The Playbook Experiment

So, anyone who has read anything I have written about RIM knows that I typically don't write anything good about them (mainly because of my perception of the company and its current troubles), but for the next few posts that is going to change, to some degree.

You might wonder why I a guy who seemingly can do nothing but bash RIM would want to say anything at all good about them, and my answer back to you would be $118 32GB Playbook. Clearly this is a case of not eating some of RIM's dog food, but now that I have I've got to say something about it.

This first post will be about the Playbook itself, things like the hardware specs, good vs. bad, and my setup and use of the device. The last part of the post will be the top 10 great things about the device and why I am using this everyday (at least for the time being) over my ASUS Transformer.

Hardware Specifications:

Here are the specs for the Playbook:

Size:.              7 inches
Weight:          425 grams
Screen Res:.    1024 x 600
CPU:              Dual core 1GHz Cortex A9
GPU:              PowerVR SGX540
RAM:.            1GB
Chipset:          TI OMAP 4430
Cameras:         2
Rear Res:.       5MP, video at 1080p, 30fps
Front Res:       3MP, video at 1080p, 30fps
Sensors:          Accerometer, Gyro
GPS:.             Yes
Battery:          5300 mAh Lithium Polymer

There is so much good hardware packed into this thing that even today it could be considered one of the best 7' tablets, and it was released in April 2011! I think that is pretty amazing even vs. some of the tablets out there today.


The Good:

• Speed: The tablet is super fast and responsive. Whenever you load something on the device there is no notable lag up until the point that you have exceeded the device memory.
• Multi-Tasking: Both Apple and Google could take a page out of RIM's book on how to do multi-tasking. It is literally the best multi-tasking that I have seen on a mobile device yet.
• Form Factor & Feel: The playbook is a solid device and a pleasure to hold. I now feel that my ASUS Transformer is huge and much prefer to hold a 7' device. I would actually buy a 7' device going forward (that is if I don't go to a 5' galaxy note) as it is much easier to deal with.
• Sound: Some of the best speakers and sound output that I have had with a device.
• Blackberry Bridge: This is an amazing feature for the Playbook if you have an blackberry phone.
• Android Player: Brilliant move putting this in RIM, has taken my Playbook from being a tablet devoid of decent software to a tablet with moderately good software that can be supplemented from the Google Play store.
• Intuitive use: They say that Apple has intuitive pegged, but the way you interact with the Playbook is super easy and I find myself trying to use it's gestures when I go back to using my ASUS Transformer.
• Thumb Typing: Because the tablet is smaller, you can use your thumbs to type when it is in Portrait mode.

 The Bad:

• Software: Though we do have the Android runtime and there are starting to be some other decent apps in Blackberry App world, there still is not enough software to keep a person interested if they didn't use this solely for an office tool alongside a blackberry phone.
• No External Storage:  Not an entirely bad thing, but you do not have the option to expand memory if you happen to burn through all your storage. I did briefly have a 16GB model and had run out of space rather quickly.
• No easy way to share information: Perhaps I have  been spoiled by the 'Share' menu on Android, but you pretty much need to copy and paste things between apps in order to share information with other people. Not really a downside, but something that I would really like to see.
• Requires Windows (if you don't use a wifi file manager):  You definitely need windows if you want to sideload any programs on to the device, but you will almost certainly need to use the Android app 'ES File Explorer' to move files between computers over wifi.

Overall I can't really say anything too negative about the device, it is really good.

My setup:

One of the biggest downsides to the device (as I eluded to above) is the fact that there is not a lot of software out there for it. Once you initially get the device you want to load it up with some software, maybe a few games, but once you jump into BlackBerry app world you run out of things to install really quick. In my case, these are literally the only apps from app world on my device:

Citrix
Facebook
Photo Studio
Wifi File Explorer
Starfront: Collision
Shadowgun
CreaVures

Absolutely everything else on my device is an Android app that I converted over from my ASUS Transformer.

This is pretty much the fundamental problem with the device. Everything else about the device is fantastic, but you are really limited to what you can do because of the software selection. I have no doubt that almost any device could be successful if they have the ecosystem, particularly BlackBerry, they just need the development support.

Hopefully they spruce this up for the BB10 release next year, I am already hearing good things about the upcoming OS. If they were smart, they would increase the compatibility with Android games by emulating a specific set of hardware that is compatible with Android. If they could make the process of installing Android applications easier, I think they would have a lot better luck marketing these devices to people, it would be the perfect fall back for the platform allowing them some time to get their own app store in order.

Blackberry Integration:

One thing that I have quite enjoyed is the integration with a blackberry device, it makes wireless tethering simple and seamless. What it also does, that you may not notice initially is that it gives you that 'smartphone' feeling, for those of us that only have a blackberry.

Anyone who carries a Blackberry for work has terrible smartphone envy, because we have all used an iPhone or Android device and know how much more functional they are. Whenever we have to go back to that Blackberry device after playing with an actual smartphone we are thoroughly disappointed because:

a) its OS is old and does not come close to any modern OS
b) the blackberry has restrictive corporate policies in place to the point where it is IMPOSSIBLE to enjoy using the device.

The Playbook fixes this problem and gives you that iPhone/Android feeling. Because it uses Blackberry Bridge to access the 'corporate' side of your Playbook, you can access your corporate mail and other locked down applications but can also install whatever you want and feel free to use that in conjunction with your corporate apps.

If you cannot justify having another cell phone because your place of employment provides you with a Blackberry, do not hesitate to pick up a Playbook and start to actually enjoy using your Blackberry.

My Future Playbook Use:

Now... I have to admit that I meant to have this post out months ago, when I initially purchased the device and was in love with it. Since I purchased the playbook I have also upgraded from a Samsung Galaxy GIO to a Samsung Galaxy 2X, which is really doing the job for me when I am on the go and I don't really feel like pulling out a 7' tablet.

