BBM On Android - The 1-Day Review

Alright, BBM is official and it's running on Android. It's not without tons of problems and hick-ups.  Basically, my marketing instinct considered BlackBerry is running a PR nightmare.

Here is my review for the 1-day experience with BBM.

Interface

It's cold and stiff. Even with the new design based on BB10 OS, BBM is too plain. Of course there are rooms for improvements:
- improve touch response
- inconsistent touch gesture access
- background customization
- less repetitive buttons
- larger emoticon (currently sooooo tiny)
- logical hidden menu
- cross apps sharing
- personalized status home page
- no tablet interface

The first thing I noticed was the hidden menu are repeating everywhere, such Invite button appears in 3 places despite 2 being hidden. So unnecessary, but it does hide the lack of additional features of BBM at first glance.

Fun factors when using the BBM is sorely missed. My wife is not tech savvy, but she immediately said she didn't like BBM within the first 2 minutes. Sure, BBM made Voice Note and Picture Sharing famous, but those are previous age features. Nowadays, messaging apps compete on video calls, video sharing, stickers, personalization, etc. The fun factors of messaging which make them "fun" to use.

And NO, BBM is designed for business is NOT a good reason for not including those features. It's like having a wedding cake without decorations, just the cake.

Network Communication

The legendary BlackBerry encryption and secure network is probably the only asset that BlackBerry has, which won't mean anything now with Samsung Knox and others producing similar security.  In fact, the communication slowed down by the process of cross network transfers.

A strange, if not a bug, anomaly is that BBM doesn't appear to have 'First In-First Out' traffic control over the messages typed in. Meaning if 1 message failed to be sent (maybe bad signal or interference), it will be sent later, much later than the next input you have typed in. This makes the conversation confusing to users and can cause misunderstandings. Business people won't like it. Even worse, those in romantic relationship will scream.

The Launch (Marketing Commentary)

Imagine you are launching a rocket to the moon, you will prepare everything and calculate every risk that can occur.  BlackBerry (previously RIM) should know that they don't have the infrastructure to contain to flood of users wanting to either use or try BBM, especially on Android environment.  Yet, the preparation was not well calculated. Disaster occured and they missed the launch event.

The second launch, they knew what to expect, again they failed to manage the risk. Instead of letting potential customers know ahead of tome there will be a line of waiting list for the pin registration, they just took it as it came to them. This mishap caused them loss of users. They should have more than 10 millions users within the first 10 hours if they managed it the right way from the beginning.  Blackberry is happy with nearly 5 millions users in 8 hours.  Even McDonald's gives us counters of how many burgers they served which is great PR for the Golden Arc brand.

Conclusion

BBM launch is a catastrophy and BBM is a major disappointment.  It's like witnessing an Ape Man walking in New York City.  BBM is still admiring the city, forgetting that they should have been the awe of competitors and users.

Will BBM survive the new messaging age?  If they are quick to improve BBM, maybe.  If their headstrong tradition dictates BBM is good enough, well, like I said before, we are witnessing history in the making. This is the 'do or die' time for BlackBerry.  Either we, the users, will attend a funeral soon or a celebration of success.

Must Have Apps on Android ICS Smartphone

I have been using ICS Android for about a year.  Starting from my Samsung Galaxy Note and now with HTC Desire VC.

I found several apps are necessary to keep my phone useful, I think you will find them useful also.

1. Primary Google Apps: Mail, Maps, Talk, Drive and Chrome

Mail is to access GMail.  Plain as that.  However, Google has improved this app further than expected and it certainly increases it's usability and functionality.

Maps is probably one of the most useful navigation app available and a must have since it has the most updated map of the world.

Drive is to keep some of your data in the Google cloud environment.  It has built in Google Docs so whether you want to use it for work or for fun, it will satisfy your needs for storage.  It can function as cloud backup for your phone too.

Talk is, well, GTalk.  It is messaging, not as popular as YM or Whatsapp, but very versatile.

Chrome browser is truly a unique, if not incredible, app. It links your Chrome browsers (on phone and PCs) and makes them share the same information.  Including you can continue your browsing from PC to Phone.

2. Whatsapp and Skype

It's YM on steroid, BBM without the pin, etc.  It's the most useful messaging available in the market.  It's not free, but the price of $1 to $2 per year is very cheap.

Skype is the ever popular video messaging app.  A must have.

3.  Antivirus and Security.

So good many options here.  I use Dr. Web Light on HTC since it is light weight on memory and also suitable for low speed CPU (HTC Desire VC is only 1GHz single core).  I use this phone as primarily communication device (voice, text, messaging and email).

On SGnote, I use TrustGo Anti Virus and Security for higher level of security.  Unlike in HTC Desire VC, SGNote is capable of running over 100 apps with it's dual core CPU. So a tighter security is required.  Avast is another complete option, however it is heavier on memory but tighter security.

4.  Waze.

I'm on the road all the time, so Waze is my primary navigation app.  It is, as it categorized itself, a social GPS and navigation app.  Meaning users like and others updated their maps and make Waze a popular social navigation app.  Waze is linked to Google, Bing, and Foursquare so you can always find the location you are looking for easily.  Also, being a social navigation app, other users provide up to date info on the traffics, so if you choose the fastest route, Waze will provide the back road which can save time for your travels.

5.  Soonr Scribble

This is an exclusive app for SGNote.  This app enables you to scribble on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and Picture documents.  Hence you can signed a document, annotate, or do some group discussion on a document.  One powerful tool to have.

6.  Password keeper app

Not password manager, just a keeper.  Password manager opens your password list when you access the web or an app.  Password keeper just keep your password.  Call me old fashioned, but I don't like other people opening up my data.  Why a password keeper?  Well, how many access in the internet, at work, or at home that requires password or pin or access code, etc.  I have so many that I need a specialized container to keep all of them.  My brain cannot keep all of them so I need external container.  Think of it like this, I have not use Hotmail in 2 years, but I have an account.  I remember the user name, but not the password.

I used BioWallet for now, but still looking for a better one.  Any suggestion?

7.  AppLock

This is a must.  With ICS or lower has no feature to keep work life and private life on your phone separated, it is wiser to lock work app from the reach of your kids, for example.  AppLock just add additional step in opening an app, a passcode entering process.  Just don't tell your kids your passcode.

8. Any.DO

I have it coz I need reminder of what to do.  It works on Android and also works wonder on Chrome.  easy to use and connecting your phones, laptop, and desktop with your TODO list.

9. Pocket

Now, sometimes I found good information in Internet but cannot read them at that time.  What to do?  Just add it to Pocket.  You will be able to read it later.  Anyway, that's what Pocket used to be called "ReadItLater".

 10.  Bloggeroid

This small app from PRZemelek is a small app that access your blogger account and enables me to write a post on my blog.  It is small and I think better than Google's official Blogger app.

11. MXPlayer

Now, this one is the most powerful player I found in the market that can play almost every type of video formats.  I can receive multimedia streams also.  Currently, this is my favorite app for entertainment.

12. Dropbox

To keep your file connected in the cloud and also 1 super function: backup your camera files.  So I never lost my photos.

Depending on the processor capability of the phone, I might also install: Clickfree Backup, Smart Cleaner, tTorrent, File Hide Expert, ZArchive, Astro File Explorer, Jump VNC, CamCard, PrinterShare, SpeedTest, Google+, Scan, Zooper Widget Free and TubeMate.

Those are the first and second groups of apps I installed on my new phones everytime.  I hope this article can give you some ideas on how an Android phone is capable of in making your life easier.