BlackBerry 10 Dream App: Group Share

This is my BlackBerry 10 Dream App, Group Share. The name and the picture above should be pretty self-explanatory. Not sure if this is possible with the APIs yet, but one can dream. (Miracast? WiFi Direct?)


I would like an app to be able to share content to other BlackBerry 10 devices with the same app running. The content can be anything like picture, music, videos, webpages, documents, presentations, etc. The main device will act as an WiFi access point sharing out these content, so sharing still works even without a data or WiFi Hotspot.

Productivity:

This could be useful for both productivity, as well as entertainment. For example, when you are out for a casual meeting at a location with no presentation equipments, like a coffeehouse or restaurant for example. You can simply share the presentation or document with your client sitting across you without the need to pass him/her your device. This is a different use case for BBM Screen Share since it doesn’t make sense to really make a BBM Video call when you’re sitting across each other. It is just wasting data.

Entertainment:

Let’s say you’re out with a couple of friends at the beach, or a chalet. But you want to play some music but there is no sound systems other than your phones. Connect them up using the app, and the app will synchronise the devices to play the same music at the same time.

One thing I will like to elaborate is on playing Videos. As you see above, the main device will automatically cut the video into segments and then you can place the devices into their respective position. Since the Z10’s speaker is at the bottom, this app could take use of the positioning and allow for a stereo sound.

This is how I imagine the app could work for playing videos. Before playing a video, the app would search for connected devices, in this instance, 3 Z10s. Then the app would automatically work out the best position possible to maximise screen real estate, as well as speaker positioning. On each device, it will show you which device is yours. When you are in position, tap the “Ready” icon on the action bar, and when all devices are ready, the video starts playing, and the main device will cut the video into segments and broadcast to the correct device.

This could of course work for more devices too.

Well, this might be difficult to pull off, or perhaps even impossible at this point in time. Perhaps one day…

2 Years of BlackBerry

Today marks the 2nd year since I bought my first BlackBerry.


2 years ago on this exact day, and roughly the same time in fact, I bought my first BlackBerry at Serangoon Nex shopping mall. It was a BlackBerry Bold 9000 (non camera variant) which I intended to use while doing my National Service. Being my first BlackBerry, it took a while to get used to it, and explore what it could do. After a few weeks with it, I fell in love with it. The way unified inbox worked, bringing in items from SMS, Call logs, emails, WhatsApp, BBM, Facebook, and Twitter. The awesome physical keyboard that was absolutely a joy to type on. The way you can precisely select text and scroll using the trackball. The way you can use keyboard shortcuts almost like you would a computer keyboard. The sound the speakers produced. It was freaking awesome. The navigation of the OS was fast and precise using the combination of the trackball, end call, home key, and back key. Smartdial was super convenient. I could go on and on. There were so much I love about it.


But at that point in time when I got the Bold 9000, the Bold 9780 had been out in the market for a while already. But I was a BlackBerry noob back then, and just went with the cheapest, thinking that I would only be using it for the period of my National Service only. But little did I know, I ended up loving it, and realising how well it suited my needs. I got a Bold 9900 + PlayBook half a year later when it launched here in Singapore.

After a while I decided to try out other BlackBerry models, to see how they were. By my count today, I have used a 7230, Bold 9000, Bold 9650, Bold 9700, Bold 9780, Bold 9790, Bold 9900, PlayBook, Curve 8900, Curve 8520, Curve 9300, Curve 9320, Curve 9360, Storm 9530, Torch 9810, Torch 9860, and of course the Z10. This is just for different models, and not including the multiple device of the same model, camera and non camera variants. Counting unique BlackBerry Pin, I probably have more than 30, but really, I lost count.

Which really shows how much of an addict I am. I also had devices from other platforms during this period, such as iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, LG Nexus 4, Xperia Sola, Lumia 610, Lumia 800, and Lumia 520. (What can I say, I’m a huge mobile junkie) But I always went back to my BlackBerry device after a while. Nothing did worked as well for me compared to BlackBerry devices. I know, because I have tried all other major platform out there.

Even before the launch of BlackBerry 10, I always had faith in the company’s products. Even though BBOS was an aging platform and didn’t have as many apps as compared to other platform, their devices always had a focus. There are things within their products that makes me go “How the hell did I go without this for so long?!” Little surprises here and there that I didn’t even knew I needed so much. Features that made my daily routine so much easier, and could not live without now.

