The woes of Type and Go on BB10 10.1

For anyone with a BB10 device running 10.1 software, you will of course know about Type and Go. Universal search on steroids as I call it. The ability to type a few letters from any home screen and start carrying out an action from that point. For example 'tw hello' will generate a result screen offering to post a tweet saying hello. (as pictured) 'em' will offer composing an email and so on.

Now this is fantastic, and rather than opening the twitter app, pressing compose new, and then starting to type, you can just start to type. Saves a few swipes, which will be great news to those who moan about all the swiping they have to do on this new OS.

However, if you dare to venture to things like 'em dav' or 'ca dav' the results are not quite so silky smooth. Calling Dave or emailing him should be a simple command, but using Dave as an example, most will have more that one of them in their phonebook. So instead of a simple result list of the 3 Daves in your phone book, it will list them all by every email address they have combined in there. If you have the contact linked to Facebook and other contact populating apps, you could find yourself presented with 10 email addresses, over kill maybe?

The solution here would be to have to results display the actual contact, as a singular name, from which you could then decide to pick the home, work, or private email of the person, rather than listing them all at once.

It's the same with the results for calls.

The solution is really quite a simple one, and I shall explain but not before saying this.

For years now, the act of sending an email has required a few presses here and there before we are ready to compose it, that's nothing new. So it really frustrates the hell out of me when an idea is put forwards to save a few milliseconds of your day, and sadly it doesn't work as well as was hoped. STOP being so bloody lazy and just do it the old way, it's really not a big deal.

For example, to start this email, from the home screen I typed 'em', compose email popped up, selecting that the compose screen appeared with the cursor in the address field, it typed 'bl' and it auto completed blog, and I got typing. Is that really a big deal? Seriously? Still seems pretty darn convenient to me.

Once again, I am aware that the address field of the compose email screen also digs through ALL your contact lists to offer you the email addresses of your contacts. And agree this is something that needs to be allowed to be filtered from a search setting. But that said, to others it's perfect. After all BlackBerry gave BB10 Balance which if being used would not be mixing in your private Facebook contacts with you business contacts list.

Something does indeed need to be done to allow the user some control over what appears where, but for now I offer a simple work around solution.

The contacts toggle screen pictured below allows you to sort out what shows in your main contacts list, so Facebook can be filtered out for example. The only real solution I can think of at this point, a quick fix, is to filter out the rubbish from your main contacts feed. Then when calling someone it may be easier to type 'co' select contacts from the results then start typing their name from the contacts screen. Slightly longer winded but effective all the same. Sadly these filters will NOT change what appears on the main type and go screen. 

Regards

Michael

Sent from my BlackBerry Q10

Welcome to the Blackberry Q10

A long time in the making, but finally its here and I have to say, 1 hour in, MY GOD its good!

I have to say this first though, getting the handset has been a bloody nightmare to say the least, fighting with Yodel to get them to deliver the damn thing has kind of tainted the joy of getting it.
There is more about the epic battle in earlier blog entries.

So back to the Q10.
First up, it's fair to say I am a die hard qwerty fan, and a strong believer that the days of the physical keyboard are far from over. In fact for me, as the past hour has shown, it's a must. Plain and simple.
The Z10 has without a doubt been the best touchscreen phone I have ever used. No bones about it, the fluidity of the experience is amazing. But after months of use I still never overcame the annoyance and frustration of the keyboard predicting or correcting me on something simple, or the sheer inaccuracy of it. YES, touchscreen can be super fast, the Z is no exception, with its very forgiving predictive text and corrections. As well as a very smart learning curve, which unlike any other handset I have used, can predict almost who sentences.

However, when it comes to freedom of expression and being able to type what you want, how you want, and make words up whenever you choose, the qwerty wins every time.

So, step back a second and let's start over.
Buying mine from CPWH, I was lucky enough to get the BlackBerry bluetooth speaker system for free, which is a nice little bonus. Compact little thing, but great for sitting in the garden or office etc. I can see it getting a fair bit of use. Also doubles as a hands free for the car too as it clips to the sun visor, so win win.

Unpacking the Q10's little retail box, you realise that BlackBerry have followed the lead of brands like Apple, and made their retail offerings very sparce, but I have to be fair and say all the essentials are there. Phone, charger, data cable, headphones. Speaking of headphones, what an enormous leap forwards with the quality of headphones BlackBerry have made. In-ear anti-tangle headphones, great inline controls. Brilliant, well done BlackBerry. Not sure about Apples 'years in the making' effort, but these unannounced surprises are a great addition.

