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How to set multiple alarms on your BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:00:07 +0000

Back in the day, when I still had a crappy flip phone, I used to take advantage of the multiple alarms it offered. When I used an actual alarm clock, rather than my cell phone, I was apt to shut the thing off rather than hit snooze. This did not please my bosses at the time. My old phone, however, offered three different alarms, and I took advantage by setting all of them. So even when I silenced the first alarm, the second and third were waiting to go. When I got a BlackBerry I lost this functionality, at least natively. There are tons of alarm applications, but who wants to spend money on such a simple function?

Even as RIM has upgraded their operating system, we still haven’t seen support for multiple alarms — at least within the clock application. By navigating over to your calendar, though, you can create as many alarms as you need.

Daily alarms

If you need to set multiple alarms, head to your calendar and scroll to the necessary time. Click the menu button and then select New Alarm. You’ll see a screen where you can create an alarm and name it. You can even change the time to any one you need, down to the minute. As you can see on the right, I created an alarm to wake me from my post-lunch nap at 3:40. Scroll down to the recurrence field and select Daily.

From there you can select from even more options. For instance, if you only want that alarm to ring every other day, you can select 2. If this is an event that only goes on for a certain period of time — say you’re on a different schedule because you’re at a business convention — you can select an end date as well. Once you have that all set up, press menu, save it, and you’re set.

Weekday only alarms

The main drawback of the above method, as you might have thought by now, is the lack of a weekday-only option. There’s no reason for a post-lunch nap on the weekends, for instance, because I can sleep in. I only want that alarm to sound on weekdays. Thankfully, the calendar system takes care of this as well.

Instead of selecting daily from the recurrence menu, select weekly. You’ll see the same fields for every and end, and in addition you’ll see the a place to mark which days of week you want the alarm to sound. As you can see in the screenshot, I selected Monday through Friday, leaving my weekends afternoon alarm free. It works just as well as the Weekdays option in the clock application.

Other alarm options

You can also select monthly from the drop-down menu, and can even set an alarm to go off every 15 months if you ever needed such an alarm. The best part about the monthly alarm is the relative date feature. By checking the box you can set an alarm to go off on the X Xday of every month. For instance, if I set one for today to recur monthly, I could choose for it to go off on the third Monday of every month. You’ll have to scroll to the proper date, obviously, in order for this alarm option to work properly.

There is also a yearly option, including relative date (third Monday of every March, e.g.). I’m not sure how useful it is, but at least it’s there.

Finally, you can edit your daily alarm through your calendar app as well as your clock app.

Just to be clear, you don’t see options for snooze or for alarm sound. The calendar alarm defaults to your clock settings. Also, you’ll notice on your clock that your active alarms are all displayed along with your default alarm.

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

How to set multiple alarms on your BlackBerry

The ins and outs of unlocking your BlackBerry

Joe — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:01:17 +0000

Your wireless carrier does not want you to leave. It likes your predictable monthly payments, and loves that you’re under contract for two years. The contract isn’t the only measure your carrier takes to retain its existing customers. It also locks handsets to its network. This, it hopes, makes you think twice about leaving. Who wants to pay for a new device, even when subsidized, when you have a perfectly good, working device already? Many people will stay with their current wireless carrier because of just this reason. Thankfully, this is not a necessity. If you feel your wireless carrier has wronged you, or else you just want to take your phone to another network, you might be in luck. There are ways to break the carrier’s lock on your BlackBerry.

NOTE: Read all the way to the end for an incredible offer from BBGeeks and CarrierUnlock.com

What is unlocking?

To unlock a phone is to break your carrier’s hold over your phone. The phones you see in a major wireless carrier’s store or website will work only on that network. Even when your contract expires, you can’t bring that phone for activation on another network — unless you unlock it first, of course.

That’s unlocking in a nutshell. It is the process whereby a phone, once locked to a single carrier, becomes compatible with all carriers of that type. And now to answer the inevitable question…

What network types support unlocking?