But going forward, I will continue to use my Playbook as a gaming and media consumption device, just not as much as I would have before getting my S2X. What I am really looking forward to is January 30th when all the Blackberry announcements come out relating to BB10 and the future of RIM. I am setting myself up for disappointment with the expectation that they will improve the Android runtime, that they will include a DLNA client and also do some work to fix all the basic things you would need to use the Playbook as a media consumption device. Actually, now that I think of it, I would really look forward to having the social hub, I really enjoyed using that on my Blackberry before corporate policy ripped that pleasure away from me.

Here's hoping that January 30th comes with a lot of pleasant surprises for all the Blackberry faithful that are patiently awaiting a decent update to rekindle faith in the platform.

Feel free to ask me some questions on the Playbook. I still have a couple of posts ahead of me on the Playbook. I am looking to document (mostly for my own benefit) detailed instructions on how to convert Android applications to Playbook BAR files and some tricks and tips that I have learned over time.

10 Reasons why Blackberry 10 might be dead before arrival

I have been watching the news as of late, reading the news and hearing rumours that lead me to believe that it is basically over for RIM, the blackberry is dead, it just doesn't know it yet. I am going to lay out all of my points here and elaborate on them a bit as well as pointing to some recent articles out there.

Now I know that virtually everyone thinks they are doomed to fail (you could be hard pressed to find any positive news on anything other than a blackberry fan site) and I want to believe that they will continue to be a player, but as I have said before, they have not produced anything that could build any sort of confidence.

RIM in my opinion is destined to be sold, most likely on the heels of the release of BB10 if it isn't well received. So the way I figure it, by or before the end of 2013 RIM will be a part of some other company or private equity firm.

So here are the reasons why I think it is over:

1 - Let's start with Blackberry World

Let's face it, Blackberry World was officially the place where we were supposed to be the reason we believe that there will be a come back for RIM and they completely let us down. Can anyone honestly say they would invest time and money in a company who does not show their progress on the OS and hardware of the next generation of Blackberries? Of course not.

They showed off a car running QNX, though it is neat, it will never see the light of day. They also showed off the Blackberry 10 software keyboard which looks neat, but let's face it, Blackberry = Keyboard. But where was the Blackberry device we are supposed to be later in the year? No where. Instead the only thing that was shown was an 'Alpha' device looking very much like an iPhone4 that may or may not be the hardware that will be manufactured before the end of the year.

Bottom Line:

They can wine and dine participants all they want (some of which I understand had their trips paid for) but if you do not show the future of Blackberry here, no one knows what the future of Blackberry will look like and will not have any confidence that you will make it there.

Related Article:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/30/rim-2/

2 - The RIM 'Porche' event

Though this really doesn't have any signifigance in terms of the direction of RIM, it baffles me that they would even hold such an event considering the situation they are in.

RIM is on deaths door and they grab media attention by releasing a very expensive already obsolete device that doesn't really look that good. Sure it might have been created by top designers, but seriously, in a time where you are cutting jobs, stock is losing value and investor confidence is out the window, RIM decides to show of a $2,000 BB7 device.

If anything it just proves that they lack direction and tact, even if they didn't design the device as many articles indicate, what good is it to have a story like this in the media?

Bottom Line:

Even if some rich movie stars buy the blackberry 'Porche', no one else will be. If there is going to be any news coverage it SHOULD be focused on something positive that has a relevant message.

Related Article: 

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rims-attempt-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd/article4271845/?service=mobile

3 - First BB10 device will lack a keyboard

I know ths may be minor to some people, but in a time like this RIM is supposed to play on the strengths that they have left one of which is the keyboard on the device. If it doesn't have a keyboard, then the device is really no different than an iOS or Android device, and if that is the case, why would anyone choose it over the others?

That's right, no one would because it is too little too late. By this time we all own other devices with loads of applications, why would we give that up to just to go Blackberry 10, for the OS? I doubt it. The only people that would are enterprise users, but how can they get anything done without a keyboard?

Want insult to injury? BB7 devices cannot go to BB10, guess what their next device is going to be?

Bottom Line:

Without a keyaboard they have overlooked the only individuals who could possibly be interested in moving to BB10. The reception of the device will be ice cold.

Related Articles:


http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/rss.jsp;jsessionid=02344C003D5F9DA84C139E8710A7F16F?rssid=4220853&item=http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fworld%2frim-says-first-blackberry-10-device-will-not-have-a-physical-keyboard%2f2012%2f06%2f21%2fgJQAbDJosV_mobile.mobile&cid=-1&spf=1

http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/05/02/blackberry.7.apps.said.to.be.compatible.with.bb10/

4 - Their focus is consumer not enterprise

With all the coverage there hasn't been much said or shown that would give you a sense on what strategy RIM has to keep it's enterprise stronghold. All I know off the top of my head is that it will have a virtual keyboard that is supposedly neat and a camera that can adjust time. I haven't heard when it will be ready for the enterprise, if it works with existing BES, if encryption and IT policies will remain the same or if it will even function remotely like a BB7 device.

If I am an enterprise and I am looking to deploy some new devices, or know what Mobile Fusion does, shouldn't we be seeing how BB10 and Mobile Fusion were made for each other? Or at the very least be given the expectation that when we deploy a BB10 device, that it will be no different than how a Blackberry is deployed today.

It all seems to be focused on the consumer market, one that they are going to lose regardless of whether or not the BB10 device launch goes well. No one is going to switch.

Bottom Line: 

They have only a few strengths left: Their patents, their security, their keyboards, their network, their foothold in the enterprise. They are not playing on any of their strengths and they are not providing enterprises with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Related Article:

http://mashable.com/2012/05/01/rim-blackberry-10-strategy/

5 - The Microsoft Factor

Everyone knows that there are 2 mobile platforms duking it out to be #3 and their names are Microsoft and RIM. RIM has not shown anyone what is new and what direction that their business is going to move in, and Microsoft has partnered with Nokia to start selling Windows phone 7 devices.

That was, until the bomb that was the Los Angeles announcement of the 'Surface Tablets' happened. It was a very exciting announcement for sure, it lacked a lot of detail, but regardless it showed you the direction that Microsoft intended to move and that is straight for the enterprise.

