School is in session once again ladies and gents!  Today's lesson will be on "How to Setup your BlackBerry to Sync with Outlook."  I see this question come up quite a few times and I also see that this could have saved a lot of people from having to start from scratch with their contacts, notes, calendars and tasks.  I'm using a Bold on 5.0, but this shouldn't matter for all those with 4.2 or better.  For the desktop manager, I'm using 4.6.  The desktop manager may be slightly different depending on your version, but once you have 4.5 or better you shouldn't see too much variation.  What you'll need to get started: Your BlackBerry device, BlackBerry Desktop Manager and a USB cable.

Hello Class, today we're going to learn one of the most important procedures concerning your BlackBerry, but also one of the easiest. As CrackBerry Nation knows, RIM is constantly developing and testing new software for all of its devices. So as true CrackBerry addicts, we like to keep up with the latest and greatest. Today's lesson is another step-by-step guide on upgrading your device's Operating System(OS) using the Application Loader method. We already have a BlackBerry 101 that guides you through the upgrade process using RIM's BlackBerry Desktop Manager software, but for many new to BlackBerry owners the AppLoader method is a bit simpler with less chance for error. Let the lesson begin!

Class is in session... Today's lesson will be on how to downgrade the OS (operating system...aka firmware aka device software) on your BlackBerry. Some of you may have chosen to upgrade to 5.0 or some other OS that isn't just right for you. Luckily, BlackBerry smartphones are one of the easiest (in my opinion) to downgrade. I chose to upgrade to 5.0 on my Curve 8900 (using Desktop Manager 4.6) and I want to go back down to 4.6.1.168 (my favorite).

[ Editor's Note: Member pltaylor has been doing some awesome work in the forums helping out new Storm owners, so we thought we'd let him bring some of that goodness to the blogs. Big thanks pltaylor! Enjoy the lecture!! ]

Seasons Greetings CrackBerry Nation! As many of you now know the Storm 9530 has a North America:1900MHz and 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks compatible radio and SIM card slot. This gives it the ability to be used solely on any GSM network once unlocked. The problem is North American GSM carriers do not have, or are not able to push the proper Provisioning, Browser and MMS service books to the device.

Basically what we will do is remove the native browser, embed your carrier's generic service books. And replace the browser. So if you've scored an early Christmas present and managed to get it unlocked, let's unleash the Beast! 

Wow! What a couple of weeks it has been in the BlackBerry world. If you are a brand new BlackBerry Storm user and new to the BlackBerry world - this article is for you. There has been so much written this past week - so many opinions, so much frustration, jubilation, anger and confusion that it is time for all of us to just.....relax and embrace the Berry.

So, get a cup of coffee, place your Storm in one hand and scroll slowly through this article and let's see if we can't clear up some confusion, provide some useful information and make your BlackBerry experience a more pleasurable one.

So you want to be a CrackBerry.com Power User do ya?  Well here is a quick lesson on how to get started registering for CrackBerry.com and setting up your personal @CrackBerry.com email forwarder so you can show off you true CrackBerry addiction.  It's pretty straight forward, but can be confusing to some - so this should help clear up some of the details in the process.

If you're a Mac user new to BlackBerry, or a PC user coming over to the Other Side, one of the first things you'll notice is that the BlackBerry Desktop Software on your CD is Windows-only. And while our pal Al Sacco dropped word a couple weeks back that new BlackBerry Tools for Mac users are on the way (you can hopefully expect to see them in the first half of 2009), until then you'll have to rely on 3rd party software. PocketMac and Missing Sync are the two common choices.

Rather than port their desktop manager over to Mac OS X from the get go, RIM instead opted to license PocketMac and offer it to Mac users for free. In most ways it's a solid, intuitive program, but there are some important limitations and some gotchas to look out for, and some things that might trip up the new user, so today I'm going to walk you through the basics of using it.

Everyday BlackBerry users come across problems.  Most times they turn to Google (repeat troubleshooters head straight to CrackBerry.com!) to hunt down some quick answers.  In hopes of making BlackBerry users more independent, this lesson should help you diagnose your own problems, and take some steps in attempt to resurrect your issues on your own.  Problems ranges from the simple: not receiving email and a dead browser,  to the more complex issues of losing call logs and texts or dreaded error codes and a "nuked" Berry. This 101 will cover a good deal (but certainly not all) of the most common errors BlackBerry users encounter.  Let's get started.

