Each and every day we reach out to other Twitter users and ask them what kind of problems they are experiencing with their BlackBerry devices. The response is always good. Some do not have problems at all, but just need some advice about BlackBerry software or accessories that would help them increase their productivity.

For all our readers who don’t use Twitter, we have decided to recap our conversations in which followers posed questions and we tracked down the answers.

Join us now for the official roundup. You never know what interesting information you will find.

Twitter Helps

bruceamen says:
where is the do not disturb mode on a 8330?

BBGeeks Answered:

You can access the Do Not Disturb settings in your BlackBerry 8330 by locating the Profiles icon and clicking it. When the menu appears scroll all the way down to advanced and click it. You can then select and customize your Do Not Disturb settings for each individual profile.

Your BlackBerry will not alert you for any of the actions you have set to DND. Ie. If SMS is set to DND in your normal profile then you will not receive any notifications when that particular profile is active.

fashionambition says:
Do I have to pay for uber twitter ? If I get uber twitter do I have to get rid of twitterberry?

BBGeeks Answered:

There are two versions of Uber twitter available. The first is a free version that is ad supported while a paid version is also available for $5.00 with no ads.

It is absolutely possible to keep both Uber Twitter and TwitterBerry (OpenBeak) on your device at the same time but with Uber Twitters option to manage multiple accounts there is really no need to.

emilyali says:
My bberry tour’s battery lasts 24 hours or less – is that normal? @bbgeeks i do text and email quite a bit but i close apps i’m not using…

BBGeeks Answered:

There are plenty of reasons that your battery could be draining quickly although that does seem excessive. Check out the following links for some possible causes of BlackBerry battery drain and ways to avoid it.

Saving Your BlackBerry Battery

Save BlackBerry Battery Life in Areas of Bad Service

Automatically Turn Your BlackBerry to Save Battery

JocelynNicole says:
what app do you guys recommend to simulate a battery-pull on a Pearl 8120, QuickPull or something else? Thanks! :D

BBGeeks Answered:

I suggest checking out a program called ControlBBanel. It is loaded with great functionality including a Battery Pull simulator.

Quentis says:
I wiped my 8310 and want to update the software but do not have a PC I have Mac, what is best way to do so?

BBGeeks Answered:

Definitely grab the recently released BlackBerry Desktop manager for Mac. If that is not an option for some reason then find a friend with a PC laptop that they don’t mind lending you for an hour or two.

MrRyanTino says:
I just installed operamini 5.0, but dont want it anymore. So I deleted it. But when I open a pic from twitter it opens with OM5.0. So how do I remove it completely? I rather work with the original BBbrowser, unless you got a better one?

BBGeeks Answered:

If you are not liking the new Opera Mini you might like the Bolt browser as an alternative to the default browser. As far as the links acting funny after the uninstall, simply do a battery pull and they should be back to normal once your device reboots.

a_CellPhoneGuy says:
Do you know of a way to forward all incoming text messages from my blackberry to another number?

BBGeeks Answered:

There is no way to do this without a 3rd party application. In this case I would suggest checking out the Advanced Forwarder application from our BBGeeks Store

rachelcostanza says:
Is there a way to have two operating systems on your blackberry 8830? How can I speed up the IE experience?

BBGeeks Answered:

Unfortunately there is no way to run more than one operating system at a time on a BlackBerry device. As far as speeding up your internet experience is concerned, there are a couple tricks you can use. Check out this post about Speeding up your BlackBerry Internet Browser.

elliotc8 says:
How do I add an extra email account to my bb??

BBGeeks Answered:

You have to log into your bis account and add or delete email addresses from there. Check out this link for more details and specific steps to take to add your new email accounts to your BlackBerry.

Almeshia says:
What is the best method for keeping up with tweets on a bb pearl? tweetdeck, twhirl, twitterfeed, etc

BBGeeks Answered:

For using Twitter on the BlackBerry Pearl I would suggest using Tiny Twitter. It is a nice light weight twitter app that will not take up a large amount of the precious space on your Pearl.

Check out our feature post where we ranked all the major BlackBerry Twitter applications here.

Choo_E says:
What is the best app to bypass the 160 character limit for text messages on the tour…?

