At BlackBerry DevCon Europe 2012 we watched CEO Thorsten Heins introduce Vivek Bhardwaj and he was demonstrating OS 2.0. Vivek also tried to demonstrate the Bridge and OS 2.0 with “Open On” but it didn’t work. RIM wouldn’t leave you waiting, so they followed up with Vivek and posted the video showing how it works.

I’m really anxious for BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, and RIM did announce there’s a Bridge 2.0 coming as well. What the Open On feature does is that it allows you to take a picture or a file, then choose from the menu to Open On and you can choose the BlackBerry PlayBook to open the file on. Very nice and convenient, and a great way to implement the bigger screen. What are your thoughts?

You finally got yourself a PlayBook, whether it was you who bought it or was gifted with it. Or maybe you’ve had it but haven’t had much time to play with it and get a feel for what it can do. If so, Gesture Tester is for you. Check it out…

Gesture Tester is by Harry B. Garland and is available for free in the BlackBerry App World. The App has the ability to let you find out hands-on what your PlayBook is capable of.

The App includes the following:

• Info: test your PlayBook’s responsiveness
• Press-And-Drag
• Press-And-Tap: hold the objest and tap elsewhere
• Menu Pulldown
• Finger Rotation: Use two fingers to press and rotate the object
• Tilt Rotation: Rotate the PlayBook in all dierctions.
• Multi-Gesture: Use 2 finger drag to move an object, 2 finger twist to rotate an object, 2 finger pinch to zoom an object, and one finger fast drag to swing an object.
• Multi-Touch: Touch and move up to 4 objects with 4 fingers AT the SAME time.

To be honest, some of it was new to me. Especially the swinging of an object. This app is a great introduction to the capability and potential of the BlackBerry PlayBook and it’s ease of use.

You can grab the Gester Tester Free for the BlackBerry PlayBook from BlackBerry App World here

With great apps already released such as Poynt, the Need For Speed , and Slacker, we can’t help but be excited for new apps as they become available. I know I have a few favorites I’m hoping will come soon, but for now it’s only wishing. So here are some apps and options I’m hoping to see soon.

In App World, the following will be nice to see:

• BerryWeather
• Pandora
• BlackBerry News Feeds
• SocialScope
• UberTwitter
• GetGlue
• BlackBerry Traffic
• Telenav
• WordPress
• Official FourSquare app
• Trillian (Multi-platform messenger)
• Native BlackBerry Maps

And outside of BlackBerry App World:

• Starbucks Mobile App
• Amazon’s Kindle
• Mobi SuperStore
• Skype
• Google Voice
• Google Maps

I’d also love to see the BlackBerry Beta Zone open to the BlackBerry PlayBook with beta apps available to download and use.

I would love to see notifications for Facebook for PlayBook and Twitter. GPS support which I’m sure is being worked on. We know that a native email app is coming, hopefully a Twitter app as well. There”s several other things I’d love to see, and I love the progress it’s making so far, but I know there’s a few apps we would love to see, whether it’s by RIM or some clever developers out there. If any of you out there are working on such apps, please let us know. Are there any apps you’re waiting for or hoping to see soon?

Whether you end up taking your PlayBook to the grocery store, or you local coffee shop, you also can’t avoid the hoards of people begging to hold your PlayBook saying “Can I try It?”

Well, you have been following its development since its been announced, believed in it when others said it would not make it to launch day, and ultimately been there for it every step of the way, discrediting blasphemes and liars. How then do you take the higher road and politely decline onlooker’s request to touch your baby? Here are some pointers as to what to say:

• I’m sorry, I think you want the guy with the iPad standing over there
• I really can’t, its not mine, I’m watching it for a friend
• Sure! You can try the BestBuy down the street.
• See, see. No touch
• Lo siento, no hablo inglés
• I think someone just called your name
• Yeah, if I can hold your wallet.
• I’m sorry, this isn’t a PlayBook its a prototype for the Storm 9 and I’m on my way to “forget it” at a biergarten
• My! Look at the time, I forgot to take my meds again
• I was just going to ask you the same thing!
• I’m booked today. Can you do tomorrow? Say, at 3pm?
• Stranger danger!!!

