Blackberry Bold 4.6.0.297 (Package Version: 4.6.0.508) Update and Review

So I finally figured out that I do not have the latest release version for my Blackberry Bold. I was actually at least two versions behind. I was hoping for a new version to fix my various performance problems that I have blogged about before like speed, memory, and the web browser.

The Process

It was somewhat easy but I would not say that the average Joe could not figure it out on their own and I did not see any instructions. I am sort of mad at myself that I did not do this earlier since the download file is in the same dropdown on the AT&T/Blackberry site as the Desktop Manager.

1. Connect the phone via USB
2. Install the update on your PC
3. Run the Desktop Manager where it then realizes there are updates
4. Choose the updates you want. I had 35. These range from libraries to new firmware to new applications, etc.
5. Click okay and watch it go to town

I actually got a fatal error when I did it the first time and was sort of freaked out but the phone worked fine. The weird part was that I could not get it to recognize that it was plugged into the PC via the USB. I tried two cables and plugged into both my dock and laptop. I did notice that my dock was not seated properly so I fixed that and restarted it which did the trick. The second install went fine and took about 20 minutes.

New Software that I have found so far

1. Visual Voicemail – There are third party applications but this one is available for supposedly only the Bold according to Engadget. I had to add the service through AT&T but it was free. Not sure if this is only temporary since it seems like they are testing it on the Bold.
2. My-Cast Weather – Looks to be a Garmin app which probably means it is pretty good. It does have satellite radar which I couldn’t find in any of the 3 apps on Blackberry App World. The one thing it does not have (which is pretty big) is that it does not have detailed weather for the day or a 5/10 day forecast. I like how WeatherEye shows a different icon for the various weather on my homescreen plus shows the weather if I hover or it so I will still use it as my primary weather app but will use My-Cast for radar.
3. New Games – Pac Man, Scrabble, and Tetris
4. Mobil TV – I clicked on it and it looks to be a $10/month service where you can watch over 40 channels like ESPN, Discovery, Disney, NBC, ABC, and CBS
5. I now have the ability to update BB firmware via the phone. The option was always there but supposedly did not work on v.167.

Conclusion

I did notice that I had 30MB of device memory when I restarted for the first time. I though this was higher because all my apps needed to be started for the first time. Once I started weather, Google Maps, Twitterberry, Facebook and others and looked later I had 42.2MB which is crazy. Just looked an hour later and it is 43.7 while running Pandora which is making me just giddy. It for some reason went up plus I had never seen it that high before. This will be awesome and make my day if they fixed the device memory issue which has been my major complaint about this phone.

Lets hope it fixes my other problems like the following. Only time will tell.

1. The web browser and other apps saying there is not connection to the internet even though the phone says I am on Edge or 3G
2. The memory issue
3. Speed or lack of lag that it gets at times
4. Battery life which should improve if the memory issue is fixed