You can only unlock a GSM phone. AT&T and T-Mobile operate GSM networks in America. Rogers has a GSM network in Canada, and competitors Bell and Telus have recently launched GSM efforts. Most European carriers operate GSM networks as well.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint, in addition to many regional carriers, operate CDMA networks. Both Bell and Telus operate CDMA networks in Canada. These carriers do not require SIM cards for their phones, which is the easiest way to tell the difference. CDMA phones cannot be unlocked in the traditional sense, though they can be reflashed for another network. This is another topic for another primer, however.

As a rule of thumb, if your phone contains a SIM card it can be unlocked.

What are the benefits of an unlocked phone?

As mentioned above, the primary benefit of an unlocked phone is that it allows a user to bring the device to another network. For example, if you have a BlackBerry Bold through AT&T and switch to T-Mobile, you can bring the device with you if you unlock it first. This means you don’t have to spend money on a brand new handset, and can still enjoy most features of your new network. You can continue to switch among GSM carriers, taking your phone with you. All you need is a SIM card from the new carrier.

You can also use an unlocked BlackBerry abroad, since it is the most common worldwide network type. You will have to make sure, though, that your device operates on the proper frequencies. In the U.S. and Canada, GSM operates on the 850 and 1900 bands, but in Europe it operates on the 900 and 1800 bands. To check your compatibility, look up your BlackBerry model on BlackBerry.com, or else find a site that lists phone specs, like Phone Scoop.

How to unlock a phone

The actual process of unlocking a BlackBerry is rather easy. As explained at BlackBerry FAQ, it mostly involves going into Options, Advanced Options, SIM Card, and then entering some codes. The difficult part, of course, is obtaining these numbers. We’ll start with the easiest, your IMEI. You can find this in Options, Status, under the battery, or by typing *#06# on the home screen (make sure home screen dialing is turned off).

The other code the MEP, can be a bit tricky. You can call your wireless carrier and kindly ask them for it, and they might oblige. Then again, they might not. There doesn’t seem to be a set policy among carriers, so it could depend on which customer service rep you get that day. Most carriers, however, will give you a code if you are out of contract. Thankfully, there’s still hope if your carrier remains stingy.

A bevy of sites offer unlock codes for your BlackBerry. Unlike your carrier, however, these sites will not hand you a code. You’ll have to pay anywhere from $10 to $50 for an unlock code, but for the most part you can find one for under $20 for most major carriers.

Downsides of unlocking

The main downside to unlocking a phone and taking it to a new carrier is the lack of support. While GSM carriers will allow unlocked phones on their networks, they typically will not provide support for them. So once you unlock your phone, you’re basically on your own if something goes wrong.

You might also void the warranty on your phone by unlocking it. So if something happens to it, you might no longer be covered. Your new carrier also will not insure your unlocked phone. If something happens to it, it’s all on you. In addition, you might lose the ringtones and other downloadables from your previous carrier.

Concerns

You might have some further concerns about unlocking your phone. Feel free to ask them in the comments, and we’ll do our best to answer. To answer a few up front:

1. You can continue upgrading your operating system as normal. You can still download an OS file from any carrier, as long as it is for your specific device (i.e., don’t install an 8320 OS if you have an 8310). You’ll use the same process as normal, downloading the OS from blackberry.com and using BlackBerry Desktop Manager to install it.

2. As long as you sign up fro the new carrier’s BlackBerry plan, all of your main features should continue working, including push email, web browsing, BBM, etc.

Now for the good stuff! How do FREE Unlock Codes sound?

Traditionally we have not spoken much about unlocking your BlackBerry here on BBGeeks. With this post, that all changes and the benefits will be reaped by you our loyal readers!

I am pleased to announce that together with Carrierunlock.com, we are offering 75 FREE BlackBerry Unlock codes to be awarded to folks who participate in our mini contest.

