Mobile Phones, Technology, Internet, Music, PC, Softwares Tips

Samsung NC215-A01US Solar Powered Netbook Review

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:48:59 +0000

Within the span of 3 years, my HP Compaq Presario CQ60 which I bought Christmas of 2008 on promo for N90,000 ($570) has cost me close to N35,000 ($221) in repairs such as battery replacement, keyboard replacement due to Yogurt splash etc. Thus when I started getting yet another battery failure alert, I knew it was time to start searching for a new laptop.

With power supply being epileptic and me needing something ultra portable, I decided to settle for a netbook and the solar powered laptop computer, Samsung NC215-A01US caught my attention immediately ’cause it came with a solar panel which could charge the laptop without electricity supply.

Solar power for computers is something that’s being in the news for quite some time now with Intel recently running tests on a solar powered Pentium CPU which they hope to launch as soon as feasible.

In terms of specifications, the Samsung NC215-A01NG netbook comes with the following

Intel® ATOM™ Processor N455 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
250GB S-ATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
1GB DDR3 System Memory at 1066MHz (Expandable to 2GB Max)
Embedded Solar Panel on Lid
Intel GMA3150 (Int. Graphic)
Anti-glare 10.1″ WSVGA LED Display (1024 x 600)
0.3 MP Web Camera
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS (high speed)
3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 W x 2)
10/100 LAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 bg/n 1×1 (up to 150Mbps)
Windows® 7 Starter Edition
Solar Power Calculator (Eco Mode)
Ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA, MIC-In, 4-in-1 card reader, RJ45
Headphone and Microphone output.
8,000mAh 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery, up to 14.5 hours

ADVANTAGES OF SAMSUNG NC215-A01 SOLAR NETBOOK

Long Battery Life: under normal conditions, it is reported that the battery life of this laptop lasts an amazing 14.5 hours. I personally ran a test 2 days after I purchased it to see how long the battery would last if dedicated to movie playback only and I got over 7 hours of playback with Windows Media Player (with Avira Antivir Personal, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi switched off and using head phones)
Solar Powered Charging: while working in the sun, you can be rest assured of continuous power as the solar panel offers you 1 hr. of battery life for 2 hrs. of solar exposure. What’s more it even charges while switched off.
Internet connectivity and fast data transfer made possible via LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and and an SD slot that supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC cards.
USB Charging: the USB port on the left side of the netbook can be set to charge your mobile phones and devices while in sleep mode or even switched off.
Fast Start: Samsung innovative hybrid of the regular sleep mode allows to to re-commence work on your system in less than 3 seconds.
The Web Cam may not be of high quality but it still works for video messaging and calls so you can Skype away
Island style keyboard in which there’s a lot of space between keys which allows for faster and less error prone typing
Anti-Glare Super Bright screen: makes working in the brightest of sunlight eye-strain free.
Battery Life Extender: yet another innovation from Samsung Electronics that charges your battery only to 80% thereby increasing your battery life by increasing the number of charge cycles.
Ultra-Portability: with a sleek design and weighing just 2.87 lbs. (1.3 kg) with 10.20″ x 7.07″ x 0.93~1.41″ dimensions and solar panel charging coupled with 12hr plus battery life, the NC215-A01 is one device that offers the ultimate in portability.
Proper Cooling System/Ventilation: the battery is shaped in such a way that makes the base of this netbook concave and thus allows for proper ventilation and cooling of the system

DISADVANTAGES OF SAMSUNG NC215-A01 SOLAR NETBOOK

No Optical Drives: as a power saving measure, most netbooks do not come with CD/DVD drives making the installation of softwares and CD/DVD playback impossible unless you have an external optical drive
Poor and Slow Multitasking: netbooks are basically designed for document viewing and editing and web browsing with multimedia playback. Carrying out heavier tasks such as gaming slows down the system as the 1GB RAM is just not enough. Reports say upgrading to 2GB RAM makes things faster but that would only increase the cost of the device. In my case, I got a boost in speed by simply deactivating all unnecessary Windows features via Control Panel >> System >> Advanced System Settings >> Performance >> Visual Effects >> Adjust For Best Performance.
Optimal Solar Charging is only possible in direct sunlight from mid day. Solar charging through a window will be slow.
Lack of internal 3G HSDPA SIM slot: having a SIM slot for mobile broadband would have been awesome but I think I can live with its absence in this netbook as it might have even taken the price tag higher.

