FREE WeatherBug App Better Than WeatherEye?

Just saw this new app on App World in the Top Downloads section. It is definitely more detailed and has more info than WeatherEye. Its not quite as easy to navigate, but I like having all the info right in front of me. 

You can set it to automatically set your location according to your GPS coordinates which is pretty cool. You can also set it to update every 15min as opposed to WeatherEye's 30min minimum. It has replaced WeatherEye in the second row of my icons...for now. I'm going to see if I like it better and decide later.

I'm pretty sure the above screenshot is from the older version, so you'll have to see the new one for yourself. Go to AppWorld and get it! 

*   *   *

Oh, just found a pic of the new version. 

 

FREE BlackBerry Translator!

Check out this free BB translator from Navita. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds solid from what I've heard so far. 

Its limited to 6 languages (English, Portugese, French, Spanish, Italian and German) but free is free right?. 

More info and download link here: http://www.berryreview.com/2009/05/27/hot-navita-translator-awesome-free-blackberry-translator-dictionary-application/

Vision: YouTube Client

I just came across this amazing free app that makes watching YouTube videos on your BB really easy. It looks great and the video quality is the best I've seen so far from the few apps I've tried. 

You can get it OTA here: http://vision.metova.com/download

I haven't had a chance to fully test it yet, but it looks good so far. 

My Top 7 Quick Tips

There are so many shortcuts and ways to be more efficient while using your BlackBerry device, that its tough to keep track of all of them. 

In an earlier post I mentioned AutoText which can vastly increase your typing speed if you set it up correctly. Click here to learn more about AutoText.

Here are some more useful tips that I use almost everyday. It has actually made typing on a regular keyboard a little annoying at times because all the little shortcuts I'm used to on my BB don't work. 

Email address entry:

If you enter a lot of email addresses in your address book or into an email address field this tip will save you some time. Instead of hitting "alt" then "@" try just hitting "space" instead. After the @, type the information as usual, then hit "space" again to automatically have the "." added. 

Note: The first time you hit space, "@" will be entered. Everytime you hit space after that, "." will be entered.

Selecting text: 

To quickly select text, simply hold "shift (aA)" and roll the trackball. You might have to first switch to "Select mode" if you are in the browser or another 3rd party application for this to work.

Cut, Copy, Paste:

After you have something selected using the method above, you can hit menu and select Cut, Copy, or Paste. Or, you can use the following shortcuts:

Cut: Shift + Delete

Copy: Alt + Click

Paste: Shift + Click

New Sentences:

After you're done typing a sentence, hit space twice to automatically enter a period. The next letter will be automatically capitalized. 

Capitalize:

To capitalize a letter without hitting shift first, hold the letter for about a second then release.

Mark Prior Opened:

If you receive a lot of messages and don't like the blinking led or the unread message indicator on your screen, you can mark all prior messages opened with 2 clicks. In your message list, highlight the current date, click the trackball and select "Mark Prior Opened." To speed things up more, be sure to go to Messages-->Options-->General Options and set "Confirm Mark Prior Opened" to No.

Deleting Messages:

To quickly delete one message, simply highlight it and hit Delete. To delete all messages before a certain date, highlight the date in your messages list, click, and select "Delete Prior." To speed things up more, be sure to go to Messages-->Options-->General Options and set "Confirm Delete" to No. 

There are tons more tips out there. These are the ones I use regularly. You can find more at this link: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/blackberry101/tips/.

Do you have any tips or shortcuts you use all the time? Let me know in the comments!

8GB MicroSD Card Sale

Just found this deal on www.redflagdeals.com. If you need a media card, this is a pretty good price. They ship for $4.95 and the card sells for $18.99 US. It says its for Nintendo DS, but it doesn't matter. MicroSD is MicroSD. This is actually the card I have in my 8900. Tons of space for songs, pictures and videos. Here's the link:

http://www.consolesource.com/ecomm/catalog/Kingston-8GB-MicroSD-Card-p-2845.html

Sent from my BlackBerry™ Javelin 8900

BlackBerry Messenger Anyone?