The rules are simple

1) Either leave a comment on this post

2) Tweet this message ” @BBGeeks has FREE BlackBerry Unlock codes up for grabs! RT this message for your chance to win one! ”

This contest runs until 2pm EST on March 12th 2010 when I will pick the winners at random from among the folks who tweeted the message and those who left a comment on this post. Please use your real email address when commenting so I can contact you in the event of a win.

NOTE:You can tweet the message as many times as you like for increased chances of winning but please only comment on the post once. I would rather not have the comments here turn into a spammy mess. Thanks

As a special offer for those who do not get chosen as winners in this contest, CarrierUnlock.com has set up a discount code that will save you 25% off of your unlock fee when using the promo code: BBGeeks

If that is not awesome I don’t know what is! You can use the promo code and purchase your unlock code from CarrierUnlock.com

Good luck everyone!

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

The ins and outs of unlocking your BlackBerry

How to set up BIS email on your BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:00:26 +0000

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

Thankfully, most POP emails function in the same manner, so we can give general guidelines here. In our epic BlackBerry Gmail thread we talked about pushing via IMAP, but Google has since improved their POP delivery. Most POP-based accounts will work in this manner.

Step 1: Log into your BIS account

All of your email setup will originate from your BIS account. You can access through your web browser by visiting your carrier-specific BIS site and entering the login information you created when you purchased your device. Alternatively, you can log into your BIS by going to the Email Settings icon from your BlackBerry handheld. That will open a web browser that goes to your BIS login.

*NOTE: If you use a third party theme, you might not see the Email Settings icon. I don’t know why, but I didn’t see it on my third party theme, and I’ve heard the same issue from others. If you don’t see it, go to Options-Theme and change it back to the default. The icon should be in the Setup folder.

Step 2: Add the account

If you’re going from the web interface, click on the Set Up Account button, the first one below the list of your current email addresses (also under the Add An Existing Email Account header, if you don’t have any email addresses currently set up). If you’re doing it from your handheld, click the big Add button. It’s tough to miss.

The web interface will bring you to a simple screen where you enter the email address, the password, and then the password again to confirm. That’s all you need to do. It will take a few seconds to load, but you’ll see a dialog box that confirms you’ve added the email — it will give you an error if you entered something wrong — and you’ll see the addressed added under Email Accounts.

The handset interface will present you with a number of options for popular webmail clients. You can easily add from Windows Live (Hotmail, MSN, or Live), Yahoo!, AOL/AIM, and Gmail. It really doesn’t matter, though. All it will do is add the @blank.com automatically to the email field. If you use another service, click other and it will only pre-add the @ sign. Once you’re done, click Next and it will add your email to the list.

Step 3: Delete the account

If you ever need to delete your account, just scroll over the account on the handset interface, click the trackball, and select delete. You’ll get a confirmation, so just click OK and you’re set. On the web interface, just click the trash can icon, the furthest to the right next to the email account.

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

How to set up BIS email on your BlackBerry

The best software for converting video to BlackBerry format

Joe — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:00:20 +0000

The BlackBerry has become a multimedia machine over the past few years, especially now that new models boast a high-res screen. Yet one of the most frequent complaints we get is how difficult (or convoluted) it is to transfer regular video files to the BlackBerry. The video on your computer sometimes isn’t optimized for viewing on your handheld. In order to view files, you’ll have to reduce the resolution to fit your BlackBerry screen. Thankfully, we’ve seen a number of applications over the years which can do just that. In this post we’ll run down a few of our favorites. If we don’t cover what you use, let us know in the comments or send an email (jpawlikowski at bbgeeks) and we’ll add it to the post.

RealPlayer SP

We covered the release of RealPlayer SP, and were quite excited at the prospects. The problem with most conversion software is that it doesn’t come from well-known vendors — and if it does, it costs a few dollars. RealPlayer promised an easy conversion process from a well-known brand. Not only can it convert video to your specific BlackBerry device, but it can also download flash videos from the Web, converting them and transferring them with ease. In theory it works brilliantly.

