Blackberry Passport

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I haven’t had the opportunity to see Blackberry Passport in person, but according to the specifications, it is absolutely an exciting form factor. The code name for Passport was/is “Windermere” and its supposedly thinner then any current BB10 models (including Q10). The most notable difference is the actual physical keyboard that doubles up as a touchpad.

The touchpad capability is interesting. Predictive text you are actually able to swipe up and select the proper word, just as you would on the current BB10 models via on-screen keyboard. Swiping, gestures and highlighting works the same way.

The form factor actual size has not been confirmed, however some specifications have been confirmed: 1440 x 1440 pixels, 4.5 inches (~453 ppi pixel density) screen, 3GB RAM, and 32GB internal space.

There have been a couple of videos that have surfaced demonstrating Blackberry Passport, however the posters never confirmed much of the information about the actual hardware. Their test run seem to demo the software portion only.

Blackberry assistant surfaced for the first time on the device (can be compared to Siri). I’m unsure if it will be included for those who have a BB10 device or will be exclusive for Passport users and future next generation BB10 devices.

For the first time in a long time I’m actually excited about a BB device.

Release is expected to be in October of 2014.

If you want to be notified for pre-orders in regards to BlackBerry Passport, you can register here.

VIDEO demo of BB Passport

BlackBerry Z10 Review (sort of)

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You will find internet flooded with BlackBerry Z10 reviews. Z10 has been around now for well over a year (Release: Jan 2013). But I thought I would give you a perspective from a dedicated iPhone user. A pure 5 month full time trial of Z10.

I took the sim card from my iPhone 5 (painful). I inserted into a fresh BlackBerry Z10. I must admit the boot-up time took forever. However, once the Z10 was up and running, everything worked the way I wanted it to. Email which BlackBerry has been known for, took seconds to setup. For 5 months straight I used the BlackBerry Z10 and it hasn’t let me down.

What do I miss (if comparing it to iPhone 5). There has to be something right? Or was I completely converted to BlackBerry (again).

OK here are the negative things about BlackBerry Z10:

  • Battery Life (lucky if I make it to dinner)
  • One hand typing (I found iPhone easier)
  • Editing (I found iPhone easier to edit text on)

OK now top positive things about BlackBerry Z10:

  • Two hand typing (is superb, almost as good as physical keyboard)
  • Voice clarity (crisp)
  • Calendar/Hub (productivity was better on Z10)

Now the big question. Will I be staying on BlackBerry? I’m very tempted to get another BlackBerry smartphone, the one I’m truly interested is the Passport. However, I also want to explore Android (again) especially the LG G3. Then there is iPhone especially with the upcoming iPhone 6 release. Needless to say, the consumer has a lot of options which is great.

In conclusion: I know this wasn’t the most in-depth review, however it wasn’t meant to be. It was a little study I did for myself to see if I could actually switch from iPhone and stick to it. And yes it worked and no I don’t have any complaints about it nor do I miss my iPhone 5.

BlackBerry buys German based anti-eavesdropping company

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BlackBerry is continuing their transition with the new CEO John Chen. Secusmart which was the security firm who customized smartphones for German agencies and various government officials (including Chancellor Angela Merkel).

This is a significant acquisition since a regular consumer is become more aware and concerned about Smartphone security. BlackBerry who was once the leader of mobile security has been overlooked by mobile giants such as Apple and Samsung. However, if you were to ask mobile security experts, they will tell you that BlackBerry is still the most secure Smartphone in the industry today. This acquisition placed a large stamp on BlackBerry continuing their conquest in containing their number one attribute which is security.

Will this move be significant enough for the regular Smartphone user to switch over to BlackBerry? Not likely, however this opens the door for BlackBerry to cater and continue solid operations for large corporation, government and businesses.

 

AWS-3 Spectrum to be auctioned to new players

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The aws-3 also known as 2,500-MHz block has been reserved for new players and will be auctioned off next April (2015). This is a much higher frequency than previous auctioned off blocks. Which in simple terms can transmit more data if you are able to get the signal. However, the downfall is that it won’t penetrate walls as good, nor is it a good frequency to use in rural areas. Cellular towers are required to be closer to one another, therefore making it more expensive to build.

