How To Use "Bedside Mode" On Your BlackBerry

Bedside Mode gives you the ability to change some settings when charging your Blackberry. It is especially handy if you charge your device over night in the same room that you sleep, and you want your BlackBerry to remain on (in case you want to use the alarm) but don’t want your BlackBerry to make any noise or flash any lights.

Here are some tips on using Bedside Mode:

• To enter Bedside Mode every time you charge your device, click the “Clock” icon on your BlackBerry, then click your “Menu” and select “Options”. Under the heading “When Charging” click on the drop down menu and select “Bedside Mode”.

• Every time you plug in your device to charge it will now enter Bedside Mode. If you don’t want to leave it in Bedside Mode, just press the Back/Escape key on your BlackBerry and you will exit Bedisde Mode.

• To configure the settings for your Bedside Mode, in the “Clock”  and “Options”, scroll down to the Bedside Mode settings.

• You can “Disable LED” which will prevent the LED on the front of your BlackBerry from flashing on incoming contacts.

• You can “Disable Radio” which will prevent any contacts from getting through to you.

• You can choose “Dim Screen” which will cause your BlackBerry screen to dim while in Bedside Mode.

• You can choose the “Profile” you want to be active while in Bedside Mode. Choosing “Silent” will ensure you BlackBerry does not make any noise on any  incoming contacts.

• When you exit Bedside Mode your profiles will return to their normal settings.

Bedside Mode is available only on Blackberry devices that have Operating System 4.6 or higher.

Do you sleep with your BlackBerry charging in your room? Do you use Bedside Mode? Let us know.

How To Set Up A Bluetooth Connection on your BlackBerry®

Bluetooth is a great wireless technology that lets your Blackberry communicate with other hardware without the need for a physical, wired connection. Bluetooth is most commonly used to pair (“connect”)  your BlackBerry to a hands free microphone/speaker headset.

Let’s take you through the process of setting up a Bluetooth connection:

1. Click on your folder “Set Up” or “Manage Connections” and select “Set Up Bluetooth” or “Bluetooth Connections”.
2. Make sure Bluetooth is set to “On” (if prompted).
3. Choose “Add New Device” and  when prompted choose “Search”. Generally the device you want to pair to your BlackBerry must be within 30 feet of the BlackBerry for Bluetooth pairing.
4. Choose the device you want from the list that appears, and the pairing will begin.
5. You may be prompted to enter a passkey to complete the pairing. In most cases the passkey will be 0000. If not, check the manual for the product you are trying to pair to. You should now be able to use the paired device.
6. You can view your list of paired devices (even when not connected) from the Bluetooth settings screen (see #1 above). This enables you to quickly create connections with your paired devices without having to repeat the pairing process.

When your Bluetooth is on you will see the Bluetooth icon in your main screen, at the top in the status bar. It is a good idea to turn Bluetooth off when you are not using it, as a security measure, and to save on battery drain. Please note that using Bluetooth use will tend to drain your battery faster than normal.

Do you use Bluetooth connections with your BlackBerry? For what kind of Devices? Do you have any tips or tricks for using Bluetooth? Let us know.

How To Confirm An Email Sent From Your BlackBerry Was Received

If you are sending an email and you definitely want to know it was received by a BlackBerry on the other end, then here is a quick tip:

1. Type in <confirm> or <$confirm> in the Subject line of your email and you will receive a confirmation email back confirming when your email was received by a BlackBerry on the other end.

This is a great feature for one-off emails that are important, that you know will be received on the other end by a BlackBerry, and can give you peace of mind.

Is confirmation of receipt for your emails an important feature for you? Let us know.

Do You Know The Full Power Of The BlackBerry End Call / Red Button?

The BlackBerry End Call / Red Button (to the right of the Track Ball/Pad) is more than just for disconnecting a call and turning your phone on and off.

• When you are in any application, you can press the End Call / Red Button and you will be taken back to your main screen.
• You can then use any other application.
• When you click on the application you left when pressing the End Call / Red Button you will be taken back to exactly the same place you were when you left that application.
• This tip works only when you are not on a phone call.
• Please remember that if you are ever on a phone call and you press the End Call / Red Button the call will be disconnected.

4 Tips For Taking Better Picutres With Your BlackBerry Camera

Here are some ideas to help you take better pictures with your BlackBerry camera:

1. Hold your BlackBerry as steady as possible: This will prevent blurring and any shutter lag or slower shutter speed. Hold your breath while taking pictures, or lean against a solid object to keep you steady.
2. Make sure you have lots of light: The blackberry camera performs much better in situations with more light. The built in flash (included in most BlackBerrys) is only really useful for lighting an object or person who is already close to where you are.
3. Use “Large” picture size and “Superfine” Quality: This will ensure you take the highest quality pictures at all times. You can always reduce the size of the picture later from your computer. You can set the Large and Superfine settings in the Options settings of your camera (open your camera, click the “Menu” button,  select “Options”).
4. Use GeoTagging: This allows the BlackBerry to include your exact GPS coordinates in  each picture taken (this feature is only available on BlackBerrys that have  GPS) . Your friends can easily find out where the picture was taken. Turn on Geotagging either in the Menu list of your camera, or in the Options settings of your camera (open your camera, click the “Menu” button,  select “Options”).

Please let us know if you have any other tips to taking great pictures on your BlackBerry, we’ll publish the best ones we receive.

Here Is A Method To Auto-Dial Phone Numbers With Extensions

Do you have a contact in your contact list that after dialing their number you have to type in an extension number? Did you know BlackBerry can do this for you automatically? Here’s how:

• When entering a phone number that requires and additional extension number, the BlackBerry interprets an “X” as a pause.
• So if the number is 604-555-7777, extension 123, enter the numbers in your contact record as 604-555-7777 X 123.
• When you choose to dial this number, the BlackBerry will dial the number, then pause, then dial the extension numbers after the “X”.

Do you have any other phone tips? Let us know and we will publish the best ones.

How To Add Photos Links For Your Favourite Contacts To Your BlackBerry Home Screen Using Operating System 6.O

We are finding some great new features in the  BlackBerry Operating System 6.0.

You can easily add photo links to your favorite contacts directly to your Home screen for easy access. This works best if the  contacts you choose already have pictures set up for them.

1. Open your Contacts folder and search for the contact you want to add to your Home screen;
2. Click the BlackBerry Menu button and select “Add To Home Screen”.
3. The contact, with it’s picture, will now appear on your Home screen.
4. On your Home screen, put the cursor on the picture for the contact, press your BlackBerry Menu button,   all the ways to reach that contact will be in the menu list for you to choose from.

I use this feature a lot. I have a group of people I contact all the time, and this tool  makes it simple for me to choose how I want to contact these people. I also love having pictures of my favorite contacts right on my main screen…it is a great way to personalize my BlackBerry  and it provides great functionality as well

Please leave a comment to let me know if you have tried this function and what you think about it.

Have any other OS 6.0 tips? Let us know be leaving a comment, and we will publish the best.

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:

1. Log on to your telephone operator’s BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) site;
2. 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.
3. Save your changes.

If you are on a Blackberry Enterprise Server:

1. Open the email folder on your BlackBerry that you want to add / modify a signature;
2. 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;
3. Press the Back / Escape key and save your changes.

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 :