Do please note that Samsung Electronics do have a variety of netbooks with the same features as the Samsung NC215-A01 that also boast of over 10 hrs. of battery life such as the Samsung NC110-A03US 10.1-Inch Netbook and it costs less.

The Samsung NC215-A01 is best suited for folks that work in the outdoors during long periods so do please choose wisely.

Feel free to check out Amazon Best Sellers: Best Netbook Computers and leave a comment/question below regarding this awesome solar panel powered netbook from Samsung.

Continue reading this article @ Samsung NC215-A01US Solar Powered Netbook Review.

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Nokia Asha 200 S40 QWERTY Dual SIM Full Review + Specs

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:12:42 +0000

The convenience of Dual SIM phones is something that will never fade in this part of the world where mobile call services as well as mobile data can be epileptic and unless you’re a lady with one of those huge handbags like the Hermes Birkin that can carry loads of stuff, walking around with 3 – 4 phones can be cumbersome.

Nokia’s QWERTY Asha 200 is my third Dual SIM mobile phones in the past 2 years. In my honest opinion The Samsung GT-C3212 and LG X330-T ain’t got nothing on Asha 200 at all.

With a well constructed plastic casing that comes in Graphite, Green, Blue, Aqua, Pearl White, Light Pink, Pink and Orange, the Asha 200 is simply fantastic with a much better GUI that’s easy on the eyes and makes navigating the phone fun while keeping the cost at N14,000 ($88) from Slot Abuja, Nigeria.

The basic package comes with a Nokia charger, 2GB memory card, earphones, 1 battery. There’s no microUSB cable included

Click here for full specification of the Nokia Asha 200 and you can read on for my unprofessional review of this dual sim handset. GSM Arena offers you a more detailed review @ Nokia Asha 200 review: Dual SIMpatico

DISADVANTAGES OF THE NOKIA ASHA 200 DUAL SIM MOBILE PHONE

There seems to be an echo effect when answering calls. This has been the major complain online from folks who purchased the device. Despite all these complaints, Nokia is yet to issue a statement regarding this glitch leaving me to draw the conclusion that they are playing dumb so as not to have to call back the devices as being defective.
For some reason, my Glo internet plan only works on default browser. Other apps on the device like Ovi store and Opera Mini can’t use it. Works flawlessly though with MTN Nigeria’s mobile internet bundle and Etisalat Nigeria EasyBlaze plans.
Dual SIM Standby: unlike the Samsung and LG dual SIM phones I once owned, this Nokia S40 phone only comes with one radio thus when one SIM is active (calls, data transmission etc), the other SIM is unavailable. I can’t really be bothered by this as my second SIM is an emergency one and thus I don’t really receive calls with it .
The Internal SIM slot must contain a SIM or your device will only be able to make emergency calls
Internet connection cannot be open in the background thus making fluid social networking impossible as these networks require a constantly open internet connection
No USB Charging: In this day and age, it’s pretty sad that Nokia is yet to embrace mobile technology that allows for phones to be charged via USB.
This device does not support multitasking except for music playback in the background
No dedicated volume control button that works even when the keypad is locked. I love this feature on my BlackBerry Curve 3G as well the Samsung C3212 and LG X330.
No 3G and No Wi-Fi which is TOTALLY expected of such a budget friendly device.
Battery takes over 3 – 4 hours to achieve a full charge.
Included earpiece may be defective as it only works well on the Nokia Asha 200. This is one earphone that can’t be readily used on a computer or other phones as you can barely hear a thing on other devices.
It’s been only 4 days of use and the glossy back cover is all scratched up!

