TOPIC: BLACKBERRY
A new phone
4th February 2012After a few years with a straightforward Nokia 1661 and a PAYG Blackberry 8520, I decided to go and upgrade from the former to an HTC Wildfire S. So far, the new phone has been good to me with only a few drawbacks. Other than working out how to insert a SIM card, the phone has been easy to use with just a few nuances to learn, such as finger pinch zooming and dealing with an onscreen keyboard as opposed to a real one.
The touchscreen and 3G connectivity are major upgrades from my Blackberry, making web browsing much faster, especially on the larger screen. Checking Google Reader and emails on the go is quicker, with the screen responding well most of the time. It does get dirty, so using a screen protector or regularly cleaning with a lens cloth is advisable. As it happens, I'm still adjusting to the onscreen keyboard, which remains the one area where the Blackberry remains superior. Rotating the phone sideways helps by enlarging the keys, reducing typing errors even for my average-sized fingers. Switching between alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation keyboards still takes some getting used to.
Otherwise, the user interface is bright and pleasing to the eye, with the typical presentation of both a clock and current weather on there. Handily, the screen is locked easily too with a press of the button at the top right of the phone. That will put a stop to inadvertent phone calls, emailing, web browsing and other things, so it is to be commended. To unlock the screen, all that's needed is to swipe the lock bar to the bottom. Any alerts are viewed similarly with holding down your finger on the top bar presenting an extension that can be pulled all the way down to see what's there.
The Android Marketplace icon on the home screen lets me easily add apps with automatic updates, though this requires monitoring data usage on your phone plan. The WordPress app works better than on my Blackberry, but UberSocial's retweeting function is worse on Android. It displays all account feeds on one screen and requires swiping for actions like replying or retweeting, which I find awkward. I might try an alternative app. I've downloaded several others, including CrossCountry Trains' app (which is good, despite failing to find Macclesfield-Edale Sunday trains) and LinkedIn (which works well). You can move apps to the microSD card to save internal storage space, though I don't plan to install many.
The Wildfire performs well at its core function: making and receiving calls. It imported contacts from my SIM card, though Bluetooth transfer from an old phone is also possible. Call sound quality is clear and loud. The side rocker button adjusts speaker volume during calls and ringtone volume otherwise. By default, the phone vibrates and rings simultaneously for incoming calls, which I may change later. The same applies to notification sounds for text messages, emails, and tweets.
Battery life is this phone's main weakness. It needs charging every night, unlike my previous phones. The bright, responsive screen likely causes this drain. Many users report similar issues online, with some experiencing even worse battery performance. While there are tips for extending battery life, they involve disabling key features like 3G or data connectivity, which defeats the purpose of having a smartphone. Thus, I'm considering buying a spare battery, as I did for my Pentax DSLR. Some users recommend higher-capacity replacement batteries, though this seems riskier.
All in all, first impressions of the HTC Wildfire are good ones. Over time, I should find out more about the ins and outs of the gadget. After all, it is a mini-computer with its own operating system and other software. Since I continue to learn more and more about PC's every day, the same should be the case here too.
On web browsers for BlackBerry devices
8th August 2010The browser with which my BlackBerry Curve 8520 came is called Web'n'Walk and, while it does have its limitations, it works well enough for much of what I want to do. Many of the sites that I wish to visit while away from a PC have mobile versions that are sufficiently functionality for much of what I needed to do. Names like GMail, Google Reader, Met Office and National Rail come to mind here, and the first two are regularly visited while on the move. They work well to provide what I need too. Nevertheless, one of the things that I have found with mobile web browsing is that I am less inclined to follow every link that might arouse my interest. Sluggish response times might have something to do with it but navigating the web on a small screen is more work too. Therefore, I have been taking a more functional approach to web usage on the move rather than the more expansive one that tends to happen on a desktop PC.
For those times when the default browser was not up to the task, I installed Opera Mini. It certainly has come in very useful for keeping an eye on the Cheshire East bus tracker and looking at any websites without mobile versions for when I decide to look at such things. Downloading any of these does take time, and there's the reality of navigating a big page on a small screen. However, I have discovered that the browser has an annoying tendency to crash, which it did it on one occasion while I was awaiting a bus. The usual solution, rightly or wrongly, has been to delete the thing and reinstall it again with the time and device restarts that entails. While I got away with it once, it seems to mean losing whatever bookmarks or favourites that you have set up too, a real nuisance. Because of this, I am not going to depend on it as much any more. Am I alone in experiencing this type of behaviour?
