Everybody's on CrackBerry

MANILA, Philippines - My job had taken me places recently. On a press trip a couple of weeks ago, I’d landed in Nagoya for a connecting flight to Detroit, where I would finally hop a plane to my destination, Orlando. The six-or-so hours of air time I spent on the first of many flights would have given me traveler’s disorientation if it weren’t for the controllable connectivity my BlackBerry Torch afforded me.  

Lone and displaced as I was upon landing, I’d found a travel companion in my ‘Berry. There was an alert that asked whether I’d like to switch to the local Osaka time while keeping my Manila time just below it. But more than allowing for time-synchronizing travel with the dual time option, BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) had redefined what it meant to keep in touch. On the free and easy chat interface, I was real-time corresponding aka “BBM-ing” with a friend in Singapore, who I knew was wording her next whine about work very carefully; “Sabrina is writing a message,” my phone continued to notify after minutes had passed. And while I scanned the updates in a BBM conference made for Asian journalists attending the event I’d been dispatched to, a friend back home was keeping me posted on the party she was throwing, embedding a message with a crowd photo or punctuating it with a beer icon.

Jetset go!

Time differences couldn’t divide me from my contacts. Especially since en route just meant I was in sync, a BlackBerry Travel app e-mailing the LinkedIn contacts I had at my destination with my travel activities. More importantly, you would be notified if your flight’s status changed since your phone’s travel itinerary would too; and before that flight delay or cancellation set off a series of unfortunate travel mishaps, the app could make suggestions for any missing accommodations or timing conflicts in the process. Your travel companion was also an airport concierge, hooking you up with the nearest hotel or renting you a car if you needed one. 

A smartphone should know you’ll be going places. Which is why the sorts of socially, professionally, and globally dynamic people we’ve pinned down here are admittedly CrackBerry addicts. Wherever they ended up, home wasn’t just where the heart was—it was where their phones were, too.

For more information on BlackBerry Travel, visit http://www.blackberry.com/ph/travel.

For these BlackBerry addicts, the communication fix with friends all over the world is free and easy. 

* * *

Hi, my name is CLIFF HO and I’m a CrackBerry addict

25, TV host for Channel V International & Starworld

Where are you now?

“Hong Kong and heading to Macau next.”

Last international BBM you received/sent:  

“From my mate in Ireland giving me stick about my football team losing. He said ‘Arsenal look like a bunch of schoolgirls out there, you really should consider changing teams,’ to which I replied, ‘@#$% off.’” 

BBM contact you’re proudest of:

“I don’t want to name drop and all but she is kind of a big deal: my mum.”

Once you go BlackBerry...

“...you will become so social that you become anti-social. Get off your phone! (laughs)”

* * *

Hi, my name is AZIZA MONDOñEDO and I’m a CrackBerry addict

26, F&B manager for The Tinder Box, distributor for The House of Vanita swimwear and lingerie, jewelry designer

Where are you now? Alsemberg, Belgium. Tomorrow, Antwerp. London at the end of the month. 

Last international BBM you received/sent:

“BBIIIGGGG party when I get back. Drunkeoke,” to which my best friend replied “Ttttiiickkkktoooookkkkk.”

BBM contact you’re proudest of:

“Apl.de.ap. I met him last Christmas when he came to Cebu and Manila.”

Once you go BlackBerry...

“...it’s difficult to switch to other phones no matter how fancy they seem. I love BBM, I rely on email alerts and I find it very helpful that I can review entire conversations on my phone. My days are crazy but manageable because of my BB. I can download attachments, get into a conference on BBM, and we can make decisions on the dot. Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough to keep me from you!”

* * *

Hi, my name is CARLO CALMA and I’m a CrackBerry addict

29, design consultant at MDCP and sculptor

Date of last departure?

“I also help my mom with her pottery business so we went to trade shows in Frankfurt and London last February.”

Last international BBM you received/sent:

“I’m also based in the UK so I asked a friend there to send me some work documents through FedEx.”

Once you go BlackBerry...

“...you get a mistress for life. It’s good ‘cause my staff here communicates by e-mail so I respond quickly. Most of us are BBM users so it’s cheaper to text and there’s less lagging time. I can also read excel sheets, so if I can view suppliers’ estimates. Also with BBM, there’s a Facebook-like interface so if someone changes their status, you know where they are.”

* * *

Hi, my name is AIKA LIM and I’m a CrackBerry addict.

21, Ateneo communications student and editor-in-chief of The Guidon

Last international BBM you received/sent:

“My parents live in Jakarta so that’s how I keep in touch with them. My dad and I were talking about grocery shopping so he was telling me about how the cereal here was cheap compared to in Jakarta.”

BBM MVP: “I’ve interviewed Smart Gilas center Greg Slaughter over BBM. I had to get a quote.”

Apps of choice:

“I used to be The Guidon’s sports editor so I get a lot of updates from the Sports Illustrated app. Dictionary.com, also for the thesaurus and when I’m running out of words. Having a BB, I also get to fact-check right away through the mobile browser.” 

Once you go BlackBerry...

“I went to an international school in Jakarta so BBM is how I keep in touch with my friends there. Once I got BBM, my friend and I got so much closer even though we’re connected through Facebook and Skype.”

* * *

Hi, my name is PAM SOLLILAPSI and I’m a CrackBerry addict

23, events coordinator for Republiq and Opus at Resorts World Manila

Last international BBM you received/sent:

“To Jay Sean’s manager. He told me, ‘Take a pic of the crowd’ but I sent him a photo of me and Jay Sean taking a shot.”

BBM contact you’re proudest of:

“DJs and managers who we get in touch with when we go to their country. The road manager of Cobra Starship, Jay Sean ...wait, I have to browse through my 300 contacts (laughs).”

Once you go BlackBerry...

“Everything’s here and everything’s synced with my officemates. We all have a general calendar with everything happening. There’s a Republiq BBM group, Encore BBM group, our personal BBM group... one BBM from someone and everyone’s updated already.”