unlimited plan but I would like to be able to check it? Again you cant on WP.
    for me i use the myaccount app from Rogers, but i don't think BB has anything built in..
16. Are you able to see how much space an individual app is taking up, some apps may only be a few mb to start with but they can grow such as Twitter, I want to be able to see where my space is going, especially if I cant put apps on the SD card or if I am running out of space? WP you cant
    yes you can
17. Does the status bar show at all times so I can see how my battery or signal is all the time? WP you cant.
    yes you can .. in BB10 i believe in app the status bar is hidden, but once u do the gesture from the bottom to PEEK it'll show you everything like which notifications you have the time, the battery and signal etc..

Thanks again.

answered as best i could... it;s good to see people keeping their options open with BB10.. i'm sure a lot of things will change and become better.. hope it helped! if you have anything that needs to be clarified just post ; >

[bobo616]

Thanks for the reply, it all sounds very positive and dont worry I wont quote you if anything isnt correct ;-)

[knowledge_6]

Thanks for the reply, it all sounds very positive and dont worry I wont quote you if anything isnt correct ;-)

np... for the question about unlocked devices ... i meant RIM might be selling them on top of carriers.. just to be clear ; > but who knows what the carriers will say to that...
but the playbook has been available through RIM so i am just assuming it might be a new thing they will start to have??

anyways good luck ; >

[Knightcrawler]

My main theme is privacy and my main usage of the phone will be video\photo capture of my kids and internet browsing. I do use apps but not hundreds of them so the amount of apps blackberry world has isnt too important as long as it has enough good apps rather than just repeated apps.

For all those things, BB10 is the best choice. Privacy is synonymous with Blackberry, so that's no contest. The BB10 browser, from all indications, is going to be top of its class. It has the highest HTML5 scores and has flash support so 90% of the internet isn't blocked to you. As for photo/video capture, Timeshift will be great for kids (who never sit still). If the Playbook is any indication, the hardware will be great too.

[Bobcat665]

1. Yes, current BB devices have a (micro)SD slot and thus you have to option to save files there with practically no restriction. Seeing as the newest Developer Alpha also has a SD slot, I think it's a given that BB 10 devices will have SD support as well.
2. I am unaware of there being any means to edit video on current BB devices. I believe that video editing capabilities through native or third party apps on BB 10 will be a given, however.
3. I do believe there are numerous apps available on current BB devices that do allow you to encrypt and protect files as well as there being apps that lock out and protect apps as well. Whether there will be file protection apps on the launch of B 10 remains to be seen.
4. It has to be admitted that BB has always been behind the times when it comes to camera tech. At best, camera quality can only be regarded as "so-so". The best cameras on current devices are 5 MP with auto focus and LED flash. Beware that there are a couple of models with EDOF fixed focus which tend not to suit some users so well. Do your due diligence when buying. Future BB 10 devices will have 8 MP cameras and and other expected improvements over current models.
5. I don't know if you can buy a current BB sans SIM in the UK via standard retail channels. You'd probably have better luck finding SIM free, no contract devices through online channels like eBay, etc. All I know is that my current device, the Torch 9860 (full touchscreen), set me back around $300 (via eBay retailer)...
6. The way I understand it, each app is submitted with a "signing key" which allows it to be installed on BB devices AND which can be revoked at RIM's election if it's found by them that an app in question is misbehaving or even a serious security threat, thus preventing it from running. There have been relatively little in the way of widely publicized threats or exploits in the BB platform as a whole, over the years, seeing as BB software has been built from the ground up with corportate security in mind. It's also interesting to note that there is no such thing as any type of antivirus software available for any type of BB device... It appears it was never really needed in the first place...
7. Current BB devices can ONLY be fully backed up by local means as there is little means of backing up via cloud. (BlackBerry Protect being a johnny-come-lately in that respect). I have no idea how backups will work with BB10...
8. There are ways and means of setting permissions on apps individually during installation and anytime afterwards BUT drilling down into the settings menu isn't the easiest thing to do and not for the faint of heart. It's also relatively easy to "break" an app if you don't know what you're doing. As I said before, however, BB was built from the ground up with corporate security in mind...
9. With current BB devices it's actually not possible to sync contacts, etc, directly to the cloud, right out of the box, without some extensive third party solution (save for BlackBerry Protect (and that's just an optional means of backup and not mandatory). Local back ups are the first line of back up for RIM devices. On the current PlayBook tablet devices there is an optional means of storing critical information locally without it going to the cloud but cloud storage is still promoted the primary means for information back up for the moment. I don't know how things will work, precisely, when it comes to future BB 10 devices.
10. I have no idea of what any of that is...
11. All I know for sure about secondary means of alert on BB's is that there's the famous flashing LED that lets you know that there is *something* that must be attended to. The colours and flash patterns are fully customizable via third party apps...
12. Yes, the device dictionary is fully viewable and editable on current devices even though it takes a little bit of drilling down into the settings menu. I have no idea exactly how things will work with the upcoming BB 10 devices though there will be some means of editing the dictionary somehow.
13. I can't recall there being any type of "select all" option on current BB devices (though there might be on the full keyboard units). I'm not sure if it's relevant in a touchscreen device anymore.
14. No, you're pretty much stuck with the big name search engines, sorry...
15. Data metering is only possible with third party apps and has yet to be baked into any OS AFAIK...
16. Yes, it is possible to see a full report of how much memory is being used by each app, how much total storage is remaining, etc. It's all there. I hope that this continues with BB 10 devices...
17. Status indicators are visible on the home screen at pretty much all times. The in-app visibility of these items depends on the individual apps that you're using...

