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Check out this hilarious post by an admittedly un-GAI guy and unhappy Slimmy customer. LOL. Well, we wish him well and really hope he finds something that works in between a George Costanza butt brick and a rubber band.
I could have named this post “How to Find a Lost Mobile Phone,” but there is something unique about the BlackBerry Pearl that makes it extra difficult to find; the ring tone sometimes does not work after plugging in and taking out the headset. Calling your Pearl to find it will not work in this case (arrghh!). It’s one of the BlackBerry Pearl bugs that makes the $599 iPhone tempting. On the other hand, perhaps not having a phone is a good break from the daily routine, allowing for some needed space to think about other things?
I rely on my BlackBerry Pearl a lot (more than a car to be honest). Staying in the “Matrix” of my professional and personal life requires that I be able to communicate (in an instant). Anymore, I rely on e-mail just as much I do the phone to hook up with people. Running a company and managing a family of four requires a constant shuffling of priorities and being connected to people, tasks, etc. Not having my BlackBerry is not just an adjustment, it’s a hassle!
Here is a little story on how to find a BlackBerry Pearl when the ring tone bug sets in.
As I was going to bed the other night, I could not find my BlackBerry Pearl? I thought, “well, it’s got to be hear somewhere as I know I just read an e-mail from it while watching something on TiVo.” So I went to bed peacefully, anticipating that I would find it before leaving for work the next day. When I woke up, I had this sudden feeling of worry: “What was I looking for before I went to bed that was so important?” I finally realized that I was starting my day not knowing where my little BlackBerry Pearl was.
“Crap!” I thought, “Photo shoot at 10AM - what if one of my kids gets sick and I have to pick them up? Oh yeah, I told a few people to ring me in the afternoon,” blah blah, blah. It was my turn to get up with the kids and get them ready for their day, but I could only think about where the heck my BlackBerry Pearl was? After the morning routine, I did a quick scan around the family room, kitchen, etc. It was no where to be found. I tried calling it, but could not hear anything? “Double Crap!” Was I using it with the headset last night? I never put it on vibrate, so a weird sense of loss started to set in. “Maybe my kids took it to bed? Maybe I accidently threw it away? Did it fall out of my shirt pocket into the toilet when I was, err ah, in deep thought?” 5 Minutes before leaving the house, I decided to upheave to couch and side chair. Nothing! I called again thinking the phone was buried and if I turned off CNN I might hear something. Nope - nothing.
Now it was time to go and get the family going on their day. “Okay, I will have a few minutes after everyone leaves to check the upstairs.” Nothing! At this point, It was time for me to go. Wow, “How weird it is not to have my BlackBerry leaving the house.,” I thought. All of the calls I wanted to make during my commute were not going to happen. I kept feeling the urge to grab my phone and follow up, get things going, etc. Arghhh!
A whole day went by without my BlackBerry, and I must say I started to ween off of it towards the evening. That said, I was now obsessed, on a mission to find the darn thing. In my mind, I was at the point where I was just going to get a new one, but I had to find it for my conscience sake. I tried everything, what else could I possibly do? As the sun set, it finally came to me: “I can wait until it is pitch dark, turn off all the lights, and hope to see a glow when calling my BlackBerry!” Ahh, at last some calm. It was a sure thing.
As the night fell I read my RSS feeds and patiently waited until it was pitch black. Finally, at 9:30PM or so I got up, turned off all the lights and started calling my BlackBerry. The search downstairs turned up absolutamente nada. I made my trip upstairs, hit redial and sure enough began to see a pulsating LCD under a coat rack, behind a laundry basket, nestled in a corner on the upstairs landing. Long at last, I had found my BlackBerry Pearl.
One day without my BlackBerry is simply an inconvenience to say the least. It could have gone so differently, but because the BlackBerry Pearl is buggy, the one thing I thought I could rely on to find it (the ring tone) did not work. I am sure RIM knew about this bug, but let the Pearl fly anyway thinking it would be a minor inconvenience. In the grand scheme of things it was a minor inconvenience and it was nice not having to be so attached to something. So, yes, I was peeved, but finally found some humor in it all for you to enjoy. That said, I’m definitely getting an iPhone!
Check it out. Koyono’s BlackCoat Made for iPod is reviewed by TechCast Network in the UK. It’s an in depth review and they really “get” our approach to Style, Performance and Utility.
Thanks for the review guys!
PS - Here is a link to the great photos thet took, which are up on Flickr.
Whenever you are at the top, people want to knock you down. Is Slimmy in deed the Slimmest Wallet on Earth? We get this question regularly. Michelle Slatalla from the New York Times asked it in her article on the Slimmy back in May, 2005. Eric Hammond asks it in his recent post, Slimmy wallet - ThisNext. In the end, both of them loved Slimmy and forgave us for perhaps a touch of bravado.
The truth is this: You can find other things to use as a wallet that are slimmer than Slimmy (a rubber band comes to mind), but for a workhorse small-stuff-organizing device that looks good, the Slimmy is still world champ.
