Blackberry Tour 9630 now on Bell.ca

Bell Canada now officially has the Tour posted online here: http://bell.ca/shopping/en_CA_ON.BlackBerryTour–9630/68195.details

The phone goes on sale today…very tempted…

PSp

Android “Cupcake” Running on the HTC (Touch) Vogue!

Thanks to the good people over at xda-developers, we now have the latest version of the Google Android OS running on the CDMA version of the HTC Touch.

The first port we tried was of the original Android OS (v1.0). It worked reasonably well, but response time was a bit slow and there were usually one or two processes that were forced closed. A few crashes later and we decided to try something a bit more stable. Fortunately, a number of excellent developers hove gotten together to provide a few modified versions. We ended up “installing” one with the latest version of Android, code name Cupcake (v1.5). This port was significantly faster and snappier than the first version, and everything worked upon the first install. Having used it for over a week now, we have yet to run into any problems. It’s like having a brand new phone (toy).

Here’s the proof of concept:

Android "Cupcake" on HTC Touch Vogue

If you want to give it a try, let us know and we can point you in the right direction to get started. Or you can head over to xda and do a search and you should stumble upon a few threads to help you out.

If you’re using it already, or have an HTC Dream or Magic, let us know what you think in comparison to other smartphones you’ve tried!

PSp

Evernote – The Mobile Notepad, Character Recognition Included

We plan on doing a full review of this application at some point, but here’s a taste for now. This article features the OCR aspect of this great tool…

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Evernote OCR Lets You Snap and Search Picture Notes With Your Phone
By Eric Nguyen

First off, Evernote is a note taking program built for PCs, Macs, mobile phones, and the web. Evernote keeps all your notes synced, so that if you make a note on your PC, you can view it on your phone, and vice versa. Every note you make is uploaded to your Evernote account to the internet which allows you to login via the internet and view your notes. In addition to that, you can also snap pictures with your cell phone and upload it to your notes.

Amongst all the cool things built into Evernote, one of the coolest is its optical character recognition (OCR) feature. Paired with the ability to take and upload photos, the OCR feature scans the image and indexes all the text it can read. This means that you can search your images for text. With this ability, the possibilities are endless!

Here are some potential uses:

• Empty your wallet of business cards
• Take a quick shot of a flyer
• Take notes out of a book
• Snap a picture of what’s on the blackboard
• Create a catalog of carry out menus
• Take a quick shot of what’s on your monitor

Now, some of you may be a little skeptical about Evernote’s accuracy. For the most part, Evernote’s OCR works very well. All pictures below were shot with a 3.2 MP camera phone. Evernote’s OCR will work with any resolution picture, but the higher the resolution (or megapixels for the less technical), the better the accuracy. Also, if your picture is blurry, then the OCR won’t work quite as well. OCR has gotten much better over the years, but it still is not perfect.

I was surprised at how well Evernote’s OCR indexed the textbook picture even though the text was tiny and almost unreadable in some portions. Having a high resolution camera phone (3.2MP compared to 1.3MP standard camera phones) definetely makes OCR more accurate. Although the software was able to recognize handwriting, don’t expect it in all cases. Evernote is extremely picky about the handwriting it can recognize. In other words, if you have messy handwriting, don’t count on Evernote being able to read it.

Evernote is free to use, but has a 40MB limit for free accounts. 40MB is enough space for lots of data, but if you need more space, they offer premium memberships for $5/month which includes 500MB of space and priority OCR. I found that it only takes a few minutes (1-5) for my images to be scanned using a free account, which should be plenty fast for most users.

Once all is said and done, Evernote stands out as an exceptional and unique tool for note taking. It’s not the ability to synchronize notes across various computers and phones that distinguishes Evernote, rather, it is the OCR feature that makes snapping notes a breeze. Forget about writing down what you see; all you need to do now is snap a picture!

Visit http://www.IsYouGeekedUp.com for full Evernot review with picture samples.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eric_Nguyen
http://EzineArticles.com/?Evernote-OCR-Lets-You-Snap-and-Search-Picture-Notes-With-Your-Phone&id=2106966

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – The iPod Touch and Air Mouse Pro to the rescue?

