BlackBerry Classic review: For old times' sake

The BlackBerry Classic is a quintessential BlackBerry, any way you slice it. With a hardware QWERTY keyboard and navigation buttons, a strictly business appearance and the best enterprise chops in the industry, the newcomer is reminiscent of the Blackberries of old when the mobile world was not all about big touchscreens.

At a quick glance, the Classic appears to be a direct successor of the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900. Seriously overdue for an update, the Bold Touch made its debut in the distant 2011 and it still enjoys a solid following in the corporate world.

The BlackBerry Classic harks back to the glory days of the Canadian company not only in terms of appearance, but also hardware specs. The device's Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset dates back to the year its predecessor launched. The BlackBerry Classic is clearly not a smartphone you will buy for its cutting edge hardware specs.

See a detailed look of its key features below.

Key features

Square 3.5" 720p LCD display; 294dpi; Corning Gorilla Glass 3

1.5GHz dual-core CPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chipset; 2GB of RAM

8MP camera with auto-focus; digital image stabilization; LED flash; 2MP front-facing camera

1080p video capture @ 30fps; 720p video capture for the secondary camera

16GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot; Dropbox and Box integration

BlackBerry 10.3 OS with Virtual Assistant

Ability to run Android applications (via Amazon Appstore or sideloading)

The best hardware QWERTY keyboard in the business with customizable shortcuts

Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; NFC; GPS; microUSB (SlimPort)

Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic

2,515mAh battery

Main disadvantages

Seriously dated hardware platform

Non-removable battery

Rather thick at 10.2mm and also heavy at 177g

Considerable off-contract price tag

Limited carrier support in the US (for the time being)

The hardware QWERTY keyboard and its shortcuts, coupled with the solid productivity and security chops of BlackBerry OS 10.3.1, are bound to appeal to users in the corporate world.

During the smartphone's media presentation, BlackBerry's CEO specifically pointed that the Classic is not aiming to be a mass-market device. The handset is made for prosumers and corporate professionals - a considerable crowd with BlackBerry 9900 Bold devices due for an upgrade.

Can the BlackBerry Classic cut it as the only smartphone in your life? Is it the ultimate second handset? Read on to find out! We have our thumbs ready and will kick the review off with unboxing, followed by a close look at the hardware.

Top 10 most popular news stories of 2014

Another year has passed and boy was it an eventful one! In the last moments of 2014 we take a look back at the most exciting news of the past twelve months. Time does fly by fast, especially in the tech world where is seems that the past 360 days represent a whole decade of innovation.

The Android world definitely saw a lot of action during 2014. Samsung gathered the most interest, mainly with the unveiling of the newest generation of flagship devices. A lot of rumors and speculations surrounded the Galaxy Note 4, as well as its peculiar cousin the Samsung Note Edge and the Galaxy S5.

The Korean tech giant was also busy delivering software support to its users, with a lot of Android KitKat OTA updates taking place during the past year as well as some interesting development regarding future Lollipop builds for various handsets. Sony had much the same mission on its mind and delivered a major KitKat roll out for a lot of its device lineup.

Apple also had a busy year, dominating news outlets on numerous occasions. The California company pushed into the future with its 8th iteration of smartphones, as well as the rumor marathon leading to their announcements. But perhaps the iPhone 6 was not the biggest jaw-dropper Apple had to offer. 2014 marked a historical cornerstone in its history with the iPhone 6 Plus ushering the company into the phablet market for the first time.

Microsoft also got its share of the spotlight with the official release of Widows Phone 8.1. The OS brought about numerous new features and improvements and represents another major step forward towards Microsoft's long-standing goal of uniting mobile and desktop OS versions into a fluent and uniform experience for users and developers alike.

The past year has been a wild ride and we here at GSMArena are very glad that we were able to share it with you. Here's to a great 2014 and the hope for an even greater experience next year!

(1) Updated: Apple WWDC slides leak with iPhone 6 on them

Apple's WWDC hits the stage this Monday and we already know Apple is planning to unveil iOS 8 and the latest OS X 10.10 but many are also contemplating if there will be an iPhone 6 announcement taking place. Update: after causing quite a stir on the web, it turned out that the video which...

(2) Google launches Android One in India with three new smartphones

After announcing it first back at I/O 2014, Google today finally launched the first Android One devices in India. The first three phones to be launched are the Karbon Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream UNO. The Dream UNO is the cheapest at INR6,299 ($103), while the Sparkle V costs...

(3) Entry-level Samsung Galaxy V appears in a retail listing

Another day, another entry level smartphone from Samsung! A retail listing from Vietnam reveals that the South Korean giant is gearing up to introduce a new smartphone dubbed Galaxy V to attract entry-level users. Samsung Galaxy V will come out with a 4-inch display with a resolution of 480 x...

