It has been a few weeks since we released Viira 3.1, so it’s time for a minor software update to provide some touch-ups and fixes. The latest version 3.1.1 is now available for download and contains a couple of fixes as well as a couple of addition to Viira’s capabilities.

• Email integration fix. Under certain circumstances Email tasks created from the Messages App didn’t display the full list of projects or contexts available for selection. This is now fixed.
• Copy and paste fix on Project/Context screen. It was reported to us that copying and pasting project and context notes on occasionally doesn’t work. The problem has been fixed.

We have also taken the opportunity to add a couple of new capabilities to Viira’s feature roster:

• <No Project> and <No Context>. You can now make Viira display all the tasks that haven’t been assigned a project or a context. Those tasks will appear under a heading titled <No Project> and <No Context> on the Projects View and Contexts View, respectively. To turn this feature on or off, please go to Settings->General Settings.
• Selecting a project or a context with ALT. Did you know that in addition to selecting items from a list by clicking on it with your trackpad (or tapping on it, if you have a touchscreen device) you can also open a list of available choices by pressing the ALT key? This is now fully supported throughout Viira and you can select a task’s project or context by using the ALT key to open the list of available projects and contexts.

Version 3.1.1 is available from Viira’s download page as well as through our mobile site.

Ever since the BlackBerry Playbook hit store shelves, many of you have asked us when Viira will become available on your Playbooks. We are very excited to be announcing that we are working on making Viira available for the Playbook and will make it available once the 2.0 Playbook update rolls out.

Sign Up For Viira for Playbook Announcements And Updates

When our development team was at DevCon 2011 in San Francisco last month we managed to get a bit of one-on-one face time with RIM technical reps which helped us install and see how our current version of Viira will look and behave on a pre-release Playbook running the 2.0 update. And here is a picture of Viira looks on an actual Playbook:

Viira on the BlackBerry Playbook

Why wait until the 2.0 update to the Playbook? As a third-party software application Viira requires key tools and libraries in order to function on the Playbook. At present RIM has not provided these tools and libraries but they made a formal announcement that everything necessary for porting apps like Viira to the Playbook will be available in the 2.0 update. The 2.0 update to the Playbook is currently slated for February 2012.

A minor clarification is probably needed here. The 2.0 update to the Playbook does not represent a new version of the Playbook but rather a software update that RIM will be making available to all BlackBerry Playbook owners over the coming months. For up-to-date info, reviews and even rumours on everything Playbook-related you can check out the Playbook page at Crackberry.com.

Viira 3.1 is ready and available for download. The latest update includes a number of new productivity features and ease-of-use enhancements which we are excited to bring to you. With the new generation of BlackBerry 7 devices like the BlackBerry 9900 and new Torch model series being rolled out we have also included a few features that take advantage of the touch screen capabilities of these devices.

Here is what’s new in Viira 3.1:

• Touch Screen Interface. If you have a touch screen device like a BlackBerry Bold 9900, a BlackBerry Torch or BlackBerry Storm you will see a command panel with touchscreen buttons that contain the most frequently used actions in Viira. You can now create, edit, delete and mark tasks as completed with just a tap on the screen.
• Quick Add: Add New Tasks Quickly. Perfect for the times where you have a number of new tasks or ideas to record, the quick add field enables you to enter them one after the other in quick succession. Just type in the tasks name and press ENTER, then repeat as needed!
• Starred Projects and Contexts. Mark your important or frequently used project or contexts with a star. Starred projects and contexts always appear at the top of the list making it easier to navigate or select them.
• Compact Mode. Fit more of your Viira data on your BlackBerry’s screen. Particularly useful for owners of touch screen models like the BlackBerry 9900 or the BlackBerry Torch series, turning on compact mode lets you see more of your tasks for any project, context or day. You can turn on Compact Mode by going to Settings->General Settings->Compact Mode.

And here are a few screenshots from Viira 3.1:

Viira 3.1 is a free upgrade to all buyers of the full version. You can download it from the Viira download page or by pointing your BlackBerry to our mobile site kartamobile.com/bb.

