Author: Joe

Over the past few years WordPress has gone through some extensive upgrades, extending its reach as one of the top blogging platforms. One improvement we’ve been tracking is its BlackBerry application. It started off as a simple app where you could write and edit posts, but they’ve continued adding new features and upgrading existing ones. After firing it up yesterday afternoon, I saw that there’s a new version. Instead of just downloading, though, it sent me via link to App World. So the app is now available over there.

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When I got my first BlackBerry, friends and family bombarded me with messages asking for my PIN. I didn’t know exactly what they meant at the time, but I eventually caught on that it was the key to contacting me via BlackBerry Messenger. While IM services can be a big part of a BlackBerry user’s activity, I’ve always been an email type of guy, so I never added a ton of BBM contacts. Some colleagues, some friends, some family members, but not much beyond that. According to Al Sacco, I’m off on the right foot. He recently published six BlackBerry Messenger tips that everyone should follow. Not everyone will, of course, but if Al is doling out advice I always suggest listening.

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Over the past two years we’ve developed a diverse audience at BBGeeks. Some are hardcore types who use their BlackBerrys every day. Others are beginners who find the site through Google or other search engines, trying to find answers to a specific question. That can make content creation a balancing act. Sometimes we’ll have a bit geared more towards hardcore users, while others will be geared towards the beginner. Today will be the latter, with apologies to our hardcore fan base. Today’s lesson will be the most basic of BlackBerry tasks: adding a new email to your BIS account.

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After reviewing the additions to SuperQWERTY yesterday, I was delighted to find out about a somewhat similar application yesterday. With a thanks to Mauricio at BlackBerry Rocks for the pointer, the application is called Iconify, and if you like guessing the nature of an application by its name you might be able to guess what this one does. It essentially creates an icon for typically non-icon BlackBerry features. These include web pages, calls, text messages, PIN, email, and more. And, since it’s free, it acts as a nice complement to SuperQWERTY.

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One theme we constantly revisit on BBGeeks is the idea of your BlackBerry as a way to keep your life in order. Among our many geek reviews are a number of productivity and organizational applications. The idea is that while your BlackBerry can do this out of the box, that’s not enough. If you have to click five or six times to get to certain applications, chances are you’ll lose focus and forget about it. I know I do. My computer is set up to get to everything I need with the fewest possible clicks, and for years I’ve tried to implement a similar system on my BlackBerry. Cooper recently reviewed SuperQWERTY, an application that brings you to all of your most frequently used applications with just one keystroke. They’ve updated the application now, so that you can do even more with it.

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It seems there is a web forum for every topic, mainstream or niche. For some topics there are multiple forums, full of posts from thousands of users every day. Among the many BlackBerry-dedicated ones, I find myself browsing Howard Forums, PinStack, and CrackBerry the most. Depending on your device and operating system, you will experience different interfaces when dealing with forums. If you visit them from your BlackBerry browser frequently, you might want to check out a new application called BerryBlab. Its sole purpose is to provide a better way of viewing and posting on forums from your BlackBerry.

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In News From The Wire on Thursday, I made quick mention of the slotRadio+ microSD card, which comes with 1,000 songs and an additional 4GB of storage for $50. I mentioned it to a few friends and acquaintances this weekend, and a few wanted to hear a bit more, so I thought I would expand on it today. On Thursday I mentioned that for $50, each song works out to 5 cents, with the card coming free. But, looking further into the card, it’s not quite that easy. It’s still a good deal, I think, but you’re limited in what you can do with those songs.

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What do get when you cross stories about three unreleased BlackBerry models and news that a rival company wants to ban imports from RIM? An episode of the BBGeekcast, of course. I run down the issue with Motorola, plus the issues facing three unreleased BlackBerry models that made appearances this week.

So click on over here to hear the BBGeekcast (8 min, 12 sec)

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss future episodes!

You can also subscribe to the BBGeekcast in iTunes.

Highlights include:
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Have you experienced problems with your BlackBerry’s trackball? I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. The trackball mechanism is composed of a number of small parts, and that leaves plenty of room for things to go wrong. In the past we’ve gone over how to clean your trackball and, if it comes down to it, how to replace your trackball. Thankfully, new models now feature the trackpad, which figures to have fewer problems because it doesn’t have moving parts. But for those of us with trackball devices, we can certainly run into issues. Thankfully, T-Mobile gets this — at least in some small way. They’re offering in-store replacement for certain BlackBerry trackballs.

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When we changed formats over a year ago and stopped doing daily news in favor of this weekly feature, I fancied it like a network news program. We’d run down all the things relevant to our local niche. One of my favorite parts about network news — well, my only favorite part, since I don’t watch the actual programs — is the teaser they play in the hours before. “Is your breakfast cereal making your children dumber? Story at 11.” This week we can see such a teaser: “Will the BlackBerry be banned in America? Story after the jump.”