ADVANTAGES OF THE NOKIA ASHA 200 DUAL SIM MOBILE PHONE

With Easy Swap slots, you can change SIMS and memory cards without turning off your device at all. What’s more, the Nokia 200 can save up to 5 SIM settings in memory should in case you swap SIMs a lot.
Both SIMS are GPRS/EDGE enabled and unlike the Samsung C31212, they both provide data connectivity irrespective of being in SIM slot 1 or slot 2.
Glossy back/battery cover that can serve as a mirror for taking self-portraits
Internet settings are maintained despite frequent SIM switch.
Social networking is possible using Nokia Social app though not as fluid as you would get with smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy SII and BlackBerry
Fully functional email client that supports Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc.
Chat platforms like Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Chat, Windows Messenger and GTalk are supported.
Pretty nifty media player that categorizes tracks by Albums, Artists and Genre with support for album art display (if available). Media player can be hidden to play in the background and the sound quality is pretty ok by my standards given I’m not an audiophile. Supported file formats include MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV/MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC
Backup facility that allows to backup your contacts, messages, apps, settings, bookmarks, calendar and what have you to a remote server or onto your memory card (2GB memory card is included in the package)
You can easily update the Nokia Asha 200 firmware directly on the phone or via PC using Nokia Ovi Suite.
Home Screen shortcut app which allows to access the SIM Manager and functions including media player, camera, chat, countdown timer, calendar, e-mails, sms and what have you right from the home screen with navigating the phone’s menu.
Fast internet browser that supports cookies and comes with data compression which Opera Mini is widely popular for. I still prefer Opera Mini though
Battery Life is good and with average use, one can easily keep going for 2 days without a charge. Do please note that email/web browsing was minimal to achieve this. The LG X330-T beats it hands down in terms of battery life but that should be expected given the crude and slow operating system that comes with the LG. Removing or deactivating the second SIM in areas with poor reception, gives a boost in battery life.
The layout of the QWERTY keypad needs a bit getting used to as a hardcore BlackBerry user but it’s 100times better than the LG X330-T
I’m not really into camera phones thus I really can’t say much about the 2MP camera that it ships with. The pictures I’ve taken so far with it are manageable.
Due to my current location, I haven’t really used the radio application so I can’t say a thing about it.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a dual SIM Standby mobile phone with close to 3 days of battery life with call, sms, email, camera, web browsing and social networking capabilities and a pretty GUI, the Nokia Asha 200 should do.

If you want your second SIM to be active while the first one is active, I suggest you get the LG X335.

Feel free to ask me anything regarding the phone which I might have missed in this mini-review of the Nokia Asha 200 s40 Dual SIM wonder.

Continue reading this article @ Nokia Asha 200 S40 QWERTY Dual SIM Full Review + Specs.

How To Fix BlackBerry Desktop Software Installation Files Cannot Be Validated

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:37:01 +0000

I’ve been having issues with my HP Compaq notebook computer for quite some time now and thus when the time came to get a new mobile computer, I decided to go with a netbook, specifically the Samsung NC215-A01 netbook ‘cause it comes with a solar panel that makes charging the battery without an AC power supply easy breezy.

In order to get it fully ready for all my mobile blogging and multimedia playback needs, I’ve been installing and uninstalling softwares while facing a few Windows 7 Starter Edition compatibility issues.

Amongst the “troublesome” softwares is RIM’s BlackBerry Desktop Manager which keeps popping up this error message:

“The installation files cannot be validated. Please verify the installer package and try again”

Thanks to an article at Microsoft’s TechNet Forum, I was finally able to get the application to install and here’s how you can get rid of that error message and successfully install BlackBerry Desktop Software on your computer.

NOTE: I’m running Windows 7 Starter Edition 32-bit SP 1

Right click and save the following certificate to your computer > > BlackBerry Desktop Certificate.

Open Internet Explorer and go to Internet Options. Switch to the Content Tab as shown in the image below and then click on Certificates.

