Total Solution Technology has just released its ArmorPlus for BlackBerry line, a BlackBerry systems board hardware add-on with software capable of such applications as fingerprint capture, credit card processing and even some camera functionality.
Basic pricing is $395, with extra functionalities priced on an a la carte basis.
Currently, ArmorPlus is available for the BlackBerry 7730, 7750 and 7780.
These apps, which include business software, games, and much more, will be available via Handango InHand configured for BlackBerry 7100, BlackBerry 7280, BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry 7780 devices sold by Dobson through their online and retail channels.
Rogers Wireless, Yahoo! and BlackBerry maker Research In
Motion (RIM) have just announced the availability of Yahoo!
Messenger on BlackBerry for Rogers Wireless customers.
To use Yahoo! Messenger on BlackBerry, Rogers Wireless customers will soon be able to visit www.blackberry.com/YahooDownload to install the Yahoo!
Messenger software onto a BlackBerry device and then set up a Yahoo! ID display
name
Rogers Wireless sells the BlackBerry 7100r, BlackBerry 7290, and BlackBerry 7780.
Ned Johnson and Martin Trautschold are consultants with more than eight years of combined experience working with BlackBerry using corporate and individual clients. Trautschold, in fact, has presented at the Annual RIM BlackBerry Wireless
Enterprise Symposium.
Now, Trautschold and Johnson have combined to write two BlackBerry Made Simple 150-plus page PDF formatted e-books for BlackBerry users.
Ned Johnson and Martin Trautschold are consultants with more than eight years of combined experience working with BlackBerry using corporate and individual clients. Trautschold, in fact, has presented at the Annual RIM BlackBerry Wireless
Enterprise Symposium.
Now, Trautschold and Johnson have combined to write two BlackBerry Made Simple 150-plus page PDF formatted e-books for BlackBerry users.
The BlackBerry news and reviews site RIM Road has a new review of a mobile synchronization tool called MiniSync Plus.
I found the review helpful, as well as incentivizing to find out more.
Taking that device on the road with you is so much easier than dragging around a synching cradle. It extends to 35 inches in length, and works with most BlackBerry models. Manufacturer BoxWave has added new versions for the BlackBerry 7780, BlackBerry 7750 and BlackBerry 7730. Listed at $24.95, these MiniSync Plus' are on sale from the BoxWave site for $18.95.
Here's how the product handles synching:
Gently tug the BlackBerry connector and USB connector. This will extend your miniSync cable.
Connect one end of the miniSync cable to your BlackBerry and the other to your PC. You are now ready to sync up.
Pix2Phone is one of the coolest PC-to-BlackBerry digital photo import tools I've seen. Plus, its free.
Here's how it works.
Point your PC Web browser to the Pic2Fone website at (you guessed it!) www.pix2fone.com.
Download and install the Pix2Fone browser extension. The extension works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.
When you are ready to import a photo from your hard drive to your BlackBerry, open the folder on your PC where your photos are stored.
Right-click on the file name of the photo you want to export to your BlackBerry.
A drop-down menu appears. Select Save Picture to Mobile Phone. Your chosen image is sent from your PC to the Pix2Fone Web service.
The Pix2Fone service will process your request and format the image you have chosen for optimum display on your BlackBerry. (If you are using the Pix2Fone service for the first time, you will be asked to enter the name and model number of your device.
After the photo is formatted, a download code appears on your PC.
Print out the download code, and then point your BlackBerry Web browser to: wap.pix2fone.com.
When your BlackBerry browser calls up that address, enter the download code you received on your PC. The picture then loads to your BlackBerry.
Pix2Fone is compatible with BlackBerry 7100 series models, as well as BlackBerry 7230, BlackBerry 7280, BlackBerry 7290, BlackBerry
7730, BlackBerry 7750 and BlackBerry 7780.
I've just noticed that BlackBerry Ring Tone Megaplex has just passed 23,000 downloads on Handango.com.
Given that many other fun and useful utilities do well with amassing 100 downloads, the popularity of the Ring Tone Megaplex is that much more amazing.
