I have owned five BlackBerry cell phones in my lifetime, and have operated exclusively with BB cell phones for nearly a decade. Okay, there was that one time where I got sweet-talked into getting a Motorola RAZR, but we won’t talk about that mistake any more…
Of late, I’ve appreciated my BlackBerry Q10 smartphone. I’ve had it for three years, and it’s been a great traveling companion.
And now … it is time to upgrade.
And the big news came yesterday, when Verizon finally released a puff of smoke from its basilica, essentially declaring that they would finally carry the BlackBerry PRIV smartphone. The PRIV (originally code-named the “Venice”) has superior security features, it has an Android Lollipop operating system, and it also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Yeah. Chuck like lots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nO8EdLtJj0
I blogged about the possibility of getting this phone way back in August. That was six months ago. And of course, Verizon made me wait and wait and wait and wait for this phone. Maybe they wanted to install some proprietary kludgy VZ Navigator or Verizon Store software on this new phone. Heck, they tried pushing that VZ Navigator stuff on my Q10, it nearly bricked my phone. Yowtch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d0bqe2Z7pI
So I had to spend a good hour talking with an online Verizon representative about getting this phone. Yes, I would like the phone in black. No, I didn’t think there were any other color choices this time around. No, I don’t want to enter into a two-year contract to get this phone, I want to keep my grandfathered unlimited data plan. Yes, I know I don’t use it that much, but I might have an itch to binge-watch four seasons of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and I don’t want to incur additional data charges.
And after much negotiations… the PRIV is on is way. My fifth BlackBerry ever.
Trust me. Chuck is loyal to his brands. BlackBerry. Nikon. General Motors.
But hey, as much as I loved the BlackBerry Q10 phone – heck, I kept it for three years – I knew there would be something superior from BlackBerry down the road. I didn’t need an iPhone, and I didn’t care what Samsung came up with this year.
And here’s the thing… I might not get rid of my Q10 after all. I’m suspecting that even if I upgrade my main phone line to the PRIV, I could still keep the Q10 in my camera bag as a backup point-and-shoot camera. You know, just in case I want to take a selfie with my new phone while using my old phone. Hee.
Oh yeah… and as for last week’s post about dealing with telemarketers and robocallers and spambots… this PRIV may have my solution to that little issue. (rubbing hands together and laughing maniacally)
So now there’s one variable I haven’t yet experienced. And I’m going to need your help.
See, this new BlackBerry is powered by Google’s Android technology. So I can now access things like the Android app store or whatever it’s called. And with that in mind, I’d sure like to know – from all of you who use these Android phones – what’s the best apps for a guy like me to add to this new BlackBerry PRIV? You know, the usual apps… the fun apps… the important apps…
Open to all suggestions.
This should be fun.
Lots of fun.
Chuck The Writer 
I don’t do a lot of frivolous apps, mainly the popular ones. Amazon, Facebook, Tumblr, Buzzfeed, Netflix, Pinterest, StumbleUpon for when I’m just looking for something different to read or look at for a few minutes. I like streaming music most of all, and enjoy 8tracks (people posting playlists), Spotify, and RadiOn (listen to radio stations all over the world). And back when my son was playing basketball, it was always difficult to get good pictures on the phone because of the shutter delay. I found an app called Fast Burst, which takes rapid shots. I was able to get really good action shots with it. Also, a time waster is any mandala coloring apps. You can fool around with coloring pretty designs while waiting in the doctors office.
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