On that page, click on import to launch a wizard that will guide you through the importation of the BlackBerry certificate you just downloaded above.

Once the import has been successfully completed, simply close Internet Explorer and try your BlackBerry Software installation again.

The error message should be no more now and your application will install hitch free.

Do please share with us if this fix works for you. Thanks

Continue reading this article @ How To Fix BlackBerry Desktop Software Installation Files Cannot Be Validated.

How To Back Up Gmail Fast Using Gmail Backup

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:07:07 +0000

For quite some time now I’ve been having problem accessing my emails and downloading attachments.

Broadband is a pipe dream here in Nigeria where I come from and reside. One of my email accounts receives so many attachments that it’s quite cumbersome downloading each and every one of them one by one.

Finally I came across Gmail Backup which makes the whole downloading of emails process quite easy.

With an installation file that weighs 4.4MB, Gmail Backup’s interface is quite easy to understand. Simple follow the directions below and you’re good to go.

Fill in your email address
Type in your email password
Click on directory and choose where you want your emails stored
Using the date format month/day/year, choose the range of emails you want to Gmail Backup to download. That is from what date to start the download from and what date to end it at respectively
Click on Backup and you’re good to go.

Do please take note of the following

The program creates a file with the name ids.txt. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE. It contains a list of all the emails that has been downloaded by the program. This way you don’t end up downloading emails twice. Only delete this file if you want to re-download your emails again.
As with some freewares, Gmail Backup ain’t that perfect. It sometimes downloads emails out of the specified range but it’s all good. Doesn’t bother me at all. It still gets the job done for me.
Gmail Backup doesn’t delete your emails from your server after downloading it so relax. Ur emails are safe.
Downloaded Emails are saved as eml files and can be opened using Outlook Express, Outlook, Thunderbird, Windows Mail and most email applications.

Do have fun using it and let me know if you know of a tool that’s even cooler and most importantly FASTER!

Download Gmail Backup

Continue reading this article @ How To Back Up Gmail Fast Using Gmail Backup.

Five Reasons Why Amazon’s Kindle Fire E-Reader Isn’t For You

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:35:19 +0000

Amazon.com Widgets

Amazon’s budget friendly tablet, the Kindle Fire hit stores a few months back and despite being wrongly tagged as a potential fierce competitor of Apple’s stunning iPad 2, it has been selling pretty well as has been predicted.

Unfortunately despite weighing a light 414 grams with 7 inch Gorilla Glass display and offering free cloud storage for anything you buy from Amazon via the device, it’s still not for everybody.

The $199 price tag seems very appealing considering it’s just below half of what the iPad 2 currently sells for but you could be inadvertently selling yourself short by purchasing this version of the Kindle E-reader.

I was to ask a friend to ship one over for me but decided to chill a little and do some more research on the device and here’s what I found out that made me practically run for the hills

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi

No 3G Internet Connectivity: unlike the Kindle Touch 3G, Kindle Keyboard 3G and Kindle DX, Kindle Fire lacks 3G leaving users with internet access via Wi-Fi only. Well it so happens that over here in Nigeria, we are still “managing” 3.5G internet access with no hopes of Wi-Fi in the nearest future. Even Wi-fi in homes hasn’t become a widespread phenomenon. Unlike some tablets that come with USB 2.0 ports that allow the use of external internet modems like Huawei, I very much doubt if the Amazon Kindle Fire’s sole USB port supports that.

No Camera, No Microphone: the absence of these features means no Skype, Google Voice and the likes. Even if you were to use one of those headphone – mic sets, not all applications on the device will support/detect it.

No Bluetooth: there are tons of Bluetooth devices that enable you expand the features of your tablet device and thus do more with it but Amazon Kindle Fire isn’t cut out for that all.

No Google Android Marketplace Access: Yes, Mr. Kindle Fire runs on Android but you ain’t getting access to the vast apps available via the Google Android Marketplace. The only apps you are laying your fingers on are those available via Amazon’s App Store and it’s under stocked due to stringent safety measures that make app approval a pain in the *you know what* for app developers.

