We Review The Blackberry Q10

Review of Blackberry Q10

Let’s begin with the great packaging which includes instructions and a charger which doubles as a USB connector, nice touch that.

The phone has a bigger screen than the Curve and features a touch screen and a keyboard.

It features the Blackberry Hub which enables you to swipe and check for important messages or notifications from time to time.

How the touch screen works:

To get rid of a app just swipe up and the app is minimized and you can then get rid of it.

Phone Features:

Contacts

You can import contacts from your various accounts including your social media accounts or your email, calendar and contacts.

You can load images and details for contacts right down to BBM Pins and their social accounts and include custom ring tones and notifications for each contact.

Calendar

It features a standard calendar and you can also add the Location and Participants and any notes for the meeting.

Documents To Go

Features apps for doc files, xls or powerpoint files.

Camera

Features: 8MP, Flash, Auto & Ratio settings and a Video Camera.

It does however feature one amazing little advance.

Blackberry Time Shift Mode lets you take a picture and then you can go back or forward in time to choose the best image.  It works by sliding your finger left or right on the screen and it is quite remarkable to view.

Images or Videos can be stored in the Pictures or Videos section.

Blackberry has also included Story Maker on this phone which lets you make short movies on the phone.  You can edit them on the phone.

Social Media Networks

The phone comes with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare.

Mapping

The phone comes with Blackberry Maps so you can find various locations and you can also see traffic conditions as well.  You can also share your locations with others.

Browser

The browser is pretty fast and you can search with ease for pages.  Bookmarks are easy to add.  The browser also comes equipped with a Reader if you want to read a page later.  You can also share pages with ease. 

YouTube

The phone also comes equipped with YouTube and one can watch with ease.

Remember

The phone also has a nifty little function called Remember.  You can add items to remember with notes or even tasks.  You can also add images, sounds and attachments,

The phone also has Evernote for all your note taking needs.

It also features a handy Weather App from AccuWeather which gives you temperature, sunrise, sunset, windspeed and weekly forecasts.  You can also add Cities and also share weather data.  It also features Radar Maps.

Clock

The clock allows you to add multiple cities and features an alarm and stopwatch and timer.  It also allows for multiple alarms as well for people who need reminders from time to time. 

Other Nifty Tools:

·         Calculator

·         File manager

·         Compass

·         Box

·         Dropbox

·         Adobe Reader

·         Voice Recorder

·         Smart Tags for barcodes, NFC, QR Codes and your own tags

·         Search

·         Tutorials

Handy Settings Include:

·         Wi-Fi

·         Bluetooth

·         NFC

·         Mobile Hotspot

·         VPN

·         Internet Tethering

·         Flight Mode

·         Blackberry Protect

Under the hood:

Software: Blackberry 10.2.0.424

Total Storage: 16GB

Total Memory: 2GB

Device Monitor shows you device usage stats and which apps are using memory

For all the handy options on the touch screen remember to either swipe up from the bottom of the screen or swipe down from the top of the screen.

345 Hours standby time (3G)

13.5 Hours talk time (3G)

4G LTE Ready

Final Opinion

This phone certainly is something new from Blackberry and features a fresh insight into how a phone should be designed. Certainly worth looking at if you are looking for something new.

(Picture and Video Courtesy of Blackberry) 

Useful links for Blackberry:

Web: http://za.blackberry.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackBerryZA

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackBerry_ZA

Review by +Fred Felton 

News for Writers, Auditions and news from Blackberry on the Q5

WGSA - Writer's Guild of South Africa has a knowledge session 1 July 2013.
Venue - Ike's Books, 48a Florida Rd.
Time - 7pm

Topic: Excerpts by Giselle Turner

Born in England to French parents in 1950, Giselle was only 2 when she arrived in Africa. Brought up and educated in Zimbabwe, she moved to Durban in 1973 and immediately became involved with performance, teaching and creating. She started working as a performer in schools; first in the pre-schools and then, after 1990, in all phases of education, working with Wendy Nell. Together they created more than 25 original productions and spent 17 years performing their work.

