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Welcome back all you BBGeeks to our monthly roundup of the BBGeeks Twitter Help activities. If you have been following us for a while now you no doubt know about our account on Twitter.com.

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

cjweb says:
I have a BB Curve 8310 with AT&T. Why do my text messages get erased? Do I need to specifically save them?

cjweb asked a very common question which has to do with text messages and call logs being erased from their BlackBerry at seemingly random intervals.

BBGeeks answered:

This issue is caused by a flaw in the BlackBerry architecture that makes the device clear up space when internal memory is running low.
Your texts get erased when you have too much of your internal memory used up by ringtones, pictures or any number of things really. We suggested checking out the article posted on BBGeeks entitled 8 ways to trim the fat from your BlackBerry in which we show explain in detail how to free up a massive amount of internal memory on your device.

rickhenderson says:
Does RIM have any BB that combine a GPS or possibly GPS and Heart rate? Think BB + Garmin?
With the addition of GPS functionality in some of the more recent BlackBerry models, people are looking to see what other creative uses they can make of the device aside from just spotting your location on Google maps.

BBGeeks answered:

Unfortunately there is no existing application for the BlackBerry that will give you the functionality you require. That being said, there have been some developments made that could allow for this type of usage in the future. In particular, RIM has partnered with Wilfred Laurier University and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and are doing great things.

We also took the opportunity to present an BBGeeks article about GPS and the BlackBerry as well as a link to various GPS accessories from our online store.

jdub71 says:
Is there a BlackBerry Twitter app that will autoupdate and geolocate?
This is a great question. With the sudden popularity of Twitter, it was only a matter of time before a range of applications were made available for the BlackBerry that would allow you to interact with your account. With each new entry into the field, the functionality keeps expanding allowing users to do more and more from their BlackBerry devices.

BBGeeks answered:

There is in fact a Twitter application for the BlackBerry that allows you to transmit geo location information when using a GPS enabled device. The application is called Twibble and can be downloaded here: Twibble.de or through their mobile link http://m.twibble.de/.

Once we tweeted our findings to jdub71, we received a number of messages from other followers who had attempted to use the Twibble service. Unfortunately, each of them had little to no success getting the application to function properly on their BlackBerry devices. EKBeasley and mcdent both reported hang ups and frozen screens. Once we had this valuable input we decided that while the Twibble application does indeed have good intentions, they need to do a little bit more work on the BlackBerry platform before their application will be of any use to the community.

Ninety7 says:
Where can I get a replacement plastic circle for my Curve? I don’t want to pay $15 for one!
Because we carry our BlackBerry devices around with us all the time, there is huge potential for dropping, spilling and other random damage to occur. Fortunately there are a bunch of places online that sell replacement parts for your BlackBerry.

BBGeeks answered:

While we have never had to go out and purchase any replacement parts for our devices here at BBGeeks, we did come across a few online outlets that may be of some help for those of you who do need them. We can not vouch for these companies, but they may be worth checking out:

fonLogix featured a replacement ring for the Curve for only $6.00. If that was not exactly what he needed, we also suggested a simple Google search to locate countless other sources for replacement BlackBerry parts.

victorcab says:
Thanks for great info. Is there a good comparison iPhone vs BB?
With the recent launch of the BlackBerry Bold, there has been quite the curiosity as to how it stacks up against the Apple iPhone.

BBGeeks answered:

At the time the question was asked, the only real comparison out there was between a pre-release Bold model and a 2.5G iPhone. This comparison is available here. Stay tuned to BBGeeks.com for a series of head to head challenges featuring our new Bold device and one of the staff members 3G iPhone.

clickityclack says:
I have a question…have any hookups for a bold?? :)
On the speculated release date for the BlackBery Bold in Canada, emotions ran high and people wanted to know where to find them. Funny thing was, they were not in any of the Rogers store locations . . .

BBGeeks answered:

After calling around a few days prior to the release of the BlackBerry Bold, the common opinion by store representatives was that they were unsure as to whether or not they would be getting any of the devices to put on the shelves. This story continued right up to the day of the so called launch where no stores anywhere had a physical product to sell. The thing is, on the Rogers website the device was listed as available.

We decided to call the Rogers customer service line at 1.888.764.3771 and found out that the Bold was indeed available and you could have one sent out to you in 3-5 business days. Once we shared this information with our readers and Twitter followers, we received a number of responses which indicated they had all ordered a device right away! Unfortunately the Bold was not made available to the US market at the same time, so our neighbors to the south were still awaiting news of their release date.

coplandmj says:
I often visit bb.com to download apps, but the download option doesn’t appear on Curve’s browser. Any ideas as to why?
One of the areas that RIM has always been trailing in when compared to other smart phones is browsing. Despite having one of the best devices on the market, the clumsy browsing always casts a shadow over all of their other significant achievements.

BBGeeks answered:

While we did not find any definitive reference as to why coplandmj’s Curve was not displaying the appropriate download links, we did suggest browsing via an alternate option. The option we presented in this case was the Opera Mini browser.

Coplandmj responded after trying out the new browser and reported that not only were the download links now fully functional on her BlackBerry Curve, but that she will be keeping Opera Mini as her default browser from now on.

rickt says:
Is there a “better Memopad” app, that still syncs w/Exchange notes? Needed features: sorting notes on date/name/size etc. HALP!
Despite RIM’s best efforts, BlackBerry owners are always on the hunt for more functionality from their device. 9 times out of 10 there is a third party application that will provide an added benefit to the standard BlackBerry offering.

BBGeeks answered:

We did a bit of searching for a new memopad application and came across an offering from REXWireless. The documentation did not specifically indicate that it was able to sync with Exchange Notes but we thought it was at least worth a look. We never got a response back from rickt to let us know if this was an appropriate solution to his problem, but we hope it was of some help =)

CoreyHammond says:
Do you know how to remote desktop from a bb pearl into a mac with os x? is there a good free solution? whats best paid option?
In the early days of the BlackBerry there was little to no need for connection to a Mac. The platform was reserved for the artsy types and was not considered to be as cool as it is nowadays. The role of the Mac has now changed and it is at the forefront of the consumer psyche. It is not surprising then that more and more BlackBerry owners are looking for ways to connect their BlackBerry to a Mac computer.

BBGeeks answered:

We do not use macs in the main office here at BBGeeks.com. Therefore we were not able to try out the SugarSync service that we stumbled across while sourcing out a solution to CoreyHammond’s request. That being said however, SugarSync was the only remote desktop application that we located that promises connectivity between your Mac, Pc and all types of mobile phone including the BlackBerry.

We suggested he check out SugarSync and report back to us if he has had any success.

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!

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