BlackBerry Q10 is a lot of innovation looking for longtime BB fans

I have been enjoying the company of the BlackBerry Q10 for the past couple of weeks. Some might think this smartphone is too little and too late. I think it's a lot of innovation and I hope it's not too late.

My soft spot for the BlackBerry platform goes all the way back to the trackball or roller ball, and the scroll-wheel days. These devices set the standards for security and email management and were considered the "must have" mobile phone during its heyday, especially for enterprise customers. Now fast forward a decade and the BlackBerry is fighting for survival among the iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, Motorola Droids and a host of other newcomers.

But the latest BlackBerry, the Q10, with the QWERTY physical keyboard for us that remember the good old days, is quite a smartphone and I wouldn't count BlackBerry out just yet. The Q10 is running the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, which is supposed to propel the BlackBerry devices into the future of smartphone innovation.

Straight out of the box from Verizon Wireless, this devices has a feeling of quality, with a textured back, rounded, smooth edges and an extremely tight fit. You can't help but notice the keyboard occupying the lower one third of the Q10's 4.7 inches in height. Then you're left with a 3.1-inch display, which is small by today's smartphones standards, but gets the job the done.

I guess having a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor is fine for now, but if BlackBerry is going to compete with its most fierce competitors, such as Apple, Samsung, HTC and LG, it will need to move into the quad-core territory.

I can stand behind the Q10's 8 megapixel camera though, especially in low-light situations. I shot some gorgeous photos just before sundown, with some of them in dark shadows. The colors were vibrant, life-like and impressive for a smartphone camera.

When I was setting up all my various social media and email accounts on the Q10, I was surprised to see integration for Evernote, a popular online note management application, become a part of the BlackBerry's Remember app. Now that falls into the very useful and cool category. As a heavy Evernote user, I like it and was thrilled to see this feature integrated into the Q10.

Here is one of the reasons I still think the BlackBerry has a fighting chance. When I look at the iPhone home screen, I see 24 icons with various red numbers in rounded-corner boxes. When I look at the Q10's home screen, I see my next appointment, which in was in 41 minutes on this particular day, along with "new' email and voice mail notifications. The synergy between all the calendars, social media accounts, task keepers, messages and multiple email services is nothing short of amazing. The Q10 became my go-to device to see what's happening next in my schedule.

I also like the shortcuts built into the device. From the home screen, you can just type "text" to begin sending a message, or "c" to call someone, or "T" to jump to the top of any page.

I did find it odd that Web pages don't rotate when you rotate the device, but fell in love with the "Reader" feature, where information comes up in plain-text view with no other distractions. You'll find this little nifty feature under the menu while visiting Web pages that contain articles to read.

I also don't know if the BlackBerry platform will ever catch up with Apple and Android in the number of apps available, and now even Windows Phone 8, who has also passed the 100,000 mark and iOS and Android marches toward one million. But I do know there are some good ones available for BlackBerry and one of the first apps I tried out for the Q10 is the famous BlackBerry "Password Keeper." It's as rock solid as ever and still sets the standard for password apps.

With all the talk from the BlackBerry corporate board about finding a buyer, exploring joint ventures or going into a partnership, it's hard to imagine to what's next for BlackBerry and their smartphones. The PlayBook tablet bit the dust a couple of months ago and might not resurface under the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

I think the BlackBerry will be around for years to come and will remain competitive. The Q10 is available from Verizon Wireless for around $200 under contract.

But here's one last effort to bring some traction the BlackBerry and especially the Q10. It's kind of a "Back to the Future" approach, which is to bring back the trackball in the land of touchscreens, much like the BlackBerry Bold 9930. I find it difficult to place and move the cursor around when editing text on this BlackBerry. Sometimes, you need to back up when writing a sentence to make a correction or insert a word and there are no arrows keys on the Q10's keyboard to move left, right, up and down.

I found the physical keyboard on the Q10 to be comfortable and precise. I made less typing mistakes than with a touchscreen device. The Q10's touchscreen above the keyboard was wonderful for swooshing from screen to screen, launching apps and getting into the Hub.

If I had only had a trackball, I would have had the best of all worlds — a touchscreen, physical keyboard and a quick, precise method to manage the cursor without having to go to the touchscreen.

Then the BackBerry Q10 could lead the way back into the game as the powerhouse among the business users, just like in the old days. Now that's something to think about.

