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Filed under: BlackBerry

Filed under: Office, Web services, Adobe, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile

Acrobat.com gets revamped and gets a mobile app

Adobe's Acrobat.com service is getting a big update tonight, followed closely by a new mobile app for iPhone and BlackBerry. The name "Acrobat" goes hand-in-hand with the PDF file format, and Acrobat.com allows you to convert documents to PDF and save, store and view PDF files. It also features some other applications, including the Adobe BuzzWord word processor, a web meeting service called ConnectNow, and storage space for docs, spreadsheets and images.

The new features include searching by filename (I'm still wrapping my head around how they didn't have this before), but not searching within documents. That feature is reportedly coming soon. Your files are also now displayed in a file organizer that lists everything you have stored on Adobe's webspace - I think this includes saved stuff from other web apps, including presentations.

The mobile app is reportedly going to be a pretty basic mobile front-end for Acrobat.com, with the ability to upload documents and send faxes (what's a "fax?") from your phone. It will come in both free and paid flavors, and the free version will allow a limited number of uploads and faxes per month.

[via CNET]

Filed under: Developer, OS Updates, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute

Mobile Minute: Open GL and Flash support coming soon to your Blackberry

Not being pretty and white, nor slender, shiny and fashionable, the BlackBerry devices don't get as much attention as its SoCal sister the iPhone.

But that doesn't mean the clever folks over at RIM aren't busy developing and releasing exciting new technologies for their latest OS 5.0 devices! You just don't hear about them quite so often, which I hope to rectify with this little bit of news. As covered by our clever cousins over at Engadget, you can expect the following additions and changes to soon become available:
  • Open GL ES support -- this is the big one. This is the single change which will see the BlackBerry shift away from the black-straight-edged-suits and more towards the cool-chic-students. The developer kit is already out, so games makers should really get on to that right now...!
  • Extensive Adobe technology support -- not only will we be seeing great Flash support (as covered by Engadget Mobile previously), there will also be more integration with rest of the Adobe Creative Suite.
  • And much more -- the BlackBerry Payment Service, Theme Studio, and Advertising Service will all make an appearance at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.
These changes should cover all Storm and Curve owners, along with anyone that's lucky enough to own a Storm2!

So what does the iPhone do that the BlackBerry devices don't?

Does RIM really have to release a white-plastic-and-aluminum BlackBerry...?

Filed under: Macintosh, BlackBerry

Mobile Minute: BlackBerry Desktop for Mac released

After a long, long wait, RIM have finally released their Blackberry Desktop sync product for Mac OS X.

The application allows you to sync your iTunes playlists, calendars, contacts, notes and tasks with your BlackBerry, manage applications, apply software updates and backup and restore your device (with support for scheduled updates and encryption).

Blackberry Desktop for Mac can manage multiple BlackBerry devices and is a free download.

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Blogging, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile, Web, Android, Windows x64, Microblogging

Twitpocalypse II: arriving tomorrow morning

Twitter's phenomenal growth means that people are posting updates to the service faster than ever. Earlier in the year, the number of tweets posted to the service hit a wall: more specifically the number 2147483647 which was the maximum size of an integer in a fair few programming languages.

Tomorrow morning, however, Twitter will be forcing through Twitpocalypse II where the number of tweets pushes past the unsigned integer limit of 4294967296. And that may cause issues for unprepared Twitter applications.

In a mailing to the Twitter API developers list, the Twitter API team have reminded developers that their applications need to cope with numbers of this size - and if you're wondering why your favourite mashup isn't working after 11:30am Pacific Time tomorrow, this may well be the culprit.

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mobile, Android, Windows x64

Palringo for Windows / Windows Mobile updated


Palringo, the multi platform rich messaging client for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (via WINE), Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberry and Java (phew!), that we first covered back in 2007, has just received an update to it's Windows and Windows Mobile iterations.

Palringo is an IM client with a twist - as well as supporting a multitude of instant messaging services (Windows Live, AIM, Yahoo IM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, iChat / MobileMe, QQ, Gadu-Gadu and Facebook chat), Palringo provides some features not seen in competing products such as chat groups, location sharing, picture sharing and push-to-talk speech.

Changes in the new release include support for contact avatars (although these can be disabled if required), flick / kinetic scrolling, the ability to toggle the status bar (useful for devices with small screens!), variable font size, the ability to set online-status for all services at once, an improved installation process and many other improvements and fixes.

The Symbian client was also updated last week, adding a host of new languages, reduced data usage which also results in a speed increase and a number of bug fixes including improved compatibility with the Samsung i8910.

Palringo is free to download (a premium version is available on iPhone) from the Palringo website or from your mobile device's application store.

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, Mobile, Android

Moving to Android? Sprite Migrate makes it easy.


Many of us change our phones regularly.

The phone world moves on quickly and with carrier subsidies, upgrading to a new device is often cheap or even free, particularly in Europe. While physically transferring your phone number to the new device is usually as simple as swapping in a new SIM card or getting the device activated by the carrier, migrating data can sometimes be a real chore - particularly if you're switching to a different type of phone.

