October 2010 - JaredCo

2010 BlackBerry® Super App Developer Challenge

Research In Motion and the BlackBerry Partners FundTM have sponsored the 2010 BlackBerry® Super App Developer Challenge with $1.5 million in prizes.
We entered 6 of our apps into this contest:

1. WeatherTrax;
2. Not While Driving;
3. ASAP;
4. One Touch Translate;
5. LinXit (not yet released); and
6. Keeper (not yet released).

We are happy to report that all 6 of our apps were chosen as Regional Selections and have moved on to the next round in this Challenge. Here is a link to the list of all the Regional winners: http://www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/regionalwinners

What makes an app Super?

1. The always on experience;
2. Highly contextualized;
3. Tight integration native apps;
4. Social and connected;
5.Proactive and notification-driven;
6. Efficient.

The next round of judging will be completed on November 1, 2010. We hope to move on in this contest…who couldn’t use $1.5 million in prizes!! Do you have an idea for a Super App? Let us know by leaving a comment.

See How Easily You Can Change Your Blackberry® Email Signature

The other day I received an email that had a signature “Please excuse any spelling mistakes in this email, I am typing on my BlackBerry® and I have fat fingers”. I thought that was a great idea and a very unique signature!

You can easily add anything you want to personalize your signature on your BlackBerry email, including getting rid of the standard wording “Sent from my BlackBerry”.

If you are NOT on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server:

Log on to your telephone operator’s BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) site;
Bring up the Email account screen. and select the email account that you want to modify the signature; Click the “Edit” button and then type whatever you want for your signature in the “Signature” field.
Save your changes.

If you are on a Blackberry Enterprise Server:

Open the email folder on your BlackBerry that you want to add / modify a signature;
Click the BlackBerry Menu button and select “Options”, then select “General Options” or “Email Preferences”; Scroll down until you see the section that will allow you to change your Signature…make the changes you want;
Press the Back / Escape key and save your changes.

Here’s An Easy Way To Save Or Send Pictures You See In Your BlackBerry® Browser

With the new BlackBerry Operating System 6.0, saving and sending pictures you come across on the internet is simple.

Find a picture you like, put your pointer on it, press and hold the track pad. If you have the Torch you can use your finger to press down on any picture. A menu will pop up that will ask whether you want to send or save the photo.

How simple is that?

What other neat feature for OS 6.0 have you found? Leave a comment and we’ll publish the best.

Here's An Easy Way To Save Or Send Pictures You See In Your BlackBerry® Browser

With the new BlackBerry Operating System 6.0, saving and sending pictures you come across on the internet is simple.

How simple is that?

What other neat feature for OS 6.0 have you found? Leave a comment and we’ll publish the best.

Here Is The Best Way I've Found To Hold My BlackBerry® Torch

I have been using the new BlackBerry Torch for a while, and I was having a hard time adjusting to this new device. I came from a BlackBerry Bold 9000, with a Track Ball and keyboard. I tried the Storm with the virtual keyboard, but never really got good at typing on it. I figured the Torch would be the best of both worlds.

In my early days with the Torch I was always fumbling with it, sliding out the keyboard to type seemed to be slowing me down, and I was pressing stuff on the screen that I didn’t intend, and generally not satisfied.

I was at the recent BlackBerry Devcon conference, and I noticed all the RIM people had Torches, and all of them immediately slid out their keyboard in the same motion as pulling it out of their holster or pocket. So I decided to copy the experts.

Now whenever I pull out my Torch I always slide the keyboard out in the same motion. This allows me to use the Track Pad right away (my preferred way of navigating on the BlackBerry), I’m also ready to type, and I can use the touch screen for certain functions if I want. For me, this is the best way to maximize all 3 ways of interacting with this device.

Even when I am sitting at my desk I have the Torch next to me with the keyboard slid out….ready for action.

How do you hold your torch? Leave a comment and let us know.

Is The Text Too Small In Your BlackBerry® Browser?

The native BlackBerry® browser does provide a “zoom” function to make the text on a web page larger.

The easiest ways to zoom in is to press the trackball if you see a magnifying glass on your screen, or just press the letter “i” on your keyboard.

You can also click your “Menu” button when you are in the browser and select “Zoom In”.

But using the “Zoom In”, and increasing the size of the text of the web page will often push the text outside of the screen. To solve that problem, press the letter “Z” and the text will then be formatted to fit your screen to make reading easier.

To “Zoom Out”, you can simply press the letter “O”, or you can click your “Menu” button and select “Zoom Out”. This tip applies to all Operating Systems that are 5.0 or lower.

5 Easy Shortcuts For Your BlackBerry® Calendar

The BlackBerry® calendar is a great application that we all use a lot. But having to click in the “Menu” button to make any kind of changes just slows me down. Fortunately there are some good and easy short cuts….here are few:

To Change Views:

Press “W” to change to Week view;

Press “M” to change to Month view:

Press “D ” to change to Day view;

Press “A” to change to Agenda view;

Press “C” to create a new calendar event;

For these shortcuts to work you need to turn off the ‘Enable Quick Entry’ setting in the Calendar options. Here is a picture of what that looks like :

Archive