In 2010 she created a play for 6-11 year olds entitled Lucky Strike and was fortunate enough to win runner-up in the Trinity College International Playwriting Competition 2011; this play has also been accepted as a set work for Grade 7 learners. Woof Woof, a dark play set in a poor suburb of Durban, was published as part of a compendium of plays suitable for high school learners. Giselle was also commissioned to write a play for Senior Primary students, Si Right! by the Playhouse Company and this year worked on stage adaptations of Valentin’s famous lazzi titled Valentin in Africa for DUT lecturer Dr Pamela Tancsik.  In 2011 she wrote eLimboLand, a play for two adults, which was recently performed by students at DUT as part of the Directing Projects.

Giselle is currently working on a fantasy musical production for children. She also enjoys writing short stories and children’s stories and in addition she writes 12 000 words a month as an arts journalist covering a variety of artistic endeavours in Durban.    

Giselle will read excerpts from her plays and short stories, followed by an interactive discussion session.

Bookings essential admin@writersguildsa.org. 

Mention that you are coming to the Durban session

(Source - WGSA) 

Auditions

Male Dancer / Actor for a voluntary show

Any race group, preferable from North of Durban as gig is in phoenix

This is not a paying gig but for experience and your CV.

Contact Warrick on 076-693-7385 

The New BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Launches in South Africa

[South Africa] – BlackBerry® today announced that the new BlackBerry® Q5 smartphone is expected to be available from authorized carriers and retailers in South Africa beginning in July. The all new BlackBerry Q5 smartphone features a QWERTY keyboard in a stunning, youthful design that is confident and makes it easy for customers to have fun, create, share and stay connected.

Available in black and white color models, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone offers a powerful and unique mobile computing experience with its cutting-edge BlackBerry 10 functionality. Features and apps work seamlessly together, allowing your every move to flow into the next. With its classic QWERTY keyboard re-engineered for optimized communications and its 3.1” touchscreen, the BlackBerry Q5 smartphone gives you the best of both worlds.

The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone comes with the BlackBerry 10.1 software. As part of the BlackBerry 10 experience, a peek into the BlackBerry® Hub lets you stay close to what’s important to you without stopping what you’re doing. Create the perfect shot every time with BlackBerry Time Shift, tell your story using BlackBerry Story Maker, and share with friends on Facebook®. Use BBM™ Video with Screen Share, and discover the more than 120,000 apps available on the BlackBerry® World™ storefront.

For information on pricing, promotions and availability please check with your carrier or retailer.

For more information on BlackBerry 10, please visit www.blackberry.com/blackberry10

(Source - Blackberry) 

Blackberry wins big, news from AFDA Durban, news from King Shaka airport and a story

BlackBerry voted best brand by young South Africans for the third year running

The youth of South Africa has once again independently voted BlackBerry® as the 'Coolest Brand Overall' in the Sunday Times Generation Next 2013 Brand Survey Awards. Young voters also named BlackBerry the ‘Coolest Cellphone’, and BBM™ as the ‘Coolest Cellphone App’ for the third year running.

The results of the ninth annual Generation Next Brand Survey Awards were announced at an event at Montecasino, Johannesburg tonight (30 May). The ongoing popularity of the BlackBerry® brand among young South Africans is a result of the company’s focus on offering an experience that enables tech-savvy young people to lead increasingly connected lives.

Alexandra Zagury, Managing Director for South and Southern Africa at BlackBerry says: "We are delighted that BlackBerry is the coolest brand for the third year in a row and sincerely thank our young fans for their loyalty and support. Smartphones are a lifestyle choice in the youth market, so BlackBerry focuses on designing cool and stylish handhelds that are also packed with excellent features that keep young people engaged and connected, such as BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), social networking and plenty of apps.”

She adds: “Success in the youth market is not about selling products, it’s about sincere engagement with your audience. Young people want a relationship with the brands that they love and BlackBerry gives South Africa’s mobile and hyper-connected youth the tools to communicate and co-create with the world around them.”

Zagury says that the award is especially pleasing in the year that BlackBerry has successfully launched the new BlackBerry® 10 platform and smartphones. BlackBerry 10 has been re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented to create a new unique mobile computing experience. Both the new BlackBerry® Z10 (all-touch) and BlackBerry® Q10 (touch with physical keyboard) smartphones are available in South Africa, and the newly announced BlackBerry® Q5 smartphone is coming soon. The BlackBerry Q5 is the perfect smartphone for young people and makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected.