BBGeeks Answered:

The problem with sending SMS messages is that each different carrier handles them differently. Some will limit you to 160 characters per SMS message and some will allow you to text as much as you want. The reality is that those carriers that allow the longer texts don’t actually allow longer text messages but rather split long messages into multiple parts before sending.

For those that are prevented from sending the longer messages in parts I highly suggest buying the Beyond160 application which will send longer messages in parts.

JocelynNicole says:
Is there any way to turn off cache in browser? Certain bookmarks keep opening as old page unless I clear cache or manually refresh?

BBGeeks Answered:

Unfortunately there is no way to disable caching of pages by the BlackBerry browser. The only way to prevent the loading of older pages by accident is to clear your browser cache regularly.

_gregrogers says:
Any idea what the most popular twitter app for BlackBerrys is?

BBGeeks Answered:

Without having any hard scientific data on hand, I would have to say that Uber Twitter is the most popular Twitter application for the BlackBerry.

There you go folks, a sampling of the questions we have received in the last month through our Twitter account. If you would like to participate in our growing community of Tweeps, just download the BlackBerry Twitter application of your choice, sign up for a Twitter account and follow the @BBGeeks Twitter profile.

See you all next month!

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 9

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 9

Each and every day we reach out to other Twitter users and ask them what kind of problems they are experiencing with their BlackBerry devices. The response is always good. Some do not have problems at all, but just need some advice about BlackBerry software or accessories that would help them increase their productivity.

For all our readers who don’t use Twitter, we have decided to recap our conversations in which followers posed questions and we tracked down the answers.

Join us now for the official roundup. You never know what interesting information you will find.

Twitter Helps

RevsBox says:
Of all the Twitter clients you have reviewed – which would you say is the best? Why?

There are plenty of Twitter applications available for the BlackBerry, with more being released every week. It can be difficult to choose which one is the best but one particular application has pulled ahead of the pack.

BBGeeks Answered:

Uber Twitter is by far the best Twitter application available for the BlackBerry. They provide a full featured application that allows for most of the web based functionality of Twitter. Aside from having a quality product, Uber Twitter has shown a dedication to their users by providing great support and continuous advancement with regards to upgrades.

The Uber Twitter application is free in an ad supported format but also available ad free for $5. Check out our Uber Twitter review here.

Bren_RN says:
Is there anyway to get flash so I can watch videos on my 8330? This WAS the 1 thing I loved abut the Tour (full browser)

Ahh the age old quest to get Flash on the BlackBerry. This is one question that comes up alot.

BBGeeks Answered:

There is currently no Flash support on the BlackBerry as the hardware limitations will not support the native Flash software. Flash is meant to run on systems with massive RAM allocation. It leaks quite a bit and is therefore not feasible for handheld devices with limited internal memory.

There are plans in the works to bring Flash to the BlackBerry but that is still a ways off. In the meanwhile you can download the Bolt Browser or the Vision application for increased ability to view Youtube videos etc.

YourBoy says:
hey! Wht up? I need help upgrading my OS…… Thx

I took this to mean he needed some advice about upgrading his BlackBerry Operating System.

BBGeeks Answered:

Upgrading your BlackBerry Operating System is a very straight forward process. We have a post on BBGeeks that describes it in detail for anyone who needs a bit of a primer before diving in.

Read here for detailed instructions for upgrading your BlackBerry operating system.

Drew_Brandt says:
How do other Blackberry users keep their screen from getting scratched?

Scratches and dings on your BlackBerry screen and device body are common place. They are often unavoidable when throwing your phone in your bag with keys and coins etc.

BBGeeks Answered:

There is a great product available for the majority of BlackBerry models on the market. The product is called BodyGuardz and it provides an all over protective skin for your device that works wonders to prevent all kinds of scratches and dirt issues that may affect your BlackBerry.

Read the BBGeeks review of the BodyGuardz product here.

MR_vipBiGGz says:
How can I unlock the Verizon Blackberry Storm and use it for T-mobile?

It seems like everybody wants to unloc their BlackBery devices so they can use them on different networks. Unlocking is not something that we promote very heavily on BBGeeks.com but on occasion we point folks in the right direction.

