Have a bluetooth-capable phone and want to transfer files to your Linux PC, this is how I do it in Linux Mint 14 MATE (and Ubuntu).
Tag Archives: Blackberry
Blackberry sense of loss
I’ve been the happy owner of a Blackberry Bold 9780 for just over a year now. I like supporting local companies, and while RIM has grown to a pretty big monster, its roots are largely still in Waterloo.
There are some things I don’t like about the 9780. First and foremost is the keyboard and placement – the keys on this model are simply too tiny – and I have thin fingers! Second is the lack of applications. The 9780 is missing quite a few important apps ranging from Skype to a slew of social networking applications. And some of the social apps it has are poorly implemented. Third is the signal strength. I find the 9780 seems to have problems loading URLs posted on Twitter. It’s not a problem that crops up all the time, just enough to be annoying.
A larger screen would be nice, but I don’t really mind the small screen on the 9780 as much as the other issues.
The last issue I have answers the apps problem in part, there just isn’t a good variety of open source applications for the 9780.
Apple has a huge application set and some great development, but I’ve never been a fan of the Apple way of doing things, nor the company’s track record of contributing back to the open source community.
A nice Android phone is likely in the cards in the near future. I already have the Pivos XIOS DS Media Play, which is Android-based. It makes sense to be able to run a lot of the same applications on most of my hardware instead of trying to dance this crazy dance of porting data from one platform to the next.
Filed under Blackberry, General, Hardware, Photography, Programming, Social Networking, Technology
BlackBerry 9780 on the Wind network in Kitchener/Waterloo
My Blackberry 9780
A conversation on Twitter prompted me to give my opinion on my Blackberry, the Wind Network here in Kitchener, and my Blackberry on the Wind network. Overall I’m moderately happy with my Blackberry Bold 9780 on the Kitchener Wind network. Before buying my 9780 I never used the features of a smart-phone (I had a Blackberry many years ago on the Fido network without any Blackberry features enabled), so I didn’t have high requirements for the phone. Because I had success in the past connecting my old Blackberry to my Linux boxes I had a reasonable expectation that I’d be able to connect the 9780 to my Linux machine. Once connected the BlackBerry phone prompts whether you want the phone to act in Charge Only mode, (Synch – I think), or USB drive mode. Typically I pick USB drive, which lets me browse the filesystem and copy to and from the phone various media. I’ve been using Handbrake to convert videos to mkv (Matroska Video) format for playing on the phone.
I use my 9780 primarily for Phone, email and Twitter, though lately I’ve been using Shazam the odd time to recognize music playing on the radio. I live on the outskirts of Kitchener and bus it in to work. During my commute I check Twitter, respond to the odd email, and on the very rare occasion update this web site via a WordPress plug-in. It works okay, but one very frustrating thing I’ve found is that URLs do not resolve with a rather alarming frequency. At first I thought it was because I’m typically on the bus (a moving target for the tower wireless), but I’ve also had URLs not resolve while I was stationary (in Misty Mountain Cafe). I’m not sure if this is a problem with the BlackBerry 9780 or the Wind network itself… but it’s an important point to note if you’re considering a BlackBerry on the Wind network.
I’m also not fond of the keyboard on the 9780. I have slim fingers and I still find myself fumbling keys. After I bought my 9780 I was told by a relative who worked for RIM that my 9780 would have never passed her quality check (you can see light between the cracks). I know BlackBerry users who have BlackBerries made in Canada. Mine is made in Mexico. I really haven’t had any hardware issues with my Blackberry (yet) other than the aforementioned URL resolving problems which I suspect have more to do with the Wind network.
One application I noticed Blackberry doesn’t seem to have is a decent identi.ca client (boo, hiss). The default Twitter works great. I’d like to see a similar app for open networks like identi.ca.
Would I buy a Blackberry for my next phone? I can’t say for sure either way. My wife was given a Sony Ericsson Android phone that doesn’t play as nicely with Linux as my Blackberry. While I’m using more and more smart-phone applications each day and I’m a big fan of Linux (which Android uses for the kernel) if I can’t connect to my Linux box easily it’s a big strike! I’m told I could probably use MTP to connect to the Android phone, but it seems strange that a company would use Linux for part of a phone and include a Microsoft technology (MTP on Wikipedia) as the method to connect to the phone.
I’d like to know from others in the Kitchener/Waterloo region using Android phones if they have problems resolving URLs so I can report whether it’s a problem with Wind’s coverage within Kitchener or if it might be a problem with my particular Blackberry. Are other Blackberry Wind users finding the same problem?
Filed under Blackberry, Hardware, Technology