RIM finally distributes BlackBerry System 4.5, enables Pandora

By Scott M. Fulton, III

The real reason people started buying Windows 3.0 wasn't really because of the wealth of new software made for Windows for the first time. Seriously, that wasn't the reason. By the time people learned about stuff like Lotus 1-2-3G and WordPerfect for Windows -- which were both going to change the world, if you'll recall -- they were already sold on Windows 3.0 for another reason: the smooth on-screen fonts. Because let's face it, Windows/386 looked like it belonged on an 8-bit computer, compared to Macintosh.

Late last night, the BlackBerry System 4.5 upgrade finally came through for users of those older-style units that actually look like BlackBerrys. In it, you'll find relief...in the form of the replacement of the thing that made the 8800s and older units look pale compared to the (slow) Storm, or the iPhone: the disgusting looking default system font.

Okay, so the font file itself is still in the system, but you won't actually use it or want it. The old system fonts looked like something spat out of a Centronics dot-matrix printer, circa 1978. I remember selling dot-matrix printers in the early days, including one of the first to offer a switch that converted you from "sans-serif" to "serif," or in that particular case, from "legible" to "illegible." Until today, we 8800 users had something called "BBClarity" (which at least meant, devoid of junk) and "BBMilbank," which looked like it belonged on one of those programmable highway warning signs, shouting, "BEWARE OF ZOMBIES."

The new fonts in System 4.5 -- BBAlphaSans and BBAlphaSerif -- are both pleasant, legible, and non-offensive. Most importantly, they actually enable the use of some applications that have been either available for multiple BlackBerry models, or waiting around until someone finally gave the word. One of those apps is the mobile edition of Pandora, the original programmable radio stream that learns your musical tastes as you listen. Having Pandora in my pocket is reason alone to own a mobile handset; my friend Angela can have her YouTube, thank you, I'll stick with my own channel of music made by musicians and not machines.

The Mobile Pandora isn't as conversational as the PC edition -- for instance, you can't go into your profile and load up all your bookmarks. You can get an explanation why you're hearing the song you're hearing, and this little feature alone shows you why the System upgrade was necessary -- on the old system, there's no way this information would be the least bit legible in a single alert box.

But this version appears to have been built with the understanding that Pandora users will most likely use their PCs to program their personal stations, not their BlackBerrys. And that's fine, because while we're working out in the gym or riding our bicycles or tuning out the noise of something else purporting to be music, you don't really have that much time to go poking buttons.

BlackBerry users take note: You shouldn't try to upgrade your systems using your BlackBerry Desktop Software for Windows until you've upgraded that too. The only way you can move up from version 4.2.x to 4.5 safely is to use Internet Explorer (not Firefox or any other browser, thanks to the use of an ActiveX control), and link to this address. Download the new version of the ActiveX control, which will then bootstrap a process that will enable you to download the new version of the Application Loader for your desktop. The old Application Loader will not work for this purpose, and you might find that out the hard way unless you upgrade this way. Then be sure to exit IE and unplug your BlackBerry from the USB cable for a moment (the software should tell you when), then reconnect it before starting the upgrade.

The upgrade process will back up your existing calendar, e-mail, media, and personal applications automatically, and will restore them after the new modules are loaded in and verified. The verification process, for some reason, is the longest stage -- be prepared to wait as long as 45 minutes. The process in its entirety could take an hour, maybe a little longer.

Not all your old applications may work in the upgraded system without being replaced. Most surprisingly, BlackBerry App World is one of them. You'll need to manually uninstall it, then reinstall it from this address.

You'll notice some differences right away, some thanks to the new system, others on account of smart users who truly appreciate the low value of farting apps. The catalog is much more pleasant to read, even if -- sadly -- some of the entries haven't changed all that much since App World's premiere earlier this month. The "before" and "after" pictures above tell the story. ("ECOE" isn't very self-explanatory, is it? It's a Ticketmaster application, so you'd think it would have been named something like "Ticketmaster Application.")

Nothing makes a smartphone user happier than not being embarrassed. So much applause to the folks at RIM who, while they've been busy concocting all sorts of new goodies for the Storm (I hear something called speed is in the works), they decide to throw us old-timers from '07 and '08 a bone every now and then.