Here we are on Thursday, the day after "Black Wednesday" for BlackBerry users around the world woke up to find that their BBM, Browsing, Email, and anything that required data ground to a halt. It was as if in the blink of an eye, we were thrust back to the 90's and left out for the wolves.
I figured this would be a good time to explain how the BlackBerry data systems work, how things come crashing down so quickly, and why it takes time for them to become operational.
Blackberry is known for its bulletproof encryption and security. The President of the United States uses one for gods sake. This level of security doesn't come from a $49.95 Norton program.... No no. It comes from massive RIM data centers placed strategically around the globe. These centers are the lifeblood of every single BlackBerry on the planet (at last check, around 70 million of them), and 99.99% of the time, they work flawlessly and you don't even know they exist.
Regular Smartphones like the iPhone and Androids connect to data directly through the Carriers networks. This allows for a -little- faster data connections, but in theory it also makes it vulnerable to interception, and therefore less secure. Blackberry devices access data in a different manner. When you type out a BBM or an Email, once you press send, a process starts that many are unaware of. I'll use a BBM message as an example:
PIN ABC123 types "Dude, where's my car?" to PIN DEF456 and presses send. The message is sent to the RIM server in his/her region, which then sends the message out to the receiving BlackBerry's PIN. While this process is happening, a check-mark displays on PIN ABC123's device. As soon as PIN DEF456's device receives the message, the familiar "D" is displayed on the senders device.
So what happened here? Isn't that just like an SMS message but with a fancy PIN? Not really. The key here is the PIN number. All BlackBerry's are assigned a PIN during manufacturing. It's not something that's issued and can be changed like a phone number, its coded into the device itself and can never be changed or stripped. This PIN allows encryption to take place as soon as any data whatsoever enters or leaves a device. Without it, you will have no access to the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) and as such no data on your device. The RIM servers use the PIN to identify a subscribed device and dish out data. To successfully send just a simple BBM, the server needs to identify your PIN, package the data, identify the receiving handsets PIN as a subscriber, and forward the message. Only the intended PIN will be able to unpack the data and display the message. Bear in mind this all happens in mere seconds, and really no one ever gives it any thought.
So a server goes down.. what happens?
Well to put it bluntly, all hell breaks loose. With the relaying server down and unable to forward any messages or data, you are left in limbo as you cannot access carrier data with a BlackBerry. Think of it this way; Many of you are reading this on a laptop using WIFI. Go shut off your router, but leave your modem on. What happens? Your computer no longer has access to the net even though there IS a working data source (your modem) just feet away. Think of the modem as the carrier network, and the router as a RIM server. Without one or the other, neither work properly.
Now go ahead and grab a 1TB wireless portable hard drive, and fill it to capacity using USB. Turn your WIFI back on and wirelessly dump its entire contents back on to your computer. Slow right? When RIM servers go down they store every single email and the majority of PIN/SMS messages to be sent once the service is restored. Its a massive amount of data given the amount of subscribers. They could just dump all the data and restore things rather quickly, but the email that has a $1 million dollar contract or the emails containing job offers etc. will all be lost... And you'd better believe someone would be pissed. It takes more time to bring things back to normal, but in the end, the result is much better than dumping the data and starting from scratch.
This is a REALLY simple explanation of the BlackBerry system, it's much more complex than what I described, but I don't want to get really long winded and technical. I hope this helps to let people better understand the methods behind the madness of the BlackBerry systems, and what happens during an outage.
..... one more thing....
Stop with the BBM forwards claiming to restore service or to prevent your contact list from being deleted. RIM doesn't know nor care about your contacts, nor does forwarding a BBM do anything more than clog up the system more. Stop it. People claiming it to "really work!!" need to be muzzled and their BlackBerry's taken away forever.
ASG
Thursday 13 October 2011
Thursday 6 October 2011
Sunday 2 October 2011
2 Months later, the Bold 9900 thoughts and review.
Many of you haven't had a Bold for as long as I have. I managed to get mine a little before everyone else, and have had 2 solid months with this thing strapped to my hip. I'll go through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the amazing in the next few paragraphs. Join me.
I have had my share of Blackberries over the years. I started with the ol 7290, up to the Pearl, Curve 8330, 8900, Storm, Storm2, Bold 9700, Torch, Bold 9780.... and now the behemoth 9900. (To be fair, I have also had the Palm Treo (WM5!!) HTC Touch, iPhone 3G, 3Gs, 4, HTC Sensation, and toyed with a Samsung Galaxy S II).
The weeks before the 9900 was in my hands were painful weeks. I had my 9800 sitting in a drawer with a fried radio, and my 9780 was driving me nuts. I needed something new from RIM or I was going to go batshit. I activated my iPhone4 out of spite, and like a sign from the RIM gods, the 9900 was in my hands a little over 10 days later.
This phone is a monster. If you read my pre-release review, you'll know where I'm going with this.
It's hands down the most beautiful and well built piece of smartphone hardware I have had the privilege to hold. Its heavy but not heavy, solid but not sterile, and functional in all aspects of its design. The screen resolution is a ball-hair shy of retina class, and the human eye would be hard pressed to know the difference. The keyboard is classic RIM. It just works, and it works better than any QWERTY I have used on any smartphone including my past RIM devices. It feels like a Flagship device should. Holding it next to a 97XX class device is like putting a Bentley next to a Honda Accord - Sure the Accord works like a champ and will last forever, but it's not a Bentley.
OS7 is a fresh take on the classic BBOS. It will be nothing for past BB users to pick it up and feel like they are somewhere familiar. It's fast as all hell, responds instantly to taps and commands, and I have yet to see that god-damned spinning clock except very briefly when an app is installed or the OS is just starting up. Bringing me to my next point, no more 10 min boots a-la Storm era phones. 45-60 seconds from power on and you are up and running.
