tOMPSON’s blog

As I pointed out in my last post, I installed the officially released BlackBerry OS 4.5.0.37 on my BlackBerry 8800. Afterwards I had troubles with running my beloved map applications Google Maps for mobiles and BlackBerry Maps.

I found this post on blackberryforums.com discussing the issue. It seems that the software configuration I made on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server was the reason why Google Maps did stop to work at 90% of the initialization. The policy did not allow to read the cell information from the phone and this premission could not be changed on the device. I had to allow it in the software configuration or to remove my BlackBerry user from the software configuration.

To get BlackBerry Maps running again I had to remove the old service book entries from the device and to download and install an older version (v. 1.2).

While I updated my BlackBerry 8800 with the OS officially released by vodafone some days ago different web sources share the information about new builds available. I installed 4.5.0.37 while the new versions available are 4.5.0.42 and 4.5.0.46.

So far most things work quite ok while I had some troubles with the upgrade. Google Maps 2.2.0 does not work correctly, the application hangs on startup at 90% progress. I had to download a new build of MiniSafe because the old add in did not sync anymore inside the BlackBerry Desktop Manager 4.5.

The good news are: it seems like the european BIS servers have already been upgraded to version 2.5 because I am able to see rich content inside my emails. I hope there will be a SP5 version of my BlackBerry Professional software soon.

News are making the round saying the Bold will be delayed. Boy Genius has information from AT&T. Seems like RIM still has problems with battery lifetime and temperatur of the device. I hope this does not affect the release date of european providers to much!

I am using Eclipse Ganymede for about three months now (since RC5 or RC6) and I am really excited about the new version. Here are my favorite improvements:

1. Performance
   • Java compile on multi-CPU machines – the Eclipse Compiles now takes advantage of multi-threading capabilities of multi-CPU machines. Builds are a lot faster!
2. UI improvements
   • I am a Firefox user so I am happy that it is now possible to close tabs by clicking on them with the middle mouse button
   • Focus on tooltips on mouse over – this means you do not have to press F2 to focus a tooltip. It allows selecting text inside a tooltip just by moving the mouse into it.
     
   • Quickfixes are focused on mouse over too. No double clicking on the small warning icon in front of the code line anymore – just moving the mouse over the wavy line below the bad code and click on the hyperlinked quickfix.
   • Debug tooltips show more detailed information – like in the variable view.
   • Values of constants are shown in tooltips too on mouseover
     
   • Rearranging code elements by drag and drop in the outline
     
3. Coding
   • Code completion helps with casts – it reads the type of the instanceof condition and automatically offers more methods
     
     Afterwards it adds the necessary cast
     
   • Convert to StringBuffer quick assist – is useful sometimes when refactoring bad usage of String concatenation
     
4. Formatting and cleanup
   • Format edited lines only – this setting allows you to format the code you added or changed and leaving the rest of the class untouched
   • The new cleanup settings allow to correct indentation and adding unimplemented methods automatically
   • Undo formatting for a set of Java elements – If you format your whole source or a package it can be undone again
   • Comments are formatted at the same time as code is formatted – happens in one pass and is a lot faster (for big classes)

See the New and Noteworthy for the whole list of new features.

There are a lot of plugins that are released simultaneous in new versions:

• Web Tools Project version 3.0 – now includes a very nice JavaScript editor that allows to format JavaScript code in the same way as it is possible with Java code
• Subversive version 1.0 – the official SVN plugin the Eclipse project chose
• Mylyn 3.0 – no list of changes available until now

Thanks to the Eclipse team for bringing us this exciting new version of such a great tool!

Release dates of the BlackBerry Bold pop up around the world: Rogers release may happen on 25th of June and Vodafone’s current date is 30th July and has they have the Bold already up on their UK website. Lets see what this means for my carrier the Mobilkom Austria which is a partner of Vodafone.

Help us to set a Guinness World Record: most software downloaded in 24 hours. The version 3 of Firefox, the best browser in the world, is released today.

UPDATE: Seems like the Mozilla servers are hit hard by the traffic - they seem to be down. Still waiting for the final version (20:48 CEST)

‘Warcraft’ Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing ‘Warcraft’

It seems like HTML email for BlackBerry devices is just around the corner. The new version 2.5. of BlackBerry Internet Service allows it and if the device is on OS version 4.5 it will render HTML. See this official RIM document for detailed information. Now it is just a question of how quick the carriers will update their BlackBerry Internet Service.

Meanwhile Vodafone Germany released OS 4.5 for all their devices. Now I hope it is just a matter of time until the corresponding versions of BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Professional services to enable the features of the new OS.

This concept video of Firefox mobile looks promising. I hope the next generation BlackBerry devices will be able to run it - although the concept is focused on touchscreen devices.

Found on vowe.net: The keynote Steve Jobs held on WWDC 08 presenting the iPhone 2 cut down to 60 seconds: