BlackBerry Healthcare Webinars

Are you familiar with the Healthcare Solutions on BlackBerry? I used to have a BlackBerry Storm. It was a nice smartphone, but I needed something that had more internal memory for medical apps. The Storm 2 is a nice upgrade.

Collaborate more effectively and improve the delivery of secure clinical information to your healthcare team by implementing the BlackBerry® solution in your organization.

Here are some interesting webinars that you can now view on-demand because they're archived activities:

Delivering a SOA-Based Community Record to Caregivers Everywhere at UPMC with BlackBerry Smartphones
Details: UPMC, in conjunction with Research in Motion Limited (RIM), designer and manufacturer of the BlackBerry wireless platform, has created "dbMobile." This powerful, fun and easy-to-use application is the first of its kind to deliver an on-demand, shared community patient record to BlackBerry-using caregivers throughout UPMC's healthcare system. Enabled by the organization's interoperability platform, demand is on the rise from UPMC clinicians who are enjoying increased access to a single, comprehensive view of meaningfully organized key patient data anywhere and everywhere.

Clinical Collaboration on BlackBerry with Customer Dr. Bill Fera – University Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC)
Details: The BlackBerry Healthcare Solution provides the platform for collaboration, critical alerts, and clinical applications. The result - secure and timely access to colleagues and information, which improves the safety and quality of care delivery. Hear from Dr. Bill Fera on how the patient care cycle is shortened with more resourceful communications and more real-time data for decisions – all with the BlackBerry Smartphone. Most importantly, how the quality of patient care increases while the cost of care decreases.

Clinical Collaboration on BlackBerry
Details: This webcast discusses a platform for collaboration, critical alerts, and clinical applications. Find out how you can take advantage of this healthcare solution and provide secure and timely access to colleagues and information, improving the safety and quality of care delivery.

View the BlackBerry Healthcare Webinars

Best smartphone on Verizon Wireless

The other day, someone asked me, "what's the best smartphone on Verizon?" If you surveyed 1,000 people using smartphones on the Verizon network, you'd probably get the majority of them answering either:

• Motorola Droid (running Android), or
• BlackBerry Storm2 (model 9550)

You may find a few dedicated Palm fans trying to get you to buy the Palm Pre Plus or the Palm Pixi (both running webOS). However, it's going to be difficult to find fans of Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS, even though Verizon has some of the best Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones (like the HTC Touch Pro2, the HTC Imagio, and the Samsung Omnia II).  To me, the biggest problem with buying a new Windows Phone is that none of the current models will get an upgrade to Windows Phone 7. I guess my Touch Pro2 will turn into a standalone GPS device.

If we look on the Verizon website and sort smartphones by ratings, the Motorola Droid comes out #1 (with over 7,000 reviews).  That smartphone gets my vote. If someone asked me for my opinion, I'd suggest the Droid. In a few months, the HTC Incredible could become the #1 smartphone on Verizon, so stay tuned.

Images of the BlackBerry "slider" smartphone

It looks like BlackBerry is finally coming out with a slider. This one slides vertically (like the Palm Pre) and features a full QWERTY keyboard. Imagine taking the BlackBerry Storm 2 and adding a hardware QWERTY keyboard that slides out. That's what this new device looks like. At one time, Samsung also made a few Windows Mobile smartphones that featured this type of form factor.

Why make a vertical slider instead of a horizontal slider? If you're going to browse a web page, you probably want your smartphone to be in a horizontal position so that you can effectively view web pages. However, if you tend to use your smartphone using one hand, then it really helps to have a vertical slider so that you can access the keyboard buttons with a single hand.  The problem with a horizontal slider is that it's difficult to type on those buttons using a single hand.

Image from Gadgetell.

How much storage do you need on your smartphone?

Right now, some smartphones like the Apple iPhone 3GS are capable of 32GB of storage. It won't be long before we see iPhones that have 64GB of space. How much do we really need?

At one time, I remember experiencing tremendous frustration because my medical apps (which are typically quite large) would not fit on my smartphone. I'd run out of internal memory (RAM) and I didn't always have the option to install an app on a memory card. Now, today's smartphones are coming with much more internal memory, but some obviously have much more than others. Even if you choose to store an entire medical encyclopedia (like UpToDate) on your smartphone, you won't be using much more beyond 1 or 2 GB.

Now that we have smartphones that have 32GB of storage space, you can easily store MP3 files, videos, and many other forms of multimedia on your device. It's great, isn't it? When's the last time you got an "out of memory" alert on your smartphone?

