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BlackBerry Status Indicator Icons And Their Meaning

BlackBerry Tune — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Back in days, I remember how difficult it was to help a friend over the phone to clear all notification icons from her new BlackBerry Bold home screen. Many times, it’s tough for new BlackBerry users too learn all notification icons in few days. Well at that time, I didn’t have this post published else I could have send the link via email.

If you are a new BlackBerry user reading this post or sending a link to fellow new BlackBerry user, do keep in mind that following icon set belongs to the standard themes which are built in with all new BlackBerry devices. It may differ if you’re using custom theme. Also these indicators appear on the Home screen of your BlackBerry device or at the top of the screen in some applications. Depending on your device model and wireless service provider, some of these indicators might not appear.

Home Screen

Message list

Typing

Phone

Camera and video camera

Camera flash status

Calendar

Battery power level

Do you see any missing icon from the above list? There is one which is not listed above. It appears when you press Menu Button while you are on active phone call and select Enhance Call Audio and then select Boost Bass or Boost Treble. Once you select any of these two, the icon will appear next time when you’re on voice call.

Stay tuned for the next post on all Application Icons on standard BlackBerry themes.Similar Posts:

Original Post: BlackBerry Status Indicator Icons And Their Meaning | Add to del.icio.us | One comment
Post tags: How To

How To Watch YouTube Videos On Your BlackBerry

BlackBerry Tune — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:22:53 +0000

There is nothing comparable to YouTube when it comes to sharing and watching videos. Having said that many BlackBerry users watch YouTube videos directly on a BlackBerry with large bucket of data plan or when connected to Wi-Fi. If you are a regular Youtuber and a BlackBerry user, check out some of these methods of watching YouTube videos on BlackBerry.

Player for YouTube App

Player for YouTube is the app you can download for free from the App World and watch hi-quality videos on BlackBerry. The app has recently updated to v 1.1 and works much better than when it was first released. The new version 1.1 adds support for high quality streams so the video looks much better than before.

Features:

Featured, Popular, Top Rated, Newest and Most Viewed Feeds
Playing videos over RTSP Streaming or Wifi and WAP
Share video links by email with your friends
Bookmark your favorite videos for easy access
Search for videos, including saved search history
Browse videos by Categories and Tags
View user channels
New features in 1.1:
Support for High Quality videos
Support for log into YouTube to manage favorites
Embedded video player (no longer launches the browser)
Options screen to show more videos
Bug fixes and performance improvements

You must have a BlackBerry device with system software 4.6 or above to use Player for YouTube.

> > Download Player for YouTube from the App World

m.youtube.com

YouTube.com has mobile optimized site which you can access through m.youtube.com from your BlackBerry browser to watch YouTube videos. This is still better way than accessing YouTube.com directly. I also suggest adding m.youtube.com in your browser bookmarks so you can access it right away without typing the URL. Recently, I have had many users telling me that browsing m.youtube.com from BlackBerry doesn’t work even through they are able to browse other sites. In this case, you are better off using any of these apps to watch YouTube videos.

Vision for YouTube App

This is one of the first app released for BlackBerry to watch YouTube videos. Unfortunately there has not been any recent updates from the developer in terms of new features or support to newer BlackBerry devices. Back in days, this app was working OK and you can still give it a try since it’s free.

To download Vision for YouTube App visit http://vision.metova.com/download from your BlackBerry browser

In case if you’ve missed, we have listed quick tip for uploading your BlackBerry videos to YouTube.

Note: These options will only let you play YouTube videos, you’ll not able to save or copy those videos to your BlackBerry. Also keep in mind that streaming videos use large amount of data hence large bucket of data plan is suggested or use it when you are connected to Wi-Fi.

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Post tags: Video, YouTube

How to Enable Auto Answer and Auto End on the BlackBerry

BlackBerry Tune — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:05:52 +0000

Out of many other convenient features, BlackBerry has an option to enable Auto Answer and Auto End voice calls. When you enable the Auto Answer feature, your incoming calls will be automatically answered when you take the BlackBerry out of holster. Same way the active voice calls will be automatically ended when you put the BlackBerry into a holster. This functionality works the same way for BlackBerry Perl Flip 8220 and 8230, the only difference is flip open instead of holster. Make sense. The Auto End feature may not be available in your BlackBerry if you’re running older operating systems.

Follow these steps to enable these features:

On the Home screen, click Phone.
Press the Menu key and select Options > General Options > Auto Answer Calls.
Select Out of Holster.
Change Auto End Calls to Into Holster.
Click the trackball and select Save.

