I picked up a new Blackberry Curve (8300) last week as my new phone. Besides using it for work, its great to have IM with me as Carol can ping me when she is up and able to chat while she is in China.
PocketMac was included on the CD, but it still lags behind the native Windows Blackberry application. There is no way to manage the music, video, pictures or ring tones like you can with the native application and so far I’ve not been able to transfer files over Bluetooth originating from either the Curve or MacBook. So when the makers of PocketMac say:
“14 months of hard work, engineering and testing PocketMac For BlackBerry means you’ll never need a Windows-based PC to sync your crucial data with your BlackBerry device and that synching is fast and rock-solid. “
That is not necessarily the case. This included installing Google Talk, while the other Google service can be installed over the air it requires IE to install it. But having a camera readily available again is nice (Carol took ours to China), maybe I can upload some action shoots from the next baseball game? I’m hoping when the microSD card comes in later today I’ll be able to mount the card through the terminal.
Tethering it as a Bluetooth modem was pretty simple; I used the script and instructions from here. Only thing I changed was updated the script to identify it as a 8300 instead of the 8800. It has worked fine except for this morning I’ve not been able to connect, but I made a change to the data plan yesterday (added the tethering option) and I think that has something to do with it.
Over a great phone and probably one of the better alternatives to the iPhone right now, it even includes a SDK.
10 Comments
Have you checked out the Missing Sync for BlackBerry. I don’t think it will manage video (yet), but it will do photos and music on the Pearl, so probably on the Curve too.
http://markspace.com/missingsync_blackberry.php
I’d try it but I’m not seeing a demo anywhere on the site.
Michael B.
Thanks for these helpful articles. As a prolific mac user I’m very interested in upgrading my piece of crap (yet still works) Nokia in for an iPhone. However, reading your article, it seems something like the Curve would be a pretty smart buy. I have but a few questions for you.
1- How doesn’t the Wi-Fi work on the phone? T-Mobile told me that it SHOULD connect to any wireless network. Your experience?
2- How does the Curve sync with your address, calendars, etc with the mac and can it do it via bluetooth? This is probably the most important for me.
I’ve never used automater so I’m not familiar with it uses. Sounds like I should be.
3- As for syncing your goodies, i.e. photos, music, videos, it sounds like it is mostly a manual task, managing the things you want and don’t want on it.
Again, thanks for the articles.
best wishes,
mr sansom
I am surprised you were able to get your curve to work as a tethered Macintosh modem. It has been my unfortunate discovery that there are quite a few people who stay connected for only a few minutes then must reset their phones. I wonder if it is a QA problem with the curve hardware.
@d martin
Depending on who your carrier is, you might have to have the option to tether the mobile with your laptop. I know for ATT that is the case.
Michael
I bought the BlackBerry Curve (8330) for the Telus network and it would not sync with my Mac at all.
It also had some other issues like the backlight would dim on and off at random, even though I changed the setting so it would not dim at all, also it would not charge unless I took the battery out then put it back in … then turn the phone off and charge.
So I ended up refunding it as they had no more in stock for me to exchange
I only had a 15 day refund policy so I did not want to wait two weeks for them to get more in stock.
Does anyone else have the same issue or do you think I just had a lemon and should try again in a month?
Thx!
I just got my blackberry curve today and did a websearch for a sync program and found the pocketmac site but the download path isn’t working at all
sg
is there another link that has the app available for download? thanks
I bought a Blackberry Curve and the Pocket Mac software will not work. I have worked with Alltel techs and we have done everthing but it will not work? Anyone have any luck with the 8330 at all?
I recently purchased the Blackberry Curve. I downloaded the PocketMac software however, can not sync the two. There is software called the Missing Sync although it is a 40.00 download. I’ll returne this phone for a palm as I know the Mac will sync fine..
i have the blackberry curve 8300 and just bought the i mac computer. still can not sync the two even with downloading the missing sync. frustrating b..c i am also having trouble with my mac quicken program. these issues were never a problem with my dell computer. any suggestions with the t mobile blackberry curve synching to the mac computer?
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