Resetting Blackberry Q10 to Factory Defaults

I decided to sell one of my Blackberry Q10 phones that I had since getting my Blackberry Passport and having a spare Blackberry Q10 as a backup "keyboard" phone. I had used my Blackberry Q10 phone for approximately 1.5 years before opting to sell it and the internal memory on the device was almost completely used (~14.5GB of 16GB). I also had a 2GB microSD memory card in the device.

I generally encrypt my devices and with my Blackberry Q10 (and the 2GB microSD memory card inside it), I encrypted both as well. Before selling my device, I needed to reinitialize it back to factory defaults.

The first step to doing this since I wanted to keep the information on the microSD memory card was to unencrypt the microSD card. Forgetting this step would mean that the information on the microSD card would be permanently encrypted. To unencrypt the microSD memory card, I went into the Settings menu, Encryption, and then turned off the Media Card encryption. My microSD memory card was not completely filled (and it was only a 2GB microSD memory card on top of that and not a 32GB memory card) so the amount of time that it took me to unencrypt the memory card was not too long. After the memory card was unencrypted so that I wouldn't forget it in the phone when I sold it, I ejected it from my Blackberry Q10.

The next thing that I did was to issue the command to reinitialize my Blackberry Q10. As mentioned, I used my Blackberry Q10 for approximately 1.5 years and the amount of free memory on the device was a little over 1GB (and my Blackberry Q10 was encrypted). I wasn't sure how long it would take so I kept my Blackberry Q10 plugged into the electrical outlet and initiated the reinitialization process.

It took roughly 7 hours for my Blackberry Q10 to reinitialize itself. During that time, the Blackberry Q10 was completely unusable and I was somewhat worried since for a large portion of that time, it appeared as if wasn't doing anything. About 2 hours into the reinitialization process, since I wasn't sure how long it would take, I decided that I would go to bed and hopefully it would be done by the time I woke up. However, it wasn't finished by the time I woke up. I then decided to unplug the Blackberry Q10 from the AC outlet and bring it with me to work. When I arrived at work, I looked at the Blackberry Q10 screen and it had finished reinitializing itself. The total amount of time between when I started the reinitialization process of my Blackberry Q10 and when I looked at my Blackberry Q10 was ~7 hours so I was lucky that I had decided not to reinitialize it in front of the seller or start the reinitialization process at work since I was meeting the buyer during my lunch.

One of the reasons it might have taken ~7 hours to reinitialize my Blackberrry Q10 to factory defaults is because my Blackberry Q10 was encrypted and only ~1GB of free memory (out of ~16GB) existed on the device.

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Blackberry Passport Review

I received my Blackberry Passport ~1 month ago and I've been using it since that time so I thought that now was the perfect time for me to write my thoughts on the Blackberry Passport.

As shown in my other blog entries, I use a wide variety of phones (Android, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.). In terms of Blackberry phones, I've used a Blackberry Bold 9700, a Blackberry Q10, and now a Blackberry Passport.

I won't go into the Blackberry 10 OS but the Blackberry Passport ships with Blackberry OS 10.3.x and includes the Amazon AppStore. This review blog will mainly be my thoughts on the Blackberry Passport when I compare it with my old Blackberry Q10.

With lots of phone manufacturers making phablets, the size and shape of the Blackberry Passport takes some time to get used to. It is about the same size as a Canadian Passport (although obviously thicker).

I find that the Blackberry Passport is speedier and more responsive than my older Blackberry Q10. What I like about the Blackberry Passport is the larger screen size and the additional memory that the phone ships with. I also like the fact that the Blackberry 10 browser renders webpages very well.

In terms of what I'm not crazy about when it comes to the Blackberry Passport, one of the things that I'm still trying to get used to is that there aren't any physical keys for the numbers and you must use the onscreen numeric keyboard when you want to type numbers. This is not really a big deal except that I've discovered an app that doesn't show the onscreen numeric keyboard (it is possible that there are other apps as well) so it isn't possible to type a number when using this app.

The physical keys also don't feel like the keys on my old Blackberry Bold 9700 nor do they feel like the keys on my Blackberry Q10. Personally, I find that the Blackberry Passport keys feel a bit "cheaper" compared to the other 2 models that I mentioned but others might have a different opinion. However, the Blackberry Passport's keyboard has "trackpad" functionality. It is difficult for me to explain this but by moving your finger over the keyboard, you can control the cursor and depending on the finger gesture on the keyboard, you can also delete words that you've typed very easily.

Currently a lot of the apps (both from Blackberry App Store as well as Android applications) don't appear perfectly on the Blackberry Passport. Even programs that show up correctly on the Blackberry Q10 sometimes don't appear perfectly on the Blackberry Passport. At the time of this writing there are also quite a few apps that I installed on my Blackberry Q10 which are listed as incompatible on the Blackberry Passport.

The Blackberry Passport uses the newer nanoSIM (my Blackberry Bold 9700 used a standard miniSIM & my Blackberry Q10 used a microSIM). I know that phone manufacturers like to use smaller footprints whenever possible and using a smaller SIM card is part of this philosophy but personally I would prefer that they stick with the microSIM sized SIM.

As mentioned, the Blackberry Passport ships with Blackberry 10.3.x and one of the benefits of Blackberry 10.3.x is Blackberry Blend which allows people to access their Blackberry Hub from their computers or certain tablets using the Blackberry Blend program. This is great if you forget your Blackberry at home and want to access BBM to send/receive messages. Another benefit with Blackberry Blend is that I can keep my Blackberry Passport in my vest pocket and send/reply to BBM messages as well as access my Blackberry's e-mails without constantly having to remove my Blackberry Passport from my pocket.

For the Blackberry Passport User Guide, you can get it from Blackberry's site or you can get it *HERE*. If you're interested in the Discover Blackberry Passport The Guide to Working Wide, you can download it *HERE*.

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Truphone Mobile SIM Service Review

Since I'm currently in the US on vacation, I thought that I would write about my experience with the Truphone Mobile SIM. I purchased a Truphone mobile SIM after reading that Lycamobile was changing their airtime balance extension/rollover policy such that regardless of the date of the last billable charge, the airtime balance would expire 90 days after the top-up. Since I go to the US regularly but don't go there often enough to exhaust $10 worth of airtime in a period of 90 days, I opted to search for another US prepaid SIM card. I search led me to Truphone.

What I like about Truphone is that the airtime balance will rollover as long as you have a billable charge in the last 180 days. For me, this was perfect.

