In the first part of this series , we talked about replacing old devices with the latest, greatest BlackBerry smartphones. Today we’ll look at a lower cost alternative for getting the newest features and applications into your users’ hands: upgrading the software on your existing BlackBerry devices.
BlackBerry OS V4.5 Feature-Rich Upgrade
If you’re trying to delay the inevitable expense of purchasing new devices but want to enhance users’ productivity, a free upgrade to the BlackBerry Device Software v4.5 will make a multimedia monster out of older BlackBerry devices. The v4.5 software brings a lot of value to the enterprise. With the upgrade , you can now:
- Read and edit Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files directly on your BlackBerry;
- Download files from the Internet and save to your BlackBerry;
- Copy, paste and change font formatting;
- Do remote searches of e-mails on their mail server, in addition to those on the BlackBerry;
- View e-mail in rich text/HTML, so tables, images and fonts with formatting look like they would on your desktop computer.
- Send voice notes instead of typing an e-mail;
- Access videos, music, sports and news with multimedia streaming capabilities; and
- Much more (click to read the spec’s from BlackBerry.com) …
The upgrade to v4.5 will, for the most part, give the Pearl, Curve, 8800 Series and 8700 Series BlackBerry devices all of these advanced functionalities. Though, it should be noted that the 8700 Series doesn’t support music or video. To see if your smartphones already have these new features, or if they’re compatible for the upgrade, click here . CrackBerry also provided a good v4.5 round-up in its Help, How-To & Tips section.
For more hints on how to upgrade to v4.5, click here . You also need to make sure your BES is updated to V4.1 service pack 6 for best performance and compatibility; more more details click here.
Now that we’ve explored how to handle either your users’ desire for the newest handsets or the most advanced applications, in our third, and final, installment we’re going to take a mobile IT professional’s view on how to deal with the invasion of user-owned devices – such as the iPhone 3G, HTC Touch, G1 or Nokia N97 – and what impact adding those devices could have on the enterprise network…
by Mitch Berk
[...] In our next installment, we’ll take a mobile IT Professional’s look at the least expensive way to get the latest, greatest capabilities: upgrade the OS and features of your existing smartphones… Click here go to to Part II. [...]
[...] upgrading to the latest BlackBerry smartphone models, and in the second installment, we discussed upgrading existing smartphones to the latest to BlackBerry v4.5 operating system for many new features. Today we’re going to look at the best way to handle new devices that [...]