Empowering You Through your BlackBerry Smart Phone

Where is the Kindle App for BlackBerry Playbook?

If you do a Google search for the terms “Kindle App for BlackBerry Playbook” you will find several articles dated September 27, 2010 when Amazon officially announced their intentions to release their app for the Playbook.  Well that was 9 months ago, so many people are wondering where this app is.  (Again, if you search Google you will find this question)

So I took the time to type up an email to Amazon themselves and inquire about this app.  I suspected that I would get a fast response since I have an Amazon Prime membership, but as it turns out, Amazon is always prety quick with responses.  Here is their reply below:

 

 

We have announced the Kindle application for Black berry Playbook, but we still
haven’t released the application or announced any release date for this application.

Currently, we don’t have information about the release date and I suggest you to
check our website frequently for the information.

You can view our Kindle apps currently available and discover when we’ve released
Kindle for BlackBerry Playbook by following the link below:

www.amazon.com/kindleapps
Customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide,
and we’re glad you took time to write to us. The Kindle Team will carefully review
your comments.

Thanks for your interest in Kindle.

So… they are working on it.  I am disappointed that they went out of their way to announce it 7 months prior to the Playbook release date of April 19, 2011 and it is still “being worked on” but never-the-less I look forward to the app when it finally arrives.

WordPress posts from the Playbook

It should be no surprise to Playbook users of how well the device reads normal web pages and forms.  Right now I am logged into the admin page of this site and typing this post from the Playbook on-screen keyboard itself.  All menus and interactions in the WordPress admin page work great.  I do wish that I had an external keyboard for easier posting, but for short posts like this one, it does fine.  I’ll probably pickup a bluetooth keyboard eventually to make posting easier.

 

Angry Birds for BlackBerry Playbook due this Summer

Thanks to the guys over at Nextweb for the news article….

Speaking at BlackBerry World 2011, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis confirmed today that Angry Birds for the PlayBook will be available on the QNX-powered tablet as of this summer, although a definite release date is still unknown.

BlackBerry PlayBook New OS v1.0.3.1868 Available OTA

Today you should see a new Operating System update on your BlackBerry Playbook.  To get the OS, from the main screen, simply tap the white gear in the top-right corner of the screen, then choose ‘software updates’ from the left menu.  Use the ‘check for updates’ button and you should see a prompt to update to 1.0.3.1868.

The new OS integrates video chat through the BBID that is already attached to your Playbook.  Open the video chat program, enter a friend’s BBID email address, and call them.  I’ve used this video chat several times from home and from the office and it works great.  The sound quality is near perfect, and the picture quality of the video is very nice, like all the other videos on this device.  The frames can be somewhat choppy as expected with a video chat, but it usually isn’t very noticeable.

BlackBerry Messenger has also been integrated into this new OS.  You can now bridge your BBM contacts and chats over from your BlackBerry Smartphone

If anyone wants to trade BBID emails and chat with me, drop me a line here :O

BlackBerry Desktop Software 6.0.2

By now you should be seeing an update push in your existing version of the BlackBerry Desktop Software, asking you to upgrade to 6.0.2.  This update is being pushed in anticipation for the BlackBerry Playbook, due to release on April 19th next week.  BlackBerry Desktop Software 6.0.2 will be required for anyone using a Playbook who wants to do Backups to their computer from the Playbook itself.

Be sure and keep watch for updates over at www.BlackBerry.com for more information about the Playbook itself.

 

RIM Expands Application Ecosystem for BlackBerry PlayBook

Source-

Support for BlackBerry Java and Android Apps

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform.”

Developers currently building for the BlackBerry or Android platforms will be able to quickly and easily port their apps to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS thanks to a high degree of API compatibility. The new optional app players will be available for download from BlackBerry App World and will be placed in a secure “sandbox” on the BlackBerry PlayBook where the BlackBerry Java or Android apps can be run.

Developers will simply repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World. Once approved, the apps will be distributed through BlackBerry App World, providing a new opportunity for many developers to reach BlackBerry PlayBook users. Users will be able to download both the app players and the BlackBerry Java and Android apps from BlackBerry App World.

The BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Tablet OS are built on the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture with a 1GHz dual core processor and a leading OpenGL solution, which allows RIM to make this incredibly broad platform support possible.

BlackBerry PlayBook users and developers who are interested in seeing the new app players for BlackBerry Java and Android apps can see demos at BlackBerry World in Orlando, Florida (May 3 to 5, 2011) (www.blackberryworld.com).

BlackBerry Playbook Release Date

It’s official – April 19, 2011.  Here is the link to the BlackBerry Fan Page on Facebook.

BTSC: BlackBerry Technical Solutions Center

RIM does a very great job of making their knowledge base available to the general public.  Nearly everything that the telephone support technicians use to trouble-shoot problems for customers can be found on www.blackberry.com/BTSC.

If you have ever contacted your Wireless Provider about a BlackBerry issue, or perhaps contacted BlackBerry directly, then you have probably been helped by steps listed in this vast Knowledge Base.

Check out the KB yourself, see if you can find your issue, and then contact BlackBerry and see if they follow the same document that you find.  You can also ask them for a link to their KB anytime that you call with an issue, so that you can later refer to the steps taken to resolve your problem.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager 1.0 – For Mac

The BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac has only been around for a short time.  A couple of years ago, Mac users didn’t have an option for a BlackBerry-supported backup of their Smartphone.  However, with the latest version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac, this is no longer an issue.

With the BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac you can synch your contacts, calendar appointments, tasks and notes with popular Mac applications like Microsoft® Entourage® and iCal.   Backup and restoration of apps is available, just as with the Windows version.  You can also synchronize your BlackBerry Smartphone with iTunes.

The Mac version of this software isn’t as advanced and doesn’t have as many features as the Windows version, simply because of its age.  RIM is making new updates and improvements all the time, so I expect the Mac version to catch up to the Windows version very soon, but right now there are just a few tasks the Windows version will do that the Mac version will not.  But just give it time. 

BlackBerry Desktop Manager 6.0 – For Windows

For anyone using the older version of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager 5.0 or earlier, it is time to upgrade to the latest and greatest version.

The all-new interface is easy to use and to navigate, a little more so than the earlier versions.  With Desktop Manager 6.0, you can manage your applications, update your Smartphone software, and synchronize your organizer.  Version 6.0 also has the Media Synch feature built into the software, so no additional downloads or installs are needed.

The latest version of the Desktop Manager is 6.0.0.43, at the time of this post.  The best place to get the latest software is from this link. You might be able to find other “newer” versions on the web, but it is best to always download the software directly from BlackBerry.  If you find software elsewhere on the internet, and it ends up causing a problem with your computer or your BlackBerry Smartphone, don’t expect to get technical support from the phone carriers or from RIM.