Playbook 2.0 – What I think as a techie

Last Christmas, I got a gift of a Blackberry Playbook from my wife, even as I gave her an Apple iPad 2, making it a very techy Christmas. At the time I considered writing up a review of the device with some slight comparisons to the well-known iPad, but I decided to hold off for one big reason. The Playbook as it was released, was really an incomplete product and a big patch was due in February that was supposed to fix many of its deficiencies. So, I decided to hold out.

The patch was released this week and I’ve now had a few days to play with it and get some notions as to where the Playbook is going to go and how it stacks up. So, what’s my verdict right off the bat? Thumbs firmly in the middle, totally sitting on the fence, a slightly disappointed sigh of….eh?

Let me start with the things I really do like about the Playbook so I don’t simply sound like a complete hater of the product.

The hardware of the device is excellent. It’s a very comfortable 7 inch device, easy to carry with a great ergonomic form factor that I have found much easier for long term use than the larger IPad. It’s screen is gorgeous and big enough to easily watch movies and videos on. It has a great full featured web browser that has NO limitations on its web content as it actually supports Flash content. This was a major upside over the Apple and perhaps the ONLY thing it had over the iPad when it was released (ignoring that terrible launch commercial with Queen blaring in the background). The touch screen is smooth and responsive, though the flipping from landscape to portrait viewing could be a bit smoother.

By far the best thing about the Playbook is how it interacts with your PC. No bloody iTunes trying to take over, you don’t even need to use the Blackberry Desktop app. You just plug it in and you can drag and drop your data through Windows Explorer. It even works across the your network like any other device to share out with. That doesn’t even get into the new updates in 2.0 with Print To Go and a host of other improvements.

I won’t get into all the advantages of the 2.0 update, you can find them all over the web right now. Let’s just say that adding in the native email, calendar and contacts clients are well overdue and finally make it a product someone can buy even if they don’t own a Blackberry smartphone.

I like my Playbook and it now does travel everywhere with me. That being said…would I have asked my wife for one at Christmas without the massive price drop at that time?

Not a chance in hell.

Does 2.0 make me rethink that assessment and turn it into a must have device? Sorta? I don’t say that as a copout, but I say it because while they have finally added functionality that should have been there since day one, there are a host of strange issues that really make me wonder….RIM what the hell are you thinking?

You make these great smartphones, with amazing functionality that BB users have come to rely on. This isn’t a debate about what smartphone is best, I’m solely talking about what Blackberry users know their phones can do and what they want them to do. So here’s my question….

Why the hell would you make your tablet not able to do even the most basic things our phones can do after your big update??

In just a few days of use, here’s a short list of the hair pulling issues I’ve encountered so far:

• no means to do a select all for your email messages so you can mark them all as read after downloading a huge load of email. I can do this on my BB Torch easily, why can’t I do it on the more robust playbook?
• No means to sync to my Outlook directly to my playbook. If I want access to that data I still have to use the Blackberry Bridge tool that links to my phone. Why? Why limit the Playbook in this way so that a user has to have both devices? Yes, being tethered to my BB means I can browse the web when I don’t have a wireless connection, but why can’t I sync with my Outlook.
• Even worse, why can’t I sync my calendar and contacts from my phone right across to the Playbook? This is just criminally stupid. In order to get my contacts from outlook into my playbook’s new native application, I had to export them from outlook to a .CSV, open a Gmail account, import them to that and then link the Gmail account to my playbook. I don’t want a Gmail account!
• Why is the vital Bridge software on your BB phone not having an auto update to the new 2.0? Why did I have to go to the web app store and hunt it down for a manual install to get all the new features? Did no one think that maybe updating the app store at the same time the big release came out might be a good idea?
• Still no native Twitter client??? Sure they do a great job of merging your Twitter and Facebook messages into the main client, but you are still stuck using the mobile web version of Twitter, when a native client has been available on the smartphones for ages.

I hate having to gripe about these things, because I still like the product a lot. The new features are excellent, especially the new unified messaging centre and even things like being able to remote control the Playbook from your Phone. The problem is there are so many little things that just seem like no one took the device out into the real world to test that is makes it hard for me to truly recommend it.

The Playbook is never going to compete with the iPad as an app device, even with the addition of some Android apps now available to it. It was never meant to be that. It should work as a lean and mean business tablet with some entertainment ability. The potential is still there, but this just seems like another lost opportunity for RIM when they really could have righted the ship on this sleek device.

I’ll keep using it and I hope it grows on me….but given the constant missteps from RIM over the past year, I can honestly say that when the time comes to replace our Smartphones, we will be seriously looking at the new Windows platform devices once Windows 8 is released.

Once more it just seems that RIM has wasted a lot of potential.

In the “Didn’t I just talk to a client about this?” category – Windows Tablets!

