BBM (Blackberry Messenger) finally officially available on Android and iOS

Well, after a mishap, Blackberry finally released BBM on both the iOS platform (iPhone, iPad, & iPad mini) as well as Android.

You can download the iOS version from iTunes *HERE*. You can download the Android version from the Google Playstore *HERE*.

I downloaded it and I'm looking forward to trying it on both platforms. I had managed to sign up for it on BBM.com so I don't have to wait to use it.

The information from Blackberry's official blog regarding the release is *HERE*. I have copied the blog entry into my blog just in case it gets deleted or is modified from their blog.

This is the news you’ve been waiting for! I am thrilled to tell you that we are about to officially resume our rollout of BBM for Android and iPhone customers around the globe!* In the next few hours, people will start seeing BBM in Google Play, the App Store and in select Samsung App Stores – where it will be free to download.
The demand for BBM on Android and BBM on iPhone continues to be amazing. About six million people signed up for information about BBM at BBM.com. As you know, in just seven hours, about one million Android users were using the unreleased version of BBM for Android. What you don’t know is that more than one million people have found creative ways to “side load” BBM on their iPhone. This is incredible.
To help manage this unprecedented pent up demand for BBM, we are implementing a simple line-up system to ensure a smooth roll out. Here’s how it is going to work…
BBM Roll Out Details:
Download BBM – the easiest way is to visit BBM.com from your Android or iPhone browser*
Once you install the app, open it, and enter your email address to hold your spot in line
We will email you as soon as you reach the front of the line and can start using BBM
If you are among the millions that took the time to sign up at BBM.com, you can start using BBM immediately without waiting in line.* If you didn’t sign up in advance, don’t worry – we are focused on moving millions of customers through the line as fast as possible.
Our team of developers and engineers has been working around the clock to bring you BBM – and make some upgrades while we’re at it – and some incredible work has been done. I look forward to sharing more of this with you here, on Inside BlackBerry, soon.
For updates on how quickly the line is moving you can follow @BBM on Twitter. I will be back tomorrow with another post to provide you with an update on the line-up and to share more detail about the work the team has done over the last several weeks.
Lastly, thank you for your patience. We know you’re excited (we are too!) and we look forward to having you join us on BBM.
*Samsung customers in Sub-Sahara Africa can download BBM today from the Samsung Apps store. iPhone and other Android users in Africa will be able to download the app in three days’ time.

The website for both products can be found *HERE*.

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Delay in Blackberry Messenger (BBM) for iOS and Android

In this week's blog entry, I was going to write about BBM being available for the iPhone and Android. The date that was stated on Blackberry's blog posting indicated that the Android version of BBM would be available at the Google Play Store on Saturday September 21 whereas the iOS/Apple version of BBM would be available on the Apps Store on Sunday September 22. You can find this mentioned on Blackberry's official blog *HERE*.

Looking at Blackberry's blog entry for today (September 23, 2013), it looks as if it will probably be awhile for BBM to be widely available for Android and iPhone.

Hi Android and iPhone users,
This is Andrew Bocking, head of BBM at BlackBerry. As a follow up to our first blog post on Saturday, I want to take a moment to provide you with an update on the rollout of BBM on Android and iPhone.Last week, an unreleased, older version of the BBM for Android app was posted on numerous file sharing sites. We were aware of an issue with this unreleased version of the BBM for Android app. This older version resulted in volumes of data traffic orders of magnitude higher than normal for each active user and impacted the system in abnormal ways. The version we were planning to release on Saturday addressed these issues, however we could not block users of the unreleased version if we went ahead with the launch.
We attempted to address the problems caused by the unreleased version throughout the day on Saturday, but as active users of the unreleased app neared a million – and accelerated – it became clear that the only way to address the issue was to pause the rollout for both Android and iPhone.
The team is now focused on adjusting the system to completely block this unreleased version of the Android app when we go live with the official BBM for Android app. We are also making sure that the system is reinforced to handle this kind of scenario in the future. While this may sound like a simple task – it’s not. This will take some time and I do not anticipate launching this week.
Thank you for your patience while we take the time needed to deliver the experience you expect from BBM. We will continue to provide you with updates here on InsideBlackBerry.com and through @BBM on Twitter. We will notify everyone who has pre-registered on BBM.com when BBM is available on Android and iPhone.
Andrew Bocking
EVP, BBM

The above was taken from http://blogs.blackberry.com/2013/09/bbm-android-iphone-update/

With all the bad news coming from Blackberry these days, I'm hoping that they actually release BBM for Android and for the iPhone and they don't break their promise similar to what they did when they promised to release BB 10 for the Playbook but then later mentioned that because BB 10 wouldn't run optimally on the Playbook, the decided not to move forward with this project.

For me, even though I have a Blackberry Q10 that has BBM on it, I'm eagerly awaiting (and hoping) that they release BBM for the iPhone and Android platform but based on their past performance, I'm not sure if it will happen anytime soon (if ever).