Early on in my career, a number of colleagues had complained about sharp pains in their wrist, most noticeable when using their computer mouse. Years later and I have now succumb to the same affliction. The ergonomics-inclined here at Productive Smartphone has identified this to be none other than Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). For those of you who are unfamiliar, this is essentially a medical condition caused by repetitive pinching of the median nerve (at your wrist). Many of us that constantly work with a computer may have at least a mild form of this. The primary causes are use the mouse repetitively and applying unnecessary pressure on your wrist when using the keyboard. I am ashamed to even admit having this problem as I am well versed in the study of ergonomics. Once again, the glaring difference between knowledge practice rears it’s ugly head.

This condition has been progressively getting worse, and I have since tried to compensate for my bad habits by buying new tools to help me navigate around my computer.

Try, try, try again…

In the last year, I have used the following input devices to try and take pressure off of my wrist:

• Ergonomic Mouse developed by Microsoft (Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000). This is a lumpy, lopsided mouse, with the basic principle being that it tilts your hand and relieves the direct pressure on your wrist by diverting it to the side of your hand (think more perpendicular).

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Mouse 6000

• Graphing Tablet. Some of you may know the more popular and respected Bamboo branded tablets, but there are a number of cheaper options also available. The pen is used to “write” your way around the screen. It is a bit slower than navigating with a mouse as the movements are more finicky, and requires you to put down the pen to type. This is an impediment to productivity, and for this site, a no go.

• Finger Mouse. As it sounds, this is a mouse worn on your index finger with the left and right mouse buttons positioned nicely to be pressed by your thumb. This has actually fared rather well, so has become the recommended tool for a travel mouse for on the go (it’s surprisingly light weight). Unfortunately, it presents the same problem as the graphing tablet in that it required you to take it off and put it down before you can effectively use the keyboard. It looks something like this:

USB Finger Mouse

Needless to say, bad habits are hard to break and I found myself going back to a standard mouse that I use on whatever surface is nearby. But a true solution may be at hand: look no further than the iPod Touch!

Air Mouse Pro

I’m sure a number of you iPhone users are laughing that it took me so long to discover this, but the Air Mouse Pro application is a godsend for those of us that want to control our laptops and computers from our iPods. There are two forms of input – as a regular touchpad or using the accelerometer. But why try and explain when the website does a mighty good job of that already?

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From http://www.mobileairmouse.com/:

Instantly transform your iPhone or iPod touch into an air mouse, trackpad, and wireless remote for your computer! Sit back and surf the web, browse your photo library or control your music player from the comfort of your couch. Our air mouse uses the built in accelerometer to translate your hand motions into mouse movements on your screen. It can also operate as a trackpad, allowing you to control your computer with a single finger. Suddenly your iPhone has become an essential part of any home theater PC and a presenter’s best friend. Using an innovative application notification system, the iPhone will always know what applications are running at any time and show the appropriate keys for that program, providing you with a single screen for controlling ALL your media and web applications.

Features:

- Accelerometer based air mouse
- Trackpad (full screen vertical and landscape modes)
- Media keys & Web keys
- Application notifications – Remote keyboard with function and arrow keys
- Programable hotkeys (can be set to run a program or keyboard combination)
- Scroll pad
- Multitouch gestures (scroll & right click)
- Modifier Keys
- On screen typing
- Password protection
- Custom sensitivity settings
- Foreign language keyboards
- Supports Bonjour or static IP
- No screen size limitation. Works with multiple monitors.
- And much, much more.

*****

Here’s a direct screen capture from the iPod Touch. Notice the nice controls for browsing the web:

Air Mouse Pro for iPhone and iPod Touch

I’ve only been using this for a few hours, but it’s absolutely mind blowing how great it is. In a pinch, I can even use the iPod keyboard to type up an email. My home laptop has become a CPU and a monitor for 80% of the time now. The web navigation is great, and the music controls are an absolute must if your laptop doubles as your stereo. The $5.99 I paid to download this is 50% cheaper than the cheapest mouse I have ever purchased, so I would say it’s a pretty damn good deal. There are a few other competing applications in the app store, so definitely do some research before committing. I picked Air Mouse Pro simply because it was the most well known in my brief Google foray for reviews. There are other competitors out there, so if you try a different one, I’d like to hear about it…

*Edit: This application is now on sale at the AppStore for $1.99 – considering the comments made above, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick this up and give it a try…

PSp

Blackberry Tour 9630 for Bell Spotted At Best Buy

While out and about, I spotted a demo model of the Blackberry Tour (9630) for Bell Mobility strapped in next to the Storm. There were no tags or details on pricing, but it is rumoured to be selling for $199 CDN on a 3 yr contract or $599 outright.

