At long last, I have the camera to go with the Eye-fi card that LeftCoast Mom got me for Christmas.
This picture of the pretty packages was achieved through using the Eye-Fi card to wirelessly upload the pic to Flickr. And the Canon SD1100 camera's smaller than my Blackberry 8830, so I feel like I'm finally "whole" again after switching from camera-enabled Treo 650 to BB8830.
Looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble I can now start to document. :-D
Showing posts with label blackberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blackberry. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Blackberry shortcut: how to mark multiple messages as opened
I finally figured out how to fix one of the little things that's been keeping me from fully enjoying my Blackberry 8830 World Edition: I can now manage the "opened/unopened" status of multiple messages at once on the Blackberry.
I used to spend a good 10 minutes each day in my Blackberry message folder navigating from one message to the next (press N to move to the Newer message or press P to move to the Previous message) so that the read/unread status would match my computer-based email applications (Mac Mail and Gmail).
Now, I've discovered I can mark whole days' worth (if not weeks' worth) of messages as opened by doing the following:
PS from what I can tell scrolling through the Crackberry Forums, this shortcut works on all Blackberries.
I used to spend a good 10 minutes each day in my Blackberry message folder navigating from one message to the next (press N to move to the Newer message or press P to move to the Previous message) so that the read/unread status would match my computer-based email applications (Mac Mail and Gmail).
Now, I've discovered I can mark whole days' worth (if not weeks' worth) of messages as opened by doing the following:
- In the Blackberry Messages folder, scroll down until you've highlighted a date separator
- Click the scroll wheel to bring up the popup menu
- Select "Mark Prior Opened" and all the messages received that day (or any day prior) will be marked as opened and your unopened messages ticker will decrease in size accordingly!
PS from what I can tell scrolling through the Crackberry Forums, this shortcut works on all Blackberries.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
using blackberry 8830 in asia
I'm here in Kuala Lumpur and very happy to see my Verizon Wireless Blackberry 8830 is working like a charm: both voice and data work smoothly via the "my celcom" network in downtown KL.
It also worked just fine at Singapore's Changi Airport in transit here.
I was surprised, however, to find out that the data network does NOT work at the Hong Kong airport. There was a weak voice signal there in the terminal, but absolutely no data stream available for email or web browsing.
Maybe it was a fluke the morning I passed through (Dec 8 at 7am)? I doubt it, though.
In any case, I'll be trying again on Dec 14 when I fly home. Unless I post differently, you've been warned not to expect data on your BB 8830 in the Hong Kong airport.
Don't get me wrong. In all, I'm still pleased with the phone. I'm just surprised at what constitutes a "world edition."
It also worked just fine at Singapore's Changi Airport in transit here.
I was surprised, however, to find out that the data network does NOT work at the Hong Kong airport. There was a weak voice signal there in the terminal, but absolutely no data stream available for email or web browsing.
Maybe it was a fluke the morning I passed through (Dec 8 at 7am)? I doubt it, though.
In any case, I'll be trying again on Dec 14 when I fly home. Unless I post differently, you've been warned not to expect data on your BB 8830 in the Hong Kong airport.
Don't get me wrong. In all, I'm still pleased with the phone. I'm just surprised at what constitutes a "world edition."
Sunday, November 18, 2007
arranging application icons on BlackBerry 8830
I'm happy to report I've finally figured out how to move application icons on the 8830!
Since I first got my BB 8830, I've been frustrated with the default themes and the arrangement of the icons on the Applications view. When I'd add an application to the phone, the icon seemed to plop down wherever *it* wanted to, not where I wanted to place it.
After asking a couple other 8830 owners how to change the icon placement, no one else seemed to know, either. So, I poked around and played with buttons and finally figured it out.
In the applications view of your theme (the view where you see ALL your icons in a grid on the screen), use your trackball to highlight an icon you want to move, then press the applications button (the one immediately to the left of the trackball) and select "move" from the popup menu. You can now use the trackball to push the icon around anywhere you want it to go in the grid. Once you've moved it where you want it, press the trackball button and it drops the icon in place.
