• Post updates to Twitter, including a character countdown from 140 characters
• One-click access to view friends timelines, replies, your favorites, your own timeline, and the public timeline
• Post pictures to Zannel, TwitPic, Twitgoo, or yfrog
• Take a picture with a one-click embedded camera (BlackBerry® Device Software version 4.6+)
• Reply to tweets from each timeline view
• Send and receive direct messages
• Mark tweets as favorites
• Notification icon that indicates the number of unread messages, like new emails or missed calls (BlackBerry® Device Software version 4.6+)
• Cache all avatar images to internal memory, thus saves network access and helps faster loading
• Search Twitter with a keyword or from a list of currently trending topics
• Active text recognition of @usernames and #hashtags
• New Setup wizard
• Two modes of list views: a “fixed height” view and a “variable height” view

As with TwitterBerry, OpenBeak works with any BlackBerry device running OS 4.2.1 or above. You’ll also need a data plan, of course. To download OpenBeak 1.1, visit m.openbeak.com from your BlackBerry Browser. As a closing aside, there is at least one more Twitter client that has removed the brand name from its own. I used to use the popular TwitterFox browser plugin, but that has since changed to Echofon. I can’t be sure, but it seems like these developers want to keep their own brand front and center, rather than using Twitter’s. It’s a lot easier to do this once you have a large following, as both TwitterFox and TwitterBerry did.

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

TwitterBerry changes name to OpenBeak

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

TwitterBerry changes name to OpenBeak

Overview

When I first saw QuickLaunch, I immediately thought of my new favorite Mac application, Quicksilver. The ideas behind both are the same. Instead of drilling down through menu after menu to launch an application, or launching your web browser and looking around for a site, these applications allow you to open these with minimal keystrokes.

QuickLaunch allows you to open more than just applications and web pages. You can quickly call, email, text, or BBM your most common contacts. If you’re a multimedia person, you can add QuickLaunch to audio and video files, allowing for quick and easy access. That’s the entire idea behind QuickLaunch: cutting out unnecessary steps so you can get on with what’s important.

Adding to the QuickLaunch library

The more applications, websites, contacts, and media files you add to your QuickLaunch library, the easier it will be to use your BlackBerry. It means that everything that’s important to you is just a keystroke or two away.

When you first run QuickLaunch, you’ll get the screenshot you see to your right. This is where you add to your library. To get started, let’s look at adding an application. On this screen, you’ll click the trackball on Application. That brings you to a screen where you can choose from any application on your BlackBerry. That will add it to the QuickLaunch menu, which we’ll examine in a moment. You also have the option of adding a shortcut key. That will allow you to access the application from the QuickLaunch menu, so you don’t have to scroll to the item.

Adding a website works in the same way. Click on Website, and you’ll get a screen with a few fields. First is Menu Display Text, which is for the website’s title. Then you enter in the URL, with the option of assigning a shortcut key. The only qualm I have with the website section is that you cannot add a bookmark directly from your browser. That would be a great addition.

The process works the same way for phone calls, email, SMS, and PIN messages. Click into the appropriate menu item, and then you can select the contact from your address book. Finally, for media files, you can choose from your device memory or from an SD card. All of these items will be added to your QuickLaunch meny for easy access.

Navigating the QuickLaunch menu

Once you have added applications, web pages, contacts, and media to your QuickLaunch, it’s time to start using the application. After you exit QuickLaunch for the first time, you’ll see the menu in the upper right hand corner of your screen. You can back out of this menu at any time by hitting the Escape key. To relaunch the QuickLaunch menu, just click on the application.

Tip: Set QuickLaunch to one of your convenience keys. Check out our quick tip on how to set your BlackBerry convenience key.

To access anything on the menu, either scroll to it and press the trackball, or otherwise press the shortcut key you assigned to it. That’s all there is to it, really. It’s why QuickLaunch is such a perfect application for your BlackBerry. Once you have it up and running, accessing everything on your BlackBerry is simple. You might never need to access the Applications Menu again.

Everything with QuickLaunch can be accessed by the menu. This includes adding new items or editing the highlighted item. To add a new item, click the Menu button with the QuickLaunch menu open, and select Add Item. You’ll then see the main screen, where you can repeat the process from the above section. If you want to edit the highlighted item, click Menu and select Edit item. A dialog box will pop up in the middle of the screen, allowing you to edit the display text and the shortcut key.

