You can now forward an article by email by hitting the “F” key and you can send the article to yourself using the “S” key. I tried both of these shortcuts on Viigo version 3.1.330 and the “F” key worked to send an email but the “S” key did not work to send it to myself. Weirdly enough when I hit the “D” key it also let me forward the article…

Let me know if you discover any other shortcuts in Viigo!!! If you don’t already have Viigo you can pickup a copy at www.berryreview.com/viigo. Now if only Viigo would add shortcuts to refresh each channel and open an article in the browser I would be a happy man!

Kim also mentioned these shortcuts that have been around for a bit:

U goes to next unread in all articles
O goes to next in same rss feed … Same as N
B goes back in same rss feed
P goes to previous in list

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Viigo’s “Send Article Via E-Mail” Gets Revamped – Now Uses Native Email Client
• Viigo Update Adds Article Twitter Posting, Custom Stock Portfolios & Movie Lookups
• EmailFuture – Send Yourself Scheduled Emails
• Review: Viigo Free RSS Reader For BlackBerry
• FAQ: BlackBerry 8300 Series Camera Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, September 14, 2009, 7:00 am. | Viigo FINALLY Adds Keyboard Shortcuts to Send Emails! | 6 comments |

Try  booting your BlackBerry in safe mode. (Works with most devices running OS 4.6 and above). The basic idea behind it is that much like Safe Mode on a PC, booting your device this way allows you to uninstall any “bad” applications by loading the bare essentials upon startup.You simply perform a battery pull and then hold the Back key until the Safe Mode dialog appears.

(Courtesy: Tfrankson via tips@berryreview.com ). Thank you for the tips and please, keep em coming…

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• FAQ: Start Your BlackBerry in Safe Mode (OS 4.6+ Only)
• Tips and Tricks For Storm Users
• RANT! Why The Long Boot Times?
• Tips & Tricks: Removing A SIM Card Easily From Your BlackBerry
• Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience.

Posted by aymz for ©BerryReview, August 26, 2009, 11:00 am. | Tips and Tricks: How to Boot up in Safe Mode. | 5 comments |

To check:
1. Press the BlackBerry button (seven black dots)
2. Select “Options” from the menu.
3. Select “Browser Configuration”
4. Highlight the check boxes next to
• Support HTML tables
• Support Javascript
• Use Background and Foreground colors
• Use Background Images
• Support CSS/Style Sheets

For newer BlackBerry also set:
• Style Sheets media type = screen
• Show images = WML & HTML Pages
• Emulation Mode = BlackBerry
• Content Mode = WML & HTML
5. Press the BlackBerry button (seven black dots)
6. Select “Save Options”
7. Select the back button and reload our website

Via: Annon tip… Thankyou.

If any other readers have some hand tips and/or tricks, please send them in.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Tips and Tricks For Storm Users
• Tips and Tricks: How to Boot up in Safe Mode.
• Verizon Storm Tips & Tricks Handbook Comes Out
• Tips & Tricks: A Workaround For Cropping Pictures on Your BlackBerry
• Stinsonddog Releases Free Tips & Tricks Manual For Bold

Posted by Greg for ©BerryReview, August 26, 2009, 8:00 am. | Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience. | 8 comments |

This opens a whole new door of possibilities for AutoText shortcuts! I love when I learn new things that solve problems I did not know I even had. You may not agree with the shortcuts he uses %b for but it has a broad range of possibilities. I will hand the floor over to Otis:

I don’t remember whether or not I ever read about the %b code in tips about Auto Text, but I’ve started using it recently, and now I’m hooked!

The %b code, as you may know, inserts a backspace. Hmm. . . What’s so exciting about that? Well, I guess you could say I’m spoiled. I love that I rarely have to hit the apostrophe when I’m typing on my BlackBerry. Auto Text is pre-wired for most of the contractions and inserts them automatically. Sometimes, though, I get a little esoteric – "couldn’t've" or "I’d've." Also, I’ve gotten so used to not having to type apostrophes that it gets annoying to have to insert them for possessives – "John’s" or "Margaret’s." That’s where %b won my heart.