BBGeeks Answered:

The Storm is one device that is tied to Verizon but should really be open to all networks. Verizon is ok with unlocking the BlackBerry Storm and even provides a phone number that you can call to get your unlock code. Read this post on CrackBerry to get the details.

ahmedelgamal says:
How do I backup my phone? I wanna backup all my contacts, bb contacts, etc..

Along with upgrading your BlackBerry Operating System, backing up your data is one of the most impotant processes you can carry out.

BBGeeks Answered:

The first point in your BlackBerry Backup process is always Desktop Manager. Here is a guide to installing Desktop Manager. Once you have that installed you can use various settings to choose what gets backed up and what is not so important.

One other thing to concern is backing up your 3rd Party applications as they are not included in the standard backup. Read here for information on backing up your 3rd Party BlackBerry applications.

RevsBox says:
Is there an app that will allow me to IM people on whatever IM program they may have – be it AOL, MSN, or others?

Instant Messaging is quickly becoming a hot topic when it comes to the BlakBerry. There are a number of applications that will allow you to connect to various IM services from your BlackBerry.

BBGeeks Answered:

Check out Palringo. It is a 100% free IM application for your BlackBerry that is compatible with MSN, AIM, Yahoo, ICQ and plenty more. Here is our BBGeeks review of Palringo.

ThaStandard says:
My Bold wont let me add music to my internal drive, help me please!

This can be confusing for folks who do not know much about the inner workings of the BlackBerry. It would make sense that you could just drag and drop your files onto your BlackBerry. That is how you transfer files right?

BBGeeks Answered:

The real trick to easily transferring your music to your BlackBerry (Bold or otherwise) is to enable Mass Storage Mode. In order to enable the Mass Storage Mode on your device just follow these simple steps. The result will be a pop up that appears when your BlackBerry is connected to your computer via USB cable – asking you to enable the MSM functionality. Once enabled you can access the internal drive of your BlackBerry just as you would any other folder on your computer. Just drag and drop.

menu > options > memory and enable mass storage mode and mass storage mode on connect

ckfio says:
I am getting a weird message on bb tour when I try to charge on mac. Something abt usb driver. Thoughts?

we had to clarify what error message was being displayed upon connect
“error: make sure device charge source if fully powered. Device may not charge correctly USB drive 4 charge is missing (pretty much)”

BBGeeks Answered:

Install Missing Sync from http://www.markspace.com/ – it will update your usb drivers so that they send out the proper charge.

The issue is that a BlackBerry relies upon a piece of software (the Windows driver, for instance) to detect when a BB is plugged in and dynamically adjust the USB current on that port from 100mA to 500mA. On Windows this is the Device Manager install portion (which installs the driver), a Mac needs Pocket Mac, and linux now has ‘bcharge’ (there is also a new kernel module ‘berry_charge’ in the upcoming 2.6.21 release.)

doggdaze says:
Are there any good QR code reader apps for blackberry @bbgeeks?

QR Codes are the latest and greatest in information delivery. They are two dimensional matrix type images that store information that can be photographed and translated by QR readers on mobile phones. They are a very effective method for distributing product information and contact infomation.

BBGeeks Answered:

We have not done too much experimenting with QR readers on the BlackBerry but we tracked down a couple we thought would be good to play with. Check here for BlackBerry QR Code readers.

dorianchapman says:
Somehow I changed an option on a BB8900, now when I am in the phone application it only lists missed calls, no sent/rec calls? Help!

With most models of BlackBerry it is easy to accidentally press a series of keys that change a setting or to “pocket dial” into your settings options. Thankfully these changes are just as easy to revert.

BBGeeks Answered:

Navigate to the following location on your BlackBerry Phone/call log > menu > options > call logging > show these call log types in message list
Select the items you want logged and then save your changes.

princesslala69 says:
Erytime I go to my camera it says couldn’t start camera, close other applications … anyone know how to fix it or what’s wrong with it?

Quite often things start to glitch out on the BlackBerry devices when you approach the minimum free memory threshold.

BBGeeks Answered:

Your camera is messing up because there is not enough memory to run it. Not that the error message indicates that though. The solution is to reduce your used memory. We have a post that offers some tips for doing just that here.

Ifyou have alread taken those steps, the camera issue can usually be fixed with a simple battery pull.