Of course, not everyone can be polite, my wife for example would reply with a firm and stern “Hells naw!”. So how about you? Will you share your PlayBook? How are you keeping predators away? Share your tactics in the comments below…

Some of us upgraded to OS 6 and are lost since we’ve been used to using OS 4.5 and OS 5. The transition has been easy for some and confusing for others, like Windows XP to Windows Vista. So this time we’re looking at the phone. You’ll notice dialing doesn’t bring up the phone instantly anymore, just a few differences. Let’s check it out…

If you press the green call button, you’ll bring up the screen you were used to before. You can dial the number and send to place your call. The other new thing you’ll notice is that while in the call the shortcuts are now displayed at the bottom of the screen: Mute, Activate Speaker, and End. No longer do you have to click the Options to activate the SpeakerPhone.  Press the BlackBerry Options and choose Options. Let’s take a look at the Call Management Options.

In-Call Settings:

This has options Auto End calls Never or Into Holster.

Auto Answer Calls: Never or Out Of Holster

Identity Restriction Options of Restricting Identity with: Always, Never, or Network Determined.

The Volume Control Options have the following:

Default Call Volume: Previous, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

Automatic Volume Control can be Enabled or Disabled.
Alerts during a Call: Privacy Alert to None or Tone.

Audio Enhancement is there for Phone Call Audio: Previous, Normal, Boost Bass, or Boost Treble.

Headset Call Audio is the same with the four options.

Voice Mail is the next section. It has your Access Number which is your phone number and your password, enabling you to put in your password if you need one so you don’t have to enter it every time. This is only if you still call in to your voicemail and don’t use Google Voice, Visual VoiceMail, YouMail, or something of that nature.

Smart Dialing Options allow you to set the Country Code, the Area Code, National Number Length, Use 1 for National Dialing, Local Country Code, Corportate Dialing to access office extensions within the corporation calling with the number, wait for, and extension length.

Call Logs and Lists is where you can show the call log types in the Message List if you’d like, Confirmation of Deletion of Call Logs. It also has Phone Appearance where you list the Phone List View of Most Recent, Most Used, or Name. You can check or uncheck Show my Number.

Speed Dial Numbers is where you can set your Speed Dials, and A is automatically set for Lock Keypad, Q is automatically set to Change Profile to Vibrate, W (1) is for voicemail.

Voice Dialing Settings include Choice Lists: Automatic, Always On, or Always Off. Audio Prompts can be set to No Prompts, Basic Prompts, or Detailed Prompts. Voice Adaptation is something I highly recommend. It helps to improve the recognition of your voice so the phone can better understand you.

TTY is there to Enable text to text via phone.

Many of us have just updated to the new OS 6, and some of us are lost and relearning a new OS on the BlackBerry. We introduced you to the homescreen so tonight I’m going to show you how to change sounds and personalize your phone with OS 6. Check it out…

The profile icon hasn’t changed at all. It’s still the horn and when you highlight and click on it, you bring up the Select a Profile which has the following choices: All Alerts Off; Normal; Loud; Medium; Silent; Vibrate only, and Phone Calls Only. Below that is the button Change Sounds And Alerts. Clicking on that brings up the following menu:

This is where you change the sounds and profiles for your BlackBerry. I love that you can use MP3s, wav files, etc. Use your own or the ones that come preinstalled on the BlackBerry. The first option is the Phone Ring Tone in which you set the Ring Tone for the chosen profile. If you click on the sound it will bring up all your ringtones you have, and if it’s not there scroll to the bottom and choose from All Music, All Voice Notes, and All Alerts. You pick the Ring Tone, The Volume, Play Sound. For visual alerts you choose LED and for tactile alerts you choose to have the vibration on or off.  For battery saving tips, I prefer to keep the vibration off and the sound to around 8 or below. Vibrate and loud will decrease battery life. You can also try it and see what you think.

Next is Sounds for Selected Profile. In this you can set any alert in chosen profile. Phone, Messages (Emails, PINS, Text Messages, Level 1), Instant Messenger Alerts for BBM and other Messengers, Events like Calendar; Follow Up Flags; and Tasks. Also, other Application Notifiers for other apps like BerryWeather, Facebook, Google Voice, News Feeds, Skype, Social Feeds, SocialScope, Trillian, Twitter, and even UberTwitter. You choose what and how you choose. The same way you set your phone ringtone, you will do each of the others. You can set it so that you can know who or what is trying to reach you.

