TechRadar rating

4

/5

FOR

• Reliable BlackBerry keyboard
• Slim form factor is perfect for pockets
• Robust included software for business, social, and fun

AGAINST

• Screen size feels like a postage stamp these days
• No touchscreen
• No 4G

BlackBerry Curve 9350 review

A very capable business and personal device

By Kevin Kelly  August 7th 2012

0 COMMENTS

PAGE 1 OF 5Introduction

In a world filled with retina display smartphones, 7-inch tablets, and Wi-Fi hotspathe size of half a deck of cards, BlackBerry phones are still the workhorse, reliable phones that they first were when they were introduced. Chances are you've seen someone on a flight or in an office rocking two phones: one for personal use (usually an iPhone), and one for work (always a BlackBerry). That's because of the enterprise-class ability to have work email, calendars, and more supported by a company's IT department.

Finally, those same phones have started to get the same smartphone options that make people want to wield two devices in the first place. While it can't compete with the amount of offerings in the iOS App Store or theGoogle Play Store (formerly Android Marketplace), Research in Motion's BlackBerry Curve 9350 is a phone that has plenty of functions for workers on the go who need an extra kick in their pocket. Especially if they pick it up for free with a contract, avoiding the exorbitant $359.99 non-contract price.

The Curve line of phones were first introduced back in 2007, and the 9350 is one of the slimmest and sexiest phones in the bunch. It's at the bottom rung of the 9350/9360/9370 ladder, but that's because it's a CDMA-only phone. The 9360 uses GSM/HSPA+, and the 9370 is a CDMA/GSM world phone. But that shouldn't matter as long as you aren't jetting to Dubai every other weekend.

It definitely looks slimmer, but feels compact and sturdy in your hand. It's a plastic casing, but tight and without much flex. You can remove the back cover with a thumbnail, giving you access to the SIM card slot, a 1000 mAhr removable battery, and an SD card slot that can take cards up to 32 GB. There's a 5 MP camera above the back cover, along with an LED flash, and the right side contains four physical buttons: volume up, mute, volume down, and a convenience key that can be customized. By default it's set to take a photo.

The front of the phone contains the standard Curve line chiclet keyboard, an 2.5-inch 480x360 screen, a small speaker grill, an LED that can be configured to flash for different reasons, and six physical buttons: the send key, the menu button, the scrollable trackpad, the escape key, and the end/power key under the screen, and a lock/unlock keyboard button that also shuts off the screen on the very top of the device next to the 3.5 mm headset jack. The left side has a lone microUSB charging port, and bottom of the phone is feature-free except for the tiny microphone pinhole.

Step One

Create a Pwnage folder on your desktop. Download Semi-Restore from here and save it to the Pwnage folder you just created.

Step Two

Extract the Semi-Restore archive to the Pwnage folder

Step Three

Right click the Semi-Restore executable and select Run as Administrator from the popup menu.

*Note: If you have issues running Semi-Restore make sure you have the Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable from Microsoft installed. You may also want to try Windows XP compatibility mode.

Step Four

When Semi-Restore launches click the OK button to continue past the welcome message.

Step Five

Connect your iOS 5.0 to iOS 6.1.2 iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the computer and click the SemiRestorebutton.

Step Six

You phone will be rebooted as Semi-Restore wipes it clean. 

Step Seven

Once Semi-Restore has completed you will be informed that the process was successful and your iOS device will be rebooted to the new device setup wizard.

THANKS:

Thanks go to CoolStar for making this tutorial possible.

Having difficulties finding an ideal life partner? It’s time you look for your soul mate in the most unique and convenient way, says Warid.

With Warid Shaadi Portal the search for the perfect spouse will now be so much easier and absolutely hassle free. You can, not only record your proposal but also search, listen and contact potential partners from the comfort of your own home.

So what are you waiting for, hurry up and dial IVR 6464 now to find your better half today!

Mechanics

• To start, subscribers just need to dial a IVR short code 6464 & before they can start searching for potential partners, they shall have to subscribe to the service and record their profile.
• To unsubscribe send Unsub in SMS to 6464

How it Works

A subscriber has the following options on IVR :

• Record a Profile/Proposal,
• Listen to recorded profiles,
• Edit or Delete your Profile,
• Browse and listen to proposals recorded by other subscribers
• A subscriber can upload his/her picture by sending MMS to 6463 (supported formats: Gif, Jpeg)
• Subscribers can also browse on service WAP page
• WAP link is: http://shaadi.waridtel.com:19281/wsp

If a potential proposal interests any subscriber, they can either:

• An intimation message shall be sent to the profile owner and
• The receiving party shall need to dial IVR 6464 to proceed accordingly

To cater a more ‘localized’ need; service is being offered in English, Urdu and major regional languages.

