VMS Remote Monitoring On A Blackberry?

JH
John Honovich
Jan 16, 2014
IPVM

Does anyone know any VMS that supports / offers a Blackberry app?

CD
Chris Dearing
Jan 16, 2014

Are you looking for responses from people who have one in-hand or have seen one in-person, or would any respectable VMS vendor claiming to have a Blackberry App be helpful?

JH
John Honovich
Jan 16, 2014
IPVM

Any vendor claiming would be fine. Blackberry app support is not something most vendors would be highly motivated to lie about.

KL
Keefe Lovgren
Jan 17, 2014
IPVMU Certified

Blackberry app support is not something most vendors would be highly motivated to lie about.

that is hilarious... who still carries a blackberry? Alarm.com supports a few models of blackberry and you can get VSaaS through them if that helps... not much of a VMS but if you are looking for only view and events it would work well...

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Ethan Ace
Jan 16, 2014

The only one I know off the top of my head is Genetec's Security Center Mobile.

Milestone, Exacq, and Avigilon all support iOS/Android (and Windows Phone in some cases). Those are the only ones I'm familiar with.

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Steve Beck
Jan 17, 2014

Oh boy.....is the Smithsonian looking to hookup some IQinVision MJPEG cameras next to The Spirit of St. Louis display? :) Our biggest client is still using Blackberrys currently, so I decided to look this up. The results were not promising.

On the IP side other than Genetec there really nothing out there which is crazy condsidering Blackberry had 43% market share back in 2010. Looks like you could get away using the IP Camera Viewer app but I know that's not a VMS. Now if you count Honeywell Total Connect 2.0 as a VMS then you are cooking. :) Plus its on the cloud too! I did find some DVRs out there who still offer Blackberry apps. Speco's LS, CS and PC based DVRs can still be viewed on a Blackberry but not even on their newer DVRs. Hikivison's iVMS 4500 app is on the Blackberry store too. Everfocus has a DVR that be viewed on a Blackberry as well.

I pretty much gave up on my search when I found out Aimetis who is headquartered in the same town as Blackberry is, doesn't even offer a Blackberry app for their VMS.

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Daniel S-T
Jan 17, 2014

Why all the Blackberry hate? Still tons of users out there. More users than Windows Phone and yet people keep pumping out Windows Phone apps...

Exacq Vision doesn't have any app, but their webclient (both basic and advance) is fully supported by the Blackberry 10 browser. This has been told to me by the canadian Exacq sales rep (who's name now escapes me) and from me testing it on my own Blackberry Z10.

Outside of that, I don't know of any.

BM
Ben Murphy
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

Sounds like there are a lot of ignorant people on here who aren't familiar with Blackberry's latest product - the BB10 operating system based on QNX. I traded in my iPhone for a Z10 and will never go back. BB10 has an Android runtime that will execute any free Android app. I just loaded Video Insight's VI Mobile VMS android app and it works better on my BB Z10 than it did on a customer's Samsung Active native Android device that I loaded it on last week. The VI web client also works on my Z10. Granted the Android app is not as good as the iOS app, but this is VI's problem - not Blackberry's. It takes about 10 seconds to download an APK from the Google Play store and then install on a BB10 device (need firmware 10.2.1 or higher to install the APK directly without sideloading).

In addition to that I get at least 2X the battery life of an iPhone, better file management including remote file access to my server over cellular, better communications management (Hub), HDMI output, SD Card, NFC, better security, replaceable battery, much better browser that supports Flash, etc. etc.

I will never go back to Apple after using the Z10.

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Brian Rhodes
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

Blackberry? DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

JH
John Honovich
Jan 19, 2014
IPVM

"BB10 has an Android runtime that will execute any free Android app. I just loaded Video Insight's VI Mobile VMS android app and it works better on my BB Z10 than it did on a customer's Samsung Active native Android device that I loaded it on last week."

Ben, thanks!

For more, here's an article describing Blackberry Android support.

Btw, do you know how backwards compatible this support is? Do older BB devices support this OS / Android apps?

BM
Ben Murphy
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

To my knowledge the Android runtime is only supported on BB10 and thus would not be supported on older Blackberry devices. The newer devices running BB10 are the Z10, Z30, and the Q10.

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Steve Beck
Jan 19, 2014

Ben here is a news flash for you since you are so well informed: Blackberry is in trouble! Just google up Blackberry and you will see a bleak to mediocre future projected for them. I answered John's question specifically about a Blackberry app, not one using a droid app. And it sounds like you need to get the stars aligned to get it working properly.