It's a shame that Windows Mobile smartphones still don't have much internal memory. My current HTC Touch Pro2 has 512MB of Flash Memory and 288MB of RAM. I find that it really confuses many people when you describe memory using those terms. The HTC Imagio has similar specs. The Samsung Omnia II has 512 Flash/208 RAM (+ 8GB of internal user memory), so that's a little bit better.

What if we look at Android? The Motorola Droid has 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM. The HTC Droid Eris has ROM: 512MB, RAM: 288MB DDR. It comes with an 8GB microSD card and it supports up to 16GB.

What about BlackBerry? Well, the BlackBerry Storm2 9550 has 256MB Flash Memory, 256MB RAM, 2GB On–board memory. That's an improvement over the original Storm 9530, but it's still nowhere near Apple's iPhone.

So when will other smartphone manufacturers catch up with Apple when it comes to internal storage space?

Trackpad vs. Trackball (BlackBerry)

This is a popular debate among seasoned BlackBerry users: Trackpad vs. Trackball.

If you're new to BlackBerry, then you may not be familiar with the issues that are often discussed. Many users evolved from the thumb-operated scroll wheel that used to be on the side. Then, we saw the trackball appear so that you could effectively scroll in 2 different dimensions (up/down and left/right) plus diagonal if you're using an on-screen mouse. Now, the trackpad allows you the same type of functionality without any moving parts (so you don't need to worry about dust, the ball getting stuck, etc.).

At the end of the day, I think this is going to become a dead topic because we'll all be using touch-screen devices and we won't have any trackballs or trackpads. Everything will rely on capacitive touch screens that allow multi-touch gestures so that you can effectively navigate and operate your smartphone using a few fingers on one hand. The BlackBerry Storm and Storm 2 currently offer some limited multi-touch capabilities, but I'm confident that all future models will feature more multi-touch gestures and functionality.

BlackBerry Storm 2 reviewed

Have you read all the reviews for the BlackBerry Storm 2?

CNET, CrackBerry, Brighthand, Gizmodo, and PC Magazine seem to come to the top of the Google list. I like the review by Gizmodo because it's actually a summary of multiple reviews (although it seems like they have a typo regarding the CNET review which is 3.5 out of 5 stars or "very good")

So, what do you think about the new BlackBerry Storm 2? Are you impressed? Was it worth the upgrade? If I were a health care professional using the older Storm, I would upgrade mainly because you really need more internal RAM for all those medical apps. If you're a pure business user, then 128 MB of RAM for apps is plenty. The same isn't true for medical students and physicians.

The BlackBerry Storm 2 (9550) now on Verizon Wireless

The BlackBerry Storm 2 (9550) is now on sale at Verizon Wireless. You can get one for $179.99! That's not a bad price, but if you're really looking for a bargain, the original Storm is only $49.99.

The Storm 2 includes some new features that you won't find on the original Storm, such as:

• V CAST Videos
• WiFi
• More internal Flash RAM for applications
  

Why only 256 MB of Flash Memory? If you're going to have 2 GB of on–board storage memory, why didn't they allocate more memory for apps (applications)? The original Storm only had 128 MB of FlashRAM and I filled that up very quickly with a few medical apps.

Health care professionals are getting drawn to BlackBerry. The Apple iPhone continues to dominate in health care. Many physicians abandoned the Palm OS and didn't want to switch to Sprint to get the Palm Pre running webOS. Others didn't want to switch to Windows Mobile and they didn't want to wait for an Android-powered smartphone.

My prediction is that the Storm 2 will be a hit among medical students and professionals who don't need to load too many medical apps. I'm disappointed that the Storm 2 only has 256 MB of RAM, but maybe that will be enough storage space for the average user.

Official BlackBerry OS 5.0 now available for the Storm

The official version of BlackBerry OS 5.0 is now available for the original Storm (9530). The Storm 2 will come with OS 5.0, so you don't have to worry about looking for some leaked versions floating around on the Internet.

The upgrade (or update) to OS 5.0 is free and you'll get some major improvements in web browsing (with tabs), e-mails (flags), word completion, and mapping options. Of course, there are other improvements with OS 5.0 so you'll have to give it a try.

BlackBerry OS 5.0 is also available for other devices, such as the Curve, Bold, Tour, etc. You'll have to visit the BlackBerry website to see if your device will also get the upgrade.

Visit: http://www.blackberry.com/update

Delayed release of the BlackBerry Storm 2

Well, the BlackBerry Storm 2 was supposed to get released yesterday on Verizon Wireless. I'm not entirely sure what happened. There were some circulating rumors about possible delays due to some bugs (not sure if these are software bugs or hardware bugs). In any case, I'm sure the Storm 2 will appear very soon. PC World gave it a "very good" rating of 80 and other reviews have been quite positive.