So by now you've seen many of your Blackberry Messenger contacts have added all kinds of funky symbols to their names, so your screen looks something like this:

If you remember Kevin's post, you know that the BlackBerry logo was discovered and passed around Crackberry Community. I guess technically it's a BlackBerry logo that's missing a few dots (arguably looks like a Microsoft Windows logo?!) but it's the indicator icon RIM uses for 3G coverage and it's cool nonetheless and BBM users have adopted it as the BB logo. Here is the quick and easy way to snag it along with other cool symbols for yourself.

Bluetooth is a relatively new technology used to wirelessy transfer small amounts of data over short distances. So far, it's been used mostly for wireless keyboards and mice, but more and more phones are taking advantage of the quick and easy setup to sync data or to transfer files (and of course for use with BT headsets!). While I won't be going into syncing today (that's a whole other kettle of fish), I would like to show you how to shuffle files back and forth if you're lucky enough to own a Bluetooth-capable BlackBerry and Mac. I'll be using Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but the process in previous versions is very similar.

When you first get rolling with your new Blackberry device, you will most certainly be in pursuit of the best new applications. You will most likely seek out the free ones first (yes there are many great apps you don't even have to pay for) and then if you have the need, you will look for the best paid applications to suit your needs.  In this 101 we will go over a small sampling of some of what I consider to be the best free and paid applications currently available for BlackBerry Smartphones.

As many you of you know, with BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Thunder (Storm), Research In Motion has been moving full speed ahead into the retail consumer space trying to win market shares. Along with BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Bold, and the BlackBerry Thunder (Storm), BlackBerry Unite! is part of retail consumer strategy to win you over.

What is BlackBerry Unite! ? Basically it is a dumb down version of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). Like the BES, BlackBerry Unite! lets you monitor user usage; for instance, you can see who your daughter is call and how often. Or you can see what URL your top sales guy is browsing and maybe block certain website. In addition to the "control freak" features, you can also share calendar, address book, and best of all, file sharing.

In today's lesson, we will take you one step at a time into how to install BlackBerry Unite! and how to get up and running with user setup with BlackBerry Unite!

One of the most common questions new users ask is "How do I change my email tone, SMS alert and ringtone?". In this lesson, we will go step by step through all aspects of setting up your alert profiles. We will edit the preset profiles, and also create new ones and even add custom ringtones and exceptions for your contacts.

If you're new to the BlackBerry world, you are surely overwhelmed with all the buttons and ports on your device.  You are learning things as you go, finding out something new everyday.  Well you may or may not know that there are a multitude of keyboard shortcuts for your device that will help you speed through many things on your BlackBerry in no time at all.  Here we will take a look at some of the various shortcuts you can use for messaging, browsing, composing email/SMS and more.  Lets jump right in.  (Keep in mind these are the default shortcuts and should work for most devices)

Research In Motion (RIM) is constantly developing and testing new software and applications for your BlackBerry.  Keeping up to date with the newest operating system (OS) software for your smartphone ensures that you have access to all the latest and greatest features and performance tweaks.  With the official release of BlackBerry OS v4.5 on the horizon—various beta, or test, versions of the software are already bouncing around the Web—we thought this would be a great time for a BlackBerry OS tutorial.

What follows is our step-by-step guide on how to upgrade your BlackBerry's OS, or install a different version, as well as how to prepare beforehand to make the process run as smoothly as possible.

To start a new operating system install, you'll need your BlackBerry, an Internet-connected PC, a USB cable and about an hour and half of free time—50 minutes or an hour for the upgrade process and 30 minutes or catch-up time afterwards.  Mac users beware: RIM doesn't currently offer the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software for Apple computers; however, industrious Mac owners running Parallels and who have a copy of Windows have been able to upgrade their BlackBerrys via Macs, though the process can be a bit clumsy.

If you've got all the necessary tools listed above, the BlackBerry OS install process should be a breeze.  Let's get started.