Why I grew to love Blackberry 10 - Part 1

BB10 will likely go the way of Symbian OS, WebOS and a host of other mobile operating systems. Here I share a few reasons while I like and appreciate Blackberry 10.

1. The Interface and Gestures (See more)
I have found the gesture-based navigation intuitive. Simple example, you swipe up to wake your device, no need to press any button. How many persons have worn out the power button on their Android devices?  The ability to navigate between applications on the BB10 seems some much better and easier than on the iPhone and way better than on Android (before Lollipop). I will mention other gestures as I go on. There are some gestures/actions I had hoped would have come over from the Playbook OS. These include the flick to close a program instead of clicking a 'x' and the restart or stand-by on-screen option on the battery icon instead of the power button to restart. The video below highlights a few of the gestures.



2. The Hub, The Hub, the Hub and notifications (View Hub Demo)
The hub is where you can receive and manage all your email accounts, SMS, calls, BBM, social media and other app notifications and messages plus more. Before this Facebook debacle you could manage and respond to Facebook messages (you can use Face10 now), notifications without going to the app or it would carry you directly to the app.

You can customise your apps and emails and colour code them and decide which ones appear in the hub or not.

For me, it has allowed me to manage and curate my personal and work email accounts better than I have ever had. Show unread and read emails with a pinch gesture and easily focus on priority messages.

Then when I get a notification, from whatever app I am in, I can peek into the hub (using an upside-down L or up and to the right gesture) to get a quick idea of the email or messages with the option to easily return to the current app.

3. Calendar and Meeting mode (10.3.1)
Meeting mode. Once activated, during meetings your phone goes into meeting mode. No additional apps needed.  All this in addition to being a great calendar application.

In Part 2, I will look at the keyboard, Blend, video share and shortcuts

Reference
  1. Blackberry 10 Change Log
  2. Keyboard Shortcuts (Q10,Classic, Passport)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solution to iOS9 "Slide to Upgrade" issue on iPad/iPhone

Image
Please Note Apple's Official Fix now Available Apple has pushed out an iOS update to address issues users have experienced with the Setup Assistant app getting stuck on “Slide to Upgrade.”  Please read  Apple releases iOS 9.0.1 to fix Slide to Upgrade and other bugs The following is left as an example of what persons had to do before to get the iPad/iPhone/iPod working. It is preferable to use the official  Apple Fix above going forward. If it fails, try Method 2 below; it works. Method 1 (Apple's solution) If you don't have a backup I suggest you go to Method 2 but you will need steps 1 & 2 from below. Connect your iOS device to a computer (that you've previously synced) with iTunes. Then make sure iTunes is open.  (n.b. Ensure you have the  latest version of iTunes )  Select your device. If you don't see it listed, force restart your device by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home button for at least 10 seconds , until you see the App
Read more

That outrageous cartoon : Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller.

I have a copy of the much talked about cartoon that was subsequently even removed from the Jamaica Gleaner Company's website. Actually I am prepared to buy a copy of it. In my personal capacity, my first impressions was that the Gleaner might have gone too far but on second reflection, I think not. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case I will try to present a few words on a few events that inspired the cartoon and what it is saying. The first event is a speech the Prime Minister made while she was Minister of Tourism in reply to accusations made by Mr. Audley Shaw. In that speech she made the a comment something to the effect 'mine you draw my tongue'. The other incident it captures is the idea of the Prime Minister having to walk(not sure if it was barefoot) to the Half Moon hotel after being caught up in the height of the Jazz Festival induced traffic nightmare on the Rose Hall Main Road in Montego Bay Jamaica. The other thing captured
Read more

Blackberry Link not working? Apple iTunes update responsible

Image
An Apple iTunes update has affected Blackberry users of Blackberry Link .  At first, many users thought it was a Windows 7 & 10 update. However, the real culprit was an Apple update that became available at about the week of September 14, 2016, about the same time the Windows updates became available.  Blackberry Link for PC and MAC is used to backup and sync contacts, images, calendars, music etc on BlackberryOS 10 phones. Problem The iTunes updated changed the structure of the iTunesPrefs.xml. As a result Blackberry Link crashes on attempting the read the XML file. On attempting to run Blackberry Link, the following error message appeared. Solution Here is the workaround or solution to the Blackberry Link crashing issue. Rename the iTunesPrefs.xml file and relaunch BlackBerry Link Please note:  Completing the below steps may have adverse effects on the iTunes functionality(no effects has been seen). For further information, please contact Apple support.  Please
Read more