I
recently filed my BlackBerry Passport review and gave the
handset a resounding two-thumbs up (4.5 out of 5). Needless to say I was very
impressed by this handset. BlackBerry really pushed the boat out this time
around, introducing a plethora of high-end hardware and a raft of useful and
hugely innovative features like BlackBerry Blend, a versatile QWERTY keyboard,
built in support for Android applications and
plenty more besides.
BlackBerry recently released the BlackBerry
Classic, a more conservative ‘Berry, and theBlackBerry Leap,
a $200 all-touch affair aimed at younger users that might not be able to afford
a high-end BlackBerry device like the Classic or Passport. All these handsets
run on BB10.3, BlackBerry’s latest build of BB10, and benefit from a raft of
USPs you simply will not find on any other platform.
BlackBerry
is still, however, very much on the road to recovery; the company still has a
lot of work to do before it is once again considered a safe
bet. “BlackBerry published its results for the three months to February 28
on Friday, showing revenue of just $660m (£443m). That income is down
drastically from the $976m seen the year before, and some way short of the
$786m expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters,” noted a report in The
Telegraph. “Only 42 per cent of this came from hardware sales, as it sold just
1.6m smartphones during the period, with 47 per cent from services and ten per
cent from software sales.”
You can see just how good the BlackBerry Classic is inside our BlackBerry
Classic Review Roundup. And while you're at it you can see what else BlackBerry has in
store for us in 2015 with the BlackBerry
Leap and
an as-yet-unnamed slider device.
Later on this year BlackBerry is expected to launch an
Android-powered smartphone with a slide out QWERTY
keyboard. Called the BlackBerry Venice, the handset feels like the company’s
last ditch attempt to fire some life into its brand, after 2014’s Passport and
Classic failed to sell in large enough quantities -- BlackBerry needed a hit
and neither handset, despite their excellence, achieved this.
The
BlackBerry Venice looks to be a riff on the Galaxy S6 EDGE,
just with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Specs are rumoured to be impressive too,
with a QHD display, Snapdragon 808 CPU and a decent imaging unit on the back.
Beyond this not much is known about the handset, though many of BB10’s core
features -- BlackBerry Hub, Blend, etc -- are expected to remain as they are,
which is great news.
BB10.3
has A LOT of new features and because it’s not a widely used platform (at
least, not yet –– Passport sales might see to this) many of its unique,
core features haven’t been properly detailed and explained –– I missed two
HUGE ones in my review, for instance. So, with this in mind I felt compelled to
do an article highlighting BB10.3’s many unique features and attributes, a lot
of which are completely unique to BlackBerry and cannot be found elsewhere
(hello, BlackBerry Blend). But, if I do miss any features or tricks or things
you’ve found interesting either inside BB10.3 or aboard the Passport, feel free
to share them in the comments section below.
BlackBerry Blend
Put simply: this is
an absolute KILLER feature. Basically, BlackBerry Blend allows you to pick up
emails, texts and BBMs on a PC, MAC or tablet when you’re away from your phone
(or can’t be bothered to take it out of your pocket). BlackBerry Blend works
across Wi-Fi, mobile data and
via USB. The big deal here though is obviously the fact that Blend works on 3G and 4G,
as this technically means –– although, please note, I haven’t tested this out
myself –– that you can access your BlackBerry from a PC or tablet anywhere in
the world, providing you have Blend installed and your BlackBerry, wherever it
is, is switched on.
What You’ll Need To Run BlackBerry Blend:
§ BlackBerry 10 OS 10.3 or later
§ Computer using Windows 7 and later or Mac OS X 10.7 and later
§ Tablet using Android 4.4 or later or iOS 7.0 or later
§ IPv6 networking enabled
Got all that?
Right, now all you need to do is visit THIS WEB ADDRESS and download and
install BlackBerry Blend on your tablet or PC. The setup process itself is a
four-stage affair, so once it’s downloaded, simply click through the steps and
you’re done – it should take no more than five minutes.
Next,
do this:
§ On your computer or tablet, open BlackBerry Blend
§ If your device is connected to your computer using a USB cable,
click USB Cable Connection
§ If your computer or tablet is connected to a Wi-Fi network or the mobile network, click Wireless
§ When prompted, sign with your BlackBerry ID
§ After a connection is made, verify that the passkey on your
device matches the passkey on your computer or tablet
§ If your device is password protected, type your password
§ Optionally, click Remain signed in if you do not want to enter
your password again when connecting to BlackBerry Blend
§ Congrats! You’re now officially a BlackBerry Blend user.
Imaging In BlackBerry 10.3
BlackBerry
has also made quite a few refinements to BB10.3’s imaging capabilities, which
you can now experience aboard the BlackBerry Passport. Below is a breakdown of
all the new imaging capabilities present inside BB10.3’s camera
application:
Faster
Focus: Previously, BB10
was a bit sluggish in the auto-focus department but now, inside BlackBerry
10.3, it is thankfully a lot faster. There is also an option to select faces,
so your subject will always be in focus – even if they move positions.