With the arrival of Android in the Smartphone space and it's continuing growth, this is a pain point that is being felt by many users who are switching to Google's new baby from other Operating Systems such as Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Nokia's Symbian OS or RIM's Blackberry OS. Thankfully, there is a solution if you are in one of these camps!

Sprite Software, makers of 'Sprite Backup' have just released a Beta version of their 'Sprite Migrate' tool into the Android Market as a free download. Sprite have a very good reputation in the mobile space, and rightly so. Their products are relied on by millions of users worldwide, shipped by carriers on a number of devices and Sprite certainly have a glowing pedigree!

Sprite Software was founded in 2001 by two former employees of Binary Research, developers of the well known Ghost software that was sold to Symantec in 1998. Any computer technician that has been in the business a few years will tell you how vital Ghost was to their toolkit, and how infallible it was!

How well does it work? For me and my test device, it did exactly what it said it would... everything made it across intact!

Filed under: Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Browsers, Mobile, Android

Is Opera Mini really the most popular mobile application?

While Lee has been lamenting the lack of attention to the latest desktop version of Opera, the browser's mobile version is far from obscure. In fact, Opera Mini is burning up the mobile market: not only is it the most-downloaded mobile browser, it's the most-downloaded mobile application, period. This is according to open apps repository GetJar, which has recorded 25 million downloads of Opera Mini. The number is so high partially because Opera Mini is so versatile, with versions available for Java, Android, BlackBerry and WIndows Mobile.

The 25 million figure might not be quite right, though, as GetJar's download page for Opera Mini only shows a little over 18 million downloads. According to a GetJar press release, Opera was only the 3rd most-downloaded app on the site in July. Perhaps the higher figures are a combination of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, or there's some other reason why they don't mesh with the number I see on GetJar, so I'll give Opera the benefit of the doubt. Even 3rd place and 18 million downloads is a stronger showing than most people imagine when they hear "Opera."

On the other hand, it's interesting to see Opera claiming Most Popular Mobile Application status when there's still some debate as to whether it has more users than the mobile version of Apple's Safari. Of course, Safari wouldn't be included on GetJar, so this popularity contest is already rigged in Opera's favor. Opera recently retook the #1 spot in the mobile browsing market from the iPhone browser, but that's not including Safari users on Apple's other mobile device, the iPod Touch. All in all, Opera Mini is definitely popular, but to call it the most popular might be misleading.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Filed under: BlackBerry, Mobile Minute, Browsers

Mobile Minute: WebKit based Iris browser coming to Blackberry


Blackberry has acquired Torch Mobile, developers of the Iris web browser. The webkit-based browser is currently not available for RIM's smartphones though that's about to change in the wake of the acquisition.

As reported on the Torch Mobile website, "Our team of developers will join RIM's global organization and will now be focused on utilizing our WebKit-based mobile browser expertise to contribute to the ongoing enhancement of the BlackBerry® platform."

Iris is a pretty slick mobile browser, supporting CSS 2 and 3, HTML 4 and some HTML 5, Javascript, the Netscape plugin API, touch controls, phishing/spoofing protection, and much more.

Haven't seen Iris in person yet? Check the YouTube clip from Torch Mobile after the break.

Update:
It looks like the browser isn't just coming to the BlackBerry, it's also leaving Windows Mobile. Development on that platform will be ceased.

[via Boy Genius Report]

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Filed under: Social Software, BlackBerry, iPhone, web 2.0, Lists

Online tools to fight the freshman 20 - Back to School



Off to college and dreading the inevitable 20 pounds or so of fat that comes with drinking binges, lack of exercise, all you can eat dorm food and late night snacks? Hate the thought of not being able to wear your favorite jeans come winter break? Relax, here's a round up of good online weight management tools which might be able to help you stay on track.

1. The Daily Plate - A calorie tracking tool from LIVESTRONG.com, this site helps you track your calories and burn rate via your personal online food diary. Once you register, you can input the foods you eat and the database will automagically provide the calories. Nice interface and there's even an iPhone and iPod touch (Blackberry too) app for $2.99 if you want to track on your mobile.



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Filed under: BlackBerry, Mobile Minute, Mobile, Web

Mobile Minute: Palm paid apps coming, BlackBerry App World on the web

BlackBerry App World webstore
Palm has begun accepting applications for third party applications for WebOS that could eventually end up in the Palm App Catalog. The program is still in the early stages, but here are the details for the beta program:
  • Developers can submit free or paid apps
  • Developers will get 70% of any revenue from sales
  • The program is only open to the US for now
Palm reserves the right to reject applications for pretty much any reason. Officially, apps need to have "acceptable performance and response time" and be written for WwebOS, and the web browser. But what exactly is "acceptable?" And Palm also says applications should be "useful and engaging to users," which seems pretty subjective. My favorite requirement? Applications need to have an "appealing design."