Next is Sounds for Contacts. Personalize the ringtones or alerts that will play when certain contacts try and reach you.

The last is Profile Management which allows you to Add, edit, or delete a sound profile.

You’re also able to change the ringtones for certain contacts through the Contacts. Edit the one you want to add a ringtone or alert for by phone call or text and save. Go to the contact you want to add a ringtone for calls and messages and click edit. Scroll down to where it says Phone and Messages, right below the PIN. Click on Phone and it will bring up the sounds menu for you to change the ringtone and the volume, etc. Same thing with Messages.

Finding your options are a little different, but I actually love the way OS 6 works. Let me know what you think and we’ll have our next intro to OS 6 soon.

The first and most obvious application to edit your Twitter profile is the Twitter for BlackBerry app. To change your profile and pic, open Twitter for BlackBerry. From there click on the Options button. Choose My Profile. Then click the Options button again and choose Edit My Profile. From there click Change to change your pic, edit what you want to change, and click Save. That’s it!

Now how to edit with your Twitter profile using ÜberTwitter. Open UberTwitter. Click on the Options button. Choose My Profile. From there, scroll to the pic and click and your picture folder will open. Save and you’re done. Easy enough and it’s more convenient than walking to your PC.

You can grab a copy of Twitter for Blackberry free from the BlackBerry mobile website here or

Grab a copy of Twitter for BlackBerry from BlackBerry App World here.

Grab a copy of ÜberTwitter from the UberTwitter website here or

Grab a copy of ÜberTwitter from BlackBerry App World here

I started going through the Options with you, and now we’ll complete the tour of the BlackBerry Options on your BlackBerry, and you’ll have a better understanding of how to use it and what you can do with it. So follow along as we take up where we left off in Part One.

Memory was the last option covered so now we’ll start fresh.

MMS: This option is in regards to Multimedia texting. You have the choice Multimedia Reception as Always, Never, or Home Only. For best results I recommend leaving it on Always. Automatic Retrieval is the same You can also set the following Notifications:

• Allow Delivery Confirmation
• Confirm Delivery

And Message Filtering:

• Reject Anonymous Messages
• Reject Advertisements

Mobile Network. This shows whether your Data Service are on or off. You can turn them off for airplane mode here, or turn it on or off while in roaming. It will show your Mobile Network Provider, and you have your Network Selection Mode of Automatic or Home Only.  You also have the Network Technology Option of GSM/UMTS, 1XEV, and Global. Depending on which network your’re using is what you’ll set your BlackBerry to.

Owner, this is where you can place the information that will show when you have your phone locked.

Password. This is where you can set a password to protect  your BlackBerry information. You can enable, set the Password, set the Number of Password Attempts from 3 to 10, set the Security Timeout, Prompt password on Application Install, and Lock the Handheld Upon Holstering.

Phone Options. This is another set of options unto itself.

In the Phone Options you’ll find the following:

• General Options: This includes Auto End Calls, Auto Answer Calls, Confirm Delete, Restrict My Identity, Phone List View, Dial From Home Screen, Show “My Number”, and Default Call Volume.
• Voice Mail: You’ll see your Access Number (phone number) and below there’s a space for Password, enter your password and save so you don’t have to enter your password every time that you check your voice mail, your BlackBerry will do it for you.
• Call Logging: This is where you can set what Call Log Types show such as Missed Calls, All Calls, or None.
• Smart Dialing: In Country Code you choose your country, it shows your area code, You choose the National Number Length, Use 1 for Int’l Dialing (yes or no), and if you need to access office extensions withing your corporation, it has the space with Number for you to enter the Number to call.
• Speed Dial Numbers: This is the place to enter all your speed dial numbers.
• TTY: Off or On
• Enhanced Audio: Automatic Volume Control you can enable or disable, Phone Call Audio of: Previous, Normal, Boost Bass, or Boost Treble. The same options are available for the Headset Call Audio.
• Sounds: This is where you set the Privacy Alert.

Screen/Keyboard. This option has several in one.