You'll notice as you're moving the icon around that all the other icons move to the right of where you're trying to drop the one you're moving. And when the icons can't move right, they drop down a row (far left), so obviously you're moving icons into a stack that flows from the upper left to the lower right corner.
To make your apps window even cleaner, you can create folders to move your lightly used icons into.
You make a folder by starting from the same applications view and clicking the applications button. From the popup menu, select "Add folder" and then name it, assign an icon and click OK. The folder now appears in the top-left corner of your screen, and you can move icons *into* the folder the same way you moved icons to different parts of the screen. When your icon's hovering over the folder, you see the "+" symbol and press the trackball button to drop it in.
I created a folder called "lightly used" and moved my email setup and voice dial and password locker and other apps in there. Ahhh, much better.
The only drag? If you change themes (I use BB dimension today), you have to do the re-arranging all over again.
Have fun!
Since I first got my BB 8830, I've been frustrated with the default themes and the arrangement of the icons on the Applications view. When I'd add an application to the phone, the icon seemed to plop down wherever *it* wanted to, not where I wanted to place it.
After asking a couple other 8830 owners how to change the icon placement, no one else seemed to know, either. So, I poked around and played with buttons and finally figured it out.
In the applications view of your theme (the view where you see ALL your icons in a grid on the screen), use your trackball to highlight an icon you want to move, then press the applications button (the one immediately to the left of the trackball) and select "move" from the popup menu. You can now use the trackball to push the icon around anywhere you want it to go in the grid. Once you've moved it where you want it, press the trackball button and it drops the icon in place.
You'll notice as you're moving the icon around that all the other icons move to the right of where you're trying to drop the one you're moving. And when the icons can't move right, they drop down a row (far left), so obviously you're moving icons into a stack that flows from the upper left to the lower right corner.
To make your apps window even cleaner, you can create folders to move your lightly used icons into.
You make a folder by starting from the same applications view and clicking the applications button. From the popup menu, select "Add folder" and then name it, assign an icon and click OK. The folder now appears in the top-left corner of your screen, and you can move icons *into* the folder the same way you moved icons to different parts of the screen. When your icon's hovering over the folder, you see the "+" symbol and press the trackball button to drop it in.
I created a folder called "lightly used" and moved my email setup and voice dial and password locker and other apps in there. Ahhh, much better.
The only drag? If you change themes (I use BB dimension today), you have to do the re-arranging all over again.
Have fun!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
using Blackberry 8830 outside USA? think again
Something's been nagging me for the last couple days about my new Blackberry 8830 and whether or not I'll really be able to use it in Berlin (Germany) when I fly there this weekend. One of those too-good-to-be-true nags that's probably borne of all my past experiences with Verizon's products not quite working as billed.
So I gave the folks at Verizon tech support a call today just to make sure I'd be able to use my 8830 next week in Europe.
Boy am I glad I made the call today.
Turns out you need to acquire (read: purchase) the "Verizon Wireless Global Support Pack" which is a fancy way of saying: you need to get the Vodafone(TM) SIM card which does not come standard on the Verizon Wireless Blackberry 8830 World Edition.
Beg pardon, but what, exactly, makes it a World Edition phone if it doesn't come out of the box equipped to work around the World?
Maybe the same folks who decided to cripple the GPS also made the brilliant decision to ship the phone sans SIM card.
In any case, the tech support rep was happy to inform me all I needed do was stop by any local Verizon Wireless store and pick up the Global Support Pack for $39.99 and install the SIM card and call back to make sure the phone's ready to go before I leave the States.
So, to the store I went, and surprisingly I wasn't charged for the SIM card (thanks to my being a BlackBerry Global Email subscriber) aside from the 20 minutes it took to wait in queue and then wait some more for the sales guy to do all that hocus-pocus behind the scenes to lock my phone to the SIM card from VZW. (If the stakes weren't so high for my making and receiving calls next week, I might've waited to see if I could buy a SIM card over there so as to have a local phone instead.)