Blackberry Tour 9630 on display at Best Buy Mobile

For a review of the handset, check over at Crackberry here.

The higher screen resolution and more RAM (plus a really nice keyboard) will only enhance the amount of productivity you can get out of one of these things…

If you’re an early adopter, please let us know what you think of it, and how it stacks up against the Bold, Javelin or CDMA Curve.

Edit: Apparently the prices will be higher than expected – $699 w/o contract, $499 on a 3-yr term (although significantly less with a data plan)

PSp

Using Your Blackberry to Manage Your Life and Business

Here’s an interesting article on how to manage yourself using a Blackberry. Some of the applications mentioned (read: ToDoMatrix and IdeaMatrix) are bit costly and might not be for everyone but there are some free tools mentioned as well that are worth checking out.

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Really Use Your Blackberry to Manage Your Life and Business
By Stephen L Scott

You know the scene. Blackberry users are a loose club. Own a Blackberry – you’re in. When we see each other we compare notes on the best programs to add. We all are looking for ways to make our lives faster and easier to manage.

Personally, I need to be flexible. One moment I’m at my desk working on an email. Two minutes later I’m sending a reply but now I’m down the hall or even heading for the car. Blackberry to the rescue.

Now on my third blackberry over four years, I’ve had the chance to try lots of programs. This is the list of the best ones that work for me.

Wall Street Journal reader for Blackberry. Use it several times a day. Very quick to scan headlines. Then click for summary and click again to get the full article. Did I say this is free! So far they are not charging for blackberry users. The app will send articles to anyone in your phone book, Facebook, or quick link to your email. Also has custom search and your portfolio is automatically updated.

HP 12C Financial Calculator. This one will cost $13. Works perfect. I took the basic calculator off my phone. You can chose RPN or algebraic. Check it out at lygea.com

Project Manager – Task List. And fully searchable free form database. Rexwireless offers a bunch of software solutions. I chose two that fit my needs for flexible and detailed task and project management and another to handle all of the databases and notes I want to carry with me. (I replaced a palmtop computer with the blackberry). ToDoMatrix and IdeaMatrix work very well. Most people that use them claim they are the best applications available. They integrate well with the rest of the BB apps. All of the data is automatically and instantly synced with the web-based versions. So you can work on the phone or on the web. Customer service has been incredible when needed. They also offer enterprise level versions where the whole company can share data. Best application on my BB, I live in these applications. Cost is $60 each or both for $100.

Google Mobile products. Google has several great tools. I use some but not all. GoogleMaps goes right on top. Love the live traffic updates and quick searching for a place I need by just scrolling to the general area on the map and searching. GoogleSync is critical for me to automatically back up my calendar and addressbook. You will need a Google account, then you sync with an online calendar and addressbook. The calendar can then be shared with staff. Watch who takes priority with the gmail/sync. I recommend you back up the BB databases using the desktop and cable also. Sync works well, but is confusing until you get the preferences right.

Google also has a gmail client for the blackberry. I use this for email sometimes. Mostly to get email that I’ve already removed from the BB. (I frequently delete the BB email to clear memory.) But with gmail I can find anything for years back.

Beyond411 Quick location based and every other type of search too. I use this as my first line of search. Don’t have to open a browser to start searching. Just quick type and click. It is location based so it is great for finding a place you need close by. It gives maps, directions, addresses and phone numbers. Just click on the phone number and you’re making table reservations! It also does general web searches, white pages, and 1000 more special searches so you only get the type of responses you want. It’s free and used a lot. Faster than calling 411 and let me it say it again, FREE. You can find it at thebogles.com.

eOffice. Recently paid the money so I could write Microsoft Word docs and Excel spreadsheets. $30.00 Dynoplex offers this. It is difficult to use though. Email or Tweet me for an update on how I resolve issues in being fully mobile with office tools.

What are your favorite apps? Just let me know.

Steve Scott is a CEO-for-Hire and CEO Confidential Advisor based in California. After 25 years improving bottom line performance as senior management (several times CEO), six acquisitions, several turnarounds and raising a few hundred million he know what he speaks about. Get Steve’s insight on critical issues for CEOs and board members at http://blog.ceocomplete.com Connect to Steve at http://linkedin.com/in/stvscott

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_L_Scott
http://EzineArticles.com/?Really-Use-Your-Blackberry-to-Manage-Your-Life-and-Business&id=1950512