Blackberry Browsing and Voicemail

When I first started using mobile devices with internet access, I was excited. I was thinking of all the great websites that I can finally see on my commute and no longer be tethered to my desktop computer or have to lug a laptop with me. Boy, was I wrong.

The first generation of mobile browsers barely understood html (Hyper Text Markup Language, the code behind internet pages), not to mention fancy languages like Flash, Ajax or any of the other common languages. As phone companies jockeyed for position, specialized languages were created for mobile devices however many of them were specific to the model and pages needed to be written differently for different phones.

The current version of the Blackberry browser does a better job at resolving regular websites. However, unless the site you’re looking at was designed with the mobile market in mind, chances are most of the plug-ins will not work and the page may be unreadable.

Opera Mini

Enter Opera Mini (http://m.opera.com/) . this little browser does a better job of resolving regular webpages on the Blackberry. It sometimes shifts elements around to make it easier to browse and it still may have a problem with a plugin or two. However, it can work on many more full webpages than the built in Blackberry browser.

It also brings in features such as the option to create a profile and save your bookmarks off the device. This way they can be easily restored should your phone loose its memory or you upgrade to a new phone. The opera browser also uses a special streamlined rendering engine with server side compression that can help the page appear much quicker. Best of all, the opera mini browser is free.

Google Voice

After several years being known as Grand Central, Google bought out the start up about two years ago, changed the name to Google Voice and has finally released it into the wild (http://www.google.com/voice). What makes Google Voice so special?

When you sign up for Google Voice (GV), they offer you your own phone number in any of the available area codes. Live in New York and want an Los Angeles number? Not a problem! Want a local number? Not a problem either! Why would you want another number? Well, this is the number you can give out to those pesky contests that you know will be harassing you with sales calls. Or, this is the number you can give out to that annoying guy or girl that keeps asking you out. Or, this can be the number that you use for your business and even your family. This number can do it all! How does it work?

When someone calls your GV number, the service checks their Caller ID against your list of friends, business associates, enemies and even, telemarketers. Based on which category the number falls, the call can be forwarded to your home, cell, and/or work numbers to and find you. The call can be sent to Voicemail or, in the case of telemarketers, the system will let you play possum and will sound a disconnect notice when they call. This way your personal number can remain personal while providing contact information to the people you’re not too sure of. Also, should you decide to change your personal phone numbers, GV can be easily reprogrammed with new numbers.

But wait, there’s more! GV now allows you to set it up as your Cell Phone’s Voicemail. Thus providing premium voicemail features such as Voicemail to Text. When someone leaves you a voicemail, the system converts it to text and sends it to you in an SMS message (standard message rates apply). Depending on how clearly your caller speaks, it does an adequate job transcribing. At least enough that you can figure out what is being said (only works for English though). If your caller is recognized and have forwarding numbers set up, GV will also try to forward the call to those numbers as well.

How much would you expect to pay for such a premium voicemail system? Twenty dollars a month? Thirty dollars a month? Much more? Well, Google offers this service for the nominal sum of Free! That’s right $0! How great is that?

Well, that’s it for today. Next time on the blog… I’m not sure yet. So come on back and see!