Low Storage Space: Of the 8GB of storage advertised, only 6GB is available for your movies, apps, documents and what have you. Everything else has to be uploaded to the cloud and accessed from there anytime you want. The problem with this in my opinion is that it’s a waste of bandwidth that also begs the question, “How do I access my files in the cloud, when I’m stuck without internet access?”

Left to me alone, the lack of internet access is a major deal breaker for me and thus I’d rather buy the simple black and white Amazon Kindle E-reader that costs just $79 with a battery that lasts close to 1 month on one charge.

If you already own an iPad 2 or you’ve worked on one before and loved it, do not make the mistake of getting Amazon’s Kindle Fire, ’cause you will be grossly disappointed but if you are looking for a cheap tablet for your kids or you just want to test the tablet waters, this reading device will do.

Continue reading this article @ Five Reasons Why Amazon’s Kindle Fire E-Reader Isn’t For You.

The Best Gaming Laptops Under $1000 USD

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:34:59 +0000

The world of gaming seems to be getting more and more mobile every day. Sony released its next foray in to the handheld gaming market, the PlayStation Vita, in Japan in December. Nintendo is fixing to release its Wii U handheld in the first half of 2012. These are all interesting devices, which are certainly worthy of their own appraisals, but the fact is, it’s hard to pack the full gaming experience into a device as small as the Vita or U. The smaller your device gets, the more you end up sacrificing sound or graphics quality. If you want your games to come with you wherever you go, your best bet is to go with a gaming laptop.

Gaming laptop computers don’t come cheap but here are three of the best you can get under $1,000 ONLY!

The Alienware M11x is a steal at $899. The M11x features a 2^nd generation Intel Core I processor, 16 GB DDR3 performance memory and can hold a charge for 7 hours and 45 minutes, so even on the longest flights or road trips you won’t need a power outlet. The M11x starts at 4.5 lbs and measures about 11.2” x 9.2” x 1.3” meaning that it is easy to pack up in your backpack or messenger bag. Those who consider graphics a deal-breaker might be interested in the available upgrades (which will drive the price over $1000). The standard M11x will probably surprise most gamers.

The ASUS N53SV-EH72 is less of a gaming laptop than a fully loaded entertainment center. SonicMaster speakers mean that whether you’re listening to music, watching movies or playing games, your ears will be ringing. It uses an i7 Intel chip, which is one of the highest end processors available. The drawback to the ASUS N53SV-EH72 is that the basic $949 version comes standard with only 6GB of memory. It is upgradable to 16GB but if you’re looking to keep it under $1000, you’ll have to stick with the standard.

The Lenovo G770 10372KU probably has the best price-performance ratio. It clocks in at around $700 and features 6GB DDR3 memory (again, not quite as good as the M11x’s 16GB), and 750 GB HDD storage. The Lenovo also feature a Blu-Ray Combo drive meaning that you can watch high quality Blu-Ray movies on this laptop. The i5 Intel processor is inferior to the ASUS’ i7 but at that price point, you’re still getting a steal.

Melissa is a guest writer who loves gaming and gadgets. Years of indulging both of these hobbies has resulted in her becoming an expert on how to get deals using Dell Coupons for laptops.

Continue reading this article @ The Best Gaming Laptops Under $1000 USD.

How To Block WAP Connections On BlackBerry Phones

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:20:12 +0000

UPDATE: I just discovered that some blackberry apps like Nobex Radio, still manage to use the mobile network’s WAP settings even without the WAP service books. I’m currently researching how this is possible and how to block it.
I’m immensely sorry for any inconvenience this might have cost you but this trick just so happened to work when I tested it with some apps such as the PCWorld blackberry app which was having issues using BIS despite been set correctly.

Have you ever installed a blackberry app only to discover after many hours of use that your airtime has been completely depleted.

Well guys, it so happens that some blackberry apps don’t give users the option of choosing an internet connection mode thus they connect with which ever means they see fit.

