How to Assign an Application to the Convenience Button

Most of you know this but for new people to BlackBerry it may help.

There is an extra button on the side of your BlackBerry that can be assigned to anything you want.

I have mine hooked up to our Screen Grabber app because I take many screen grabs during the day. Some people like to assign it the camera, or our free flashlight app.

Here is a quick video that will show you how to easily assign that button to the function/app of your choice.

Let me know if you have any problems getting it to work.

What Really Kills Your BlackBerry Battery? Part I

Everyone wants to maximize the life of their battery and still use the phone in a normal way.

Most tips talk about changing simple settings like backlight timeout and wifi or bluetooth settings.

I'm here to tell you that those are not the real problem and they are just guesses.

As an engineer I like data to backup what I say. I spent 3 months doing actual tests with a real BlackBerry in all kinds of conditions to see what really hurts the most.

This lead to a better understanding of what can really be done to conserve energy, and I was surprised by what I learned.

This will be the first in a series that explains the big battery killers, what you can do, and some other techniques.

#1 Battery Hog is Surfing the Internet

Sounds obvious but the research shows that surfing will drain your batter around 30% per hour.

Have you ever sat at an appointment and surfed for an hour? Noticed how hot the BlackBerry gets?

At the end of that hour your battery will be down big time.

Since I know how much this really hurts I need to think about when I'll be able to charge again.

Stay tuned for the Part II where we'll see what the #2 and #3 look like.

TIP: Change Songs Using BlackBerry Volume Keys

This tip is for all Smartphones and the PlayBook.

Move to the next song : Hold down the Volume Up button.

Repeat current song : Hold Volume Down button for 2 seconds.

Play previous song again : Hold Volume Down button for 2 seconds, as soon as current song restarts release it and then hold it down again. Prev song will then start.

Are You Really Backing Up Your Data? Download BlackBerry Protect

RIM offers this free app and service that automatically backs up the data on your BlackBerry as often as you feel you need (mine is set to once per week). I don’t need to sync my BB that often so with this app I know that the changes I make on the fly to my address book and calendar will get backed up. I highly recommend that you take advantage of this service.

Free BlackBerry Protect – Download BlackBerry Protect – Free Apps from BlackBerry App World.

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 Create A Meeting Invitation On Your BlackBerry

There is an easy way to create a meeting invitation using your BlackBerry calendar application…here’s how:

In the Calendar application, click your “Menu” button, and choose “New Appointment”;
Fill in all the required fields;
Click the “Menu” button again and choose “Invite Attendee”, for those with OS 6, you can click on the button that looks like 2 people at the bottom of the screen;
Click a contact or click on “Use Once” and type in the email address of the proposed meeting attendee;
Repeat step 4 to add other people as attendees to your meeting;
You can check to see if attendees are available by clicking on the “View Availability”, if some are not available, click on the “Next Available Time” to see the next time that all attendees are available;
Click the “Menu” button and select “Save”, or press the back/escape key and choose “Save” when prompted.

Let us know if this helped you, and if you have any other tips on using the Calendar application.

Here's A Quick Way To See What Apps Are Using Your Battery

There are times when I notice my battery is draining faster than normal. Fortunately the BlackBerry Operating System (OS) 6.0 provides a great tool to see what applications are using the most of my BlackBerry CPU, and likely decreasing my battery life.

Click on the Wrench/Options on your main screen.
Choose “Device”.
Choose “Application Management”.
Scroll the screen over to the right by one screen.
The next screen should be titled “CPU”.
Put your cursor over the words “CPU” and press the trackpad, then change the “Now” to “Today”.

You will now see what apps have been using the most processing power for today. Perhaps you will be surprised, and maybe an app you don’t use very much is running all the time in the background, and you can now try to close it down.

I was surprised to find out that a particular app I had was using the most CPU even though I had not actually used that app, it was just running in the background. Since the app could not be effectively closed I had to delete it because my battery was draining way too fast.

After running this test did you find anything surprising? Let us know.

Here Are 5 Tips To Do More With BlackBerry® Messenger

BlackBerry® Messenger (“BBM”) is a fantastic application that most BlackBerry® enthusiasts use all the time. Here are some quick tips on how to do more with BBM;

SEND A FILE TO A CONTACT:

You can send files, photos, voice notes, and contacts to your BBM contacts (requires BlackBerry® Device Software 5.0 or later and may not be available for all users).