BlackBerry 10 builds on many of the strengths that made earlier BlackBerry platforms so popular with the youth .For example, BBM, which enables users to share text and voice messages, pictures and video clips – provides an even richer experience on BlackBerry 10 as it includes video chat, and introduces the ability to share your screen with other BlackBerry 10 contacts.

(Source - Blackberry) 

Upcoming Events at AFDA Durban 

OPEN DAYS

Date: Saturday 1 June 2013 | Saturday 3 August 2013

Time: Starts 10am | Ends 12noon

Place: 2a Highdale Road, Glen Anil, Durban North

A day when we WELCOME all prospective students, parents, guardians, teachers and the public to the campus. With introductions to each our departments from our Campus Dean to the heads of schools and lecturers. You will have the opportunity to tour our campus, observe demonstrations within the departments offered, watch performances by our students and schedule an interview with an HOD, lecturer or other staff.

 

AFDA FILM FESTIVALS: Our film festivals are a platform upon which our students are able to showcase their work to friends, family and the public. 

 

AFDA Experimental Film and Music Festival (Mid-Year)

Date: Friday 14th of June 2013

Time: From 14h30 til late

Place: On Campus at 2a Highdale Road, Glen Anil, Durban North 

With Durban campus being so young, we will be screening our current first years' short films made this semester and include the top third year experimental short films from our Johannesburg and Cape Town campuses. A selection of the best theatre and musical pieces from our current students will also be performed. Please enquire with us regarding tickets/entry, program etc.

 

AFDA Annual Film Festival

Dates: Friday 22 – Saturday 23 November 2013

Time: TBC

Place: TBC

A showcase of a variety of this years films screened in cinema including the First Year Films from Durban, Best of 3rd Year, Honours & Masters Degree Films from Johannesburg and Cape Town.  Further details will be confirmed later in the year.

 

HOLIDAY WORKSHOP in film and entertainment is a one day taste of what the AFDA Program entails should you be interested to enrol in one of our Degree programs. This workshop is during the school holidays and will give you an introduction to some essential practical skills in creating a good Entertainment Product, whether you want to act, make films or tv productions. This will include practical demonstrations and exercises.

Date: Thursday 4 July 2013

Time: 9am – 4pm

Place: On Campus at 2a Highdale Road, Glen Anil, Durban North 

Cost: R50 per person – includes light lunch, please inform us if vegetarian on booking.

Booking is ESSENTIAL as space is limited. Open to Matrics, Grade 11's and students who have finished school already.

Hilton Arts Festival

Dates: 13th - 15th of September 2013

The Hilton Arts Festival is held each year at Hilton College in Hilton and AFDA is thrilled to be apart of this festival again this year! AFDA will be situated in The Crookes Block near the Long Table where we will be giving workshops on filmmaking, storytelling and performance as well as screening the work of our students. 

Please enquire with us for more details.

For more details about AFDA Durban visit their website - www.afda.co.za

(Source - AFDA Durban) 

King Shaka International improves service levels at Arrivals Pickup Zone

King Shaka International Airport, 21 May 2013 - The current Arrivals Pickup Zone at King Shaka International Airport has proven to be very convenient for airport users since its upgrade in June 2012. As part of further enhancing the facility, Airports Company South Africa has decided to cover the entrance and exit of the facility so that it would be more convenient for users especially during adverse weather conditions. 

Colin Naidoo, Communications and Brand Manager at King Shaka International said, “This enhancement will allow vehicles to safely enter and exit without the tickets being damaged, adding to the inconvenience when exiting. To ensure that this project can be completed in a short space of time, the pickup zone will have to be closed for at least 45 days so that the canopies can be properly erected”.

Naidoo continued, “As King Shaka International is constantly striving to improve its service standards and takes airport users suggestions seriously, we believe this enhancement will go a long way to improving service delivery and ultimately taking our service standards to a more positive level”.

The closure of the Pickup Zone will be from 24 May to 26 July 2013

We are mindful that the construction work and the closing off of the Arrivals Pick up parking will impact users, especially those who park on a short-term basis. To ensure that our users are not inconvenienced during that time, we will be directing vehicles into the multi-story car park during that period only.