Still, it seems likely that the Palm App Catalog will start looking a bit more substantial soon.

In other news, RIM is making it easier for BlackBerry users to find an download programs from the Blackberry App World store. In addition to using the application on supported BlackBerry devices to find and download applications, you can now visit a web-based version from any browser.

In order to actually download applications, you'll need to enter your email address and the store will send a download link to your mobile device.

[via Gizmodo]

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Windows Mobile, Commercial, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute, iPhone, Mobile, Android

Mobile Minute: SugarSync now available for Android

Need to sync files across machines? Need to access those files on your mobile devices? SugarSync to the rescue. There are currently SugarSync clients for WinMo, BlackBerry, iPhone, Mac and Windows, and starting today, Android phones (Android netbooks too, if they ever appear).

The apps are free, but you pay for storage, starting at $4.99 a month. You can try it free for 30 days, or keep it free with a mere 2GB of storage. You get 30GB for the $4.99 price. SugarSync hasn't yet replaced my current favorite, DropBox, but in light of Apple's iDisk app release, it seems there are more options for syncing files than ever. Here's to choice!

Filed under: Macintosh, Freeware, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute

Mobile Minute: Blackberry desktop for Mac finally arriving in September

Mac users who own a Blackberry, there's some good news for you this morning. In just two more months, RIM will finally release Blackberry Desktop for OsX. Version 10.5.5 will be required.

The official blog post also reports that "with BlackBerry® Desktop Software you'll be able sync your iTunes® playlists and personal information like contacts, tasks and appointments." That might have been a better route for Palm to take with the Pre, rather than "masquerading" as an iPod to enable syncing directly within iTunes.

To stay on top of the latest news, you can register to receive email updates. In the meantime, you'll have to stick with PocketMac for Blackberry just a bit longer.

Filed under: Google, BlackBerry, web 2.0, Android

Google Voice for BlackBerry and Android now available


Google has launched a Google Voice application for BlackBerry and Android phones. The app lets Google Voice users make calls or send SMS from their mobile phones using their Google Voice phone number. But the more exciting feature is the ability to check your Google Voice voicemail on a mobile device, complete with automatic message transcripts.

Of course, you don't need a mobile app to have all calls made to your Google Voice number directed to your cellphone or any other phone. But when you add that feature to the mobile client, Google Voice is starting to look like a pretty full-featured service for managing your phone calls and text messages on a mobile device.

There's just one catch for BlackBerry users. While the mobile app can tie into a Google Android phone's native address book for making calls and sending text messages, this feature is absent from the BlackBerry version. So if you've already got most of your contacts in your BlackBerry address book, you may need to spend some time importing the information to Google Voice as well.

Google Voice mobile is available for download from the Android Market, or from m.google.com/voice. There's no app available for iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian, or other platforms yet. You can find a bunch of screenshots of the Google Android version of Google Voice Mobile at Lifehacker.

Filed under: E-mail, Google, BlackBerry, Mobile Minute, Beta

Mobile Minute: BlackBerry may get an enhanced Gmail plug-in


Gmail on the BlackBerry has come a long way in a short while. When I first starting using the Java app (as opposed to the site in BB's rather crummy browser on my 8800) it was pretty limited. Only one draft email at a time, limited support for some of Gmail's best features, etc. Now, however, it works... better. You can star items, check archives, move things around a bit, work in offline mode and create multiple drafts. I'm not saying it is perfect, but mobile users are conditioned to being second-class netizens when it comes to application features. But this may change.

Google is experimenting with an enhanced Gmail plug-in that will supposedly bring conversations, labels, stars and so forth available on lesser beasts than the iPhone. Speaking of iPhone, I'm still amazed there's no native Gmail app seeing as how Apple's Mail tool doesn't "do" much with Gmail's features (stars, labels, etc.) and the mobile Safari version is superior in almost every way to Apple's Mail. Perhaps Google will release a proper iPhone app around the time they release this now-beta plug-in. We'll keep you posted on both fronts.

In the meanwhile, if you're a power user who likes to try new things, you can sign up for the RIM Beta program and see if they let you play with new stuff.

[via Engadget and BerryReview]

Filed under: Social Software, BlackBerry

TweetGenius: Blackberry finally gets a decent Twitter app

There's been an absolute deluge of different Twitter apps over the past year or so, and the number is only getting bigger as Twitter's popularity grows. The iPhone might be the leader in mobile Twitter clients, boasting Twitterrific and Tweetie, but the poor, maligned BlackBerry has been lagging behind. The team at Boy Genius Report decided to do something about that, though, and now BlackBerry users can turn to TweetGenius.

TweetGenius is the first client for the BlackBerry to include advanced features like search and TwitPic integration. While it might not measure up to its iPhone cousins in terms of UI, it's leaps and bounds ahead of competitors like Twitterberry in terms of looks and ease of use. The pop-up bubble for entering a tweet is a nice touch. If you're a BlackBerry user who's been reluctant to use Twitter because the right client came along, give TweetGenius a spin. You might like it.

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