The browser loads pages fast and accurately, and full-whack (non mobile) webpages are no longer the bane of many a smartphone users. HTML5 works like a charm, and you'd almost (almost) think that there was flash player loaded (It's not, as many people mistake. HTML5 pretty much gives you the flash experience without the Adobe program requirements). Connecting to WIFI takes mere seconds, and BIS loads up just seconds later, waiting is a thing of the past.
Bluetooth and Bridge are stable and nimble in this device. I quickly bridged to the PlayBook and kept it there all day without fail, however there are still some notification bugs with BBM and Email on the PlayBook (Nothing earth shattering or even important, just a minor hiccup). Bridge speed is not greatly improved even with the "4G" capability of the 9900, as it is choked by the limits of Bluetooth, but in a pinch the bridge will work as it should (when not in a wifi area).
Battery thus far has been fairly good to me. I can get through a day of heavy use and not worry. I do wish they kept the larger 97XX battery - but understand that it was changed to thin out the design of the phone. It charges just as fast as the 97XX series devices, and it pretty much sucks the power directly from the Sun if you plug it into a Playbook charger(Not even kidding. I'm talking inside an hour from 5% to 100%).
The camera.. it's.. there. It's not the greatest, it's not the worst. Does it get the job done? Most of the time. Closeup(macro)? No. Not really. Scenes and general pictures? Sure. It's not a professional camera, so I don't (and never have) expect professional results. A little improvement would have been nice (maybe some auto focus), but there isn't much I can do about that now. Video (at 720p) in good lighting rocks. The sound and picture quality is outstanding given the shi......er questionable quality of the still camera.
Call quality is outstanding, and reception is never an issue unless you are 4 floors underground betting on Russian Roulette (or underground parking for the less adventurous).
Overall thoughts....... BEST BLACKBERRY EVER. Can't say enough about this phone. RIM turned up the heat on this one, and it came out a winner on all fronts. If they keep this up, we will see RIM once again dominating the universe with its Berries.
ASG
I have had my share of Blackberries over the years. I started with the ol 7290, up to the Pearl, Curve 8330, 8900, Storm, Storm2, Bold 9700, Torch, Bold 9780.... and now the behemoth 9900. (To be fair, I have also had the Palm Treo (WM5!!) HTC Touch, iPhone 3G, 3Gs, 4, HTC Sensation, and toyed with a Samsung Galaxy S II).
The weeks before the 9900 was in my hands were painful weeks. I had my 9800 sitting in a drawer with a fried radio, and my 9780 was driving me nuts. I needed something new from RIM or I was going to go batshit. I activated my iPhone4 out of spite, and like a sign from the RIM gods, the 9900 was in my hands a little over 10 days later.
This phone is a monster. If you read my pre-release review, you'll know where I'm going with this.
It's hands down the most beautiful and well built piece of smartphone hardware I have had the privilege to hold. Its heavy but not heavy, solid but not sterile, and functional in all aspects of its design. The screen resolution is a ball-hair shy of retina class, and the human eye would be hard pressed to know the difference. The keyboard is classic RIM. It just works, and it works better than any QWERTY I have used on any smartphone including my past RIM devices. It feels like a Flagship device should. Holding it next to a 97XX class device is like putting a Bentley next to a Honda Accord - Sure the Accord works like a champ and will last forever, but it's not a Bentley.
OS7 is a fresh take on the classic BBOS. It will be nothing for past BB users to pick it up and feel like they are somewhere familiar. It's fast as all hell, responds instantly to taps and commands, and I have yet to see that god-damned spinning clock except very briefly when an app is installed or the OS is just starting up. Bringing me to my next point, no more 10 min boots a-la Storm era phones. 45-60 seconds from power on and you are up and running.
The browser loads pages fast and accurately, and full-whack (non mobile) webpages are no longer the bane of many a smartphone users. HTML5 works like a charm, and you'd almost (almost) think that there was flash player loaded (It's not, as many people mistake. HTML5 pretty much gives you the flash experience without the Adobe program requirements). Connecting to WIFI takes mere seconds, and BIS loads up just seconds later, waiting is a thing of the past.
Bluetooth and Bridge are stable and nimble in this device. I quickly bridged to the PlayBook and kept it there all day without fail, however there are still some notification bugs with BBM and Email on the PlayBook (Nothing earth shattering or even important, just a minor hiccup). Bridge speed is not greatly improved even with the "4G" capability of the 9900, as it is choked by the limits of Bluetooth, but in a pinch the bridge will work as it should (when not in a wifi area).
Battery thus far has been fairly good to me. I can get through a day of heavy use and not worry. I do wish they kept the larger 97XX battery - but understand that it was changed to thin out the design of the phone. It charges just as fast as the 97XX series devices, and it pretty much sucks the power directly from the Sun if you plug it into a Playbook charger(Not even kidding. I'm talking inside an hour from 5% to 100%).
The camera.. it's.. there. It's not the greatest, it's not the worst. Does it get the job done? Most of the time. Closeup(macro)? No. Not really. Scenes and general pictures? Sure. It's not a professional camera, so I don't (and never have) expect professional results. A little improvement would have been nice (maybe some auto focus), but there isn't much I can do about that now. Video (at 720p) in good lighting rocks. The sound and picture quality is outstanding given the shi......er questionable quality of the still camera.
Call quality is outstanding, and reception is never an issue unless you are 4 floors underground betting on Russian Roulette (or underground parking for the less adventurous).
Overall thoughts....... BEST BLACKBERRY EVER. Can't say enough about this phone. RIM turned up the heat on this one, and it came out a winner on all fronts. If they keep this up, we will see RIM once again dominating the universe with its Berries.
ASG
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