I’ve defined ‘ve" as "%b’ve; " so, now, I type "couldn’t ve," and it comes out "couldn’t've." Similarly, I type "John s," and it comes out "John’s." Once I got used to this, I got annoyed at having to hit the "alt" key for other punctuation, so I defined "j" as semi-colon ("%b; "), "b" as exclamation point ("%b! ") – you get the picture. I even defined "m" as period ("%b.") Why would I do that, when my Berry already knows to change two spaces into a period? Well, sometimes, I want a period without a space after it – such as when I use a period right before a quotation mark.

Henry Petroski wrote, "Necessity isn’t the mother of invention;  inconvenience is." These shortcuts certainly aren’t necessary, but they make my BlackBerry experience that much more convenient!

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Giveaway: Share Your Best AutoText Shortcuts! TEN $10 Bplay Gift Cards!
• Giveaway Winners: Share Your Best AutoText Shortcuts
• Tips & Tricks: View The Source Code Of A Website In The BlackBerry Browser
• Tips and Tricks For Storm Users
• Did You Know About AutoText Macros? Neither Did I…

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, July 17, 2009, 3:00 pm. | Tips & Tricks: I’m in love with %b – Useful AutoText Shortcuts | 10 comments |

At my farm, way out in the country, the AT&T signal is extremely weak. It never gets above two bars; usually it only has one bar. When you find a place where you can make a phone call, you must stand there, motionless, until the call is over. Yes, really!

When I am working in a certain room for a while, like cooking dinner in the kitchen, watching TV or working on the computer, I stick my BlackBerry up in the window sill, and put my Bluetooth earpiece on. That way, the BlackBerry can still get a constant signal, but I can roam around the room. I have a range of about 10-15 feet that I can roam in, while talking.

Don’t forget to turn your BlackBerry setting to Loud – that way, you will hear it ringing, in the house, even if you are not close enough for the Bluetooth to let you answer it. You just have to run, run, run through the house, until you are within ten feet of that window, and answer it. Even if you are on the floor above or below the BlackBerry, if you are within ten feet, you can still answer it!

You can find quite a few cheap Bluetooth headsets available at Amazon.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Always Keep Your BlackBerry Holstered – Go Bluetooth!
• New BlackBerry Bluetooth Headset Coming Soon
• Tips & Tricks: How to Modify/Change the Yahoo! Email Icon on the BlackBerry Bold
• Tips & Tricks: A Workaround For Cropping Pictures on Your BlackBerry
• Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience.

Posted by MichaelJones for ©BerryReview, June 30, 2009, 11:48 am. | Tips & Tricks: BlackBerry Signal Too Weak? Bluetooth To The Rescue! | 3 comments |

BlackBerry Documents To Go – Upgrade Workaround

Okay, I like Documents To Go on my BlackBerry Bold as much as anyone.  I just wish the upgrade to premium feature wasn’t so expensive.  I think it is $70.  That’s a lot of money for an upgrade on phone software, in my opinion.

So I thought, huh, what is the difference between the Standard and Premium edition?

Well, there are a lot of great features, and someday, I might upgrade for them.  But for now, I am just going to use the Standard version.  In Word, I wanted to be able to create new documents, add bullets and numbered bullets, and format text, e.g., Bold, Italics, Underline.  You have to upgrade to Premium to be able to do that.

Similarly, in Excel To Go, I wanted to create a new spreadsheet, format cells and use the basic functions, like Min, Max, Count, etc.

Here is how you can do that, with the Standard Edition, that comes on the BlackBerry Bold.  It will probably work on other BlackBerrys, but I am not sure.

Create a Word Document on your PC, with those features, and call it Blank formatted Document.doc, and set it to Read Only.  Copy it to your BlackBerry, on either the Device Memory or SD Card, via the USB cable.  Or you could just email it to your BlackBerry.

Word Formatted Bullet Blank Document

Do a similar file for the Spreadsheet, in Excel, and call it Blank Formatted Spreadsheet.xls, and transfer that to your BlackBerry.

Excel Formatted Function Blank Book

On your BlackBerry, when you want to create a new Document or Spreadsheet, just start with those blank files.  Open one, and immediately choose the Save As menu item, to save the file with your new filename.

For example, even though you could not add bullets to a Word document in the Standard edition, you CAN EDIT the bullets in a pre-existing document.  If you want to add a new bullet, you can get on a bullet line and hit the Enter key.  You can type over an existing bullet.

Similarly, once you get your cursor inside a bolded word, you can over-type it to be some other bolded word.  You can Copy+Paste a Bolded word and then type over that word.  Same with Italics, underline, SuperScript, SubScript.