For that one price, you get unlimited download access to the more than 1,000 tones in the Ring Tone Megaplex library. The library inventory is updated at least once a week, sometimes more.
Ring Tone Megaplex is compatible with most 7xxx series BlackBerry devices. Once you purchase, download and install Ring Tone Megaplex, you access the service via their proprietary interface, not through an open Web site.
RingTone Megaplex' list price is $19.95, but I found it listed on mobile software site Handango.com for $17.96. That's 10% off.
As you might suspect, the Read link below this post takes you to the main BlackBerry Ring Tone Megaplex page on Handango.
A new downloadable game for BlackBerry rates your skill on the amount and numerical value of balls you can make disappear on the playing board (shown at right).
Players get points for each ball that they disappear. Generally speaking, if you move one ball to an adjacent box with a same-colored ball already there, one ball disappears and you get points for it. You can move balls horizonally, vertically or diagonally.
Designed for the BlackBerry 7700 and 7100 series, KoLines costs only $2.95 and is downloadable from the Web site of mobile device software developer Handango.com. I've placed a hotlink to KoLines' download page in the Read link directly below this post.
That's a photo of a removable battery for the BlackBerry 7780.
These cost $29.99. I'd bet you have things you would rather spend that amount of money on, like a couple of gallons of gas.
The International BlackBerry Users' Group has tips on how to preserve your existing battery's life.
One of the biggest power drains on BlackBerry battery power is the transmitter. One way to reduce demand on the transmitter is to turn your device off when you are either out of range (such as in a plane) or at the very edge of a service area.
If you cannot transmit, best to turn off your BlackBerry's radio. You can do this manually or via: Options/Auto On-Off.
When I went there today, the second-most viewed item was a collection of "Favorite Shortcuts" tips.
There are tips for various keys and key combinations that allow for quick switching between apps, assigning a Speed Dial to a letter, applying bookmarks, as well as multiply or divide two numbers.
You probably already know some of these shortcuts. But could it be that you"don't know what you don't know?"
Do you use your BlackBerry 6710, 7100r, 7280, 7290 or 7780 through your Rogers Communications wireless Internet account?
Do you exceed 25 megabytes of data use each month?
If your answers are "yes" and "yes," you might want to check out, and perhaps even post to, the Over 25 Megabyte Data Club on Howard Forums. We're talkin' some real serious users here. Some posters routinely exceed 50 megabytes of BlackBerry use a month - and have CrackBerry addiction stories and scanned in copies of their bills to prove it.
As one who is big on headsets for all my mobile devices, I was curious to see what was being offered. Curiously, there's only one headset - a lightweight $13.99 branded BlackBerry Headset with a miniature clip that keeps the cord in place.
If you've ever dangled headphone cords, you'll want such a clip.
Much more important, this Headset works with just about every BlackBerry on the market.
Taking a subway ride in New York, London, Paris or Berlin?
You might want to try out ClockLabs' brand new PocketMetro 2.1. It has a built-in mapping function and trip-time calculator for the subway system in each of these cities.
The coolest thing about PocketMetro: when you install it on your BlackBerry, its entire database for the city you purchase "lives" on your device. That way, you don't have to hope for a signal before you access the function. That in-device capability is especially welcome considering that acquiring a wireless signal can be somewhat problematic in the subway.
PocketMetro 2.1 is compatible with most BlackBerry models. It costs $19.99 per city, and is available via download right here.
The NCAA basketball tournament brackets have been announced. It's possible your alma mater is one of the contenders.
If so, you'll be interested to learn that mobile device software information service Pocket Express has launched a "March Madness" feature in its $19.99 a year Express Sports feature. March Madness will show you game matchups and real-time, running scores from the NCAA Men's tournament.
As part of Express Sports' content package, March Madness is available on the BlackBerry 7210, 7230, 7280, 7290, 7510, 7520, 7730, 7750 and 7780.
To access March Madness, launch Sports, then select "Basketball (NCAA Men's)." Choose the the "Weekly" schedule option and then click on the game you wish to know the score of.