Now that BlackBerry 10 has been out for a while now, with Z10 and Q10 launched in multiple countries, and the Q5 in Dubai, I am more confident in the company than ever. I see a lot of potential in BlackBerry 10. It is still not quite there yet, but at the speed and direction that they are going, I have no doubt that they will be there sooner rather than later.

BB10 Brainstorming: Active Frames

I’m sure most of us love how we could swipe up to close an app on the PlayBook. But on BB10, due to how the Active Frames has 2 vertical pages to scroll up and down, the same gesture can’t be implemented. And swiping to the left brings in the Hub, and the right apps. So pretty much up, down, left, and right are all taken.


If we look at other platforms,

- iOS 7, swipe up to close an app

- Android, swipe vertically to close an app

- Windows Phone, no way to do it now, but it has been rumoured that MS will be adding a way to do so, and I’m guessing its swiping up.

Tapping on a small ‘x” to close something feels kinda archaic at this point in time. Like how you would close a window on your mac or windows computer. On a small screen like a mobile device, swiping is an easier way to do it in my opinion. (or do most people just leave their active frames always open, and not bother to close them?)

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Here’s just a quick photoshop of an idea.

Just one single page for Active Frames, that doesn’t scroll up or down. When you have 4 active frames, it will be the same size as it is currently, but when you have more than that, the active frames becomes smaller in size. Allowing up to 9 active frames to be present. This will allow the swiping up (or down) gesture to be used, as well as present more information in 1 single page.

Of course the elephant in the room is whether that is still legible or not. I tested them on my Z10 and everything was still legible for me (due to the high ppi display), but not everyone’s eyesight is the same. So, it might not be ideal unless there are changes in font size as well.

Or the active frames page could be done horizontally instead, using the same 4 active frames layout, but side by side. This will free up the swiping up or down gestures as well. But that would mean one more page to scroll to get to your apps.

hmmm… Any thoughts on this?

menentukan arti gagasan utama,penalaran,kata,transisi,fakta,opini,penanda proses,penanda hasil,tanggapan positif,tanggapan negatif,kosakata,sinonim,antoni,homonim,homograf,homofon,polisemi,hipernim,hiponim,biografi,oto biofrafi,sistematika penulisan laporan,jenis-jenis karangan,catatan kaki,catatan perut

Ø  Menentukan gagasan utama

            Paragraf: Serangkaian kalimat yang di susun secara sistematis dan logis sehingga membentuk satu   kesatuan  pokok pembahasan.

Kata kuci gagasan utama dalam paragraf : Jadi,ada beberapa,dengan demikian,pada dasarnya,intinya,sebagai kesimpulan.

Ø  Penalaran

Ada 2 penalaran dalam wacana

1.      Penalaran Induktif : proses berpikir logis yang di awali dengan observasi data ,pembahasan,dukungan pembuktian contoh/contooh,dan di akhiri kesimpulan umum yang merupakan inti wacana atau gagasan utama.

Pada intinya penalaran induktif itu dari yang Khusus dan di akhiri dengan yang umum.

2.      Penalaran Deduktif: Proses berpikir logis yang di awali dengan penyajian fakta yang bersifat umum,di sertai dan di akhir dengan fakta atau sikap yang berlaku khusus

Pada  intinya penalaran deduktif itu dari yang umum dan di akhiri dengn yang khusus

3.      Penalaran deduktif-induktif: kalimat topiknya hanya 1 .tapi ada kalimat topiknya di letakkan di awal atau akhir paragraf,penalaran semacam itu yang di sebut penalaran deduktif – induktif

4.      Penalaran induktif-deduktif: paragraf yang di awali dan di akhiri dengan kalimat penjelas  sedangkan kalimatnya utamanya terletak di tengah paragraf

Ø   Kata- Frasa Transisi

Kata-Frasa transisi adalah kata sambung ,konjungsi atau perangkai ,baik intra kalimat maupun antar kalimat

Ø  Perbedaan fakta dan opini

Fakta adalah sesuatu yang merupakan kenyataan dan dapat di buktikan kebenarannya

Opini adalah pendapat,pikiran,atau pendirian seseorang tentang sesuatu.