In my opinion, here are the pluses of Truphone:
1) The airtime balance will only expire if you don't have a billable charge in 180 days. As long as you have a billable charge, the balance will rollover for 180 days.
2) The Truphone SIM roams in other countries (at higher rates). What this means is that if I don't go to the US within 180 days, I can still make a billable charge on my account and have the remaining balance rollover for 180 days.
3) Truphone allows "unlimited" free incoming calls while in the Truphone countries. Currently these countries are: the US, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Germany, or Hong Kong. I'm sure that the "unlimited" has a fair usage policy.
4) Truphone allows "unlimited" free SMS anywhere in the world.
5) Truphone charges the same rates for all the Truphone countries which can be substantially lower than other travel SIM cards (or local SIM cards)
6) Customers get a US phone number. They can opt for 2 additional Truphone country phone numbers tied to the account but this would involve monthly charges
7) The Truphone SIM uses both the AT&T network as well as the T-Mobile network.
8) They use direct dialing so there is no need to remember any special codes to get a preferential rate.
9) The activity log on their website for the account not only shows the phone numbers for the outgoing calls but it also shows the phone numbers for the incoming calls which I find very unusual.
10) The phone offers data (but in my opinion it is expensive)

The minuses with Truphone (in my opinion) are:
1) The number of rings can't be increased. I timed it and it is under/roughly 15 seconds. I'm not sure about most people but it will take me a few seconds to realize that my cellphone is ringing/vibrating when it is in my pocket when I'm walking and there is background noise. It will then take me a few seconds to get the phone out of my pocket and look at the display to see if I want to answer. By the time I do all of this, a lot of the time, the caller has been sent to voice mail.
2) You can't remove/disable voice mail from the account but you can contact customer service so that you don't have a voice mail box. Does this sound confusing? What I mean by this is that when someone calls your Truphone number, if they reach the maximum number of rings (~15 seconds), they will get a message and it will count against them as a completed call where they were routed to the carrier's system message. With some other carriers, if the caller reaches the maximum number of rings and they get the system message, it isn't counted against the caller as a completed call.
3) The startup cost to become a Truphone customer is somewhat high when purchasing the SIM card (~$30). However, they give you $15 worth of airtime credit so in effect, the SIM card really only costs $15. However, even at $15 for the SIM card, I still find it somewhat expensive.
4) The rate for Truphone is higher than a lot of other MVNOs. At the time of my blog review, they charged $0.09US/minute to make an outgoing call to a Truphone country. They also charged $0.09 per outgoing SMS to a Truphone country.
5) The rate to call Canada while in the US with Truphone is $0.27/minute (which I consider to be high for an MVNO).
6) Data is available for Truphone users but it is expensive ($0.09/MB which would be $45 per 500MB).

I used my Truphone for ~1 week while on vacation in the US and didn't have any issues with reception or sound quality. In fact, I would say that it functioned "better" than my Lycamobile SIM (which I also had with me) because in the area that I was visiting in the US, AT&T has better coverage than T-Mobile.

Depending on your roaming and traveling needs, you can check out their rates *HERE*. For example, to use the phone in Canada, it will cost $0.40/minute (incoming/outgoing) and $0.45 per outgoing SMS. While in Italy, to use the phone, it will cost $0.25/minute for outgoing calls, $0.08/minute for incoming calls, and $0.09 per outgoing SMS. The rates that I've mentioned above depend on what country you are calling.

I have no issues recommending Truphone for travelers to the US as well as any of the other Truphone countries.

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Android 5.0.1 Available for the LG Nexus-4

With the annoying problem that I was having with my LG Nexus-4 after the upgrade to Android 5.0 (Lollipop), I was glad to have received the prompt informing me that Android 5.0.1 was available for my device. I was hoping that it would fix the annoying problem where after a few hours of non-use (typically after I woke up), my Nexus-4 would be in a frozen like state where I could not turn on the phone or power on the screen using the power button.

The update took about 1 hour for me to download and apply. As mentioned in my earlier post *HERE* my LG Nexus-4 is encrypted so the upgrade time might be shorter on a non-encrypted Android device.

After applying the update and rebooting, my phone appeared to behave normally but the big test would come after leaving my phone unattended for a few hours to see it would become frozen again. As mentioned in my earlier blog post, my LG Nexus-4 never froze prior to me installing Lollipop on it. The morning after I updated my Nexus-4 to Android 5.0.1, my phone was not frozen and I was able to quickly turn on the screen by pushing the power button. I thought that the annoying frozen issue that I experienced was fixed with the Android 5.0.1 update. However, after using my phone for a few days now with Android 5.0.1, the frozen issue has not really gone away. It still appears to happen randomly overnight were sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I'm able to turn on the screen quickly by pushing the power button while other times, my phone is in a frozen-like state where I have to hold the power button to forcibly turn it off and then wait a few seconds before pushing the power button again to power on the phone.

I spoke with a friend who also has an LG Nexus-4 and he informed me hasn't frozen up on him even after he updated to Lollipop which makes us believe that it might be an incompatible app on my Nexus-4. However, currently, I don't really feel like reinitializing my phone back to factory defaults and then reinstalling my Android applications one at a time. When I fully migrate/use my OnePlus One and retire my Nexus-4 to a "testing" phone, I'll probably be more likely to reinitialize my Nexus-4. In the meanwhile, I'm alternating between my OnePlus One and my LG Nexus-4 when I need/use an Android phone.

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OnePlus One OTA CyanogenMod Update to XNPH38R

After having my OnePlus One for ~1 week, I noticed an OTA (over the air) update was available for CyanogenMod earlier this week.

I decided to update it to see what the process was like as well as how it behaves after the update. Considering I still haven't really played with my OnePlus One for a long time (I only had it ~1 week and was still using mainly my LG Nexus-4 as my Android phone), I didn't really notice any issues with it prior to the update. That being said, generally when there are OTA updates for my devices, I will update them.

The update happened very seamlessly. After clicking on the "Install update", the phone rebooted and the update was applied immediately. I'm not sure if it was because my phone was encrypted via the security settings but the boot up seemed to take longer than usual so I powered off my phone and then repowered it back on. The phone powered on without any issues when I did this.

I then tested my OnePlus One briefly to see if it worked properly and based on the things that I tested worked without any issues.

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OnePlus One Purchasing Experience and Unboxing

I apologize for not having written a blog entry in close to 3 months since I've been busy with some other things and mainly write my blog reviews as a hobby and because writing and technology are 2 of my passions.

Although I've purchased/received many items that I could write about, I'll start with the latest technology gadget that I recently purchased. This would be the "exclusive" OnePlus One mobile Android smartphone.

I ordered it on Monday September 29, 2014 after receiving a random invitation from the company and was a bit hesitant on whether to purchase it or wait for the next Nexus version. As it turns out, a co-worker had offered me an invite the week previously on Friday but informed me that if I wasn't 100% sure that I would purchase it, he wanted to know so he could give it to someone else. Since I wasn't 100% sure that I wanted it (I was thinking of getting the next Nexus phone), I informed him that it might be best if he were to give his invite to someone else.