In any case, be forewarned: if you've purchased an 8830 thinking you can use it straight away overseas, be sure to call *611 from your phone stateside to see what all you're still missing before you leave.
Can't wait to blog from Potsdamer Platz, but I've got a mountain to climb in the meantime.
UPDATE: I called the Global Support Services team this morning to double-check all is well and ready for my trip, and I was instructed to update the roaming capabilities on my phone by calling *228 from my phone and choosing option 2 from the menu. Did so, and one minute later, I'm all set to go!
So I gave the folks at Verizon tech support a call today just to make sure I'd be able to use my 8830 next week in Europe.
Boy am I glad I made the call today.
Turns out you need to acquire (read: purchase) the "Verizon Wireless Global Support Pack" which is a fancy way of saying: you need to get the Vodafone(TM) SIM card which does not come standard on the Verizon Wireless Blackberry 8830 World Edition.
Beg pardon, but what, exactly, makes it a World Edition phone if it doesn't come out of the box equipped to work around the World?
Maybe the same folks who decided to cripple the GPS also made the brilliant decision to ship the phone sans SIM card.
In any case, the tech support rep was happy to inform me all I needed do was stop by any local Verizon Wireless store and pick up the Global Support Pack for $39.99 and install the SIM card and call back to make sure the phone's ready to go before I leave the States.
So, to the store I went, and surprisingly I wasn't charged for the SIM card (thanks to my being a BlackBerry Global Email subscriber) aside from the 20 minutes it took to wait in queue and then wait some more for the sales guy to do all that hocus-pocus behind the scenes to lock my phone to the SIM card from VZW. (If the stakes weren't so high for my making and receiving calls next week, I might've waited to see if I could buy a SIM card over there so as to have a local phone instead.)
In any case, be forewarned: if you've purchased an 8830 thinking you can use it straight away overseas, be sure to call *611 from your phone stateside to see what all you're still missing before you leave.
Can't wait to blog from Potsdamer Platz, but I've got a mountain to climb in the meantime.
UPDATE: I called the Global Support Services team this morning to double-check all is well and ready for my trip, and I was instructed to update the roaming capabilities on my phone by calling *228 from my phone and choosing option 2 from the menu. Did so, and one minute later, I'm all set to go!
Friday, September 14, 2007
using my blackberry with my bmw
One of the biggest joys of owning my new Blackberry 8830 World Edition is how it seamlessly interfaces with the telecommunications package on my 2005 BMW 325i.
My e46 3-series came with the BMW Assist package (among other things) which includes the Bluetooth capability to pair the car with a phone. Longtime readers know how displeased I was to find out my Verizon Treo 650 wouldn't work with the car because Verizon crippled the connection (kinda like they've crippled GPS on the 8830). So, prior to buying the 8830, I borrowed a friend's phone (exact model and carrier) to make sure it would work on my e46 bimmer. It paired and called easily, so I made the jump and got the phone.
After setting up email and contacts, the first big thing I did was pair my phone to my car (the pairing process was a piece of cake). After they paired, it took about a minute or so for the phone book contents to sync between Blackberry and bimmer, and now, whenever I hop in the car and need to take or make a call, I use the bimmer's built-in handsfree to do so.
Here's how it works:
INBOUND When there's an inbound call, the music (be it from radio or CD) stops and instead I hear the ringing of a phone through the car's sound system. The phone number of the inbound call displays on my stereo head unit and I press the "talking head" button on my car's steering wheel to accept the call. According to those I've spoken with via my car's telecom system, I come through loud and clear on their end with little outside noise bleeding through (the microphone for the system is in the reading lamp cluster, just above the rear view mirror). When I'm done talking, I simply push the "talking head" button again and the call is disconnected and the music comes back on.
OUTBOUND When I want to place a call, I use the Blackberry to scroll through contacts like I would if I were placing a normal call from the phone. When I tap the SEND button, however, the car intercepts the call, cuts the music (if needed) and handles the mic/speaker duties just like on an inbound call.
