This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

No BBGeekcast this week

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

No BBGeekcast this week

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.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Sorry to say: BBGeeks Forums are closing

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Sorry to say: BBGeeks Forums are closing

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.

The winners:

• barclay
  papped
  Mamarazzi
  Mario Bojorquez
  Gordon Margolese
  Jimmy
  Michael
  Tim
  stefanybaez
  Big Mark
  Marek Hajn
  Amnerox
  Derick
  joshtb86
  Jimmy Govea

Congratulations to those who will receive the free license, and thank you to all who participated. We’re going to try to do plenty more of these in the future.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Winners of the SBSH Calendar Pro contest

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Winners of the SBSH Calendar Pro contest

The contest

We have decided to make this contest as straightforward as possible. We are looking for people who know their BlackBerry stuff, and can help others with questions and issues. The best way to do this, we think, is to actually see who is providing the most help.

We’re not just looking for post counts, though. People can pump up their stats with easy comments that aren’t particularly helpful. Instead we’re going to look for the highest number of posts that help answer people’s questions and solve their issues. So you can feel free to leave comments anywhere in the forum, but only those that aim to help others will count towards the contest.

The winners, of course, will be granted moderator status. We’ll help you guys out by throwing you free apps and as many discounts on stuff at the BBGeeks Store as we can. Also, for the two most helpful members during this contest we’ll be handing out two $50 gift cards to the Store.

The terms

Again, we’re only going to count posts that help answer a user’s questions help them solve a problem they’re having with their BlackBerry. Again, feel free to post as much as you want, but we won’t count casual posts for the contest.

The contest will run from this instant, noon EDT on Wednesday, July 7, through a week from Friday: July 16, 2010. At that point we’ll tally up the posts and email the winners.

Happy helping

If you have any questions, hit me: jpawlikowski at bbgeeks.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Are you a helpful BlackBerry geek? Enter our forum contest

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Are you a helpful BlackBerry geek? Enter our forum contest

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.

In honor of all of you, the BBGeeks of the world, we would like to give you a little something back. If we could, we would give each and every one of you a gift for our third anniversary but alas this is not possible. What we have done however, is put together three killer prize packs that will be awarded to three lucky BBGeeks out there!
__________________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE: Three Lucky BBGeeks Prize Winners!

Thank you all for the great comments and all your kind words. After a week of entries we ended up with just under 100 people getting in for a chance to win.

Here are the three luck winners of the BBGeeks Third Anniversary Prize Pack Bonanza!

The BBGeeks BlackBerry Business Pack

The winner of the BlackBerry Business Pack is Joe aka NfldBerryGuy:

The BBgeeks BlackBerry Sports Pack

The winner of the BlackBerry Sports Pack is CH1C425:

the BBGeeks BlackBerry Travelers Pack

The winner of the BlackBerry Sports Pack is Lynn aka LoveLiLady:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Rules

You have already shown us that you love us and you have already shown your dedication to the BBGeeks community. We are not going to make you jump through any hoops to enter the contest. All you have to do is drop us a comment on this post and let us know who you are, and what prize package you would like to win. Of course if you wanted to leave some kind words for us or the rest of the BBGeeks community, we would not hold it against you =)

Easy as pie – The contest will run for one week at which point the winners will be announced and contacted directly for their mailing information.

So now that we are clear on the rules, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and tell you about the prize packs.

The BBGeeks BlackBerry Business Pack

The BlackBerry is a great device for the man or woman with business on the brain. check out this set of prizes for the professional BBGeek.

1. Planon Printstick – The Planon Printstick is a magic little portable printing solution for BlackBerry owners on the go. If you are on the road doing sales or providing quotes for potential clients this is one killer accessory.

Check out the BBGeeks review of the Planon Printstick Portable Printing Solution

2. Xtensor Hand exerciser – These things are cool! They make you look like you have robot hands. Seriously though, the Xtensor is a great little tool for strengthening your grip and minimizing the crippling effects of the dreaded BlackBerry Thumb.

3. Talk Major BlackBerry T-shirt – Talk Major is an upstart clothing line who is creating some great designs for the mobile phone enthusiast. They have a line of BlackBerry T-shirts available and have been very generous in donating one for each of the prize packs.