To make it more easy to follow, check out the following video put together by RIM which explains this feature.

I am not sure, if many of you have the Auto Answer enabled on the BlackBerry. For me, I have it turned Off because, I still want to know who is calling before answering the call. But in any case, the Auto End feature is more convenient and saves one click.

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Post tags: How To

Keyboard Shortcuts for BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 and 9105

BlackBerry Tune — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:17:39 +0000

The BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 and 9105 have different keyboard layout than other BlackBerry models and because of that there are little differences on how keyboard shortcuts work on these two Pearl 3G models. Do keep in mind that depending on the typing input language that you are using, some shortcuts might not be available.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9100 Keyboard Shortcuts

BlackBerry basics shortcuts

To move back a screen, press the Escape key.
To open a menu in an application to access options and available actions, press the Menu key.
To move to a list item or menu item, type the first letter of the item.
To select a highlighted menu item, press the Menu key.
To select or clear a check box, press the Space key.
To view available values in a field, press the Alt key.
To switch applications, press and hold the Menu key. Click an application.
To return to the Home screen, when you are not on a call, press the End key.
To delete a highlighted item, press the Backspace/Delete key.

From the Home screen

To lock the keyboard, press and hold the asterisk (*) key. To unlock the keyboard, press and hold the asterisk (*) key and press the Send key.
To lock the BlackBerry smartphone, set a password. Press and hold the asterisk (*) key.
To unlock the BlackBerry smartphone, type your password. Press the Enter key.
To switch between the active notification profile and the Vibrate notification profile, press and hold the # key.

Phone shortcuts

To change your ring tone, from the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, press the Send key. Press the Menu key. Click Set Ring Tone.
To check your voice mail, press and hold 1.
To send an incoming call to voice mail, press and hold the Volume Down key on the right side of your BlackBerry smartphone.
To set up speed dial for a contact, on the Home screen or in the phone application of the BlackBerry smartphone, press and hold the key that you would like to assign speed dial to.
To add an extension to a phone number, press the X key. Type the extension number.
To type a letter in a phone number field, press and hold the Alt key. Use the multi-tap input method to type the letter.
To insert a plus sign (+) when typing a phone number, press and hold 0.
To turn on the speakerphone during a call, press the period (.) key. To turn off the speakerphone during a call, press the period (.) key again.
If you are using a wireless headset, to stop listening to a call with the headset, press the period (.) key. To listen to a call using the wireless headset again, press the period (.) key again.
If you have multiple phone numbers associated with your BlackBerry smartphone, to change the active phone number, from the Home screen, press the Send key. Click your phone number at the top of the screen. Click a phone number.

Message shortcuts

In a message

To reply to an email message, press the exclamation point (!) key.
To forward email message, press the period (.) key.
To move to the last cursor position after you close and reopen a received email message or PIN message, press 5.

In a message list

To open a highlighted email message, press the Enter key.
To compose email message from a message list, press the comma (,) key.
To view received messages and received call logs, press the Alt key and 3.
To view call logs, press the Alt key and the period (.) key.
To view voice mail messages, press the Alt key and 7.
To view SMS text messages, press the Alt key and the question mark (?) key.
To view all your messages, press the Escape key.

Move around a message list

To move up a screen, press the Shift key and the Space key.
To move down a screen, press the Space key.
To move to the top of a message list, press 1.
To move to the bottom of a message list, press 7.
To move up a message, press 2.
To move down a message, press 8.
To move to the next date, press 6.
To move to the previous date, press 4.

Typing shortcuts

To insert a period, press the Space key twice. The next letter is capitalized.
To capitalize a letter, press and hold the letter key until the capitalized letter appears.
To type the alternate character on a key, press and hold the Alt key and press the character key.
To type an accented or special character, press and hold the letter key and slide your finger on the trackpad left or right. Click a selected character. For example, to type ü, press and hold 3 and slide your finger on the trackpad to the left until ü is highlighted. Click the trackpad.
To type a number in a number field, press a number key. You do not need to press the Alt key.
To type a number in a text field, press and hold the Alt key and press the number key.
To type a letter in a number field, press and hold the Alt key and use the multi-tap input method.
To turn on NUM lock, press the Shift key and the Alt key. To turn off NUM lock, press the Alt key.
To type a long word quickly, type part of the word. In the list that appears when you type, highlight an item with the same initial letters as the word that you want to type. Slide your finger on the trackpad to the right. In the second list that appears on the screen, highlight the word that you want to type. Press the Enter key.

