I've been counting down the ten most-read BBHub posts of 2006.

According to our server logs, #2 was "Rumor: BlackBerry 8700 to be released within weeks." Clicking the Read link below this post will get you to there.

When this post first went up on September 12, 2005 (yes, '05 not '06) the existence of the 8700 was pretty widely known but not yet formally announced by BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion. This post did a lot to fan the flames.

Even after the 8700 was released, readers kept going back to this post. That's why it was read more times than all but one post in 2006.

Tomorrow, New Year's Eve, we'll let you know what the most-read BBHub post of 2006 was.

BlackBerry 8700g user and BlackBerryForums.com Member Jaime says just that in his new thread that he has entitled, Red LED on Missed Calls." (Link below this post).

"I think that I lost that feature (maybe never had). When I miss a call, I would like to have the red led flashing, just like incoming email," he writes. "How can I do that?"

"Edit the profile for it and change the repeat notification to LED," advises fellow BBForums Member dkf747, otherwise known as "Talking BlackBerry Encyclopedia."

Yes, dkf747, but Jaime's already tried that.

"Is not working," writes Jaime in a follow-up post. "I tried before with no luck. Any clue?"

Kind of stumped on this one, BBHub readers. What's should Jaime do about his apparently dead red LED?

I've been counting down the ten most-read BBHub posts of 2006.

According to our server logs, #7 was "More BlackBerry 8700 Pics-Specs Here."

Taiwan Mobile has announced fees for their BlackBerry services.

Currently offering the BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry 8700g, monthly fees will range fromNT$899 (US$28) to NT$1,799.

The company will offer the BlackBerry 7290 and 8700g handsets for sale at NT$7,990 (US$245) and NT$12,990, respectively.

For NT$899 a month, a subscriber of the service can transfer up to 2MB (megabytes) of data with additional data transfers charged NT$0.15 per KB (kilobyte), according to TWM. The NT$1,799 plan allows for unlimited data transfer, noted the company.

Overseas roaming will operate this way: 40% off in the seven countries that are members of the Bridge Mobile Alliance, of which TWM is a member; 20% off in the US for T-Mobile users and 50% off for Cingular users; in China, NT$0.23 discounted per KB for users of China Mobile.

Ooly 2,000-3,000 handsets are initially available for sale, TWM president Harvey Chang said. But he added that enough BlackBerrys would be available to serve an anticipated 10,000 BlackBerry subscribers within a year to year and a half.

Pinstacker n8dbb - he of more than 4,100 posts-has heard all the talk that the T-Mobile MyFaves program is only available for the T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl.

But then again, maybe not. He has a Pinstack thread up with five pix of MyFaves being set up, and then running on a T-Mobile BlackBerry 8700g.

Methinks you want to see them.

Methinks you want to click.

And another:

Three more to go:

This next one is real interesting.

Editing MyFaves contact.

And now for:

That's how you get there.

Initially, Hutch- which the name it does business under- will be offering the BlackBerry 8700g, BlackBerry 7130g and BlackBerry 7290. The emphasis will be on Hutch's enterprise customers, a press rlease issued by Hutch and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion said.

• Previously, if you were setting up a conference call and you ignored an incoming call, you might not have been able to connect the two parties to the conference call.
• Previously, if you had set the smart dialing option for calling a corporate extension and you used the redial feature on a Bluetooth-enabled headset to call an extension number, you might have reached the corporate number but you might not have reached the extension number.
• Previously, if you muted a phone call and then placedthat call on hold to receive a second call, the second call might not have been muted but the mute status indicator might still have appeared.
• Previously, if you were on a conference call using a BlackBerry 8700 Wireless Handheld[TM] that was paired with a Bluetooth(R)-enabled headset and you ended the conference call from the headset, the call might still have appeared to be active.
• Previously, in rare situations, when you used Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) to dial in to a conference call, the DTMF tone delivery might have been delayed for more than one minute.
• Previously, if you missed a phone call or received a voice mail message, the buttons in the dialog box might have been left-aligned.
• Previously, if you were using a Jabra BT250 Bluetooth headset, the mute function might not have worked properly.
• Previously, if you received a phone call but the caller disconnected the call before you answered, your device might have continued ringing for about ten seconds.
• Previously, if you received a phone call from an unknown number, the caller ID information might have been blank instead of displaying "Unknown Number".
• Previously, if you set the Restrict My Identity field to Always in the phone options, your phone number might still have appeared on a contact's phone when you made a phone call.
• Previously, your device might have displayed the speakerphone indicator when your device was connecting to or disconnecting from a phone call, even if you were not using speakerphone mode.
• Previously, if you received a call from a private number, the phone details might have been blank instead of displaying "Private Number".
• Previously, if you were using a BlackBerry 8700 Wireless Handheld and you pressed the Speakerphone key during a phone call, you might have been asked to identify a currency format.
• Previously, if you were using a BlackBerry 8700 Wireless Handheld and during a phone call you pressed the Speakerphone key, a Help screen might have appeared.
• Previously, if you were using a BlackBerry 8700 Wireless Handheld and you muted a phone call, the icon in the top left corner of the screen did not change.
• Previously, if you tried to join to calls into a conference call, your device might not have responded as expected while you were on the conference call, and you might not have been able to hear voices or dial tones.
• Previously, if you were using a BlackBerry 8700 Wireless Handheld and you typed a phone number, and then pressed the Send key, the call might not have been connected.