Just look at the drastic changes they are making in Windows 8 and that it even has 2 versions Pro and RT. Couple this with the announcement of Windows Phone 8 and the fact that their 'System Centre 2012' can be used to provision any number of mobile devices.

So where is this going? Well, it is pretty much a direct answer to a companies BYOD problem. Let's see, right now people are:

• Bringing their blackberry and iPhone/Android phone to work.
• Bringing iPads and Android tablets into the workplace because of their portability.

Most people wish they could do everything in one device rather than carry a work phone and a personal phone, but people are not going to be doing this for much longer. They are also using tablets as if they are laptops, but like most people have issues doing day to day tasks such as accessing corporate e-mail or writing documents.

Now, enter the Windows 8 platform:

• System Centre can provision any device, but would probably do much better with a Windows 7 or 8 phone.
• The Surface Pro is practically in the enterprise as we speak. Almost any tech inclined titled officer that saw the presentation saw all of the posibilities that come with the Surface. No more 2 - 7 lb notebook, compatibility with business programs, compatibility for office documents and all this ties right back into Active directory and group policies. These things can be the best managed devices in the enterprise.

In the next 3 - 4 years, no one is going to be carrying a laptop computer it will be the equivalent of the desktop. The only people that will use them will need them for their power while the rest of us just need a PC that will surf the net, access our corporate e-mail and edit our documents.

This is the missing piece that no one has addressed, and if Microsoft can pull it off I think they stand a very good chance of usurping RIMs position in the enterprise and beating Apple and Google to the punch. And with the unique licensing deals that Microsoft has with pretty much every major company, why would they consider buying licenses for things like Mobile Fusion or Good Technology when it will probably come in a nice bundle with other enterprise licenses.

Bottom Line:

Microsoft will most likely take RIMs place in the enterprise and be the 'business' device. Probably won't make significant inroads in the consumer world initially, but that doesn't matter when you have the enterprises all locked up.

Related Articles:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406066,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News%29

http://techland.time.com/2012/06/21/why-microsofts-surface-unveiling-was-so-vaporous/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406066,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News%29

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/10267849

6 - Investors are itching for a sale

And why wouldn't they be? These must be the most patient investors in the world with all of the lines they have had to hear from Ballsillie and Lazaridis over the years about how everything is just fine. I some times wonder to myself what would have happened to RIM if they had been a US company with US investors, would they already have been sold?

Either way, with the stock prices on a downward trend and no visible proof that BB10 will save the day I would be looking for a sale too.

Bottom Line:

RIM has disappointed investors for too long and have just broken the last straw by not proving that BB10 will save the company. They want RIM sold.

Related Article:

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/31/rim-running-out-of-options/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FP_TopStories+%28Financial+Post+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

7 - Stock price and Layoffs

With all the "Goodbye Thursdays" starting up at RIM it makes you wonder what is going to be left at the end of it all. They have already laid off a bunch of staff earlier on and they are now ramping up to chop another 6000 jobs. And of course a company acting in this manner to save on operating costs pretty much shows that they are not in a good place, so the stock will continue to dive, almost a viscious circle.

But what will be left at the end of the day? That's quite a bit of their workforce gone, how will they keep up with the development? How long will it take people to fill or cover the gaps and ramp up? It almost seems like a natural death where the body shuts down parts of itself bit by bit, protecting the core until the very end.

Bottom Line: 

Layoffs will continue, stock will continue to decline, sooner or later they will start reaching into their reserves and when the stock is at it's lowest point ever, they will be purchased. It is not possible for them to catch up as Apple, Google and Microsoft's resources surpassed it even when it was in good shape.

Related Articles:

http://www.therecord.com/iphone/news/article/746194--rim-layoffs-have-begun

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/06/20/rim-stock-layoffs.html

8 - Development

Going back to blackberry world, how many developers want to develop for something that they have never seen, but just have been told that it is easy to develop for?

Recent news says that there are just 5,000 alpha devices out there for developers to work with, so how exactly do they expect developers to ramp up and prepare for the launch of the first BB10 devices? How are we as consumers to expect great applications at launch that compare in any way with what is already on the other platforms?

I don't even think that with the promise of a guaranteed $10,000 for an app can bring in enough developers to develop for the platform in general, let alone before launch. Even not being a mobile developer myself you have to ask yourself how a company that isn't doing well going to fork over $10,000 to every app developer? It probably isn't, it is probably a deal that is so mired in red tape and process that you would be lucky to see any money from RIM. They can't afford to do it.

Bottom Line: 

There aren't enough alpha devices nor developers to make enough compelling applications to launch with BB10. I say they will have some big name apps (probably push Angry Birds and Cut the Rope), but nothing significant. Even if they manage to get some good quality apps, no one is going to want to leave the well established app stores of Apple or Google.

Related Articles:

http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/06/18/rim-has-seeded-over-5000-blackberry-10-dev-alpha-devices-to-developers/

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/may/04/rim-blackberry-bb10-development?cat=technology&type=article

9 - RIM partner defection

We heard news this week that Celestica, a company that I understand does a lot of manufacturing for RIM is going to phase out production entirely. Has anyone ever heard a company publicly say that they are distancing themselves from RIM? Some have said it is in preparation for the BB10 device production, but I don't believe that.

This is probably a decision based purely on numbers, and I would think that if the BB7 devices haven't been selling well, then Celestica wouldn't have to manufacture a lot. So if they are now seeing a deep decline in RIM with no hope of recovery, why wouldn't they try to move into other areas to guarantee continued revenue?

Bottom Line:

I believe that this is a trend, and as RIM continues to decline expect to see more defections (though I will be honest, I have no idea how many partners there are).

Related Article: 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/celestica-phases-out-blackberry-related-production-for-rim/

10 - Rumours that BB10 and Mobile Fusion are not enterprise ready

Now I haven't seen many articles about this on the web, but I have heard from people in the field that there are problems with IT Policies and encryption... but I have absolutely no details on that, so take it wait a grain of salt.

I also haven't seen anything online to indicate that they are true or not, but if it is true, this would be the last nail in the coffin.