There you go folks, a sampling of the questions we have received in the last month through our Twitter account. If you would like to participate in our growing community of Tweeps, just download the BlackBerry Twitter application of your choice, sign up for a Twitter account and follow the @BBGeeks Twitter profile.

See you all next month!

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 8

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 8

Each and every day we reach out to other Twitter users and ask them what kind of problems they are experiencing with their BlackBerry devices. The response is always good. Some do not have problems at all, but just need some advice about BlackBerry software or accessories that would help them increase their productivity.

For all our readers who don’t use Twitter, we have decided to recap our conversations in which followers posed questions and we tracked down the answers.

Join us now for the official roundup. You never know what interesting information you will find.

Twitter Helps

exwindchaser says:
Is there an application that let’s you change the color of your trackball for OS 4.5 and higher on the 8100

There was a popular application for Pearl owners pre OS 4.5 called Color Pearl that allowed for the manipulation of the LED underneath the Pearl 8100 trackball. Unfortunately the app stopped working with OS upgrades.

BBGeeks Answered:

There is definitely an app that has been made that brings colored trackballs to the masses of BlackBerry Pearl 8100 owners who have upgraded to OS 4.5. The app is called Bling Ball and functions in a similar fashion to the previous Color pearl apps. Bling Ball can be downloaded from the eVeek forums after registering as a user.

loisgeller says:
I have a BlackBerry and I am thinking about getting a Twitter application so that I can tweet on the go. Do you have any suggestions and is it a difficult process for a technically challenged individual?

It seems like a new Twitter application is being released every week, with the latest and greatest featuring new ways of interacting with your followers. The initial batch of applications was somewhat lacking in functionality but the new generation of BlackBerry Twitter applications is definitely worth a look.

BBGeeks Answered:

I would suggest checking out Uber Twitter for your BlackBerry Twitter application of choice. You can download the application right to your BlackBerry from http://www.ubertwitter.com. For a better understanding of what can be done with Uber Twitter you can check out our Complete Guide to Uber Twitter.

AmyDeWitt says:
Where can I get the cheapest plan for a BlackBerry? I have horrible service with Sprint and have recently ended my contract with them.

This question is another one that gets asked quite often. The reality is that you have to look at more than price when deciding which plan and service provider to sign up with for your BlackBerry plan.

BBGeeks Answered:

I suggest checking out all of the BlackBerry Service Providers we have reviewed on BBGeeks in order to get a good feeling for what each one offers. Since the service with Sprint has not really been up to par it is also important to check out the coverage maps for each provider. The coverage maps for individual BlackBerry service providers can be found at the bottom of each review.

BigJayS says:
I need a Flash equivalent for my BlackBerry Bold! Help!

Flash has been the elusive holy grail for BlackBerry owners who seek to have a fully functional browsing experience with their device. Unfortunately Flash is not coming any time soon =(

BBGeeks Answered:

You are not alone in your search for Flash or a Flash browsing alternative for the BlackBerry. There is only one company that we know of that is making headway in bringing Flash functionality to the BlackBerry browser. The company is SkyFire and they are looking to bring their browser to the BlackBerry soon. Of course I have been hearing that for many months now and still no SkyFire. We will all have to wait patiently and hope for the best.

09MikeBrown says:
I downloaded the new BlackBerry messenger 5.0 for the Storm today. When I rebooted my BlackBerry I lost the BBM icon altogether. . .HELP!

The 5.0 version of the BlackBerry Messenger software leaked online a short while ago and BlackBerry owners went on a downloading frenzy to get the latest and greatest app from RIM. The problem (as with all leaks) is that it was bound to wreak havok on a large portion of the devices that were not up to spec for the release.

BBGeeks Answered:

There is definitely a recovery process that you can go through to restore the original BlackBerry Messenger application onto your device. We posted a handy guide to restoring your BlackBerry Messenger after a failed BBM 5.0 install that is worth a look if you have managed to lose your BBM icon. The post contains instructions on how to recover using BlackBerry Desktop Manager as well as an OTA link for the BBM 4.5 download.

babysista says:
How do I find my BBM PIN# on my BlackBerry?

Once upon a time people would only trade PIN information with business contacts who als had a BlackBerry. We are now seeing a number of PIN swapping sites gaining momentum that have people reaching out in a whole new way. For the record, BBGeeks LOVES that!

