BERNARD SHUFORD

As of May 20, 2009, I am a CrackBerry user.

I love it.

This isn’t a review, just some notes of things I’ve noticed and some that I love.

1. I love the intelligent programming of the keyboard – pressing space twice to get a period, the fact that the space bar inserts “@” in email addys and periods in web addresses. Pressing and holding a key creates a capital letter.  That is incredibly good engineering. 
2. It’s smaller than I thought it would be.
3. Twitter on a Berry makes SO much more sense than on a desktop or laptop.
4. I thought I liked UberTwitter better than TwitterBerry for a while, but uploading pics changed my mind.  Ubertweet sends them to a site that didn’t appeal to my eye, while TwitterBerry uses TwitPic, which I DO like the look of.  There may be options in UberTwitter than I needed to change, I don’t know. 
5. Facebook in general has some glitches.  For instance, when I get a notification of a comment on a status update in my email, the browser takes me to the newest status update, and there is not a way to get to older updates as best I can tell.  The Facebook app doesn’t solve this problem.
6. I spend MUCH less time on computers now.  That is a good thing.  Seriously.
7. The YouVersion Bible app was a bit frustrating to get installed, but once I found it at AppWorld, all was well.  There’s also a direct link that might help someone with similar problems… http://bit.ly/46maG4.
8. Gmail Application + BlackBerry works REALLY well, and notifications even work.  I have a BlackBerry email account, but I’m not using it.
9. Google Sync is awesome, especially the calendar features, which integrates exceptionally seamlessly with the Blackberry calendar.  As well, the fact that I can enter addresses in Google Contacts and have them show up on the Blackberry without connecting a single cable is nothing short of amazing.
10. I hope Google syncs “Tasks” soon. 
11. I had no idea that BlackBerrys could detect a holster and go into an entirely different profile as far as sound, vibrate, etc.  That, too, is incredibly good engineering.
12. The “pocket” that Verizon provides, however, is NOT a belt clip, regardless of the fact that it appears to have such a thing on it.  That “thing” is actually the way that BlackBerry creates a groove for the trackball, so that inserting the Curve into the “pocket” does not roll the trackball.
13. I really like the trackball, too.  I am so glad I didn’t choose a touchscreen phone. 
14. I am obsessive about keeping the screen clean.  See previous item. 
15. Google Maps use of cell signals to create a pseudo GPS even on a Verizon BlackBerry is incredibly effective and a bit scary.  Sure, I can’t find a geocache with it, but I can at least be in the right corner of the right county, etc.
16. Pandora is a sweet app no matter where you run it, but it makes a lot of sense on the BlackBerry.  
17. Crackberry.com is a good site.  Period.
18. Opera Mini is a great little browser, but it just doesn’t work for me.  I don’t know why, really, but I strongly prefer the built-in BlackBerry browser.  I actually uninstalled it.  I may put it back on, I don’t know, but I had some difficulties with it.
19. MicroSD memory is surprisingly cheap.  2 gigs for less than $10???  Wow.
20. The Curve will not even go into video mode unless a MicroSD card is present.  Just saying.
21. The camera, even at 2 MP, is pretty decent, has some “okay” controls, and is well worth having.  The lens is protected, so hopefully I won’t scratch it up or something stupid.  For the first time, I LIKE the idea of having a camera phone.  Previously, they were so bad as to be useless.
22. It takes an intentional effort to close a BlackBerry application once you have it started, and it’s not really “clear” that apps are running.  Those hidden apps drag down battery life and performance.
23. Right now my convenience keys trigger the camera and the calendar app.  Those are the two things that, when I actually need them, I need to be able to access them quickly.  
24. The Chess.com mobile app works really well.  
25. While it is widely circulated that BlackBerry cannot play YouTube videos, I found XENOZU on AppWorld.  This is a dedicated YouTube player and appears to work very well.  The videos are very small and vocal quality is basically awful, but it IS at least possible to access the site and watch videos.  
26. Lance Armstrong uses a BlackBerry, and dude, that is the final say-so for me.  Lance, quite possibly, is the atheist that I like most.

Now, I’m gonna get off the computer and do something worthwhile, like check my email. 

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