Opera Mini 5.0 Review

Opera Mini 5.0 Review

RaT Rating = 93.39%

Opera Software has made great strides to accommodate newer Blackberry models with their new Opera Mini 5

A few improvements include, browser software is faster, easier to use for touchscreen users, intuitive interface, more complete menu style, and much more.

The first thing that I noticed when downloading this beta was it size, much smaller in comparison to pervious versions. The browser connected to the Internet with no problems or extra user configuration. The initial experience of this browser has been like night and day. The user defined visual bookmarks are a nice touch, to easily get you to your most common web pages.

The ability for the program to save your logins, again makes life easier for the end user. If you turn on the Password Manager from the Privacy settings menu, you do not have to type your logins every time you open your web pages. The web pages load faster since they compress the pages 90% before they get to your phone. When the web pages load, the browser automatically checks the format of the web site, if its mobile the browser optimizes the page for mobile viewing, if not the page loads full view (if you have not selected mobile view as default in the menu settings). There is also a Download Manager to review your downloads.

Depending on the mobile phone your using the default text size can be adjusted for better viewing. The default zoom level can also be set in the settings menu from 60 to 200%. Text search within web pages makes finding what your looking for simpler. Overall, I would say that this is a giant step in the right direction for Opera Software.

The file size of the browser is really not that large 622.6 Kb, compared to other similar apps. I have not seen much of any processor sluggishness, only a bit with multiple pages open. There are average memory consumption issues but are to be expected for the graphics that are displayed. The battery usage will go down faster and to be expected, but not extremely bad. The GUI has really come a long way, however it would be nice to have a variable zoom in and zoom out without changing the zoom percentage in the options.  I did see a few bugs with the screen not resizing correctly in portrait view but if you rotate to landscape and then back it clears up. It is definitely compatible with touchscreen Blackberries and I have not experienced much memory loss while running or when closed. This app definitely does what it claims and is very easy to navigate, even though it does not make good use of the BB button. The browser is quick to load and has a good amount of options to be found in the options menu (not the BB button). All in all this browser is a very good and a much nicer surfing experience on your BB.

Meterberry v2.03 Review

Meterberry v2.03 Review

RaT Rating = 96.91%

Meterberry is a diagnostic application that is very useful in so many ways. It monitors your memory, battery, signal strength, and temperature of your phone. It also has an option to reset your device. I find this very option useful so that I don’t have to take off my case and battery cover to pull the battery physically. Another option is to Recover Memory, I will talk about this option a little later on in the review.

The file size is under 180kb which is very small for the amount that the application offers.

The processing speed of the application is very good, there isn’t that much to be rendered throughout the application.
There is little to no memory consumption with Meterberry.
Meterberry does not put much strain on the battery, if any.
The graphic user interface (GUI) isn’t that impressive and there isn’t that much graphics with the application at all besides the various icon choices for your home screen.

The application is a little buggy because there is an option within the application to “recover memory” and sometimes when you use that option, you actually lose more memory.
The application comes with a touch screen version for the storm1 and storm2. The touch screen is very accurate and I have had no issues at all with using it. There is also a non-touch screen version for users with a QWERTY keyboard.
It doesn’t appear to use memory so it doesn’t need to free memory when it’s closed. Another thing is the app runs every 15, 30, 45, or 60 mins to log information.
The application does what it says it does.
The application is very easy to navigate.
The load time on the application is very fast and there is no delay at all.

There are many different options to do many different things with the application. You can set the home screen icon to change every couple seconds (10, 20, or 30 seconds). You can choose either Fahrenheit or Celsius and if the temperature gets over a certain degree it notifies you. It monitors your application memory and if it goes below a certain MB, it notifies you. Has an option to recover memory hourly when the phone is idle. You have three logs to monitor battery, memory, temperature, and signal. You can also choose how often the logs update (15, 30, 45, or 60 mins). Clear the logs on startup or clear the logs when the phone is idle for an hour. There is an option to reset your device (soft reset) and you can also set the device to reset at a certain time every day. There is two different kinds of reset modes. You can set the signal to be monitored in dBm or bars.
When you press the Blackberry Button, it responds right away and brings up a short menu of choices.
This application does not need data to run. The only thing you need data for is to download the application.
This application does run in the background but does not show up on the application list (when u hold down your BB button).

Here is the graph of the RaT (Review and Testing) for this application our points and the wieghted grading that we have calculated. We are hoping this becomes a very accurrate meathod for reviewing apps of all kinds.

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