This morning at a client I was showing off the Blackberry Playbook I got for Christmas, a tablet I do really like, but have been holding out posting anything on until a much needed update arrives in a few days. (more on that later)

We were pondering the tablet market and where it is going to go, as he uses a generic Android tablet and is waiting on the next gen Samsung Galaxy Tab to appear. In the course of the conversation, we made mention of the upcoming Windows 8, and Microsoft’s opportunity to make a grab at the still nascent Tablet market with their new OS that aims to be consistent across any platform. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but low and behold I get back to the office and find an interesting article talking about how MS can get into Apple’s game.

Microsoft’s killer tablet opportunity | Tablets – InfoWorld.

It’s a good read, as it makes the point of not trying to beat Apple, just offer what people want that Apple can’t give…and there is a lot for the professional, business user.

And yes I will be talking about my Playbook experience soon…once RIM finally does the update to make the device worth it!

Beware the scourge of laptop bloatware

It is very easy to find a deal on a good laptop these days. With hard drives getting back into the supply chain, and prices dropping, it truly is a great time to consider upgrading that old clunky laptop you’ve been holding onto for ages, especially if you haven’t bought into the tablet fad. I say this as someone who even got a tablet for Christmas and gave one to my wife (she got an iPad, I got a Playbook, thoughts on both coming down the pipe).

When you get that new laptop however, there are many things you should consider after you first boot it up and let it run through its setup. First thing, should be creating the backup and restoration DVD’s that almost all laptops offer immediately on their first boot. You’ll find very few computers actually come with full reinstall DVD’s anymore (Dell being an exception to that rule), so creating those DVD’s is paramount for recovery from an emergency. The second thing you need to do is a bit more complex….seek out the bloatware!

Now what in the world is bloatware? It’s a term I freely admit I may have made up myself, but I use it to refer to all the software that comes preloaded on a laptop that you don’t actually want. Take a look at all the programs that are in your Start Menu, or on your brand new systems desktop and ask yourself, “how many of these am I really going to use?”

The Ebay App? The generic casual games link? How about that trial antivirus software? Or the online backup software from a competing company? The search toolbars that load up and slowdown your web browsing?

Last week, I started the simple setup of a new Acer laptop and transfer of data to it. The process took over an hour to do after the setup was complete, just removing all the garbage the client wouldn’t need. For some reason, in their strange wisdom, Acer had loaded up a trial of McAfee’s Antivirus, alongside a copy of Symantec’s Online Backup Trial program. Two programs from two major competitors on the same laptop. Brilliant.

One of the constant complaints we get about computers, is how slow they are running. It certainly doesn’t help when the manufacturers are loading up so much crap on a machine that it starts slow right out of the gate. Keep in mind there is a reason for this…it’s one way they keep the costs of those laptops so low. The trial software pays fees to get on there, offsetting some of the costs of development…unfortunately to the user’s detriment.

So the next time you get a new laptop, keep in mind there is more to do then just transfer your data onto it if you want it to work as advertised.

Text Code you should know!

I’m not sure where this picture came from so unfortunately I cannot credit it to a particular paper or source (though I would if I could), but here is some text codes that your kids may be using that you may not be aware of.

The Blackberry App you MUST have

If you use a Blackberry, you know you don’t get the phone for the apps. No one, who is honest at least, would EVER compare a Blackberry to an iPhone or Android phone for its amazing downloadable apps. The Apps are, at best, ok, with the best of them being ones that RIM develops and publishes themselves. Of these there is one app you simply must have and setup if you own a blackberry.

Blackberry Protect is a tool has been around for a little while (iPhone users will crow they’ve had something similar for a long time but…let’s not get into comparisons or I’ll bring up push messaging), and it the ultimate security app for your phone.

Protect is a small program you install from the BB App store and then setup an account online at: https://protect.blackberry.com/

Once this is done, you have a good set of options available to let you backup your phone, track it if its lost, and in the worst cases, completely wipe it remotely if its lost or stolen.

Think about that. How devastating would it be for your personal or client security if you Blackberry was stolen? Would it make you feel better to know that just by logging into a secure website, you can instantly wipe that phone to make it useless to whoever stole it? (for its information at least).

The app even allows you to send a signal make your phone ring at the loudest setting if you’ve lost in the cushions of the couch.

Protect isn’t a flashy app, its not an app you’ll use daily (unless you are prone to forgetting your phone like some people I won’t mention), but it is an app that will help you sleep a bit better about all the information on your smartphone. With how much people are relying on these phones, and using them to store private and sensitive information, this is THE must have app to install with your Blackberry.

FMCN Workshop Series for Business Owners

Several of our long time customers have recently been asking about workshops that we put on a few years ago to help our clients with upcoming technology issues that would apply to the business world.