Viira Mobile Checkout

We know that being able to do anything that you can from your computer or laptop with your mobile device is very important to many of you. That’s why buyers of both Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite have always been able to purchase the full version directly from their BlackBerry with Paypal.

Over the past week we decided to take advantage of some recent improvements in mobile payment technology in order to enhance the mobile checkout experience.

Here is a screen capture of what the new Paypal mobile checkout page looks like. It provides a detailed description of the item as well as a stylish Paypal login page. Buyers of the Viira Outlook Suite can also use the enhanced mobile checkout.

To buy the full version directly from your BlackBerry just click on “Buy Viira”/”Buy Full Version” from the context menu or point your BlackBerry’s browser to our mobile site www.kartamobile.com/bb.

Here at the Viira team we always strive to make it easier for you to get things done and stay on top of your commitments by leveraging the power of technology. That’s why we are all very excited to be making this announcement which will transform the way you stay organized and use Viira in your day-to-day life.

Over the coming months during this fall you will see Viira’s functionality supplemented by the cloud in order to make it even easier for you to stay organized from anywhere and access Viira from more places, platforms and contexts. Here is what’s coming next:

Viira Cloud Sync

Securely back up and sync your Viira data to the cloud and never fear loosing your data because your BlackBerry/Android device got lost, stolen or broken down - or just because you forgot to extract all your data before trading in your smartphone for a newer model. The Viira Cloud Sync will take care of all this for you automatically.

With the Viira Cloud Sync you can also seamlessly keep your Viira data in sync across different platforms, for example if you are switching between Android and a BlackBerry. Support for more smartphone platforms is also just around the corner.

Viira Web Interface

Access your Viira data from anywhere via the web. When you smartphone is not the best or most convenient option quickly access your projects, contexts, tasks and priorities over the web from anywhere - be it your PC, Mac or tablet device.

We will provide more details and screenshots as our engineering efforts progress. Stay tuned!

Once you have purchased the full version, both Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite make it possible to activate it quickly and effortlessly directly from inside the application.  Activation for Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client is done wirelessly Over-The-Air.

Sometimes though Over-The-Air activation is not feasible, for example when your device is out of range or when you system adminstrator has put in place onerous firewall settings that are beyond your control. Enter the new “My Activations” page on our website.

Buyers of the full version of Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite can now click on the “My Activations” link on the top-right hand corner of the site. You will then be able to activate your full version as well as retrieve your license keys.

We always like to hear of ways we  can make your life more organized and productive. In the most recent 3.0.2 update we have added a couple of enhancements that many of you have asked for:

• Day View Navigation shortcuts. You can now go to the Previous Day (ALT-J), Today (ALT-K) and Next Day (ALT-L) by using keyboard shortcuts
• View In Calendar. You can view any Viira appointment in your BlackBerry calendar.  Just open the calendar appointment in Viira and the select “View In Calendar” from the context menu in order to review or modify your appoinntment using your BlackBerry’s native Calendar application.

The Viira 3.0.2 update is available for download from the Viira downloads page as well as by pointing your BlackBerry to Viira’s mobile site.

View Viira Appointments in the BlackBerry Calendar

Day View Navigation Shortcuts

Short Answer: None.

The free trials of both Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite contain the exact same features and capabilities that you will find in the corresponding full version. This is by design: we want you to try out the full spectrum of what both Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite can do so that you can see for yourself the level of organization and productivity that our products can help you achieve in your day-to-day lives.

Naturally, the free trial expires after the 14 day free trial period is over whereas the full version doesn’t.

Activating the full version is easy and requires a license key that you will be given upon purchase. You won’t have to uninstall/reinstall or have to worry about transitioning your data in any way as it will all be there right after you activate the full version.

Purchases made directly from our site can take advantage of our OTA activation. With it you can quickly and conveniently activate the full version wirelessly from within Viira or the Viira Outlook Suite.

At the time of this writing there is only one minor exception to the “no differences” rule above. The Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client’s ability to import Viira 2 and Viira 3 data is only available in the full version of the suite - and this is largely for technical reasons. Aside from that what you see in the free trial is what you will see in the full version.

We are very excited to be announcing the release of Viira 3.0! The latest version contains a lot of productivity enhancements that many of you have requested and we are very happy to be bringing all these new capabilities right at your fingertips.