I didn't get the HTC Nexus-One but purchased the Samsung Nexus-S, skipped the Samsung Nexus Galaxy, got the LG Nexus-4, skipped the LG Nexus-5, and I was planning on getting the next Nexus version but it hasn't been announced yet. Because I probably wouldn't get another invitation to purchase the OnePlus One, I decided to redeem my invitation and ordered the OnePlus One when I arrived home from work on Monday September 29.

For those of you unfamiliar with the OnePlus One purchasing method, I'll just cover it briefly here. First of all, the reason that I wrote that the OnePlus One was an "exclusive" phone was because unlike most other phones where a customer can just purchase a phone given the amount of stock available at a retailer, someone wanting to purchase a OnePlus One must be invited to purchase it. Even after being invited to purchase it, he/she must purchase it within 24 hours of the invitation since the invitation expires. Also, in order to purchase the OnePlus One, the customer must create an account on the OnePlus One website as well as have a PayPal account since at the time of me writing this blog post, PayPal is the only accepted method of payment however OnePlus One will ship the phone to an address that isn't verified (I shipped it to my work address which isn't listed on my PayPal account).

The invitation marketing method is similar to how Google first distributed their Gmail and GoogleVoice accounts. If I were to want to purchase the latest 2 phones (Blackberry Passport and iPhone 6) available now, I can basically pre-order it from my carrier or I can purchase these phones from one of the retailers who sell them. With the OnePlus One, excluding purchasing it second hand, you can only purchase it from their website and in order to purchase it from their website, you must be invited to purchase it either by randomly being selected by the company or being invited by someone who already purchased it.

I was surprised how fast I received the OnePlus One after working it late on Monday September 29 (~10:00PM EDT). Because I knew that I would have to pay taxes/duties/customs/brokerage fees, I opted to send the item to my place of work as opposed to sending it to my place. On the OnePlus One website, it showed the "Processing" status the following day on Tuesday, September 30 and then on Wednesday, October 1, the item shipped from Los Angeles. I received it in Montreal during my lunch on Thursday October 2 at work at ~1:58PM where I left the fees after having received a phone call from the courier company (DHL) informing me what the fees would be after it passed through Canadian customs.

I didn't open bubble-wrap envelope before getting home but after opening it, there were 2 boxes; one small OnePlus One labeled box and another brown cardboard coloured box.

When I opened the brown cardboard coloured box at home as well as the small OnePlus One labeled box, I saw that the small OnePlus One labeled box contained the AC USB adapter plug and the brown cardboard coloured box contained a large OnePlus One labeled box. I believe that within the smaller white OnePlus One box, there was also a nanoSIM card adapter/tray. I was a bit curious on what the nanoSIM card adapter/tray was used for but when I ejected the OnePlus One SIM card tray and saw that it was a microSIM card tray, it was quite obvious that the nanoSIM card adapter/tray are for those users who have a nanoSIM. Instead of having to purchase a microSIM to nanoSIM converter, the included nanoSIM card adapter/tray is used directly instead of using the microSIM card adapter/tray that was already in the phone. This is ingenious and I wish most manufacturers included a different tray for at least the 2-3 common sized SIM cards for their phones without having to resort to an adapter.

Opening up the large OnePlus One labeled box, I found the OnePlus One phone. Underneath the white board that the phone sat on, was the USB cable as well as the SIM extraction tool.

It will take me a few days/weeks of using my new OnePlus One phone in order to write my review/thoughts about it but the phone is noticeably larger than my LG Nexus-4 and in terms of responsiveness/speed, I find it to be quite fast and responsive. After opening the box on Thursday evening after work, because I arrived home late, I didn't really "play" with my new technology gadget but charged it for the entire evening and after work on Friday I spent most of my time configuring it as well as installing/customizing the Android applications on it.

You can get some information of the OnePlus One from the keynote document either from the company's own website *HERE* or from my blog *HERE*.

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Lycamobile US Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM Review

I've had my Lycamobile US Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM for approximately 8 months after purchasing the SIM while I was in Las Vegas on a trip. I used to have a RedPocket Mobile US prepaid SIM but I found that based on my usage, I couldn't continue to maintain the RedPocket Mobile SIM because with an annual renewal of $100 and at $0.10/minute to call the US/Canada (among other countries), I wasn't reducing the balance enough in the span of a year to justify renewing it. If I couldn't use $100 at a rate of $0.10/minute in the span of 1 year whenever I (and my friends/family) visited the US, there was no way that I could use over $100 the following year if I renewed it by adding $100 since the previous balance would carry forward for another year and be added to the $100 that I just added to the balance.

I did some research prior to my trip to Las Vegas for another Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM with a low per minute rate and a low renewal rate or better terms to keep the US SIM active. I came across Lycamobile US which has favourable terms in order to keep the US SIM as well as the phone's balance active and it also had a very low per minute cost using direct dialing. The per minute cost at that time (which I was interested in) was $0.02/minute to make a call to a US number, $0.02/minute to receive a call while in the US, $0.03/minute to make a call to Canada, $0.04 per message to send a text message to a US number, and $0.16 per message to send a text message to a Canadian number. The current Lycamobile Pay As You Go prepaid rates are $0.05/minute to make a call to a US number, $0.05/minute to receive a call while in the US, $0.06/minute to make a call to Canada, $0.04 per message to send a text message to a US number, and $0.16 per message to send a text message to a Canadian number. Since it offered direct dialing at very low rates, there was no need to remember any calling card number or PINs prior to making an outgoing call.

In order to keep the SIM and balance active, Lycamobile only required that there be a billable charge every 90 days. I thought that this might present some problems but Lycamobile also roams in many countries (including where I live in Canada) so I could use it and create a billable charge at the higher rate for roaming in Canada (~$1.84/minute outgoing, $1.50/minute incoming, & $0.64/SMS) if I didn't go to the US in the span of 90 days. The current terms stipulate that any balance remaining on your account after 90 days don't rollover regardless of whether there is a billable charge on your Lycamobile account or whether you top up your account.

I purchased a Lycamobile SIM from a store a few hours after arriving in Las Vegas and inserted it into my unlocked GSM phone when I arrived at the place that I was staying in Las Vegas. When I powered on the phone, I waited a few minutes so that my phone could acquire/register onto Lycamobile's network. I then called 622 and waited to be prompted to enter the ZIP code. I entered the ZIP code for the place that I was staying at in the US. A few seconds later, I received my new phone number on the new Lycamobile SIM that I purchased. I then purchased $10.00 worth of airtime and placed it onto the phone.

The next thing that I did was to register my account on their webpage so that I could manage/view information regarding my account. The webpage for this is *HERE* and the only thing required to register on their website is the phone number and the PUK code for the phone (which was found on the large SIM card where you broke/removed the miniSIM, microSIM, or nanoSIM from this card). One of the things that I like about logging into the My Lycamobile website is that the website shows detailed call logs. These detailed call logs show outgoing phone numbers and dates/times/duration/costs of all calls. The incoming calls are shown as with your phone number in the "Called Number" field/column. The webpage also shows the current available balance on the SIM. The only information that isn't shown on the account webpage is the expiration date so one must manually calculate it based on the last billable charge in the "Call History."