After some discussion we have decided to bring back our workshop series and make it available to all of our clients and collegues.

Further, we have partnered with Jane Sleeth from Optimal Performance Consultants to add a very special workshop regarding accessibility and the new AODA laws that go into effect January 1, 2012.

The workshops are designed as morning events and run for 3 hours. Continental breakfast and refreshments are included and copies of the workshop materials will be provided for the attendees to take with them. Workshops have a minimum regsitration to proceed.

They will be held at our offices at 312-515 Consumers Road in North York.

Here is a list of the available workshops and dates:

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Disaster Recovery – Is your business prepared?

This workshop is designed to help business owners understand the process of planning for electronic disaster.

Important elements include backup, redundancy, theft, acts of god, liability, employee/employer responsbility, prevention and total recovery.

The concepts discussed will help the attendee understand what technology is available to prevent, monitor and recover their critical data in case of total data meltdown.

December 9th, 2011 – 8am-11am

Price per attendee: $99+HST

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Technology Start UP! – Starting a new business and need a technology plan?

This workshop is designed to help new business owners understand the technology needs to grow a business from a one person operation to a traditionally sized office environment.

This includes topics of computing technology (computers, tablets, smartphons etc), software planning (cloud computing vs. local), safety and security (backup and protection), networking (wired and wireless), mobility (travel, remote access and offline/online), business planning, industry compliance and technology auditing and policy creation (user access, privacy and storage).

The concepts discussed will help the attendee understand what technology is available and where the technology will go as part of their long term business plan.

December 16th, 2011 – 8am-11am

Price per attendee: $99+HST

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AODA and Technology compliance! – Is your business ready for the new accessability laws?

This is a 2 part workshop involving the understand of the new accessabillity laws and the changes to technology requirements of PIPEDA (the privacy act).

As all businesses are legislated to comply to AODA as of January 1, 2012 we have partnered with Jane Sleeth of Optimal Peformance Consultants to provide an understanding of the guidelines and concepts of the new laws.

The second part will be a review of the existing electronic requirements of PIPEDA and will explain and help you understand how your business can be compliant using technology.

January 10th, 2012 – 8am-11am

Price per attendee: $229+HST (10% off for multiple registrations)

UBB – Usage Based Bull**** – Be aware of it!

How much internet do you use and really…do you care?

Last week, the CRTC passed a ruling that many Canadians barely paid any attention to. It was a ruling that was both good for us as consumers, but also won’t have much impact on our overall internet experience. Usage Based Billing. The CRTC ruled that it couldn’t be forced on third party internet companies…which is nice, except most average users of the internet use one of the big cable or phone companies for their internet. Those companies can do Usage Based Billing and have been for quite some time.

I won’t get into the hypocrisy of UBB by any internet company, but in a nutshell, UBB is restrictive billing on how much data you are allowed to transfer, both in and out, on your internet connection, usually per month. The average user doesn’t really think much of it, but they truly should.

Both Rogers and Bell offer “lite” packages that are fairly economical and advertised as being for light web usage. Each of them offers limits of anywhere from 15-25GB per month. I don’t have stats to prove it, but from our experience, a lot of home users and home based businesses subscribe to these kinds of plans. 25GB sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Think about that for a moment though and then think about just how much you use your internet in your home. Then stop and think about just how big the hard drive on your computer is. 1TB drives are quite common these days, so how far will 25GB really take you?

How many computers do you have? Laptops? Those are obvious users of the net and they’ll use some of that bandwidth. How about smartphones or tablets? They hook into your local WIFI, if you have it set up, and they use data too. If you stream videa or audio to them, you might be surprised just how much of that quota they use up!

Do you have an Xbox or Playstation or Wii? How about a new TV with advertised links to the internet? All of those items use the Internet as well, whether for playing games online, or downloading updates or watching Netflix. Every one of those devices eats away at your quota and you may not even know how much you are truly using until you get a bill in that shocks you with overage fees that can max out at up to $50 more per month!

UBB is something that we’ve written about before and was in the public eye a few months back when the Industry Minister forced the CRTC to take a closer look at the issue. You might want to take a look at it yourself and check your Internet package. Both Rogers and Bell offer services on their websites that will show your data usage, and you should take a moment to check and be sure you aren’t always close to your limit. If you download any media, watch videos, netflix or play games, the minimum packager is really never enough for your needs.

So check your usage, be aware of it…the irony is you have to use your data limits to check on the data you are using.

If you are a Rogers subscriber check out this link and subscribe to check your limits: https://www.rogers.com/web/link/signin

If you are with Bell check here: http://internet.bell.ca/index.cfm?method=content.view&content_id=17735&language=en&CFID=176493337&CFTOKEN=21758603

All companies have this ability, so don’t be afraid to dig into your data.