By default, your blackberry phone can connect to the internet via BIS, BES, Wi-Fi, TCP/IP and WAP. The problem with some apps using up your precious airtime lies with the WAP mode of connection.

Once you subscribe to a blackberry internet service plan, service books are automatically sent to your phone by your mobile network. Three of these service books control the wap connections on your device and they are as follows: WAP2 Transport [WPTCP], Wap Push Config [WAPPushConfig] and WAP BrowserConfig [BrowserConfig].

WAP2 Transport service book is set by your blackberry service provider while the remaining two are from RIM.

To block all blackberry apps from using WAP connections, you MUST delete these WAP service books especially the WAP2 Transport file.

To do this on BlackBerry OS 5.0, simply go to Options >>> Advanced Options >>> Service Books and then delete everything that has to with WAP.

After that your blackberry applications will no longer connect using WAP internet connection.

WARNING: This is not a permanent fix ’cause the very minute you do a hard reboot/reset of your device by removing your battery for 30secs and putting it back in, the blackberry wap service books will be automatically resent to your device and you’d have to manually delete them again before running apps that utilize it.

In the event that something goes horribly wrong after the service books deletion, you can recover them by doing a hard reboot as I just mentioned or by going to Messages >> Options >> Email Account Management >> Service Books >> Send Service Books.

That’s all folks. Do please leave a comment to let me know if this fix works for you or not and please do me a mighty favor by sharing this article on the social networks.

Continue reading this article @ How To Block WAP Connections On BlackBerry Phones.

The Fastest & Slowest Broadband Internet Across The Globe

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0000

I’m guilty of bitching about the internet speeds obtainable here in Nigeria on some mobile networks. My experience with MTN Nigeria’s GPRS/EDGE/3.5G service has never passed the 20KB/s download speed mark and my best so far has been a whooping 800KB/s with Globacom Nigeria 3.5G services which is why I sometimes miss Lagos.

No mobile network here in Sokoto offers 3G internet service though I hear Airtel Nigeria recently launched the service in Gombe so only the Big Guy above knows if Sokoto will be next.

If you’ve ever wondered which country has the fastest internet speed or the average maximum internet speed obtainable in your country, DataJack Mobile BroadBand is here to help.

The folks behind the US Based no contract mobile broadband provider recently released a top internet speeds related infographic based on information gathered from top mobile technology news sites such as Mashable, TechCrunch, Broadband Expert, Huffington Post and PC Mag.

South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan lead the list of top 50 countries with the fastest internet speed ever with Nigeria coming in at position No. 49 with 0.50Mbits/sec and Congo making the bottom of the slowest internet speeds list with a measly 13KBits/sec

Continue reading this article @ The Fastest & Slowest Broadband Internet Across The Globe.

How To Monitor How Much Data Your BlackBerry Consumes

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:05:29 +0000

In this part of the world, the blackberry internet service is the cheapest form of internet access available for just N1,500 ($9 USD) a month with unlimited data if you are on the Etisalat Nigeria BlackBerry Complete plan and 3GB of data for those on Glo BlackBerry Complete.

Those of you on either of the above mentioned blackberry data plans, don’t have to fuss about data as you would almost never use up the data allowance but the reverse is the case for those of you on the MTN Blackberry Complete Plan which offers just 200MB of web browsing and download monthly.

Ever since the launch of this plan, there have been folks that have complained about not being able to browse the internet after some days of web browsing while some folks claim that the data limit is none existent on their end, as they’ve downloaded far more than the allocated 200MB of data.

For those complaining, here’s how to track the amount of data your blackberry device is using up so you don’t get caught unawares.

Simply run a quick search for Traffic Monitor For BlackBerry application via BlackBerry Appworld then install and configure as shown in the images below.

The application allows you to check your data usage over days, weeks and months as well as running a speed test to determine how fast your network is.

Simply go to Settings and tick Enable Cellular Traffic Limit. Set Limit to the monthly data allowance allowed by your mobile network then set Warn at to whatever percentage of data usage you’d like.