One of the things that I like is the fact that it roams in Canada and allows for the use of free system "star" commands that allow users to check the balance by dialing *611# and also allows for the display of the phone number by dialing *613#. The only negative thing about the *611# command is that it (like the "My Lycamobile" website) doesn't display the expiration date.

The Pay As You Go service with Lycamobile includes call display and voice mail. The voice mail can be deactivated. I deactivated the voice mail on my account since I didn't want people leaving me voice mail messages.

During my usage of the Lycamobile prepaid SIM, I didn't have any issues with it. The only issue that I experienced was that sometimes when going from one country to another country, it will display an "Inactive SIM" message for a few minutes prior to acquiring/registering onto the network of the country. I corrected this by turning off the phone, waiting about 1 minute, and powering it back on again and waiting a few minutes.

Because I only use my Lycamobile US SIM when I (or my friends/family) visit the US and there is no expiration date shown on the phone or on the My Lycamobile website, the way that I keep track of the expiration date is to add 90 days to the date of my last usage and record the date in my agenda with a few reminders prior to that date. I then modify this date as it becomes necessary. According to the Lycamobile's website (section 3.4), a system generated SMS and/or e-mail is supposed to be sent to the user when the phone reaches 40 days and 60 days of inactivity but I have never received an SMS or e-mail to indicate this despite going over 60 days of inactivity with the phone.

The new terms and conditions mention that when topping up, any amount that remains from the top-up after 90 days is lost. You can find this information in section 4.6 on their terms of usage *HERE*. For me, this is a major issue and I can't really recommend Lycamobile to travelers because of this change in policy.

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Unlocked my Blackberry Q10

With an impending trip to the US in a few weeks, even though I have my trusty factory unlocked LG Nexus 4 (as well as my old factory unlocked Samsung Nexus-S) and a lot of other unlocked phones, I decided that it was time to unlock my Blackberry Q10. Since I've used the company MobileinCanada to unlock my cellphones in the past and I found them to be a trustworthy company and they were also fast in providing unlock codes for me in the past, I decided to use them again. There are cheaper online companies that can unlock cellphones but because I've used MobileinCanada in the past, it was my primary reason for using them again.

With the other phones that I've unlocked, MobileinCanada provided me with the unlock code in a few hours. However, with my Blackberry Q10, it took them close to 24 hours to get the code. Because of the longer than normal wait time for me to get the unlock code this time, if you are in a rush to get an unlock code, MobileinCanada might not be a good option for you.

The unlock code is a specific code based on the unique IMEI number of your phone. More information on what an unlocked phone is can be found *HERE* in my blog entry devoted to the topic. Although that blog entry is over a few years old, the information there is still relevant. 

Once I received the code, it was a simple matter of entering the unlock code by going into the Settings, Security & Privacy, SIM Card and then scrolling down to the Phone Network Unlock and then clicking on the Unlock Network button. I then had to enter the unique unlock code.

Randomly picking a code or entering the wrong code a few times will permanently lock the phone so I was very careful to enter the correct unlock code in the screen above.

Once my Blackberry Q10 showed up as being unlocked, I tested it by inserting a microSIM from another carrier into it and the Blackberry Q10 was able to acquire the network without any problems. This means that once I go to the US in a few weeks, I will be able to swap my US microSIM card between my LG Nexus-4 and now my Blackberry Q10.

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ZTE WF720 Wireless Home Phone Device Review

I got the opportunity to try out the ZTE WF720 Wireless Home Phone Device and thought that I would write a review of the product.

This device is offered by certain cellphone/wireless carriers such as AT&T Wireless (in the US) and Rogers/Fido (in Canada). The monthly price varies but since I live in Canada, the version that I got to try was from Fido. Rogers has the exact same deal. The monthly charge for both Rogers and Fido is either $9.99 per month or $24.99 per month plus the applicable monthly taxes/fees. The $9.99 monthly price tag is to anyone with an existing service with the carrier and gives unlimited nationwide calling (no long distance fees). The $24.99 monthly price gives the same service except it is for people who don't have any services with the carrier. I'm not sure what the fee is for AT&T's wireless home phone service.

The way that the device works is that you insert the SIM card into the device (the device uses a normal mini-SIM), connect the battery to the device, and plug it into an electrical outlet. You then connect your household phone's RJ-11 cable to the device and start making/receiving your calls. According to the documentation, the battery will last for ~3 hours if not plugged into the AC outlet. I haven't tested the battery myself but based on my experience with advertised battery usage times, I would probably say divide that number in half. However, since it is meant to be a home phone, it should always be plugged into the AC outlet.

The unit has 2 RJ-11 phone ports, a power on/off button, the power cable input port and what the manual labels as a service port. In terms of LEDs, the ZTE WF720 Wireless Home Phone Device has 4 indicator lights (power, voicemail, battery, & signal strength). Each RJ-11 phone port is simply an extension of the phone number so you can plug 2 different phones to each phone phone (ex: one cordless and one corded) and use either phone to make a call and pick up either phone (or both phones) when a call is received.

Since the plan that I tested came with unlimited nationwide calling at a very low price compared to regular cellular service, I tried the SIM in a regular cellphone to see what would happen and the phone would not lock onto the network with that SIM card but would lock onto the same network with a different SIM card from that same carrier.

Another reason that I put the SIM card into a regular cellphone was that I wanted to set up the SIM lock on the SIM card which is not possible to do using the ZTE WF720 Wireless Phone Device itself. After setting up the SIM lock on the SIM card, I inserted the SIM card back into the ZTE WF720 Wireless Phone Device and the phone that was connected to the device seemed to get a regular dial tone but calls could not be made from the phone. The only indication that the SIM lock was in effect was the flashing green battery indicator LED on the unit itself. After entering my SIM unlock code using the connected phone and pressing the # key, I could then make a phone call (and receive phone calls).

Although the device looks like it is a VoIP solution, it is in fact using the carrier's phone service in order to make and receive calls. I find the signal strength of the device to be good and the voice quality to be better than what I would get in the same location with my cellphone.

One thing that I wanted to write was that the device mentions that it will not work with satellite receivers, modems, fax machines, and home alarm system. I have not tested the device in any of the above items to see whether it will work or not.

For Canadians, depending on your needs and usage, I have no problem recommending this device with the price plan price of $10+taxes per month. The $25+taxes per month price tag might still be worthwhile depending on how much you pay for your home phone service and what you use your home phone service for.

In terms of the sound quality, I would say that that sound quality is equivalent to what you would get on a cellphone at the same location (or maybe slightly better). For me, even though I am using a regular landline phone connected to this device, I can still tell that you are not using a real landline since the sound quality is not as good as what I get with a real landline because sometimes the person's voice whom I'm talking with will sound a bit "robotic" and other times I will lose certain syllables/words during the conversation similar to what I would get with a handheld cellphone.