You will have you pick of all available styles and designs if you are chosen as the winner so head over to the Talk Major site to see what is available.

4. $50 gift certificate for the BBGeeks Store – We are going to put $50 in your pocket for use in the BBGeeks Store so you can snap up the latest in BlackBerry Business Applications.

5. Random BlackBerry Skins – There are a number of BlackBerry skins floating around the BBGeeks offices that were never given away. Each prize pack winner will receive a random selection of BlackBerry Skins from Decal Girl. If you want to leave your model number in your entry comment we will do our best to make sure you get at least one skin for your device. In the event that you don’t get one that fits your device, you can pass them along to your friends =)

6. BBGeeks Stickers – Pass them out to your friends, leave them laying at conferences or hoard them all for yourself! Just kidding folks – they are stickers – stick them on everything and spread the word about BBGeeks!

The BBGeeks BlackBerry Sports Pack

The BlackBerry is ideal for the sports enthusiast. Whether it is tracking your favorite teams in the World Cup or keeping you company with some sweet tunes during your workout, the BlackBerry is a great companion for the sporty BBGeeks out there.

1. Xtensor Hand exerciser – These things are cool! They make you look like you have robot hands. Seriously though, the Xtensor is a great little tool for strengthening your grip and minimizing the crippling effects of the dreaded BlackBerry Thumb.

2. Adidas Viigo Soccer/Football Jersey – A super high quality Adidas Soccer/Football jersey emblazoned with the Viigo logo. The perfect World Cup attire for those whose teams didn’t make the final cut (ahem … Ireland).

3. Talk Major BlackBerry T-shirt – Talk Major is an upstart clothing line who is creating some great designs for the mobile phone enthusiast. They have a line of BlackBerry T-shirts available and have been very generous in donating one for each of the prize packs.

You will have you pick of all available styles and designs if you are chosen as the winner so head over to the Talk Major site to see what is available.

4. Sony Ericcson Bluetooth Headset – There is nothing worse than being interrupted during a run or workout session by your phone ringing. It is also quite a pain to have your BlackBerry on your person when doing strenuous exercise. Most of the devices are kind of bulky. The Sony HBH-DS970 Bluetooth Headset is the solution for these issues and more.

Check out the BBGeeks review of the Sony Bluetooth headset for the BlackBerry here.

5. $50 gift certificate for the BBGeeks Store – We are going to put $50 in your pocket for use in the BBGeeks Store so you can snap up the latest in BlackBerry Sports Applications.

6. Random BlackBerry Skins – There are a number of BlackBerry skins floating around the BBGeeks offices that were never given away. Each prize pack winner will receive a random selection of BlackBerry Skins from Decal Girl. If you want to leave your model number in your entry comment we will do our best to make sure you get at least one skin for your device. In the event that you don’t get one that fits your device, you can pass them along to your friends =)

7. BBGeeks Stickers – Pass them out to your friends, leave them laying at conferences or hoard them all for yourself! Just kidding folks – they are stickers – stick them on everything and spread the word about BBGeeks!

The BBGeeks BlackBerry Travelers Pack

You know who you are. you are the kind of BBGeek that likes to get up and go. Perhaps you are heading to a new country, a new state or maybe you are just out for a cruise. No matter where you go though you pack your BlackBerry. Check out this cool prize pack loaded items to help you stay connected while on the go.

1. Freedom Mobile Power Source – The Freedom Mobile Power Source is a killer little portable battery that will juice up your BlackBerry if it happens to run low while you are away from a traditional power outlet. This device is sure to be a lifesaver for the BBGeek on the move.

Check out the BBGeeks review of the Freedom Mobile Power source here.

2. Talk Major BlackBerry T-shirt – Talk Major is an upstart clothing line who is creating some great designs for the mobile phone enthusiast. They have a line of BlackBerry T-shirts available and have been very generous in donating one for each of the prize packs.

You will have you pick of all available styles and designs if you are chosen as the winner so head over to the Talk Major site to see what is available.

3. GlobalSat GPS Navigation Receiver – Yeah yeah I know – your BlackBerry already has GPS. If you are really the traveler you say you are I bet you can put this handy device to good use.

