It's that time of week again CrackBerry Nation. There have been a few queries come in, so let's crack open the mailbag and clear up your BlackBerry woes. This week we have a question from confused and slightly frustrated PlayBook owner who asks:

How do I change the alert settings on my Blackberry playbook? It has the little beep everytime I get an email and I have no idea how to turn it off??

Thanks,

- Shereen

At first glance this seemed like a pretty simple solution -- go to Sounds & Notifications and slide the Audio notifications all the way to the left. But then Shereen replies with:

The actual settings tab " Sounds & Notifications" tab is not even visible on my playbook. I want to turn off the email sound alerts but have no way of doing so? How do I get this setting back on my playbook??

- Shereen

This of course was mystifying. Follow me after the break to find out the solution I recommend for Shereen.

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Hello again dear readers. It's time to once again open up the mailbag and clear up any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's question comes from Steve and he writes:

I have a bold 9900 with Bluetooth which works great but I have a question...how do I use my Bluetooth to listen to media from my blackberry?.

Thanks S

After a few emails, Steve needed to know if his current Bluetooth headset was compatible but didn't know which model he had. All he knew was that he owned a Plantronics Voyager with dual pairing. Not all Bluetooth headsets possess the ability to stream media and some manufacturers have actually re-released the same model with the feature which is even more confusing. 

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Hello again dear readers. It's time to once again open up the mailbag and clear up any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's question comes from one of Stephen L and he writes:

Dear Berry,
Do you know if it is possible to turn off the very loud low-battery alert in the Playbook? The alarm has gone off a number of times in the middle of the night, waking up the entire family - making my Playbook less popular.

Thanks
S

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Hello again dear readers. It's time once again to open up the mailbag and clear up any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's question comes from one of our Twitter followers, Scott, who asked:

How do I save an attached photo (not bridged, but native Gmail) on PlayBook? Doesn't offer save/cut/copy…Holding a finger is NOT coming up with choices when it’s attached. I can open but not save.

Thanks

Dear Scott,

When I first downloaded the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 and started using the native messaging application I noticed the same thing as you. To answer your question, there is a way to save images that are attached and it's a simple solution that will have you downloading them in no time. Now I'm going to show you how to save images that are displayed in emails and those that are attached to make sure all your bases are covered for supported file types (BMP, JPG, GIF, and PNG). Keep reading for step-by-step instructions!

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Here we are again CrackBerry Nation, it's another issue of Dear Berry. So, let's crack open the mailbag and see what BlackBerry woes you have been having this week. The question this week goes like this:

Dear Berry,

Is there any way to "mark all as read" on the PlayBook messages? I have 300+ messages to open.

- Tim and Kim

Dear Tim and Kim,

I see you took advantage of the Native Email feature of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. The unfortunate, simple, answer to your question is no, there is no way to Mark All As Read on the PlayBook. I too added an email account that had hundreds of unread emails and really wanted this option to be available. However, instead of leaving you out to dry, there is a long-winded way to mark emails unread and requires you to select the emails a bulk at a time. Continue throught the break to find out how.

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Hello again readers! Dear Berry here to once again to open up the mailbag and clear up any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's question comes from Patrick who asks:

I have the playbook and noticed that there is no option to save the images that you open in an email. There are no screen options or drop down menu options at all. Am I missing something because I am pretty sure you can save an image that you get in an email on your phone?

Thanks

In subsequent emails he goes on to say that he is attempting to save attached images while his device is bridged. Keep reading for my response!

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It is that time of the week again. The time to sort out any BlackBerry woes you may have. This week's entry is a pretty quick one, however, I thought if one person asks, I'm pretty sure there are others out there who may not know how to find this either. This week's question goes like this.

Dear Berry,

I often have the need to CC or BCC my email, but I don't see a way to do this on the BlackBerry PlayBook. Is there an app or setting that allows me to do that?

Thanks!

- Jay

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Welcome back CrackBerry Nation to this week's edition of Dear Berry! With all of us here at Mobile Nations finishing up our Fitness Month Challenge, I decided this week's submission should also be about fitness and a common issue many of us avid Blackberry users suffer from. CrackBerry reader "J" wrote:

Dear Berry,

I bought my first BB(9900) about a month and a half ago, and since then I've developed a pretty healthy(?) addiction to it. I find that my twitter, email and IM frequencies have all increased, and I was just wondering if you had any tips on keeping my thumbs in shape?

Best regards,

J

Dear J,

I would definitely take a break here and there and give your thumbs a little rub down and do some stretching exercises (see below):

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Welcome back CrackBerry Nation to another edition of Dear Berry! It's time to crack (excuse the pun) open the mailbag and answer another question by one of our readers. This week's submission was sent in courtesy of Karla who writes:

Hi, I have a the Bold 9780 and wanted to know what you would recommend for a headset that can notify you of incoming calls ID, emails and text and gps plus other apps. Thanks in advance.

-Karla 

Dear Karla,
This is a really great question Karla and one that posed quite a challenge to answer so I thank you for sending it in. When selecting a headset, I normally judge each one by these three factors: quality, comfort, and features. If a BT headset is uncomfortable or sounds like I'm in a tunnel it doesn't get my seal of approval. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, my recommendation for you is ... and in my best impersonation of Ryan Seacrest ....you'll find out after the break!