Bottom Line: 

If enterprises cannot come to expect equal or better enterprise security from RIM, then BB10 is dead on arrival in the enterprise. They need this guarantee, and if they don't get it, it might just make this BYOD thing a great idea.

Samsung Galaxy Gio on Cyanogen Mod 7

So originally I had posted how great it was to get an Android device for next to nothing, which is a great thing. Who can argue at getting "almost" the same Android experience as someone who is technically spending $800 for $80... 10 x times less cost! The only real problems (that I have found so far) are this:

• The screen is small.
• There is no gorilla glass... be prepared for scratches and definitely put on a protective film. I have had to order and replace the digitizer because of an unfortunate key incident. Only upside is that it is now white, not black.
• If you want to use it "like" a regular Android phone, you need to root it. 150MB of memory goes away pretty fast, so you need to use a2SD, s2e (simple2ext) or Link2SD (i recommend this if you are just going to root and that is it). Having an extra partition on your Micro SD card tricks your phone into thinking you have 2 - 4GB of internal memory, so you can load up all the apps you want without having the low internal memory show up.
• No hardware decoding. I thought I was good to go for watching netflix or streaming some stuff over DLNA, but I was wrong. It only does software decoding, and it is pretty slow. It is fine for videos you have on your SD card, but streaming and decoding is definitely a problem... or maybe not if you don't mind the sound being 10 seconds later than the video.
• No auto brightness. You might not think this is much, but it is SUPER annoying. Rather than having your phone adjust to your environment you are stuck trying to manually brighten the screen when you are out in the sun, and dim the screen when you are in a dark room.
• Game compatibility. No jelly defense people, though it is a shame it is not like you couldn't see this one coming with the specs of the phone and the price point.

Aside from the above, I doubt you would really have a different experience than any other Android phone out there, since they all seem to be running Gingerbread. But that is for the stock ROM, it is so very much different when you are running a custom ROM such as Cyanogen Mod 7 (CM7), which is what prompted me to write this post in the first place.

I "used" to be the guy that would hack something right off the bat to try and get the most functionality that I could out of the technology that I buy. Over time though (with the family factor), this has changed and now I am the guy that only hacks if it is needed because I have no time at all to play with it, it just needs to work. So that being said, when I bought the phone, I fully intended to use it "as is" until I ran into the memory issue, which forced me to root the phone. More recently I found that my phone was slowing down and all the pre-loaded carrier garbage was taking up prescious memory that kept cutting off my podcasts to the point where I had to press the play button once every 10 seconds. Enough was enough, so I decided that it was about time that I do something about the problem.

Doing the research

So, from past experience on other devices I wanted to get all the information up front so I don't end up with a phone that won't boot for days since I have done something terribly wrong to the OS, so I sent out on a search on changing out the ROM on the Galaxy Gio 5660M (Bell Canada).

The first thing that I noticed most (as a person just getting into upgrading my ROM for the first time) was that this process seemed a little overwhelming,  while you can appreciate that Android is open and hackable, there is literally too much information to sort through when you first approach this sort of thing and that scared me a little bit, but not enough to stop.

At first it was slow going, as I got sidetracked trying to figure out whether or not I absolutely had to use a proram called "ODIN" or not; lucky for me I didn't and cld go forward from there with the following requirements to get this ROM installed on my phone:

1. You need to be rooted first off.
2. You need to get the clockwork mod (CWM) installed to replace the default recovery. 
3. You need to use CWM to first, re-partition your SD Card (Gio Only, for that 'extra space') and backup your stock ROM (which in this case is CM7) in the event that you want to revert back to the factory OS.
4. You need to download the phiexz version of the Cynogen Mod ROM and place it on the root of your SD card. I downloaded the file update-cm-7.2.0-20120518-Nightly-gio-AROMA.zip, you should be able to find it or a newer nightly build online by searching for the file. Start the upgrade process.

1 - Rooting

Rooting an Android device seems to be the same for the most part from what I have read around the web and consists of downloading some variation of an "Update.zip" file and using that to update the device in the recovery menu.

I won't go into too much detail as they did a great job on this tutorial at Android Authority on how to root the gio. You can find that here along with the files you need: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-gio-s5660-root-68206/

2 - Clockwork Mod (CWM)

This is where I had initially thought things would get tricky as I had tried to do this a while ago via ODIN and failed. I took a stab at this again because as I understand it from everything I have read it is essential to installing custom ROMS.

I had initially found the latest version of CWM and simply downloaded it to my MicroSD card and ran the update. It did install, but there is something in the configuration where I was not able to mount '/cache', '/data' or '/system' which was a problem. Without being able to mount any of those file systems I was not able to do anything basically, let alone try to back up my existing stock ROM.

So when searching for why this was happening I came across an article that told me I needed a special CWM for the Gio called px-cwm-v2.zip. I found it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?p7r2bcn9447bpc8 but I am sure you can find it elsewhere if you search for it.

Once I had this and ran the update again from recovery mode, all was well and I was able to take my backup without issue.

If you are interested in knowing more about CWM, you can find another tutorial here (see... the power of open source and the communities around them? I barely have to write anything!): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1587607

3 - Repartitioning the SD Card

I am hoping that this little section will save you some time. Up to this point I was using Link2SD on my rooted stock ROM and it was working great. I ended up creating 2 FAT partitions on my MicoSD card using EASUS Partition Manager. But what I did find after loading custom ROMs multiple times is that it is best to leave that work to CWM.

My advice to you would be to do the following:

• Backup all the contents of your MicroSD card elsewhere (because you will lose all your stuff out of the gate if you just partition with CWM).
• Reboot your phone, go into recovery and then go to the advanced tools and select the option for partitioning your card.
• It will ask you what size, I picked 2048, don't think I will have any large apps, but I think you can go up to 4GB in size.
• Once you have finished partitioning, just pop the MicroSD into a card reader and copy all your backup data back.

The reason I am suggesting this up front is that the version of CM7 I used comes with the option of using A2SD or S2E right in the ROM, so you don't have to do anything funky to get it working other than having your MicroSD card partitioned properly.

