BBWeather is Back!

Komando Kwan brought some good news today. He informed me that BBWeather, my all time favorite BlackBerry weather application, is back in service again after some slight modifications by Josh Harris. It turns out that the previous version 0.74 (by Chris Miles) no longer could read data from its source, The Weather Channel. It seems that Josh has identified and corrected the problem and released version 0.77 for public consumption. It works flawlessly again. Could someone help me find a way to make a gratuity-ware donation to either or both of these individuals?

BBWeather, an application for the BlackBerry OS, allows you to predefine a number of cities to keep updated weather details. A single click (or hotkey) allows you to switch between cities or between current conditions and forecast. It pulls weather from The Weather Channel on an adjustable interval to keep the local data fresh. You can very rapidly check weather conditions and forecast without waiting for web pages to refresh. I also enjoy the convenience of flipping between cities that I frequent.

BBWeather 0.77 - OTA Download
http://www.tateu.net/software/download/BBWeather.jad?q=php 

Garmin Mobile

Last week I downloaded Garmin Mobile for the BlackBerry 8310 to give it a spin while travelling in Palo Alto, CA. It has been one of the better street navigation tools I have used.

Positives
3D birds-eye map view
Turn-by-turn directions
Audible voice announcements
Accurate pronounciation (ex: El Camino Real)
Specific driving assistance (ex: Keep left on hwy 280)
No "continue" annoyances (Telenav users know what I mean)

Not-so Positives
Couldn't totally silence (even with volume reduced 0%)
Insufficient map preview of surrounding roads
Unable to use Esc button to exit application

I've been unable to make a final decision if Garmin Mobile can effectively replace my dependency on Telenav as a navigation tool. I need a few more weeks to understand recall all the reasons that I jumped into the $10/month Telenav subscription.

Flickr Posts via Email

While travelling in California this week Virtual Guru Cgrossmeier showed me a new way to post photos to Flickr.com diectly from my BlackBerry 8310. He reminded me of the ability to email a photo as an attachment to a special email address that automajically posts it in my photo stream. While this seemed like an insignificant feature to use at home on my desktop, it makes all the sense from my camera enabled BlackBerry. To do this, you'll need to dig into your account settings on Flickr to learn the special address to post to your photostream. The next question that comes to mind is what if someone else learns this special address... Does this enable them to post to your account? We'll see.

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/

Mapquest (Telmap) Navigator

It's been some time since I sampled the market for GPS navigation software for the BlackBerry. Since I have an upcomging trip to California, I decided to try a few of the titles that have been released or improved since I discovered TeleNav in May 2007. At that time I was fantastically impressed with TeleNav's awesome interface, birds-eye (3D map) navigation view, accurate POI library, and on and on.... It was cool enough that I could look right past the $10/month subscription. Let me tell you that the free applications are neat... but when it comes to getting somewhere without getting lost or in an accident, TeleNav was the answer. However, there have been some application titles that have emerged since then that deserve some consideration.

Mapquest (Telmap) Navigator

One vendor I recall visiting at WES 2007 was Telmap. I vividly recall asking the vendor the dreaded question to kick off a conversation. "What does your navigation suite offer that I am missing with TeleNav?" I bet they hate comparisons like this... He came back with two answers: One, European maps. Two, a walking (pedestrian) mode. The walking had my attention since I love Geocaching and exploring the city by cab and on foot. I downloaded Mapquest Navigator for the 7-day free trial this past week. After six days of use, I'm really not impressed.

I initially found the interface intuitive and quickly sought out some unique POI's that I normally put to test on a GPS tool. It seemed all was going well. I entered walking mode and began trying to follow the suggested path/track.

• I found it really difficult to see where I was and where it was suggesting I turn from the 'North-up' 2D map. I guess I was expecting a 3D birds-eye view of the corners I should take.
• I also expected it to re-route upon my failure to follow directions. I just kept getting further from the trail as I walked blocks off the suggested route.
• Lastly, one of the points the vendor impressed me with about the walking mode is the ability it has to recommend walking paths to cut corners and save time. It must not be aware of the many municipal walking and bike trails in Rochester, MN.

After six days of tinkering with the application while travelling in the Minnesota and Wisconsin, I uninstalled Mapquest Navigator from my BlackBerry. I have been trying to reach Mapquest to terminate my subscription before being charged... however I have gotten no response yet.