Layout

The layout is basic, but pleasing to the eye. You’re presented with 12 default categories when you first open the app. They are: Attorneys, Auto Parts, Computer Sales, Dentists, Doctors, Hardware, Hotels, Optical, Pharmacies, Restaurants, Schools and Used Cars. There’s also  a search bar at the top. You have the option of typing or speaking (facilitated by nuance)  your search term for a particular business or a category that isn’t in the default 12.

Functionality

Tapping one of the icons on the home screen takes you to a listing of businesses,  There are two views. The first is a vertical listing of businesses and the second is a map view.  On the former view The name of the business, phone number and address is shown. A mail, ad ( if the business has an actual ad in the directory you can view) and web icon is shown if applicable to that particular business. For the vertical listing view there are 3 sort options: Distance ( How far the business is from you), Relevance and Alphabetical order.

Clicking on a business’ name will give you additional details about it and also give you access to additional features, namely  Add Contact ( adds the entry to your address book automatically, Share ( shares business details via email) and Directions ( Takes you to the iOS maps application and plots route to the business from your current location)

Closing Thoughts

As I said earlier, this is a well put together app so I don’t have a lot of complaints. Apart from the occasional freezing and crashing it holds up pretty well. I couldn’t ask for much else.  The sort by distance feature can also be particularly useful when you’re in a parish and you need to find something nearby e.g a restaurant, gas station etc.

Most of Apple’s customers have probably never given that green light a second thought, but its creation speaks to a massive competitive advantage for Apple: Operations. This is the world of manufacturing, procurement, and logistics in which the new chief executive officer, Tim Cook, excelled, earning him the trust of Steve Jobs

This is true.

★

We’re happy to announce the inclusion of Google Authenticator as a new multifactor authentication option for LastPass. With the latest LastPass plugin and a supported mobile device, you can now use your phone in conjunction with your master password to generate a secure key that is needed to login to your account. Authenticator token support has been a hotly anticipated addition to LastPass, and we’re happy to make good on that obligation to our users.

We strongly believe in multifactor as being an excellent way to protect your sensitive data, and so we are opening this feature up to all LastPass users, including free accounts. For further information on setting up your account with Google Authenticator, or running it on unsupported devices, please see our helpdesk article.

This is great news. I’ve been a long time user of lastpass. And I’ve written about them more than once on this blog.

★

In February 2004, I attended an Internet Marketing conference called “Pubcon” in Orlando, Florida. This conference was a personal tipping point for me, as I was able to network with persons from all over the world who were active (and working independently) in the field of Internet marketing. Pubcon helped me to realize that I could eventually leave my 9-5 job, and become an entrepreneur.

Sandor will be a presenter at Caribbean BETA. Marc Canter will also be a guest speaker. I’ll also be there.

★

So, without further ado…the Winners are:

Sir. Michael, His Comment: “People say I’m addicted to my Blackberry but I’m not, I’m addicted to the people in connects me to and thats why I love it.”

Tonian Lindo, Her Comment: “I love my Blackberry because it keeps me connected on the go to friends and family anywhere in the world through RIM’s native BlackBerry Messenger at a set cost per month.”

Jovan, His Comment: “ I love my Blackberry because it makes me seem like the most efficient civil servant Barbados has ever seen.”

Tonaya, Her Comment: “I love my blackberry because it is cute, trendy, and up to date, yet it is functional, efficient, and easy to use I save A LOT of money buying phonecards, almost all of my friends have a blackberry so i jus PING PING PING ”

Marcus Bird, His Comment: “????????????????????(^_^)”

Kasense, Her Comment: “ Easy to use, fastest and cheapest way to communicate plus allows me to organize and store important files for school or work and that’s why i love my blackberry ”

I will be contacting all of you for some information soon.

Thanks to everyone who entered, What will I give away next? We’ll see!

How do I Enter?!

Leave a comment on this article stating why you love your Blackberry in a single sentence, that’s all there is to it! The competition closes on June 15, 2011 at 12:00 AM EST. The winners will be announced on June 16, 2011. The competition is open to everyone in and outside of Jamaica.

The only requirement is of course a GSM Blackberry.  After the winners are announced I will contact you with the coupon code you’ll use on their website when making the order.

Start commenting and Good luck!

P.S If you’re not familiar with unlocking and the benefits of it, check out this article

1. You don’t want to lose your number
2. You don’t want to change your phone (Blackberry).

Sadly, I don’t have a solution to problem #1, but I certainly have a solution to problem # 2. Most people think that unlocking their Blackberry is either too expensive, too technical or dangerous.

Well it’s definitely not expensive, not dangerous and as long as you can read and follow instructions it’s relatively easy to do (You can have an unlocked Blackberry in less than 10 minutes).