Because of Opera's instability, I decided on seeking alternative approaches. One of these was to set up bookmarks for the aforementioned bus tracker on Web 'n' Web. What is delivered in the WAP version of the site, and it's not that user-friendly at all. When it comes to selecting a bus stop to monitor, it asks for a stance number. Only for my nous, I wouldn't have been able to find the ID's that I needed. That's not brilliant, but I worked around it to make things work for me. The observation is one for those who design mobile versions of websites for public use.
Another development is the discovery of Bolt Browser and, so far, it seems a worthy alternative to Opera Mini too. There are times when it lives up to the promise of faster web page loading, but that is dependent on the strength of the transmission signal. A trial with the Met Office website showed it to be capable, though there were occasions when site navigation wasn't as smooth as it could have been. Up to now, there have been no crashes like what happened to Opera Mini, so it looks promising. If there is any criticism, it is that it took me a while to realise how to save favourites (or bookmarks). While the others that I have used have a button on the screen for doing so, Bolt needs you to use the application menu. Other than that, the software seems worthy of further exploration.
All in all, surfing the mobile remains an area of continued exploration for me. Having found my feet with it, I remain on the lookout for other web browsers for the BlackBerry platform. While it is true that OS 6 features a WebKit-powered browser, I'm not buying another device to find out how good that is. What I am after are alternatives that work on the device that I have. Though porting of Firefox's mobile edition would be worthwhile, its availability seems to be limited to Nokia's handsets for now. Only time will reveal where things are going.
Exploring the mobile web
16th July 2010With a change of job ahead of me, I decided to make my web usage a little more mobile. The result was the purchase of a Blackberry 8520 Curve on a T-Mobile pay-as-you-go tariff to complement my existing phone. The attraction included mobile email access and some web browsing capability. Though GPRS provides slow web browsing, it works adequately whilst highlighting the value of mobile-optimised websites. It's just as well that this website that you're reading has a mobile version.
Hooking the Blackberry up to GMail was no problem once I had paid my dues and the necessary set up was done for me; it was only then that the required option was available through the set-up screens. While RIM's own web browser may be no slouch when it comes to rendering websites, I put Opera Mini in place as well for those times when the default option could be bettered and they exist too. Speaking of RIM applications, there's one for Twitter too, though I added Übertwitter for the sake of greater flexibility (it can handle more than one account at a time, for example). In addition, I have instated applications for WordPress and LinkedIn too, and it was then that I stopped myself spending too much time in Blackberry App World. If I was of the Facebook persuasion, I might be interested in the default offering for that as well, but I have learnt to contain myself.
Of course, there are limitations to the device's capabilities regarding email and web on the move. Long emails still need desktop access (messages can get truncated) and mobile unfriendly websites will take an age to load and explore; a small screen means much more finger work. After all, this is a small device, so the observations aren't astounding; it's just that I encounter the reality of life on a small screen now. Nevertheless, useful sites like those from Google and the Met Office have a mobile variant, though I'd like to see the latter including its rain radar as part of the package.
Speaking of life on a smaller scale, there's the size of the keyboard to consider too. So far, I haven't had much practice with it, but I am unsure as how some craft longer blog entries with the tiny keys. Then, there's the ever-present threat of arm discomfort and RSI that you have to watch. For that reason, I'll stick with use for an hour at a time rather than going mad altogether. Navigating around the screen using the tiny trackpad is something to which I am adjusting, and it works well enough too, so long as you're not looking through long web pages or emails.
To bring this piece to a close, the new gadget has been finding uses and I don't intend to leave it idle after paying over £150 for it. Apart from acting as an expensive calculator, it has already travelled abroad with me with roaming not being a problem; while I may have failed to make it work with hotel broadband, there was EDGE availability to keep things connected. All in all, the device is earning its keep and teaching me a few things about mobile handheld computing with my main website in process of being made more mobile compatible with the front page and the photo gallery gaining versions for handheld devices after the same was done for the outdoors blog earlier this year (might make the design look more like the rest of the site though). Without something on which to do some real testing, that idea may not have become reality as it is. It may be no desktop substitute, but that's never to say that these devices may never get near that situation. After all, there was a time when no one could imagine the same for laptop PC's, and we all know what has happened to them.