One of the good things about this device over a regular landline phone service is that it is easily transportable and since the plan covers unlimited nationwide calling as long as the device is within the carrier's cellular coverage area, it makes a good phone to take with you if you go to another part of the country temporarily.

What makes this device extremely attractive is that unlike in the US, in Canada, most cellphone plans don't include nationwide calling. What this means is that if someone with a Montreal area code goes to Toronto and receives a call on his Montreal cellphone, he/she will pay long distance to receive the call. If he/she makes a call back to Montreal while in Toronto (even though his phone has a Montreal area code), he/she will pay long distance to make the call. Using this device, all of this is ignored since while in Canada, you can receive a call without paying anything extra and you make a call to a Canadian number without paying anything extra.

For a copy of the ZTE WF720 Wireless Home Phone device manual, you can click *HERE*.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment which contains a URL link (whether it is embedded or not) will automatically be labelled as spam and will not be posted.

Rooting Samsung Nexus-S

Since my Samsung Nexus-S was having issues updating existing programs that I installed onto it and I was mainly using my LG Nexus-4, I decided to root my Samsung Nexus-S after I purchased a replacement battery for it (because the original battery that I had would not last more than half a day based on very light usage). Another reason why I finally decide to re-root my Samsung Nexus-S was because there hasn't been an upgrade to OS for the Nexus-S in a long time (nor do I expect an upgrade to the OS). I had rooted it in the past but when I upgraded the OS software, it reverted to a non-rooted state and because I was only using two applications that required root access, I opted not to root it until recently. Every time the OS is officially upgraded, one of the steps involved in rooting the phone generally wipes the phone back to factory defaults. I found this to be time consuming (reconfiguring the phone and reinstalling all the applications that I had) and not worth it for the 2 applications that I use which require root access. Since there hasn't been an OS update for the Samsung Nexus-S in a long time and I recently replaced my Nexus-S battery, I felt now was a perfect time to root my Nexus-S again.

I did some research on rooting my Samsung Nexus-S and came across this video on YouTube showing how to root the Nexus-S. You can view the YouTube video below or by clicking *HERE* (I did not create this video). A shoutout goes to QBKing77 for creating this video and providing instructions/steps and shoutout also goes to the creator of the program WugFresh.

My instructions are based on the above video and things that I noticed when I tried to root my Samsung Nexus-S. Just like with my blog post on installing Android on the HP TouchPad, I am including my standard disclaimer.

My instructions are geared towards people who are somewhat familiar with computers and know how to troubleshoot simple installation issues or go into certain directories using the command prompt. Regardless of whether you are or aren't such a person, I am including the usual disclaimer that I am not responsible for anything that might go wrong when you follow my instructions or use my files. These instructions and files worked for me and they should work for you.

The instructions that I followed from the YouTube video mention downloading a file. I've included this file on my blog which you can download directly *HERE*. After watching the video to its entirety, download the file either from the site mentioned on the video (or in the description area of the video) or you can download it from the link on my blog.

Please note that everything will be wiped from your phone when you root your device (during the unlock process).

I won't detail everything that the video goes through but will write about some of the issues that I had.

The first issue was that I wasn't sure which version of the Nexus-S I had. In my case, I purchased my Nexus-S from a Canadian carrier called Fido which uses the same frequency/bands as Rogers Wireless in Canada and AT&T in the US. After doing some research (since I could not locate this information on my phone), the Samsung Nexus-S version that I had from the menu selection was the 850MHz i9020a version (which might be the information shown in Settings -> About Phone -> Baseband version).

In terms of which version of Android I was using, I got this information from Settings -> About Phone -> Android version.

From the program screen, I clicked on the "Full Driver Installation Guide" button and followed the instructions. During step 2 of the driver installation, I was presented with the screen/window below:

The recommended solution based on my set-up was Driver Solution #1 based on the screen. However, I tried using the recommended solution a few times (rebooting my computer multiple times and uninstalling/reinstalling the drivers) and the step would always fail during the the Fastboot Check (the ADB check worked without any issues). I decided to try using Driver Solution #2 and after rebooting my computer, both the ADB check and the Fastbook check worked without any issues.

I then proceeded to unlock the bootloader and didn't run into any issues.

When rooting my device using the "Root" button, at first I didn't select the "Custom Recovery" option but after running into a minor issue during boot-up, I redid the step using the Custom Recovery option. After completing all the steps when I clicked on the "Root" button, it didn't add "Superuser" or "SU" to my Samsung Nexus-S.

The video makes mention to the possibility of this happening. To fix this, you will need to download the SU application. I have a copy of it *HERE*. After downloading this ZIP file, you will place it on the root directory of your Samsung Nexus-S (which will probably place it into the /sdcard directory).

After doing this, you will remove your Samsung Nexus-S from your computer and turn off your Samsung Nexus-S, wait a few seconds and then on your Nexus-S push the power button and volume up button at the same time to get into the Boatloader screen. Use the volume key to select "Recovery Mode" which will bring you to the Team Win Recovery screen. Select "Install" and then locate the "CWM-SuperSU-v0.99.zip" program. CWM-SuperSU-v0,.99.zip will install. This is also shown in the video but I thought that I would make mention of it because it did apply in my situation.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

LG Nexus-4 System Update Available for 4.3

Today I received a prompt on my LG Nexus-4 regarding a system update being available today. I checked the version available and it was 4.3.

The upgrade size was 169.3 MB which my LG Nexus-4 already downloaded in the background when I received the prompt on the notification area informing me of the upgrade. Excluding the time required to download the upgrade, it only took under 10 minutes in order to upgrade my LG Nexus-4.

Since I only upgraded it to Android 4.3 about 8 hours ago, I didn't have a lot of chance to experiment/test it but so far I don't really notice any major improvements nor do I notice any degradation in speed and responsiveness.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

LG Nexus-4 Likes

I wrote about what I liked regarding my Blackberry Q10 in last week's blog entry and a few blog entries prior to that I wrote about what I disliked about my Blackberry Q10. Since I wrote about what I disliked regarding my LG Nexus-4, now is the time to write about what I like about my LG Nexus-4.

I've been using my LG Nexus-4 for about 4 months and I've used a few Android phones in the past, however, as mentioned in my previous blog entries, my LG Nexus-4 was purchased as being an upgrade for my Samsung Nexus-S so my impressions of the LG Nexus-4 (likes/dislikes stems from this fact).

Before I go ahead with this, as stated in one of my previous blog entries, I just wanted to state that I'm not an Android fanboy nor am I an Android hater. As you can see from some of my other reviews on cellphones, I have/use many different phones and find things that I like about each of them and things that I don't like about each of them.

The first thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that it runs the stock Android version without any manufacturer bloatware/customization. This was one of the main reasons why I prefer the Nexus line of phones.