Insert symbols

To insert an at sign (@) or a period (.) in an email address field, press the Space key.
To type a symbol, press the Symbol key. To view more symbols, press the Symbol key again. Type the letter that appears below the symbol..

Work with text

To highlight a line of text, press and hold the Shift key and slide your finger on the trackpad up or down.
To highlight text character by character, press and hold the Shift key and slide your finger on the trackpad left or right.
To cancel a text selection, press the Escape key.
To cut highlighted text when typing, press the Shift key and the Backspace/Delete key.
To copy highlighted text when typing, press the Alt key and click the trackpad.
To paste highlighted text when typing, press the Shift key and click the trackpad.

File and attachment shortcuts

To search for text in an attachment, press Q.

In a spreadsheet

To move to a specific cell, press A.
To view the content of a cell, press the Space key.
To switch worksheets, press O. Highlight a worksheet. Press the Enter key.

In a presentation

To switch presentation views, press Z.
To move to the next slide when viewing a presentation in slide view, press 6.
To move to the previous slide when viewing a presentation in slide view, press 4.

Media shortcuts

Audio and video files

To pause an audio or video file, press the Play/Pause/Mute key on the top of your BlackBerry smartphone. To resume playing an audio or video file, press the Play/Pause/Mute key again.
If you are using a headset, to turn on the audio boost feature to amplify the volume for songs, ring tones, and videos, press the Volume Up key until you reach the highest volume setting, and then press the Volume Up key four times quickly.

Pictures

To pan a picture, you must first be zoomed in.
To zoom in to a picture, press 3. To zoom to the original picture size, press 7.
To zoom out from a picture, press 9. To zoom to the original picture size, press 7.
To pan up in a picture, press 2.
To pan down in a picture, press 8.
To pan right in a picture, press 6.
To pan left in a picture, press 4.
To return to the center of a picture, press 5.
To rotate a picture, press the comma (,) key.

Camera and video camera

To zoom in to a subject before taking a picture, press the Volume Up key.
To zoom out from a subject before taking a picture, press the Volume Down key.
To take a picture, press the Right Convenience key.
To change the flash mode for a picture, if available, or to turn on low-light mode for a video, press the Space key.

Browser shortcuts

To insert a period (.) in the web address field, press the Space key.
To insert a slash mark (/) in the web address field, press the Shift key and the Space key.
To stop loading a web page, press the Escape key.
To close the browser, hold the Escape key.

On a web page

To switch between Column view and Page view, press the at sign (@) key.
To zoom in to a web page, press the comma (,) key.
To zoom out from a web page, press the period (.) key.
To turn on support for JavaScript, press the Symbol key.
To move to a specific web page, press 5.
To add a bookmark, press the question mark (?) key.
To follow a link, highlight or pause on the link. Press the Enter key.
To hide the banner, press the exclamation point (!) key. To view the banner, press the exclamation point (!) key.

Navigate a web page

To move up a screen, press 3.
To move down a screen, press 9.
To move to the top of a web page, press 1.
To move to the bottom of a web page, press 7.

Calendar shortcuts

For shortcuts to work in Day view, in the general calendar options, change the Enable Quick Entry field to No.

To schedule an appointment, press the period (.) key.
To move to the next day, week, or month, press 9.
To move to the previous day, week, or month, press 3.
To move up an hour in Day view or Week view, press 2.
To move down an hour in Day view or Week view, press 8.
To move to the current date, press the exclamation point (!) key.

Search shortcuts

To search for a contact in a list of contacts, type the contact name or initials separated by a space.
To search for text in a file or an attachment, press Q.
To search for text in a presentation, you must view the presentation in text view or in text and slide view. Press Q.

Map shortcuts

To zoom in to a map, press L.
To zoom out from a map, press O.
To move to the next direction on a route, press 6.
To move to the previous direction on a route, press 4.
To view status information at the top of a map, press Q. To hide status information at the top of a map, press Q again.
To view tracking information at the bottom of a map while you are tracking your movement, press the Space key. To hide tracking information at the bottom of a map, press the Space key again.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 Keyboard Shortcuts

BlackBerry basics shortcuts

To move the cursor, slide your finger on the trackpad.
To move back a screen, press the Escape key.
To open a menu in an application to access options and available actions, press the Menu key.
To move to a list item or menu item, type the first letter of the item.
To select a highlighted menu item, press the Menu key.
To select or clear a check box, press the Space key.
To switch applications, press and hold the Menu key. Click an application.
To return to the Home screen, when you are not on a call, press the End key.
To delete a highlighted item, press the Backspace/Delete key.