BBGeeks Answered:

In order to find your BlackBerry PIN you must do one of the following. Either type “mypin” without the quotes into an email, note or sms or go to options > status and look at the third line for your PIN information. The first method will convert the word mypin into your actual pin number as a result of default auto text settings.

NonStopNights says:
What are your thoughts on the best free and pay apps available for the BlackBerry at the moment?

This is a topic that we love to discuss and surprisingly, over the past year or so the answer has not really changed too much.

BBGeeks Answered:

When it comes to free BlackBerry applications I usually suggest that people check out one of our two rounds of free BlackBerry apps posts (they are cross linked for your convenience). Those two posts, along with user comments cover some of the best freely available software out for your BlackBerry. Included on the list are Yahoo Go! and Viigo. Both are completely free but worth mega bucks if you ask me.

As for paid BlackBerry software, I suggested IntelliLaunch and Sim Detective as my two favorite paid apps of the moment.

LeloB says:
On behalf of @Loyiso, why can’t Storm users open or download PDF documents to their phone?

The reality is that Storm users can open PDF on their device but only when attached to emails. The problem arises when those emailed PDFs need to be zoomed to be viewed in any legible format. Out of the box, the Storm’s support of the PDF file format is lacking but not non-existant.

BBGeeks Answered:

I would suggest checking out a program called BeamReader or the Premium edition of Documents2Go if you are looking for improved PDF viewing functionality on your BlackBerry Storm.

sufian says:
Is there a way to select mulitple files at once to attach to an email? I hate having to dig through my SD card one-by-one.

Ahh, the longstanding feud between BlackBerry and message/ email attachmnets.

BBGeeks Answered:

This is something that I wish RIM would act upon with a future os upgrade. It is absolutely silly to have a device that is geared so heavily towards email activity/management yet does not allow for the attachment of multiple files to an email at once. Actually it will allow more than one attachment, but it will not allow the selection and attaching of more than one document at a time. For people who wish to have the ability to select multiple files at a time for any reason, I suggest checking out File Manager pro.

There you go folks, a sampling of the questions we have received in the last month through our Twitter account. If you would like to participate in our growing community of Tweeps, just download the BlackBerry Twitter application of your choice, sign up for a Twitter account and follow the @BBGeeks Twitter profile.

See you all next month!

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 7

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 7

Each and every Friday we reach out to other Twitter users and ask them what kind of problems they are experiencing with their BlackBerry devices. The response is always good. Some do not have problems at all, but just need some advice about BlackBerry software or accessories that would help them increase their productivity.

For all our readers who don’t use Twitter, we have decided to recap our conversations in which followers posed questions and we tracked down the answers.

Join us on the second Monday of each month for the official roundup. You never know what interesting information you will find.

Twitter Helps

thefabe says:

How do i turn on predictive text on the blackberry?

BBGeeks Answered:

In order to enable predictive text on your BlackBerry you need to go to Options > Language > Input Options > predictive text checked on.

sweetsue says:

Hey, how can I get a decent browser for the blackberry 8830?

BBGeeks Answered:

If you are looking for a top notch browser for your BlackBerry we suggest downloading the Opera Mini browser. This is the best browser we have found and is definitely a step up from the default BlackBerry browsing solution.

lindseytibesar says:

What is the best application for using Twitter on your Blackberry?

BBGeeks Answered:

we generally tend to stick with a set of three Twitter applications when suggesting to other BlackBerry users. These are TwitterBerry, Tiny Twitter and Twibble. Each of them have their pros and cons so go ahead and test them on your Berry to see which one works for you.

WhiskeyChick says:

Can you point me to directions on resetting a BB Curve to factory (wiping everything out)? I have a Christmas handmedown that I am giving to a friend.

BBGeeks Answered:

The process for wiping your BlackBerry are as follows: Options > Security > General >BlackBerry key > Wipe Handheld The pass will be “Blackberry” (no quotes).

sizzlemaker says:

Help! Blackberry deleting emails and call log by itself!

BBGeeks Answered:

Your internal memory is low you need to do some deleting my friend =) Read this for ideas on how to “trim the fat” from your BlackBerry“.

CjCapozzoli says:

what’s the best way to make my BB a modem on a Mac for att? Thanks for the follow!

