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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
While I'm not as big of an Evernote devotee as some other Download Squad bloggers, I do love the idea. For the uninitiated, Evernote is a service/app combo that is designed to let you capture all the bits of information that you want to save for future access -- business cards, to-do lists, audio messages, photos, screenshots, web links -- and organize those bits so that they are searchable and accessible from multiple computers and mobile devices. It's a great idea, and a great service -- but it's really only valuable if you either use more than one computer frequently (so your work machine is separate from your home machine), or if your mobile device is compatible with t he service.
Although Evernote has a GREAT iPhone app, as a hybrid BlackBerry/iPod touch 2G user, it really isn't the best solution for me. Chances are, if I'm away from my primary computer, my BlackBerry is what I'll end up using, unless there happens to be WiFi around for my iPod touch. If I had a Windows Mobile phone or an iPhone, that would be one thing, but I'm a BlackBerry user, and I'm used to getting short-changed on the mobile app front.
Fast-forward to this morning, where I see a post on the Evernote blog, announcing Evernote for BlackBerry. Unfortunately, before I could get too excited about the possibilities of keeping my handbag clean and consolidating my various notes in one digital space, I saw the system requirements.
Evernote for the BlackBerry requires OS 4.6 or higher. That means, you must have a BlackBerry Bold, a BlackBerry Storm (ick) or the new Blackberry Curve 8900. If you're one of the millions of users, who has the BlackBerry Curve 83xx (like me), well, you're still Evernote-less. On the mobile front anyway.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the Evernote developers for wanting to make the app as robust as possible, thus, they want to use the best OS framework available. I'm just a little peeved at RIM, who is continuing to sell BlackBerry 83XX series Curves by the truckload seems pretty content to let Curve owners languish with OS 4.5 (an OS that has made me hate my BlackBerry, yet I need 4.5 if I want to actually use the device for more than phone calls and e-mail), and thus, miss out on cool apps like this.
If you do have a BlackBerry that works with OS 4.6, you can download Evernote for the BlackBerry from the BlackBerry App World. Since I can't test, it, tell me what you think in the comments.
Zoho has launched a new mobile interface for its web-based office and productivity applications. That includes a mail and calendar app, as well as word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database utilities.
To launch the mobile version of Zoho, just visit m.zoho.com in any mobile browser. Or if you just want to see what the interface looks like, you can use the same URL in a desktop browser.
Zoho says the mobile interface supports mobile devices running Windows Mobile, Symbian S60, and Google Android as well as the iPhone and BlackBerry devices.
Zoho Mobile is available in English and Japanese. The team plans to develop mobile interfaces for additional Zoho office applications in the future.
The move means that mobile phone users who are unhappy with the built in office applications on their devices have another alternative -- although one that you'll have to use up some mobile minutes in order to use.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
by Paul O'Brien Oct 2nd 2009
Need to sync files across machines? Need to access those files on your mobile devices? 
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