4 - Downloading and installing CM7

As I mentioned earlier, I had installed various versions of the custom ROMs. I intially started out thinking that I wanted to get the latest and greatest version of Android and went for the Gio build of ICS (cm_gio_galaxyics-10062012.zip). Initially it was a total failure, the install went fine, but when rebooting my phone was stuck either with a blank screen or in a boot loop. So I decided to try the older version of CM, which is how I got to CM7. Oddly enough, after successfully installing CM7 and again trying to install CM9 Beta8 (ICS) it actually worked... but I couldn't live with a camera that wouldn't show me what I am taking a picture of... will wait for that to mature a bit futher.

So back to CM7, all you really need to do as mentioned above many times is to copy the ROM to your MicroSD card and then go into CWM and select an update from the MicroSD card and apply it (just make sure you pick S2E in the setup, leave everything else as default). Simple! Once the install is finished, it will simply reboot right into your new OS, it will just take a little bit longer on the first boot to get into the phone.

Post Upgrade

First of all... I can't sing enough praises to the people that are working on Cyanogen Mod as well as Phiexz and others. If you go through the above process with their version of CM7 there is an amazing install (not sure if it is part of this build alone or for CM7 in general), it's as if you are installing a commercial OS!

The difference between the stock ROM and CM7 is night and day. Here are the benefits I noticed off the top (have been using it only 2 days before this post):

• It is noticably faster.
• You are not forced to use the apps that Samsung defines at the bottom, it includes ADWLauncher and themes you can select during ROM install. I picked the ICS theme.
• My battery lasts a bit longer.
• No more bloatware (no Samsung or Bell apps loading into memory).
• Oh... so much more configurable, I would almost say that there are too many options.
• Build in S2E... provided you have the partitions set up right before the ROM install you can in and configure everything to go to the other partition. And unlike Link2SD, where it links stuff to the MicroSD card after install, S2E just installs it straight to MicroSD.
• WAYYYYYY Better Camera Software. I am not kidding... it is night and day difference and it is much more convenient to use. Tons of new options that are quickly configurable.
• Cool screen shut down (like an old style CRT shutting off with the line down the middle)... not big, but cool.

I was on the fence about doing this earlier, but I am 100% in favour of anyone using the Galaxy Gio to do this and get a much better Android experience out of your phone.

I will post some of the screenshots up when I get a chance to.

Facebook is going to buy my browser

So finally, aside from another RIM story, there is something that has caught my interest, and that is Facebook potentially buy my browser, Opera.

Why is it my browser? Well, because it has been so good to me over time... that's why. Way back when beige box towers were the 'it' thing and laptops were not as prolific as they are now (let's say that's around 1998 or so), I had a problem. I had a 386 laptop (monochrome) and I wanted to get to the internet on my external 36.6K modem. Because the laptop had only 1 serial port I had a choice... mouse or modem. So, I chose modem and tried to get online, and did, but surfing was hell. Using netscape or IE3 was a pain, I couldn't get to some things because I was not able to click on them (think I forgot to mention it also lacked a nub or touch pad). So long story short, I look for a solution to my internet navigation issues and find that Opera, a browser I never heard of, was able to help me with all my navigation woes. I have used it ever since, and loved it. I cannot believe that it has not gained in popularity because it has so much more to offer than the other browsers... maybe because it offers too much?

Anyway, back to the point of this post, I had an instant pang of disappointment when I heard the rumours. I thought to myself "There Facebook goes again, ruining something perfectly good, just like Instagram". Now that I have had some time to digest it... it will have some good things, but will also have some bad, as everything does. So here is what I am thinking:

Good:

• Opera will get a lot more marketshare a lot faster: Facebook has a huge audience... if they promote "their browser" and if they bake in features that only it could have with some super secret special API, many people would try it and or just use it because it is easier and also since the spend most of their online time there.
• Opera will advance by leaps and bounds (maybe?): Opera's problem from the start is that it isn't a big company. It doesn't have the resources to dump into their browser like Google and Microsoft do. As I recall, it was the last significant paid browser hold out and it didn't seem that they were too happy to move from that model until the advertising revenue started to pour in. But despite the fact that they don't have as many resources, they have absolutely killed it with the functionality of this browser. I personally think that most of the 'cool' features that the other browsers have were lifted from Opera. With facebook behind it, it could accelerate the development and turn it into something very unique.

Bad:

• Facebook Integration: I use Facebook, I don't have a problem with it really... most of the time. But if they have their own browser, would you have to 'log in' to use it? That will probably be unlikely unless they really want to dig into what you do on Facebook and also outside of it, could really help with targetting ads. At the very least, they would have any problem getting cooking information.
• Trust: I don't think Facebook comes to mind when people think of trusting a tech company, even Google is starting to have the Facebook problem in light of the problems that it has had over time. But clearly non of us has forgiven Facebook for all of the tests they opt us in to, mistakes that they have made over time and I am fairly certain that everyone is pretty certain that they are being tracked in some fashion by them. So if I have an Opera that will be baking in Facebook features, how far can I trust it? Or maybe the better question is how can we trust anyone? To me it seems that the browser seems to be one of the key methods of obtaining information about us and what we do, so I am certain that Facebook would use this for all this is worth, much like google is currently doing with Chrome.

But Opera isn't really the big story here is it? The big story is that Facebook is buying a browser and what that implies.

I guess I would consider myself silly to think that Facebook is just a website or an application on a smart phone, because it is apparent that's not what Facebook wants to be. Especially when the IPO for Facebook now brings regular investors into the mix they are going to have more control on the direction of the company. I am not sure what Zuck wants to do, but to me it is clear right now that Facebook is getting ready to take on Google.

It is kind of hard to say exactly how they intend to do that, but if they are buying a browser, then they see value in what Google is doing with Chrome. They certainly do think that Google has something with Android as well as they are on their 3rd try to make a Facebook phone, I wonder if it would run on Android? Maybe the Google mantra of just giving stuff away as long as people are using a Google product in some way shape or form. Also, look at what a behemoth Google is and that is just based on their ad revenue! All Facebook needs to do is to replicate what Google has done up to this point and then exceed what they are doing. I think have have seen somewhere online that they are mentioning something about a Facebook search engine and it wouldn't surprise me if there ended up being one.