BM
Ben Murphy
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

The question of whether an app is native Blackberry or native Android is largely irrelevant to end users. They just want to be able to see their VMS video on their phone. And this is easily done with a BB10 device using Android app. The stars do have to be aligned correctly which is the same for any app. The process of installing an Android app on a BB10 device is far easier and faster than, for example, assigning the correct public IP and ports, firewall config, etc. that is necessary to make any app on any device work with a VMS.

Your news flash on Blackberry's trouble is 7 years late since Apple released the iPhone in 2007 which was functionally more superior to BBOS THEN. Thanks for the tip, but I reckon I will keep using my BB10 Z10 which I consider to be functionally much more superior to iOS and Android devices NOW regardless of your future projections of Blackberry's success.

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Steve Beck
Jan 19, 2014

My point was about how most users today have either an iPhone or Droid. Your point about the iPhone launching back in 2007 is irrelevant. Blackberry actually kept gaining market share and users until 2010. Most people didn't have an iPhone because they weren't avaiable to Verzion users at that time. Unless you were in NYC or LA on the AT&T network you didn't have an iPhone. That's why Blackberry got bigger until 2010.

Did I say anything about Blackberry's technical performance? No, I said my experience with Blackberry was a postive one. My point is hardly anyones buys Blackberrys anymore and have lost signifcant market share in a short amount of time. I can not recommend Blackberry to my clients because of future uncertainity and there are much better options out of the market for them. If a client wanted to view their cameras on their Blackberry, I would advise them to get an iPhone or a Droid. Even though it could be done on a Blackberry, they would forget it could only work a certain version of BBOS or it wouldn't work properly 100% of time. Those issues can be a profit killer down the road. I look at our jobs as a long term commitment so I have to think about these issues. At least with the iPhone apps I know those will work.

If you had actually read my response, my point was about how hardly anyone develops an exclusive Blackberry app for CCTV viewing in 2014 but it seems like your reading skills are lacking.

JH
John Honovich
Jan 19, 2014
IPVM

Steve, Ben, both of your technical observations are welcome and appreciated. Lets please refrain from commenting on people's reading skills and / or general intelligence.

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Steve Beck
Jan 17, 2014

I never said Blackberry itself was bad. Was a good Canadian company that got overrun by Google. This also happened to Yahoo and AOL. The one and only Blackberry I had, worked a 1,000 times better than my current crappy Motorola Admiral Droid. I used to demo our Speco DVR all the time on my work Blackberry. Now I use my personal IPhone to demo cameras.

I am still in my 20s so I have to be trendy ;) I don't know any friends who still use a Blackberry. To me Blackberry was a product of the 2000s, it's not looking good for the future of Blackberry.

SP
Sean Patton
Jan 17, 2014

"Still-needs-a-physical-keyboard-to-type guy" is disheartened by this thread.

You might as well walk around with a rotary phone, or a Motorola Startac if youre going to drop a blackberry down on the conference room table in this day and age; (unless you really really really actually need reliable remote wipe). Don Cherry thinks you look rediculous with your blackberry. [/jest]

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Daniel S-T
Jan 19, 2014
Only BlackBerry devices running the BlackBerry 10 OS can run Android apps. The BlackBerry Q5, Q10, Z10 and Z30. And if I remember correctly, only android apps meant for 4.2.1 (Jellybeans, if I recall) will work on the BlackBerry.
BM
Ben Murphy
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

Looks like 4.2.2 is supported with the latest firmware, but not 4.3 or 4.4 Kit Kat yet. Reference.

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Daniel S-T
Jan 19, 2014

I was close, haha.

The ability to run Android apps is neat, but not always easy. I have had difficulties trying to find .APK files, and then when you convert them they don't all work the same depending on your phone. For the Z10 I haven't had anyproblems, but for my Q10 (qwerty phone) the apps don't always scale right.

BM
Ben Murphy
Jan 19, 2014
IPVMU Certified

With 10.2.1 firmware it is much easier now to find the APK files. On your phone just browse to APK Downloader - Download APK Files and search for the app you want (it searches Google Play Store). Then download the APK and click the file to install.

Not a perfect solution as you have noted but for most apps it works well (on my Z10) and allows me to run apps only available on Android/iOS with a better mobile device.

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Scott Thomas
Jan 19, 2014

I just saw this article today about a new Blackberry ad campaign.

The key message; their keyboard is awesome

It looks like BB has given up on the consumer market

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