Maxis requirement satisfied

It's been a hectic week for me but it looks like we're out of the woods for now.

 A last minute PO from Maxis will be satisfied once the second and final delivery is made on Monday for a quantity of authentic BlackBerry skins for the Bold and the Curve.

If you're on of those that booked a Maxis Bold and you receive a free skin when you collect your device, just remember, it's from Soleen Strategies stock. I hope to continue to satisfy all your BlackBerry accessory requirements in the future.

Baha

Otterbox Defender series for the Bold

Coming soon! An OtterBox product especially for the Bold and I am definitely going to get this for myself and also try and push this to one of the retailers to sell to the Malaysian BlackBerry toting public.

Price is set at USD49.95 if you buy from their website at www.otterbox.com but you have to factor in shipping and possible excise duty, so it's going to be quite expensive.I usually can get it cheaper and if the interest from the public is there (resulting in the retailers wanting to carry it), I can import large quantities to lessen the cost to the consumers.

Sample accessories have arrived!

I am pleased to say that the sample accessories I ordered have arrived.

Unfortunately, not all that I ordered was available by the looks of it; only about half of the Bold accessories I ordered arrived. I am guessing, there is tremendous demand for Bold accessories so they are spread a little thin right now.

The picture shows a small selection of what I brought in. In fact I brought in over RM11,000.00 worth of accessories! Nevertheless, I have to order more so I have a complete line up of accessories to show the telcos and other potential retailers. But I am very pleased! Very pleased indeed! We're one step closer to getting this show on the road and making it real!

Bold Accessories available for distribution

Here are some accessories that will be available for distribution in Malaysia. This list is by no means exhaustive; there is a long list of original BlackBerry Bold accessories available but can't display them all here.

As I am not involved in the retail side, I do not dictate the exact product mix that will appear on store shelves but I would imagine most retailers would be more then happy to carry a particular product line if the public demands it .

Malaysian BlackBerry accessories reseller

Sorry for the delay but it has been a hectic several weeks for me here but I believe it's worth it.

My company, Soleen Strategies Sdn Bhd has been appointed a reseller of original BlackBerry accessories for Malaysia recently. This means, original accessories will be available for Malaysian BlackBerry users locally at reasonable prices. I'm tying down some loose ends, sorting out distribution and retail channels for West Malaysia and East Malaysia and hopefully, accessories for the BlackBerry will be available from various retail outlets within a month or two! I want it out as fast as possible, but I have to make sure it's done properly so bear with me folks!

Curious what types of accessories are available? Go to www.shopblackberry.com which is the official RIM website for accessories and pretty much everything you see there is available once I am up and running. What it doesn't show there are the accessories for the Bold, which I will also be bringing in as well! Cool init!?

Good things come to those who wait... won't keep you waiting much longer. Promise!

Otterbox for the Curve (Defender Series)

This is the dragon skin of BlackBerry protection. If a BlackBerry had to go into a combat zone, it should be protected by an Otterbox!

At first glance, the yellow and black color just spells danger! It was meant to be man handled and it fears no rough terrain. I think it look great, although that is subject to personal taste as some folks I know, don't like the color too much. Too much like a kid's toy apparently. I disagree.

The Otterbox is great for people always on the go, outdoors personality types. It has three layers of protection; the first layer being an optional protective membrane that protects the keyboard and screen from scratches, dirt and dust. The second layer is a high impact polycarbonate shell and the third layer is the silicone skin which absorbs bumps and shock. Although the case does provide some protection against water, it doesn't provide complete protection against water and dust and should not be used underwater.

It does add some bulk but for me, its a small price to pay to protect my precious BlackBerry. I have purposely dropped and even lobbed my BlackBerry onto, concrete, tiled floors and asphalt to demo the protective qualities of the case. It comes with a holster that also has the sleep function (holster your BlackBerry and it goes to sleep/locks)

It's perfect for those in perhaps the construction industry, or public utilities, oil and gas or any other profession that may subject the user and their possessions to a hard day in the "wilderness".

What's the drawback? Well the only thing I can think of is that the protective membrane may be a little tricky to seat properly over the keyboard and other buttons. Other then that, I really honestly can't think of any "drawbacks". I love it!  It has replaced my Seidio rubberized hard cover and holster combo as protective casing of choice for m Curve. I strongly recommend this to anyone who is serious about protecting their Curve as well as a number of other models including Pearl, 8700 and 8800.

Anyone in Kuching interested in purchasing this case, email me or buy it yourself online at otterbox.com

Review: Seidio Super Slim Rubberized Hardcase and Holster Combo

Awhile back I did a review on the Seidio Skin Case Holster for the 8300 which when used in combination of my Blackberry rubber skin was a perfect combo. Well...

It still is quite a good combination except you have to pay attention when you place your skinned BB into the plastic holster. Sometimes it tends to pinch the rubber skin covering your device and as a result it doesn't grip as well. I discovered this when my Curve fell out of the holster outside my son's pre-school a few weeks ago. I only realized when I arrived home and raced back hoping that it was still lying on the roadside or at the very least ran over by a car and in a million pieces (the worst case scenario would be someone had found it and wasn't going to return it to me). I was ready to call up the the IT boys in charge of my exchange server to do a remote wipe of the device and admittedly was a little excited that I could get a new Curve (I have a sick, sick mind).