Keep these formatted items at the top of your document, and then you can get to them easily, and when you are done with your document, just delete out the formatted stuff that you copied from, from the top, and you will be left with your formatted document.

Same with Sheet To Go.  Open the formatted blank spreadsheet, do a Save As….  Copy the formatted cells to another cell location.  It is a little tricky to copy a cell in this application.  You have to hold down the Shift key to highlight a cell or two, and then the BlackBerry menu will have “Copy” in it.  Do this, and then go to your new cell and then “Paste” will be available, to paste the item into your new location.

Modify the text in that new cell, which will already be formatted. You can also do an Edit Cell, to copy the text in a formula field, and paste it in another cell.

Some of the Premium features will never work this way, like Find/Replace and Spell Check, for example.  But this little workaround might get you through the day.

Let me know in the comments if you have a documented solution for PowerPoint! I know it is possible but I have not had a chance to write it up myself.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Giveaway: Documents To Go Premium v2.0 – 10 Free Copies!
• FAQ: Document Formats Supported By Documents To Go
• Documents To Go v2.0 Released – Pay $29.99 to Upgrade?
• Documents To Go v1.007 Update – Fixes Charts
• Giveaway Winners: Documents To Go 2.0

Posted by MichaelJones for ©BerryReview, June 25, 2009, 2:30 pm. | Tips & Tricks: The Poor Mans Solution For Documents To Go | 7 comments |

This is really for all those AT&T Bold users out there – who likes the Yahoo! email icon on their BlackBerry? Show of hands? Anyone? [crickets chirping] That’s what I thought.

Sorry, but I don’t use Yahoo! email anymore, unless I want to know where to buy wee-wee enhancement drugs, get rich today, or lose 50 pounds in a week, (or read other spam), because I get about 150 spam emails a day on my Yahoo! email account. So I haven’t used it for years.

Imagine my surprise when AT&T sold out to Yahoo! to put a Yahoo! icon on my phone, as an email icon, when I don’t use Yahoo! anymore. The BlackBerry was designed to allow the vendor (AT&T) to set this icon themselves, to make a quick buck. See, if RIM embedded the icon inside of the OS, the vendor couldn’t change it. So they made a separate PNG file, (which is like a JPG picture file), that the BlackBerry OS loads when the phone is rebooted.

So I wanted to change this icon. I am not sure if this will work on other devices but it does work on the AT&T Bold. I will show you where the icon file is, on a BlackBerry. First you have to plug your BlackBerry into your USB cable, with Desktop Manager running or not (it is easier if DM is not running, so that it won’t try to sync right now).

When you look at Windows Explorer, it will look something like this:

See drive F:? That is the system drive on my BlackBerry. Think of it like your BlackBerry’s hard drive. The drive below it, G:, is my removable 2GB Micro SD card.

If you navigate through the F: drive (or whatever your BlackBerry drive shows up as, in Windows), you will find the folder with this specific PNG picture file, as seen below:

In the BlackBerry file system, look for this folder, or something like it:

F:\appdata\rim\bda\icons\GBISXNAC02S08\

You will see a *.PNG picture file. In the picture above, it is called 1-80-80.png. If you modify this picture file with a graphics editor program, and replace the file on your BlackBerry, it will load up as the email icon. Before you do anything, you should make a backup copy of the Yahoo! email PNG picture file, on your Windows computer. Then if you don’t like it, you can always go back. Similarly, once you modify this picture file, you should make a backup of the new PNG picture file on your Windows computer, because a new OS install will probably over-write this file.

Here is how you edit the picture file. Think of the picture file as two pictures – one that is seen when the icon does not have focus, and one that is seen when the icon does have focus.

For example, if you put a puppy in the left half of the picture, and a bunny rabbit in the right half of the picture, you would have a puppy for an icon, and when the email application got focus, the puppy would turn into a bunny rabbit. More likely, for the Bold, you would put a picture of an envelope on the left side, and a picture of an envelope with a rounded border around it on the right. That way, when the icon got focus, it would get a rounded box around it (just like the other Bold icons).

The changed icon will be visible when you reboot your BlackBerry, with the Alt+Shift+Delete key sequence. It is loaded fresh, every time you reboot.

Here is that picture file, enlarged for your benefit:

So enjoy, hope this helps, and remember that the OS is looking for this file, in this folder, so don’t forget to have this file in place when you reboot your BlackBerry Bold.