BBGeeks Answered:

We are mostly PC users here but here is the information we do have about connecting your BlackBerry to your Mac as a modem.

wakinguptired says:

Anyone using gmail POP or IMAP? Having a dilemma choosing one over the other even though it’s recommended to use IMAP…..

BBGeeks Answered:

Check out the links from BBgeeks on the subject – we have covered it from many angles: Gmail on your BlackBerry.

jpapakalos says:

Looking at your site. Some cool stuff. When are all the themes coming out for BlackBerry Storm?

BBGeeks Answered:

Unfortunately because of the Storm having a different resolution that any other BlackBerry model available on the market, it is quite difficult to produce themes for. The community is eagerly awaiting the release of the next version of the Plazmic theme creator software and the release of the BlackBerry App Store. When these two resources are prepared to offer Storm themes we will see them flooding the web.

chriskovach says:

How can I disable the Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed tag at the bottom of my sent emails?

BBGeeks Answered:

Changing your auto signature on your BlackBerry is a simple process. With a few clicks you can eliminate it altogether or have it read whatever you would like.

khartline says:

Is there a way to save podcasts via itunes to my bold? I have missingsync which I use for music. **im away from computer/lazy ;)

BBGeeks Answered:

You can deffinitely keep tabs on all of your iTunes podcasts using your BlackBerry. Check out this link for dealing with audio podcasts on your BlackBerry and this link for managing Video podcasts on your BlackBerry.

MochaSilk says:

The browser icon disappeared yesterday. I have unlimited data plan, did a battery pull, ServiceBooks checked to Hosting Route Tables & registered. Thx 4 any help.

BBGeeks Answered:

On occasion your BlackBerry will trip out and some of your icons will disappear. Usually you will find that the browser icon is affected when such a glitch occurs. If you have found yourself a victim of the missing browser icon check out this post on how to bring back your BlackBerry browser icon.

jerseysoprano says:

“Real men love CURVES”.

BBGeeks Answered:

LOL

JadedTLC says:

“Real Men can use a Pearl :P”.

BBGeeks Answered:

LOL

caraferguson says:

How do I make it so my BlackBerry only vibrates when someone calls?

BBGeeks Answered:

In order to set your BlackBerry up so that it only vibrates instead of making audible alerts, access your ringer profiles – scroll down to advanced – select vibrate profile – change individual settings as desired once you have set and saved all your preferences exit and make sure your profile is set to vibrate.

sugarrae says:

Is there anyway to change the default appointment reminder on the BB from being “snooze for five minutes”? I don’t want to dismiss the reminder, but I’d like to be able to snooze it for 15 minutes instead of 5 is that a BB thing or an outlook thing?

BBGeeks Answered:

This is actually an easy thing to do if it was not berried so deep in the BlackBerry menu. The process for those who wish to extend their BlackBerry snooze function is as follows: calendar > menu button > general options > snooze > set it to anything from 1 to 30 minutes.

nanpalmero says:

I would like to see Slacker Radio or Shazam made available for the BlackBerry.

BBGeeks Answered:

While we eagerly await the release of a Shazam application for the BlackBerry, Berry owners can get a taste for the functionality with the Nobex Radio BlackBerry application.

pastorwalters says:

I deleted bb maps cuz I never use it, but now that vzw has unlocked gps, I want to get it back for my 8330. Where can I find it?

BBGeeks Answered:

If you have somehow managed to delete your BlackBerry maps application from your device it is pretty easy to recover. Check out this post on BBGeeks.com that explains how to reinstall BlackBerry Maps after deleting.

edent says:

If I point my BB’s browser to “about:download” I get a list of downloads – are there any other hidden pages? (BB 8800 OS4.5)

BBGeeks Answered:

There are a ton of hidden menus etc available with the BlackBerry Operating System. For those of you who want to access your BlackBerry on a whole new level, check out this great list of hidden BlackBerry menus from BlackBerry Forums.

There you go folks, all of the questions we have received in the last month through our Twitter account. If you would like to participate in our growing community of Tweeps, just download the BlackBerry Twitter application of your choice, sign up for a Twitter account and follow the BBGeeks Twitter profile.

See you all next month!