• You have the choice of Font Family, Font Size, Font Style and while you’re choosing them, the example shows below the Font Style.
• Next is the Backlight Brightness you can set, The Backlight Timeout, Automatically Dim Backlight, LED Coverage Indicator. Now for the sake of battery you can set the automatically dim Backlight to on. You can also turn off the LED Coverage indicator. It’s the little light that blinks consistently as long as you have service.
• Next is the Key Tone, Key Rate, and Currency Key that you can set.
• Convenience keys are next. These are the short cut keys on the sides of your phone that by default open voice dialing on the left and camera on the right. You can set the Right Side Convenience Key Opens: to whatever app of your choosing, and the same with Left Side Convenience Key Opens.
• Trackpad: You can set the Horizontal Sensitivity, the Vertical Sensitivity, and Audible Roll.
• Last is the Menu Style which you can decide whether you see the Short Menu or Full Menu.

Security Options. The following is included in the Security Options

Advanced Security Options: Out of the list in the Advanced Options, the only one I’m going to introduce is the Memory Cleaning. Enable the Memory Cleaning and you will have it clean your memory on your phone. Yes, you don’t need an extra app for this, it’s an option that came with your phone.

Encryption: It’s disabled by default and most of us won’t use it.

Firewall: This is a little known feature that is on your phone from the time you open the box. The Firewall is Disabled by default. You can enable it and set it to Block Incoming Messages by SMS, MMS, PIN, BlackBerry Internet Service, Enterprise Email from all but your Contacts and Specific Addresses.

Information: This shows your emails that have your contacts synced to your phone.

Security Wipe: This is where you can wipe your phone to factory setting. If your BlackBerry is acting up, too full, battery pulls no longer help, or you’re going to sell or give it away, then this is where you do it. The first option checked is Emails, Contacts, etc. The second is User Installed Applications which I recommend checking, and the last is Media Card (don’t check this unless you want your micro sd card wiped). After checking what you’d like the phone to wipe, then type the word blackberry into the space below and click wipe.

SMS Text. This option allows you to choose the Conversation Style of Bubbles or Stripes, to Show Names, Press Enter Key To Send, and the message options of Delivery Report (nice if you want to know they received it), Data Coding (don’t change unless you know what you’re doing), Priority of the message, and Disable AutoText yes or no.

Sounds and Ringtones lets you choose your Ring Tone, Volume, Play Sound, LED, and Vibration.

Spell Check allows you to Ignore Case, Ignore Acronyms, Ignore Words With Numbers, Spell Check Email Before Sending, and Check Spelling As You Type.

Status is a very important option. Here’s what you can find out and do in your status.

• Signal: What your signal strength is
• Battery: How much battery life exists
• File Free:
• PIN: Your BlackBerry PIN
• IMEI:
• MEID (dex):
• MEID (hex):
• WLAN MAC:
• IP Address:

But here’s another tip. While in Status type the letters T, E, S, T and it will bring up diagnostic tests for you to check your BlackBerry. When you pull it up you’ll see Device Self Test Application. Click the menu button and click Start. In the Self Diagnostics you have the following options you can test:

• Keyboard and Trackball
• Misc
• Handset Audio
• Headset Audio
• Bluetooth Audo
• RF Components
• GPS
• Camera
• SDCard

So if you’re having any issues with any of those things, here’s where you can test them for yourself.

Theme shows your themes installed.

Voice Dialing, this options has Choice Lists from which you choose Always On, Always Off, or Automatic. Audio Prompts of No Prompts, Basic Prompts, or Detailed Prompts. Also below is Voice Adaptation. I recommend this feature if you’re going to use Voice Dialing, because it trains the BlackBerry Voice option to learn your voice. There’s a series it has you say so that the BlackBerry can recognize your voice and words.

WiFi, this is where you can enable and disable your WiFi connection, but also to set it up. You have the options of Prompt me when manual connection or login is required, and Enable single profile scanning.

I’m posting this in response to the few questions and comments over the update of the newly released BBM and some users have experienced the loss of their contacts, or appear to have lost their contacts. This is to show you the basics for those of us who are new and those who are new to the newer version, especially how to get your contacts back. Check it out…

We’re excited over the new BBM, we had a version similar through the BlackBerry Beta Zone. This is the full shiny version though. And there’s some improved features that I’m going to go through. So grab your BlackBerry and follow through with me.