Regardless of the drawbacks, Wind Mobile is one of the “excited” companies about the new rules imposed for the upcoming auction. Will it create competition which is the current goal of the Canadian government. The odds are that it won’t. The hope is that new wireless providers will emerge from the upcoming auction.

Converting Android app to BB10 (via Eclipse)

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I have to be honest. Not many clients are requesting these days to have their app uploaded to the Blackberry World store. But once in a while I’ll get a client with the request of having their app in all the stores which includes Blackberry World.

Obviously the best way is to write and optimize the application in the native format. However, what if you wanted to just convert an application that you just completed for Android without re-writing the entire thing all over again.

I have to admit it was very difficult when I did this a year ago, but as of recent its becoming easier and easier. I’m unsure if Blackberry has made it easier, or I have gotten used to the process.

Some things you need before you begin:

1. Blackberry Vendor Account

2. Eclipse

3. App you created for Android

4. Blackberry signing keys (must have #1 completed)

5. Blackberry Eclipse Plugin

In regards to #5, follow directions on how to install it within Eclipse.

After you have set-up and you have done all of the above, the process is pretty straightforward unless you have many Google Services installed. You have to get rid of those before the application is properly verified by the Blackberry APK Verifier.

Tips:

– When you are uploading your BAR file to the Blackberry World, make sure you have proper screenshots (either from Simulator or the actual device) as they seem to be rejecting apps that don’t have proper screenshots.

– Don’t bother including Playbook as part of the accepted applications for your App. I’ve noticed that when you do include playbook, the blackberry employee by default will use Playbook to test your app, and for some reason it always fails. I personally don’t have a Playbook to test, nor do I want to optimize it for the limited market that’s Playbook. Stick to official BB10 devices such as Z10, Z30 and Q10. I have tested on the BB10 devices and the conversion works flawlessly.

Happy submitting to the Blackberry World store

New Language “Swift” with a government twist?

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As you probably have heard by now, Apple unveiled a “new” coined language “Swift“. Swift apparently works side by side with Objective-C. The new code presented will be interactive, fun, and above all lightning-fast. With the announcement came a 500 page iBook that was ready for download for those who wanted to learn the new language. Very exciting. Above all, the actual release received the biggest applause by the audience observing the keynote.

And now the TWIST

At the bottom of the Apple’s website there is linkage to a third party website:

Looking for the Swift parallel scripting language? Please visit http://swift-lang.org

The website was immediately down after the announcement and the following message was posted on the swift-lang.org website:

Swift Language

Here’s where it gets interesting. Upon performing a Whois on swift-lang.org following information was revealed:

swift-lang.org whois

Hmmm? Whats this:

mcs.ani.gov

When you go to the website it will take you to Mathematics and Computer Science (Argonne National Laboratory). If you scroll all the way to the bottom you will see this fine logo: (US Department of Energy):

US Department of Energy

Now if you go to search and type in: Swift, you will get the following:

Swift

And here we see the name of the person who registered the domain name originally. And it appears the program is part of University of Chicago.

Its just interesting to see the “connections”. You can draw up your own conclusion.

Regardless, I’m truly excited in seeing Swift at work.

Sirefef – Microsoft, Feds Disrupt ZeroAccess Botnet

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Because Microsoft found that the ZeroAccess malware disables security features on infected computers, leaving the computer susceptible to secondary infections, it is critical that victims rid their computers of ZeroAccess by using malware removal or anti-virus software as quickly as possible,

This is a very dangerous bot that surface on the peer-to-peer networks. What it would do is basically hijack your web browser and direct you to infected websites which would attempt and install further malware into your computer. If successful the infected computers can be used for various purposes. The scammers could then steal personal information or fraudulently charge businesses for online advertisement clicks. Criminals have also disguised ZeroAccess as legitimate software, tricking people into downloading it.

Redmond company in conjunction with Internet Service Providers and other entities in control of the Internet domains and IP Addresses were asked to disable access to the botnet and preserve any content and material associated with it to help with Microsoft’s case.

Sirefef  infected nearly 2 million computers all over the world, and cost online advertisers more than $2.7 million each month.