The second thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that it comes factory unlocked. Regardless of which carrier you purchase the LG Nexus-4 from or whether you purchase it directly from the Google store or whether or not you received a subsidy when you purchased the phone from the carrier, it comes factory unlocked.

The third thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that I find that it is fast. As mentioned, I purchased the LG Nexus-4 as an upgrade for my Samsung Nexus-S and the Samsung Nexus-S was starting to show its age by not being as responsive as necessary for a lot of the programs available for the AndroidOS.

The fourth thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that it is pentaband 3G (850/900/1700/1900/2100) and quadband 2G (850/900/1800/1900). I use my phone both in the US and Canada. While in the US, I use T-Mobile and using my LG Nexus-4, I have no problems getting 3G. While in Canada with Rogers/Fido/Bell/Telus, I can get the same 3G signal with the phone.

The fifth thing that I like about my LG Nexus-4 is that so far I haven't experienced any memory issues with the phone when installing my Android applications on it. With my Samsung Nexus-S, I would receive error messages regarding there not being enough memory to install the programs that I wanted onto it (I have a lot of applications installed on my Nexus-S). On my LG Nexus-4, I've installed the same number of applications without experiencing any memory issues (for the time being).

The sixth thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that it supports XBMC for Android and has no problems streaming the videos that I've selected.

The seventh thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that like all Android phones that I've used, it supports Internet calling via SIP. You can also program the phone to use SIP as opposed to the regular cellular network if you are connected to a wireless access point.

The eighth thing that I like (but this is due to the OS version of Android on it) is the face unlock ability. However, I've had to disable this since in order to get my work e-mail on an Android phone (such as the LG Nexus-4), one of the security features required is the disabling of the camera for the purpose of unlocking the phone.

The ninth thing that I like about the LG Nexus-4 is that I've been able to install all the apps that I haven't run into insufficient space issues when installing Android apps on it. I've installed a lot of Android applications on my LG Nexus-4. Including the default Android applications, I have over 100 applications installed on my LG Nexus-4. With my Samsung Nexus-S, I ran into memory/space issues even after transferring the Android application to the internal USB storage data memory. Including the default Android applications, I have about 65 applications installed on my Samsung Nexus-S and ran into memory/space issues forcing me to transfer some of the applications onto the internal USB storage data memory.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Blackberry Q10 Likes (or Blackberry Q10 Review - Part 3)

I've written about what I disliked about the Blackberry Q10 *HERE* and not wanting to be accused of a one sided anti-Blackberry blog entry or as being a Blackberry hater, here is my blog entry on the things that I like about my Blackberry Q10.

I've been using my Blackberry Q10 for about 2 months and my previous experience with a Blackberry/RIM smartphone was my Blackberry Bold 9700. In fact, the Blackberry Q10 was meant as an upgrade to my aging Blackberry Bold 9700. Because my previous experience with a Blackberry was with a Bold 9700 running OS 6, I've never used OS 7 before so some of my "likes" in this blog entry might actually not be a new thing for Blackberry phones.

Before I go ahead with this, as stated in one of my previous blog entries, I just wanted to state that I'm not a Blackberry fanboy nor am I a Blackberry hater. As you can see from some of my other reviews on cellphones, I have/use many different phones and find things that I like about each of them and things that I don't like about each of them.

As of the date that I'm writing this blog entry, the current software release available for the Q10 is 10.1.0.273 (OS Version is listed as being 10.1.0.1720) and I have all the latest default programs installed on it.

The first thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that I find the browsing experience to be very good. Coming from a Blackberry Bold 9700 (running OS 6), I was very used to the browser crashing every few webpages and how the Blackberry browser interpreted a webpage in a very lackluster format. On the Blackberry Q10, in the roughly 2 months that I've been using it, I have yet to have the browser abruptly crash on me. The Blackberry Q10 browser's rendition of webpages is also comparable to what I would get in my computer (although on a very small screen).

The second thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it (like my older Blackberry Bold 9700) uses a micro-USB port for charging and for USB synchronizing. Now, unlike with my older Blackberry Bold 9700, the Blackberry Q10 seems to be less fussy when it comes to the micro-USB plug when I am trying to charge it. On my Blackberry Bold 9700, depending on where the micro-USB was plugged into, I would sometimes receive a message indicating that charging was not possible. On my Blackberry Q10 using the same micro-USB cable as well as the adapter that it was plugged into, I would not receive a message about charging not being possible (and my Blackberry Q10 would charge).

The third thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it is LTE capable. Since there are different LTE bands/frequencies, you have to make sure that the Blackberry Q10 that you purchase is compatible with your carrier's LTE network. For example, the Blackberry Q10 (model SCN100-3) has been optimized for the Rogers Wireless Network in Canada.

The fourth thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that using the physical keyboard on the Q10 is even easier than on my Blackberry Bold 9700 in that when typing text, the Q10 will show some text suggestions that you can easily use by selecting the text on the touch screen. It makes typing an e-mail or a text message a lot easier although sometimes I still find myself typing the entire word as opposed to just picking the word from the list of suggestions. This is similar to the list of suggestions while typing on an Android phone but with a physical keyboard, I just find it easier to type and the text suggestions makes it even easier/better.

The fifth thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that the Contacts allow for linking multiple sources so that a contact/person will only appear once in the Contacts addressbook. If you don't want something to appear in the Contacts addressbook altogether, all you have to do while in Contacts is on the touchscreen, swipe downwards and select Settings and then toggle off the item/database that you don't want. For example, because in Twitter, I follow companies, I don't want the names of companies to show up as a contact within my Contacts addressbook.

The sixth thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that I find the swiping action to be very intuitive to navigate between the different screens as well as to go back into the Blackberry Hub screen.

The seventh thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that the camera is auto focusing. With my older Blackberry Bold 9700, the camera was also auto focusing but when Blackberry/RIM released the Blackberry Bold 9900, the opted to do away with the auto focusing camera.

The eighth thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it no longer requires a Blackberry specific data plan in order to get e-mail and web browsing to work properly. I was using my Blackberry Q10 SIM-less for approximately 4 days while I waited to receive my microSIM cutter from Ebay and my Blackberry Q10 worked very well SIM-less. While SIM-less, the Blackberry Q10 seemed to get its time via NTP or by connecting to an NTP server. When I was connected to a wireless access point, every internet capable application worked without any issues (BBM, browser, e-mail, etc.). The reason that I like that the Blackberry Q10 no longer requires a SIM card with a Blackberry specific data plan (BIS/BES) for it to access data/e-mail properly is because when I travel, I find it hard to get a Blackberry compatible data plan on a prepaid plan.