Similarly, if you just want to snap a quick picture, simply tap on the focus
area, wait a beat, and then snap your shot –– it’ll be in perfect focus
every time.
Auto
HDR: If your viewfinder
observes a scene with lots of dynamic lighting, say, a sunset or something similar,
it will suggest you switch to HDR in order to get the best possible shot. All
you have to do is select HDR when prompted, take the shot, and wait for the
resulting image, complete with awesome highs and lows and contrast, to appear
on your screen.
Panorama: Like iOS and
Android, BB10.3 now does panorama shots. Just select the option inside the
Camera application and then track from left to right and BB10.3 will stitch the
image together. Remember to keep the phone steady, though, otherwise you’ll get
all kinds of errors and glitches in the shot.
TimeShift
Improvements: You can now add
TimeShift effects to shots after you’ve taken the picture, so if someone’s face
isn’t quite right, you can just switch backwards in time and find a shot of
them looking less weird. Ideal for those who can’t help blinking every time you
take their picture.
Improved
Filter Options: Once you’ve taken a
picture, you can begin adding filters to finish everything off professionally.
BB10 has always had filters, but in BB10.3 they’re implemented in a much more
intuitive manner, meaning you can apply them more liberally and get better end
results.
BlackBerry Passport Keyboard Hacks
Here’s
a selection of useful keyboard shortcuts designed to make typing, editing and
working with the Passport’s QWERTY a lot faster and easier:
§ Long press on a key to capitalise a letter.
§ Tap the backspace key to delete one letter at a time; hold down
backspace key to delete entire words.
§ Running Shift –– to quickly select text for highlighting,
hold the virtual shift key and drag your finger to the end of the section you
want to highlight.
§ Fast Text Insertion –– double tap the keyboard and drag
your finger across the word or to the part of the sentence you want to insert
something onto.
§ Press “t” to navigate to the top of a page or app.
§ Press “b” to go to the bottom.
§ Press “space bar” to scroll down a page or app.
§ Press “n” or “p” to move between sections headers.
Installing Android Apps On BlackBerry Passport
The
BlackBerry Passport and BlackBerry 10.3 OS have nothing to do with Google or
its Android platform. But thanks to the power of QNX, BlackBerry users can
install Android applications directly onto BB10.3-powered units like the
BlackBerry Passport (note: older versions of the OS require you to side-load
the applications). This means all you have to do to get Android applications
(things like Chrome, Drive and Instagram) up and running on your BlackBerry
Passport is download a client like SNAP –– SNAP gives you full access to
most of Google Play’s applications direct from your BlackBerry Passport, which,
obviously, is bloody awesome –– or browse through the numerous third-party
stores that offer APK files for BB10, such as:
§ 1mobile Market
§ APK Train (website)
§ Snap APK Downloader
Improved Active Frames
BlackBerry
10 has always had pretty decent multitasking, largely thanks to QNX and Active
Frames. Prior to BB10.3, your most recent applications occupied the top left
hand corner within Active Frames. Inside BB10.3, however, you’re free to
rearrange the Active Frames as you like, meaning you can open your eight
favorite applications and have them remain in exactly the same spot, which is
great for quickly checking things throughout the day.
Lock Screen Notifications + More Information
This
isn’t a new feature to be fair but BlackBerry has added in some new
functionality which allows you to see more of what’s contained inside any given
notification be it a BBM, a Tweet or an email. For instance, say somebody @’s
you on Twitter, this will appear in the BlackBerry Hub, obviously, but it will
also appear on your Passport’s lockscreen too. And if you tap on the lockscreen
notification it will expand to reveal more details about the tweet, as you can
see in the below image:
BlackBerry Assistant
Like
Siri and Google Now, AND Cortana, BlackBerry Assistant is a personal assistant
and like the aforementioned services it too can make appointments for you, read
out texts and emails aloud (ideal if you’re driving), take notes, and set up
meetings and reminders in your calendar application. This is BlackBerry’s first
attempt at a digital assistant, so the company has sensibly kept the
features-list simple and essential –– there are no witty remarks or quips, just
useful features housed inside a well presented application.
Universal Search
BlackBerry
has always had decent universal search, but in BB10.3 it integrates with
BlackBerry Assistant too, meaning you can quickly add a calendar event or
reminder just by typing a few short commands – typing, “Cal,” for
instance, brings up options for both calling people and adding calendar
appointments. You can also just start typing something on the Passport, say,
Alien: Isolation, for instance, and then select Twitter or Facebook, Bing or
Google to search there for whatever you’re looking for.
Speaking of
Calendars, if you’re in a meeting the Passport will know you are and adjust its
settings accordingly – i.e. silence the ringtone.
BlackBerry
has now posted an official “tips and tricks” video too, showing you, visually,
how to perform a myriad of tasks on the Passport. You can check out the video
below and, as always, if you have any tips and tricks of your own, bang them in
the comments below.
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