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Samsung ATIV S Neo is Sprint's 2nd Windows Phone 8 smartphone

The Samsung ATIV S Neo is coming to Sprint on Friday. This will be Sprint's second Windows Phone 8 smartphone of the year, with the HTC 8XT being the first WP8 device earlier this summer.

The ATIV S Neo will be sporting a 4.8-inch display with a 1.4 gigahertz dual-core processor under the hood, which falls short when compared with some of the other high-powered quad-core smartphones, such as the 1.9 GHz Samsung Galaxy S4 or the LG Optimus G Pro at 1.7 GHz of processing power. You can also add 1 gigabyte of RAM and 16 GB if internal storage to the balance sheet.

The battery is a respectable 2,000 mAh lithium-ion, but there are other devices out there with larger capacity. The good news is that the ATIV S Neo features ATIV Beam for sharing photos, music and video with other WP8 devices using the NFC technology.

For snapshots, Sprint's WP8 baby has a eight-megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1.9 MP camera for video chats and self-portraits.

Despite a few shortcomings, the ATIV S Neo still might worth a test drive for WP8 fans. It'll only cost you $150 under contract if you want to take it home.

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A lost or stolen iPhone is bad; a good data recovery plan is good

If you ever lose your iPhone, it's really a bad feeling and more than likely, you'll replace with it another iPhone. Then your thoughts will quickly turn to recovering all your contacts, calendar, notes, photos, videos and even a log of text messages that were on the iPhone that is missing in action.

If you're lucky, there will be a backup in iTunes if you have been syncing regularly, or there might be a backup in iCloud. If not, then your next best option might be some free iPhone data recovery software from EaseUS, a software development company located in the Sichuan Province of China that specializes in backup and security solutions.

According to the company if you had been using their backup software, you'll just need to connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a PC and launch the free EaseUS MobiSaver software. The program will scan your iDevice and list recoverable files. Then it's simple matter of clicking the "Recover" button.

The MobiSaver software is designed for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and supports operating systems up to iOS 7. But it only supports the PC desktop computers for backups, such as Windows 8 and 7, Vista, XP and Windows Server 2008/Home Server. For Mac users, EaseUS offers data recovery software for $89.95 that is compatible with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, 10.6 Snow Leopard and 10.5 Leopard operating systems.

The best action against data loss in iDevices is to backup regularly through iTunes or make sure you are utilizing iCloud. But as an extra percaution, some free iPhone data recovery software is also worth a look.

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Apple rolls out the 'wow' factor with iOS 7 for iPhone, iPads, iTouch

Well now, just when it seemed that Apple's innovation has slowed down, as the Android camp was full-steam ahead, the guys from Cupertino dealt what could be a winning hand at the start of the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple unveiled the mysterious and tightly-held-to-their-chest iOS 7 software update, stamped with the work of the possibly soon-to-be-famous Jony Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. Already, it is being called "the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone that took the stage in 2007. After watching the video, I believe them, or they did a good job of snookering me and probably a lot of other Apple fans.

I can't keep this to myself any longer; this update that is due this fall is going to be one fine upgrade, as every nook and cranny of the current iPhone software has been redesigned. The appearance is clean, minimalist, simplistic and very appealing. The icons for apps look fresh and not overdone, with crisp colors and simple lines. It's almost like the designers wiped the slate clean and started over, which is exactly what I think they did.

The list of new stuff could go on and on, with a new palette of colors, and bits of translucency, a new lock sceen, the introduction of a control center and multitasking. Let's let that soak in. Then we have new photo features with automatic time and date stamp, "popular near me" apps and full-screen browsing in Safari. Let's take another break.

As we gather again to explore the new iOS 7 update, Siri will accept commands to control the iPhone, such as turn on Bluetooth. Another new feature is AirDrop, which will allow easy sharing of content with people nearby using peer-to-peer transfer. We'll break again in a minute, but Safari has enhancements that need to be told, with features like simplified searching, a new bookmarks view and new Safari tabs. While we're talking about online, iCloud Keychain is coming for your passwords and credit information that will be available on all your devices. Now let's pause for a few seconds before the music starts.

Apple was really excited about the new music app and especially the new iTunes Radio, which will be a free Internet radio service. The keyword is "free." I like it already. It'll have over 200 stations, which will be enough music to get you through any waiting room stretch of boredom. There's more.