To BlackBerry Storm 2 or not to Storm 2

There are too many to's (2's) in the title, right?
"To BlackBerry Storm 2 or not to Storm 2." That's the question.

I've been following the Storm 2 for several months and I'm quite excited about this device, but I'm also cautiously optimistic.

• Will the Storm 2 have enough internal RAM for medical apps? (2 GB of storage, but how much RAM for apps?) The original Storm only had 128 MB of RAM, even though it had 1 GB of storage.
  
• Will it be capable of MiFi (Wi-Fi router) capabilities?
• How will the new SurePress touch screen compare to the original SurePress?

In my mind, the original BlackBerry Storm is an excellent smartphone, but it's not very suitable for health care professionals who wish to run many medical apps because of its limited internal RAM. Will the Storm 2 be a great medical smartphone? Many physicians already use a BlackBerry. Will they switch to a touch-screen device and abandon the hardware QWERTY keyboard?

BlackBerry Storm 2 will launch tomorrow (Oct 21)

The rumors are true. The BlackBerry Storm 2 will launch tomorrow (Oct 21) on Verizon Wireless. Are you excited? The Storm 2 will have Wi-Fi capabilities, and it may also serve as a Wi-Fi router (similar to the MiFi).

BlackBerry Storm2 (9550) coming very soon

Are you excited about the BlackBerry Storm2 (9550)? It's launching soon and you can catch a preview by reading the review published by PC Magazine (click here for the full review).

I really hope the new BlackBerry Storm2 has more internal RAM storage. The original BlackBerry Storm confused many people because it was advertised as having 1 GB of internal storage space. That's fine if you want to store files, but it only had 128 MB of RAM for applications. That simply doesn't make sense for anyone who wishes to load medical apps on a smartphone.

So, how much RAM (for applications, not for storage) will the new BlackBerry Storm2 have? I haven't found this information yet because everyone seems to focus on the 2 GB of internal storage. Does this mean you now have 2 GB of RAM for apps? I really like the Storm, but I wish it had more RAM for apps.

BlackBerry Storm 2 to be released this month

According to several rumors and reports, Verizon Wireless will be releasing the BlackBerry Storm 2 later this month. The month of October should be an exciting month in the world of smartphones. We saw Windows Mobile 6.5 released earlier this month, but that wasn't too exciting. I'm eager to see other new smartphones coming out this month.

Are you waiting in line to get the updated BlackBerry Storm? I hope they increase the internal RAM so that you can install more apps. Medical apps are often quite big and you'll run out of space very quickly on the current BlackBerry Storm that only has 128 MB of Flash RAM.

Why I didn't get the Samsung Omnia on VZW

It's time to get a new phone. I'm on Verizon Wireless, so my options are limited. I thought that I was going to get the Samsung Omnia (which is a great phone, but now the phone for me), but here are the reasons why I didn't get it:

1. It's now on closeout at Verizon Wireless. This means they won't be getting any more new ones. What they have is it. They're now waiting for the Omnia 2.
   
2. I doubt we'll see Windows 6.5 for it (unless you load a custom ROM).
   
3. No built-in stylus. Instead, it has this stylus that hangs on a dongle. Since it's a passive touch screen device running Windows Mobile, there are times when you definitely need to use a stylus.
4. Proprietary charger/connector. I thought we were all supposed to be using micro USB. I really don't want to go out and get new chargers/adapters. I want my next device to have micro USB so that I can use all my existing mini USB chargers (with a mini USB to micro USB adapter).
5. Too expensive. I can get the BlackBerry Storm for free. Why pay an extra $100 for the Omnia?
   

Don't get me wrong now. The Samsung Omnia is a great phone and the Omnia 2 is going to be an even better phone, but these small things make it a "no go" for me. Therefore, I'm left really with one option: the BlackBerry Storm. I've been a Windows Mobile user since the early days of Windows CE. Time to make the switch.

BlackBerry Storm 9550 on video

Are you a CrackBerry? Watch the BlackBerry Storm 9550 (also known as the BlackBerry Storm 2) on video.

BlackBerry Storm price drops as the Storm 2 approaches

You may have noticed that Verizon Wireless has been dropping the price on the BlackBerry Storm. Does this mean that the Storm 2 is imminent? I think so. I wonder what type of marketing campaign they will use to promote the Storm 2. Will consumers know how to tell the difference between the Storm and the Storm 2?

