No more AIM->Jabber gateway for me! Last month, Verizon started allowing the official AIM client for Blackberrys to work on their network. You can get it by going here.

I suspect the reason that they were blocking AIM for so long is that it allows you to send SMS messages for free to any phone number in the US. I think it’s crazy that they have been blocking AIM when blackberry users on their network pay a minimum of about $100/month after taxes for “unlimited” data.

Anyway, I’m glad to no longer have to keep a AIM->Jabber gateway up and running. You might as well get your money’s worth and make up for lost time by adding SMS contacts to your aim buddy list. If you want to send an SMS to 415-123-4567 add a buddy with screenname “+14151234567″ and send an IM. This should work for all US mobile numbers.

Filed under: blackberry, gadgets, sms · 1 Comment

Here is how I chose a new cell phone. I ran all the cell phones through this flow chart, and added up the scores. The BlackBerry 8703e on Verizon came up on top, but only because the 8800 isn’t out for another two weeks. I have a pretty specific set of requirements, so this probably won’t be useful to you, but here it is anyway:

Here are a few things I forgot to add to the chart (the BlackBerry 8703e has none of these):

• Trackball/D-pad
• Camera
• Touchscreen
• Transflective display
  

Filed under: blackberry, doodles, flowchart, gadgets, pocket pc · 0 Comments