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XBMC Media Center Review

I've been testing out the XBMC Media Center on my Rikomagic MK802IIIS Android Mini PC as well as on my LG Nexus-4 for a few days and I thought that I would write a review on it as well as detail how to install it on Android devices. I attempted to install it on my old Samsung Nexus-S but even though it installed, I was forced to uninstall it because I couldn't get it to run consistently so I didn't want it to occupy space on my device when it wouldn't always run. I also tried installing it on my Acer Iconia Tab A100 Android tablet but the XBMC program was not compatible with the device.

To install XBMC onto your Android device, the first thing that you should do is to download it from the XBMC site at http://xbmc.org/download/. You must also enable your Android device to accept 3rd party applications by going into Settings -> Security -> Unknown sources (enable this option). After doing this and having the XBMC APK file, you must execute/install the APK file onto your Android device. There are many ways of doing this depending on the particular Android device. In my case, I used my Dropbox account in order to get the XBMC APK file onto my Android device and install it. The installation takes a few minutes to complete and after it is fully extracted/installed onto your Android device, you should have the XBMC program.

Once the XBMC program is installed, the next step is to launch it and configure it for at least 1 add-on. There are various add-ons available and various repositories. I won't detail any particular one but you can find various sources for things ranging from movies, videos, and television shows. By configuring the proper add-ons and repositories, people can get media on par or better than what is available on the various Netflix sites even when using a service like Unblock-Us with Netflix which allows me to get the Netflix selections from 10 countries (Canada, US, UK, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, & Finland).

I highly recommend installing XBMC on your Android device (or another compatible device/platform) if your device supports it. I find it to be a useful additional resource for videos/media that can't be found on Netflix, YouTube, NFB, or some of the television broadcaster's own websites. On another note, I attempted to install XBMC on my jailbroken iPhone 3GS but because my iPhone 3GS is on iOS 4.01, XBMC is not compatible on it (even though according to the documentation on the XBMC website that it is compatible with iOS 4.x and above). XBMC works very well on both my Rikomagic MK802IIIS Android Mini PC device as well as on my LG Nexus-4.

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MiniSIM to MicroSIM Cutter Usage/Review

One of the things that I encountered after purchasing my new LG Nexus-4 was that most of my SIM cards were the "normal" miniSIM and not the microSIM required in the newer phones such as the LG Nexus-4.

Where I used to work, they had a SIM cutter to cut miniSIMs into microSIMs. Because the SIM card that I was using in my Samsung Nexus-S was a T-Mobile miniSIM and I was going to use my LG Nexus-4 as an upgrade to my Samsung Nexus-S, I needed to either convert/cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM or I needed to purchase/get a new T-Mobile microSIM and transfer my account from the miniSIM onto the microSIM. I didn't want to go through some of the problems that I had when I first purchased my T-Mobile SIM from the US and have it shipped to Canada so I opted to cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM. Since I live in Canada, it also wasn't very convenient for me to purchase a new T-Mobile microSIM.

I wanted to ask a friend where I used to work to cut it for me but because of a scheduling issue, this was not possible during the period that I wanted to do this. I saw a MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter on sale (under $5) and it was relatively inexpensive compared to how much it would cost me to purchase replacement microSIMs for all the different miniSIMs that I had so I decided to purchase it. Since I have a lot of active miniSIMs, I thought that having my own person MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter would be useful and based on my purchase of price under $5 (average price is around $7).

I've seen/used the microSIM cutter where I used to work in order to test various work phones so I knew what it involved. I've also done research on the internet and seen various videos and tutorials on how to manually cut the miniSIM into a microSIM using a tracing tool and a knife so I know that a miniSIM could be used in a cellphone which required a microSIM as long as you were able to get the SIM card to microSIM size without damaging it. Rather than taking my chances at manually tracing/cutting my miniSIM, I decided to use a miniSIM to microSIM cutter.

The SIM cutter is basically roughly the size of a small stapler and functions similar to a paper hole puncher. The miniSIM card goes into a slot and you squeeze on the lever causing the SIM cutter to punch out a microSIM card sized piece that you are able to put into your microSIM card phone. Before punching out the microSIM, I placed my finger on the top of the SIM card while it was in the SIM cutter to make sure that it was firmly in place and didn't move while I squeezed the SIM cutter handle and cut the SIM card. After punching out the SIM card, I found that the new microSIM card piece was a bit rough along the edges where it was cut/punched out of the original card but the modified/cut SIM card fit into my LG Nexus-4 without any issues. Just as a precautionary measure, I decided to sand it along the top of the cut SIM card (not the side with the gold contacts) just to make sure that the SIM card wouldn't be lodged/stuck in the SIM slot of my phone.

I powered on my LG Nexus-4 with my recently cut SIM card and it powered on without any issues. It also was able to lock onto the cellular network without any issues as well. I did not try making/receiving a call unnecessarily because of the roaming charges but because the phone showed that it had locked onto the proper cellular network, I don't expect any issues with this.

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D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion DIR-506L Review

I had the opportunity to test out the D-Link SharePort Go DIR-506L a few days ago and I thought that I would write my thoughts on the product.

