Tamer’s Tech Blog

I have read over the last month or so about the rumored 3G iPhone, and of course the Blackberry 9000. They are both very promising products. Personally I am long time fan of the Blackberry. However the blackberry cannot compete with the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities in my opinion. Also, the capacity on the iPhone (16 Gigs vs. the 64 MB that the BB has) is superior compared to the iPhone. Now that both devices are coming out with the 3G version, and my current BB is over a year old, I am want to get a new device. The question I have is, do I get the iPhone or the blackberry?

I went to an AT&T store a few days ago to play with an iPhone, I found that my big fingers are not making it easy for me to type on the iPhone. So that made me think twice about the iPhone.

I will wait to see which device comes out first and I will decide then.

I often get asked this question on job interviews; (not that I am going on that many of them, however this question somehow always pops) “What are your favorite’s website to visit?”

Well my favorite websites are:

• Betanews.com: Because it always fresh with beta software reviews and sign-up links. That where I go to find out about what companies are working on.
• Webware.com: I used to think this website is dedicated to FaceBook, because of the many posts the writers have on FaceBook. However lately I have given it a second chance and I really like all the articles that have on web applications and website reviews.
• DownloadSquad.com: I really like all the freeware software they find. You can practically find all the software you need for your PC that is free there.
• Crackberry.com: I LOVE this website. I am a BIG time Blackberry user and I love all the info this website gives on upcoming blackberry products and current blackberry app and product reviews.
• Engadget.com: I love gadgets. So any website that can tell me about current gadgets and upcoming ones is OK by me.

I have a few more that I like as well. However the ones above are the ones I always check daily.

I read this morning that FaceBook released a new update for its BB app. http://www.berryreview.com/2008/02/18/facebook-application-gets-upgraded-to-10022/

SO I decided to install the update. What happened really got to me. The FaceBook icon disappeared on my blackberry. Where did it go?

I searched the web, and found no solution. I posted on some forums and all the solutions I got where no good. I decided that maybe this was related to the BB theme I had installed. I know what you are thinking; I had the FB app working fine on the same theme, so why would I have a problem that I upgraded? Well I do not know the answer; however it is related to the theme somehow. I did not have the default theme active on my BB.

So here is the solution:

1. delete the FaceBook app from your blackberry
2. reboot your blackberry
3. one rebooted, change the theme to the default theme
4. Download and install the FaceBook app again.
5. change your theme to whatever you want

I hope this helps.

Enjoy!

SO today I read on one of my favorites blogs (download squad) that Opera Mobile 9.5 (another web browser like IE) is coming soon. Now I have used Opera mobile in the past on BB (blackberry) and I found it to be slow at times. I have also used the safari web browser on the iPhone, and I want to tell you it rocks. Safari was fast, allowed me to zoom in and out and I felt like i was using my mac, with just a little real estate screen as opposed to the 15″ screen I am used to. my online gripe about safari is that it does not work on my blackberry.

Now back to Opera Mini, I am excited to see some of the new features such as:

• Zoom in and out on the web page
• view full screen versions of web pages
• tabbed browsing
• fast page rendering
• convenient bookmark, transfer, and history managers.
• include a mobile version of Opera’s widget engine which allows you to access some web content like Flickr images without opening a web browser.
• It also packs Flash Lite 3 integration for accessing Flash-heavy web pages like MySpace or YouTube.

I hope the new version of opera mobile will put up a good fight against safari. Only time will tell.