[bobo616]

A couple of conflicting responses about the browser but overall very encouraging answers. It does sounds good about the privacy aspect and as far as video editing I only really mean having the ability to trim videos so hopefully this can be done. I hope they do have a reminding text alert rather than just the led as I will forget to check but this is by no means a deal breaker.

Hopefully they will sell the phones sim free either directly or via a third party as lots of people in the uk don't swap carriers for phones as is being shown with the mistake of nokia lumia 920 being locked to a single carrier until the new year.

I think I will be on this website a lot for the next few months

[knowledge_6]

A couple of conflicting responses about the browser but overall very encouraging answers. It does sounds good about the privacy aspect and as far as video editing I only really mean having the ability to trim videos so hopefully this can be done. I hope they do have a reminding text alert rather than just the led as I will forget to check but this is by no means a deal breaker.

Hopefully they will sell the phones sim free either directly or via a third party as lots of people in the uk don't swap carriers for phones as is being shown with the mistake of nokia lumia 920 being locked to a single carrier until the new year.

I think I will be on this website a lot for the next few months

on my 9900.. i open the browser... go to options.. and then there is a button there labelled "Manage Search Engines" ... click that and it does list all the major search engines..
but at the top there is a "New Search Engine" option.. when you click it there is a field for "Name" and "Address"

i put in Startpage.com but it says that it cannot install the search engine.. so i am not sure what is required to get it as your search engine... not too familiar with it... but this is why i said you can ; >

here is the userguide for this feature:

http://docs.blackberry.com/en/smartp...1478056_11.jsp

i tried it using startpage.com and unfortunately it doesn't support this feature

[bobo616]

on my 9900.. i open the browser... go to options.. and then there is a button there labelled "Manage Search Engines" ... click that and it does list all the major search engines..
but at the top there is a "New Search Engine" option.. when you click it there is a field for "Name" and "Address"

i put in Startpage.com but it says that it cannot install the search engine.. so i am not sure what is required to get it as your search engine... not too familiar with it... but this is why i said you can ; >

here is the userguide for this feature:

Add a search engine from a website - BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 Smartphones - User Guide - BlackBerry Bold Series - 7.0

i tried it using startpage.com and unfortunately it doesn't support this feature

Thanks for trying, maybe this will change with BB10, if not it isnt a deal breaker as I can just go to the startpage website before searching.