The SharePort Go Mobile Companion is portable and slightly larger than a deck of playing cards. It is powered through USB port (mini-USB) or by battery with the included removable proprietary battery. Included with the unit is a USB cable, the battery, and a very small instructional booklet.

I charged the unit using an AC to mini-USB cable from one of my other devices for a few hours. According to the documentation, it takes ~4 hours to fully charge using the USB cable when attached to the USB port on a computer. Charging it fully via my AC adapter was obviously a lot faster. According to the documentation, the battery lasts for 4 hours on a single charge, however like with all electronic devices this number probably depends on how the device is used.

The unit configures via either a WPS set-up button, by connecting to the device via http://192.168.0.1 (either wirelessly or wired), by using an Android/iPhone application. Not being a real fan of WPS since I prefer to configure my wireless devices manually, I configured the device using the free Android application. I also wanted to try it also using the iPhone application but unfortunately, the application only works with iOS 4.3 and above and my iPhone 3GS is still at iOS 4.01. The configuration was straightforward on the free Android application (called QRS Mobile) for basic set-up. The only problem that I experienced was due to the fact that this device's internal IP address matched the internal IP address of my existing wireless router.

Because my home network isn't very straightforward and the very small instructional booklet (Quick Installation Guide) was written for very basic network configurations, I had to download the user manual from the company's website to get some added information about setting up the device as an Access Point. At the same time, I checked to see if there was any firmware updates on the company's website and applied the latest firmware on the device.

Accessing the device's configuration directly via a browser allows for more advanced configuration options. The options available when configuring the SharePort Go Mobile Companion are similar to most advanced router configurations including MAC address filtering, opening network ports, etc.

The company's video below from YouTube outlines some of the features of the device.


I tested to see whether the device would charge my iPhone 3GS and my Android phones (Samsung Nexus-S & LG Nexus-4) and according to the phone display, it was charging without any issues. It was unable to charge my Blackberry Bold 9700 but then again my Blackberry Bold 9700 will sometimes charge using some cables and sometimes it won't charge using the same cable so I'm not sure whether it will charge Blackberry phones. I didn't let the device fully charge my phones, I just looked at the message or icon on the phone to see whether the phone was actually charging.

I tested the device's SharePort capability by plugging in my USB memory stick (with some photos on it) and I was able to watch them without any issues on my Android tablet with the free SharePort Mobile Android application. I also tested it with some MP3 files and didn't have any issues either. Unfortunately, I didn't have any quickly accessible videos in MOV or MP4 to test.

I find the device good and useful but here are my negative comments about the device:
1) Even though I like the fact that the device has a removable/changeable battery, I would have preferred it if the device used standard batteries or batteries used by some other devices (like camera batteries) but then again, the required voltage/amperage probably makes this very difficult.
2) Unlike a laptop which can be powered with an AC adapter without having the battery plugged into it, the device requires the battery in the unit even when it is being charged/powered by an AC adapter (similar to how cellphones behave). For users who don't need a battery powered device, the non-battery powered SharePort DIR-505 might be a better option.
3) Since most cameras use SD memory cards, having an SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot would have been nice (but I basically have a USB SD card reader stick so it isn't really a big deal).
4) Only supports USB devices that are less than 500 GB
5) I find the video file format that the unit supports limiting. However since I believe that the primary market for this device is for users/consumers to share videos taken from their digital cameras, this might not be a big issue for most people.

All in all, even with the negative comments mentioned above, I like the D-Link SharePort Go Mobile Companion DIR-506L device and don't have any issues recommending it for any user who needs the functions of such a device.

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 an comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Online/Cloud Storage Solutions

There are a multitude of free online/cloud storage solutions available to consumers. I use 4 online/cloud storage solutions and I thought that I would describe them for this week's blog entry. They all offer a client for Windows which synchronizes the online/cloud storage space with a specific directory on your computer. Some of the online/cloud storage solutions also have clients for cellphones (Blackberry, Android, iOS, and HP's WebOS).

The first online/cloud storage solution that I used was Dropbox because most of the people where I work used it. I started with 3 GB of online storage and through referrals, I'm currently at 5 GB of storage space available. By clicking on the above link and going through with the installation process, you will get a bonus of 500 MB (giving a total of 3.5 GB). Dropbox gives 500 MB for every referral up to a maximum of 16 GB. There are other methods to increase your online storage (via connecting to your Facebook account (+125 MB), connecting to your Twitter account (+125 MB), following their Twitter feed (+125 MB), etc. For a complete list of ways to get additional storage space, you can check out their comprehensive list on their website. Dropbox offers mobile clients for Blackberry, Android, and iOS).

The second online/cloud storage solution that I used was Google Drive. Google Drive was originally Google Docs. I use Google Drive mainly because it is part of Google and I use most of Google's products. Google Drive gives 5 GB for free. Google Drive includes a mobile client for Android and iOS.

The third online/cloud storage solution that I used was SkyDrive. It is part of the Microsoft line via their Live products. My SkyDrive is 25 GB as part of a promotion that they had. I believe that new users get 7 GB of free online storage. Because I have more storage space on SkyDrive, I find myself storing most of the files that I want to back up on SkyDrive.