Moving on from audio, setting the phone up was a nice simple process, certainly more user friendly than the first time around with the Z10, what a nightmare that was. But then at the same time the process is nothing like device swaps of the past. Gone are the days of any BIS involvement. Simple on screen prompts put you through the various sections of set up in an easy to understand format. Once done, and all emails are set up, it syncs with the server and in a matter of minutes you are up and running. The key here is being cloud ready. If you are on Gmail etc, then the set up is a piece of cake, pulling down contacts and calendars from your online account. Second time is a treat for me for sure.

Once set up, it's time to get going with customising and setting up your preferences. The defaults are pretty well thought out, with dark theme as standard, various tones set up for native apps, and volume set to maximum (yup that scared the pants off me first message!). The aforementioned native apps as you probably know are a lot about staying in touch, BBM, Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, and all meeting up nicely in the infamous Hub. Speaking of the hub, for me it's still not perfect, but after months of use of the Z10, BB10 has become second nature, and interacting from one place is indeed a great idea. Just a shame there are not a few more user customisable options in there.

The biggest thing missing for me is the social feeds, all my Twitter updates and new tweets. But again I have to say I have grown used to Blaq saving the say there, and have been quick to install it on the Q10 as well as the Z.

The biggest joy of all is without a doubt the keyboard, for me at least. Firm, solid keys, my fingers dance around the keyboard with ease, and as they start to remember what is where, the speed of my typing increases. I have already surpassed the longest blog entry I have ever done on the Z, by double at least I would say, and I'm happy to keep going. No frustrations, just happy thinking and typing away. The straightening out of the keyboard is a little peculiar  maybe, but again you adjust quickly. Sitting in the dark, looking around as I type, I know my accuracy is far better than a touchscreen would ever be, for me at least.

The glass weave, weird looking back was a big worry for me, thinking it was going to be slippery as the back of the 9900 was, but looks are truly deceiving. And to think I almost went for a white Q10 because the back looked gripper. Phew close call there. It's waxy in feel, and has the right level of grip. Not being shiny also removes the worry of scratching it. The feel of the rest of the device is also decidedly solid and robust. No unpleasant creeks or squeeks coming from the chassis.

The screen is super sharp as you would expect from an OLED display. With screens improving year after year, it's hard to appreciate the screen until I sit it next to my other two handsets, then the difference is very apparent. With one of those being the Z10, it doesn't take a genius to work out which BB10 device has the nicer screen.

The rest of the story is yet to be told, battery testing, app testing, reliability, and over all preference of use (although I think I have already decided that one)

A final note though, and one for anyone trying to decide which BlackBerry device to buy.
If you are like me, and you spend most of your day emailing, messaging, tweeting etc, aka communicating with your phone, then the Q is the obvious choice. I know the argument is screen real estate, but the truth is, with the onscreen keyboard up, the Z's screen is exactly the same size as the Q.
If however you use your handset for games, Web, navigation etc, then the Z is probably the right option for you. The onscreen keyboard as an occasional input device is truly splendid. Forgiving, intuitive, and easy to get along with. Word suggestions, swipe gestures and great layout make it a pleasing experience. But would I have written a blog entry like this one on the Z.... Jeez no! Only the Q has what it takes to ramble on for hours in my trying to be helpful manner.

I shall be sure to post some updates soon, but for now I will give this poor new phone a breather.

Summary, now the chips are down, BlackBerry have brought TWO awesome phones to the market. Worth the extended wait for sure, now just to keep up the momentum and make and keep the BB10 movement current. Well done BlackBerry, well done indeed.

So here goes...

With the ultimate test of this blackberry z10, can I manage a decent and meaningful email or on without losing the will to live with the touchscreen? 

Well let's see.

I have been meaning to do this since I got the Z10 but wanted to wait until I was comfortable with it so it got a fair chance, and today is that day.

So far so good, I'm sitting on a train for my usual commute, and doing what I usually would do, passing the time by writing my thoughts down. First impressions its not doing too bad. My typing accuracy is a little off to say the least but the keyboard is being very forgiving and correcting a lot of my mistakes which suits me fine. Is it slower, that's the main question for me, and the answer is simple, yes it's slower. 

For someone like me that spends a lot of time blogging or emailing I have to admit it is a little frustrating, but I have got a lot further into this blog than I ever have before with any other touchscreen. 

If I'm honest I would love to be viewed clicking away on my trusty qwerty right now, there is no doubt. As I go on using the delete and backspace is getting a little annoying, but there are whole paragraphs that go without fault, so maybe this is still just down to me and my fat thumbs. To be fair let's go with that for now.