Some additional features of the new iOS 7 update will include – do I have to say it – a "new" Find My Phone activation lock feature that'll require your Apple ID and password. For night owls, Apple says the Night Mode in Maps feature will respond to ambient light when your use if after dark. And finally, something that caught both of my eyes is a proposed enhanced in-car integration, which will bring the Apple experience to a drivers seat near you. This could be the start of the iCar and iTruck. Sorry, the domain name for iCar and iTruck is already taken; I checked.

Apple seems to have put their best foot forward with this update and if the real thing is anything like the prototypes in the promotional video, it's going to be a humdinger of a software upgrade for the iPhone 4 and later, the iPad 2 and later, iPad mini and fifth-generation iPod touch.

Now we're going be in the highly-anticipated mode for iOS 7 during the next several months of hot and steamy weather in my zip code.

I can cope with the heat, but I can hardly wait for the new iOS 7.

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Vaporstream technology makes sent email messages disappear

If you ever worry about the security of sensitive email message, a new technology called Vaporstream might be what you need.

For those confidential conversations, company officials say Vaporstream communications cannot be copied, forwarded, printed, saved or intercepted. This James Bond senario is created with a Secure Recordless Messaging Service, or SRMS, which transmits messages without leaving behind any Electronic Stored Information, which is also known as the ESI factor.

Once you hit send on a Visper message, it vaporizes to leave no trace in the inbox, server or archive. In addition to messages, recordless photos also disappear from the sending device, as well as the recipient's device.

According to the company behind Vaporstream, this technology "is the messaging tool of choice for critical discussions about mergers & acquisitions, research & development, litigation, and other confidential matters."

If you are a busy executive or professional with a need to keep sensitive information private from hackers without a face-to-face meeting or phone call, Vaporstream might be what you're looking for.

Vaporstream, a Chicago firm founded in 2006 is available as a free app for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. But an account is required to use the free app.

With this technology, it can be a comforting thought to know that you're not leaving behind any "electronic DNA" or "digital footprint" that could fall into the wrong hands.

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Samsung London event offers a hint to new Galaxy and ATIV devices

Samsung chose Memorial Day, when our minds are not on hot tech news, to roll out a teaser for an event on Thursday, June 20, in London.

The hints in their poster point to maybe new Galaxy and ATIV devices, which means Android and Windows 8 flavored announcements. Then we have images of some pretty thin devices that might could be a tablet, laptop and something that resembles a camera lens.

Samsung announced Windows 8 devices just under a year ago at a conference in Berlin, Germany, which included a two notebooks and a smartphone, called the ATIV S. Since the launch of these devices, the ATIV S has suffered several delays and has not gained much traction among carriers in the United States.

The Samsung ATIV smart PC is currently available from AT&T, while the Samsung ATIV Odyssey smartphone is available from Verizon Wireless.

Maybe the London event will bring new features to these devices. So circle June 20 on your calendar for the latest tech news from the Samsung camp.

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Samsung Galaxy S4: C Spire is offering 'the next big thing'

The highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 is inching closer into the hands of Android fans, as C Spire Wireless becomes one of the U.S. carriers accepting pre-orders for Samsung's newest touchscreen smartphone.

The Galaxy S4 is packing more power than its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, in several areas. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera, compared with a 8 megapixel camera on the S3, and a slightly better front camera at 2 megapixels. Additional camera features include "LED flash, autofocus and 1080p HD video recording in dual-shot mode ... which allows the use of both cameras simultaneously so users can include themselves in pictures and videos."

The Galaxy S4 is lighter in weight and with a 1920 by 1080 Super AMOLED five-inch display, colors should really pop. The increase in display size from the S3's 4.8 display is significant, as smartphones trend toward larger displays.

Another significant feature boost is the Galaxy S4's 1.9 gigahertz Quad Core processor, compared with a 1.5 GHz in the Galaxy S3. To make sure there is enough juice for all the enhancements in the Galaxy S4, the removable battery size has increased from 2100 to 2600 mAh, with a standard 16 gigabytes of on-board memory.

The Galaxy S4 is shaping up to be a desirable upgrade to the S3 and worth the $199 cost under a new two-year contract.

After choosing between Black Mist and White Frost colors when the Galaxy S4 arrives this summer, C Spire customers will be ahead of the game when it comes to carrying a state-of-the-art smartphone. Fans of other U.S. carriers are not left out, as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless also have the Galaxy S4 available for purchase.

So it looks like everyone will have a chance to carry Samsung's latest technological creation this summer. It's being called "the next big thing."

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