The first thing I highly encourage you to do is make sure that you have your emails set up prior to using your BlackBerry Messenger and make sure the BBM and emails are registered. First and foremost if you click on the top you can set up your Display Name. If you click on the square, it allows you to choose a picture to set up. It shows your Pin, your Pin Barcode, You can set a personal message, and in Status you can customize it to be anything you want. You can click Show What I’m Listening To and Show My Location/Timezone.

If you click your Menu button, you’ll find the Options. I’ll list them as follows:

List View

• Sort Chats By: Most Recent or Alphabet
• Contact List Style: 1 Line or 2 Lines

Chat View

• Show Participant Names
• Combine Sequential Messages
• Chat Style: No Borders, Bubbles, or Stripes
• Press Enter Key To: Send or Insert Line Breaks
• Save Chat History: Never, Device Memory, or Media Card
• Automatically Accept Voice Notes
• Automatically Record When Sending Voice Notes
• Vibrate When Receiving A Ping

This next part will apply to everyone who has “lost” their BBM Buddy list of Contacts. Or if you’re hesitant to update because of you’re concerned about losing them, no need to worry.

Backup Management

• Save a Backup of Your Contact List: Back Up. Clicking on Back Up brings you to the two options of Back up files remotely or Back up files locally. If you click remotely, it will show you your emails that are registered with BBM.
• Restore a Backup of Your Contact List: Restore. This gives you two options, Restore using email or Restore using a backup file from the device. This is great if you backed up to the micro sd card. If you lost your contacts from BBM, try this first.
• Delete Your Backup File(s): Delete

Recent Updates

• Show Recent Updates: None, 25, 50, or 100
• Combine Recent Updates From Same Contact or Group
• Display Music Updates From Contacts

Miscellaneous

• Show Chats in Messages Application:
• Show Text Messages From Contacts Linked With BlackBerry Contacts:
• Replace BlackBerry Contact Pictures With BlackBerry Messenger Pictures:
• Display Security Question on Invitations:

How to add a contact:

Invite a contact in the following two ways. First is to click on the link that says Invite Contact. Or click the Menu button and click Invite Contact. Here’s where you’ll see four options:

• Invite by sending a PIN or email message
• Invite by scanning a PIN barcode
• Invite by selecting a member from a group
• Add text messaging contact

How do you add a contact with your barcode? This is the fun part. One of you clicks the Invite by scanning a PIN barcode. The other person will go to the top bar, and below your name where it shows PIN Barcode: Show, click the Show and the first person can scan the other persons barcode, as it uses the camera to scan the barcode. You can also integrate your favorite friends who text you so your messages of the people you chat with the most are in one place.

Now I’ll cover the menu. The menu button brings up a menu which includes the following:

• Help – This has a list of faqs and tips to help you use the BBM.
• Start Chat - Just like any instant messenger.
• View Contact Profile – This shows the Display Name which you can change, PIN, Personal Message, and Status.
• Contact (Display Name): This allows you to PIN your contact right from BBM.
• Move Contact: Move your contact into another designated category.
• Delete Contact.
• Show on Home Screen- This is a really neat feature that’s integrated. Click on this option and your contact’s icon will show on the Home Screen where it’s located. So when they message you, the alert will show on their pic.
• Link With BlackBerry Contact – If you have your contact in your BlackBerry Contacts, you can link them to their information. This will link their picture, email, phone number, etc. It integrates nicely.
• Forward to Messenger Contact- Share your Contact with someone else.
• New Multiperson Chat- This helps immensely when you’re doing a quick chat between more than one person.
• New Broadcast Message – This is by far one of the most annoying little options in the BBM. Please don’t use it unless it’s something major, such as sharing an update. It’s annoying and shows up in purple to let everyone know it’s shared. Don’t share chain letter type of spam, or false announcements. Your buddies will thank you later.
• New Contact Category – This is where you can separate all your contacts like family, coworkers, friends, etc.
• New Group  - Make your own group.
• Scan a Group Barcode- If you are close enough to someone who’s scanning you in, or if there’s a barcode for a group.
• Invite Contact
• View My Profile
• Options

Now last but not least, the Groups. If you join a Group, we can take a look at the profile and options.