The fourth online/cloud storage solution that I used is Box. My Box account is at 50 GB of free online storage via a promotion that they had for users of the HP TouchPad. They currently have a feature where business users can get 50 GB of online storage for free via a referral from someone who already has 50 GB at the same company. Box determines if the e-mail address of the person doing the referring is a company e-mail address. Box is the only company to have a native WebOS client application for the HP TouchPad. It also supports the most mobile clients (Blackberry, Android, iOS, WindowsPhone, and Playbook)

Out of the four online/cloud storage solutions that I've mentioned on this blog, I primarily will use (in the following order): Box, SkyDrive, Google Drive, and then Dropbox. The reason why I primarily use Box is because I have the most space available via Box than any of the other cloud storage solutions that I've listed here. However, generally I find myself storing important files on all 4 online/cloud storage locations so that if any one solution fails or is not available, I will still have a copy of my files.

All the online/cloud storage solutions that I've listed work similarly (at least based on the type of usage that I use them for and I believe that most people would use them for) so my recommendation on which solution to use would depend on how much free storage space the company offers and whether you use the company's other products (ex: Google or Microsoft Live).

Before uploading any of my files onto any cloud storage product, depending on the file, I will generally encrypt the files to keep them away from prying eyes. For confidential files like tax slips/receipts, bank statements, etc., I will always encrypt these confidential files whereas for pictures I will generally leave those unencrypted. Even though most (or all) of the online storage companies don't allow guests to download files without you either sharing the files or making a link available, my feeling is that you can never be too sure who has access to your files on any of these storage spaces including the company itself.

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XE Currency Conversion Application

While I'm waiting for some new hardware/electronic items to evaluate/review, I thought that rather than not posting a blog entry for the week, I would start evaluating some applications that I use on my smartphones.

One of the programs that I've installed on all my smartphones (Blackberry Bold 9700, Samsung Nexus-S, and iPhone 3GS) is a currency conversion program called XE Currency. I use it mainly get the Canadian and US exchange rates but I've also used it to get the Swedish rate as well as some of the Asian currencies.

The program works very similar on all the smartphones that I own. You basically set up a home currency and then add a few countries that you want to get the currency of or that you want to keep track of.

After adding the countries, you can configure the number of decimal places for the currencies. The number of decimal places is universal for all the currencies in your list and is not individually set for each country's currency.

Normally I keep a value of "1" for the home country and every time I start the application, the program will download the exchange rates for the other countries and get the exchange rate for "1" unit (ex: dollar) of the home country. If my home country is set to Canada, and I want to know how much $159.95 is in US dollars (and the US is one of the countries in my list), I will replace the $1 in the Canadian field with $159.95 and the program will automatically convert show how much $159.95 is in US dollars.

XE Currency Converter is a very useful application for anyone who travels. The only negative thing about this program is that it has an advertisement banner on it but then again the application is free.

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Viber Application Review

I've been using Viber on both my Blackberry Bold 9700 and my Samsung Nexus-S for approximately 1 week and I thought that now was a good time to write a short review on it. Even though I installed/used the program both on my AndroidOS phone (Samsung Nexus-S) and m Blackberry phone (Bold 9700), the majority of my review is based on me using the program on my Blackberry since I was mainly looking for a cross-platform chat program since there were some things that I didn't like about Touch or Kik. Viber is also available for the iOS platform but unfortunately I wasn't able to install it on my iPhone 3GS because I haven't updated the OS in awhile and the version of Viber in the Apple Apps Store isn't compatible with the iOS version that I am still running on m iPhone 3GS.

Viber is a cross-platform phone OS application that allows for voice chat as well as text chat. On the Blackberry platform, it only allows for text chat. According to documentation on the company's website, there are plans to include voice chat capabilities to the Blackberry version of the program but based on the VoIP applications that I've used/tried on my Blackberry, I find it doubtful that it will include VoIP capabilities and if it does, I would expect that the sound quality to not be as good as what it is for the Android platform or the iOS platform.

What I like about Viber is that the registration process is very simple and works via the phone number that is registered as opposed to a username/userID. This makes it easy to add people (or know when people are using Viber) since you don't have to ask them for their username/userID. It also integrates with your phone's address book so that you are notified if anyone in your addressbook is using Viber. If someone has you in their address book (and they have Viber) but you don't have that person in our address book, he/she won't appear as a Viber user in our Viber application.

Registration occurs via SMS or in case your mobile phone isn't capable of receiving SMS (because it is blocked), you can also register the program by receiving an automated voice call. I've tested both and both work without any issues. With the SMS registration option, you receive an SMS on your phone indicating a 4 digit code which you must enter into the Viber program. With the automated voice call option, your phone will ring and you will received an automated message with a 4 digit code that you must enter into the Viber program. In cases of installs/uninstalls, you can only register the phone number twice within a 24 hour period and the application will only work on 1 phone at a time (with the same phone number). If installing onto a second phone and if you were to use the same phone number, Viber would automatically unregister the first phone from its system.

