MacBook Pro: Bootcamp Windows 7 Ultimate – Mouse – Keyboard lock-up

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I’ve been running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate on my MacBook Pro Late 2013 for at least 4 months. I’ve installed many applications on it, and had absolutely no issues. One day I went to boot it up and my mouse/keyboard would not function. I was stuck on the login/password (Windows 7 screen). I thought it was a fluke, I rebooted and same exact issue. I tried safe mode, and encountered same problem. I then attached a usb keyboard and mouse….still nothing. I was baffled. Nothing worked. I tried booting with PE, custom O/S’s that I have compiled, and still same issue. It didn’t make sense.

After messing around with it (on and off) for a few hours. I found a temporary solution. When you are about to boot into Windows 7 click F8. This will give you an advance boot up menu. And select the very last option “Disable Driver Signature Enforcement”.

My mouse and keyboard functioned once again. Here’s the fun Windows part, I can’t permanently disable Driver Signature Enforcement. By default it will not let you override it (at least I haven’t figured out a way to do so). OK, whats next? Well sign the drivers that need signing. However, I’m unsure what drivers are causing this as I haven’t installed any new unassigned drivers. I installed the latest version of bootcamp to see if that would fix it, however I’m back to F8.

Who is to blame? Microsoft? Apple? Or both….I’m going with both this time around.

Hope this helps someone who is stuck on a frozen Windows 7 username/password screen.

Blackberry Passport Outright Pricing

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I buy all my devices outright. I try not to fall into the contract trap offered by local telecoms here in Canada. I was actually shocked at BlackBerry Passport outright pricing. In Canada on the ShopBlackberry.com website it was selling for $699. For some strange reason on the U.S. portion of the website it was discounted -$100.00, dropping it down to US$599.00. Still a bit steep.

Of course the US/Canada pricing difference didn’t make sense either, I do realize ShopBlackBerry.com is owned by a third party, although is considered the official store for BlackBerry. Regardless, who in their right mind would pay $699.00 for a device that hasn’t really proven itself? I’m a BlackBerry fan and do want them to succeed, but whoever is pricing their devices is out of their mind and should be fired. Due to the pricing scheme this device will simply fail.

I don’t own any Google devices, but to me Google has the best pricing scheme next to Amazon. For example their Nexus 5 outright price is CA$349.00. That’s competitive, and if I was in a need of a phone, and if my current phone died, I’d more then likely purchase a Nexus 5. Amazon is in the same boat, their tablet pricing is superb.

With more and more people wanting to be “off-contract” with their carriers in Canada, BlackBerry simply missed the boat. I would have been all over this device if it was listed for $399.00 or heck even $499.00. However, anything above $500.00 is just asking for catastrophic fail.

Even if I was insane enough to go on a 2 year contract the asking price was $249.00. You mean, I have to get into a contract and I still end up paying $249.00? I’m better of getting an iPhone 6 on a two year contract and possibly profiting in the end. Very disappointing BlackBerry.

I’ll end up checking BlackBerry Passport when the hype is over and the device ends up in the $300 outright range. Until then…..

UPDATE: BestBuy (U.S.) has already dropped the 2 year contract price to $199. I expect the Passport to be $0 on two year contract by Christmas.

BlackBerry Z10 Band Switching LTE to 4G to EDGE

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I have been testing band switching (network mode)  on the BlackBerry Z10. As many of you are aware Z10 battery life is the one feature that is a nuisance.

To circumvent that issue, I thought if I switched from LTE  to 4G that it would somewhat improve battery life. Well it got even worse. Battery life lasted only about 6 hours. Whats up with that?

My next test involved switching network mode from 4G to EDGE. Traditionally BlackBerry phones that ran on EDGE could last for days with heavy usage. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the Z10. It average about the same battery life on EDGE as it did on 4G (moderate use).

Surprisingly LTE averaged the highest battery life on moderate usage at around 9 hours.

In conclusion, hopefully I have LTE coverage wherever I go, or I’ll need a secondary battery in my pocket.

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.