Here’s what the above configuration does.

When your data consumption hits 50% of 100MB which is supposed to be your data allowance for the month, the application would immediately warn you on the home screen of your device by showing an icon such as that which appears circled in red in the first image at the top of this article.

Do please note that for some reason, the Traffic Monitor For BlackBerry isn’t compatible with all devices as is the case with some BlackBerry apps. I’m currently using it on a BlackBerry Curve 3G with OS 6.

Hope this helps someone out there

Continue reading this article @ How To Monitor How Much Data Your BlackBerry Consumes.

An Overview of SocialScope For BlackBerry Application

Udegbunam Chukwudi — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:50:16 +0000

Some of you might have noticed my increased presence on twitter and facebook over the past couple of weeks and this is all thanks to one social networking mobile phone application that has been around for a while but has been flying under the radar.

I’m talking of none other than SocialScope for BlackBerry.

For months now, I’ve been using Twitter for BlackBerry and Facebook For BlackBerry on my RIM device but the experience hasn’t always been wonderful and that’s why when an online pal sent my invite to download the app with the added promise that it would cut in half the internal memory space occupied by TB and FB, I was quick to give it a try.

Boy was I f**king impressed to the extent I kept bragging about it all day on Twitter.

SocialScope integrates Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and FourSquare all in one place and still manages to stay fabulous and pretty fast. Did I mention that it supports multiple twitter accounts?

Here’s a quick rundown of how the app functions on my BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 with only one Twitter account and Facebook activated.

PROS OF SOCIALSCOPE FOR BLACKBERRY

Quick Post: This feature is probably my best feature of the app. Socialscope integrates seamlessly into practically every nook and cranny of your BlackBerry device allowing you to update your social network status from anywhere using the Quick Post (SocialScope) entry in the BlackBerry Menu.
One update for all social networks: to increase your social network interaction, Socialscope allows you to post one update to all your social media profiles with one click. I personally use this feature for updating my twitter, facebook and facebook fan pages profile.
Longer Tweets with Image uploads: if you’ve got a lot to say and don’t want to break them into several tweets, Socialscope allows you to post them all without fuss by relying on a tweet shortening service. Since facebook allows for updates of more than 60,000 characters, only your twitter update will be shortened and what’s more you could also share/upload images with this update too.
Tweet Later: ever being in a situation where you are tweeting, retweeting or replying a tweet only to realize that your BlackBerry Internet Service is down? Well with Socialscope, you can just construct your updates and save them as drafts for posting when the network comes back up.
Basic Twitter and Facebook Features: via your Twitter account, you can tweet, retweet, reply tweets, send DMs, upload pictures, follow and unfollow tweeps, favorite tweets and much more. The same applies to Facebook as you can update your status, view and comment on your friends update, send messages, upload pictures, post on facebook pages etc
No Advertisements: SocialScope has been in beta for a long time now and no news on when it will be out of that phase so for now, it’s AD-FREE but do expect to pay a fee when the app launches for real.

CONS OF SOCIALSCOPE FOR BLACKBERRY

No Facebook Chat: you cannot chat with your facebook friends like is now possible with Facebook For BlackBerry
No Friend Request: You can’t receive or send facebook friend requests
Missing Facebook updates or comments: sometimes when you try reading a facebook update or comment on your status, you get some “query parsing error” stuff like that or that the status cannot be found.

Less I forget, to view your twitter profile or facebook profile/wall simply click on Menu >> More >> My Profile then select which account you want.

SocialScope for now is only available via invites as it’s in private BETA now. To get an invite, simply go to http://www.getsocialscope.com/ and fill in the little form there.

Do please make sure to contribute your quota to the development of this awesome app by sending feedbacks of errors etc whenever you can via Menu >> Send Feedback.

If I’m lucky to gain access to a few invites, I’ll be sharing with you guys.

Continue reading this article @ An Overview of SocialScope For BlackBerry Application.