As a disclaimer, I am going to say that you will be doing this procedure at your own risk, and I will not be held responsible for anybody doing this procedure incorrectly. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, then don’t do it.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Tips & Tricks: A Workaround For Cropping Pictures on Your BlackBerry
• GTalk, AOL IM, Windows Live Messenger, & Yahoo IM Updated To v2.1.44 – No Change Log
• Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience.
• Tips & Tricks: Removing A SIM Card Easily From Your BlackBerry
• Tips & Tricks: The Poor Mans Solution For Documents To Go

Posted by MichaelJones for ©BerryReview, June 22, 2009, 1:16 pm. | Tips & Tricks: How to Modify/Change the Yahoo! Email Icon on the BlackBerry Bold | 6 comments |

Michael did a great job of writing up the instructions so I just copied them below:

Well, here’s the thing – my wife has an iPhone and it has the ability to do picture cropping right on the phone — “There’s an app for that!”.

On the Apple commercial, the girl is in a picture with a guy, drinking, and she zooms her picture in to just her face, and crops out the beer, so that she can send the photo to her parents.  This is also how you can crop out an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend from a picture – now, that’s handy!

I was jealous.  I wanted to be able to do that on my BlackBerry Bold.  I was thinking about how I could write such an app in Java.  Then I thought, well, Duh!  BlackBerrys already do that!  All you need is a free screen capture app called CaptureIt, which I already had.  Here is how you do it:

1. Install “Capture It” (if it isn’t already on there).  It is found here:  http://www.thetechmogul.com/CaptureIt/CaptureIt.jad
2. Move the picture file that you want to crop to the same folder that your pictures get stored to, when you take a picture with your BlackBerry.  For example mine is the main ‘root’ folder on my Micro SD Card.  This happens to be the same location that the “Capture It” app will store images that it captures.
3. Open your picture in the BlackBerry Media app, in that particular folder.
4. Use the various BlackBerry keys, like 3 and 9 to zoom in/out on your picture, and your trackball to move the picture around, centering it.  Zoom right into the place you like, effectively visually cropping the image, horizontally.
5. Push the BlackBerry button, and then choose the menu item for “Capture It”.  Now a new file will be created, with that new zoomed image.
6. Hit the Back button, to go back to the Media folder, to find your new zoomed image.
7. Repeat if necessary.
8. But wait, there’s more!
9. Say that you have a very wide image with some things on the left or right side of your desired image that you want to remove.  Just Rotate your image, with the Rotate menu item.  Zoom again, as before, to effectively crop the image vertically.
10. Push the BlackBerry button, and then choose the menu item for “Capture It”.  Now a new file will be created, with that new zoomed image.  This will probably be your final image.
11. While you are zooming, you will capture some temporary images.  Just go back into to the BlackBerry Media app later and delete those temporary images.

NOTE: Just so you know, to do this cropping effectively, for the best results, you need to go into your Camera options, and set/leave your Picture Size at the highest setting, e.g., “Large” and your Picture Quality to “Superfine”.

See, anytime you zoom an image in,  you lose quality, just like with any camera or picture, and you need to start out with the highest quality picture.

Also, just so you know, if you have a picture of someone with a black background, just framing their face, and you associate that picture with their contact phone number, it will pop up their face on your phone in a cool way when they call (at least it looks like that on my BlackBerry Bold).  I have manually modified pictures on my Bold’s contacts to look like that, because it is just so cool.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• CropIt: Simple App Lets You Crop Pictures From Your BlackBerry
• Tips & Tricks: How to Modify/Change the Yahoo! Email Icon on the BlackBerry Bold
• Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience.
• FAQ: BlackBerry 8300 Series Camera Keyboard Shortcuts
• Tips & Tricks – Recover Files From A Corrupted SD Or MicroSD Card

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, June 10, 2009, 12:00 pm. | Tips & Tricks: A Workaround For Cropping Pictures on Your BlackBerry | 6 comments |

Instructions:

1. Open the BlackBerry Video Camera application
2. Hit the menu button and select Options
3. The first option should be Video Light
4. Highlight that option and hit the spacebar to change it to On
5. You will get a warning saying that this will drain your battery but select yes