Phone shortcuts

To change your ring tone, from the Home screen, press the Send key. Press the Menu key. Click Set Ring Tone.
To check your voice mail, press and hold 1.
To send an incoming call to voice mail, press and hold the Volume Down key on the right side of your BlackBerry smartphone.
To set up speed dial for a contact, on the Home screen or in the phone application of the BlackBerry smartphone, press and hold the key that you would like to assign speed dial to.
To insert a plus sign (+) when typing a phone number, press and hold 0.
If you have multiple phone numbers associated with your BlackBerry smartphone, to change the active phone number, from the Home screen, press the Send key. Click your phone number at the top of the screen. Click a phone number.

Message shortcuts
- To reply to a highlighted message, press 7.
- To reply to all, highlight the message. Press 1.
- To forward a highlighted message, press 9.
Move around a message list
- To move to the top of a message list, press 2.
- To move to the bottom of a message list, press 8.
- To move to the next date, press 6.
- To move to the previous date, press 4.
- To move to the next unopened item, press 5.
Typing shortcuts

Common typing shortcuts
- To type a symbol, press the Symbol key. To view more symbols, press the Symbol key again. Click a symbol in the list that appears.
- To switch typing input languages while you type, press and hold the Symbol key.
- To capitalize a letter, press the Shift key. Press a letter key.
- To type a number in a number field, press a number key. You do not need to press and hold the number key.
- To turn on NUM lock, press the Shift key until the NUM lock indicator appears. To turn off NUM lock, press the Shift key again.
Work with text
- To highlight a line of text, press and hold the Shift key and on the trackpad slide your finger up or down.
- To highlight text character by character, press and hold the Shift key and on the trackpad slide your finger left or right.
- To cancel a text selection, press the Escape key.
Shortcuts for SureType technology
- To type a punctuation mark or a common symbol, press 1. Click the symbol in the list that appears.
- To type a number, press and hold a number key.
- To type a period and a space, press the Space key twice. The next letter is capitalized automatically.
- To type a long word quickly, type part of the word. In the list that appears when you type, highlight an item with the same initial letters as the word that you want to type. Slide your finger on the trackpad to the right. In the second list that appears, highlight the word that you want to type. Press the Enter key.
  Shortcuts for multi-tap
  - To type a number, keep pressing the letter key quickly until the number appears.
  - To type a period, press the 1 key once. To type other common symbols or punctuation marks, keep pressing 1 quickly until the symbol appears.
  Media shortcuts
  
  Audio and video files
- To pause an audio or video file, press the Play/Pause/Mute key on the top of your BlackBerry® device. To resume playing an audio or video file, press the Play/Pause/Mute key again.
- If you are using a headset, to turn on the audio boost feature to amplify the volume for songs, ring tones, and videos, press the Volume Up key until you reach the highest volume setting, and then press the Volume Up key four times quickly.
  Pictures
  
  To pan a picture, you must first be zoomed in.
- To zoom in to a picture, press 3. To zoom to the original picture size, press 7.
- To zoom out from a picture, press 9 . To zoom to the original picture size, press 7.
- To pan up in a picture, press 2.
- To pan down in a picture, press 8.
- To pan right in a picture, press 6.
- To pan left in a picture, press 4.
- To return to the center of a picture, press 5.
  Camera and video camera
- To zoom in to a subject before taking a picture, press the Volume Up key.
- To zoom out from a subject before taking a picture, press the Volume Down key.
- To take a picture, press the Right Convenience key.
- To change the flash mode for a picture, if available, or to turn on low-light mode for a video, press the Space key.
Browser shortcuts
- To insert a period (.) in the web address field, press the Space key.
- To stop loading a web page, press the Escape key.
- To close the browser, press and hold the Escape key.
On a web page
- To switch between Column view and Page view, press 4.
- To zoom in to a web page, press 3.
- To zoom out from a web page, press 9.
- To refresh a web page, press 1.
- To move to a specific web page, press 5.
- To add a bookmark, press 6.
- To follow a link, highlight or pause on the link. Press the Enter key.
- To find text on a web page, press 7.
Move around a web page
- To move to the top of a web page, press 2.
- To move down in the screen, press the Space key.
- To move to the bottom of a web page, press 8.
Calendar shortcuts
- To schedule an appointment, press 3.
- To move to the next day, week, or month, press 6.
- To move to the previous day, week, or month, press 4.
- To move to the current date, press 5.
Search shortcuts
- To search for a contact in a list of contacts, type the contact name or initials separated by a space.
- To search for text in a file or an attachment, press 7.
- To search for text in a presentation, you must view the presentation in text view or in text and slide view. Press 7.
Map shortcuts

To zoom in to a map, press 3.
To zoom out from a map, press 9.
To move to the previous direction on a route, press 4.
To show status information at the top of a map, press 1 . To hide status information at the top of a map, press 1 again.
To show tracking information at the bottom of a map while you are tracking your movement, press the Space key. To hide tracking information at the bottom of a map, press the Space key again.