Charges

• No Subscription Rental
• First Time Subscription charges: 3.00+Tax
• Per Minute IVR charging on 6464: 1+T/Min
• SMS Un-subscription on 6464: 0.50+Tax
• MMS (Standard Charges Apply): 3.00+Tax

International Roaming rates costs a fortune when travelling abroad with your local SIM card; Of course you could facilely avail an SIM card from your destined Country, but who bothers if you can use your local-country SIM outside your Home Country with no Roaming charges whatsoever. This is exactly what KnowRoaming‘s smart SIM card sticker lets you do.

The folks at KnowRoaming had developed a smart sticker that can be applied on the SIM card; it automatically connects you to your local mobile network when roaming internationally.

It is not as simple as it appears, as you know by now that KnowRoaming wants you to attach a sticker over your SIM card; it also requires an application for its operation.

For now, the application is available for iOS and Android, which grants you to directly manage and add funds to your account (using a credit card), choose your local network, manage your numbers, and keep track of how much you are spending and saving. The app also lets you check local rates before you connect. You also have the option of purchasing a local number to make it easier for people in that country to call you.

This sounds like some sorcery, but there is an imperative that will put some people off. Your Android or iOS phone needs to be unlocked for KnowRoaming to work, besides, the Smart sticker doesn’t wave off the roaming charges entirely, KnowRoaming advertising, however promised to slash it off by up to 85%.

KnowRoaming sticker is now opened for pre-orders; the shipping of the stickers will however will be started in February 2014.

Related Stories:

• Warid Introduces International Prepaid Data Roaming Services
• Canadian Telco to Launch Products in Pakistan
• PTCL Launches Smart TV Application for PCs
• PTCL Launches Smart TV for EVO Users
• Ufone International Roaming: Receive Calls in UAE for 30 Paisas Per Second
• Recover Your Lost or Stolen Phone with Android Device Manager
• Ufone Introduces Roaming Buckets for USA

If you are a desirous Play Store pioneer, who fondles to experiment with random Apps from Android Play Store regularly, then there is a firm chance that your phone has been compromised by one of the One Million high-risk malware apps existing on Play Store.

Security researcher, Gelo Abendan of Trend Micro has evidently unveiled that, the number of malicious content, malwares and high-risk application in Play Store has already hit 1 Million mark with still three month to spare before the year ends.

Trend Micro researchers had earlier foretold that, due to the high demand of Android devices, the malware count will reach 1Million mark by the end of 2013.

According to the researchers, FAKEINST and OPFAKE had topped the Mobile malware family, affecting the total of 64% of the mobile phones affected, in general, here is the statistics revealing the influence of each malware in making Android based phones, a High-risk choice for an individual.

FAKEINST malware is generally disguised as legitimate applications, and are known to be premium service abusers — sending costly text messages to services without a user’s permission and incurring high costs as a result.

OPFAKE is similar to FAKEINST, and also mimics legitimate apps — but one variant, ANDROIDOS_OPFAKE.CTD, opens HTML files that ask users to download malicious files, as well as performing standard risky activities including premium service abuse.

The threat to mobile devices is not limited to personal data theft and adware, however, Trend Micro says that banking transactions performed on a smartphone or tablet are at increased risk too.

Samsung is quite known for covering the basics and they’ve proved that once again by releasing the Galaxy Star Pro. The successor to the original Galaxy Star comes with a hugely improved 4 inch display with 800×480 resolution.

On the inside, it comes with a single-core 1Ghz Cortex A5 processor and 512 MB RAM, while the back comes with an equally measly 2 megapixel processor.

The phone runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean customized with Touchwiz. Battery capacity is set at 1500 mAh.

As one might’ve expected, it lacks 3G, GPS and several other high-end features since it’s targeted towards developing markets. Here are the full specifications of the Star Pro:

• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 4 inch display with resolution of 480 x 800 pixels
• 121g heavy
• 10.6mm thick
• 1Ghz Cortex A5 processor with 512 MB RAM
• 4 GB internal expandable storage
• 2 megapixel rear-camera
• Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, microUSB 2.0
• 1500 mAh battery
• Available in Black and White

The phone is currently available in markets for around $110 which is not a lot but if you’re willing to search among lesser-known manufacturers’ offerings, you can find a much better deal at this price point.

While the BB10 OS was meant to turn the smartphone battle into a four-horse race, the response of the phones running it so far has been lukewarm. Lack of quality apps and high price have plagued the sales of the OS and as the market has become more and more saturated with time, there’s really not that much of a need for another mobile OS.