Now every time you fire up the Video Camera application the LED/Flash will automatically turn on. You do not need to record anything for it to work. For even simpler access just set the Video Camera to open using one of your side convenience keys.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Ever Light II – Simple Flashlight App Using Camera Flash/LED
• FreeLight 1.0 – Free Flashlight Application For BlackBerry
• Flashlight apps, part 1: Flashlight Pro for BlackBerry – 60 Minutes Edition
• Review: flashlight apps for the Blackberry
• Flashlight apps, part 2: Flashlight Pro v1.0, by S4BB Limited

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, May 29, 2009, 1:00 pm. | Tips & Tricks: Use The Camera Flash/LED as a Flashlight | 10 comments |

Here are the ones he found so far:

• %p –> your devices phone number
• %P –> your devices PIN number
• %o –> your name that you have listed under Options>Owner
• %O –> your owner information under Options>Owner such as company, address, work, fax…

JerryD combined these macros into a simple way to create a signature on your BlackBerry by only typing a few letters.

• sig = %o%O
• sigg = %o%O%p
• siggg = %o%O%p H: (555) 555-5555

This lets you setup the AutoText "sig" to equal "%o%O", "sigg" which adds my cell number to the above, and "siggg" which adds my home number to that.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Giveaway: Share Your Best AutoText Shortcuts! TEN $10 Bplay Gift Cards!
• What BlackBerry AutoTexts do you use the most?
• Giveaway Winners: Share Your Best AutoText Shortcuts
• Tips & Tricks: I’m in love with %b – Useful AutoText Shortcuts
• Vodafone Update 2.0.1 – Free Twitter & Facebook Client

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, May 28, 2009, 1:00 pm. | Did You Know About AutoText Macros? Neither Did I… | 6 comments |

Since OS 4.0 or so there has been a hidden Engineering Screen in the BlackBerry OS. It contains a ton of options and views into what you device is doing and how it is running. For example, DigitalbOy put together a guide on how to disable 2G or 3G on an AT&T Bold without debranding it. It is pretty easy to get into the screen but it takes a little work to get it to go away and the options available have no guide to help you through them.

You can use the easy Thyth-o-matic Engineering Screen Unlock Code Generator at this link to generate a code to view the engineering screen. Access is controlled through a code generated from your application version, device PIN, and device uptime.

From the instructions:

To access the escreen, access the device "Help Me!" screen. For QWERTY devices, perform the key combination Alt+Shift+H on the homescreen. For SureType devices, type Alt+EACE on the homescreen. For SurePress devices, hold the Escape button, and tap the screen upper left, upper right, upper left, and upper right corners in that sequence.

The "Help Me!" screen contains the application version, PIN, and current up time. Without leaving the "Help Me!" screen, enter that information into the generator. The generator will give you the 8 digit code for the current "Help Me!" screen. If you close the "Help Me!" screen, the device uptime will no longer match the uptime used to generate the code.

Type the 8 digit code into the "Help Me!" screen. You will not see the digits as you type them, but once all 8 correct digits are entered, the escreen will activate. Make sure to use Alt for the numbers on QWERTY devices. Make sure to use multitap to enter the digits on SureType devices.

Once activated, the escreen will replace the "Help Me!" screen for the duration specified when generating the code. You can close the escreen earlier by setting your device clock ahead past the expiration time, reactivating the "Help Me!" screen, then setting your device clock back to normal. Note: Devices with a vendor ID of 1 (RIM engineering sample devices) will always have the escreen open.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• S4BB BlackBerry Video Generator Gets An Upgrade to v2.3
• Advanced Users! Free BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9 Alpha – The Ultimate Javaloader GUI?
• Sweet Unlock Code Contest Going On!
• Advanced Users: BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.0.7 Released – Lots Of New Features
• Advanced Users! CrackUtil – Another Solid Tool In Your Arsenal

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, May 27, 2009, 12:03 pm. | Advanced Users: BlackBerry Engineering Screen Unlock Code Generator | 18 comments |

Being bilingual, I often tend to type in both Spanish and English, and so far the BlackBerry has not disappointed me. The fact that I can simply switch from one language to another by a simple command of ALT+Enter in less than a second is just awesome. I can spell check my e-mail or text messages simply by switching from one language to another depending which language I am writing. This is one of the most helpful tools that RIM has implemented with the new BlackBerry OS 4.5 and up. It not only corrects my spelling, but also adds correct accent marks when I am writing in Spanish. Not many smartphones out there can do this as simple as the BlackBerry does. This feature can be enabled or integrated with third-party applications as well.