The super-double-bonus piece of this is that if I've left my cell phone in my bag (as I sometimes do) and want to initiate a call, I simply press the R/T button on my steering wheel and my contacts list shows up in my stereo's head unit and I can use the fwd/rev buttons on the steering wheel to scroll through the names until I find the one I want and initiate the call by tapping the "Talking Head" button on the steering wheel to start/stop the call. Sweet.
QUIRKS Since I've paired the phone to the car and enabled them to automatically connect whenever the car is in range, I have to be careful when Left Coast Mom borrows the car while I'm in the house. When she starts the car, my phone turns on and connects to it even when the phone is inside on the kitchen counter (about 30 feet away). Once she drives off, the phone and car disconnect, but I know one of these days the timing of an inbound call is going to be perfect so she hears the inbound ring as she drives off.
I've got over 800 contacts in my phone book, so it takes a long time to scroll one-at-a-time through the list via the steering wheel controls. I'd like to find a way to do this faster.
I have yet to deal with managing a call and a passenger at the same time since most of my driving is solo driving. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle it when it comes to taking a sensitive call with someone in the car, but I have a feeling I'll figure it out on the spot.
All in all, though, I couldn't be happier with my paired Blackberry and bimmer. Not sure why Verizon nor BMW touts the fact the phone and car work together... seems to be a HUGE selling point on both sides, imo.
My e46 3-series came with the BMW Assist package (among other things) which includes the Bluetooth capability to pair the car with a phone. Longtime readers know how displeased I was to find out my Verizon Treo 650 wouldn't work with the car because Verizon crippled the connection (kinda like they've crippled GPS on the 8830). So, prior to buying the 8830, I borrowed a friend's phone (exact model and carrier) to make sure it would work on my e46 bimmer. It paired and called easily, so I made the jump and got the phone.
After setting up email and contacts, the first big thing I did was pair my phone to my car (the pairing process was a piece of cake). After they paired, it took about a minute or so for the phone book contents to sync between Blackberry and bimmer, and now, whenever I hop in the car and need to take or make a call, I use the bimmer's built-in handsfree to do so.
Here's how it works:
INBOUND When there's an inbound call, the music (be it from radio or CD) stops and instead I hear the ringing of a phone through the car's sound system. The phone number of the inbound call displays on my stereo head unit and I press the "talking head" button on my car's steering wheel to accept the call. According to those I've spoken with via my car's telecom system, I come through loud and clear on their end with little outside noise bleeding through (the microphone for the system is in the reading lamp cluster, just above the rear view mirror). When I'm done talking, I simply push the "talking head" button again and the call is disconnected and the music comes back on.
OUTBOUND When I want to place a call, I use the Blackberry to scroll through contacts like I would if I were placing a normal call from the phone. When I tap the SEND button, however, the car intercepts the call, cuts the music (if needed) and handles the mic/speaker duties just like on an inbound call.
The super-double-bonus piece of this is that if I've left my cell phone in my bag (as I sometimes do) and want to initiate a call, I simply press the R/T button on my steering wheel and my contacts list shows up in my stereo's head unit and I can use the fwd/rev buttons on the steering wheel to scroll through the names until I find the one I want and initiate the call by tapping the "Talking Head" button on the steering wheel to start/stop the call. Sweet.
QUIRKS Since I've paired the phone to the car and enabled them to automatically connect whenever the car is in range, I have to be careful when Left Coast Mom borrows the car while I'm in the house. When she starts the car, my phone turns on and connects to it even when the phone is inside on the kitchen counter (about 30 feet away). Once she drives off, the phone and car disconnect, but I know one of these days the timing of an inbound call is going to be perfect so she hears the inbound ring as she drives off.
I've got over 800 contacts in my phone book, so it takes a long time to scroll one-at-a-time through the list via the steering wheel controls. I'd like to find a way to do this faster.
I have yet to deal with managing a call and a passenger at the same time since most of my driving is solo driving. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle it when it comes to taking a sensitive call with someone in the car, but I have a feeling I'll figure it out on the spot.