4. Parrot Minikit Slim BT Speakerphone – For the road warriors out there who don’t want to give the State Troopers a reason to delay your progress, the Parrot Minikit Speakerphone is going to be a good friend. Hook it up in your car or use it at home but wherever you use it you will be hands free! (and in full compliance with the law).

5. $50 gift certificate for the BBGeeks Store – We are going to put $50 in your pocket for use in the BBGeeks Store so you can snap up the latest in BlackBerry Travel Applications.

6. Random BlackBerry Skins – There are a number of BlackBerry skins floating around the BBGeeks offices that were never given away. Each prize pack winner will receive a random selection of BlackBerry Skins from Decal Girl. If you want to leave your model number in your entry comment we will do our best to make sure you get at least one skin for your device. In the event that you don’t get one that fits your device, you can pass them along to your friends =)

7. BBGeeks Stickers – Pass them out to your friends, leave them laying at conferences or hoard them all for yourself! Just kidding folks – they are stickers – stick them on everything and spread the word about BBGeeks!

Send Us Your Entries!

Alright folks – you have read the rules and seen the prizes available. The contest will be open until 1PM EST on Friday June the 18th 2010. Good luck to everyone and again, thank you so much for helping us grow and for choosing BBGeeks as your source for everything BlackBerry.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeeks Third Anniversary Prize pack Bonanza

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeeks Third Anniversary Prize pack Bonanza

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.

I opened the package and all I found was a small square of fabric with a sticker that said BlackBerry Screen Cleaner.

Hmmmmmm…[Cooper stares at the fabric square]

I was stumped folks. I mean how do you review an item like this? It wasn’t an app, it wasn’t a real accessory. It was a piece of fabric and I was not prepared to deal with this!

So the BlackBerry screen cleaner sat on my desk for weeks as we fought a war of attrition. I stared at it, it mocked me. To make matters worse, Rae kept asking me when I was going to post the review.

Finally, on a chilly day in early December I had had enough. I told myself that I was going to go into the office, sit down and write this damned review. I fired up the computer, pulled the silly square out of the plastic and cleaned my BlackBerry screen. The results were as expected, the cheek grease was cleared from the screen and the screen looked like new.

Great! Step one complete but I still had to figure out how to write a review of the product. I mean this review could literally be completed with two sentences. Here is a BlackBerry Screen cleaner. It works.

I wasn’t getting off that easy though. For starters, Rae would have killed me if I published that. In addition to bodily harm, I would have been cheating you, the readers. I needed to make this review interesting. I needed a hook. I needed a beer.

One beer turned into two, soon turned into six as I walked around and bothered the others in the office. By the time the sixth beer was working it’s magic I was in great spirits. This review was not going to get the best of me. I thought about the absurdity of reviewing a piece of cloth. I wondered how many people would even use a product like this. I had always used my pant leg to clean my BlackBerry screen and never felt like I was missing out on anything. I wondered how the two methods would compare to one another and – BOOM – it hit me. I had my hook.

The BlackBerry Screen Cleaner vs. My Pant Leg

[Joe's note: this is by far my favorite post title in BBGeeks history.]

I decided to get extra nerdy and set up the comparison using “The Scientific Method” that I was taught back in high school. I didn’t bother to google what the exact steps were, choosing instead to guess. That always works out well when you are half a case in, right?.

The review itself was actually pretty easy to write once I had decided on a format. I compared swipe technique (pant leg, shirt sleeve, screen cleaner), base material (microfiber vs denim), applied pressure and more. I went really tongue in cheek for the writing style of the review and ultimately ended up with a couple thousand words of awesome when all was said and done. By the way, I was absolutely positive I was going to get fired for posting this but hit publish anyways.

Within a few hours the post was making its rounds on a few high profile websites and was generating quite a bit of buzz. By the next morning the post had hit the front page of Digg.com and was sending so much traffic to the BBGeeks website that the poor server started to fail. A couple hours later and the server had completely blown up. BBGeeks was dead in the water. Some of our sister sites on the same server were also gone. Needless to say, this outage was affecting us on a number of levels and things did not look like they were going to come back to life any time soon. If I was sure I was getting fired just for publishing the review, I was absolutely positive I was going to be fired for killing the site.