The BlackBerry is the perfect phone for multitasking. Another favorite feature of mine is the ability to run several applications at the same time and switch between them back and forth. I find it to be a lot like the option PCs have using the ALT+TAB to change from one application to the other. This is very useful and makes the life with multitasking a lot easier.

Here is a list of my favorite and useful shortcuts:

• Change language: ALT+Enter.
• Typing a special character such as “ñ” in Spanish: click the letter you want without releasing it and use the trackball to scroll through the letters until you get the one you want.
• Toggle between apps: press and hold Alt+Backspace button. Also, by pressing backspace again, it lets you move through all the applications you currently have open.
• Change signal bar to numbers: holding Alt, type “NMLL” and repeat the procedure to switch back.
• Viewing the event log: press Alt+LGLG. You can also erase the event log.

These features make the BlackBerry a useful device for me and it is not as easy to do with any other device I have owned. I used to go through different phones every quarter until I got my first BlackBerry.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• FAQ: How To Password Protect Your BlackBerry
• BlackBerry App World 1.1 Coming Soon? Interesting New Features in Documentation
• RIM Lists The New Features In OS 4.6 – Fun Stuff
• New features with Yahoo! Messenger 2.1 for BlackBerry
• The ‘Off’ Button. An under-utilized BlackBerry native function.

Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, April 23, 2009, 7:21 pm. | BlackBerry Multitasking features | 16 comments |

Here is how to create a message list shortcut:

• Example: alt-w for all email messages that have attachments.
• Open your message list
• Click menu button to access drop down
• Choose Search
• At this point you can configure your search criteria however you wish.  For this example we will leave all input fields blank, and choose ‘Type’ = "Email with Attachments”
• Next, click the menu button and select ‘Save’.
• Give the shortcut a title (for this example we are using "Email with attachment").
• Choose the shortcut key (example uses ‘w’).
• Click the menu button and select ‘Save’, and you’re done.

From that point on, whenever you’re in your message list application and hit alt-w, it will produce a list of only those messages on your device that have attachments. Also notice that the application ribbon on top will display the name you’ve given to the saved search.

My favorite is to setup a shortcut for ALT+U to show all unread messages. To create that you just need to modify the example above to only show unread messages.

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• FAQ: How To Create A Keyboard Shortcut To Search Your Messages With A Saved Search
• FAQ: OS 4.5 Remote Email Search For BES 4.1.5 Users
• Tips and Tricks For Storm Users
• Tips and Tricks: Optimizing your BlackBerry for best browsing experience.
• FAQ: Tips For Improving Your Google Mobile Search From GoogleSystem

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, March 17, 2009, 3:05 pm. | Tips & Tricks: How To Create A Saved Messages Search Shortcut | 2 comments |

Clearing your log manually can be a pain so when Tashanna let me know that Phrehnck created an application to do it automatically in the background I was excited! The best part is that the application is free! It auto runs on startup and continues to run every hour to delete your logs. There is no application icon and it does not show up in the running application list. You can check to make sure it is running by seeing if your log has entries older than an hour.

I guess all of the OCD log deleters can now get some rest!

You can pick up the app OTA at this link

NICE WORK PHREHNCK!

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• Memory Eye: Monitoring Low Memory to Save Call Logs & Email Pruning
• UPDATED: YouMail Releases Their Own Free Visual Voicemail BlackBerry Application
• Free WeatherBug Direct Application For Blackberry
• HOT! Navita Translator: Awesome FREE BlackBerry Translator & Dictionary Application
• Free BBNotepad 1.1.2 Released – Now Interfaces With Native Memo Application!

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, January 19, 2009, 6:26 am. | Free LogMaid Application – Automatically Deletes Your BlackBerry Diagnostics Log To Free Memory | 12 comments |

You can read her solution on her blog at this link. If you don’t already have a copy of BBSmart Alarms Pro you can pick one up in the store for $15 with a free trial available. I am always interested in learning about new creative ways that people use their BlackBerry to stay on top of things. Let me know if you have your own!

