I've got to do some cleaning this weekend and in looking around my mess of a home office I noticed I had a pile of BlackBerry-related books lying around. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and while carrying them off to the bookshelf give them a few minutes of fame in youtube video primetime action. You can check out the video above for a quick look at BlackBerry books that will help you get BlackBerry smart. And for more info on each of the books mentioned in the video or to purchase, you can follow the links below:

• BlackBerry Storm for Dummies (2nd Edition) | All BlackBerry for Dummies Books
• My BlackBerry Curve
• BlackBerry Made Simple by Made Simple Learning
• Beginning BlackBerry Development | Advanced BlackBerry Development
• CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse | Kindle Version

Happy Reading! While you can usually find any answer you need for free in our CrackBerry articles or forums, books are always tend to be nice to have around and are especially good for those just getting their first device - step by step how tos and help make learning easy. And for BlackBerry Application development, the clear and precise instructions and theory are a big bonus. If you know of other good BlackBerry-related books out there you have read, you can make mention of them in the comments. Now go get BlackBerry smart! :)

Some of you may already have heard of or be using Posterous. For those of you who might not, I'm going to give you a quick run down of what Posterous is, and how it can help you out if you are looking for a way to run a blog or just interact with your social networks from your BlackBerry.

First off, Posterous is as they describe it. Dead simple to use. You just simply fire off one email to a specified address and you are already set to go as they will reply back with a URL that is yours to use. (yourname.posterous.com, after set up or you can use a custom domain name) You instantly have a "blog" set up for you, which you can customize as you see fit. The service allows for interaction with a ton of social networks and already existing platforms such as Twitter, Flickr, Wordpress, typepad and many more which allows you to "auto post" anything you send to Posterous to any of those places. Minimal set up required and you have a complete mobile blogging platform to work off of.

Have a pic you want to share on Twitter? Send it to Posterous using the email on your BlackBerry to the address Posterous gives you and it's instantly posted to your Posterous account and Twitter account at the same time. Posterous will accept just about anything you send at it and know what to do with it. Videos, Music and even picture galleries are all set up for you automatically just by email alone or with an app such as vPost. If running a personal blog or sharing stuff on the go is something you are looking for, you'll want to check Posterous out for sure.

• Learn more By Visiting The Posterous Website Today>>

Way back when (nearly two years ago) we posted a BlackBerry 101 article on creating and editing sound profiles on your BlackBerry. Well as the OS has progressed, so have the profile options and we figured it was time to take another look at just how to get your profiles setup. Seasoned BlackBerry vets will most likely already know all about using profiles, but new users still constantly have questions on just how to get all their notifications and alerts up and running. Take a look at the video above to get yourself on the right track.

For older OS versions (which vary slightly), you can still check out our original article on Creating and Editing Profiles and Notifications. If you're a Tour or Storm user on OS 4.7, you will be missing some of the newer options, but can take a look at this post to see how to get the most out of your profile settings.

• Creating and Editing Profiles and Notifications (for older devices/OS versions >>
• Customize Sound Profiles on the BlackBerry Tour and Storm Running OS 4.7 >>
  
• How to Download and Install Ringtones on Your BlackBerry >> 

One of the most forgotten features in the BlackBerry OS has to be Bedside Mode. This feature was first introduced on the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and is on all devices featuring version 4.6 > software. Many users swear by it, while others don't even know it exists. There really isn't much to setting it up, but it can come in handy if you're like me and use your device as an alarm clock or don't turn it off when you go to sleep (but let's be honest, what BlackBerry addict does?). Bedside Mode is a great way to tweak your device with some quick settings that will activate when the device is charging. You can choose to disable the LED, turn off radio, dim the screen and more. The device will automatically enter Bedside Mode when a charger is attached, and if you're at your desk or in a car or anywhere you don't want to activate the feature, you can easily exit simply by pressing the back button. Check out the video above for a quick look at setting up and using Bedside Mode on your BlackBerry Smartphone.

2009 was a HUGE year for BB development. It started with BlackBerry App World, and has steadily snowballed from there. At DEVCON, RIM broke the news on several stunning new additions to the BB development world, highlights being Open GL, the 5.0 API library, and Widgets. With New Year's fast approaching, addicts the world over are looking forward to 2010 as a banner year for development. I am totally pumped to see the offerings brought forward this year by the development community as a whole.

Are you excited at the possibilities? Interested in getting involved, or maybe know someone who is? Perhaps you're already a developer, and you've been thinking about developing for BB? We would love to see what you can do! I would love to see our developer community grow, producing more and better apps for us to toy with.

To get you started, I'm going to compile the best of the links for developers from RIM, and finish off with some reference materials to give you a place to learn from. I'll start with Java apps, then cover Widgets. More info after the jump.

So you have finally got that BlackBerry that you had been hoping for all year? Now that you have it all hooked up on your cell phone plan, you're probably wondering what to do next. Many new users head to CrackBerry to gain information, but as we all know the site contains so much that it can almost be intimidating and at times frustrating to try to find what you are looking for. New users may be a bit overwhelmed by all that CrackBerry.com has to offer, but you shouldn't be. Let's take some time to review the basics of the site, so that you can make your first experience as great as we planned for it to be, and ensure that you come back for more as your days as a BlackBerry user go by.