Eventually everything was patched up, the sites came back online and we were back to business as usual. Only this time, we had a massive increase in BBGeeks readers from that point on. After speaking with Rae I was assured that steps were being taken to prevent another crash of this type and that despite my concerns about being fired, I was in no danger. In fact, I was highly encouraged to strive for a repeat performance!

I have to say that working with the BBGeeks team for the past three years has been the best job I have ever had. It rarely feels like work. I love the interaction with all you BBGeeks out there and I hope to continue being a part of it for many years to come. Thank you all for making this journey with us. BBGeeks would be nothing without you.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Cooper’s favorite BBGeeks memory

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Cooper’s favorite BBGeeks memory

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…

If you check out the oldest pages in our archives, you’ll see some information that, at the time, was probably at least moderately useful. Rae had me write the guide to ringtones and an article about why you want the 8800. From there you can see that we did some newsy stuff, some feature stuff, but not much that was too original. And, unsurprisingly, we didn’t see much in the way of readers. That would change pretty soon.

As Cooper will relate in the next post, one of his posts caused a little spike in our popularity — though it also brought a few unintended consequences. That gave us a little boost, a little visibility in a crowded BlackBerry space. That led to the next spike, the big spike. Without Cooper’s post I don’t think we would have even gotten the tip that led to what I believe was our big breakthrough.

I will never forget the day that picture showed up in my inbox. It was late January, 2008, and I had just upgraded my 8700 to the 8830 World Edition. I really wanted a Curve, but I refused to switch to either AT&T or T-Mobile. They had terrible coverage where I lived. Plus, Verizon had been good to me. In any case, no more than two weeks after I bought the thing I got an email from a strange address. He claimed he was with a Canadian carrier, and that he had with him a test 8330 unit. Yes, the CDMA Curve.

I eventually kicked myself for not waiting, but before that I marveled. Here it was. A scoop. Yes, we knew a CDMA Curve was coming at some point, but no one had a clue exactly when. Now I knew it was coming, and would probably hit American carriers soon. The source said that the thing was under wraps, so we had to proceed with caution. If I’d agree to his terms, he’d send me the specs and some thoughts a couple of days later, with pictures to follow a week after that. I hated waiting on the pics — I thought that another site would end up getting them and publishing them first. But, knowing this was our only chance, I readily agreed.

And so I posted the information given to me, sans pictures. No one called BS, either. I was surprised. A site like ours, with little history and almost no credibility, got the benefit of the doubt when it came to this rumor. Then it came. Late that week an email arrived with the pictures, and the next Monday we posted them for the world to see. We got 83 comments and pingbacks, making it the most commented post to that point. I remember seeing pingbacks from sites I had admired. That really made me smile. It felt like we had made it.

What makes the story a bit crazier is that, no more than a week after we posted the pics I got another email from the source. This one came from a different email address. The source claimed that he had to come from a different address because his work was monitoring the old one (even thought it was a Gmail address). His company, he explained, suspected him of the leak. He just wanted to give me a heads up, and mentioned that the company might send me an email posing as him, trying to get me to confirm the leak. Wait a tick…different email address…couldn’t this be the company looking for the leak? I didn’t want to burn the source, so I didn’t respond. Source guy, if you’re reading this, sorry for not replying. I didn’t want to risk that being your company impersonating you. Didn’t want to give you up after you’d basically put the site on the map.

Everything went well from there. We basically survived the next eight or nine months by repackaging BlackBerry news content from other sites. Later that year we switched formats and focused on useful apps and tips. I think that has worked out rather well.

Still, it’s that scoop that got us going. I’m forever grateful to that source. I also believe that the story Cooper is about to tell is the reason the source found us in the first place.

Thanks, ladies and gents. It’s been an incredibly fun ride. I don’t know how we come up with something BlackBerry related to write about every day, but you guys keep us motivated. Here’s to three more excellent years with you.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Joe’s favorite BBGeeks memory

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Joe’s favorite BBGeeks memory

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.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Happy Birthday to BBGeeks

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Happy Birthday to BBGeeks

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.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeeks still the same, just a bit easier

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BBGeeks still the same, just a bit easier

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Happy Memorial Day

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Happy Memorial Day