The ninth thing that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it has a port for a micro-HDMI cable so that you can plug your Blackberry Q10 into your television set for whatever reason (watch videos/pictures, or when doing a presentation). On some other phones which are capable of displaying to an HD television or monitor, a special type of cable, dongle, or docking station is required. For the Blackberry Q10, a standard micro-HDMI cable is all that is required to project/display to an HD television (provided that the HD television has an HDMI port)

Some of the other things that I like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it accepts a microSD card for storing pictures, music, videos, and files. Another thing that I like is that it has a user removable/replaceable battery. Based on my usage, the battery life is very good. I also find the amount of internal memory on the Q10 to be good when compared to my older Blackberry Bold 9700 running OS 6 because although I have not gone crazy by installing a lot of programs/applications on my Q10, my Q10 has not complained about memory issues yet (unlike my Bold 9700 which often complained about memory issues and required a reboot each day). My Blackberry Q10 has not required me to reboot the device in the 2 months that I've been using it (except when I've done a software/firmware update). When rebooting my Blackberry Q10, I find that it boots up a lot faster than the time that it took for my Blackberry Bold 9700 to boot up. I also like that it is very easy to do a screen capture on the Blackberry Q10. Basically, to do this, all you have to do is go to the screen you want to capture and then press the volume up and volume down keys as the same time.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

LG Nexus-4 Dislikes

Sorry that I didn't post anything to my blog last week but I was out of town and my internet connection wasn't stable. I wrote about some of the things that I dislike about the Blackberry Q10 a few weeks ago and someone asked me what I disliked about my LG Nexus-4 and because I'm not a Blackberry hater, I've decided to dedicate a blog entry on what I dislike about my LG Nexus-4.

Please note that as mentioned in my previous blog entry regarding the LG Nexus-4, the LG Nexus-4 represents my Android phone upgrade from my Samsung Nexus-S (just like the Blackberry Q10 represents the Blackberry phone upgrade from my old Blackberry Bold 9700).

The first thing that I don't like about my LG Nexus-4 is that the SIM card extraction hole is too small for a paper-clip. I can use a paper-clip to extract the SIM card from my iPhone 3GS but the LG Nexus-4 requires a very thin SIM extraction tool (which is included with the phone). Since a paper clip won't work on the LG Nexus-4, when I plan on swapping my SIM card (for example, when I'm travelling), I must remember to bring my SIM extraction tool.

The second thing that I don't really like about my LG Nexus-4 is that it doesn't have a user removable/replaceable battery. My Samsung Nexus-S had the user removable/replaceable battery and I've just replaced the battery for that unit. I expect that after a few years, the LG Nexus-4's battery will not maintain its charge and I will either have to look at hacking it to replace the battery or purchase a new Android phone.

The third thing that I don't like about the LG Nexus-4 is that straight out of the box, it is not LTE capable. When most phones on the market today (being released at the same time as the LG Nexus-4) is LTE capable, it not being LTE capable might be a deal breaker for some people. According to some documention, there is a way to make it LTE capable but I haven't tried this with my Nexus-4 yet since the data plan that I have with my Nexus-4 is limited to 3G speeds.

The fourth thing that I don't really like about the LG Nexus-4 is that the output/external speaker is located on the back of the phone. This means when I place my phone on a table as I'm viewing a video/movie, the sound is a bit muffled coming out of the output/external speaker.

Those are my main dislikes regarding the LG Nexus-4 when I compare it with my older Samsung Nexus-S. I wasn't too thrilled with the LG Nexus-4 using a microSIM card but most of the newer phones use a microSIM card as opposed to the larger miniSIM card.

Although I haven't experienced this with my LG Nexus-4, a few of my work colleagues mentioned that it is somewhat fragile and one of my work colleague's Nexus-4 front glass panel shattered when he accidentally dropped it. So far, I have never dropped my Samsung Nexus-S which I've had for over 5 years nor have I ever dropped my LG Nexus-4 which I've had for a few months so I can't say which is more fragile (nor am I willing to test which is more fragile). Both my Samsung Nexus-S and my LG Nexus-4 are in a thin plastic hard case which offers a bit more protection but I'm not sure how either of them would do if they accidentally fell from a height of ~4 feet (which is the height that I normally have my phones when I'm using them for something other than talking).

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Blackberry Q10 Dislikes (or Blackberry Q10 Review - Part 2)

For my initial impressions of the Blackberr Q10, please refer to my blog entry entitled "Blackberry Q10 Review (Part 1)" located *HERE*.

I've been using my Blackberry Q10 for about 1 month now and I thought that I would write some of the things that I don't like about it in this review. Before I go ahead with this, I just wanted to state that I'm not a Blackberry fanboy nor am I a Blackberry hater. As you can see from some of my other reviews on cellphones, I have/use many different phones and find things that I like about each of them and things that I don't like about each of them. I will probably write another blog entry about the Blackberry Q10 in terms of what I like about it in a few weeks.

As of the date that I'm writing this blog entry, the current software release available for the Q10 is 10.1.0.273 (OS Version is listed as being 10.1.0.1720) and I have all the latest default programs installed on it.

The first thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is that the Contact sync is problematic. The "main" contact list that I use on all my smartphones and tablets is derived from Google Contacts and the Blackberry Q10 syncs with Google Contacts via CardDAV. It synchronized the first time when I set up the phone without any issues but after the initial sync, regardless of whether there was a change done to one of my contacts on Google Contacts or on my Blackberry Q10 itself, it would not synchronize the change that was done (or would do it very rarely since I have noticed it working properly once).

The second thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is related to the current Facebook application (v 10.1.0.78). Unlike the version of Facebook that I was using on my Blackberry Bold 9700, the current version of Facebook doesn't allow users to add a place if it doesn't exist when using the "Check-In" feature.

The third thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is also related to the current Facebook application and that is even though one of the options is supposed to notify you when one of your friends has a birthday, it doesn't work. I've set this option to notify me at 9:00am on the day of my Facebook friend's birthday and it has not notified me of my friend's birthday even when their birthday is listed on their Facebook page. This also doesn't work properly in the Blackberry Playbook.

The fourth thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is that the "Remember" application (that in some way replaces the "Task" application on the older Blackberries (such as the Blackberry Bold 9700) doesn't have a re-occurring task feature. You can set the due date for the reminder but you can't make the reminder automatically remind you again (for example next month).

The fifth thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is that most of the programs that I used on my older Blackberry Bold 9700 are not available for the Blackberry Q10. Hopefully this changes as time passes.

The sixth thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 is that it didn't come with the holster that my Blackberry Bold 9700 came with. However, RIM/Blackberry hasn't included a holster in many of their phones recently. Even if you get a Blackberry holster for your Blackberry Q10, unlike with the Blackberry Bold 9700, the Blackberry Q10 doesn't seem to have the "in holster" notification profile.

The seventh thing that I don't like about the Blackberry Q10 relates to what I see as a bug in the Blackberry Hub and that is it appears as if the Blackberry Hub will randomly disable some/certain items from appearing. I've seen this documented on the internet and I've also experienced it first hand. For example, I have 3 e-mail accounts configured, 1 Facebook, 1 Twitter, Phone Logs, BBM, Text Messages, LinkedIn, & Voice Mail and in Hub Management I will notice that certain items will disable itself at random when I go back into the Hub Management.