In BBM, during a chat, press the Menu key.
Click Send File.
Perform one of the following actions:
- To send a picture, click Picture. Click Camera to take a new picture, or click a saved picture. Type a caption. Click Send. If necessary, select a picture size option. Click OK.
- To send a document, click File. Click a file.
- To send a voice note, click Voice Note. Click Start to record your message. Click Stop when you are finished recording. Click Send.
- To send a contact an attachment of a contact from the address book, click BlackBerry Contact. Click a contact.
- To send a contact an attachment of a BBM contact, click Messenger Contacts. Click one or more contacts. Click OK.

SHARE YOUR LOCATION:

An interesting BBM feature uses GPS technology to send your location to a BBM contact, who can then see where you are on BlackBerry® Maps. (This feature may not be available for all users.)

In BBM, during a chat, press the Menu key.
Click Send Location.

Your contact will now be able to see your location.

USE QR BARCODES TO ADD BBM CONTACTS;

Want a quick way to add a friend to your BBM contact list? Try scanning the BBM barcode from their BlackBerry smartphone. Simply scan your friend´s barcode and they are added to your BlackBerry Messenger contact list.

To Find Your Barcode:

On the BBM contact list screen, press the Menu key and click My Profile.
Click Display My Barcode.

To Scan a Barcode:

On the BBM contact list screen, press the Menu key and click Invite Contact.
Click Scan a person´s barcode, then click Continue.
Hold your smartphone so that all four corners of the barcode you are scanning appear on your device screen. Continue to hold the smartphone until you hear a beep.

CREATE A BBM GROUP:

Stay connected with groups of friends, family, or co-workers by creating groups of BBM contacts.

On the BBM contact list screen, press the Menu key and click Create New Group.
Type a name for the group.
Type a description that people will see when they receive the invitation to the group.
Change the Group Icon field.
Perform any of the following actions:
- To prevent members from inviting other people to the group, change the Allow non-admin members invite others field to No.
- To prevent the group icon from appearing on the Home screen of your BlackBerry device, change the Show on Home Screen field to No.
Click Create Group.

And Most Importantly:

BACKUP YOUR BBM CONTACTS:

Open your BBM and click your Menu button, and select “Options” then scroll down to the section that deals with “Back Up Contact List” or “Back Up Management”;
You can choose to “Back Up Files Remotely”….. here you will be asked to input (or confirm) the email addresses associated with your BlackBerry® Your contact list and changes to that list will be saved automatically as well as your BBM profile settings and any BBM Group memberships you have;
You can also choose to “Back Up Files Locally”…this will save your contact list, profile settings and information on your BBM Group memberships on either the local device memory or any Micro SD (media) card you have in your BlackBerry®;

Let us know if you have any other BBM Tips, and we will post them.

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:

Click on your folder “Set Up” or “Manage Connections” and select “Set Up Bluetooth” or “Bluetooth Connections”.
Make sure Bluetooth is set to “On” (if prompted).
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.
Choose the device you want from the list that appears, and the pairing will begin.
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.
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 Use Wifi On Your Blackberry

Most BlackBerry models come with Wifi capabilities. By connecting your BlackBerry to a Wifi network (at home, office or on the road) you will be able to send email and surf the net with out using your telephone carrier’s data plan, and this could save you money. There are many locations around most cities that offer “free Wifi hotspots”…so you can take advantage of these opportunities to save on your data plan. Here are the basic steps to setting up a Wifi connection on your device:

Click on the Manage Connections Folder which should be on your BlackBerry main screen;
Click on “Set Up Wifi Network”;
Click on “Scan For Networks” – if prompted click on “Turn Wifi On” to perform the scan. Your BlackBerry will now scan for available Wifi networks and will list all available Wifi networks. Select the Wifi network you want to connect to;
Choose the “Security Type” from the drop down menu (most common is Pre-Shared Key), then enter the network security key and click “Connect”. You may come across Wifi networks that are unsecured and do not require a network key to access;
Click “Yes” to save the Wifi network as a profile..this will enable you to easily and automatically connect to that same Wifi network the next time you are in range of it;

I keep my Wifi on all the time so I can quickly connect to my saved Wifi networks. As I enter range of a Wifi network that I have previously saved, I get a pop-up asking me to join that particular Wifi network. This makes it simple to maximize my Wifi use and to minimize my use of my carrier data plan.

We have done extensive testing on BlackBerry Battery use, and we found that keeping the Wifi on all the time had no significant affect on BlackBerry battery drain.

Please let us know about your experience with Wifi on your BlackBerry. Do you use it a lot? Do you keep it on all the time? Have you noticed battery drain when keeping the Wifi on all the time?

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