Review: Neosistec CarFinder
Rating: 8.5/10
OTA Install: bb.Neosistec.com/carfinder
Version: 0.70 Beta

Josep just let me know about a new free application by Neosistec that uses GPS to help you find your car. The only caveat is that it requires GPS on your BlackBerry. It worked great on my BlackBerry 8310.

The software is a great idea and reminds me of a Coffee finder GPS application that used to be floating around. I have always had issues finding my car when I go to sporting event, concerts, and amusement parks and I find that CarFinder is a perfect solution instead of remembering that you parked at DisneyLand in Goofy level 2 Orange.

Check out the full review after the jump…

Read the rest of this article

I have always held close the dream that one day I would be able to replace all my portable gadgets with my BlackBerry. While this has not yet come to pass I have started using my Curve as an MP3 player. I just cannot use the video player because it is very clunky. It is missing essential basic functions that are just unforgivable oversights.  I really wish RIM would treat the consumer media player as more than just an add on application to generate buzz.

These are the reasons I am forced to carry around another device for video:

• Remembering your last position – One of the key features of any video player is to remember where you were in the video so that you can easily return to it. This feature did not exist until OS 4.2.2 on the Curve. Even now if you open an MP3 file it will forget your position and you will have to try and find it once again. You will also lose your position in a video (such as a movie) if you restart the phone or accidentally close the media player.
• Fast Forward & Rewind – This is an oversight that I just cannot explain. With OS 4.2.2 you can skip forward by minutes. This means if you lose your place in a video you have to skip to the minute before and watch it over again. This is not that big of a deal but it would take RIM seconds to change!
• Full Screen Delay – RIM finally implemented full screen video in the latest versions of their OS but it is nowhere as seamless as I would want it to be. First of all there is no way to set how long the menu will show before it will disappear. Say you just wanted to check the time. Thats another 5 seconds of status bar. Could they not make it overlay on the video with transparency?
• Volume – This is a problem across all of the Media Player. Why are there only 7 different volume options. I am stuck between a setting that is too quiet and one that is eardrum busting. This is not a limitation of the hardware because 3^rd party applications have managed to overcome it!
• Video Conversion – This is a problem with most portable video players. I got spoiled with my Creative Vision which plays 90% of the videos I download. I wish they would at least make iPod h.264 videos work on the BlackBerry. Then I could at least copy movies from my friends with iPod’s

There has been some progress in the last few months. The review Greg did of Videos4BlackBerry just goes to show that there is an audience for videos on your BlackBerry.

I also happen to know that Eveek.com is working on a video site dedicated to BlackBerry devices that will allow users to upload and download videos in the right format and screen size either OTA or from their Desktop. I think there ETA is middle to late Q1 2008.

Last of all I am hopeful that the future of video on BlackBerry will look better. I use a great Video Converter called SUPER Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer which is completely FREE! It is utilities like these that give me some hope that watching video on a BlackBerry will actually be pleasant experience in the future.

Navizon has followed the footsteps of Google Maps in rolling out cell tower based positioning in their new Navizon Lite product for BlackBerry. Josep just pointed out a post on the Navizon blog that details the features of Navizon Lite. The new version allows you to use cellphone towers to track your position if you do not have GPS on your BlackBerry. I have installed the software and it does not look as good as Google Maps but others might like it more. There are a couple of features unavailable in the Lite version that can be found in the full version but you do automatically get a 15 day trial of the full version when you install.

Hopefully we will get a chance to review this new version since the Buddy Finder feature looks pretty cool. If only Google would implement some sort of social feature into Google Maps! Imagine being able to find all your friends in Google maps.

You can find download the software both from your desktop and OTA.

Desktop Link: http://www.Navizon.com/Download.htm
OTA Link: http://www.Navizon.com (From your BlackBerry browser)

Brandon has whipped up a great BerryReview theme for the holidays which we can all enjoy. The theme incorporates the orange and blue styling of BerryReview.com (which we know you have come to love) into a slick design. I personally just installed it and I am loving it. The today screen has got a nice feel to it and is not cluttered with too many items. Personally I never understood the need to have a different SMS and Email section on the homescreen which this theme fixes.

The theme is available for both OTA and Desktop installation. The 8100 version of the theme is made for both OS 4.2.0 and 4.2.1 and the 8800 theme is made for OS 4.2.1.

Theme Page: http://brandon.BerryReview.com/
Desktop: Can be found at the link above
OTA: http://brandon.BerryReview.com/m/

Thanks Brandon!

Have you ever gotten the dreaded error: “No additional applications designed for your device were found” even when you know that the application is designed for your device? I ran into this same exact issue and I have finally come up with a work around. The steps take a little finesse but they get the job done.