After you download or locate the correct video, you click Copy To, select your device, and you’re off. The conversion isn’t exactly fast — at least it wasn’t on my Mac. I also had some issues with the video controls on some downloaded .flv videos from YouTube. Still, those are small peanuts when you consider the price, free. RealPlayer offers the best combination of functionality and price. Best of all, unlike most of the other applications on this list, it works with Mac.

You can get RealPlayer SP at Real.com.

SUPER

Short for Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, SUPER provides an excellent video conversion experience. Like RealPlayer it’s free, and I’m not really sure how. Sure, it has a few bugs, but what free software doesn’t? Despite these bugs, it converts just about every file type, to almost any file type. It works with tons of mobile devices, and works with .3gp files, which are perfect for BlackBerry viewing.

Ronen from BerryReview prefers this software. Part of the ease, he notes, is that you need not install any codecs. It all comes with it, making me wonder even more how it’s free. Just make sure the output codec is MPEG-4, and that you set the video scale size to your BlackBerry: 320×240 for older models, 240×260 for the Pearl, and 480×360 for the newer, high-res models.

You can get SUPER at erightsoft.com. It is a PC only application.

BlackBerry Video Converter

This is an oldie but goodie. On the positive side, it works well and has received many good reviews from heavy BlackBerry users. On the negative side, it doesn’t support many new models. It advertises the Bold, the Pearl 8100 and the 8800, but notes that it doesn’t work with other Pearl models (8120 and 8130) and most Curves. So you have a very limited number of compatible devices. It doesn’t appear you can substitute a Tour for the Bold, either.

Still, if you have one of the listed models, this is probably the quickest and easiest way to handle file conversion (even, easier, than RealPlayer). Plus, again, it’s free, so you don’t have to worry about wasting your money.

You can get BlackBerry Video Converter at seabyrdtech.com.

Premium Applications

There’s something about paid applications that seems safe. I know that a price tag doesn’t mean a product will be reliable, but some people prefer that route. To that end, here are some premium applications that I’ve seen some positive reviews of:

Any Video Converter. They have a number of video converting and DVD ripping software. Check out their catalog. The basic app costs $29.99, though they do have a free version — and a Mac version.
BlackBerry Converter Suite. It converts most video types for your BlackBerry, including DVDs. It’s a bit more expensive at $35.
Nidesoft BlackBerry Video Converter. A bit cheaper at $25 even.

I’d probably give the free options, especially the RealPlayer, a shot before going with a premium application. If that doesn’t do what you want it to, then you can pay for an application.

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

The best software for converting video to BlackBerry format

Videos on how to do stuff to your BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:12 +0000

In thinking of an idea for a how-to article for this week, I went to the BBGeeks YouTube page to see what we’ve already covered. I realized that we need more videos up there. Over the next few weeks and months, expect a lot more in the way of video content. It might be stuff you already know, but a little video tutorial never hurt anyone. So, because I was already on YouTube, I went through and picked out some pretty good BlackBerry how-to videos. Hopefully you find something worth your while herein.

Changing your BlackBerry Curve trackball light

Thought that only original BlackBerry Pearls supported a color-changing trackball? Well, that’s true, but you can still pick a single different color for your trackball. Check out this video.

If you don’t have a pair of tweezers, you can still remove your trackball by other, simpler means. Check out our post on how to clean your BlackBerry trackball for the details.

Take apart your BlackBerry Storm 9500/9530

Sick of your original BlackBerry Storm? Why not take it apart so you can see what makes it tick? This is for more advanced users, of course, but even if you don’t plan to take apart your Storm it’s still a neat sight to behold.

How to fix a bricked BlackBerry

I wish I had seen this video when my BlackBerry Curve died. But, instead of searching for how to fix a bricked Berry, I instead searched for my specific issue. Turns out if I’d done this, I might have fixed it a day or so earlier. The on-screen instructions make this a great video.

Note that I do not approve of the music in this video.

For more BlackBerry how-to material, check back at the BBGeeks YouTube page frequently, as we’ll be adding more videos.