Kunci untuk mebedakannya:

·         Fakta:

-          Logis (masuk akal)

-          Apa adnya

-          Faktual (kenyataan)

·         Opini :  

-          Pendapat

-          Pemikiran

-          Asumsi (memperkiran kebenaran)

-          Subyektif

Ø  Penanda proses dan penanda hasil

·         Penanda proses :kata yang di beri imbuhan pe-an

                 Contoh :       

-          pengobatan (pe-an+obat)

-          penulisan (pe-an +tulis)

·         Penanda hasil : kata yang di beri imbuhan –an

              Contoh penanda hasil :

-          lukisan (lukis+an)

-          tulisan (tulis+an)

Ø  Tanggapan positif dan tanggapan Negatif

·         Tanggapan postif :

              Komentar terhadap sesuatu (pidato,bacaan,beritamdsb) yang bersifat optimis dan santun

·         Tanggapan negatif :

Komentar terhadap sesuatu (pidato,bacaan,beritamdsb) yang bersifat pesimis dan kurang santun

Ø  Kosakata

·         Sinonim

Sinonim adalah kata-kata yang sama atau hampir sama makananya

Contoh :

Laksan = seperti	Orisinal = asli
Makna = arti	Santai    = rileks
Upya   = Usaha	Wisma   = rumah

·         Antonim

Kata-kata yang berlawanan artinya/maknanya.

Contoh :

Cekung  x cembung	Gulita    x    terang
Dinamis x statis	Impor    x    ekspor
Feminin x makulin	Konkret  x   abstrak

·         Homonim

Dua kata atau lebih yang tulisanya sdan lafalnya sama tapi artinya berbeda.

Contoh :

Genting = atap

Genting = gawat

·         Homograf

Dua kata yang atau lebih yang tulisannya sama tapi lafalnya dan artinya berbeda

Contoh:

Seri (beseri-seri)	Gembira
Seri (di lafalkan seri)	seimbang

·         Homofon

Dua kata atau lebih yang lafalnya sama tapi tulisan dan arinya berbeda

Contoh :

Bank	Lembaga penyimpanan uang
bang	kakak

·         Polisemi

Adalah kata yang meimiliki banyak makna tetapi sling berkaitan

Contoh :

Kepala sekolah	Jatuh skit
Kepala pusing	Jatuh dari pohon
Kepala suku	Jatuh bangun

·         Hipernim

Kata yang mencakup bebrapa kata lain

Contoh :

kayu	Sengon,mahoni,kamper
buah	Mangga,jeruk,jambu

         

·        Hiponim

          Kata yang maknanya telah tercakup pada kata lain

          Contoh:

Permata,zamrud,giok	Batu berharga
Menjinjing,memikul,mengepit	Membawa

Ø  Perbedaan biografi danoto biografi

Biografi :riwayat hidup seseorang yang di karang oelh orang lain

Oto biografi : Riwayat hidup seseorang yang di karang dirinya sendiri

Ø  Jenis karangan

·        Karangan narasi

Karangan yang berisi cerita

·        Karangan nonfiktif

Karangan yang berisi peristiwa faktual / benar-benar terjadi

·        Karangan deskripsi

Karangan yang bertujuan memberikan gambaran sesuatu kepada pembaca sehingga seolah-olah pembaca mengalaminya sendiri

·        Karangan Eksposisi

Karangan yang bertujuan memaparkan atau menjelaskan sesuatu hala atau objek

·        Karangan argumentasi

Karanga yang bertujuan untuk mempengaruhi pembaca

Ø  Cara penulisan catatan kaki dan catatan perut

·        Catatan kaki

Chairil anwar,deru campur debu (KUMPULAN PUISI),(jakarta:dian rakyat:1949),hlm. 34.

·        Catatan perut

(anwar,1949:34)

Ø  Sistematika penulisan proposal

·        Judul

·        Latar belakang

·        Perumusan masalah

·        Tujuan penelitian

·        Hipotesis

·        Metode penelitian

·        Lokasi dan smpel penelitian

·        Jadwal penelitian

·        Daftar pustaka

BlackBerry 10 Brainstorming: Content is King

This is a screenshot taken from a Q10 showing the CB10 app (thanks, Snazy!), and how it truly maximise the available screen size. But why not do the same for all devices? Why just limit it to the Q10?


According to BlackBerry’s UI Guidelines for BlackBerry 10, “Content is king”. In summary, focus on what is important, the content. Be it movies, pictures, messages, or text, every additional UI element that is present on screen, means that there is less content that can be viewed.

"As described in the screenshot on the Q10, developers can enable to top bar to scroll away off screen as you scroll down. As you scroll down, the action bar at the bottom disappears too, and only appear when you scroll up. Not only that, the Q10 utilises a smaller action bar that doesn’t describe the icon. To see what the icon does, simply tap and hold, and a pop up above it will describe what it does."