• The Multi-Story Parking (MSP) park will be the alternate parking facility during the construction period
• An area on the ‘O’ level closest to the entrance to the Terminal Building will be allocated for all pick up
• Free Parking of 20 minutes will be  implemented within the MSP
• Once the 20 minutes free parking has elapsed, the normal MSP tariffs will apply
• Entrance to this demarcated area can take place via the north and south entrance of the MSP
• Payment may take place at any of the pay stations situated within the MSP

Naidoo mentioned, “During this period, there will be directional signage and additional manpower in place, to direct the public to the designated parking area within the MSP. As always, our customers are important to us and these changes will improve the customer experience, at King Shaka International Airport. We do apologise for the inconvenience caused and ask for your patience during this period”.

For any parking related queries during this period, please call (032) 436-6626 / 6654.

“Parking Solutions, WITH YOU IN MIND”

(Source - King Shaka International Airport) 

Now for some writing.  

Frank Ketchup Visits Durban:  Interviewed by De Wet Bronkhorstspruit

Frank Ketchup, famous and illusive bon vivant, rock star and suffering from the concussion caused by rap, and a presumption that his music career will take wing. Rip van Winkle was popular once. On the perimeter of his designs, Ketchup holds the fort for his new band One Off The Wall Clanging Circus. Ketchup is on a tour of South Africa; but Ketchup reveals that Durban is the only destination for this tour.

Ketchup who insists on walking everywhere between night venues; in between reading such obscure books like Louis-Ferdinand

CÉLINE’s “Voyage au bout de la nuit,” and avoiding the radio, at all times might a create a frisson among the pompous. He refuses all public transport including bicycles. After putting aside his cigarillo box, his third since sunrise; it is two o’ clock and Ketchup is sitting in a chair at the Elangeni dreaming of absinthe in lieu of friends.

Asked why the tour bisects Cape Town, Grahamstown or even more surprisingly, Johannesburg, (the former are one) Ketchup announces that “Joburg’s architecture with its dishevelled collection of buildings annoys him while the other fills him with ennui.”

When probed about his table manners Ketchup gives a glowering stare. Ketchup is part of an inexplicable rock revival; think: Duran Duran,Tears for Fears, Falco he of ‘Rock Me Amadeus’, and a mongrel cross a Radiohead departing from practice and speaking in full sentences, breaking plastic chairs at every opportunity: Ketchup ends our chat by holding forth: “people today have an aversion to concept albums, or concepts per se, Guinness Beer and condensed milk.” It seems for him this is a serious predicament.

Next to my chair in St. Lucia’s Bar in Kloof Ketchup went on a tirade of Olympian proportions about anything from split infinitives, writing calligraphy in Latvian and Norwegian embroidery. When Frank Ketchup was told that very little of this could be considered practical, he stubbed out his secretary- she was told to leave and the Rock vivant quoted Cassius “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141. There is a question mark here. “Yes, I once visited that establishment in Melville, involving a mirror, a camera and the crisp Highveld air” Ketchup poured forth. He lost me somewhere after this sentence because of some unprintable stuff about sculptures at Wits University, the Old South African Flag (he retorted ‘Which one?’, the Benguela Current, Seagulls, Cadets, billowing cigarettes smoked by Uncles in cinemas: deserts, chimeras, cul de sacs, dingy bars and other probable Civil Wars. We can back to earth when he mentioned the old L.A. Hotel in Durban.

Imagine Casablanca in 2013, with the smoke removed by a land of interdiction that I imagine draws Ketchup, Copenhagen-like to these shores. He wants a country with more sauce, humid in the indulgence of wit, not merely side partings and coiffures. Frank Ketchup never goes cap in hand, but it would be stupid and a folly to spend oneself, in the effluence of his diatribes.

(This Satire Piece is proudly brought to you by some hack.... excuse me writer, Timothy Sparks)

email him your thoughts on tpwsparks@hotmail.com 

Loads of Apps from Blackberry just for you, Spar Hockey News and Networking Events

Blackberry Apps Just For You



(Picture Courtesy of Blackberry)

The latest BlackBerry® 10 apps available in BlackBerry® World™.