[KB22698, KB22704]

How to Switch Between CDMA and GSM Networks on Sprint’s BlackBerry Bold 9650

BlackBerry Tune — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:32:11 +0000

As mentioned before, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 from Sprint comes factory unlocked and it can operate on Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks, Single-band UMTS/HSPA networks or Dual-band CDMA/EVDO REVA networks. So you can either use it on CDMA carrier or GSM carrier. CIO’s @ASacco has put together a great, quick walkthrough on how to switch between CDMA/1XEV and GSM/UMTS networks. Here are the steps for your reference:

How to change the BlackBerry Bold 9650’s mobile network technologies between CDMA/1XEV and GSM/UMTS.

Ensure an active and compatible SIM card is inserted in your BlackBerry Bold 9650 SIM card slot. (To insert a new SIM card, remove your Bold’s battery cover and battery, take out the default SIM supplied by Sprint–if applicable–then slide the new SIM into place based on the diagram on the SIM-card slot.)
Replace your Bold’s battery and wait for the device to reboot. When your Bold is up and running, click your BlackBerry’s Manage Connections icon on your home screen.
Within the Manage Connections menu, scroll down to and click Mobile Network Options. On the following screen, scroll to Network Technology and click to open a drop-down menu. Then change the value from either Global or 1XEV to GSM/UMTS.
Exit out of the Mobile Network Options/Network Technology menus, wait a few seconds for the new network connection to establish itself and you’re good to go.
To switch back to your CDMA network, simply repeat the above process but choose the 1XEV network option under Network Technology.

via CIO

5 Device Settings You Should Know as BlackBerry Addict

BlackBerry Tune — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:42:48 +0000

BlackBerry is designed to do so many things in a smarter way and it does improve the efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, it could potentially make your day miserable, if by mistake some settings were overlooked. Check out some of these tricky settings, normal BlackBerry users may not know. If you knew all of these BlackBerry settings already, consider yourself a true BlackBerry addict!

1. Data Services

Symptoms: I can’t browse. My emails are not working. I am not receiving any BBMs and Facebook updates. You see your buddy shouting loud “What’s going on?”

Probably the “Data Services” is turned OFF. The “Data Services” option is located in Home Screen > Manage Connections > Mobile Network Options > Data Services.

“Data Services” works as an ON -OFF switch for any type of data transfer to and from BlackBerry. If it’s turned off, user will not be able to send/receive BBM, emails, PIN messages and browsing will not work either. The SMS and MMS will continue to work as they are not part of data transfer.

When it is turned off, the Network Status on the Home Screen also changes from uppercase to lowercase. i.e. 3G to 3g and EDGE to edge for GSM BlackBerry devices.

2. Do Not Disturb

Symptoms: My BlackBerry doesn’t ring since today morning. It goes straight to the voicemail. I can call out, I can send/ receive emails but it doesn’t ring (period). Have you had your friend or co-worker screaming like that?

Possibly, first thing to check is their notification Profiles. If this Do Not Disturb is accidently changed to Yes without knowing what it does, you’ll find above symptoms.

It is located in (OS 4.5 to 4.7) Home Screen > Profiles > Advanced > Menu > Edit > Phone > Do Not Disturb

If you are using BlackBerry OS 5.0 then you’re lucky as the entire notification profile has been revamped in this newer OS 5.0. You do not have this Do Not Disturb option in OS 5.0.

3. Firewall

Symptoms: I have stopped receiving my emails and SMS. I can send emails out OK. or I have stopped receiving SMS, emails are fine. Other senders are getting delivery confirmations that those messages were delivered to my BlackBerry. My device memory is OK. Hmm, not sure what to do?

Check the Firewall setting. Firewall is located in Home Screen > Options > Security Options > Firewall

As the name imply, it will block those type of incoming messages, what ever user has selected.

4. Contacts Filter Category

Symptoms: I can’t see any contacts in my phone book. Those contacts are there somewhere in the BlackBerry as I see those when I type numbers, but they do not show up when I click on contacts icon.