So I won't be surprised that if the acquisition of Opera (now that they have the IPO money) is the first of many steps to make Facebook more like Google. I wouldn't be surprised if they go on an acquisition rampage.

Problems with Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage and Rogers 3rd Party Billing

Update 09-17-12: 

Got this update from Joanna with a link to some good news! It appears that everything we all have guessed about (that the carriers are making money off of these 3rd party companies) seems to be true. Hopefully the media focus and cost of the lawsuit will put all  nonsense to an end. Thanks for the link Joanna!

"Joanna has left a new comment on your post "Problems with Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage and ...": 

Hi everyone: Good news! Hoping this will prevent other cell phone user to go thru what we've gone thru! 
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03499.html
Also, just a quick update since my last posting on Aug 13. I've got email confirmation from Buongiorno for a full refund BUT I've yet to believe it until I ACTUALLY see it in my account. I choose to believe that we are in a different billing cycle and so it could take couple of months to see the full credit."



Update: I found an article on line that perfectly describes what they are doing, it is called "cramming". They take advantage of a loophole in LEC (Local Exchange Carrier) billing, and need only your phone number to start charging you money. I fail to see what service could be so valuable that this is enabled by default, allowing virtually anyone to charge you if they have your mobile number. Give it a read.


Recently I have spotted an anomaly on my cell phone bill that has gone unchecked for over 3 months.

3rd Party Billing: As it appears on my phone bill. Notice the small print.

Unbeknownst to me, I had purchased a 3rd party service that has a recurring monthly charge of $9.99. The only evidence that I have at all regarding this service are 3 SMS messages (no bill or paper) stating that I am enrolled in this service. I had absolutely no idea how this happened.

Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage SMS Message: The ONLY notification you get that you are subscribed to something. 

So I went on a little adventure to find out how this happened, what I could do about the charges and how to prevent this from happening in the future.

How it happened:

The first thing I did was to check out the website to see what this 'service' is, and the first site I found about this company was a complaint site called 'Gripevine' which completely outranked the business itself on Google, so I knew it wasn't looking good for me.

I decided that I would poke around the Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage site to find out what it was. I wasn't really surprised at what I found, which were basically really low quality games:

Counting Sheep: Even the creators of these games find them so boring they can guarantee you will fall asleep playing them. 

Arcade Pong: Ah yes... the age old game of bouncing a ball on a paddle, only virtualized. Amazing.

Drop Flowers: Dropping flowers has never been so much fun! </sarcasm>  

Fat Girl: Aside from being completely offensive, apparently it is fun to guide something into a ring. 

Pumpkin Land: Doesn't appear to have pumpkins, nor is it a land. You lamely guide your finger up the platforms. Sounds super fun! 

Sheila Dressup: Believe it or not, there are like 5 of these, all the same, different girls possibly different accessories. Ultra lame. 

As you can see from the above pictures that the quality of the games is terrible and remind me of the games you would see when you had to use a WAP browser to get to the internet on phones. Most of the games are fundamentally the same, just with different back grounds and pictures. It does not look like much time was spent at all putting the site up or making the games, as if it is just a place holder. Why on earth would I, my wife, or anyone want to pay $9.99/month for basically the same game with different pictures especially when we are in the smart phone era with tons of high quality $0.99 or free games?

It seems to me that someone needed to make a placeholder/front for their service so that if there were any litigation over it's billing practices that they could say that they had offered them a service.

It is my opinion that this is a 'shady' service that is clearly preying on human behaviour:

• People don't seriously check their messages: So if you were not paying attention (which is my case), and don't see that slick little SMS message pop in to say that you are subscribed you are raking in $9.99/month/person until they realize they are being scammed. 
• People never check their bills: Most people don't, or the people I know. And it took us 3 months to find it on ours. So again... they are getting the $9.99/month/person * the amount of months it takes to realize that there is an incorrect charge on their bill. 

If you have no ethics or morals this is a great business model, especially at $9.99/month. Even if they did provide some form of a refund to people that call in to complain, they most likely will not give up 100% of the money that they obtained. So they are essentially printing their own money, and I think they know it.

So now that I know who I am dealing with, I needed to back track to find out how I could have possibly subscribed to it, checking such things as: 

• Browser History. 
• SMS History. 
• Apps that might contain an Ad that my kids could have clicked on. 

But despite spending hours going through all of that, I could not find anything anywhere that would indicate how I provided permission for this unknown company to start charging me $9.99 per month to my cell phone bill.

What I could do about the charges:

If you want to save some time reading here is a summary, not much, but I will go through the thought process that probably everyone goes through when being ripped off.

It starts out by being completely irate, then it proceeds to be a call to Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage as per the SMS message to find out why we are being charged and to demand a refund followed by a call to Rogers to ask how this happened.

Call to Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage:

To my surprise, the Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage customer service didn't seem to be all that terrible, but then how can you be if you are customer service. Though they didn't seem to listen to any of the 'gripes' we had about this service just appearing on our bill (which is probably the only reason they get calls, so routine), they did 'say' that they would refund some of the money, though I have yet to see that.

The only thing that was consistently said on the phone by the customer service representative was that 'we subscribed', though they could not tell us how that happened. They also mentioned that we were notified by SMS and could have cancelled anytime, as if that is a valid excuse for being charged for a service that I did not know or want.

So after some back and forth and on the promise of a refund, we had hung up with them hoping that at some point in the future we would see a credit to the bill, though I am completely skeptical of this happening.

Call to Rogers:

The customer service experience on the call into ROGERS was not all that good. The person that I had on the phone I could barely hear, as if they were in some sort of empty room on a terrible phone, far far away from the microphone.