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Yesterday, in discussing the Reload Software: 552 error, I pleaded with readers to backup their devices. I myself fell victim when I got an application error, left with a dead BlackBerry and no backup. In the comments, DavidB left a suggestion: backup your device wirelessly. It makes it that much easier. Today we’ll look at one such application, Aurkon. It’s a quick, easy, and, most importantly, free application that makes backing up your BlackBerry a no-brainer. Literally.

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Hunting for new BlackBerry themes has become a new joy to me. When we started doing the theme review feature, I kind of slogged along, dreading the bi-weekly ritual of finding and then testing themes (made even harder when I had an incompatible device and have to borrow). That changed recently, and now I enjoy reading about new themes on different sites and then loading them up. As you can see, we’ve strayed from the usual suspects — well, sometimes — and have started to feature a number of different theme developers. This week we’re hitting on a new favorite, Elecite, and one we haven’t hit before, Ninja. And then there’s Hedone design, but it’s expected that we’ll review new themes when they create ‘em.

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The following is a lesson in why you should back up your BlackBerry as frequently as possible. At some point you’re going to run into a problem — and I’ve run into my share — where the only feasible option is to wipe the device and start over. If that happens you want to have a recent backup so that you don’t have to start over and send out text messages asking for people’s numbers and new BBM requests. Now that I’ve gotten the idea of backing up your Berry into your head, onto today’s issue. A reader wrote in yesterday to ask about an error message, Reload Software: 552.” This is a serious issue, one that could cost you all of your BlackBerry data. Hopefully you never see it, but if you do, here’s the recovery process.

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Your BlackBerry possesses great multimedia capabilities, but where can you get the media to play on it? With music it’s easy enough. Just load up your favorite .mp3 or .aac files and, as long as they’re not DRM-protected, you’ll have instant playback. But what about video? Sure, you can just convert normal video files for BlackBerry compatibility, but some people understandably don’t want to go through that process. Isn’t there some place you can go to find ready-made videos for your BlackBerry? We’ve gotten this question frequently, and I recently scoured the web to find a few quality sites. If you have any better ones, please, add them in the comments. It seems that the available sites are few and far between.

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With smartphones growing at rapid rates, most major websites have added mobile applications in addition to their WAP sites. This is positive for BlackBerry users, since people seem to complain a lot about the browser. With a full-featured app, we can use the features of our favorite sites without suffering through BlackBerry browser travails. Instead we get a custom-designed user interface. The latest major website to get a BlackBerry overhaul: match.com, the popular dating site. Users can now browse through the site and use its features in a more intuitive manner.

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One internet feature I’m surprised hasn’t caught on more widely is RSS. It’s a wonderful tool which brings you the stuff you want to read, without you ever going to fetch it. It allows for quick scanning of headlines to determine reading worthiness. It’s basically your own personal magazine. I know that some BlackBerry users use Viigo for their RSS feeds on the go, and, if you wish, you can import your Google Reader feeds into Viigo. For those that want the true Google Reader experience, though, we’re stuck with a simple web interface. Recently, however, Ronen at BerryReview demonstrated how to use the Android and iPhone optimized WebApp from your OS 4.6 and higher browser.

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Wow. 100 episodes. Even crazier: we have had a BBGeekcast every single week, without fail, since starting it up in February 2008. We’ll hit our two-year anniversary in about a month, but until then we’ll have fun celebrating the century mark. And we have some good BlackBerry stuff to discuss, as always.

So click on over here to hear the BBGeekcast (9 min, 56 sec)

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss future episodes!

You can also subscribe to the BBGeekcast in iTunes.

Highlights include:
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When I’m at my desk during the day, I always have Gmail open. I know many others do the same — I’m usually chatting with them on GChat. Because I use Gmail so frequently, I often check the Labs section to see if they added anything beneficial. A while back I activated tasks, and have never looked back. It looks like a simple chat window, and you can write up your to-do list right in it. Gmail provides the check boxes. As Google expands its wireless sync — it started with calendar and now includes contacts — I wondered if they’d ever allow for task sync. It’s not an official Google product, but one developer has created a way to accomplish this.

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In last week’s edition of News From The Wire we saw the first photos of the BlackBerry Curve 8910. After many of us wondered what place it had among the current BlackBerry lineup, a few commentators noted that the device resembles the BlackBerry Atlas, a device discovered around September and reportedly headed for Asian markets. That made sense, and I thought that would be the end of it. But early this week the device passed through the FCC. Since the US government likely isn’t in the business of approving devices set for release in Asian markets, it appears that the 8910 will, indeed, hit North America.

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If only I had heard about this application a week earlier, it would have been perfect timing. Former Cardinals and A’s slugger Mark McGwire came forward and admitted using steroids throughout his baseball career, breaking a five-year silence. It wasn’t a revelation or anything; everyone assumed that Big Mac was on the juice. Ballplayers took, and probably continue to take, steroids because they help them stay on the field longer and hit the ball harder. So what if you could install something on your BlackBerry that would make it run faster and use less memory? That’s what BerryJoose does. Thankfully, using it won’t get you the negative attention McGwire received last week.

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