BeamBerry 3.0 released - adds SD card viewing, no longer free - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community

rivviepop

BeamBerry went 3.0 on Dec. 31st and turned non-free, the honeymoon is over. I haven't had a chance to get into playing with it yet myself, so no comment yet on the new features. What this means though is that you can now view PDF files off your SD card, which might be a real benefit to people dealing with confidential information they don't want pushed to the BeamBerry servers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeamBerry

Fairfax, Virginia - December 31, 2007 - BeamBerry Solutions, Inc. announced today the release of BeamBerry 3.0 which marks a significant next step in the evolution of the BeamBerry viewer. The key new feature introduced in this release is the ability to view documents that are stored on the memory card (e.g. SD card) and documents that are stored in the internal memory of the device. Documents stored on the memory card or in the internal memory of the device can also be transferred to BeamDisk (BeamBerry file system) where they can be opened for viewing, as well as attached to new e-mails and printed to a bluetooth enabled printer. Additionally, documents from BeamDisk can be transferred back to the memory card or to the internal memory of the device. All of the storage mediums can be browsed via a convenient and intuitive file browser. The release also includes numerous significant improvements in the areas of performance, reliability, security, and contains fixes for several bugs discovered in previous versions.

"The fee for an annual BeamBerry service subscription is $49.99 USD."

http://beamberry.com/pressrelease123107.html

akosnitzky · **OS:** 5.0.0.419

Will the free version still work?

rivviepop · 01-06-2008, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Will the free version still work?

alas, I can't check - the way I found out was by doing my standard "check my OTA links for upgrades" and I let BeamBerry upgrade me to 3.0 and found out it was a trial, starting digging and so forth and posted here. I can't go back and check v2.0.8 now (I actually uninstalled 3.0 for the moment since I'm not ready to start the 10-day trial yet).

akosnitzky · **OS:** 5.0.0.419

Wirelessly posted (Verizon 8830: BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105 UP.Browser/5.0.3.3 UP.Link/5.1.2.1)

I got an e-mail from them saying the beta version we have is good for seven days.

Ramsy · 01-07-2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akosnitzky

Will the free version still work?

No. I just tried using the free version installed on my BlackBerry. Right after I used it, I got the following e-mail from Beamberry:

Dear BeamBerry Early Access Customer,

BeamBerry Solutions, Inc. recently announced the release of BeamBerry 3.0 which marks a significant next step in the evolution of the BeamBerry viewer. The key new feature introduced in this release is the ability to view documents that are stored on memory card (e.g. SD card). BeamBerry 3.0 marks the termination of the Early Access program. The subscription price for the BeamBerry service will be $49.99 / year. For further details, please visit our website at BeamBerry - View, Print, Store BlackBerry e-mail attachments.

If you wish to continue using BeamBerry, please download the new version OTA (using your BlackBerry) from BeamBerry Download. Your current version of BeamBerry will work for another seven days. Thank you for being a valued customer.

gameboy213 · 01-07-2008, 02:20 PM

Anybody give this a shot yet? I am very curious to see how the 3.0 works but am swamped and can't really test it myself yet. I love the SD option personally.....

fkjr2 · 01-08-2008, 06:09 PM

not an option for me -

two issues:

No send to fax
No opening of images

I'll stick with Repligo for now.

cayzac · 01-08-2008, 07:24 PM

I've enjoyed having the free version but there's no way in the world its worth $50 a year.

Jaime · 01-08-2008, 07:37 PM

I'm a bit disappointed they didn't offered a special offer to beta testers.

Best,
Jaime

akosnitzky · **OS:** 5.0.0.419

Goodbye Beamberry.

luc-mobile · 01-13-2008, 04:09 PM

Too expensive. Dynoplex has a better and cheaper product. $50 too, but it's a one-time fee.

Jaime · 01-13-2008, 04:11 PM

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8700/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/136)

I used both and I have to say beamberry is way faster than dynoplex. However, it's no better than Repligo.