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

Videos on how to do stuff to your BlackBerry

Installing unofficial operating systems on your BlackBery with a Mac

Joe — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:02:02 +0000

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac hit the airwaves recently, and we’ve seen no shortage of reviews. The application is pretty straight forward, though it lacks a few features of the PC version. One is the ability to install unofficial OS upgrades. But, like all things Berry, someone has created a workaround. The following video shows you how to get around the problem of having a .exe OS file on a Mac that doesn’t run the file type. After the jump, OS 5.0 links, so you can test it yourself.

All of the OS 5.0 files are hosted on Mega Upload.

8830 – 5.0.0.230
8900 – 5.0.0.238
9000 – 5.0.0.238
9530 – 5.0.0.230
9630 – 5.0.0.230

Once again, we must disclaim that these are unofficial operating system files, and they may cause unexpected errors and malfunctions to your BlackBerry. Be sure you have a backup in place, just in case you need to wipe your device and start over again.

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

Installing unofficial operating systems on your BlackBery with a Mac

Clean up your memory for an optimized BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:32 +0000

In many ways, a BlackBerry is a mini computer. Like other computers, it runs applications which require free memory. This becomes a problem, especially on older BlackBerry devices, where there is precious little space. The best way to avoid this kind of memory handicap — which can lead to memory leak — is to go through your BlackBerry every once in a while and clean up a bit. Delete some applications, clear the cache, that sort of thing. We’ve written about parts of this progress on BBGeeks before, and today we’re going to bring it all together.

Deleting sample media and apps

Your BlackBerry might be useful — possibly the most useful device you own — but it contains a lot of stuff you just don’t need. You can let that stuff sit and take up valuable memory, or you can go in there and wipe it out, giving yourself a few more bytes to play with.

The place to start is sample media. These sample audio and video files come preloaded on your BlackBerry so you can test the media player. They’re unnecessary. You can delete these files the same way you delete any BlackBerry application. Go to Options, Advanced Options, Applications. There you’ll have your list, and you can kill BlackBerry Sample Video, and if it’s present, BlackBerry Sample Audio.

While you’re at it, why not delete all of those applications you never use anyway? You’ll want to avoid stuff like BlackBerry Core Applications, but go right ahead and delete that game you installed five months ago and played once, or that app you got and swear that you’re going to use one day. You’re not, so you might as well kill it and save the space for other, more important things.

To delete applications from the Applications option, just over over the desired app, hit the Menu button, and select Delete. You’ll get a last warning prompt, and once you select Yes the application will go away forever. Most times the device will prompt you for a reboot, but you can do that after you’re done with your deletion binge.

Clear your cache

Most, if not all, Web browsers these days create two types of files: cache and cookies. While they take up memory, they actually do serve a purpose. With a larger cache, your browser can load pages faster, and with cookies it can remember where you’ve been. If you’re looking to optimize your BlackBerry, you should consider clearing these. They’ll propagate soon enough, anyway.

To clear your cache and cookies, launch your browser, hit the Menu button, and select Options. Cache Operations should be in that list, and that’s the one you’ll want. From there select Clear History, and you’re good. Hit the Escape key, and your Berry will lag a second while it disposes of all those files.

On that screen you can also delete Pushed Content and Cookie Cache. That won’t save you as much memory as clearing your cache, cookies, and sample media, but it’s still something.

Trim the fat

The best way to boost memory is to delete worthless files. It’s easy to identify worthless applications — the ones you don’t use, you should delete. But what about the things you don’t know about? Cooper went over some of these a while back, and we’ll recap here.