Something else that I like about Viber is that because it integrates with your address book is that the person's name in Viber (if they obviously have Viber installed on their phone) will appear exactly as it does in our address book. It is your phone so why should your contact be able to specify what name/nickname appears on your phone.

Whenever one of the people in your address book install (or have Viber) installed on their cellphone, you will receive a message that they have Viber installed on their device. Some people might have privacy concerns regarding this notification. I don't have any problem with this notification because the contacts will only receive a notification regarding the fact that I've installed Viber if I'm already in their address book so they would already have my contact information and be able to contact me irregardless of whether I had Viber installed or not.

There was a brief problem during my testing period with the text chat on my Blackberry. According to the company's Facebook page, this was due to a problem with the server (Amazon) that they were using but all in all I find the text chat to be very good.

In terms of the VoIP capabilities of the program on my Android phone, I haven't really tested this but it allows you to voice chat only with people in your contacts and does not call phone numbers via VoIP. Because the VoIP capabilities/quality of the call would not only depend on your internet bandwidth/quality but also on the internet bandwidth/quality of the person you're speaking with, for the time being, I don't really have a need for this. I use other phone applications that are 100% VoIP and call actual phone numbers using the internet which doesn't rely on whether the person I'm calling has a data plan or is connected to the internet via WiFi.

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 comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether embedded or not) will be automatically flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Will I or Won't I buy an iPhone 5?

Since I didn't really have anything to review this week, I wasn't sure what to write about for this week's blog entry but since the biggest technical gadget news item this week is probably the release of the iPhone 5 in North America, I decided to write about what my thoughts were on the new iPhone 5 and whether I will be purchasing one (or not). I have taken a look at the specs for the iPhone 5 and it does look nice.

I do have an iPhone 3GS that I sometimes use to make/receive phone calls but the majority of the time, I use it more like an iPod Touch (surf, e-mail notification, play games, listen to podcasts, watch videos, etc.).

I generally skip at least 1 generation for a particular device before purchasing the next device. This is why even though I like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, I haven't purchased it (and why when the iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S came out, I didn't purchase those phones either). The iPhone 5 represents a big improvement from my iPhone 3GS but because I use mainly my Blackberry Bold 9700 and my Samsung Nexus-S (and I don't really use my iPhone 3GS), I'm taking a wait and see attitude in regards to whether I will purchase an iPhone 5. Currently I'm waiting to see if Rogers will introduce a data plan that I feel is worthwhile for me to get a new Rogers account.

One of the things that I don't like about the newer iPhones (iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5) is that they don't use the standard size SIM card. The iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S use MicroSIM cards while the newer iPhone 5 uses NanoSIM cards. Because I sometimes travel and I have a few US SIM cards that are of regular size, it is somewhat of a hassle for me to try to convert my US SIM cards to the proper size in order to fit into the newer iPhones. I also feel that when traveling, regular size SIM cards are easier to find than the smaller SIM cards used in the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5.

Something else that bothers me about the new iPhone 5 is that it uses a new charging/syncing cable/adapter. This means that if I purchase it, the "dock" that I have on my radio won't work with it.

Apple has stopped including Google Maps and YouTube with the newer iPhone 5 (at least with the new iOS 6) . However, by the time most of you read this, there will probably be standalone apps for each of these.

As someone who has a Blackberry (Blackberry Bold 9700), an iPhone (iPhone 3GS), and an Android (Nexus-S), I see the pros and cons of each of the devices. The phone that I currently "use" the most would be my Blackberry Bold 9700. The main reason for this is that I find it easier to type on a physical keypad as opposed to using a virtual on-screen keypad. I haven't upgraded my Bold 9700 to the Bold 9900 because I'm unsure about RIM's future and because their built-in e-mail and built-in browser requires the use of RIMs servers, I don't want to be stuck with a device where over 50% of what I would want to use it for no longer works.

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

Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station Review

I've been using my Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station for a few months now and I thought that now was the perfect time to write my review about it.

The major selling points for the product is that it allows for the charging of up to 4 devices at a time (USB charging) and it automatically shuts down to prevent overcharging and eliminates standby charging.

I've used the device to charge my GPS unit (TomTom Go 930), my iPhone 3GS, my Blackberry Bold 9700, and my Samsung Nexus-S at the same time using the device. According to the documentation, if the electronic device requires too much power to charge, the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station won't be able to charge as many devices at the same time. I have not used my Belkin charging station to charge my HP TouchPad nor did I use it to charge the Blackberry Playbook that I had evaluated when it first came out since I am sure that the Belkin station wouldn't be able to charge either of these tablets because of the amount of power they require in order to charge.

The only device that I've had problems charging from my devices listed above is my Blackberry Bold 9700. For some reason, it will only charge from one of the USB ports and using the shortest (included) USB cable. Moving/Using the exact same cable in a different USB port on the Belkin USB charging station produces an error message on my Blackberry informing me that the device is incapable of being charged from the unit.