(4) Galaxy Note 4 spotted on Samsung Mobile site

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is just days away from being officially announced at the IFA trade show in Berlin, and the leaks keep piling up. The latest is in the form of a UAProf found on Samsung's mobile site, which confirms a large number of the devices' specifications. Besides the SM-N920T...

(5) Detailed images of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 leak

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(6) Apple officially announces the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5" display

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(7) Sony rolls out Android KitKat on Xperia Z, ZL, ZR and Tablet Z

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(8) Five Samsung smartphones to get KitKat updates this month

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(9) Apple unveils the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 with Retina HD screen

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(10) Windows Phone 8.1 is official, here are the new features

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source-via gsmarena.com

Hidden Android Secret Codes For Samsung , HTC , Motorola, Sony, LG And Other Devices

One of the most popular practices amongst software

developers is to leave ‘backdoors’ within the code, which

essentially allow anyone with knowledge to get into the

system at a much deeper level than you’d expect from an

end-user. These backdoors aren’t always with a malicious

intent; most of the time, they allow the OEM or

programmer to get into the system for troubleshooting

when other, usual modes of access have been blocked. They

can be quite friendly and helpful if you know what you’re

doing.

Smartphones have a good share of these as well, where

they’re generally known as secret codes. Most of the time,

these numeric/symbolic sequences allow you to access

hidden menus, diagnostic tests, areas that could change

some of the most basic parameters of your device and

whatnot. These secret codes, in fact, have not been

exclusive to smartphones, but have long been a part of the

dumb-phones and then the feature-phones before most

major OEMs joined the smartphone bandwagon. For those

devices that run Android, certain codes are shared across

the board, and hence, can be used on a variety of devices

What follows is a collection of some of the secret codes

common to the Android platform. All of these would be

entered through the phone dialer (just punch in the

sequence as shown). Since most hidden menus are

manufacturer specific, there’s no guarantee that they’ll

work across all Android smartphones, but you can try them

out nevertheless on your Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony

and other devices. Be advised, though, that some of these

can cause serious changes to your device’s configuration, so

don’t play with something that you don’t fully understand.

*#06# – IMEI number

*#0*# – Enter the service menu on newer phones like

Galaxy S III

*#*#4636#*#* – Phone information, usage statistics and

battery

*#*#34971539#*#* – Detailed camera information

*#*#273282*255*663282*#*#* – Immediate backup of all

media files

*#*#197328640#*#* – Enable test mode for service

*#*#232339#*#* – Wireless LAN tests

*#*#0842#*#* – Backlight/vibration test

*#*#2664#*#* – Test the touchscreen

*#*#1111#*#* – FTA software version (1234 in the same

code will give PDA and firmware version)

*#12580*369# – Software and hardware info

*#9090# – Diagnostic configuration

*#872564# – USB logging control

*#9900# – System dump mode

*#301279# – HSDPA/HSUPA Control Menu

*#7465625# – View phone lock status

*#*#7780#*#* – Reset the /data partition to factory

state

*2767*3855# – Format device to factory state (will delete

everything on phone)

##7764726 – Hidden service menu for Motorola Droid

You can find more of these spread across the internet,

and they’re usually very handy to have, even if just to

show off your geekiness to your social circle.

Update x1: More codes!

*#*#7594#*#* – Enable direct powering down of device

once this code is entered

*#*#273283*255*663282*#*#* – Make a quick backup of

all the media files on your Android device

*#*#232338#*#* – Shows Wi-Fi MAC address

*#*#1472365#*#* – Perform a quick GPS test

*#*#1575#*#* – For a more advanced GPS test

*#*#0283#*#* – Perform a packet loopback test

*#*#0*#*#* – Run an LCD display test

*#*#0289#*#* – Run Audio test

*#*#2663#*#* – Show device’s touch-screen version

*#*#0588#*#* – Perform a proximity sensor test

*#*#3264#*#* – Show RAM version

*#*#232331#*#* – Run Bluetooth test

*#*#232337#*# – Show device’s Bluetooth address

*#*#7262626#*#* – Perform a field test

*#*#8255#*#* – Monitor Google Talk service

*#*#4986*2650468#*#* – Show Phone, Hardware, PDA, RF

Call Date firmware info

*#*#1234#*#* – Show PDA and Phone firmware info

*#*#2222#*#* – Show FTA Hardware version

*#*#44336#*#* – Show Build time and change list

number

*#*#8351#*#* – Enable voice dialing log mode, dial

*#*#8350#*#* to disable it

##778 (+call) – Show EPST menu

These codes are specific to HTC devices only:

*#*#3424#*#* – Run HTC function test program

*#*#4636#*#* – Show HTC info menu

##8626337# – Run VOCODER

##33284# – Perform field test

*#*#8255#*#* – Launch Google Talk service monitor

##3424# – Run diagnostic mode

##3282# – Show EPST menu

##786# – Reverse Logistics Support

source-via redmondpie