• You can load and play video, but remember there is limited room inside your 8700
• Radio Bee and podcasts will work
• Photo Caller ID
• Voice Notes
• Ability to turn off data services while the voice still works
• BlackBerry Maps
• Ability to set a different tune for each email account in profiles
• Browser Preview Mode
• Email pictures directly from your BlackBerry
• No limit on the size of pictures sent via BlackBerry Messenger

Cingular didn't "raise the bar"- they raised the FUBAR

Posted Nov 28th 2005 6:55AM by Russell Shaw
Filed under: Cingular, 8700

FUBAR= Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. (hey, my Mama and Daddy raised a right proper gentleman).

In several posts I made over the weekend, I made note that several BBHub readers have been telling me that calls to Cingular Wireless' toll-free help line for information about the new Cingular BlackBerry 8700c seem to have been received with bewilderment by Cingular support reps.

I've acknowledged a pattern here: when it has come to this rollout, Cingular has chosen to serve their national accounts first, then selected high-profile retail locations, then other retailers, and at the bottom of the chain, web and phone-based ordering.

In Cingular's rollout "strategy" meetings, they may have identified their rollout schedule as I have described. Yet there's one key factor those Cingular execs seem to have overlooked. With knowledge about, and availability of, the new 8700c's spreading throughout the distribution chain, they seemed to have overlooked the Blogosphere as a key conduit that would spread this information outward from national business accounts, on to retail and then to consumers.

That means you.


Many consumers - fans of the BlackBerry who cannot wait to get their hands on an 8700c - read this BlackBerry blog and others. And they have been jumping up and down about this new product, waiting to know when they can get their hands on one.

Who can they be expected to call? Well, customer "service" in many cases.

What I'd like to know is why didn't a memo go out to the call centers, saying something to the effect of there's been lots of publicity about the BlackBerry 8700c, it's listed on our site, all the blogs as well as major national newspapers are writing about and have reviewed it, we'll be fielding lots of calls, and here's what the customer service reps need to know about the BlackBerry 8700c features and availability if they are asked about it.

For Cingular customer "service" to not know about this new product is nothing less than a failure of vision, a failure of planning, and a failure of execution at the highest levels.

You may have heard of Nvidia Corp. Among many other products, they make video cards for PCs. One's in the very PC I am typing this post in.

So given what Nvidia does, I would think that the CTO of such a company would be on the cutting edge of device-based computing and communications applications.

With that in mind, I cite the comments of Nvidia CTO George Stelling to Forbes.com, where he describes the BlackBerry 8700 as his favorite gdget.

Here's what George Stelling is telling Forbes.com's David M. Ewalt:

Likes-attachment viewing, especially the fit-all feature for Excel documents; contact list, browser, and even some "basic games."

Wants- Satellite radio, ability to play news clips, vodeos, and maybe some interactive gaming.

Really Wants- Voice recognition technology that would facilitate email dictation and read-back over the speakerphone.

What do you really want in the BlackBerry 8700 that isn't available now?

BBHub reader Scott Kane is not able to come up with an explanation of why a series of BlackBerrys he has used all seem to totally lose their Bluetooth connection in his automobiles.

"I have had problems with the 7100, 7105, 7290, 8700, and now 8100 all dropping my Bluetooth connection in my car," Scott tells us.

He adds that his vehicle has a U-Connect from DaimlerChrysler factory installed. Not only has it been happening in five different cars and five different BlackBerrys.

By now, the first indications of a failure are familiar to Scott. He says that while the BlackBerry Bluetooth connection is fine and reliable at first, then before long then the BlackBerry starts showing "connection to U-Connect lost."

Removing the battery and then placing it back in provides temporary relief. But do you agree with Scott and me that constantly having to do this is a pain?

"At first I thought it to be the car," he writes. "But now that I've been through 3 cars and countless BlackBerry devices I think the problem lies in the BlackBerry."

Readers, have you had similar experiences?

I have noticed a lot of posts on Pinstack lately about BlackBerrys. In particular the jvm 102 error that will not let you do anything. Well, I managed to get hit with one on Saturday.

I loaded a program over the air. I sat my BlackBerry 8700g aside while it was loading. Heck, I load stuff over the air all the time, no problems. Of course I did not think this time would be any different.

What do I find when I pick my BlackBerry back up? The jvm 102 error I have noticed other people talking about. Is it a mysterious BlackBerry aliment or are we all getting braver with our BlackBerrys?

Whatever the cause I got to spend my Saturday evening reloading the OS on my BlackBerry. Took me until the wee hours the morning to fix it.

Anyone else experiencing this problem lately?