Another thing that I noticed when my Blackberry Bold 9700 is plugged into the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station is that even though all my devices plugged into the unit are fully charged, the charging station would continually charge them for up to a few hours before turning off. However, when my Blackberry Bold 9700 is not plugged into the Belkin charging station but my other devices (iPhone 3GS and/or Samsung Nexus-S) is plugged into the unit, the Belkin charging station powers off within a reasonable amount of time after the devices are fully charged.

Because the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging station powers off once it detects that all devices connected to it are charged, this can present problems. For example, if you decide to charge your smartphone too early (prior to you taking it), it might no longer be fully charged when you remove it from the charging unit such as if you decide to charge it when you come home after work and then you forget to "recharge it" before you go to bed, by the time you wake up the following day, your smartphone will no longer be fully charged and might not even have enough power to last the entire day.

Other than the shortcomings that I've already mentioned above, there isn't much that I don't like about the Belkin Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station and I have no problems recommending this unit.

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 comments are moderated and any comment that contains a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Watching US Netflix while outside of the US

I've been using a service called Blockless in order to get access to the Netflix US content while in Canada. They offer a 7 day free trial so I decided to give it a try before subscribing to their service.

The first thing I want to mention about their service is that they do NOT give you free Netflix service. You have to be an active Netflix customer in order to watch Netflix using their service. As long as you haven't subscribed to Netflix before (or within 1 year), Netflix has a 30 day free trial offer.

The way that their service works is that you either configure your individual device or you configure your router to use their DNS settings and you log onto your blockless account with your PC in order for their service to determine that you are either on a trial membership or you are an active subscriber. Because their service requires the changing of the DNS settings, their service will probably not work with some public WiFi access points especially if the access point requires a type of logging-in (or accepting the terms of service).

I find their service to be very good as it allows me to watch Netflix and get the US content when physically I am not located in the US (similar to a VPN service). The Blockless service works with other geographical IP restricted content/websites as well such as Pandora, Hulu, etc. but I mainly use their service to view Netflix US content while outside of the US on my mobile devices. You can also use their service to access Netflix Canadian content or Netflix United Kingdom content while you are outside those areas as well by logging onto your Blockless account and then configuring the Netflix content to point to either Canada, US, or United Kingdom. So far I haven't accessed the United Kingdom Netflix selection since I have plenty of things to available to me with Netflix Canada and Netflix US but according to the Blockless website, Netflix United Kingdom selections are available as well.

I noticed that the Blockless service only seems to work on "portable" or "mobile" devices. By this, I mean that after configuring my home router to use their DNS and I access my Blockless account on my computer, I'm able to watch Netflix US content with my Android tablet, my Android phone (over WiFi), my iPhone 3GS (over WiFi), my Chromebook (over WiFi), my Windows computer, and my Windows laptop/netbook. It did not work with Netflix my LG SmartTV Upgrader ST600 box even though my LG Smart TV Upgrader ST600 box was using the exact same router and as such it had the same public IP address information/settings.

When I tried to use my LG Smart TV Upgrader box while it was connected to the same router, the Netflix on it would be in a weird state. I would see the titles for the Canadian content (which is where I am physically located) but I would not be able to watch any of the Canadian content because they were not available (in my area). I reset the LG Smart TV Upgrader box and tried changing the settings on the box itself to the US but it still didn't work. I also contacted Blockless' technical support department but they couldn't help me (although they were very helpful when their service stopped working for Netflix on my Android devices). Instead, what I decided to do was to configure the box so that it used the actual DNS settings from my internet service provider. This way I could continue to use Netflix on my LG Smart TV Upgrader box and watch Canadian Netflix content while if I wanted to watch US Netflix content, I used one of my "portable" devices. When I want to watch US Netflix on my television set, I plug in one of my "portable" devices to my television (in my case, I plug my Acer Android tablet using an HDMI cable) and I start the Netflix application and then select the Netflix video that I want to watch.

So far I've used their free trial service and it worked for me enough that I decided to actively subscribe to their service. Based on the cost (~$5/month), I found that I was using their service enough to watch US Netflix content to make it worthwhile for me to subscribe to their service.

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Touch (cross phone platform chat) Application Review

I wasn't sure what to write about this week but since I had reviewed a phone cross-platform chat (instant message) application called Kik about 2 years ago (which since has undergone a lot of changes making that blog entry almost useless except as a matter of historical perspective), I decided to write about another cross-platform chat program called Touch (formerly called PingChat). As of this blog entry, the version number of Touch on the Blackberry is v3.1, on the AndroidOS is v3.1.2, and on the iOS (iPhone) platform is v3.1.2.

I was using PingChat (primarily on my Blackberry Bold 9700 but also used it on my Sumsung Nexus-S and iPhone 3GS) when they upgraded/changed their program name and revamped it almost entirely to call it Touch.

The first thing I want to mention is that even though I have the application installed on 3 different phones (running 3 different phone OSes), the program can only be active on one phone. This means that even though you can have the program installed on many different devices, you will only be able to log onto the Touch server with 1 device and chat using that 1 device. You can swap between devices by logging out of one device and logging into the other device.