Pare down your contacts and inbox. Deleting contacts saves memory, so you can delete the people with whom you don’t plan further correspondence. You can also reduce the amount of time messages are stored in your memory by going to the Options menu in your messages application, followed by General Options. Lowering the Keep Messages field will keep more memory free.
Delete pictures and random media. The sample files aren’t all that clog your BlackBerry. Every time you use your camera, you’re allocating memory to those photos. You can delete these through the media player app. Just go to that and highlight the target. Hit Menu and then Delete, and you’ll have that much more space.
Delete themes. This is the same process as deleting applications, only you’ll select the theme file instead of an app. Make sure you know which themes you’re deleting — some of them have tough to decipher file names.
Delete your phone logs. You can delete individual entries by hovering over the number, hitting the Menu button, and then selecting Delete. To delete in bulk, hold down the Shift key and scroll down, then follow the delete process.
Delete your event log. As we mentioned in the BlackBerry secret codes post, you can pull up your events log by holding Alt and then pressing L G L G. Once you’re there, click the Menu button and then select Clear Log.

Use BlackBerry Memory Cleaner

Your BlackBerry has an on-board memory cleaner, and it’s probably worth running every once in a while. I’m not sure how much it really does — the process took something like two seconds. But it’s already on your device, so you might as well run it once a month or so, just to let it run its course.

To do this, go to Options, Security Options, General Settings. There you’ll see Content Protection. Change it from Disabled to Enabled. A prompt will notify you that you’ll need to set a password. Even if you don’t want to, you can change this all back afterward. Hit the Escape key to back out, and you’ll get the prompt for your password, and then verification.

After you choose your password, back all the way out and come back into Security Options again. There you’ll see an option for Memory Cleaning. Click into that, and change the Show Icon on Home Screen option to Yes. You’ll recognize it easily: a paper going through a shredder. Run it, and that’s it.

To reverse the process, go back into Security Options, General Settings, and disable Content Protection. Make sure to disable your password as well if you don’t want one.

Run MemoryUp

If you’re looking for an application to help manage and optimize your memory automatically, check out MemoryUp. From the app’s description:

It helps your BlackBerry run at optimum speed by efficiently defragmenting your BlackBerry’s memory, recovering memory leaks from poorly behaved applications, flushing unused libraries temporarily out to disk and so on. By all this optimization tricks your favorite applications and games will run faster and efficiently even on old BlackBerry.

If you don’t mind the $10.19 price for the yearly subscription, you can get MemoryUp from the BBGeeks Store until September 30, when it returns to its normal $16.99 price. Then again, as we’ve been saying over the past few days, if you have it available for free, why pay for it? You can keep your BlackBerry running in top shape by following the instructions above. If that’s not your bag, though, at least you have an app like MemoryUp to lend a hand.

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

Clean up your memory for an optimized BlackBerry

Keep a list of your important numbers with Password Keeper

Joe — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:00:33 +0000

One application many BlackBerry users question is the Password Keeper. How do you use it, and what do you use it for? I hear this all the time, and until a few months ago I couldn’t have really answered it. It just wasn’t something I even thought to use. But after hearing so many questions, I decided to give it a whirl. There’s really nothing to it, but I think that’s why many people are confused. Perhaps there’s an implication that it’s more than it really is. Let’s take a quick minute to go over how to use your Password Keeper.

Getting started

To begin using Password Keeper, just locate the icon on your Applications Menu. It will probably look something like a safe, though depending on your BlackBerry theme, it might be something a bit different. In any case, there should be a text indicator at the bottom of the screen, so you’ll know when you scroll over the Password Keeper application.

Upon running the app for the first time, you’ll get a prompt to enter a password, and then confirm it. This password is for the Password Keeper application only. In fact, everything you do within the PK application is isolated from the rest of your BlackBerry. You’ll see in a moment why this is both a plus and a minus. So make up your password and enter it twice.

Each time you launch PK thereafter, you’ll have to enter your created password. You’ll have 10 attempts to do so, after which the application will wipe itself, and you’ll restart the process as if you were launching the app for the first time.

NOTE: This will have no effect on the rest of your BlackBerry. If you fail to enter the correct password 10 times, only the data contained within Password Keeper will wipe. Everything else on your BlackBerry will continue functioning as normal.