All in all, though, I couldn't be happier with my paired Blackberry and bimmer. Not sure why Verizon nor BMW touts the fact the phone and car work together... seems to be a HUGE selling point on both sides, imo.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
changing habits to fit a Blackberry 8830
I've been using a Treo 650 for the last couple years, and have finally migrated over to the Blackberry platform, specifically Verizon's 8830 World Edition Blackberry.
If you're looking for reviews of the 8830, check out what's being said on C|Net, PC Magazine or Mobile Tech Review.
This post is about what it's like to try to get used to using a Blackberry after having lived on a Treo for two years. Likely this'll spread over several posts, so let's get started.
BTW, I got my 8830 for $199 after all the discounts from Verizon (new every two and online ordering) along with a two-ear commitment back to Verizon. Hey, I've been with them this long, what's another two years?
(of course, I've still got another 25 days to change my mind without penalty)
Stay tuned!
If you're looking for reviews of the 8830, check out what's being said on C|Net, PC Magazine or Mobile Tech Review.
This post is about what it's like to try to get used to using a Blackberry after having lived on a Treo for two years. Likely this'll spread over several posts, so let's get started.
- Size and Feel: while the 8830 is the biggest Blackberry, it's still shorter and thinner and lighter than my Treo 650. And the keyboard of the Blackberry's a lot easier to touch-type from thanks to the raised beveled keys.
- The trackball: I'm liking the trackball a lot. It certainly beats the buttons on the Treo for navigating around the screen.
However, the tracking is a little slow for my taste in its default setting, and I haven't yet figured out how to speed up its sensitivity (assuming I can).(you can control the trackball sensitivity under Options>>Screen/Keyboard) When I'm trying to get to the bottom of my deep email inbox, it'd sure be great to have the iPod-like tracking mechanism to move around quickly, but that's not to be. - The Back Button: I considered the lack of a back button to be the major flaw of the Treo. The fact that I can get back to where I was by clicking a single button is great. Kudos to RIM on this feature. Now if only I could figure out how to stop accidentally going back, I'd be in business
- Email systems: Not until I started using the Blackberry's text-based email system did I realize how spoiled I was using SnapperMail on the Treo 650 which allowed me to read html-formatted email easily. I'll get used to the RIM's email system quickly tho (although I need to change my email subscriptions to be text-based instead of html-based), especially since I love the push email system. I also really like being able to direct both my work and personal emails to my 8830 and they both alert me when a new message comes in. I would like to be able to separate them out so that during the day I only get work email alerts, but I can live without it (for now).
- Camera (lack thereof): I didn't realize just how much I used my Treo's camera (crappy as it was) until I found myself looking for the camera app on the 8830. Hmmm. In skimming the crackberry forum boards, I'm reminded I've got a business tool now, and next time I report to jury duty, I won't have to fork over my phone due to its built-in camera function. Seeing how much I love my wife's Canon Powershot 1000, I think I can live without the camera-based phone.
- Memory: Given the Treo's lackluster performance on the built-in RAM front, I'd supplemented its capacity with a 1GB smart memory card which I used (thanks to an adapter) as an always-present thumb drive. However, given the location of the memory card (top center of the phone), I was always accidentally ejecting the smart card. On the 8830, however, the micro memory card is tucked away in the battery compartment so there's no chance of accidentally ejecting it. The opposite is true: I was able to install a 2GB micro memory card only after a lot of precision installation work. Not likely to replay that installation process, so I view it as a permanent install. Considering I can't take pix or movies, I wonder what I'll fill it with?
- Themes: I've only learned about four different themes on the 8830 (the Verizon style and three BB styles), but wow, I'd love to be able to personalize it a bit more. It's not readily apparent how to add graphics, styles or sounds to the 8830, so I'm stuck with a default theme (for now). The Treo, on the other hand, was quite personalizable (what a word!).
BTW, I got my 8830 for $199 after all the discounts from Verizon (new every two and online ordering) along with a two-ear commitment back to Verizon. Hey, I've been with them this long, what's another two years?
(of course, I've still got another 25 days to change my mind without penalty)
Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
