Hi all,
As you know, a lot of people have been talking about BlackBerry for quite some time now and we here at giffgaff have been working very hard on a way to support all the features BlackBerry has to offer with some success and some set backs. Support for BlackBerry is the biggest piece of development we’ve had to do since we launched goodybags and voucher top ups in April / May 2010 and so there has been a significant amount of work to go through.
Even to the point where we reviewed the MVNO architecture and options and created a more on line and real time way of working with Blackberry that was tricky to implement, but will give a better service and less errors. And on top of that there was a certain amount of process that we had to go through with O2
We are now however in a position where we feel we can seriously look at implementing BlackBerry support to giffgaff, and would enjoy the help of a few of our members. If everything goes according to plan we should be able to launch BlackBerry goodybags on the 24th of November.
For now we are looking for 10 Community members to take part in testing our BlackBerry service and in order to take part, you will:
- Need to have a suitable supported BlackBerry device (see below for BlackBerry handsets that are supported and not supported)
- Should not have a Current Goodybag or Queued Goodybag running on your account between the test cycle dates (see dates of test cycles below)
- Part 1: Should sign up to the Utest website as "Testers" and not "Customers" where so you are able to formally take part and raise bugs (Utest website: http://www.utest.com/create-account)
- Part 2: Need to provide us with your exact Firstname, Surname and Email Address you used to register with on the Utest platform so that you can be identified and invited to take part in the BlackBerry Test Cycles
- Need to provide us with your Mobile Number once you have registered so we can add a BlackBerry Goodybag as well as a £25 goodybag to your account once the project goes live
General Rules of Utest:
- Duplicate bugs will be rejected
- You should not discuss anything with anyone outside the cycle regarding the BlackBerry testing.
The Cycle dates we have provisionally planned in for Utest testing are:
- Test Cycle 1: 24/10/11 - 01/11/11
- Test Cycle 2: 09/11/11 - 17/11/11
Please also find attached a draft version of the BlackBerry Test Guide which we have drafted up so far, this provides information on the areas that can be tested, however the main idea of the Utest BlackBerry project is to use an Exploratory Test approach and discover bugs.
We have also attached a list of the BlackBerry Handsets which will and will not be supported. Please also note that giffgaff SIM cards will only work on either unlocked BlackBerry devices or locked to O2 BlackBerry devices.
There will be a Test Team Lead on the Utest BlackBerry project, the name we have been given is Nicola Sedgwick (Nikki) but I am waiting for confirmation as to whether she will actually be taking part in this. If it is Nikki, she will be the one who will be looking at defects that are raised by the Testers and then asking us to approve or reject them.
The main contact at giffgaff regarding any problems you may have with signing up to Utest, will be Ali. His email address is: ali at giffgaff.co.uk however, bugs should be raised formally through Utest and not to his email account. He will be away between the 21st - 28th October however, so sign up early so any questions you have will be answered. And someone else will look after utest platform for him on those days he’s away.
BlackBerry Handset & Version Support
Handsets Supported:
Curve 8900; 8520; 9300 9360, 9380
Bold 9000 9700, 9900, 9780
Pearl 9100, 9105
Torch 9800, 9810, 9860
App Versions Supported:
BlackBerry 4.6.1 (Only supported on Curve: 8520)
BlackBerry 4.7.0
BlackBerry 4.7.1
BlackBerry 5.0.0
BlackBerry 5.0.1
BlackBerry 6.0.0
BlackBerry 7.0.0
So for those of you who would like to take part in the testing, please let us know below which model of BlackBerry you have and we will get in contact with you.
As the places in the test are limited, so you are not contacted, you will unfortunately not be able to take part in the trial.
Cheers,
Vincent
For those interested in testing, please find attached below a draft version of the BlackBerry Test Guide. If you can't open it, please go to LibreOffice here: http://www.libreoffice.org or OpenOffice here: http://www.openoffice.org/ which should help you out.
Or use the pdf version of the document, kindly provided by connorl: http://gg-links.co.cc/gg/Blackberry_User_Testing_Guide.pdf
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VincentBoon
love you vincent and fellow gaff staff!
now im a sad panda
x