Posted by Mauricio on Oct 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM | Comments
Looking for a way to increase your BlackBerry’s battery life? PC World has a nice informational post that can help you save battery life in a few different ways.
Here is what I do:
Set my BlackBerry to automatically turn off at night for a short amount of time.
Turn off the radio (antenna) when I’m in a dead zone (no reception).
Don’t let my battery get into the red (almost dead).
Delete old messages and phone call logs (more memory more battery usage…I think).
Set screen brightness to lowest setting.
Turn off TrackBall clicking.
Pretty basic, but it works.
It’s difficult enough to keep plain-vanilla cell phones charged for a busy day of just talking.
But these days, we also use our smartphones for e-mail, surfing the Web, editing documents, accessing corporate networks, text messaging, enjoying music and video, playing games, managing our personal information and much more — making it all the more catastrophic when our devices run out of juice.
The problem is that while smartphone capabilities have increased dramatically in recent years, batteries have not kept pace. “Phones do so much more now, but battery technology hasn’t advanced that much,” says Scott Riddle, digital sales supervisor at BearCom, a retailer of mobile equipment. Riddle regularly hears from customers about their struggles to keep smartphones charged. “Everybody has this problem,” he says.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to significantly increase the time between charges, although no one solution is a silver bullet. “It’s a lot of little things that help,” according to Riddle.
We asked Riddle and other experts for their best tricks to extend your smartphone’s battery life. Here’s what they told us.
Remember the Basics
First, some basics. You may already know these tips, but if you apply them diligently, they can help increase battery life.
Posted by Mauricio on Oct 1, 2008 at 8:51 AM | Comments
Whoever invented the expression “talk is cheap” obviously didn’t have to pay his company’s mobile phone bill. Mobile handsets have become the primary phone for many business users, even when they’re in the office.
The sheer convenience of a single, roaming device makes the mobile phone the preferred choice for many, especially when that device includes essential business features such as address books, calendars, to-do lists, and email and web clients.
But few business mobile users think closely about the cost implications of all that convenience and accessibility. According to the telecoms consultancy Analysys, around 80% of corporate telephony spending now goes on calls made to or by mobiles.
In-country mobile-to-office and office-to-mobile calls are a pain point for business, and international mobile roaming and interconnection charges are worse still. Even though a May 2007 EU agreement capped the price of a mobile call while abroad at €0.49 per minute, and incoming calls at €0.24 per minute, mobile costs remain high.
So while few companies want to scale back the use of mobiles, the majority are actively seeking ways to slash the running costs of their mobile fleets. Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) via Skype offers a way to do just that.
Posted by Mauricio on Sep 3, 2008 at 10:37 AM | Comments
I myself don’t have a BlackBerry Bold, and I don’t know if I want to get one. Actually, I think I would prefer the Javelin over the Bold (so would many RIM employees apparently). I’m waiting for the Thunder/Storm more than anything. Anyway…
If you were able to get your hands on a BlackBerry Bold, this little guide might be of use to you.
The BlackBerry Bold largely replicates the keyboard of its predecessor the Curve, but has one notable difference: no num lock key. If you do want to type in a long series of numbers without holding down the alt key, hit alt and then the left shift key. You can disable num lock with alt or either shift key, and you shouldn’t need it in fields (like contacts number entry) which expect numbers anyway. If you want more BlackBerry keyboard shortcut goodness, check out handy shortcuts for locking and silencing your Bold.
Posted by Mauricio on Aug 29, 2008 at 9:12 AM | Comments
CIO.com just posted a tip about hard and soft resets, and double soft resets…? I didn’t know there was such thing as a double soft reset.
This CIO.com article goes through each method, including when it is appropriate to use each method. Soft and hard resets are very useful for BlackBerry users who are experiencing problems with their BlackBerry, or it is just running a bit slower than usual.
You know the Disk Defragmenter your PC has? I think that a soft reset and hard reset do to a BlackBerry what a disk defragmenter does to a PC. I could be wrong, but that sounds about right.
Posted by Mauricio on Aug 26, 2008 at 5:45 PM | Comments
BlackBerry Made Simple now has videos you can view right from your BlackBerry. Looking to learn some new tips and tricks for your BlackBerry? Or do you want to make it easier to show your friends tips and tricks? Well now you can. For a price that is. Not a bad price though:
Posted by Mauricio on Aug 22, 2008 at 4:10 PM | Comments
I know to many having to scroll up and down while viewing web pages can be a pain, especially if the web page is a long one.
While viewing a web page, simply press ZX (Suretype) or X to zoom in and out of the screen. This way it is easier to navigate a larger web page.
I find this shortcut to be especially helpful while in “Desktop View” of the web page because when you zoom out you see the entire web page, not just a banner on the right side that you would still have to scroll through if you were to do it while in “Mobile View.”
If you are in “Mobile View,” this shortcut is still faster than scrolling though.
Posted by Mauricio on Aug 15, 2008 at 9:30 AM | Comments
Just read this article from CIO.com. Al Sacco has figured out a simple way to “create” word, excel and powerpoint files on your BlackBerry through Docs2Go for free.
You would think this would have been figured out earlier with how simple it is. According to Al Sacco, its as easy as creating a file on your PC, transferring it to your BlackBerry, then re-save it as a template. From there, whenever you want to create a word, excel, or powerpoint file all you have to do is open that template, do what you want, then save it as a different name.
Posted by Mauricio on Aug 12, 2008 at 8:37 PM | Comments
BlackBerryCool has posted a really helpful guide on how to upgrade your BlackBerry OS. With 4.5 right around the corner (I hope) this will be handy for anyone wishing to upgrade their OS to take advantage of the new features.
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