Still, the company has taken to the challenge by announcing its 4th smartphone running BB10 called the Z30. The smartphone isn’t radically different from the Z10 and comes with a larger display and SnapDragon S4 Pro processor.

The design of the phone is based on the Z10 and comes with no hardware buttons at the front. The 5 inch 720p display takes up a large part of it with the speaker, front 2 mp HD camera and a notification LED at the top. The display is a Super AMOLED panel.

The processor inside is of Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro variety, clocked at 1.7Ghz. It’s followed by 2 GB of RAM, Adreno 320 GPU and 16 GB of storage, which also happens to be expandable this time.

The camera at the back is the same 8 megapixel unit with LED Flash and 1080p Full HD video. For connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi and LTE are used.

There are some minor changes compared to the previous smartphones though. Running OS version 10.2, it comes with BB Priority Hub which is BlackBerry’s take on Gmail’s Priority Inbox and this time, the BB10 messages can be sent without having to close the current running app. Incoming messages can be seen directly from the lockscreen, while support for Wi-Fi Direct and multiple alarms is also home.

The 10.2 update is coming to the Q10 and Z10 smartphones in October.

Here are the full specs of the BlackBerry Z30:

• BlackBerry 10.2 OS running
• 5 inch 720p display with 1280 x 720 resolution
• 9.4mm thick
• 1.7Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Pro, Adreno 320
• 2 GB RAM with 16GB expandable storage
• 8 megapixel back-camera with LED Flash, f2.2 aperture and 1080p Full HD video recording
• 2 megapixel HD front-camera
• Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi, LTE
• 2880 mAh battery

The phone is expected to hit the markets in the coming few weeks. Pricing is unknown as of now.

Nokia Care and Pak-Kuwait Takaful Company Limited (PKTCL) have joined hands to introduce mobile phone insurance for Nokia Customers in Pakistan.

This Takaful policy focuses on accidental damage and loss of phone due to snatch on armed-hold up.

Mr. Jahanzaib Sarfaraz, Director of Global Customer Care (GCC), representing Nokia Care commented, “We are taking a step forward by considering the security conditions of the country to provide a better and more reliable mobility experience to our customers, Nokia Care continues to provide greater care to its valued customers by offering reliable mobile phone Takaful (insurance) policy.

He added this newly introduced policy is an attempt to expand on the already available spectrum of Nokia Care service and will give our customers the added sense of security to get a new mobile phone in case of accidental damage or loss.”

Moreover, Mr. Imtiaz Bhatti, Managing Director & CEO of Pak-Kuwait Takaful co Ltd, said, “We are proud to have joined hands with Nokia Care, as it is one of the most preferred mobile phone brands in Pakistan. This new agreement will help us to extend our mobile phone Takaful policy to a large number of Nokia customers in Pakistan.”

This policy can be availed by all Nokia customers via Nokia Care network from 3^rdSeptember, 2013 onwards.

It has been almost 4 months since the Jolla phone running on Sailfish OS surfaced but its full specs are only being revealed now. The phone made by a small group of ex-Nokia employees (their company is also called Jolla) has been inspired by the great Nokia N9, and its abandoned Meego OS taken by the team to make Sailfish OS which runs on the Jolla.

One of the biggest benefits which this Linux-based OS will bring will be Android app capability. So while it is new, the OS won’t face any lack of apps. How well they’ll run is another point however.

As for the hardware, it comes with a 4.5 inch Estrade Display with qHD resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. Under the hood, it will boast a 1.4Ghz Qualcomm SnapDragon processor with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB worth internal storage which will be expandable.

At the back sits an 8 megapixel camera with an LED Flash. At the front is also a 2 megapixel camera. A 2100 mAh battery will power up the Jolla.

Perhaps one of the team’s biggest achievement is the tight integration between the software and the hardware. The phone’s backplate comes in four different colours (red, orange, light blue and white). As soon as any of those are changed, the software of the phone updates itself with that particular color scheme. For example, if you’ve installed a red backplate on the back of your Jolla, the OS will turn into red, or shades of red too.

This peculiar feature prompted this small team of engineers to run an extensive online campaign termed “I am the other half”. And of course, the OS itself is gesture-based, given the inspiration and the history (that is, the N9 and Meego.)

When it will hit the markets at the end of the year, it will cost around 400 Euros or around 60,000 PKR. That’s a lot of money of course but fans of Meego should definitely give it a go if they feel adventurous (or if they want to stand out from the usual crowd of iPhones, Galaxies and Lumias.)