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Blackberry upgrade 4.2.2 to 4.5

I have had my BlackBerry Curve aka 8300 for quite a long time and I have been using it heavily from telneting/sshing to server to maps and calendar syncs.  I thought I had done it all. I rejoiced when I've read while looking for something else that the OS revision 4.5 was available from my carrier.

There's a lot of awesome stuff here, with multimedia streaming support, Microsoft Office document editing and HTML e-mail support at the fore. I am still waiting for RIM to tune up its Web browser, though—it's falling behind the options available on Windows Mobile, Symbian, and the iPhone.

Some of the new features are handheld-only; some require server upgrades. If you're on BlackBerry Enterprise Server, your IT department will need to upgrade; if you're on BlackBerry Internet Service, you'll need to wait a few months for your carrier to upgrade.

bberry-upgrades

I have read a lot of posts and things about how to upgrade its BlackBerry and it sounded somehow dangerous and scary as some users reported some bricking... In fact, it is very very easy. I got tired reading all the bad stories and warnings on forums and decided to get the information from the source. The download section of the blackberry.com site had a comprehensive listing of the good stuff.

My upgrade followed these steps:

• Download and install the latest BlackBerry Desktop Manager. This was the first time for to use it and I found it pretty neat, never had the need for it as a BES user.
• Reboot
• Download the OS update from the very same site. It even checks your PIN so you download the right one.
• Install the OS update. Once done connect you BBerry and follow the update instructions.

I ran into a few issues while upgrading but nothing was relate to the upgrade itself. I got scared when it fails during ROM upgrade. In fact, my usb drivers for my devices were not installed properly and it would not connect to the device as the device "was not working properly" as per windows. this said, the install retry went well as I installed those drivers once and for all - it probably asked me 3 times for the very same drivers.

The only bad things about this upgrade it that it is very slow, if not very very  slow. While the ROM upgrade itself is fast (10min), the first boot up after upgrade is painfully slow and it took my Blackberry about 35 minutes to come back from the upgrading dead.

So what's new in this new OS revision?

If you have a BlackBerry Pearl 8100 or BlackBerry 8800, you'll get:

• Spell check
• BlackBerry Maps with Points of Interest
• Improved media player with play list support and automatic playlist generation
• Voice note recording
• Streaming support for YouTube and Sling Player
• Bluetooth stereo music
• Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo

If you have a BlackBerry Pearl 8130, you'll get:

• Automatic play list generation in the media player
• Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo

If you have any BlackBerry Curve or the BlackBerry 8820 or 8830, you'll get:

• BlackBerry Maps with Points of Interest
• Improved media player with play list support and automatic playlist generation
• Voice note recording
• Video recording on Curve models
• Streaming support for YouTube and Sling Player
• Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo

If you have a BlackBerry 8700 or 8703e, you'll get:

• Spell check
• BlackBerry Maps with Points of Interest
• New pictures and ringtones applications
• Voice note recording
• Microsoft Office document editing with DocumentsToGo

Also there are a bunch of BES advantage that I was not able to test as I don't have full BES authority at work but they list as below:

• Native format attachment downloading
• HTML e-mails
• Over-the-air device upgrades
• Free/busy calendar lookup
• Searching the server for old e-mail messages