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 6

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

Twitter Help Monthly Roundup Round 6

Each and every Friday we reach out to other Twitter users and ask them what kind of problems they are experiencing with their BlackBerry devices. The response is always good. Some do not have problems at all, but just need some advice about BlackBerry software or accessories that would help them increase their productivity.

jamesorlowski says:
The GPS on my VZW8130 worked yesterday after I updated to 4.5, but today, it can’t find any satellites. Did VZW change something?

BBGeeks Answered:

Verizon has recently “unlocked” their GPS functionality on the Curve and the Pearl. That being said, they may be mucking with things behind the scenes in order to provide full service to their customers. We suggested re-sending the service books and doing a hard battery pull just in case it is just a glitch.

lovinkat says:
I do two Twitter feeds. Can I add a second Twitter app to my BB Pearl? Already have Twitterberry. Any ideas?

BBGeeks Answered:

You can absolutely have multiple Twitter applications running on one device. Some of the more popular options are TwitterBerry, Tiny Twitter and Twibble

conedude13 says:
Is there an app for the BlackBerry that uses the camera to scan a normal upc and can port that to a mobile friendly price search.

BBGeeks Answered:

This was a new concept for us as far a BlackBerry usage is concerned. Once it was brought to our attention though it made perfect sense to be able to snap a picture with your camera and have the product recognized and cross referenced in some type of pricing guide. Can you imagine all the ultra savvy shoppers?

we did a bit of searching and came up with a couple possible solutions. The first was Neoreader adn the second one was a program called Shop Savvy.

conedude13 weighed in with his opinion of Neoreader and said it was really not worth while after all and unfortunately the Shop Savvy application for BlackBerry devices is still in the works.

RobinBryce says:
I deleted version 6 (TwitterBerry) from 8100 Pearl downloaded 8 and get error message. I deleted bb cache, did over, same error! WHAT can I do?

BBGeeks Answered:

we looked high and low for an older copy of version 6 of TwitterBerry for RobinBryce but we couldn’t track it down anywhere. We suggested updating her firmware as the errors might have to do with some type of incompatibility between an older OS and the most recent version of TwitterBerry. This conversation evolved into finding out how she could get an OS upgrade without having the Desktop Manager software or a PC to run it on.

Since in many cases it is not possible to upgrade your BlackBerry OS OTA, our suggestion was to either buy a ultra cheap PC for this purpose only or to set up a Windows installation on her Mac using Parallels or VMware Fusion. One other possible solution would be to take your BlackBerry into an authorized dealer with a tech support member on site that could perform the OS upgrade for you.

bentley007 says:
Is there any way to set Opera Mini as the default BlackBerry browser?

BBGeeks Answered:

Unfortunately there is no way to set the Opera Mini browser as your default browsing option for your BlackBerry device. They are working on a solution though and we may see this functionality (or dare I say a partnership) in the near future.

alexmendoza says:
Hey I just got a crackberry 8310. Is there anything I should know about it. It seems awesome so far.

BBGeeks Answered:

All you need to know is that you have bought yourself a killer device and as you get to learn everything it can do and begin to have questions about the finer points of BlackBerry productivity, BBGeeks will be here to help make sense of it all =)

texbird says:
I find that my assigned ringtones switch back to the “active” profile after they work right once. Any idea why?

BBGeeks Answered:

Sounds to us like this is a hardware glitch that may be solved by doing a battery pull (hey what isn’t). If that is not the case, we suggested checking out this post on BBGeeks.com which discusses assigning ringtones and alerts to specific BlackBerry contacts.

cmaddison says:
Any ideas how to forward specific numbers to voicemail on 8820? You guys are my last hope!!

BBGeeks Answered:

This functionality is missing on your BlackBerry out of the box and is considered by many people to be a huge oversight by RIM which they seem content to leave unaddressed. If you want to set up advanced contact profiles on your BlackBerry we suggest using Antair BB Call Screener which is available at the BBGeeks Store.

TONYKNUCKLES says:
Found you through Twitter Grader!

BBGeeks Answered:

A couple days ago there was a big thing going around Twitter with regards to someone claiming they were the best marketer in the world because of their Twitter Grader score. We had a look at our score on there and hey – what do you know – BBGeeks is #4 in all of Canada. While we are highly skeptical of the Twitter Grader stat collecting and ultimately our position on the list, I would like to say thank you to all of our followers who have contributed just as much as I have towards making the BBGeeks account the #1 resource for BlackBerry information on Twitter!

