Sorry, folks, but due to massive technical difficulties we won’t have the BBGeekcast this week. I actually recorded it, but then the program crashed while saving. A second recording yielded the same results. We’ll be back next week, certainly with new podcast recording software. I apologize again for missing another week.
It’s with the utmost disappointment that I bring to you some bad news. After a few months of trying to build up a community that can discuss BlackBerry issues, we’ve decided to drop the BBGeeks Forums. It wasn’t an easy decision, because it gave us another platform to help solve user problems. But we feel that between the comments sections on our posts and our BBGeeks Twitter account, we will still be able to help anyone who has a BlackBerry question. In fact, now that we’re not focusing on the forum I think that those outlets can be an even better place to get your problems solved. A big thanks to Cooper for keeping up with everything.
A further apology goes out to those who have asked questions in the forum and hasn’t yet received an answer. Again, you’re encouraged to comment on our posts, or to tweet at us.
We’re a couple of days late on this — blame it on the Torch if you want — but we’ve selected winners for the contest we’ve run for SBSH Calendar Pro. The prize is a free license, and we’ve got 15 winners.You can find them after the jump. If you see your name, expect an email with the license code shortly.
If you didn’t win, you’re in luck. SBSH Mobile Software has discounted the app temporarily, down to $5.99. If you’re interested, you can get Calendar Pro at the BBGeeks Store.
Things are going well so far in the early stages of the BBGeeks forums. Last week I outlined our goals for the forums, and we saw a good response. Plenty of people are asking questions, and Cooper is busy providing answers. But we could always use some more help. Any great forum has a great set of moderators, and that’s what we’re out to recruit. But we’re not going to ask people to do it for nothing. To kick things off we’re going to open our BBGeeks forum moderator contest.
Read the rest of Are you a helpful BlackBerry geek? Enter our forum contest…
So BBGeeks has passed the three year mark and we are stronger than ever. We have grown from humble beginnings as just another BlackBerry blog into one of the premiere destinations for Blackberry info online.
The truth of the matter is that despite all the hard work done by the BBGeeks team, we would be nowhere without you.
Some of you read the blog, some keep up with us through the BBGeeks Podcast, many engage us through the Twitter feed or more recently, participate in the BBGeeks forums. No matter which method you choose to get your BlackBerry fix, we would like to let you know that we appreciate your efforts and thank you for everything you do to help us grow.
Read the rest of BBGeeks Third Anniversary Prize pack Bonanza…
I have been thinking long and hard about what story I would tell you on this special occasion. There have been a number of memorable moments for me in the last three years, but I kept coming back to one single event over and over. I would like to share with you the story of how a random Blackberry accessory and a half a case of beer led to the crippling of the BBGeeks website and a proper headache for the poor webmasters who happened to be sharing a server with us.
Hop in the Delorean with me as we travel back to September of 2007. Rae had just returned from a conference in some sunny locale and popped by the BBGeeks office to show off her tan and make sure we hadn’t burned the place down while she was away. While saying her hellos, she casually dropped a small plastic packet on my desk. At first glance I had no idea what it was but I was instructed to write a review on it.
Read the rest of Cooper’s favorite BBGeeks memory…
I’ll admit it: I didn’t care much for the BlackBerry before Rae hired me to do some writing work. I had always associated it with stuffy businessmen in suits who were constantly attached to their bosses. No way, man. Not for me. After all, I was 24 years old. I knew everything about everything. No way was I going to turn into one of those suits who carried their lives with them in a BlackBerry.
One day, in discussing a writing assignment, I made the mistake of mentioning my disdain for BlackBerry to Rae. Oh boy, did I get an earful. She spent much of the afternoon extolling the BlackBerry’s virtues. By the end I was sold. I don’t know how I went from “no way” to “want” in just a couple of hours. But I defy you to badmouth BlackBerry to Rae. Even the staunchest detractor will at least see the device’s virtues.
Still, I wondered when she told me three Junes ago that we were doing BBGeeks, how in the world would we write something about BlackBerry every day? I saw the other sites in the BlackBerry blogosphere, and while I thought they were doing good work, they all had a constant influx of material to work with. News was news, and their presentations of that news worked. We needed to do something different, something to make us stand out…
You might not know it, but we turn three today. We weren’t a big operation at first, just a bunch of BlackBerry enthusiasts who thought there was a place on the internet for a site that focused on ways to use your device. It took a while to get into the groove, but three years later we’re enjoying where we stand. Of course, we have you ladies and gents, our readers, for our success. We’ve enjoyed interacting with you during the past three years, and look forward to talking BlackBerry for the next three.
We’ve got a few anniversary posts today, including memories from Cooper and me. We’ll also have a contest coming up mid-morning/early afternoon. And then, of course, we’ll cap things off with the BBGeekcast in the afternoon.
Thanks again, readers. You’ve made our time in this space eminently enjoyable.
Welcome to our remodeled site. It wasn’t anything drastic, as you can see. Just a little tweaking. We got a little wider in the main column, which is nice for multimedia (and for the ease of reading the text). Other than that, the only big change is the navigation at the top. We’ve tried to keep the essential material up here. For instance, Cooper’s hardware reviews feature prominently. You can also check out BlackBerry accessories, games, and themes, all broken down by device.
Just a couple of things of note up there. First, BBGeeks forums. We previously did not want to host a forum, but popular demand is popular demand. We’ve set up some categories so you guys can ask questions and share tips.
We’ve also added a section, New to BlackBerry, that serves as a guide for first-time buyers. It covers the basics, from choosing the right device to getting it set up. Then again, if you’re reading this right now, chances are you don’t need anything like that. So poke around and see if any of the new features are of use to you.
Finally, as always happens with matters like these, the transition from test server to the live server didn’t go 100% smoothly. We’re ironing out the creases right now, so if you notice a missing image or something of that nature, fret not. We’ll have it fixed in no time.
So please, enjoy the new, user-friendlier BBGeeks.com.
Today is one of the few weekdays we do not post a new tip or app at BBGeeks. We’re still celebrating the start of summer, but we’ll be back tomorrow with all the regular BBGeeks goodness. See you then.