Best,
Jaime

IanR · 01-17-2008, 03:43 AM

I have downloaded the trial. The SD card feature looks good but it still does not open Word 2007. I have indicated this to them as it just says that it opens Word documents on their website. I will not be paying the $50. Do any of the other similar programs mentioned in this thread open 2007 documents?

luc-mobile · 01-17-2008, 03:55 AM

Dataviz has Documents To Go for the Palm, it opens Word 2007 documents read-only. Dataviz has announced Documents To Go for the Blackberry, but it's been 4 or 5 months and it isn't released yet. Moreover, there are rumors that the new 4.3 OS update is going to include Documents To Go, which I find hard to believe, but anyway.

Short answer: no, there isn't, but there might be soon... ish.

IanR · 01-17-2008, 08:32 AM

Uninstalled beamberry and have gone for the trial of MasterDoc. However all I get when trying to open anything is "Retrieving attachment information please wait" After about 5 minutes the attachment is finally ticked with a green arrow and then when I try to open I continually get "File is not ready yet, please try again in a moment". I am with vodafone UK and on BIS. Never had this with Beamberry. Any ideas anyone? Sergey??

rivviepop · 01-17-2008, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergeyd

I tried the new beamberry's PDF opening feature - it is not native on device opening, PDF file is copied from the SD card to their server, converted and downloaded back. We were thinking adding this feature to MasterDoc some time ago and thought this is way too complex. What do you guys think, is this useful?

I say no - the whole point of storing a PDF on your SD card is for local, non-network reading of the actual PDF file. Having to go through a server to read it is just plain stupid, the PDF spec is open and available for anyone to write a reader.

People want a simple PDF viewer on their device, that's it - store a PDF on the SD card and open it with a viewer. No file management, not bells and whistles like document management or online integration. Just launch an app and open a PDF and read. Period. All this other junk that vendors are adding to products are NOT solving a problem the users have, they're trying to create a need where one does not exist for many folks.

luc-mobile · 01-17-2008, 02:37 PM

The problem is that a phone may not have enough horsepower to "decode" a PDF. It may be really necessary to get it through another computer, elsewhere, that can crunch and mince the data and send it back to the puny phone.

rivviepop · 01-17-2008, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luc-mobile

The problem is that a phone may not have enough horsepower to "decode" a PDF. It may be really necessary to get it through another computer, elsewhere, that can crunch and mince the data and send it back to the puny phone.

I don't buy that - Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile devices have apps which natively read PDF files (presumably written in C/C++ and not J2ME, though). It can and has been done on other platforms and works well, I've used them myself. They are memory constrained(*) (i.e. opening large PDF files that are bigger than available free memory) but for smaller PDFs they work peachy keen.

==
(*) why some PDFs fail on your S60 device « rivviepop phantom

Iare Tosevite · 01-17-2008, 08:53 PM

It would be very interesting to create a "pre-processed" PDF files, so you can store those files when you need it with you without network access.

Or freeware server program. Either way.

luc-mobile · 01-17-2008, 10:06 PM

The world would be a much much better place if PDF had never been invented. But now it's too late.

Sometimes I have to receive PDF from people, but I would never use PDF to store any data I may want to look up at home or in the wild. There are so many other infinitely better formats than that. I just wish the Blackberry could read Plucker documents. If I could talk the developer of FBReader into it... Seems unlikely. The guy seems to have his hands pretty full already.

rivviepop · 01-18-2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergeyd

It converts the file and stores it in the device memory. From there you can copy it to the SD card.

What format are they converted into, a standard PRC file of some sort?

o1sowise · 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergeyd

I tried the new beamberry's PDF opening feature - it is not native on device opening, PDF file is copied from the SD card to their server, converted and downloaded back. We were thinking adding this feature to MasterDoc some time ago and thought this is way too complex. What do you guys think, is this useful?

If this feature were implemented as a simple PDF viewer, I would use this feature every day!

Truthfully, this was one reason I bought the BB, thinking I could store manuals (as PDFs) and acess them anywhere, anytime. I was/am really dissapointed that I cannot do this yet.

JSanders · 01-18-2008, 04:24 PM

John, it is functional with BeamBerry. They have a superb product, especially the new version out. Yes it loads to their server for rendering, but it does work well. You should try it out.

JSanders · 01-20-2008, 08:29 AM

I've created a new thread here with all the Dynoplex/eOffice posts.

http://www.blackberryforums.com/afte...x-support.html

Let's keep this thread to BeamBerry as the OP intended, it had begun to turn into a personal Dynoplex support thread.

Thanks!