Accidently, Filter Category is selected and all phone numbers are saved without any assigned category. By default the contacts are saved without any category assigned.

Filter Category is located in Home Screen > Contacts > Menu > Filter

5. Service books

Symptoms: Some icons on my BlackBerry are missing even though those apps are installed as I can see those in the Applications list. None of the icons are hidden. Those missing icons are browser, Facebook, BBM and some email accounts. Also, when I try to send emails, I get a prompt saying I can only save it as a draft.

Service books are missing from a BlackBerry. The way BlackBerry works, configuration files called service books are required for most apps to work properly that require external data connection. Some icons may not even show up on the home screen if proper service books are not present.

Service books can be found in Home Screen > Options > Advanced Options > Service books

If missing icons are other than emails, battery pull or re registration to the network can help them bring back. BlackBerry can be registered via Home Screen > Options > Advanced Options > Host Routing Table > Menu > Register Now

Let us know in the comment, if you already knew above settings. Better, leave your twitter id so that we can follow you!Similar Posts:

Original Post: 5 Device Settings You Should Know as BlackBerry Addict | Add to del.icio.us | 3 comments
Post tags: Browser, Email, Email Settings, Settings

Email Settings icon on BlackBerry Desktop Manager for PC

BlackBerry Tune — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

The “Email Settings” icon on BlackBerry Desktop Manager allows you to view statistics such as how many email messages and organizer data items you have received on your device from BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server) and it is also used as “Desktop Redirector”, very old way of sending emails from Microsoft Outlook (Microsoft Exchange) to a BlackBerry. If you a BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) user and have this “Email Settings” icon on Desktop Manager of your PC, continue reading this post until end. If you are using Desktop Manager on Mac, you’re good to go.

First of all, let me clarify, the “Email Settings” icon on BlackBerry Desktop Manager is optional and not required at all if you’re receiving emails via BIS. If you’re on BES, it’s optional too as it only provides you the email statistics.

How one gets Email Settings icon on BlackBerry Desktop Manager

While installing Desktop Manager on a PC, you see the prompt to select the Email type you want to integrate with and the choices you get are “Work Email” or “Personal Email”. If you select “Work Email”, then “Email Setting” icon will show up on the Desktop Manager.

How does BlackBerry Desktop Redirector work?

This Email Settings with Desktop Manager is known as “Desktop Redirector”. In old days, this was the popular method of redirecting emails coming from MS Exchange Server to Microsoft Outlook to a BlackBerry device.

The main advantage of using Desktop Redirector was to get the emails in real time, which wasn’t a feature for BIS in early days. The main drawback with Desktop Redirector is it’s inability to send the email attachments and you need to keep the PC running 27/7 for emails to redirect.

Do I really need Desktop Redirector?

No. BIS, BES and BESX are far better ways to send emails to a BlackBerry. It’s only useful if you’re on BES and want to see the email statistics. Again, it’s optional.

What could go wrong if BIS user has Email Settings icon on Desktop Manager?

It is strongly advised to have it removed if you are getting emails on your BlackBerry via BIS. It could potentially mess up the way you receive emails on BlackBerry.

To give the example for BIS users: what happens is, as soon as you connect your BlackBerry to a computer which has this Desktop Redirector installed, it will try to push it’s redirector service books which will mess up BIS service books, resulting in improper service books on your BlackBerry. Because of this most of the time, you start getting hundreds of “Network@etp emails on your BlackBerry.

The Best Practice to clean up Desktop Redirector Service books

Follow this steps only if you are a BIS user and have this Desktop Manager with Email Settings on your computer.

Unplug the BlackBerry (if connected to PC)
Uninstall the Desktop Manager and restart the PC
Reinstall Desktop manager and select Integrate with a personal email account during installation even though the email on your BlackBerry is from your work.
Delete Desktop[CMIME] and Desktop[CICAL] service books from BlackBerry if those are present. Go to Home screen > Options > Advanced Options > Service Books and search for above two service books. If present, select any one, press Menu button and select Delete. Do the same for second service book.

> > More info about Desktop Redirector
> > More info about Email Settings feature

Let us know in the comments, if you have more questions.

How to Upload Videos to YouTube from BlackBerry

BlackBerry Tune — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 +0000

For casual to hardcore YouTube addicts, you may come across a situation where you just want to upload video to YouTube right at the moment from your BlackBerry without waiting to go home (if you’re outside) and do that from a computer. There is no YouTube app for the BlackBerry at this point of time, however it’s still very easy which doesn’t require any 3rd part app.