You can delete any QuickLaunch item by selecting it in the QuickLaunch menu, clicking the Menu key, and selecting Delete Item.

Creating submenus and separators

For greater organization capabilities, you can add submenus and separators to the QuickLaunch menu. As you can see in the corresponding screen shot, I’ve created a submenu for IMing applications, and then have created a separator below the BB Messenger item. The process is pretty easy.

In the QuickLaunch menu, click the Menu button. To create a separator below the highlighted item, select Add Separator. To create a submenu, hit menu (while selecting any item) and click on Add Submenu. You can add items to a submenu by highlighting it in the QuickLaunch menu, clicking the Menu button, and selecting Move to Submenu.

QuickLaunch options

QuickLaunch allows a few customization options to allow you the best possible experience. These options include the color and font, as well as the menu’s location (either on the right or left side of the screen). You can also instruct QuickLaunch to add the date and time to the menu — it will even add the current temperature if you want it to.

Once you’re in the QuickLaunch menu, you can set your convenience keys to perform different tasks. Well, okay, not really. You can set the convenience key to close the application, but that’s about it. I’d really like to see this expanded in a future release. If the application already overrides the convenience key, why not allow users to access other apps through it? It would essentially create two sets of convenience keys: two for when you’re outside of QuickLaunch, and two when you are inside.

There are a few other small options, but one that I truly appreciate is the option to hide the menu during screen capture. QuickLaunch comes with its own screen capture feature. The problem with using it is that when you see the item in the QuickLaunch menu, well, the menu is up on the screen. You can check a box at the bottom of the options page which will allow you to take a screen shot without the menu present. I unchecked the box when doing this write-up, but turned it right on afterward.

Demo video

Everyone loves a good web video, so here’s one demoing QuickLaunch.

Get QuickLaunch

If you’re looking to spend as little time as possible navigating your BlackBerry, I suggest giving QuickLaunch a try. I recommend it especially for Mac people who use Quicksilver. It’s the same concept, and it can save you time from pointlessly scrolling through various menus.

You can get QuickLaunch for just $4.99. It is compatible with almost all BlackBerry models, OS versions 4.5 and above. This includes OS 5.0 on the BlackBerry Storm.

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

Walkthrough of QuickLaunch for BlackBerry

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

Walkthrough of QuickLaunch for BlackBerry

* Usually we save newsy posts for News From The Wire, but I didn’t see this until after it was posted and thought it was worthwhile. Stay tuned. The BBGeekcast is coming up soon.

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

BlackBerry App World will offer carrier billing

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

BlackBerry App World will offer carrier billing

Miss the graphics from the newspaper? You can see them through PressReader. You can also simulate the turning of the pages, since everything is laid out as it is in print. The application features an intuitive zooming function, making the process even easier.

Some of the features they tout:

• Program automatic downloads of publications as soon as they are published
• Enjoy intuitive navigation, including rotate, zoom and pan
• View full graphics or easy-to-read text views
• Access on-demand audio
• Search across titles
• Jump to next page using article hyperlinks

To make matters super clear, they’ve created a demo video. It shows exactly how the application works, and why it’s a great solution for people who read on the go.

You can get PressReader at App World for free, though subscriptions to publications does cost money. Still, you’re getting something for your money above what you’d get from a simple RSS feed. Also, if you do download it, make sure to check out the setup instructions on the App World page. PressReader is only available on the Curve 8900, Bold 9000, and Storm 9500 — but since the application is free, I’d recommend giving it a try on any OS 4.6+ device.

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

Keep up with your favorite publications with PressReader

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

Keep up with your favorite publications with PressReader

The app will feature all locations currently in the Craigslist database, and all categories as well. According to BlackBerry Cool, “it should only be a matter of days until it hits App World.” Check back to this post, as we’ll add a link when it’s official. Until then, tide yourself over with this demo video.