Using the application

In essence, Password Keeper is a a secure text file. It stores information separately from the rest of your BlackBerry, so if the device is lost or stolen you won’t have to worry about criminals or even innocent bystanders gaining access to your sensitive personal information.

Once you have it running, click the Menu button and select New. Here you can enter in all the information for your password, including the login website (you can copy and paste that from your browser), your username and password. Then, when you want to retrieve the information, you can go back to this entry and either review it, or even copy and paste it. You can hit the Menu button and select options to copy the username and/or password.

What you can’t use the application for is automatic logins. This would make sense, but apparently it’s too much of a security concern, because you can’t do it. So even if you have a password stored for a certain site, you still have to go to the Password Keeper application each time you want to retrieve it.

Random passwords

Many people like having a different, difficult-to-figure password for each account. This provides a greater level of security, but it makes remembering everything tough. Password Keeper obviously helps with this. You can store your online passwords (even on sites you don’t visit on your Berry), plus credit card information, bank routing numbers, and other information you want secure.

So you can easily create unique passwords for these, PK provides a random password generator. Just select the option from the menu, and it will spit one out according to the options you set. You’ll obviously have to change your password to reflect this random one, but that’s easy enough.

To set the options for your random password, click Menu and select Options. Here you can set the password length and the characters it includes (alpha, numeric, symbols). Changing up these settings from time to time can make your passwords even more secure. Even if you leave the same settings, it’s better than having the same password for all of your important accounts.

Other options

Password Keeper also allows a few more customizable options. You can add a confirmation dialog before you delete password entries, set the number of password attempts before Password Keeper wipes its data clear, allow or disallow copying to the clipboard, and decide whether or not to show the passwords. All of this will provide you with a level of security you’re comfortable with.

Does anyone out there use Password Keeper? I don’t know many BlackBerry users who do, but when I tell them about it I always get, “yeah, I might have to try that out.” Do you use another password storage system? Or do you think that even with the security measures that it’s still a bit too insecure for you?

Apologies for the lack of screen shots. I can’t get them from my device — it kicks me right out of Password Keeper and has me re-enter my password. Good security measure, I suppose.

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

Keep a list of your important numbers with Password Keeper

UberTwitter Beta 4, with ads, now available

Joe — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:30:25 +0000

It looks like we might need to update the UberTwitter for BlackBerry review. The folks behind the project have released a new beta, and this one packs in a few more features, including the much-needed URL shortening. That’s a great feature of desktop clients like TwitterFox, but something lacking from many BlackBerry applications (though I did enjoy it with Tweetcaster). After the jump we’ll list all the new features.

Multiple Accounts – You can now configure multiple accounts, each with their own set of on-device preferences.
You can now BLOCK people!
Video Integration – We have partnered with TwitVid.com to offer you an outstanding video integration.
Goto user – You can now enter twitter users name and go directly to their timeline
URL Shortening – we’ve integrated with bit.ly so you can easily send those long URLs now and not bump up against the 140 limit
MUCH faster photo uploads, significantly improving the user experience.
Use of the internal GPS is now solidly supported with proper fallback to cell tower based location when GPS isn’t available.
Icon Caching If you have and SD card, we will cache avatar icons on the card, increasing the speed of timeline displays and reducing network traffic.
You can now select pictures and videos that have already been take and are on your device. The interface shows the most recent at the top and offers a preview so you can verify it is the picture/video you expected!
When composing a tweet you can now insert symbols from a large selection of commonly available characters such as smiley’s, hearts, etc.
Integrated advertisements – Please note, the ads are there to support the freely distributable version of ÜberTwitter. Users that purchase ÜberTwitter will not have advertisement in their version.
We’ve streamlined the friends and followers lists
You can now see both the number of friends, followers, and tweets sent when viewing the details of a tweet.
Replying to a DM from the timeline will now correctly send a DM and not a regular tweet
Fixed the bug in reply all where it would truncate some twitter user names
Added reply all to the menu when viewing a tweet

And, as always, they’ve supplied us with a little preview for what’s to come:

Notification icons on the homescreen! We have heard you loud and clear, we will be adding this.
Integration of a high functionality third-party photo service – We are VERY excited about this as we believe that it will bring an extremely rich photo sharing experience to our users.
Integration into the BlackBerry browser such that URLs can be included directly in a tweet from the browser menu.
Saved searches – integrate the new Twitter saved search API. Searches saved via the Twitter web site will be useable on ÜberTwitter and vice versa
Twitter name menu – Type ‘@’ and a list of your friends automatically pops up allowing selection

This might not be all good, though. As much as we love UberTwitter, the ads could become an annoyance. In fact, as Robb notes, some users are staying away from this new version just because of the ads. Of course, ads help keep the software free, so if you don’t want ads but aren’t willing to pay for the software, well…

This also brings up an interesting question: How much would you be willing to pay for UberTwitter? It does seem to be the best client on the market (though once they add automatic updates, I’d put Tweetcaster up there). What’s it worth to you? Will you deal with the ads to keep it free? Or would you rather pay, say, $5 for a copy?

UPDATE:

As of this morning (August 13, 2009) Uber Twitter has decided to listen to their fans and disable the ads running in the tweet stream. The ads will be removed until they have released their payed version of the app. At that time you will have the choice of downloading a free ad supported version of the app or paying a nominal fee for a year long subscription.

You can download UberTwitter Beta 4 here.

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

UberTwitter Beta 4, with ads, now available

Transferring MP3 voice notes from your BlackBerry to your computer

Joe — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:00:50 +0000

One thing I’ve been using my BlackBerry for more and more is taking notes. I used to carry around a small pad and paper, but I’d either forget to bring it with me, or else lose it somewhere along the way. With the BlackBerry, it’s with me all the time. Plus, I’m not going to lose the thing — as easily as a pad and paper, at least. While I do use the MemoPad application frequently for chronicling such things as my to read list, I also leave myself a number of voice notes. While I listen to them right on my BlackBerry, I can understand why people would want to transfer those notes to their computers as MP3 files. That’s what we’re going over today.

Record your voice note

Obviously, the first step is to actually record your voice note. To do that, locate your Voice Notes Recorder application and open it. It’s a pretty simple interface which allows you to hit the record button to start the process. Once you’re done hit the pause button. There you’ll see a list of functions, much like the Camera application. The options to the right are save, send, and delete. You’re going to want the save one, which looks like a folder. Make sure to save it to your memory card. That’s the best an easiest way to extract it from the device.

Connect to computer

Next up is connecting your BlackBerry to your computer, either Mac or PC, via a USB cable. That should bring up a prompt on your BlackBerry asking if you want to enter mass storage mode. Select Yes. Now your computer should display a removable drive which you can explore. Find the directory you saved the voice note under, and drag the file to your desktop. It should be in .AMR format, which is what makes the conversion a pain in the first place.

After this you can disconnect your BlackBerry. Just make sure to eject it before you pull the cord.

Convert and play

The .AMR file you dragged to your desktop will play on a few different audio programs, like QuickTime for the Mac and RealPlayer for Mac or PC. These are relatively easy to use — QuickTime comes with Macs, and RealPlayer can be found here. If all you want to do is listen to the voice note, you can end here. If you want to convert the files to .MP3, read on.

You’ll need to convert the file. If you have QuickTime Pro on your Mac, rather than the standard QuickTime, you can save the file as a .mp4, and then convert to .mp3 by opening the file in iTunes and creating an MP3 version. If you don’t have QuickTime Pro for the Mac, you’ll need software to perform the conversion. I stand by Audacity, which serves many other audio purposes as well.

There are many options for a PC conversion, most of which are free. You can check out Format Factory, which does the job just fine. Googling “.amr to .mp3″ will bring about many more options, in case you feel like checking for something else. In any case, that should leave you with an MP3 of your voice note.

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

Transferring MP3 voice notes from your BlackBerry to your computer