BlackBerry Messenger is one of the greatest features of BB's today. Its super secure and totally free if you have a data plan. You can add contacts using their PIN or email address.

I like having the 'delivered' and 'read' function so I know when people have seen the messages I send...and if they're ignoring me. That's where the infamous "PING!!!" comes in handy. You can make your contact's BB vibrate to get his attention. If you are super annoyed by the vibration that comes with PINGs, you can disable it. Go to BBM. Hit menu-->options. Set "Vibrate When Receiving a Ping" to No. While you're in the Options, I would recommend setting the "Allow On The Phone presence status" to Yes. That way, you are not listed as unreachable when you're on the phone. Update: On the newest versions of BBM, 'On the Phone presence status' has been removed as an option. Not sure why. It might be automatic now? Anyway, check out the newest version of BBM (5.0.1.38) here: http://jsbbblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/bbm-updated-to-501.html

Here's a useful article outlining the basic features and functions of BBM: HowStuffWorks - BB Messenger

A nice feature of newer versions of BBM is the ability to send and receive files and voicenotes. Send pictures, small, audio files and short voicenotes directly to your BBM contacts.

I'm not sure how many readers there are of this blog...I'm guessing around 2 (my wife cause she loves me,......and me), but I'm going to throw my PIN out there for anyone to add me to their BBM contacts. Feel free to add me and ask me any questions you have, anytime. Or let me know any ideas you might have for future blog entries. Here it is: 24a3bad7.

Also, please tell all your BB using friends about the blog so they can unlock the power of their Berry. Thanks!!!

PING!!! PING!!! PING!!!

Free Lush theme from eveek

Here's a pretty cool looking theme at http://www.eveek.com/.

Best part is its free. I haven't tried it out yet, but it looks pretty nice. Let me know what you think if you try it.

Easy Password

Its nice to have a password protected BB, but its also annoying when you have to enter it EVERY time you want to use it.

I came across a tip on BlackBerry Cool that is pretty neat. Set your password to "bnm$". Then to unlock, all you do is start with b and slide over to the enter key. Its kind of fun and reminds me of the iPhone "slide to unlock" function. You can make it longer as well if you want to feel more secure. It could be, "cvbnm$" if you want.

I know that some of you have no choice when it comes to setting a password or not. Most corporate BBs on BES require you to set a password. I think this is an interesting solution. I've been using it for a day now, and it hasn't gotten old yet. We'll see though.

Give it a try.
Sent from my BlackBerry™ Javelin 8900

Ringtones and Notifications

Ringtones and Notifications for BlackBerrys are actually a little bit complicated to setup and change. I've heard that the new Operating System (5.0) will make things a lot easier. For now, you have to go to Profiles, scroll to the bottom, select Advanced, highlight the profile you want to edit and click. This will bring you to a list of all the ringtones and notifications you can change. 

Among other things you can set it to vibrate and tone, just tone or just vibrate, set the volume and you can change it up for when your Berry is holstered and unholstered. 

Now, to setup a custom ringtone, so it plays a certain sound/tone when someone calls you:

1. Go to your address book
2. Select the contact
3. Hit menu and select edit
4. Hit menu again and select Add Custom Ring Tone
5. Browse to whatever ringtone you like and select it
6. Now when they call, it will play that sound instead of your standard phone ringer

The best place to find free ringtones is trusty CrackBerry.com.

You can find the ringtones section here: Ringtones.

There are also a few free ones on the BlackBerry help website which can only be accessed with your BB browser. Free BB tones

Have fun!

Free Tip Calculator

Here's a kinda useful app that's quicker than your BB calculator. I found a link to it on BerryReview. Very simple form and function. It calculates tip amounts. It sounds like it could save some valuable time at a restaurant so you can run home, put your quarantine mask back on and live in constant terror of Swine Flu. 

Here's a link to the article if you'd like to read more: BBTipCalc. There are download links in the article. 

There are other paid tip calculating apps, but I don't see why you would pay for some graphics and frills, when you don't need anything but the numbers. And besides...WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO MESS AROUND! THE SWINES ARE COMING!

Stay safe everyone.