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When Google announced their latest project, Buzz, the other day, I wasn’t too impressed. Yeah yeah, instead of buying Twitter they’re trying to compete with it. Big whoop, wanna fight about it? Yesterday, however, I changed my tune. My friends and I use Gmail extensively, employing it as our primary instant messenger and loading each other’s Readers with a fire hose of shares. As it turns out, Buzz integrates pretty well with that level of usage. It adds what amounts to a another label to your Gmail interface, and lets you know when someone you follow sends a new buzz, updates their status (like Facebook, which, by the way, isn’t working for BlackBerry), share or new article, or leave a comment. It’s a great time-waster, and it’s certainly going to pull my time from Facebook and Twitter. Yet there’s one glitch: if you sync Gmail to your BlackBerry, you’ll get bombarded with Buzz emails. That’s no fun.

Read the rest of Google Buzz annoying for Gmail-synced BlackBerry users…

When I got my first BlackBerry, friends and family bombarded me with messages asking for my PIN. I didn’t know exactly what they meant at the time, but I eventually caught on that it was the key to contacting me via BlackBerry Messenger. While IM services can be a big part of a BlackBerry user’s activity, I’ve always been an email type of guy, so I never added a ton of BBM contacts. Some colleagues, some friends, some family members, but not much beyond that. According to Al Sacco, I’m off on the right foot. He recently published six BlackBerry Messenger tips that everyone should follow. Not everyone will, of course, but if Al is doling out advice I always suggest listening.

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The roll-outs of RIM’s new software trifecta is upon us. Last Friday we se the release of Desktop Manager for Mac. You can click on that link right now and download it. That leaves us with just two left: BlackBerry OS 5.0 and the new BlackBerry Messenger. We heard about the new BBM back in June, and ever since have been salivating over its new features. There was a leaked version, but there were some issues with that. Now, thanks to a letter leaked to CrackBerry, we have a tentative release date: October 7.

Read the rest of Look for BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 on October 7…

Every year, AOL issues a survey regarding email addiction. Since many BlackBerry users consider themselves email addicts, I figured we’d take a look.

What’s surprising is that only 51 percent of respondents said they check email more than four times a day. Really, though, what constitutes one instance of checking email? I’ve got my Gmail and a mail client, plus my BlackBerry, around all day. If I click over to Thunderbird, does that mean I’ve checked my email? If so, I probably check it a dozen or two times a day. I’m sure more than 51 percent of the people I talk to can say the same.

Read the rest of AOL Mail survey: We’re pretty addicted…

BBGeeks comes to you today to discuss another major player in the voice to text game. Yesterday, we looked at Tellme and oneSearch, two voice based search engines. Today, we’re looking at GotVoice, a service that not only recognizes your voice, but transcribes it. This comes into play with your voicemail, as you can now receive a text message and/or email with the transcription of your voicemail, so that you don’t have to dial in and listen to it. I’ve been using it for a week, and I can’t tell you how much time it has saved me already.

Read the rest of GotVoice for the best in voice to text voicemail accuracy…

So I’ve noticed something. Ever since I started heavily using my BlackBerry, I’ve been using my voice minutes a ton less. Yet I still pay my base $40 per month or so for 450 minutes, when I’m only using 100, 150. Like many BlackBerry users in the consumer sector (while I use it for biz, I don’t use a BES), I’d like a plan that caters more to my needs — and not pay $100 per month. Verizon is offering a solution with a trio of Nationwide Messaging plans. They have one specifically for BlackBerry, too.

Read the rest of Verizon introduces messaging-only plan…

Back when I had a consumer phone, I used to text message my fair share. I remember the parental blowup when the heavy texting started…who thought 10 cents a message could add up so fast? But really, messaging goes further back than that. Before I could even imagine everyone having a cell phone, I — and nearly all my friends — were AIM junkies. Cell phones just allowed us to take that computer-based messaging and move it to a mobile platform. No, we couldn’t have endless conversations via text at 3 a.m. — though we certainly tried. But with the introduction of the smartphone, complete with full QWERTY keyboard — the game changed again.
Read the rest of The ins and outs of BlackBerry messaging…