All in all, very impressive to say the least. And flick words are nice for the larger longer words. The word prediction is pretty good too, but I  find at the moment the tense of the suggests words are wrong. Seems to be improving though. 

So I will leave it there for now, here ends my test, and im pleased to say BlackBerry Z10 you have passed. 

Regards
Michael Snasdell

An update on my Z10, day to day use.

Its coming up for a week now since I started using the Z10 as my main day to day handset, and retired my 9900 for good. A true leap of faith by my standards having been a loyal and heavy physical keyboard user for so long now. But that decision was helped along as soon as I laid thumbs on the delightful Z10 touchscreen keyboard. Filling me with confidence that this could really work out well, and maybe the days of physical keyboard were really over.
The first 3 days I used the Z10 I was off work, Friday and the weekend, so use was casual, I was cycling the battery a few times to get a true picture of what it could do on a full charge, and not venturing out too much. Just a simple sit on the side until it flashed level of use.

A few irritations were found, and are on going, which I shall come back to in a moment, but for now lets look at the main situation. Daily usage levels.
For me, without even having to look at it closely, I already know that my use of the new handset is far lower than how much I would have been on the 9900. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is simple. Its a touch screen. Regardless of how good the screen is, its winter here in London, and using the touchscreen, with confidence is just not possible with gloves on. Yes I could wear my gloves that are for using with touchscreens, but I am a creature of habit and prefer wearing the gloves I like, rather than the gloves I NEED to use to be able to use my phone. Walking too and from the station, waiting on the platform etc, I just don't use the phone in the same way. I'm sure as the weather warms up this part of it will change.

Then there are the other reasons, which I can actually tie in with my gripes and irritations. So here goes.
The Hub. As great as it is, with the integration of apps such as Facebook and Twitter into it, it is seriously flawed at this stage. The only Twitter notifications that come in are direct messages or mentions, which kind of makes sense as The Hub is about YOUR messages and communications. However for a big Twitter user, you need to keep the main app open and refresh your feeds. Gone are the days when you will receive notification that there are new tweets to read.
As for Facebook, it seems a little hit and miss right now, you will get a few notifications through about comments and mentions, but then it stops. Quite annoying, as when you go into apps the FB icon is showing the 'splat' on it identifying that there is new activity on the account.
I am generally a bit of a social whore, using the old Social Feeds app to update BBM, Facebook and Twitter at the same time with all sorts of news feeds that I get in from Sky News app (not available) and Twitter, which we know doesn't populate my Hub now. Needless to say I am more a social misfit now, and have hardly used any social sites. Possibly not a bad thing, but has filled me with a little feeling of loneliness lol.

Lets move on before I sound too desperate for attention.

Notifications.
Stripped back to basics, and a single sound per notification type (email, BBM, twitter etc) and a simple red flashing LED. For me as I have said in previous reviews, the whole selling point of a Blackberry to me has always been the ability to know what or who is contacting me without ever needing to pick the phone up. Different sounds for each email account, and social feed. As well as BBM etc. Different colours and combination's of flashes. But alas, its all no more. Instead I am stuck with a vague notification that something on my Blackberry Z10 wants my attention. Might be an email, but no idea which account its from. Hmmm, this really needs sorting out, as I know I am far from the only person missing having BeBuzz on my Blackberry.
Same with the sounds, all the settings for different profiles are a mess, with silent being set up as default still with audible notifications, and all the other settings within being a bit hit and miss in how they will make the phone behave. For something as fundamental as the notifications, something has gone wrong here, and needs sorting out asap. Hell I was almost expecting the Z10 on BB10 to some with some sort of in-built LED colour controlling software. Instead there isn't even a 3rd part app on the market for it yet.
Notifications... Disappointed so far.

Apps
Other favourite apps that have made it to the market however have not failed to impress, with things such as BeWeather, you can see a lot of time has gone into making this app silky smooth. A pleasure to check the weather, and all view expandable at a single swipe. Amazingly this is from the same company who make BeBuzz. So much attention to one app, and seemingly nothing on another. Shame, but I hope something is in the pipeline here. The multi pane view on BeWeather is delicious, animations are on par with Android and iOS, and I don't have a bad word to say about the app. In fact its my saviour right now with regards to apps, and gives me hope that the rest that are missing will be as wonderful as this when they come to Blackberry World, soon I hope.
WhatsApp, EyeEm, and Spotify all still missing and no sign of them coming any time soon, if at all at this rate.
Google Chat has taken WhatsApp's place in my 3rd party IM app at the moment, and I am happy to say that its a nice interface on the Z10, much nicer than it was on the OS7 phones. Its notifications DO populate in the Hub which is a relief and a reprieve for the Hub in this respect.
I would really love to see Spotify appear soon, I have seen comments that it can be side loaded and runs OK , so surely the official app cant be that far away. I hope!

