These days I'm all about the home screen and the added functionality BlackBerry OS 7 brings with customizing it. Whether you're customizing the panels , moving a bookmark to, or even creating your own visual address book, its all about getting the most done with the least effort. While OS 6 also allowed you to add playlists to the home screen, OS 7 goes one step further by letting users add music, videos, and pictures as well.  

To prevent unnecessary icons or shortcuts from filling your home screen the first step would be to create a new folder you can use to save your files to. This isn't required as you can save directly to the home screen or to an existing folder. A new folder can only be added from the All pane screen and one of the icons must be highlighted. Simply press the menu key and select Add Folder. After choosing an icon and naming the folder you're good to go.

Wherever you decide to place these shortcuts, it's the perfect way to quickly access your favorite media. 

1. From the home screen, click on the media folder, choose the media type (music, pictures, videos), and navigate to and highlight the exact file you want to create a shortcut for (including playlists and wallpaper images).
2. Click the menu key and scroll to and select Add to Home Screen.
3. In the dialog box that appears you can modify the name, choose a location (i.e. home screen, existing folder, or the new folder you created), and select whether to add a shortcut in the favorites panel as well. 
4. Scroll down and click on Add and voila you have your own personalized shortcut.
5. To remove, just repeat the above steps and choose Remove from Home Screen from the menu options.

With OS 7, users have more control over the content that appears on the home screen so they can spend less time clicking on menus and icons and go directly to what's needed. For more helpful hints and tricks be sure to visit our forums and help pages. 

The BlackBerry is the smartphone king of shortcuts here are some favorites

Who doesn't love a good shortcut? Doing things the long way is the like paying retail, why do it if there is a better (cheaper) way. A while back I wrote about Auto Text/Word Substitution on the BlackBerry and there were some great comments from the community sharing their personal favorites.

I thought today I'd write about some of my favorite shortcuts on the BlackBerry smartphone, not necessary just though the Word Substitution method, but also a couple of old time keyboard combinations that some may find new to them or a good reminder for some of the old time BlackBerry users.

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Shortcuts play a pivotal role in my daily commute. When you're standing on a train platform with a three foot gap it's usually not a good idea to be handling your BlackBerry. Quickly accessing various functions is a must. When the topic of apps clogging up the BlackBerry system menu came up on twitter awhile back I couldn't help but think how lost I would be without them. Call me crazy but how else am I going to access FixmoTools, add an Easy Smiley to a BBM, or take a screen shot? I say bring on the loaded menu screen. If it ever gets too much then maybe just maybe I'll trim them back a little.

From Bach Khao University the developer behind BlackBerry One-Click Installer (BBOCI), comes Menux v1.0. Menux is an easy to use application that allows you to add shortcuts to your BlackBerry menu which can be accessed from any screen or app. For a commuter like me this is perfect for making a quick call, SMS, or Email with just a click of a button.

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Speed dials are a convenient way to access your most frequently dialed contacts without going through the address book. Plain and simple, they allow you to press as few keys as possible. Stay connected with friends and family with just a simple touch of a button. So for those of you who are new to BlackBerry here is a rundown of assigning and using speed dials on your device.

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Development on applications for BlackBerry 6 seems to be a bit slow so far, but ToySoft has their first app finished, and available for download. ShortcutManager lets you add shortcuts directly to your homescreen (or any other folder), for items as email addresses, PIN, SMS, contacts, phone numbers, and websites. Simply choose your type of shortcut, add a name and description, set the destination of the shortcut, and save it to your homescreen. You can also set an icon for each shortcut you create, adding some nice personalization to your BlackBerry 6 device. ShortcutManager also features the backup and restore of your shortcuts, as well as the ability to even shortcut an entire message. Overall, ShortcutManager is a very nice application. It has really helped speed up my overall productivity on my 9800. You can pick it up on sale for $2.99 at the CrackBerry App Store. It does require the BlackBerry 6 OS.

Contest:  We have 25 copies of ShortcutManager to give away. Just leave a comment on this post to enter.  Contest ends this Sunday at Midnight PST.  Please only leave one comment, multiple entries wont count.

• More information and download of ShortcutManager >>

If you are tired of accidentally mashing your BlackBerry keys and dialing strange numbers cause your BlackBerry is floating around in your purse or pocket, you’ll need to lock your BlackBerry keyboard. You can do it with or without a password, but either way, then number of accidental calls to complete strangers should go way down.

There are multiple ways to lock the keyboard on your BlackBerry. The first and easiest is the lock icon on your home screen. Highlight it and start it up by pressing the trackwheel or trackball. Your BlackBerry is now locked, meaning that pressing random keys on the keypad is less likely to make bad things happen. To unlock it, press * and then the green phone key. If you have set a security password, then you will have to enter that password to unlock the device.