Thanks for finding us TONYKNUCLES!

LesleyLambert says:
Help! My scroll button on my curve won’t scroll up!

BBGeeks Answered:

Our initial suggestion here was to do a hard battery pull as we have experienced the “trackball glitch” on numerous occasions. When that did not sort out the problem for LesleyLambert we suggested giving the BlackBerry trackball a good cleaning and pointed her to a great post on just this topic by Joe.

goldensnitch says:
Do you know if there’s a way to remove the Setup Wizard on a 8330? I would like to have that extra memory.

BBGeeks Answered:

We did some snooping around and didn’t find any way to delete the setup wizard specifically. That being said we let goldensnitch know that it is possible to hide it within certain Dimension Zen themes. As far as freeing up some much needed memory on the BlackBerry we suggested reading the 8 ways to trim the fat on your BlackBerry post from a short while back.

ccarmichael says:
Random question: is there a way to switch my 8703e to “phone-only” mode to avoid roaming data charges?

BBGeeks Answered:

For most BlackBerry devices you will be able to disable your data transmissions in the event that you are traveling far from home and do not wish to incur the extortion rates of international roaming. For some carriers however this option is not available.

For BlackBerry owners who would like to turn their data off they can follow this process: To turn off data try – options > Mobile Network > (change Data Services to “off”). For those who find that option suspiciously missing, you will have to contact your carrier and ask very nicely =)

rickt says:
Is there software for BB that lets me set arbitrary key shortcuts? like i can press M to start Messages, etc.?

BBGeeks Answered:

Unfortunately at this time we are not aware of any application that would let you define your own shortcuts on the BlackBerry =(

melissaruth says:
Love the iLane but have a ??-according to demo, when it replies to an email does it send the recorded voice or txt?

BBGeeks Answered:

Currently the iLane will send a mp3 attachment as a reply to an email. They are working on voice 2 text transcription.

The iLane is still in it’s beginning stages as a product. It currently has a huge benefit for all BlackBerry owners who wish to drive a little safer on the road while having their email and other news items read to them. That being said however, there is still quite a bit of functionality that can and will be implemented in the near future which will make the iLane practically indespensible for any working professional with a BlackBerry.

jamesuccpa says:
Other than CompanionLink, what other software will sync ACT with BB?

BBGeeks Answered:

We have never has a reason to use CompanionLink or ACT software for that matter but a little research dug up the following options for other BlackBerry users who do. The first was HandHeldContact and the second option is actually a function of the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

cjweb says:
I need help; I need to fix my trackball, but haven’t had time. is there a way to move around menu screens with keyboard keys?

BBGeeks Answered:

This is quite the pain for any BlackBerry user who is heavily dependent on their trackball for navigation. The good news is that you can definitely get around your device using only the keys on your QWERTY keyboard. Here is a list of BlackBerry Shortcuts that were provided by @TheMadHat who has been using his BlackBerry with no trackball for months!

deedubya says:
I have a bb curve 8310? and my trackball just gave out – it won’t let me scroll left (other 3 ways work). any ideas, please?

BBGeeks Answered:

This is definitely a time to do a tried and true batter pull to get you BlackBerry out of it’s much hated “glitch mode”.

lewiswhelchel says:
Is there a way to create an icon for bookmark that didn’t come with one?

BBGeeks Answered:

This utility will do the trick. Creating custom web shortcuts on your BlackBerry is actually a simple process.

BBProductivity says:
Hey, i just saw yesterday that you started bb geeks in august 2007, is that right? i think you have done an amazing job!

BBGeeks Answered:

Thank you kindly, we have a small team of people who work very hard at making BBGeeks.com the number one resource for BlackBerry information. We welcome all comments and criticisms of the site and would love to hear from all our readers as far as what they would like to see incorporated into our daily writings.

atuarre says:
You know anything about Otterboxes?

BBGeeks Answered:

Otterboxes rock in our opinion. They are kind of bulky so they are difficult to slip in and out of your pocket on a regular basis, but if you are looking for supreme BlackBerry protection then you will not go wrong with an