Monthly Archives: October 2009

Today’s deal of the day is NetworkAcc for BlackBerry which is down by 50% to only $5.00. The description of the app is promising, but you need to try it to find out that it really does work.

“NetworkAcc is a powerful mobile network accelerator specially designed for smartphone and BlackBerries. It accelerates all your mobile-network based activities, which include browsing, downloading, uploading, streaming, online gaming, sending and receiving email, etc. Optimization technology is applied to fine-tune several key network parameters to prevent data fragmentation and to improve data throughput. All the above techniques translate into a speedy internet/network connection: faster browsing, faster downloading, faster email, and faster online gaming.”

It’s upgrade time for me. This is a time I have always enjoyed in the past because it either means a new phone for me, my wife or one that I can sell on and subsidise my contract for the next 12-18 months.

Unfortunately things seem to have changed since my last upgrade and a trip to my network provider’s local shop left me feeling bemused and not valued as a customer. I wandered in and was pounced on (no, it wasn’t Phones4U before you ask) by a helpful and jolly sales assistant who was only too happy to help me decide what to upgrade to.

He checked my usage and advised that he could do me a BlackBerry Curve 8520 for free (he shouted the word ‘free’) if I extended my contract by 24 months. I explained that I already owned a BlackBerry Curve 8900 and he then duly advised me that the 8520 was better because it did not have a trackball. My query about the better screen, better camera and the fact that the Curve 8900 is more expensive seemed to pass by him. I said no to that one.

He then offered an HTC Tattoo for free and explained that it was better than the Hero. No explanation was forthcoming about why it was better apart from the fact you can change the covers. After some thought I again said no, but it is in the running for my wife because she loves it.

I asked about an HTC Touch Pro2 and was advised that it would cost me £200. No to that one. A selection of choices followed which all required a payment of at least £100 which I found unsatisfactory considering my usage has been high for the past 5 months (in one month alone I managed over £100 including roaming).

The issue came down to the fact that my call and text usage was not as high as they would like and the fact that I have two phones on one contract which add up to approximately £70 per month offered me no advantage whatsoever. I explained that there is little point in me upgrading and that I would be better off getting a new contract elsewhere, and then he hit me with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 which they would have available in 2 weeks time.

Incredibly it would only cost me £40 to upgrade to it whilst the Storm2, the Curve 8900 and Bold 9000 would cost me £100. I cannot work out why the 9700 would be cheaper, but my wanderlust was tweaked again. The problem is that the 9700 offers not too much over the 8900- having 3G and no trackball are advantages, but in the real world is that worth a 2 year commitment from me?

As it stands I will leave the contract in limbo until something better comes along. More work needs to be done to keep me as a customer on those terms, terms which have seemingly got worse over the past two years.

How about you? What was your last upgrade experience like?

There is a superb deal of the day in the 247 BlackBerry store today. TetherBerry is 50% for the whole day, a reduction of $24.98, and this is one not to miss! It is great value at the full price and easily our best selling BlackBerry title in the store with consistent high customer ratings. So, what are you waiting for?

“Have you ever been stuck in an airport, hotel room, coffee shop, or on the road with no Internet? Frustrated paying $9.95 for 30 minutes of internet service? Resorting to your Blackberry but wished you could use your laptop?

TetherBerry is here to provide a solution to all those worries!

TetherBerry is an application that allows your PC to take advantage of your Blackberry’s data plan, allowing you to access the Internet on your laptop anywhere there is cellular coverage from your BlackBerry.

TetherBerry is easy to install, easy to use, works practically anywhere, and is cost effective.”

Elertify your PC with Text to Speech has a weird name for sure, but many BlackBerry users, including myself, could find a use for this. “Do you work with your BlackBerry and a PC?

Are you tired of picking up your BlackBerry® every 15 seconds to check messages only to discover it’s ad from Ed’s Furniture Company or another silly joke from Aunt Kathy?

Now you can preview messages while you work on your PC with Elertify!

Elertify can display a popup message on your PC when you receive incoming Email, SMS and Phone calls on your BlackBerry. You can even hear who’s calling, texting, or emailing you by using the built voice synthesizer!

Elertify lets you choose which types of messages you want to receive: Email, SMS or phone calls.

You can set the popup display time and whether you want the voice synthesizer or a ringtone to play when you receive a message. You might even turn off the popups altogether and just listen to the voice synthesizer.

Now you won’t have to look at your BlackBerry unless you really want to.

Elertify works via the USB cable and is for the PC only.

You must install both the BlackBerry and Windows software to use Elertify.”