The way this can be does is to send your BlackBerry video to an unique email address specific to your YouTube account which is provided by YouTube and that’s it. YouTube will attach it to your YouTube account. Simple! Check out the following steps on how to get the unique email address specific to your YouTube account.

Log in to your YouTube account from computer or create new if you do not have.
Click on Account and then Mobile Setup link located on the left hand side
You may have to specify your BlackBerry phone number if you haven’t provided before
You’ll see unique email address as shown in the above image.
Create new contact on your BlackBerry and save the email address

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Original Post: How to Upload Videos to YouTube from BlackBerry | Add to del.icio.us | 3 comments
Post tags: Video, YouTube

How to Keep the Optimum Free Memory on BlackBerry Without Installing any 3rd Party Apps

BlackBerry Tune — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:27:22 +0000

BlackBerry smartphones work on Java operating system and they do not have large on board device memory also called as flash memory to install unlimited 3rd party apps or store huge amount of user data. Though BlackBerry is known for implementing compressed data and securing it with latest algorithms, there are some tradeoffs which include “not having large amount of on board flash memory” as one of them. Having said that, it’s very important that you utilize the available flash memory effectively as per your requirement to get most out of BlackBerry. Let’s see how this can be done.

How to check the free available memory

Before we proceed, if you want to check how much free memory is available, go to Home Screen > Options > Status > File Free. To get more accurate file free info, do a battery pull and check the file free. What happens is, while restarting BlackBerry, it will reclaim the unused memory (by initiating full garbage collection) and you’ll see more accurate file free info.

Extreme case of least available free memory

To give you the example on how people use BlackBerry inefficiently, I have seen many BlackBerry users with File Free field showing “0” (zero) and complaining about BlackBerry deleting call logs, SMS and emails. i.e. users saving all their pictures and ringtones into device memory (not media card), making available File Free field indicating zero. So in this case, BlackBerry will invoke built in Low Memory Manager application, which deletes those new SMS, call logs and emails for BlackBerry to keep functioning. In fact, this is still a better way for a smartphone to keep going.

This particular problem was prevailing more often on BlackBerry Pearl 81xx which was introduced with less flash memory. Now all newer BlackBerry devices come with more flash memory.

How to maximize free space

It is a good idea to take active measures to maximize the BlackBerry’s available flash memory, and thus, prolong the time before it starts the Low Memory Manager application.

The following are suggestions on how to maximize available flash memory on the BlackBerry.

Use a media card

Media cards are especially useful for BlackBerry users who want to store media files like songs, pictures, videos, voice notes, and ring tones, or who want to store pictures they take with the built-in cameras. Built-in video cameras on BlackBerry require a media card to function.

To make sure the built-in camera is set up to save picture files on the media card, complete the following steps:

Install the media card in the BlackBerry.
Open the Camera application.
Display the menu and select Options.
Set the Store Pictures field to On Media Card. You can also change the Folder setting to the particular folder in which you want to save pictures.

Check this post on how to insert media card and the supported media card storage capacity for different BlackBerry OS versions.

Remove unnecessary items

Removing features and applications that are underused increases the available flash memory on the BlackBerry.

Use the Setup Wizard application to remove languages that you do not use from the BlackBerry. Removing languages is highly recommended because it is one of the most significant ways to increase available flash memory.

To remove languages from the BlackBerry, complete the following steps.

On the Home screen, open Setup Wizard.
Select Languages.
Select the language you want to use on the BlackBerry and click Next. The BlackBerry deletes all languages that you do not select.

Remove underused applications.

To remove applications from the BlackBerry, complete the following steps.

On the Home screen, open Options.
Select Advanced Options.
Select Applications. The BlackBerry takes time to build a comprehensive list of the installed applications.
Highlight the application you want to delete, display the menu and select Delete.

Delete old items

You can delete old and unused items and also adjust settings so that the BlackBerry deletes old items as part of its regular routine maintenance.

Delete Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages that are no longer needed. Because MMS messages can contain large media files and cannot be stored on a media card, MMS messages can use a lot of flash memory. If you do not want to delete the media files in an MMS message, open the MMS message and save the media files on the media card before you delete the MMS message.

Change the Keep Messages setting

Change the Keep Messages setting on the BlackBerry to reduce the number of old messages using flash memory.

To change the Keep Messages setting, complete the following steps.

On the Home screen, open Messages.
Display the menu and select Options.
Select General Options.
Set the Keep Messages field to either 15 Days or 30 Days.

Change the Keep Appointments setting

Change the Keep Appointments setting to reduce the number of old calendar events using flash memory.