Order your copy today!!!

w00t! Craig's book is now available!!! A few months back we dropped word on the blogs here that our resident podcast co-host and enterprise expert Craig Johnston was working on a book, My BlackBerry Curve. Published by Que, it's now available for purchase. 

The BlackBerry Curve is the #1 selling smartphone in the United States and My BlackBerry Curve will help get you up to speed quickly and covers the Curve 83xx, 85xx and 8900 series devices. Full-color, step-by-step tasks walk you through getting and keeping your BlackBerry Curve working just the way you want. The tasks include:

• How to get started fast with any BlackBerry Curve: 8300 Series, 8500 Series, or 8900 Series
• How to make, receive, and manage calls and emails efficiently
• How to use the BlackBerry Curve's powerful contact management and calendar software
• How to listen to audio and watch video
• How to connect to the Internet, Bluetooth devices, and your company's VPN
• How to browse the Web from your BlackBerry Curve
• How to use the BlackBerry Curve's messaging tools, including text, multimedia, PIN, and IM
• How to find, choose, and install new BlackBerry Curve applications
• How to connect with social networking sites and tools
• How to use Airplane Mode to watch videos, read emails, and listen to music during flights
• How to keep your BlackBerry Curve up-to-date, reliable, and running at top performance 

If you or a friend, colleague or family member that could use a hand getting a handle on your BlackBerry Curve (or if you just want to support Craig on this awesome endeavor!) then jump on over to MyBlackBerryCurve.info for more information and to purchase. Congrats Craig.. Awesome!

For years I stuck with the mobile number I was issued way back in 1996 when I purchased my first cell phone. I never thought of switching carriers, and I was happy to know that everyone that needed to contact me could do so easily. About a year ago after my BlackBerry addiction started to overtake me full-time, I realized that having a CDMA carrier number that wasn't easily portable wasn't the best thing. I thought about it for a while, and as the idea of carting around multiple devices all day didn't appeal to me, I decided to finally give up my roots and give Google Voice a shot. I had registered with the service ages ago, but left the number untouched for months. Now was the time to make it mine and spread my new number to the few people that actually call me.

 

A few weeks back I was playing around with my Bold 9700, and I saw an error pop up telling me my media card needed to be repaired. I had never seen this before, and wasn't sure what to do. I don't have much stored on my memory card, so I figured it was worth a shot. I clicked Ok and a few seconds later I received a confirmation message that my media card was good to go. I was happily on my way with a working card and that was that. It did leave me wondering a few things however, such as how exactly did I "damage" my media card and what exactly goes on when it gets "repaired"? This seems to be another feature that many users don't even realize exists. Drop a comment and let us know what you think.

I've always tried to keep my email organized, leaving messages unread if I know they need a reply. This at times can be a pain since having to scroll through insane amounts of messages on my BlackBerry isn't always the quickest option. Chatting with Ronen a few days back, he let me know about a quick tip that was actually posted on BerryReview way back in March. I had no idea you could save a search and assign a shortcut to it. I tweaked up a quick search of unread messages, assigned ALT+U as the shortcut and that was that. Now when I'm in my messages, I simply need to use ALT+U to see all my unread messages. I'm sure many of you knew this feature existed, but I figured passing it along to those who didn't couldn't hurt :-)

Create saved search shortcut:

• Open Messages
• Press Menu key and choose Search
• Configure the search settings, press Menu and select Save
• Title the search, add a shortcut key and save

This can be done for messages from certain senders, messages with attachments, SMS and more. You can create multiple searches to fit your needs and always have them a shortcut away.

So it turns out there are no dumb BlackBerrys, just occassionally dumb BlackBerry users which apparently I am one of! If you saw my BlackBerry Bold 9700 unboxing video yesterday or the follow-up tip, you may have noticed I ran into some issues with getting the battery door cover off the thing. It wasn't the device... just me.

Watch the video above. It's actually DEAD EASY and requires very little effort to remove the battery door. You just need to use the right technique and apply a little pressure in the right place. This is obviously the way it was designed to be done...I just somehow missed that message. Maybe it's common sense to other people, but yeah.. errr.. my bad.  Lesson learned. Enjoy the video. And if by chance you run into any new BlackBerry Bold 9700 owners struggling with their battery (it'll make me feel better about myself if I'm not the only one out there who had a mental lapse) then show them the proper technique and tell them you saw it on CrackBerry.com. Not mentioning this topic again! LOL :)

So this isn't a good tip. Instead, watch this video for how the PROPER Way To Remove the Battery Door on a BlackBerry Bold 9700.