• Wi-Fi
  
• SurePress Screen (clickable screen)
• Buttons
  

What other features are going to be different? Consumers will get really confused if Verizon continues selling the old Storm along with the new Storm 2 (which I'm sure they'll do until they deplete their stock). Will we see a GSM version of the Storm 2 appearing on other mobile carriers?

Medical software for the BlackBerry

There are a growing number of medical software solutions for the BlackBerry. Here's a list to get you started:

• Epocrates
  
• Skyscape (they offer a suite a products)
• USBMIS (Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia, Sanford Guide)
  
• mobile MPR (Monthly Prescribing Reference)
  
• Unbound Medicine (like Skyscape, they offer a suite a products)
• PEPID
• Up to Date (via mobile web browser)
• QxMD
• mobilePDR (coming "back" soon)

This is a growing list (and this isn't a comprehensive list either). I simply wanted to highlight some of the more popular options that are out there. Navigation is often quite limited if you don't have a touch screen on your device, regardless of your operating system. The BlackBerry Storm 2 should be coming out soon (and may appear on more networks if rumors are true).

Smartphones for Residency

In a few weeks, medical school graduates will be starting residency (technically, it's internship, but we all simply call it residency now). Many of them will be purchasing smartphones and upgrading from standard PDAs. Do they know which smartphone to get? I'm a strong believer of touch-screen devices.

Here are my suggestions based on the type of operating system (OS) you prefer:

• Apple iPhone OS: You only have once choice here. Apple iPhone. If you're tight on cash, you'll be able to find a used iPhone 3G. Good luck getting a new iPhone 3G[S] by July 1.
• RIM BlackBerry: Storm (or Storm 2 if you can wait until after July 1. This is coming later this summer).
  
• Google Android: T-mobile G1 (there are other phones coming later this summer)
• Palm WebOS: Palm Pre
• Palm Original OS: Used Treo (why buy a device that's running a dying operating system?). Avoid the Palm Centro.
  
• Microsoft Windows Mobile OS: this is where things get really complicated. There are several new phones coming out later this summer, so if you can wait, then you'll end up with a much nicer phone. If you prefer something like an iPhone, then go with something like the Samsung Omnia of HTC Touch Diamond . If you prefer a slider, then go with the HTC Touch Pro (or Touch Pro 2 or Samsung Omnia Pro).

Sounds complicated, doesn't it? How do you decide on the operating system? How do you decide on a mobile phone carrier? (In many cases, that's decided based on the phone you choose). I'll write more about these topics later this week, so stay tuned.

Apple iPhone, BlackBerry Storm, or Palm Pre?

Right now, the most popular touch-screen smartphones are probably the Apple iPhone, the BlackBerry Storm (soon to be replaced by the Storm 2), and the upcoming Palm Pre. There's a newer version of the iPhone that we'll probably be seeing pretty soon, but I don't think you'll see a whole lot new in terms of form or function. Google Android just hasn't gained much traction among healthcare professionals mainly because of the paucity of medical software. I guess to be fair, I should also throw in a Windows Mobile device. However, I'm just not very excited about any of the existing models. Maybe if the next version of Windows Mobile (which should be version 7) ends up being an earth-shattering operating system, then I'll start getting excited again for Microsoft. By then, we'll probably be up to Windows Mobile 8 or 9 (maybe even 10).

So, if you had to buy a new smartphone this summer, which one would you choose?

• Apple iPhone (AT&T)
  
• BlackBerry Storm 2 (Verizon)
• Palm Pre (Sprint)

Will you wait until the device-of-choice ends up coming to your mobile carrier? Will we see the iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network? The Palm Pre will make its rounds eventually.

Thoughts on the BlackBerry Storm 2

I love the Apple iPhone. Unfortunately, I'm on Verizon Wireless and I don't plan to switch to AT&T. I have an iPod Touch and I can get access to many of the novel applications that run on the iPhone.

I admit that I've been intrigued and captivated by the BlackBerry Storm. However, I'm not a huge fan of the SurePress screen. Now, the new BlackBerry Storm 2 won't have the SurePress screen. It will have a traditional capacitive touch screen similar to the iPhone. Plus, I belive it will have Wi-Fi and I think that Skype may be releasing software for the BlackBerry (who knows what types of limitations Verizon Wireless will impose if Skype does become available).

I currently use a Windows Mobile phone made by HTC and it works fine. Most of the mobile web browsers are slow and none are nearly as powerful as the ones found on the Apple iPhone or BlackBerry Storm. I plan to wait and pass on the BlackBerry Storm 2. What am I waiting for? A version of the Verizon Wireless iPhone (I'm hoping the rumors are true).