If you liked this article, you might find these interesting:

• BugMe! – Promises Quicker Reminders, Alarms, & Notes
• BBSmart Alarms Pro Updated – Now Supports OS 4.6 & 4.7
• BBSmart Alarms Pro 50% Off Today Only – $2.49
• BBSmart Alarms Pro Version 1.1 Released – Multiple Alarms
• BBSmart Alarms Pro v1.24 – Quick Fix Update

Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, January 19, 2009, 2:58 am. | Tips & Tricks: Set Helpful Reminders With BBSmart Alarms Pro & Voice Notes Recorder | One comment |

I know this is not exactly a BlackBerry only issue but I thought it was worth mention. I tried 2 totally free SD card recovery utilities and neither of them even found the drive. That is until I found Zero Assumption Recovery. They offer a free version of their product that will recover images and movies from a corrupt SD card. It is SCARY how much stuff they found on this 4GB SD card. It even recovered images and movies that I had already deleted. The process is lengthy (about 2 hours for 4GB) but it worked like a charm!

Their paid $50 version removes the limitation of only recovering images and movies so if your BlackBerry SD card becomes corrupt I highly recommend purchasing this application or at least using it to recover your images!

The process is as simple as:

1. Download, install, then run ZAR trial
2. Insert the memory card into the reader device.
3. On the first screen, no adjustment is required, just hit “Next>>”.
4. Program will then prompt you for an operation mode. Select “Recover images from camera memory card”, then hit “Next>>”.
5. Select your memory card from the list of the attached devices. You can identify the memory card by its media size or by the model name (if available).
6. The rest is mostly automatic. When the analysis is done, select files to recover, specify the directory to place recovered files to, hit “Start copying” and you’re done.

You can also follow the tutorial at this link

The free version is limited to recovering the following file formats. Sadly it does not include the .3gp extension that is used for BlackBerry video recordings…

• GIF
• JPEG
• TIFF
• CRW – Canon RAW data
• MOV, AVI movie
• WAV – Waveform audio
• CR2 – Canon CR2 RAW format (see notes below).
• ORF – Olympus RAW format

Check out the free image recovery version at this link or the full paid version at this link and let me know how it works out! The free image recovery portion is just part of the trial so you will be downloading the free trial and the image recovery will stay free after the trial expires.

This is definitely going into my USB stick recovery arsenal. Let me know if you find anything better!

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, January 8, 2009, 3:54 pm. | Tips & Tricks – Recover Files From A Corrupted SD Or MicroSD Card | 5 comments |

The application converts the alphanumeric number into actual numbers and it displays it for you on the screen with the option of dialing the number.  The  program is not free it runs for $3.99 over at www.marketinglocus.com and they do have a free trial .

Now here is a tip on how to do this free…

You can dial numbers like these on your BB querty keyboard by simply pressing shift and then the letter that you wish to dial if is one that doesn’t have a number assigned to your blackberry keyboard, this does work pretty good so it might save you some money but if you want to do it the easy way check out the application.

TIP from the editor:

Personally I just use this free image stored on my device to easily figure out what letters corrispond to which numbers. Check it out at this link.

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Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, December 30, 2008, 5:17 am. | QWERTY Converter For BlackBerry & How To Do It Free Using Two Different Methods | 5 comments |

There are many ways to wipe your BB one of the easiest way to erase your data is by doing it through your BB menu.

Fist go to options and click on security options

Second go to general settings click on it

Then once your in general settings hit menu and choose wipe handheld

once you have done this it will give you a warning that it will loose all data which is what you want specially if your selling the device or trading it, which ever you want to make sure you at least erase all your information from the device.

The other way to wipe your device is to use your computer using soft ware such as using JL cmder to completely nuke the device and you can also use Blackberry master control to upload a new OS and this also has links to other helpful websites as well. To read more about JL Cmder follow thr LINK . Remember you don’t want some one getting a hold of your private information so make sure you always wipe any device you sell or trade.  If you have any other tips please about this leave your comments below. Blackberry is probably by far the safest device out there but you don’t want to make a move like these guys did with the presidential  race information landing in the wrong hands.

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Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, December 23, 2008, 12:00 pm. | Tips & Tricks: Delete Your Info From Your BB Before Selling It Or Throwing It Away | 2 comments |

I either use my wife’s tweezers (don’t tell her) or a pencil eraser to massage the SIM card out but TimB gave me a great idea on how to make things even easier. Just cut off a small piece of scotch tape and place it on the protruding portion of the SIM card. Then just pull slightly up and out and your done!

Let me know if you have any other quick and dirty BlackBerry maintenance tips! I am still looking for one to clean my trackball on my Bold.