To change the Keep Appointments setting, complete the following steps.

On the Home screen, open Calendar.
Display the menu and select Options.
Select General Options.
Set the Keep Appointments field to either 15 Days or 30 Days.

Clear the browser cache often.

To clear the browser cache, complete the following steps:

On the Home screen, open Browser.
Display the menu and select Options.
Select Cache Operations.
Select Clear History.
Select Clear for Content Cache.
Select Clear for Pushed Content.
Select Clear for Cookie Cache.

Delete Message Prompt Setting

Set messages to prompt you when deleting an email message on the BlackBerry. The prompt allows you to choose to either delete the message on the BlackBerry only or on the BlackBerry and the messaging server, which deletes the email message on both the BlackBerry and the email application with which it is associated.

To adjust this setting on the BlackBerry, complete the following steps:

On the Home screen, open Messages.
Display the menu and select Options.
Select Email Reconciliation.
Select Prompt for the Delete On setting. (You can also select Handheld rather than Prompt, which will delete messages on the BlackBerry without a prompt, when you choose to delete messages.)

Tip: How to delete emails in bulk

If you position the cursor on a date field in the email messages list on the BlackBerry and select Delete Prior, it will only delete the messages on the BlackBerry device only still leaving the emails saved in the email application with which the BlackBerry is associated. This is the options I use all the time to delete my previous emails.

Auto More setting in Messages

Flash memory is used to download and display email messages on the BlackBerry. Set the Auto More option to No to make sure that only the sections of the email message that you want to read on the BlackBerry are downloaded, displayed, and thus, stored in flash memory.

By setting the Auto More option to No, the BlackBerry displays approximately the first 2 KB of an email message which is any way the size of average messages. If the Auto More option is set to Yes, scrolling automatically displays more of the email message.

To set the Auto More option to No, complete the following steps:

On the Home screen, open Messages.
Display the menu and select Options.
Select General Options.
In the Auto More field, select No.

Enable Content Compression

Compression is designed to reduce the size of your BlackBerry device data while maintaining the integrity of that data. When compression is turned on, BlackBerry compresses all device data, including messages, contacts, calendar entries, tasks, and memos. You should keep compression turned on.

To set the compression On, complete the following steps:

On the Home screen, open Options.
Select Security Options.
Select General Settings.
In the Content Compression field, select Enabled.

I hope you’ll find this post informative to help you get more out of BlackBerry. My suggestion would be to maintain at least 400 KB (409600 Bytes) of application memory free on the BlackBerry device.

How to Configure the APN Settings on BlackBerry

BlackBerry Tune — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:00:00 +0000

BlackBerry does allow you to configure APN (Access Point Name) Settings, so that you can establish the direct connection to the Internet via your data plan. Before I explain further, what is APN setting and why you need it, let me tell you, this is neither a mandatory setting you need to have it configured nor any native BlackBerry apps require you to configure this APN setting to function.

What is APN Setting and Why you need it

Some third-party applications might require a direct TCP or HTTP connection to the Internet. For example, a stock price application might require a connection to the Internet to retrieve the latest stock prices. The TCP settings might be required for the third-party application to access the Internet. To meet these requirement of 3rd party apps, you can configure the Access Point Name, user name and password to allow BlackBerry to connect directly to the Internet via your wireless service provider gateway. You do not need this APN setting for connecting your BlackBerry to a Wi-Fi router. This APN setting is only for your 3G/EDGE connection through your data plan.

I have seen in some cases, where users were not able to watch YouTube videos over 3G connection, configuring APN settings have helped them see the noticeable difference. Well. there is no proper justification for this resolution, but if you see any problems of loosing Internet connection for 3rd party apps frequently or some apps stop working which were OK before, try setting up APN and see if that helps.

Before you start configuring APN settings, you will need following information from your wireless carrier: APN, username and password.

It may happen that the username and password you your particular wireless service provider is not set and in that case, just leave it blank.

For e.g. T-Mobile: APN= wap.voicestream.com, Username: [blank] , Password: [blank]
Rogers: APN=internet.com, Username=wapuser1, Password=wap

Check out this link, it may have APN settings for your service provider or contact your wireless service provider to obtain this information.

How to configure APN settings

On Home screen, click Options.
Click Advanced Options > TCP
Enter the APN, user name, and password
Press the Menu key and select Save

Let us know in the comment, if settings up APN helps you see any difference.

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Original Post: How to Configure the APN Settings on BlackBerry | Add to del.icio.us | 2 comments
Post tags: 3G, 3rd party apps, APN, YouTube