I primarily use this program on my Blackberry but when I travel, because of the need of a data plan and it being somewhat difficult to get a Blackberry compatible data plan when traveling, I will use it on my iPhone 3GS or my Samsung Nexus-S.

I find that the program works relatively well and I use it to chat with my friends on the phone regardless of what  popular smartphone they use (Windows phones excluded). What I like about this chat program is that it has "read" receipts. What this means is that when you send them a message, you generally will know when they've read it because there will be a "R" next to the message after they've gone into the message.

Depending on the receiving phone model, the person can still read the message without the read receipt showing up correctly but I find it better than using the carrier's SMS where you generally don't know if the person read your message or not (or whether your message was received on their device) unless the person actually responds to your SMS text message.

Another thing that I like about Touch is that it is 100% free (except for the need of a data plan or WiFi).

I have occasionally noticed an occasional problem with Touch where the message doesn't get relayed to my phone immediately but I've only noticed this problem when I use my Blackberry and I've never noticed this problem on my iPhone 3GS or my Nexus-S. I believe that this problem on my Blackberry is due to the fact that I don't have a lot of free memory on my Blackberry Bold 9700 after I upgraded the OS from v5 to v6.

One of the things that I also use Touch for is to send an image/picture to someone in the middle of our chat session. I find that it does this relatively well.

One thing that I didn't like when PingChat became Touch was that there was no longer a way to link the addressbook contact with the Touch contact. What this means is that the name that appears on the Touch contact will be what your friend chooses and not what you want (since there is no way to rename the Touch contact either). In my opinion, this causes the Touch contact names to be inconsistent where some friends might decide to only use their initials in Touch whereas some friends might use their complete names, a made up name, a nickname, and/or a combination of these.

All in all, I'm mostly satisfied with the performance of Touch on my various devices which is why I continue to use it. It is better than using MSN Messenger or GoogleTalk on my various devices in the fact that it has read and delivery receipts. However, I still use those instant messaging programs on my phone primarily because my contacts/friends use those programs.

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 that contains an embedded hyperlink or a non-embedded hyperlink will be flagged as being spam and will not be posted.

Vonage Mobile Review

I've been using Vonage Mobile on my iPhone 3GS and on my Samsung Nexus-S for a few weeks (after it started being available to Canadians) and I thought that I would write a mini review of the application.


The application does not require that you are a "regular" (landline VoIP) customer. For both applications, you install the program from either the Apps Store (iPhone) or the Android Market (AndroidOS).


For both platforms, after the Vonage Mobile application is installed, the user is required to accept the terms of service. You are then prompted to enter the phone number that you want to associate with the program (in terms of outgoing call display). The default phone number is the phone number for your mobile although you can change the number to another mobile or a regular landline phone. After entering the phone number, the Vonage system sends an SMS to the phone number with a 6 digit confirmation number which you are prompted to enter into the appropriate box. If you don't receive the 6 digit confirmation SMS for whatever reason such as if you decided to use a landline phone number, you are prompted to have the Vonage system call the phone number and give you the 6 digit number. This is what I did for my landline phone.


After confirming the phone number entered for the Vonage Mobile application, the program imports the contact list from the phone. In my case, the contact list is from Google contacts for all my devices. This makes it easier for me because I only have to change/add/delete a contact in one of my devices (or directly on Google Contacts) and the devices will automatically get the updated information. Because I'm using Google Contacts for my phone's addressbook, this is where I noticed a difference in how the program worked on my iPhone 3GS and my Nexus-S. For my iPhone 3GS, only the contacts which were directly listed in my iPhone 3GS were available to me on Vonage Mobile's contact list. However, for my Samsung Nexus-S (and I'm assuming for all AndroidOS devices), Vonage Mobile's contact list not only included the contacts which I saw on my phone itself (which are imported from Google Contacts "My Contacts") but also included the Google Contacts from "Other Contacts". Some people might prefer that the "Other Contacts" is imported but for me, I didn't like it.


I tested the call quality over WiFi and 3G/3.5G/4G (I'm not referring to LTE) and I would say that the call quality is decent (I would say comparable to Skype). I would use the program for short calls (under 5 minutes) over the cellular data network but I would not use it longer due to the latency which can sometimes get annoying. Over WiFi, I find the call quality to be a lot better. Vonage Mobile's call quality (like all VoIP) is largely dependent on the quality of the internet (speed, latency, etc.). Because of this, depending on your cellular network carrier's data network, the latency problem might not be as annoying to you.


The outgoing call display number does work (and displays the phone number that was confirmed initially).


Please note that Vonage Mobile does not allow for the accepting of calls. You can only use this program to make calls and to send messages to people who have this program on their device. The messages sent use the data network (or WiFi) and does not use the carrier's SMS network which can save costs for people who don't have SMS/text plans.


As of the date that I'm posting my review, Vonage Mobile offers 3000 minutes per month for free to call landlines and mobiles in  Canada, the US, and Puerto Rico. I'm not sure how long this offer will remain but it is probably a good idea to give the program a try given that it is currently free and you can make 3000 minutes per month in free calls (whereas Skype charges per minute unless you have a Skype monthly plan).

