JaikuBerry

A fast, low-bandwidth Blackberry interface to jaiku!

The current version is 0.8.0

Is it free?

Yes! You can obtain jaikuBerry at no charge, and in fact can download the GPLv2 source as well. If you want to make a donation via paypal, or buy me something from my amazon wish-list, you can do both of those things here. While the program is free, your mobile provider may charge you for data transfers, depending on what kind of plan you are on. Hopefully most BlackBerry users are on unlimited data plans… I can’t imagine going any other way, myself!

Get JaikuBerry

  • You can install over the air. OTA Install from http://www.movethemarkets.com/downloads/JaikuBerry.jad (can also use http://urltea.com/lpj if you don’t want to type the whole url into your BB browser)
    • I’ve tested this version on my 8700c
    • I’ve gotten reports that it works on BlackBerry Pearl, 8800, 7520, and 7100i devices as well.
  • Source/Executable .zip
    • Contains ALX/COD files which can be used with Desktop Manager to install on your blackberry.
    • Contains all source code, so you could build it and/or modify it all you want. (GPL v2)

Features

  • Post jaikus from your blackberry. Send the post either via the menu, or by pressing ENTER.
    Posting Screen
  • Posts can include icons.
    Post Icons
  • Store up to 5 locations for convenience
    Five Locations
  • View your overview, the public ‘explore’ page, and your own recent jaikus.
    View Overview
  • Browse to the comments for posts.
    Browse to Comments
    Viewing a Post
  • Browse to all the posts from the selected user.
    Brows to a User
  • You can view your contacts, and the contacts of the currently selected post’s author (if they are public). From there, you can view all posts for a contact (or channel).
    Contacts
  • Several Keyboard Shortcuts keep you from having to use that scroll wheel quite as much. See them on the “About” screen.
    About Screen
  • Don’t forget to set your settings! The PersonalKey it asks for is not your password! Get your key at api.jaiku.com.

FAQ

  • Does it use SMS?
    • No, it communicates over TCP/IP. So, it should count as data traffic. If you are on a metered data plan (rather than an unlimited data plan), your mobile carrier may charge you for this traffic. Make sure you know what kind of plan you are on, so you know what you are getting yourself into!
  • I can see my posts, but I can’t make new posts, or view my overview. What gives?
    • This is almost always a problem with your personal key. Please get your key from http://api.jaiku.com, and double check that you’ve entered it 100% correctly. Maybe try emailing your key to your blackberry, and then cutting-and-pasting the key into the field, to be sure. Make sure there are no extraneous spaces before or after the key.
  • Every time I try to do anything, I get errors about unable to open tunnels, or other weird-sounding network errors.
    • If the errors happen every time (aren’t intermittent), then chances are you have not set up your Blackberry for TCP/IP. Try the settings for your carrier found here, and see if that helps.
  • I pointed my BlackBerry to the OTA link to upgrade, but the download screen says it’s still the version I already have.
    • It a caching issue. If you hit ‘r’ to reload the page, you should see it update to the correct version. Even if that doesn’t work, go ahead with the install and then check the version number on the ‘About” screen when running jaikuBerry. It will probably download the correct version regardless.
  • Which BlackBerry devices does it work on?
    • It should work on any recent BlackBerry. I test it on my 8700c. I’ve gotten reports that people are using it on 8700, 8800, Pearl, 7520, and 7100i devices. If you use it on another BlackBerry, please email me at richard@movethemarkets.com and let me know so I can add it to the list!
  • Does it work on non-BlackBerry java-enabled phones?
    • JaikuBerry is a blackberry-only product. I did make a standard J2ME MIDlet, which should work on all recent java phones. It is available on my Software page. It doesn’t have quite as many features as jaikuBerry, but is fairly usable. For a richer experience, you might also want to check out the J2ME mJaiku project.
  • Why can’t I (comment on a post|delete comments|post to a channel|manage my contacts) via JaikuBerry?
    • There is currently only one API call available from jaiku, which is to make a post to your jaiku stream. As jaiku opens up more of their functionality through API calls, these features will quickly be integrated into JaikuBerry. There are some 3rd-party apps (like the excellent juhu) which can post comments, but they do it via a screen-scraping hack that I would rather not have to resort to doing on a low-bandwidth mobile connection.
  • Sometimes I get “Bad DNS Address” errors.
    • Me too. I don’t know why this happens, but I have a theory that it happens if the phone starts communicating with “home base” (like to get emails or update its time, or whatever) while I’m trying to send a post. Luckily, every time it’s happened to me, it works if I just try again. So, just hit ENTER again to send the post (your carefully worded post remains intact in case of an error). Or, if you were loading a page of jaikus, hit ‘r’ and reload it. It should work the second time around. When I get some time, I’ll look into whether this problem can be avoided.