* Update: OOOoooo... Read the comments to this post. There's an even better way to get the cover off (probably the intended way) but I just didn't know it. Never use phones other than BBs so just didn't now. I'll make a new video tomorrow showing the correct method. It's really easy. My bad. *

So if you watched my BlackBerry Bold 9700 unboxing video, you saw me run into some issues trying to get the battery door off not one, but two BlackBerry Bold 9700s. Since unboxing it, I've spoken to a few people who have 9700s. A couple had the same issues, a couple didn't. So maybe some have the natural technique, or maybe some units are simply a bit tighter with the tolerances than others.

Regardless, if when you buy your BlackBerry Bold 9700 you find the battery door doesn't come off easily, simply follow the instructions in this video. Lie it flat on a table, and push down and slide. It seems to do the trick vs. holding it in the air and squeezing and and twisting and everything else. This method is simple, safe and it works. Not as easy as some battery BlackBerry doors, but the design holds the cover on tight and doesn't show off any sort of hinges or clasps or anything. Very clean and smooth. So no complaints here!

I bumped into an acquaintance on the weekend that I haven't seen in a long time, and before parting ways we did the good 'ole exchange of contact information. Thankfully he was a BlackBerry user and was sporting a Curve 8900 (which btw he loved). I didn't want to send him my full vcard, so dictated him my office line to save directly into his address book. When I gave him my extension, I got a little miffed to see him hit the menu key and then the Add Pause option before typing in the extension digits. I couldn't help but say... you know you don't have to do that, you can just type an X (alt X) after the main number (before the extension) and the BlackBerry will automatically put in the pause for dialing the extension. It's quicker!

Reflecting upon the event made be realize that putting in an X might not be the most intuitive thing, and that even the Add Pause / Add Wait thing can be a bit confusing. It's not really standard lingo considering most people think of dialing either extensions or passwords or menu option numbers after the main number is called. Below is a quick walk through.

I'm pretty sure that's the weirdest looking blog post title ever to appear here on CrackBerry.com, but bare with me and I'll explain... As we were winding down Podcast Episode 041, we got a last-minute email from Lisa (who by the way has listened to every single episode - totally hardcore!) that posed the following question:

About 6 months ago, I bought a BlackBerry Curve 8330 through Verizon's New Every Two program for 49.99 and let me tell you I totally love it. My question is when you go into Options and Status and type the letters b-u-y-r, 2 hidden rows show up: Data Usage and Voice Usage. What do they mean? Should I be worried that I've exceeded these amounts? I've looked all over the web for an answer and can't seem to find it.

For users who may be on a BES, typing buyr on the options > status screen will let you know if an IT Policy is enabled on your device. If you're a BIS customer, you'll get the Data Usage and Voice Usage stats. Lisa's question had us stumped on the podcast, and to be honest, we're still not totally sure what the verdict is here. If you don't have the exceeded 250k data / exceeded 60 minutes voice message, what you'll see are actual figures of data used and minutes of voice used. Some googling around found that **maybe** this exceeded message (which can't be reset as far I know) is related to an old warranty/return type thing from RIM - once you've used over 60minutes voice/250k data the device is yours to keep whether you like it or not. But not all devices seem to show this message even when going over the limits. Below you'll see some screencaps sent in by Dave snapped from his Curve 8520, Curve 8900 and Storm. All of them are running on unlimited plans and the messages displayed are all different - on his Storm he gets the exceeded limits message, and on his 8520 he has exceeded the limits but the usage stats keep rolling. Does whether or not the exceeded message appears depend on the device, OS version, carrier, plan, BIS vs. BES, etc.? Maybe if you unlock your device the exceeded message goes away? As pointed out in the comments, does BUYR = buyer's remorse??

I'm an addict (never claim to be an expert just in case things like this pop up and I don't know the answer!), so on this one we'll throw it out to the community and hopefully somebody reading this can explain exactly what these messages refer to and why they are there. I bet it's something simple like the max usage allowed before a return, but I just don't know for sure! Type BUYR into your Status screen and see what you get. Any ideas here? 

Our friends at Made Simple Learning have just released their new suite of BlackBerry training products, the All-in-One Training Center! Available on DVD from Amazon or by download from MadeSimpleLearning.com, this is a good alternative for those who want a comprehensive package they can work through to get up to speed with their device. The training center includes:

• Videos Now - full Video Library (over 80 Videos per device) which can be viewed on any PC or Mac
• Videos to Go - full Video Library in a self-installing file (for PC users) and easy install (for Mac users) which loads the videos right onto your Micro SD card. (Videos to Go requires a BlackBerry 96xx, 95xx, 90xx, 89xx, 88xx, or 83xx BlackBerry Smartphone with at least 250 MB free on a Micro SD media card)
• Made Simple Guide Book - The most comprehensive Guide Books available for BlackBerry Smartphones

The training center DVD are currently available for $31.99, which is 20% off its regular list price. You can grab the training center for the BlackBerry Tour,  Storm,  Bold, Curve 8900, 88xx Series, Curve 8350i and Curve 83xx series and DVDs for other devices will be available soon. And once you get hooked on your BlackBerry, you may want to check out our CrackBerry: True Tales of BlackBerry Use and Abuse book so you can get your addiction under control. PS. You can now pick up the CrackBerry book for your Kindle for just $7.99.