BlackBerry Pearl and iPod nano size comparison. Shot of tiny IOGear MicroSD thumb drive and MicroSD.
When I started seeing ads for the BlackBerry Pearl, I was sold. The form factor is just way too cool. Admittedly, while it is not the ultimate solution, the Pearl is worthy of a two-year contract signed with T-Mobile.
To recap, this journey started in 2004 when I suddenly needed a smart phone with a good e-mail client that could also sync with a Mac. Being terribly picky about compactness and ease of use with the BlackCoat-T, the only phone that I liked and would work was the BlackBerry7100. For $29 I got PocketMac for AddressBook and iCal syncability. Though PocketMac was a little buggy, this scenario did the trick for 15 months until it broke down and I switched to legacy mobile technology - the SMT 5600.
Why the BlackBerry Pearl? Did I mention the form factor is way cool? This little beast balances the right amount of performance, utility and good looks. Although the marketing is cheezy (Small. Smart and Stylish. So you can live large.), it meets most of my likings. Here is a run down:
Pros:
Style:
It needs no repeating; this phone has sex appeal! Black face with chrome trimmings - I like. Sure beats the robo man and rather cheap plastic feel of other RIM BlackBerries. Interestingly, the size/weight ratio gives this phone a great feel.
Performance:
The phone switches between applications in a snap and offers a MicroSD slot for added memory. This is a quad band phone and can be used anywhere in the world. The Pearl packs a 1.3 mega pixel camera with flash offering good overall photo quality. The media player (MP3 and video) is pretty good and I can see using it (songs you burn from CDs into iTunes can be transferred and played on the Pearl). You can designate any song as your ring tone for cheap and easy personalization.
Utility:
RIM still offers the best push e-mail on the planet. The small form factor makes this little guy easy to pack. (It works great with the BlackCoat-T, especially if you use a Bluetooth headset). Navigation is a breeze with Pearl’s GUI and luminescent track ball. Crisp and bright, the GUI is very pleasing with which to interact. There are four basic theme layouts to choose from depending on how you use your phone (I like the T-Mobile Zen theme because it offers a generous screen image and only my top 5 apps). Pearl has a sensor that changes the screen’s brightness depending on the lighting, which is a nice feature when viewing the phone outdoors. Yes, it syncs with iCal, AddressBook, and e-mail via a free PocketMac download now distributed via BlackBerry. It’s free and you get what you pay for (more on this later). Pearl will mount on your Mac so you can easily transfer files (NOTE: My Pearl mounted only when I added a 1GB MicsoSD card). Can you use Pearl as a modem for your Mac? Indeed you can! Using the phone as a Bluetooth modem is really easy and very useful for those times when you can’t find a WiFi network. Click here for more information on how to set it up. Bonus - the phone has a sweet little Maps application that provides super easy to read directions and can sync with a GPS device. Lastly, the web browser works well with T-Mobile’s edge network. Google has a mobile login page so you can get important RSS feeds, check the local weather, and much more.
Cons:
Style:
While Pearl’s stark detailing is nice, there is a more minimal feel that could be brought to the form of the device. For me there are a few abrupt transitions on the sides and face that make the phone feel less refined. The metallic look is good, but it’s not real metal. I’m from Cleveland and metal as color only is sort of cheap.
Performance:
The keypad sounds disappeared randomly when inserting and disconnecting the headphones? PocketMac is really buggy. Be sure to get a copy of SuperDuper and do a full back up. You should do this anyway. I lost ALL contacts in my AddressBook upon the initial sync! Because we have a few backup systems running, one of which is SuperDuper, I was up and running in minutes. T-Mobile’s Edge network is not nearly as fast as Sprint’s 3G and web access has some latency. Quite honestly it’s not that bad, but faster is better.
Utility:
For me, I had to make sure the Mac overwrote the phone on first sync with PocketMac. After that, it worked pretty well for iCal but not address book. When I had my Pearl and Mac sync with each other, the phone added dozens of duplicate groups for no reason. Very weird. Oh, you might not want to install the Safari bookmark tool - it didn’t work for me and crashed my Mac :-(.
(I can’t wait for Apple to add BlackBerry to iSync. This would solve everything!)
Overall, the BlackBerry Pearl works well, but is still a little buggy for those who want to sync it with their Mac (pretty much everyone). Although there will always be trade offs when getting a mobile device, I love my Pearl and it gets a lot of compliments. It’s by far the best mobile phone I have ever owned. And for $149 bucks, what’s not to love!
Check out this review by James Bain at Apple Matters on our BlackCpat Sport Made for iPod. It’s interesting how folks either cover our MFI line based as technology or fashion. It’s good to see a blend of both from James.
Sport is definitely a coat for those folks who can’t stand wearing a sport coat and raincoat. It has a minimal appearance, can be worn comfortably with jeans or a slacks, is water resistant, and has the signature rubberized iPod control pad. Oh, and it’s being worn be a few rock stars from the VH1 Rock Honors :-). WARNING: Not intended for corporate “yes men.”