• Group Details – This is the profile of the group, which you can edit.
• Group Name- This too you can edit.
• Description – You can edit this.
• Group Icon. You can change the pic in case you have more than one.
• Share My Message Status: Yes or No

Group Options:

• Save Chat History: Never, Device Memory, Media Card.
• Notify Group When I Tag A Picture As Favorite: Yes or No
• Save Pictures: Never or Media Card.
• Message List Integration: Options which brings up: Message List Settings and shows No Activities, All Activities, or Some Activities.
• Turn Off All Notifications For This Group. This is a great feature. If you have a busy group and can’t keep up, choose to turn off the notifications and you won’t be bothered consistently.

Your Option in your Group are:

• Members – Who and how many.
• Chat
• Pictures
• Lists
• Calendar
• Group Updates

Out of all the things that take a bit to load, you’ll find groups to be the most tedious to load. Otherwise the BBM is amazing, pics send fast and you can now add a note to your pics. And you’re given two times to change your mind.

If you have any further questions, please leave them here and we’ll answer them. Keep in mind a BlackBerry that stays updated stays happy.

You can grab your updated version of the BlackBerry Messenger free here.

We know we take for granted what we’ve learned so well. But there are times that you get your first BlackBerry, whether it’s your first personal one or you’re changing carriers. One of the first things you’ll want to do is add your email. I’m going to give you two ways to do this.

After turning on your BlackBerry, the first things you’ll want to do is activate it. Follow the directions given by your carrier. The next thing you’ll do is you’ll go into the Options/Advanced Options/Host Routing Table, click the BlackBerry or Menu button and click Register Now. It’s that easy. Now to set up the email.

The first way is on the device. Click on the icon named Email Settings. It will ask you to agree to the terms and conditions, so you click I Agree. Next it will have a selection of emails. On the bottom of the list you should see the BlackBerry email option. Always add this one. It’s free and from your provider. In the set up, you choose your email user name, your password twice, your secret question and secret answer, and let you know if it’s available.  The reason why I stress a BlackBerry Email address is because it’s native to the phone and some apps and stores will prefer the native account over the others. After you set this up, you’ll have the chance to add all your other personal email accounts you want to add. Remember, you can have 10 others besides the BlackBerry email. Also, if at any time there’s an outtage and your BlackBerry doesn’t recover email wise, this is the fix: Go to your Email Settings, Log in if necessary, and click the Menu button, go to Service Books and click. The next page will say Send Service Books and tells you what it’s for, click Send Service Books. All your emails from that point on will be restored once the service books are sent.

The other way is going on line to a computer. You can find your carrier’s BIS email site, to find it is easy. You can ask your carrier for the site or it’s as easy as you typing your carrier and BlackBerry email in Google and search. Such as AT&T BlackBerry Email. You simply find which one is the BIS service, and click.  You’ll see the page on the top, and you click the Create New Account button. The next page you’ll see is this.

This is where you agree to the terms and conditions. Check the box and click I Agree. The next page will be this.

The pin and the EMEI need to be entered so the email can be set for the device. This step is skipped on the BlackBerry device because it has that information. It even tells you where to find the pin and EMEI. The next page to load will be the most popular emails to choose from and at the bottom will be “Create BlackBerry Email”. I recommend setting up your BlackBerry email which will ask you what you want for your user name, your password twice, the secret question and secret answer and will let you know if it’s available. Then you can add your other emails. You can also send your service books from the online site as well.

Here’s another tip. For those of us on BIS and purchased a newer device with 5.0 on the phone, if you add a Gmail or Yahoo account you’ll see the contacts with a check box. If you check it, email setup will sync your contacts. It will show an icon while in the process that shows like a BES activation in process. No, you haven’t chosen the BES option, it’s that the BIS is now syncing your contacts and the icon will disappear when finished. If you don’t want your contacts synced, simply uncheck the box. This is especially a great feature for those of us who use Gmail or for those of us who are changing devices from an Android device to a BlackBerry device as your contacts will come across to the BlackBerry.

I prefer setting it up from the phone, but others prefer the online way, and it’s clearly what you prefer. Your emails can be moved to other devices unless you switch carriers. If you switch carriers, you’ll have to start all over. Also, if you have the new BBM tied to your emails as backup, you have the advantage of keeping your contacts once you sign in after setting up your emails or moving them.

I’d like to know what way we prefer setting up our email? Did you set it up on the device or pc? For newbies, it’s not difficult at all.