As mentioned, I'm not a Blackberry fanboy nor am I a Blackberry hater. I will be writing an upcoming blog entry on what I like about the Blackberry Q10 in a few weeks.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment which contains a URL link (whether it is embedded or not) will automatically be labelled as spam and will not be posted.

Blackberry Q10 Review

As mentioned in my previous 2 "intermediate" blog entries, I managed to get my hands on a Blackberry Q10 and would either spend the time to write this week's blog entry on Blackberry OS 10 or the Blackberry Q10. I've decided to write this blog entry on both.

I've been using a Blackberry Q10 for approximately 1 week so these are my first thoughts about it and they might change as I use it more.

I came from using a Blackberry Bold 9700 which as I mentioned in a previous blog entry was starting to show its age. That Bold 9700, shipped with Blackberry OS 5 and I later upgraded it to Blackberry OS 6 which in hindsight doing this was a big mistake because in my opinion, the Blackberry Bold 9700 was not meant to run Blackberry OS 6. I wanted a phone with an actual keyboard (as opposed to a virtual onscreen keyboard) to replace my Bold 9700. This is one of the reasons why I decided not to purchase the earlier Blackberry Z10 which came out a few months earlier.

The carrier that I deal with had 2 colours (black or white) for the Blackberry Q10. I opted to get the white one which for the time being is rarer than the black one since the black one is available with all the carriers that offer the Blackberry Q10. My Blackberry Q10 shipped with OS 10.1.0.1483. There were no upgrades available at the time that I received my Q10.

In terms of some of the specifications for the Blackberry Q10, it is a dual-core phone that is LTE enabled (unlike the LG Nexus-4 that I got as an upgrade to my Samsung Nexus-S). I find the Q10 to be very fast. The resolution of the screen is 720x720 and it has a 8 megapixel auto-focusing rear camera (the Bold 9900, which I skipped, did not have auto-focusing). The Blackberry Q10 uses a microSIM card from the carrier, has a microSD expansion slot, and a micro-HDMI port for connecting it to a television set. For Wi-Fi, it supports 802.11 a/b/g/n. I didn't have any issues connecting my Blackberry Q10 to any of the access points that I had at home or at work. Most importantly, the Blackberry Q10 has a physical QWERTY keyboard (and a touch screen).

You can get a copy of the Blackberry Q10 user's guide from *HERE*.

One of the main differentiating things between this Blackberry and the previous Blackberries (with the exception of the Z10) is that Blackberry OS 10 does not require a Blackberry specific data plan (like BIS). In fact, for the first 3 days, I was using my Blackberry Q10 entirely on wireless mode (without a SIM card in the phone) and all the data functions worked very well (browser, Blackberry Messanging, e-mail, synchronizing, etc.). On my Blackberry Bold 9700, without a BIS-enabled SIM card, the built-in browser, the e-mail functions, and Blackberry messaging (among other data applications) would not work even over Wi-Fi. This meant that when I traveled to another country, I couldn't put another carrier's SIM card into the phone and get the data applications to work even over Wi-Fi. The negative thing about Blackberry OS 10 going this route (no longer requiring a Blackberry specific data plan) is that there is no longer any compression for e-mail and browsing which will increase data usage. Depending on your company's corporate network, you will probably still require a BES data-plan for some of the business features.

Because I've used a Blackberry Playbook before, the touchscreen gesture controls didn't take me too much time to get used to. After about a week of usage, I am still sometimes looking for the non-existent trackpad, the Blackberry menu button, or the back button.

In the one week that I've been using the Blackberry Q10, I find that the keyboard is very good and the phone and/or the OS is very stable/solid. Whereas my Blackberry Bold 9700 has to be rebooted almost on a daily basis and the browser on it would crash after viewing a few pages, I have yet to reboot my Blackberry Q10 and it's browser has yet to crash and I have used the browser a lot. The Q10's browser renders pages very well although because of the screen-size (3.1" diagonal), it does sometimes require that I do  the "2-finger pinch zoom" in order to enlarge the portion of the webpage I want to read.

In terms of the applications available for the Blackberry Q10, I do find it lacking in that department. A lot of the applications that I had on my Blackberry Bold 9700 are not available for the Blackberry Q10. As of the date that I'm writing this blog entry, one program that I use occasionally on my Blackberry Bold 9700 which is available on the Blackberry Z10 is not available on the Blackberry Q10 (and both the Z10 and Q10 run on Blackberry OS 10). The program that I'm referring to is the Ebay program.

The Blackberry Q10 supports Microsoft ActiveSync which I find is a big improvement from what was supported via the carrier's BIS webpage. The only thing (but this is not Blackberry's fault) is that Google has abandoned support for Microsoft ActiveSync for their free accounts. As such, it required a few extra steps to get my Blackberry Q10 to synchronize with my Google calendar, my Google contacts, and my Gmail account but it wasn't too difficult to do this. I forgot to mention this but as opposed to using the Blackberry Desktop software to back-up my Blackberry Bold 9700 and then perform the hardware upgrade option (transfer device) for restoring all the settings to my new Blackberry Q10, I opted to configure everything from scratch. After getting my Blackberry Q10 to synchronize with my Google account, I find that it does it very well (better than what I was getting with my Blackberry Bold 9700). The Blackberry contacts integrates my Google contacts, Facebook contacts, LinkedIn contacts, and my Twitter contacts and it allows me to specify which accounts to show in the Blackberry contacts list. There does seem to be a bug in the Blackberry contacts for the Q10 and that is, it only performs a sync once when setting it up. I've changed information for a particular contact (either on my Blackberry Q10 or on my Google Contacts account) and that change was never reflected/synched even after waiting over 8 hours.

As mentioned in this blog entry's title, this is only part 1 of my review/thoughts on the Blackberry Q10. I will write part 2 at a later date (I am not sure if it will be next week's blog entry or whether I will write about something else).

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment which contains a URL link (whether it is embedded or not) will automatically be labelled as spam and will not be posted.

Just got my hands on a Blackberry Q10

Just a short post/blog entry saying that I got my hands on a Blackberry Q10 so my next blog entry on Monday of next week will either be on Blackberry OS 10 or on the Blackberry Q10 specifically.

I will be setting up the Blackberry Q10 as a "new" phone without doing any form of back-up on Blackberry Desktop from my Blackberry Bold 9700 to this new Blackberry Q10. I almost didn't accept the Blackberry Q10 because of a dispute over pricing.

As mentioned in my previous/weekly blog entry, if you have any questions on the Blackberry Q10 that you would like me to answer for next week's blog, please don't hesitate to leave them below in the comments section. Please note that all comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether or not embedded) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.