So after getting through all the security questions, we get into the reason for my call and I explained to the CSR that I found a charge on my bill that I did not agree to and that I want a refund for the charges. After being put on hold for a while, the CSR came back and rather quickly told me that this is a 3rd party charge and I would have to contact the 3rd party to get a refund for the charges.

I then ask the CSR, how is it that they are able to charge my account directly? I went on to explain that I had never received any information on this service and that I had never explicitly authorized another charge on my account. I was again put on hold and then the CSR just came back with the same answer, that I must have signed up for something somehow and that they cannot do anything about the charges.

I then asked a series of other questions, where the CSR had started to put me on hold for gradually increasing amounts of time until I finally asked if I could speak with a supervisor. I was put on hold again only to find that I was subsequently passed into another hold queue, a french language one. Eventually it was picked up again, but it was as if they couldn't hear me and the call was ended.

My wife didn't fair much better when calling in to discuss the same issue, she was just told that they had blocked 3rd party billing.

Neither of us were happy with the customer service we were receiving, especially since all CSRs are implying that:

• We willfully subscribed to the service. 
• There is nothing they can do about 3rd party services. 
• That the disabling of 3rd party services might somehow affect our ability to use our phone. 

How to prevent this from happening in the future:

To make a long story short, the only thing you could do at this point is opt-out of 3rd party billing. This means that you have to actually know what 3rd party billing is, then call into Rogers to have it blocked.

After my miserable experience with the phone based customer support, I did try hitting twitter and found that I got a much faster, and better experience by tweeting @RogersHelps, I would recommend going to them. The gents that helped me were knowledgeable, very helpful, but eventually gave me the same answer as the phone CSRs did. They did provide this useful link which is great for understanding what 3rd party billing is and Rogers stance on it:

http://redboard.rogers.com/2011/rogers-offers-premium-sms-choices-for-customers/

The article describes what happened to me as a 'feature' that is now available to Rogers that they call 'Premium SMS choices'. Here is the descriptive paragraph out of the article:

Premium SMS messages often charge an additional fee above standard text messaging costs. The costs usually range from $1 to $10. You can subscribe to a premium SMS service online by inputting your mobile phone number or by texting a specific short code (usually four or five digits). This could include submitting your mobile number on online contests, to win a tablet for example. Always read the terms and conditions before submitting your mobile number online. Regardless of whether a subscription is initiated online or through a mobile device, there is always a two-step activation process. This includes inputting your number online or through your mobile device and sending a confirmation ‘YES’ text to complete the subscription. Once confirmed, you are then charged for the messages until you ask them to stop.

Sounds good, but this never happened to me, there was no text out to subscribe to anything. Nor was there a confirmation SMS saying 'Yes' please bill me $9.99/month. The above paragraph is exactly what SHOULD happen... I ask for the service and I confirm that I want to be billed for it. Clearly there is a loophole to this that allows people to bill my account without this 2-step process and that is what needs to be addressed. I am not clear on how this company slipped through the cracks, or how many companies like this there are.

What I think Rogers needs to do:

The safeguards described in the article are good, I never got the chance to see if any of them work however. But what I think they need to do to improve customer experience is: 

1. Refund all accidental 3rd party charges to Rogers customers: This would obviously be within reason, but for people that have 1 or 2 charges on their account, not knowing what the service is, Rogers should go to bat for them. They have the clout (being a huge carrier) to claw back wrongfully taken funds from their customers. I wager that if they looked across many of the accounts they would see these sort of charges occurring and could proactively do something about it. It is much harder for each individual to get their money back than it would be for Rogers to get the money back for them. 3rd Party providers should have proof that we subscribed knowingly, if that ever comes into question.
2. For any charges above regular phone usage: Anything that Rogers does not provide should be highlighted and very visible to customers. If there is a 3rd party charge, then it should be easy to find, maybe accompanied with a Rogers SMS message or some other form of notification to make the people that don't check their bills or don't see the fine print aware of these extra charges. 
3. Block 3rd Party charges by default: Take it from 2 steps to 3 steps. Rather than subscribe to something directly, start by SMSing the customer and asking if they would like to 'enable' 3rd party billing. This way they could determine what it is before charges are laid. If they already know what it is and are intent on it, they will respond with a yes. For the ones that no one knows about, there can be no charges until it is enabled, so it can't be done by accident without explicit permission from the subscriber first. 
4. Proactively scan and resolve 'scams': Periodically look at all the 3rd party charges being applied to Rogers accounts. If there is a higher than normal subscription rate (perhaps like Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage) investigate and determine if subscribers were legitimately subscribed or not. If you blocked 3rd party charges by default it would be less work as the subscribers that enabled 3rd party billing would be susceptible to bad billing practices. 

Is RIM beyond hope?

It's been a while since I had written a post on RIM and thought that it is about time, given that I have some sort of fixation on them having to use them in my daily life. Anyone who has been watching the news recently knows that the company's stock has slid 5% down to $13.65 yesterday, now 75% lower than just 12 months ago, so things aren't going well and like me, everyone is sitting around waiting for RIM's last hurrah when the Blackberry OS10 devices come out.

RIM is in a terrible position right now and I don't at all envy Thorsten Hein's position having all the pressure to do something to try and salvage what is left of RIMs business. The only good news that we are seeing is that he and perhaps the board are starting to see the big picture and do something about it, only that it may be too late.

