It was a long week for the BlackBerry Nation. Some of my favorite highlights include our two contests, one for the PrivacyStar app, the other for an Epik case. In the app department, foursquare made the headlines by releasing their official client and one of my favorite iPhone developers, IUGO, launched 2 of their major titles for BlackBerry. In the news, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 got an official OS 5 update from Boost Mobile of all places. Regardless, we’ll just delete that vendor.xml file and get to work downloading. Hope you have a great weekend everybody!
Our good friend RogersDude69 sent over some pics of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in white, which has recently arrived at Rogers retail outlets. It’s a shame that Rogers haven’t updated the software for the device, and that it’s running OS 4.6.1.290 out of the box.
There isn’t all that much to say here other than white definitely suits this device. I would take white over black or lavender any day.
Recently, I shut down my Rackspace service and switched the company to Google Apps. While some users have complained that BIS email is slow, I’ve noticed a very manageable difference in delivery times for BIS versus BES. Also, whatever features I have lost in terms of contact sync and email delivery, I have definitely made up for in savings. Sure, there are some setbacks with Google Apps in terms of user experience, and I no longer have FANATICAL support, but with savings of $150-$200 per month, I’m happy with my choice. Here is a guide for anyone looking to migrate over to Google Apps.
The first thing you’re going to do is head over to the Google Apps site and register your domain. To do this, go to Google.com/a and it should direct you to the Google Apps for business homepage. Personally, I started my company on the “standard” version, because I want to test it out before upgrading to a Premier account. On the right hand column, you’ll see:
Once you’ve clicked through to the Standard version, click on Get Started. Follow the registration steps, which allows you to buy a domain as well as verify your domain ownership.
To verify domain ownership, I used CNAME Records. You can also upload an HTML file, but since you have to go into your DNS settings and add an MX Record anyways, you may as well add the CNAME while you’re there. When adding a CNAME record, refer to this Google support article:
Once you have verified domain ownership, you’re going to add MX Records. MX Records tell Google to handle all mail transport calls by their server. This is where you get the added benefits of Google’s spam filters, which has changed my life for the better. You’ll need to refer to this support article for questions about configuring your MX records:
You will want to now configure users on your Google Apps account:
From your control panel/dashboard, click “create new users” and fill in the details. Google will then create a temporary password for these users and they can register themselves with the domain.
Now that you have your Google Apps registered, and your mail is getting filtered through Google’s awesome spam filters, you’re going to want to get it on your BlackBerry. This is very simple: just go into your email settings, located in the setup folder.
Once there, you should find yourself in the “Email Accounts” section. It is the first screen so if you’re not there just go back. From there, click “Add” and go through the steps of adding a Gmail account.
Repeat this process for as many Gmail accounts as you’d like. I personally have 4, and with OS 5 (possibly older OS versions as well), receiving and replying with the correct addresses is handled very well. I would also recommend making a folder, or hiding the original mail icons as you can rely on the master mail folder to handle everything.
In order to set up your Google Apps account on your desktop, you’re going to want to enable and configure it as an IMAP account because it’s the closest thing to Exchange that you’re going to get at this price (free).
1. Sign in to Gmail. 2. Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page. 3. Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP. 4. Select Enable IMAP.
To configure your mail client, simply follow the instructions provided by Google. They have a support page that lists all the major mail clients with instructions on how to setup each one. You can find it here:
Congratulations! You’re now fully connected with Google Apps. I’ll post some impressions about the user experience soon as it has some setbacks, but more on that later.
Have any questions? Feel free to treat the comment thread like a forum, and hopefully I or someone else will help you out.
IUGO are a really talented company when it comes to making mobile games. Their games use unique IP and design, combined with awesome 3D graphics and addictive gameplay to make games you simply can’t miss. Back when I used to use an iPhone, one of my favorite games was Zombie Attack! (aka ZA!) and it’s now available for BlackBerry.
Zombie Attack! is a tower defense game where you have to defend your cabin against a never-ending wave of zombies. Some zombies are fast and weak, others are slow and powerful. It’s up to you to choose the best combination of weaponry to fight them off.
Features:
Different zombie types to slay.
4 weapon types for a variety of zombie killing techniques.
Survivor machete: hack and slash the undead when needed.
After a Boost Mobile user posted a pic of their Curve 8330 with OS 5.0.0.438, it seemed only a matter of time until the download became available. Well now you can head over to the Boost Mobile page and grab OS 5.0.0.438 for yourself! Just remember to delete the vendor.xml file. Also, if you’re a Tour owner, feel free to use the comment thread to vent. Also, I’m not sure if this is compatible with the 8330m, so let us know if you’ve tried.
Chocolate Chunk Apps have just released WiFi Media Backup for BlackBerry which allows you to automatically upload photos, videos and voice-notes from your BlackBerry to your PC, wirelessly and in the background.
This is a great feature in that you can roam around all day, taking photos, video or voice notes, and when you return to your office or home, they’re there waiting for you on your PC. The application requires two parts: a BlackBerry app, and a lightweight PC application called Media Server.
This app is a great product for anyone who uses a lot of the media capabilities of their device and wants a backup of it all on their PC. Personally, I wish the sync would go both ways, and include the ability to transfer music files as well. That would make this the ultimate over-the-air media app.
ATOMIC is a new theme from R&R Theme Designs and it has some interesting elements to it. This theme comes with a hidden dock and once activated, your icons swoop in from the sides and cluster together, with the same chaos you would expect from atoms. The downside is that R&R didn’t do the best job of making clear and easy to read icons. I always appreciate a theme company making custom, animated icons and docks, which is why I gave this theme a shot, but I’ll probably switch back to the original theme in the long run.
BlackBerry Cufflinks are a pretty awesome accessory but they would be even more awesome if they were made out of pure platinum. I could see myself wearing these if I was either Jim Balsillie, or a millionaire eBay seller who sold unreleased devices (not like those guys are rich). Fifty dollars for the pair is a little much for a party gag but I’m sure someone is buying. Also, why make it out of 8800s? They should be Storms.
HedoneDesign have a new theme out called BerryShell and they’re offering it on sale for 20% off until the 26th of January. This theme is a lot like many of HedoneDesign’s themes in that they have a similar icon set. While I enjoy the homescreen, I personally find myself always preferring the icon set that comes native with the BlackBerry. You can’t beat the simplicity of basic lines but it’s always fun to switch things up for a while. With a Today Preview function and some good icon placement, this theme is definitely worth trying out.
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