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

Craigslist app for BlackBerry nearing App World release

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

Craigslist app for BlackBerry nearing App World release

Overview

StudentDocket is an application designed to help students better organize themselves. In its truest form, however, the application is an extension of David Allen’s Getting Things Done program, which you can read more about here. It’s essentially a natural way of handling workflow. We receive a number of inputs every day, and oftentimes we lose sight of what they mean. Getting Things Done (GTD) is a method of processing these inputs and organizing them in a way that is easy and natural to remember and, most importantly, act on.

The name StudentDocket is misleading. We covered it in our teacher and student BlackBerry applications, but it works just as well for professionals. In fact, because it uses the principles of GTD, it might work even better for professionals who are looking to organize their workflow. As I said, I’ve been using the application to help keep myself organized, and even though I leave some of the application’s features unused, it still works wonders.

Creating classes

Before creating a project or task, you’ll have to create classes. This might seem unnatural for non-students, but it does serve its purpose. After all, work isn’t the only thing that matters, right? You can use the classes section to divide up your projects in any way that makes sense for you. I divide my StudentDocket into a number of classes. I have one for each website I manage, one for educational projects, and another one for personal projects.

To create a class, click the Menu button on the main screen of StudentDocket, and then select New Class. You’ll then have the option to name the course, give its location, set the date and time, note how frequently it occurs, and set a start and end date. As you can see in the screenshot, I left the location blank and the time as the default. I did change the Repeat Rule field to daily, since I work on BBGeeks every day. The end date I left set to never.

Below that you can enter in the teacher details. This is mainly for students, who can enter in the professor’s name, office hours, and other information. Professionals can use this field to note their boss, or the project leader. You never know when having that information in hand might be useful.

Creating projects

Once you’ve created classes to organize your workflow, the next step is to create projects. The project is the main unit of the GTD program. In our work we either create projects, or have others assign them to us. It’s easy to lose focus when working on a project. It consists of many parts, and if we lose sight of those components we can lose focus on the project as a whole. GTD is designed to keep projects flowing by breaking it down into tasks.

To create a new projects, highlight the class under which the project falls, click the Menu button, and select New Project. You can really hit the Menu button at any time, since you can change the class in the New Project screen, but that just makes it easier. Here you can enter the project name, the class it’s for, the due date, and the date to begin displaying the project. This is useful if you have multiple projects in one class and want to finish one before beginning the next. You can also enter any notes here.

You’ll notice also a section called Tasks below the project information fields. This is what David Allen calls Next Actions. They’re basically the step-by-step instructions for how the project will flow. We’ll cover that in the next section.

Creating tasks

You can create tasks two ways for StudentDocket: standalone and for projects. The standalone way acts as a basic to-do list. This is meant for one-off items. If you’re a student, that can include home work or short reading assignments (long reading assignments might best fit under projects). If you’re a professional, it can be a list of quick actions, like following up on an email or making a cold call. In any case, these tasks are not part of a project.

To set a standalone task, just click the Menu button on the main page and select New Task. From there you can enter the task name, its status (incomplete, in progress, or completed), the class it’s for, when it’s due in class terms, the actual due date, and any notes. You can also set yourself a reminder for anywhere from five minutes to a week before the task is due. Finally, there’s an option to repeat the task daily, weekly, or monthly. And, of course, there is a field for notes.

To add a task to a project, click on the project and select Open. That will bring you to a screen titled “Tasks due for…” and then your project name. From there, hit the Menu button and you can add a task to the project. You can also edit the project details from this screen. If you choose Add Task, you’ll go through the same process as above, except your task will now be assigned to the project. Once you complete the task, just highlight it, press the trackball, and select Mark Complete. If you’re super-organized, you can also mark the task In Progress.

Viewing your schedule

The top navigation bar on StudentDocket gives you a number of options for viewing your projects and tasks. The default is the normal view, which lists your classes and the relevant tasks and projects for each. The clearest is timeline, which will list all of your projects and tasks by due date. It also lists your daily classes, with the appropriate tasks and projects listed below them.

In addition, you can view assignments due today, this week, and this month using the icons on the top navigation bar. Clicking the Menu button gives you a number of additional options, including the ability to view assignments due tomororw and in the next X days. You can also view by class, or you can view all of your assignments.

(Note that StudentDocket also tracks your past-due assignments, marking them in red.)

Finally, there are options for viewing completed items. You can leave these visible, as a reminder of what you’ve accomplished. Most people, in my experience, like to hide completed items, as to streamline their organizational process. No need for unused clutter if you’re trying to stay organized, right?