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, December 17, 2008, 1:02 pm. | Tips & Tricks: Removing A SIM Card Easily From Your BlackBerry | 2 comments |

All you have to do is hold down ALT and type RBVS while looking at a website in your BlackBerry browser and it will show you the source code.

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, December 5, 2008, 2:13 pm. | Tips & Tricks: View The Source Code Of A Website In The BlackBerry Browser | 7 comments |

I found this little table on BlackBerry Forums Au. It’s a great little guide for anyone looking at buying a larger capacity Micro SD card for their Blackberry.

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Posted by Greg for ©BerryReview, December 4, 2008, 1:00 pm. | BlackBerry Micro SD card quick guide. | 8 comments |

I’ve had a chance to play with the device and found the device to be really easy to use, but did not get to really test it out like the everyday user, and I do agree that it has room for improvement, but it’s a well-designed and stylish device.

Here are a few of the most useful tips that Al Sacco noted on his article (the Storm has three types of on-screen keyboards):

Keyboard shortcuts

• To switch back and forth between multitap and suretype while on portrait mode, simply hit the menu and navigate to the options to enable either one;
• to bring up the keyboard, swipe your finger upward till the middle, and to hide it, downwards from the top;
• to type special characters such as “ñ”, tap the “n” letter, but don’t click it; a menu of options will appear and give you the special characters, so you can just select your option and click it;
• to lock in the number options, hold down the “123” key for a few seconds and it should remain locked until you hide it; to unlock it, hold the “123” key again;
• to lock in the capital letter mode, hold the “shift/arrow up” for a few seconds; to unlock it, repeat that step;
• to change text input languages, hold the Storm in landscape mode, bring up the virtual keyboard and click the “Globe” key found directly to the left of the Space key. Next, scroll to the desired language, highlight it and click the Storm’s screen to select.

NAVIGATING WITH THE STORM

• Scrolling through messages/Web page: to scroll downward, place your finger lightly at the bottom of the screen, (don’t click) and drag upwards; to scroll down a full screen, slide your finger rapidly;
• to scroll up, place your finger lightly at the top of the screen and drag down; to scroll fast, just drag your finger down rapidly;
• zoom: to zoom in a picture or Webpage, tap the screen lightly twice; to zoom out, hit the escape button;
• pan: just place your finger lightly on the screen without clicking and move it in the direction you desire;
• switching through active apps: hold the Blackberry menu button until a ribbon of active apps appear; tap the ribbon and scroll to select the application you are looking for.

Text & Messaging

• Copy & Paste – to copy and paste text from one location to another, lightly touch a finger to the Storm’s screen at the start of the text you wish to copy and hold it in place; with your other finger, touch the end where you wish to copy, this highlights the text; then hit the menu key, scroll to copy and follow the same steps to paste;
• to quickly search your messages for all mailings from a specific contact, find a message from that contact in your Messages application and then gently hold a finger on screen directly over the contact’s name; after a few seconds, all messages from that contact will appear on screen;
• to delete multiple messages at once, open your Messages app and gently hold a finger on a message near the top of the list you want to delete; keep that finger in place and touch another message further down the list; all the messages between your two fingers will be highlighted; from there, you can click the Delete Messages key at the bottom or the screen to do away with the selected messages, or you can continue to select older messages by keeping one finger on the selected messages and scrolling down.

Those are some of the tips that stand out most from Al Sacco over at www.itbusiness.ca. Read the complete list of tips here: Blackberry Storm tips.

Just want to say thanks to Al Sacco for getting this tips together.

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Posted by Luis Merlos for ©BerryReview, December 2, 2008, 8:11 am. | Tips and Tricks For Storm Users | One comment |

I thought that RIM removed the feature. I asked Nate, Luis, Luciano, & others to check on their 8XXX series devices and it did not work for them. Even when they had dial from homescreen disabled it still tried to create a speed dial key.

Then Gareth told me to hold down the # key on my Bold and I was shocked when it worked!!! BOOOYAHHH! Looks like RIM returned the feature!

Thanks a TON RIM!

PS: Sorry if this is something everybody knew already but this is news to me!

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Posted by Ronen Halevy for ©BerryReview, November 20, 2008, 3:00 pm. | Tips & Tricks: Hold Down # To Toggle Between Vibrate & Previous Profile | 10 comments |