In the business world, the BlackBerry is synonymous with smart smartphones.  Millions of knowledge workers worldwide rely on BlackBerry devices for e-mail and texting, not to mention phone calls.  Although it still holds a dominant position in the many parts of the globe, companies are starting to look at alternatives, most notably the Apple iPhone and phones that run on the Google Android operating system.
Indeed, Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, hasn’t had it easy in recent years.   Its first two touchscreen devices, the Storm and the Storm …

Getting up-to-date flight information while on the go is frequently a challenge.  For the past few months, I’ve been testing FlightView on my BlackBerry Bold 9700 (the application also works on an iPhone) and have found this to be one of the most useful apps a business traveler could download.  The application integrates with the BlackBerry calendar, which puts travel information and travel notes entered into FlightView directly onto the calendar.
FlightView uses verified FAA data to tell me where my plane is and notifies me of delays on scheduled flights …

Since its launch almost two years ago, I’ve considered the BlackBerry Bold to be the ideal smartphone.  It was a bit bigger than some other models, but that was part of its charm – and what made it far more useful.  The extra size translated into a generously-sized keyboard and a larger display (compared to other BlackBerry devices with keyboards).  Combined with the high-quality materials including a leather-like back cover, it was the smartphone equivalent of a precision German sports sedan.
For the past three months I’ve been testing the Bold’s …

Earlier today, Amazon.com released Kindle for BlackBerry, a program for reading eBooks on BlackBerry devices.  The software is available free from Amazon’s Web site (it is not available, however, from the BlackBerry App World store) and allows users to read books (Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not yet accessible by this app) purchased on the Web, via a Kindle eBook reader, or via the BlackBerry device itself.  I downloaded it to a BlackBerry Bold 9700 shortly after it first became available.
The app makes excellent use of the Bold’s small …

BlackBerry App World is available for BlackBerry smartphones with a trackball or touchscreen such as the Pearl, Bold, Curve, and Storm.
To test App World I used a BlackBerry Bold and AT&T’s 3G network, later switching to Wi-Fi to see if downloads were significantly faster (they weren’t).  Installation was reasonably fast and simple.  Once in App World, I found hundreds of applications in categories such as News, Weather, Finance, Games, Productivity, Social Networking, and Health.  Many are free but some were relatively pricey ($59.99).
Installing a free app was straightforward.  I downloaded …

After a pleasant (and very fast) drive in a BMW M3 from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and a few days of meetings there, I returned to New York via American Airlines Flight 22.  Similar to the outbound flight to San Francisco, once we hit 10,000 feet, I was able to turn on my Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and find several Gogo hotspots.
For most of the flight, I was able to surf the Web, watch videos, read news, send and receive e-mail, and even check the flight’s exact position.  I …

ON BOARD AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 15, 11:45 A.M. EDT
American Airlines was the first U.S. airline to announce in-flight Internet service for domestic flights. The first (test) phase of the American Airlines Gogo Internet service started in the middle of last year on the company’s fleet of 15 767-200 aircraft, which fly its transcontinental routes.
Recently, the company announced it will expand the service to over 300 domestic aircraft (the service doesn’t work over the Atlantic or Pacific oceans).
I am writing this from American Airlines Flight 15, New York (JFK) to San …

Some of my favorite mobile devices have come from Research in Motion, including the BlackBerry Pearl.  Now there are three new BlackBerry smartphones: the Bold from AT&T, the Pearl Flip from T-Mobile, and the Storm from Verizon Wireless.
BLACKBERRY BOLD
The Bold is the BlackBerry that has it all: 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, high-res display, and full keyboard.  If you liked the Pearl or 8800, you will love the Bold.  A new UI provides bolder and crisper graphics; the keyboard is even better than previous models, and the display is the best I’ve …

Is your smartphone secured or was a password too much of a bother?  Think about what’s stored in your phone, including contact lists, e-mail messages, documents, proposals, spreadsheets, and presentations – many of which could be confidential.
Smartphones are much easier to lose track of than a laptop; they are also much more likely to be damaged or stolen.  Many don’t have remote wipe capabilities, a security feature popularized by Research in Motion’s BlackBerry devices, allowing the IT department to remotely delete all data from a lost or stolen device.
Before going …