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.

Glympse Application

I've used Glympse on both my Blackberry Bold 9700, my iPhone 3GS, as well as my Samsung Nexus-S. The version that I'm currently using on my Blackberry Bold 9700 is v1.0.24. Because this program requires a data plan, I currently use it mainly on my Blackberry Bold 9700 unless I go to the US where I will use it in conjunction with my US data SIM either on my iPhone 3GS or my Samsung Nexus-S. On the Blackberry, the map that Glympse uses to show locations is Bing maps whereas on the iOS platform (since it not only works with iPhones but with iPads as well) and the AndroidOS platform, Glympse uses GoogleMaps.

Even though my review is pertaining mainly to my use of Glympse on my Blackberry Bold 9700, there are only minor differences between the different phone versions so my review/comments are pertinent to the other Glympse versions on the other phone models as well.

Glympse is a free program (at the time of this blog entry) that allows you to share with anyone (via e-mail, SMS, Facebook, or Twitter) your location for a specified time frame. What is sent is a link to Glympse's website that will show your "real-time" (within a few seconds) location. The person receiving the link or who clicks on the link will see the route and your current real-time location. If they have Glympse installed on their smartphone (Android, Blackberry, or iPhone), they can enter the Glympse location code into their Glympse program and they will be able to see your real-time location for the duration that you've specified (up to a maximum of 4 hours). If the person doesn't have Glympse installed on his/her internet enabled smartphone, he/she can still see where you are but they will have to manually update/refresh their browser/map in order to know your current location.

Provided that the person with Glympse has a data connection on his/her phone, when the e-mail option is selected, the person whom the Glympse is sent to gets an e-mail from "Glympse Invite" (invite@glympse.com) with the subject: "Here's  GlympseUserID's location, courtesy of Glympse". In the body of the e-mail message is a URL similar to: http://glympse.com/ABC-DEF. The "ABC-DEF" represents the Glympse location code and the recipient of the Glympse e-mail is only required to use this code if he/she has Glympse installed on his/her smartphone (and uses the option in the Glympse menu "View a Glympse". Otherwise, if the recipient is using a computer, he/she can click on the Glympse URL location link which will bring up a map showing the starting position of when the Glympse was actually sent as well as the route taken. When the animation ends, the final location of the arrow in the animation will be the sender's current location (provided that he/she is running Glympse in the background and the duration of the Glympse did not expire).

When sending a Glympse via SMS (text messaging), Glympse will send it using the owner's SMS so depending on the owner and the receiver's respective SMS plans, charges may be incurred by either or both parties.

What I like about this program is that if I'm running late or if I want to meet someone (and they have access to an internet connected PC or internet connected smartphone), they will be able to know where I am. Before my appointment/meeting, I would send them (or upload onto Facebook/Twitter) my Glympse. Using my Glympse location code (or Glympse link), they could then figure out where I am in relation to where they are and have an idea if I am running late or not without the need to contact me to see where I am.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the  comments section.

Kik Messenger - Cross Platform Messaging

I've used Kik Messenger - Cross Platform Messaging on both my Blackberry Bold 9700 and my iPhone 3GS. The version that I've used on my Blackberry Bold 9700 is v1.4 (according to the numbering system on Blackberry's App World) and the version that I've used on my iPhone 3GS running iOS4 is v2.0

For me, it does everything that it says that it does. I'm able to send KikSMS to my friends who don't have/use Kik. I'm also able to KikChat with friends who do have/use Kik. The company also seems very responsive to suggestions and constructive criticisms.

The first reason is there is an issue with the KikContacts vs. the regular Contacts on the phone. If you make a mistake in the Contacts before you install Kik for the first time, the KikContacts will contain the incorrect information regardless of how many times you've corrected the phone's Contact and how many times you've deleted, rebooted the phone, and reinstalled Kik. I don't know how the KikContacts work but this leads me to believe either when you delete/uninstall Kik, not everything is uninstalled/deleted from the phone or the KikContacts are stored on Kik's server. When you then reinstall Kik (even after deleting it), if it detects the old KikContacts file on your phone, it will reuse it and just input the new contacts that you've added or if when you register your phone number, it will reimport the KikContact information on your phone from the Kik's server even when one of the KikContact information was incorrect.

In my opinion, there needs to be a way of either modifying the KikContact information directly on your phone or doing a "refresh" which will wipe out the existing KikContact list and refresh the KikContact list based on whatever is now/currently in your phone's Contacts.

The second reason is that if you've KikChatted with someone in the past, you will only be able to KikChat with that person using Kik. You will not be able to KikSMS that person even if that person changes phones and is no longer able to use Kik.

There are a few issues with the KikContact Listings. Currently one of the problems that exists is that anyone whom you've sent a KikSMS to in the past will appear only as a phone number without a name. This makes sending KikSMS more difficult since you have to remember the phone number of the person whom you want to send a KikSMS to.