Gaming

• Draw War: Save Yer Booty (Synqua Games)
• Bejeweled 2 for BlackBerry 10 (Electronic Arts, Inc.)
• MONOPOLY for BlackBerry 10 (Electronic Arts, Inc.)

News & Magazines

• Maxim (Maxim)
• AP for BlackBerry 10 (The Associated Press)

Utilities & Productivity:

• Measure Treasure (InfoStretch Corp.)
• ClipMan Clipboard Manager (QtHelex)

Lifestyle & Entertainment

• Event Cinemas (The Greater Union Organisation)
• eCoffeeCard (EatDigital)
• Clipp (Clipp Pty Ltd)
• Tobit.Campus (Tobit.Software)

Here are some useful business apps for you this week:

• Vault Password Manager (XLabz Technologies Pvt Ltd): Never forget a password again with this secure and safe password manager and keeper.
• Business Cards for BlackBerry 10 (Saper-ek): Scan and store your business cards on your BlackBerry smartphone.
• Hide Files for BlackBerry 10 (Runisoft Ltd): Hide any file or folder on your BlackBerry 10 smartphones. This app is perfect if your company uses one device for multiple people, or if you simply want to keep your data safe from snoops.
• Find Near Me (XLabz Technologies Pvt Ltd): This app helps you locate a variety of places – from Restaurants to Wi-Fi hotspots – near your location.
• A Day in Life (XLabz Technologies Pvt Ltd): A Day in Life allows you to jot down your free-form thoughts in a digital journal for later reference.
• SayIt (BachKhoa University): If you ever find yourself needing a personal assistant, organizer, encyclopedia, or a dictionary while on the go with your BlackBerry Z10, you are going to want SayIt. Offering all of these features plus a 25 language translator, SayIt is a veritable Swiss knife of usefulness. This app is part of the Built for BlackBerry program, and you can find a handy video demo right here.

 For the latest BlackBerry news, press releases and headlines, follow @BlackBerry_ZA and @BlackBerryNews on Twitter.

(Source - Blackberry) 

SPAR aQuellé School Girls’ Hockey Tournament

Greytown High School

Saturday 20 April

Almost a year to the day since the 2012 tournament, girls’ hockey first teams from around the Umvoti, uThukela and Umzinyathi region will congregate atGreytown High School to compete in the third SPAR aQuellé School Girls Hockey Tournament on Saturday 20 April.

The Umvoti, uThukela and Umzinyathi region has had two different schools representing the region down in Durban as they competed in the final of the growing tournament. In the inaugural tournament in 2011 Wembley College represented the region finishing 10^th overall in the province whilst Ladysmith High School were the 2012 champions, finishing 7^th overall in KwaZulu Natal.

The defending champions Ladysmith High School have prior commitments and will not be in the running to defend their 2012 title, leaving the title of the 2013 wide open with no favourites.

Tournament Director, Les Galloway enthused, “We are delighted at how the 2013 regionals have played out so far. The tournament at Wembley College last year was magnificent and we are anticipating another wonderful day of hockey with loads of fast paced action.”

Managing Director for SPAR KZN, Rob Philipson shared Galloway’s sentiments, “The tournament is turning three this year and I am amazed how it has fast become a firm favourite on the hockey calendar. We look forward to welcoming the new regional champion to the finals in July.”

Eight teams have already reserved their spots in the finals that will be taking place at Thomas More College and St Mary’s DSG on the weekend of 20 and 21 July. They are Ferrum High School (Northern KZN); Creston College (Ugu and Sisonke); Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High (PMB Central); St Anne’s (PMB North); Durban Girls’ High School (Durban South); Ashton College (Durban North); Durban Girls’ College (Durban Central) and St Mary’s DSG (Highway).

The tournament has a Facebook page – SPAR aQuellé School Girls’ Hockey Tournament and a Twitter account - @SPARGirlsHockey. Spectators and players are encouraged to visit the page and check out all the action from the regionals.

Ladysmith High School defender stretches to gain possession of the ball in a very difficult game at last years regional which was won by Ladysmith High School.

(Source - SPAR Hockey) 

(Source - Hirsch's)