Here is what’s new in Viira 3.0:

• In-Basket: Designed specifically for the collection phase of Getting Things Done, Viira’s In-Basket provides a convenient place to quickly enter a number of tasks, ideas and reminders. All tasks, native tasks, email and SMS tasks that have not been assigned a project, context or day will appear in the In-Basket.
• Search. Quickly find the task that you were looking from Viira’s Tasks View with Viira’s fast search.
• Reminders. Many of you have asked for the ability to add a reminder to a particular task, and we are happy to bring this feature to you! Although David Allen warns against relying too heavily on reminders in your GTD system, if used properly they can be a powerful ogranizational tool.
• BlackBerry Tasks integration: Viira loads all tasks from your BlackBerry’s native Tasks application in the In-Basket from where you can further assign then to a project, context or day.
• Hide Completed. Hide all completed tasks and focus on what remains to get done. Hide completed is available from all of Viira’s views and all your completed tasks will appear once again when you select “Show Completed”.
• Quick new project/context creation: Have you ever started entering a task only to realise that the project or context you want to classify it under has not been created yet? With Viira 3 you can quickly create a new project or context right from the new task editor without having to switch views!
• And more! Viira 3.0 contains a number of other smaller enhancements, too numerous to list here.

So grab the free trial and see for yourself what Viira 3.0 can do! You can download the Viira 3.0 free trial from the Viira download page or by pointing your BlackBerry’s browser to our mobile site www.kartamobile.com/bb.

For all of you using Viira 2, Viira 3 was designed to run alongside Viira 2 so that you can check out the free trial before committing to the new version. Viira 3 will also import your Viira 2 data. Buyers of Viira 2 are also eligible to upgrade for a special upgrade price of only $19.99.

Viira 3 is compatible with all modern BlackBerry devices all the way back to OS 4.6.

[UPDATED September 09, 2012]

We receive a fair amount of questions on how Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite compare with each other, especially in terms of set up and installation. In this article I will try to address some of the most common questions on the differences between the two.

Separate Download Required

The first (and most important) difference is that Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite require a separate download: in order to sync with Outlook you need to download and install the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client. The BlackBerry client is a separate software application from Viira and can be downloaded from the Viira Outlook Suite download page or by pointing your BlackBerry to the Viira Outlook Suite mobile site www.kartamobile.com/bb/outlook.

The important thing to keep in mind is that downloading Viira (currently in version 4.0) will NOT provide sync with the Outlook plugin whereas downloading the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client will.

Identical Feature Sets

At the time of this writing, the feature sets of both Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client are identical to the point where it is nearly impossible to tell them apart. What you can do with one you can do with the other and vice versa. The only telling sign between the two is that the launch icon of the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client is yellow and displays “Viira Outlook Suite” whereas Viira’s is green and shows “Viira 4″.

Of course, the one major difference between the two is Outlok sync: you need the BlackBerry client in order to sync with the Outlook plugin.

We will continue to keep the two feature sets as close as possible and as we introduce new productivity-enhancing features and GTD techniques you will see them appear in both product lines. On occasion we may introduce a feature first in one before making it available in the next update to the other.

Side-By-Side On the Same BlackBerry

Viira and the Viira Outlook Suite have been designed to work without a problem when both are installed on the same BlackBerry. You don’t need to uninstall Viira in order to install the Viira Outlook Suite BlackBerry client and vice versa. We designed it this way in order to make it easier for you to decide which one of our two products works best for you and the way you apply Getting Things Done in your day-to-day life.

If you install both on your BlackBerry you will see each appear with a differently colored launch icon with Viira’s icon displaying the text “Viira 4″ while the BlackBerry client showing “Viira Outlook Suite”.

Viira 4 Data Import from the Viira Outlook Suite

The Viira Outlook Suite provides the ability to do a one-time import of all your GTD data from Viira. If at any point you decide to upgrade to the Viira Outlook Suite you can have your Viira 4 data seemlessly transitioned over to the Viira Outlook Suite. Viira data import requires activation of the full version.

As always, if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask it in the comments section of this post or email our technical support at support _at_ kartamobile dot com.