What Exactly is “Unlocking”

If you bought your phone from one of our (Jamaica) carriers (Digicel (Ugh, Digicel), LIME or Claro then it’s probably “locked” to their network. i.e if you were to put  a LIME or Claro sim card into your locked Digicel phone then it would not work. Unlocking your phone solves that problem, giving you the ability to use your phone on any network you choose.

Hopefully that was as layman as possible.

Unlocking

One caveat before you continue reading…You need a credit card, a Google Checkout account or Paypal.

I’ve been using iunlockblackberry.com/ for a while now. The charge is the same for whatever blackberry you need to unlock, $10 USD, that’s little under $900 JMD.

I can vouch for them as  I’ve used them many times.  All they need is your IMEI, Email Address ( To send the code that you’ll use to unlock your blackberry), The Network that your phone is locked to, the Country and your model Blackberry. Their turnaround time is good so you should get the code in less than 10 minutes.

Whatever questions you’ll probably have (They have great instructions on how to unlock) is answered on their website, but if not you can always leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help.

As an aside: Blackberries really suck. Do yourself a favor and get an iPhone or an Android.

When you visit a there are a wealth of games to choose from. Some favorites include texas hold em poker, slot
machines, horse racing and blackjack. Best of all, if you are new to iPad gaming, the rules are
available and easy to understand.

You can play for real money at a casino online on the iPad. Simply find your WiFi
connection, choose your favorite games, and add credits and play! You can try the games with
demonstration credits before you wager your own money so you can experience the games
with no initial detriment to your wallet. The option of playing for fun or for money, opens the
gaming to a wider range of people.

Online gaming has truly found its niche with the iPad do to its portability, powerful graphics
and accessibility. The clear casino sounds along with the sharp images make the experience
that much more enjoyable. If you need a little escape from your day just spin the roulette
wheel a few times or play a few hands of blackjack.

Whether you’ve been to Las Vegas, a local casino or played online casino games on a
personal computer, the gaming experience on the iPad can be just as exciting. Wherever you
are or whatever your doing there’s always a minute or two for a quick game. Just download
the applications from iTunes and you’ll be on your way to loads of fun. Good luck and happy
gaming!

Google Sync

I’ve been using Google Sync for about 2 years and it’s definitely a life saver. It’s useful, easy to setup and it’s supported on a ton of devices ( Blackberry, iPhone, Android etc). Not only is it good for backing up your contacts and keeping them in sync across devices, it’s also good for calendar synchronization. Google Sync provides over-the-air synchronization so you never have to plug anything into your computer.

Practicality

I use two mobile phones; (Oh, How I hate walking around with two devices) an iPhone and a Blackberry. Both have different address books. Depending on who I’m calling I prefer to use one over the other. It’s never an issue trying to remember which one of the phones I added the person on because both my address books are in Sync. So let’s say I added John Doe to my iPhone as a contact, within minutes the the contact would automatically be pushed to my blackberry. If John told me that there’s two e’s in his last name I can easily modify from either phone and it would be pushed to the other.

Check out this video for an explanation of Google Sync:

You can find the instructions for setting up Google Sync here. Try it out. It’s one of those apps that you’ll setup and not worry about after you do. If you’re having issues setting up drop me comment and I’ll be happy to help you out.

Naturally i had to bring up the iPad, i asked how they were positioning themselves to take on a device that dominated the market. Their answer was as expected– the size of the device, It’s not too big, not too small; the Tab has a 7 inch screen while the iPad boasts a 9 inch screen, making the latter a hassle to carry around.

There were many questions, most standard, but, the elephant in the room was of course the price, in a market like Jamaica one would wonder how well they’re expecting the Tab to do. I didn’t get a definite answer on it, other than prices are determined by the carriers. A quick check on Digicel’s website shows the Tab going for JMD $67, 950, i’m anxious to see how well it will do. Exciting months ahead!

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Press Release:

Samsung Electronics, a company committed to harnessing
the power of the digital revolution to create ground-breaking products and services that take
consumers and businesses beyond imagination, presents the most intelligent gift giving option this
Valentine’s Day. With its new portfolio of smartphones, composed of mobile phones that integrate
the most advanced multimedia resources, the Company revolutionizes access to information and
communications and places it in the hands of consumers.

With operating systems like Android and Bada (Bada is a mobile phone operating system created
by Samsung), this powerful line of smartphones hold the promise of revolutionizing how consumers
communicate and enjoy content in the palm of their hands. Its newest portfolio includes the
groundbreaking Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab, Wave 525 and Beat Mix C3300.

“At Samsung, we focus on the needs of our consumers and are committed to introducing to the
market advanced smartphone devices that meet the demands of today’s consumer. We help our
clients stay connected to family and friends, while having access to information and content they
crave in an attractive handheld form factor,” said Ernesto Piedra, Director of Sales for Samsung
Electronics Latin America.