Battery
Now that I am back to my usual day to day weekday routine, there are no big issues with the battery life. Yes it still eats away a lot quicker than the 9900 did, and a huge amount more than older devices, but plugged in for a bit here and there, it manages a day without an issue. It certainly seems to hang in a lot longer than it did for its first few charging cycles anyway. In the world of touchscreen phones, it fairs OK really. I will survive with it, that much is sure.

Keyboard
As I have already mentioned, in certain situations the keyboard is simply not usable, gloves on is a no no, as is the case with most touchscreen phones, although I must admit the Galaxy S2 does very well here and is pretty usable with gloves on. Even unlocking the Z10 with gloves on is a bit hit and miss to be fair. So my quick out the pocket, glance, and reply interactions are over with. In general though the user experience is very good. The predictive words are good, and the spelling corrections are usually spot on. I am however yet to do an extensive email, blog or Facebook update yet.
For BBM conversations and brief exchanges though it does a great job, and as it gets to know me a little better, the offerings of words on the frets for flicking is getting a lot better too. Even profanity is taken care of there, which is f***in relief !
All that said, I still think I would be more productive, interactive and use the device more with a physical keyboard. I stand by my original statement from years ago that there is simply NO replacement for a physical QWERTY keyboard. So I welcome the Q10 with open arms. Cant wait to give one a spin, and think the happy compromise will be found with one for sure. Simple things like entering silly words like 'whaaaaaaat' and 'eeeeew' and all the other rubbish I pad my conversations out with, are a chore on a device that assumes you have made a typo of some sort.

In the hand
A lot of thought has clearly gone into the design and feel of the Z10 in the hand. Everyone who has had a look at my handset has commented how it feels in the hand, decent weighted, secure and good grip on it. That got me wondering about why handset manufacturers go to so much effort to make ergonomic devices, when so many people go out and put them in cases of all shapes and sizes.
But back on track, as advertised, the Z10 performs well in the hand, and one handed messaging is indeed very simple to do, with the thumb reaching across the screen with ease. For those of us with medium to large hands anyway. The word suggestions on the frets of course make this even easier.
For games and video viewing again its fit for purpose, and does a great job of handling them. In short, gripping the handset in most situations is not an issue, and only with gloves on does the handset feel a little at risk of slipping. Shape and materials are a great match.

So I shall leave it there for now. Camera testing continues and I continue to be pleased with what it throws out. The latest example of which is sleepy Tuvaaq all curled up. This is using the flash in a dark room. And I shall also add on there my little macro shot of my Voodoo Doll Ninja, just because its a fun picture.


So back to summing up. Here are my hopes for the road ahead for my Blackberry experience.
In general the device is fine, but lacking in apps. This isn't Blackberry's fault of course, and we can only hope that they hear our calls and get a move on. Something tells me that things will be a little better by the time the Z10 and BB10 devices reach the USA and UAE markets, and not the smaller markets of the UK and other such places. By the time it launches in the US, if the apps are not up to par with the competition I would predict that BB will once again start to lose its edge. Only the die hards waiting on the Q10 are going to be the ones who can save them if this happens. The qwerty market is a pretty captive one all things considered, so this would explain why Blackberry decided to launch the contender first, and back it up with the dead cert later.
A Q10 will most definitely come into my possession, but which becomes my primary handset is yet to be seem. Overall the Z10 is a superb handset and I love owning it. I know a few people who have had handset failures, and a couple who have sent them back already, mainly because of the lack of apps.

Lets see how the story pans out from here on in, and see if the sideloaders become the unofficial saviour of Blackberry, as jailbreaking iPhones is to Apple.



PS.. My one major gripe.
A glitch I keep getting with the calender. Interested to hear if anyone has the same problem.
Going into calender and NOT selecting a calender at the top from the drop down. Add an appointment title and location, then selecting a time to start the appointment... The calender simply crashes and closes.
The two ways around this are, first select a calender to add the appointment to, which is easy enough, but pointless if I have my default set up already.
Or the other is to save the appointment with no times, then re-open and 'edit' the appointment to add times.

Either way, its something that needs sorting out, as the calender, like the email, is a fundamental part of the whole ethos of the device, so not functioning properly is a pain. Also doesn't seem to sync to Google too well either. Contacts do, calender doesn't.
Some of this may be settings, so I will take a closer look when time allows.