Here’s a link to the Guideline describing this: Content is King

I think that is a great way of doing it. After using my Z10 for so long, I can almost remember what all the icons does by just looking at it, without the need to read the descriptions at all. For others who are not familiar, they can always just tap and hold to see the description. So why doesn’t BlackBerry do this for all resolution. Yes, the screen is large enough on a Z10 for example, but on a mobile device with a small screen, every row of pixels count.

Let me show you what I mean. (Do note that the resolution I used is 1280 x 720 in a 16:9 aspect ratio, rather than what is on the Z10 currently)

By simply changing the size of the action bar to a smaller size as well as remove the description (like on the Q10 or when you use the your Z10 in landscape mode), I got one more line of text.

Then by allowing the top bar, and action bar to hide like on the Q10, I got 5 and a half lines more than I would normally. That is a huge amount  of content! And I have not even adjusted the top bar, which is slightly thinner on the Q10 as far as I can tell.

Anyway, the top bar for most apps does nothing other than to just inform you of which app you are in, or where in the app you are. Which to be honest, feels like a waste of space. I can’t imagine myself using the CrackBerry app for example, and then suddenly forgetting what app I am in while using it. That would be pretty daft.

If you have minimised the app to the home screen to go to another app, the active frame does tell you the name of the app. And if you want to know where in the app you are, you can just scroll up a bit to get the action bar back anyway.

Next on the browser, by hiding the URL bar when scrolling down, I was able to view 7 thread titles, rather than just 6. I don’t think it will affect functionality much. Whenever we need to use an item on the URL bar, scroll up a little and the URL bar appears. And I do believe that the trade-off is worth it.

If BlackBerry could implement using the left and right bezel to go “back” and “forward” a page (like what was announced at WWDC yesterday on iOS 7), it could replace another frequently used button on the URL bar.

—-

I think that this could be a way to really showcase the mantra "Content is King". Also provide a consistency between both full touch devices with a 16:9 or 15:9 aspect ratio, as well as a 1:1 ratio.

[CONCEPT] Next Generation of BlackBerry 10 Devices

Well, it has been a long while since I’ve done something like this. But this is my concept of how the next generation of BlackBerry 10 devices could look. Not just the rumoured Aristo, but a physical QWERTY version as well (obviously I am a fan of physical QWERTY keyboard and I want the latest specs on it too).

——-

Full Touch model is loosely based on the description from a member of CrackBerry forums who claimed to have seen the rumoured Aristo. Well, I said loosely as I based the foundations of the concept on those descriptions such as; "similar in size to S4", "A chin on the bottom similar to the Z10", and "same back texture as the Q10 but without the meta fret". Other than that, I just included what I want to see on the next gen device.


Of course this has a wider 16:9 aspect ratio compared to the Z10, (meaning 1280 x 720, or 1920 x 1080). Something that BlackBerry has mentioned they will be using going forward. Also since the ratio is wider, I though I could use a smaller grey translucent background for app icons like on the Q10, and try and fit in another row of icons just for the fun of it. :p

Some other things I added just because I want that to happen,

- Dual front facing speakers (just think of how awesome PlayBook’s speakers are)

- Power button at the side (for larger devices, I find it easier to access if at the side. Though really it isn’t crucial since we can unlock the device by just swiping up)

But honestly, I would have preferred a more rounded rectangular design, as well as less bezel like the one here. Kinda like the Dev Alpha A in fact.


——-

Physical QWERTY model is really just me having a bit of fun, and frankly because I’m partial towards physical QWERTY devices.

- Dual speakers similar to the one above

- Power button at the side

- 2mm wider than the Q10, but same height. Increased the screen size slightly as well to 3.3”, as well as the physical keyboard slightly. With a physical keyboard device, too big a size means that it will be really hard to type with one hand, so I didn’t push it too far.

- Being smaller is width and height, the physical keyboard version will be thicker, to accomodate the hardware as well as a bigger battery if possible.

(Personally, I would rather not have a sliding batter door since in my experience with the 9700, 9780, and 9790, they tend to get looser with use. Which is why you don’t see a fret at the back, or perhaps it could be non-removable, who knows?)

Edit: a slightly fine-tuned version.

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More images:

Well, just having a bit of fun with Illustrator and Photoshop, hope you guys enjoyed it. Cheers.