Microsoft Surface Pro vs. iPad

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This is a personal observation since I had the opportunity to own both the Surface and iPad. You would be surprised to find out which device I actually kept. Can you guess? Microsoft Surface Pro was the one that I ended up keeping. I’m totally fond of Apple products and I still use them over “others”. For example, MacBook Pro is the primary laptop I use on daily basis, iPhone is the primary handset that I use for pretty much everything.

However, in the tablet world I was looking for a device that can do it all. Many will argue that iPad’s can achieve such, I strongly disagree after I gave Microsoft Surface Pro a chance.

With the Surface what you are running is a full blown version of Microsoft Windows 8. iPad’s are running a well designed but limited iOS version which essentially should only be used on handsets.

Second, I’m able to use a full Office products on the Surface. On the iPad I have tried various alternative “apps” such as: Pages, Office2, Smart Office2, and Docs2Go to name a few. Great apps don’t get me wrong, but neither of these applications could open a simple Word document that included, charts, and colour schemes. On the iPad the particular Word file in question looked like a mess. All I wanted to do was edit, and send it back to the sender. The program that came close was Smart Office 2, however after editing and attempting to save, the recipient could not open the document.  I’ve tried literally everything to edit this simple Word file. I almost threw my iPad out because of it. (I was highly disappointed in Apple’s Pages) What took hours without success, took only seconds with Microsoft Surface Pro.

Okay, some of you may be thinking, just because of a Word document he got rid of the iPad over the Surface. Well no. Essentially iPad will more then likely beat the Surface in the entertainment area. BUT, there is one interesting feature that the Surface has that has not been advertised or talked about over iPad (entertainment related).

I love music, for entertainment purposes I would choose music over movies, games, etc. On the iPad the only way I could play an entire song was to either go on Youtube or purchase the song from iTunes. Well on the Surface there is an app called “Music”. You can search for any artist and listen to the entire song for free. YES for FREE. Not only the entire song, the entire ALBUM!. Can your iPad do that? There is no jailbreak required, there is no “hack” needed, just simply click on on the Music icon, and listen away.

The conclusion what I came up with was, if you are planning to use any iPad for productivity (aside from replying to emails), forget about it. You are looking at a wrong device.

I won’t be purchasing an Apple tablet until they release iPad Pro (which hopefully includes a full blown MacOS).

UPDATE (May 7, 2014): Needless to say I never kept the Surface Pro. I felt as though it wasn’t very compact. I rather bring a full blown laptop. I also found that touch-screen when you are doing serious work is not required. I’ve used the touch function maybe 10% of the time. I still believe Surface Pro is much better overall functional unit than iPad, however I’m sticking to laptops until possible iPad Pro release.

12 Year old Montreal Hacker

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It is reported that a 12 year old hacker from Montreal was able to hack into websites belonging to the Montreal police, the Quebec Institute of Public Health, the Chilean government, and other, non-public entities. If all checks out, he would be the youngest Canadian known hacker. It is reported that $60,000 of damages were caused by the hacks. There was no word what sort of exploits he had used, however it was reported that the hacker did manage to gain Administrator and User access. I doubt there will be any releases of the exploits he had used, it would have been interesting to see what it was.

Are all the elite hackers from Montreal ? 🙂

Blackberry Messenger BBM Released

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At first I thought it was a joke. But here are the direct links for both Android and Apple, its official Blackberry Messenger BBM is released.

APPLE

ANDROID

Update #1: I have fully enjoyed having BBM on my iPhone. I truly don’t have any complaints and I think Blackberry did a terrific job creating the App on the iOS platform. I haven’t had the chance to try the Android version as of yet, therefore I can’t comment. For me the only feature that its missing is swapping between devices (sorta how iMessage has it setup). Lets say I have an Android Tablet and iPhone. If I have BBM installed on both devices, it would be great if I was able to use both simultaneously. Currently, if you log in one device, it logs you out of the other one.

Many of the other complaints I have been hearing that are lacking are video sharing, video chat, etc. I’m sure those will be added to the future upgrades, however, the App the way it is currently is fantastic.