Getting StudentDocket

If you think that StudentDocket is the kind of software that can help you get and stay organized, you can get StudentDocket for $19.99. That link is for operating systems 4.1 through 4.7, non-touch. You can get it for the 4.7 Storm also.

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

Geek Review: StudentDocket organizer for BlackBerry

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

Geek Review: StudentDocket organizer for BlackBerry

Here’s what Loopt says about their new features:

• Discover the best places and events, including those rated highly by your friends on Pulse
• See where your friends are on maps, view their latest updates listed in real-time, and comment on them
• Check-in to instantly share your updates with friends – easily update Facebook and Twitter with your photos and places in one Loopt check-in
• Browse and rate local places and events – peruse detailed information from Zagat, Citysearch, and the Loopt community
• Save money with special offers and coupons from nearby retailers

These all sound like great features, especially the integration with Facebook and Twitter. It seems like Loopt understands its place in the social networking world, and isn’t trying to be too much. Instead, it’s trying to add its own value to existing social networks. Sounds like a plus to me.

I’m still probably not getting Loopt, but that’s for reasons beyond my own skepticism. In order for this service to provide the greatest possible value, you need more friends on it. I currently have none. So the choices are to convince my friends to use it, or to sit it out. If you’ve ever met my friends, you’d understand why the latter is what I’ve chosen.

The only downside I can see is that Loopt is only available on the newer devices. These include the Bold 9000, the Curve 8900, and the Tour 9630. I’m assuming it will also be available for the 9700 when it drops this week or next, but I can’t be sure. Ditto the Curve 8530, though I’m less sure on that because it’s not available for the 8520. If you have one of the compatible devices, you can get Loopt at App World.

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

Location-based social network Loopt adds new features

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

Location-based social network Loopt adds new features

Unfortunately, for those of you who have been enjoying Gym Technik’s services for free, you’ll have to upgrade in order to use NextGen. That’s going to turn off plenty of users, I’m sure. It’s tough to go from using a free service to paying $4 to $5 per month for it. It depends on how heavily you lean on tracking services. For some people, they’re integral in reaching fitness goals. Others can use a pen and paper, or a spreadsheet.

The good news is that you can try it out for free. Just head to http://www.gymtechnik.com/blackberry/ and click Download and Try Free. You can link up your Gym Technik account to NextGen, and you’ll get a free month of Premium service. After that, if you don’t think it’s worth the subscription cost ($15 for three months, $48 for a year), you can just go back to using the basic service. That is still available at m.gymtechnik.com.

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

Gym Technik adds NextGen BlackBerry App

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

Gym Technik adds NextGen BlackBerry App

I learned about the Maps upgrade from BerryReview. It is version 3.2.1, up from version 3.2, which brought layers to the BlackBerry platform. You can download it at http://m.google.com/maps from your BlackBerry browser.

I caught a bit about the Gmail application on BlackBerryOS. It’s a sneaky update from 2.0.6 to 2.0.7. Sneaky because it says version 2.0.6 when you visit the mobile site (or at least it did when the guys from BBOS went there), but when you click to download it, it shows 2.0.7. It apparently is not compatible with OS 5.0, so if you have a Storm with that OS or else have a leaked copy, you might want to hold off on this update. Also, someone claimed to already have this version installed? Does anyone else?

You can get the Gmail app at http://m.google.com/mail from your BB browser.

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

Google updates Maps, Gmail BlackBerry applications

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

Google updates Maps, Gmail BlackBerry applications

They’ve recently redone their mobile site, and it now works well with your BlackBerry. Just head to http://www.getdropbox.com/m from your BlackBerry browser and you’ll be able to access your account. This includes downloading files you’ve uploaded to it, and uploading files from your BlackBerry to it. The mobile site is intuitive enough to take care of simple file transfer and management needs.

To make matters even easier, they’ve also released a quicklaunch icon, which you can download here (and here’s the direct OTA link). That will have to hold you over until the official BlackBerry application, which Nikolaus tells us is in the works. There’s no further word on when, but it will be a welcome addition once it’s released.

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

Use Dropbox to back up your BlackBerry and more

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

Use Dropbox to back up your BlackBerry and more