When I was searching I noticed that most people focus on the problem of converting JAR and JAD files to COD files but not the other way around. So I decided to reverse engineer a .JAD file so that I could install my .COD file OTA.

NOTE: There are two requirements for such a solution. 1) You need to have a website where you can upload the .COD and .JAD files to. 2) You need to be able to change MIME types or be able to upload a .htaccess file to the same directory. About 99% of web hosting companies will allow you to do both of these requirements so I will leave it at that. If you need help with the mime types send me an email using the contact us link at the top of the page. I have included sample .htaccess files and .Jar files below for your convenience.

Difficulty: Intermediate BlackBerry users should be able to follow the directions below. This will make no sense to a newbie but if you email us we can try to help. Read the rest of this article

For quite awhile now we have been noticing increased traffic to the Mobile Version of BerryReview. We had gotten quite a few requests to add functionality to our mobile sites so we finally got out act together .

The newly redesigned mobile site allows you to do practically everything you can do on the desktop version of BerryReview.com. This means that you don’t have to make any sacrifices in reading the mobile version. This is also great for RSS readers such as Viigo which allow you to open the article in the browser. The “show in browser” option will now load the much faster mobile version of each article. If you are interested in checking it out just head on over to www.BerryReview.com from your BlackBerry browser.

Read below for the complete list of changes:

• Speed, Speed, Speed – If you have not noticed already BerryReview now loads in less than 2 seconds on a Broadband connection. The mobile site redesign now brings up a page in less than 5 seconds on an EDGE connection!
• Mobile Comments – You can now comment on an article from your BlackBerry browser. (Thanks Jeff for
• Automatic Redirect – You are now redirected to the mobile site when you visit from your BlackBerry. No extra steps required
• Exit Mobile Edition Option – There is also a link on the bottom of each page to exit the mobile edition of BerryReview. (Quite a few people asked for this!)
• Mobile Search – You can now perform a mobile search of BerryReview from your BlackBerry (Just click the search link)
• Login/Logout Functionality (BETA) – You can now login and register an account from the mobile website so that you can comment easily and have it remember your information.
• RSS Link – There is now an RSS link on our mobile site so that you can easily view, subscribe, or copy our RSS URL. (Just look for the RSS image)
• Pagination Of Articles – You can now browse back and forth through the pages of articles in the mobile edition. This was a long time coming. Sorry guys!
• OTA Links – Justin has been nice enough to compile a list of OTA links to some of the most common BlackBerry software. (Click the OTA link on the top menu)
• Related Articles – At the bottom of each mobile article are a few links to related articles we think may interest you.
• Subscribe To Comments – You can now subscribe to comments from your BlackBerry
• Previous & Next Article – Yeah I know this should have been in the first version. Now you can now use the links on the bottom and top of each article to navigate to the next or previous article.
• Contact BerryReview – You can now contact BerryReview from your BlackBerry. I know this is not a big revolution but sometimes you just want some friendly BlackBerry advice. (Use the contact link in the top menu)

Thanks to all of you who provided the insight into what needed to be added to the mobile edition. You know who you are . Also thanks to Alex King who created the Wordpress plugin that we based the mobile edition on. We hacked quite a few options into the plugin to get the final result you see today.

ENJOY and let us now if you run into any bugs!

If you don’t know what ZipCar is then you can read more about it here. In short it is a car sharing rental company for large cities. Personally I just signed up because I do not have a car since I live in Manhattan. It is a great service to rent a car by the hour or pretty cheaply by the day. They have cars in most cities which you can check out on their website.

When I signed up I found the downside to be that there is a $50 yearly membership fee and a $25 one time application fee. What I found that finally made me seal the deal was a coupon on retailmenot.com for $100 driving credit when you sign up and use the coupon code DCOFFICE100

It is not that difficult to find a $50 off coupon but this one paid for the $25 activation + $50 yearly fee with $25 of free driving left to spare. While this is not a discount it is the best deal I have found so far. Since I did it two weeks ago and already used the driving credit I can confirm that it works.

Just thought I would share my 2 cents . Let me know if it works for you!

Dirkdigital has just released a very nice South Park theme for the BlackBerry 8800 series devices. Usually these themes are useless because the icons do not make sense for the application but Dirk has found a cool solution. On the side of each icon is pretty good representation of what the icon does. For example, next to Kenny is the usual settings icon you see in other themes with the screwdriver and wrench. Sadly there is no OTA links so Desktop Manager is the only way to go.

Download it here at: www.dirkdigital.com

Note: Since this is a .RAR archive you will need a free application like 7–Zip to extract and open the theme. You can get 7–Zip free at this link.