I think they have done good by:

• Removing Jim Ballsillie: This might be more symbolic than anything. But since he had been put into the role of CEO and both Mike Lazaridis and Jim Ballsillie landed softly into board rolls Thorsten has never been able to shake the stigma that he is just the puppet of the two former co-CEOs. Initially that's all that it looked like, he came in trumpetting their approach acting like there is nothing wrong, but by getting rid of Ballsillie (not sure about Mr. Lazaridis), they are giving us a sign that he can no longer contribute to the direction of the company and that he really does want things to change.
• Removing top exectutives: David Yach and chief operating officer Jim Rowan were let go as well as other high level staff. THE PROBLEM IS: While you are getting rid of the 'old' mentality you are going to have to replace them with new bodies. It may prove to be difficult to fill all these high level positions in a short time considering their big turnaround HAS to happen this year.
• Admitting the difficulties that RIM is facing: It is about time that someone flat out said what was going on with the company. Jim & Mike were always trying to put a spin on the reasons that RIM was faltering and trying to evangelize their plans for a turn around even though it would never materialize. This will give investors and your average person more confidence in a CEO that admits there is a problem rather than living in a time bubble back when everything was still good. 
• Developing mobile fusion: I was skeptical of this from the start because I thought this would almost definitely cannibalize the sale of their blackberry devices. But since most people are now opting for Android and iOS devices nowadays, I am fairly confident that at some point in the future there will be no blackberry hardware. Mobile Fusion is putting the focus on their back end infrastructure and what is rapidly becoming their most important asset. 
• Putting a sale of the company or its assets on the table: Old co-CEOs would have only mentioned that they were open to licensing the blackberry OS, as if anyone would want anything to do with what is behind the demise of the company. Putting all the options on the table is good news because it leaves the possibility of a sale out there that could help with investment and also confidence that no option is off the table. THE PROBLEM IS: RIM might be too far gone to be sold, given that it has lost nearly all of it's value. The only thing left that I believe could be purchased is their patents and their back end infrastructure.

What I don't think they have done well:

• Communicate their direction & message well: Thorsten doesn't seem to be able to communicate direction or if they really pulling out of the consumer market. I have always thought that if they were having issues that they should focus on their core business and try and fix that the consumer part of their business seems to have made them scatterbrained so that they lose focus and what they should prioritize (Playbook, Storm, Torch). THE PROBLEM IS: The consumerization of IT is already in full swing, no one wants to carry 2 devices anymore and want their 1 perfectly capable phone to do everything. They do sort of have their bases covered with Mobile Fusion, but their hardware business is pretty much finished in my opinion.
• What about the blackberry ecosystem? We don't know what is going happen to BBM or the integration they were speaking of when making deals with the recording industry for Blackberry music. What will happen to all the money invested in music deals for the blackberry music?  
• Bad publicity: On top of the drunken executives that forced an emergency landing, there was a stabbing at a promotional concert for BBM which seems to have overshadowed the event itself, just like the drunken executives did.
• Provide message of hope to developers: I am not sure that I have seen any indication in news or otherwise that developing for Blackberry is going to be worth your while. I am seeing that developers will get a free BB10 device, but I don't see them providing any guarantees that they will be handsomely rewarded for developing on a platform that has every indication of failing at some point in time. They should be offering nearly 100% profit for the apps and other incentives to catch developer interest, everyone knows that if you want to make money you develop for iOS and Android, but they need a really good reason to develop for blackberry now.
• Trying to market an old OS: When they knew they would not be able to ship the BB10 devices on time they decided to drop some money on advertising BB7.  Anyone who has seen any of the ads can only see improvements in providing: Mobile Hotspot (which will be promptly shutoff by most IT policies in addition to WiFi), NFC (no one uses this for payment yet, for now is just a buzz word), WiFi Calling (this is just software, most likely it is provided by carriers, but other apps like Nimbuzz had it since at least 2009), FM Radio (nice to have, but virtually no one uses it), AutoSuggest (Not that I have seen it, but it is most likely tied into google somehow). There really is nothing compelling me to buy a BB7 device, especially since there is no guarantee that my BB7 device can run BB10 when it eventually comes out. You do have to sell the devices, that is a given, but I don't think anyone is naive enough to think that BB7 is a major revolution in the OS... since in my opinion we haven't seen that yet at all (BB2 - BB7, the only things I have seen as improvements are music, camera, expandable memory and some apps. The OS is fundamentally the same... the only real big change I remember is going from a C based OS to a Java based OS). 

I honestly think that for the most part, RIM is beyond salvaging in it's current form as it is too late to catch up with other hardware makers. No one will honestly want to purchase a BB10 version 1.0 phone with no applications when you can get a fully featured Android or iOS device, you would deliberately be committing  yourself to issues similar to those that occurred with the Playbook and OS updates/fixes. So that being said, this is how I see the future of RIM:

•  RIM gets purchased outright: I can see either Amazon (because Jeff Bezos seems to love RIM) or Microsoft purchasing RIM. Amazon has the kindle, kindle fire to tie into their ecosystem, but they do not have a phone. They could use RIM to break into the enterprise and also to manufacture Android phones to fit the hardware that they are missing when compared to Apple/Google. Microsoft could purchase them just to deepen their foothold in the enterprise and lock down Windows Phone 7 as the only enterprise capable phone (probably getting rid of Mobile Fusion save for Windows Phones). Windows Phone 7 definitely needs some sort of edge in hopes of catching up to Android and iOS, so anything could help.
• RIM leaves the hardward business and focuses entirely on enterprise software: They are already well positioned to do this with Blackberry Mobile Fusion, so they could pool there resources around owning Enterprise Device Management and E-Mail. To this day there is still no device that does e-mail better, so if they can enable this on Android & iOS phones (like they did with the PalmTreo650) then they would own that space. Good technologies is attempting to take ownership of this space, so they would be their biggest competitor. RIM could then live off the licensing fees of Mobile Fusion and look for other areas where they could add value.
• RIM switches to Android: I am not entirely sure on this, but it is possible that if BB10 is a complete flop, that it would be far less expensive for them to become an Android handset maker in addition to being an enterprise device management leader. So if you can't get the developers to come to you, you can go to Android where the developers are and continue to make money on handsets as well as licensing. Mobile fusion would then theoretically allow them to do this almost seamlessly as they are trying to address the BYOD movement with the software already. 

I don't really see too many options beyond these, and time is of the essence for the sale of the company as it has lost so much of it's value it may not be worth selling. I do think they can succeed as an enterprise software provider and I fully expect them to do something like this if BB10 turns out to be a complete flop.

I wish them the best, I really do. I don't hate them, I just hate the OS and it's lack of functionality. I will be watching their developer conference with interest (to get an idea of what BB10 is like and its functionality). Come November, if we are not blown away by the new devices and software I can see one of the above scenarios playing itself out.