Anyway to cut a long story short, luckily, a friend of mine who's daughter also goes to the same pre-school, found my Curve and hung on to it until I got there (she also uses a Blackberry too, a Red Pearl 8100 from Celcom-Vodafone). Boy was I relieved.

The subject of this review, the super slim rubberized hard case completely solves the problem of the holster pinching the rubber skin because, quite simply, there is no rubber skin. Instead there is a "rubberized hard case" which basically means it made out of hard plastic but coated with a thin layer of rubber. It feels good in your hands and protects your Curve very well. I am very pleased with it. It has cutouts so all the buttons, headphone and min-USB jacks are all exposed so you don't have to ever remove the Curve from within its protective cover. The only problem is, and it is a small problem, that where the hard case meets the edge of the QWERTY keyboard, the slight rise in the hard case does make pressing some of the buttons bordering it somewhat difficult (the "Q", "A", "ALT", "P", "DEL" and return keys namely). Again, its a small problem and I can live with it. The benefits of this case far outweigh the drawbacks.

Order your own from the Seidio Online website now

Review: Seidio Rubberized Skin Case Holster for 8300

Back when I was still using a 8707, I used to love the hard plastic holster that would tightly grip my BB with its screen and keyboard facing towards my body. It protected the keyboard and the scratch prone screen and would lock the screen when you inserted the BB into the holster too. About the only downside is that it exposed the rear of the BB to the possibility of scratches and bumps. When I moved to the Pearl and eventually to the Curve, I missed the holster and had to use an array of leather cases to protect my BB. Until now.

I began using a rubberized skin for my Pearl and Curve as it provided extra grip when holding onto my precious BB, especially when it may be slippery and oily. I always install a screen protector of some kind as soon as possible to protect the screen ( I hate seeing a scratch on the screen.. drives me insane) and together this combo protected my Curve rather well. Unfortunately, it had to be slipped into my pocket which meant, it was naturally rubbed and scratched by coins, keys or my money clip which also shares the pocket.

The Seidio Rubberized Skin Case Holster took the protection to another level. My Curve, with its rubberized skin and screen protector can now be safely, and firmly gripped by this holster and hung from my belt (either horizontally or vertically) with its keyboard and screen facing inwards! The perfect solution if you ask me. It improved on the original holster for the 8707 because with the rubberized skin, it now protects the back of the Curve from scratches as well, especially now that the Curve has a camera and it's lens and flash are present on the back plate as well. It also has a magnet built in so that your Curve will automatically lock when you place it into the holster's protective grip.

The grip of the holster is secure and after a while you learn how to lock your Curve in place without "creasing" the rubberized skin. This is especially true when the skin has been in use for awhile and may have become somewhat loose in its fit around the Curve. Slipping the Curve into the holster sometimes causes the spring arm of the holster to cause the skin to crease. Eventually you learn to gently and ever so slightly lift the spring arm a little as you place your Curve inside to prevent the creasing.

It's a great piece of kit, and I strongly recommend you use this combo (screen protector, rubberized skin and Seidio Holster) to protect your Curve. Buy it online from the Seidio website now.

Review: Vaja Curve case

Vaja cases are the Rolls Royce of leather cases for a wide range of products, smart phones are but one of them. My previous and only other time I owned a Vaja case was a beautiful case for my Treo 650 several years back, so it was with great anticipation that I placed an order for a case designed for my Curve.

It takes about ten days or so for the product to be made (it's custom built to suit your own taste) and couriered by Federal Express to Kuching. I ripped open the box with excitement to reveal the Argentinian leather product.

I have to say I was a little dissapointed in what I received. It didn't looked as good in real life as it did on the fancy Flash site at www.vajacases.com; the leather looked almost plastic, the stitching was untidy and the edges didn't look as crisp as I thought it should. For a premium product, I expected more.

The case has a built in screen protector made out of plastic and it remains to be seen whether this will itself scratch easily. Imagine having to protect the screen protector!

The good stuff? It fits snuggly; some cases are either too small or too lose. This one grips the Curve tightly so there is no chance of it falling off. The leather is stiff enough to provide support and protection to the Curve and not require a small strip running across the face just above the trackball like some cases do. I find these style of cases annoying as the strip of leather interferes with the full motion usage of the trackball. I usually cut off the leather strip but this leads to the sides of the cases to flex and not grip the curve as well.

Seriously though, for a premium product like a Vaja case, you expect more. I wish they produced a case for the Curve similar to the model I had for my Treo 650 and add an option for a flip cover to protect the face. I didn't order my case with a belt clip as I don't like my blackberry on my hip with the face exposed outwards; that is an invitation to a disaster. I would prefer a leather flip to cover the face if I were to use a belt clip of some kind.

Rating: 5/10

Pros: stiff leather grips Curve firmly, built in screen protector
Cons: Pricey, screen protector scratches easily, build quality not up to usual Vaja standard, looks cheaper then it is