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So, after a long hiatus, I'm back!! I've been away for wayyyy too long, but after the announcement last week I have had a lot of emails come my way and one that was quite popular is frustrations over the BlackBerry Podcast app. 

One reader writes:

I know this may be a question for the forums, and I apologize for the length of this email but I feel like I need a place to vent while finding help in the process so please hear me out. My BlackBerry Podcast app has been used daily and worked flawlessly up until about 2 weeks ago. Now every download fails. EVERY DOWNLOAD FAILS! FRUSTRATING! In trying to find support, I sent an email to the address listed in app world which has done nothing, I've searched every forum I could find which seems to lead only to dead ends and empty threads, and I've tried using Twitter and talking to BlackBerryHelp, which only asked what my error message was and then the help went cold. The only method I have not used yet is the support phone number from RIM because I don't want to be charged a $50 incident fee. It got me thinking: why is it so difficult to get a hold of RIM for support for their own apps? Is there a method out there that I'm not aware of for support for programs created by RIM itself that won't require me to give a credit card number up front? Third party developers have been fantastic at help when I have questions or problems but it's near impossible to get a tenth of the help for a smartphone issue that is RIM specific and not carrier related. It's a shame, because when I had an issue with my PlayBook support couldn't have been better.

Thanks for the help and for letting me vent, hopefully this leads to some help for anyone in a similar situation.

- John 

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If you've been around CrackBerry for any length of time, you may remember Dear Berry. Dear Berry took a bit of a hiatus (ok, maybe more than just a bit) but now she's back, better than ever and ready to help with all of your BlackBerry woes. If you need advice on how to better balance your life and/or your life with your BlackBerry, Dear Berry is here to save the day. Have a question about BlackBerry etiquette? Need advice on how to cope with your BlackBerry addiction? Dear Berry has you covered. And while DB prefers technical questions to be asked in our amazingly helpful CrackBerry forums, she's pretty good with troubleshooting BlackBerry issues and can handle those too. Whatever the problem, Dear Berry has the answer!

Send Your Questions To Dear Berry: If you have a question, comment or just need advice, you can send an email to dearberry@crackberry.com or on Twitter @DearBerryCB. She'll pick a question each week (maybe more if they start pouring in!) and answer it here in the blogs. So if you're in desparate need of help - worry no more because Dear Berry is back!

Dear Berry,

My story is odd but what do I do if I will never know the answer to
something? Please let me explain. My wife and I went to sleep around our usual time (midnight). I have been checking my Blackberry a bit less because she was really getting irritated about my using it in almost all situations/venues. She was feeling neglected and a bit jealous and I thought this was a bit extreme. She is my wife and I love her and I certainly don't want her to feel this way. The Blackberry (while I'm admittedly obsessed) is just an electronic device. Clearly nothing compare to the love I feel for my wife!

See Dear Berry's Response

Dear Berry,

I just have a quick question for you, that I know doesn't have an easy answer... Bold or Curve 8900?!?

  - Oh the humanity!!!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear "Oh the humanity!!!!",

Thank you for writing.This is a very difficult question to answer. Both the 8900 and the BOLD are very special devices. However, the BOLD is the "flagship" device from RIM, in my humble opinion. That being said, it is a bit larger than the 8900. Now if you aren't looking for 3G connectivity and you want a new BB that is smaller the 8900 is for you. But I must admit, I'm biased, the device I'm currently using is the BOLD and I love it. I struggled myself with which device to purchase and decided 3G (speed) was essential.

I know whichever device you choose it will make you very happy. After all, a new BB always warms the heart with great fun and anticipation :-)

Let's see what the CrackBerry community has to say.

Enjoy and let us know what you decide.

- Berry

Need some Advice to Help Balance Your BlackBerry and Life? Contact Dear Berry!  

Dear Berry,

I'm having a real problem at home. I don't know if you have read the many requests by leaders of churches to give up our main communication gadget, e.g., Blackberry for Lent. Well my wife decided she would give up hers for the forty days but I gave up my favorite food. Ever since this decision I have been getting nothing but grief from her. We have been arguing and, I believe she resents me for not choosing to give up my Blackberry. Can you help? 

- A Religious Dilemma

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Dear Berry,

My life has forever changed and i am looking forward to living the great life. My wife and I have been married for almost four years and she has hated my blackberry for our entire marriage. Up until just over a month ago we had never gotten along when it came to us spending time together due to my phone(girlfriend as she put it) going off or me being on it.  I have tried four the last two years to get her one but never managed to make the sell.  That was until she saw the bold and the new curve.  She was pretty happy to try one out when I surprised her with her very own curve(8320), mainly because I hid her phone.

Now she has the 8900 and she is always coming home with a new accessory, theme, ringtone, and telling me that i need something new for my bold.  Now this may look like she has been turned into a career abuser but I think of it as a outreach program that worked.  The last month has been like winning the lottery or something. She is now a bb spotter, always chatting with people at the grocery store about her colorwared paint job and telling me all of the news that is on crackberry.

Life has truly changed and it is all due to her new love for the berry.  She is a great woman and the love that we share goes far beyond our love for our phones, but I must say that it has been really nice to share the love of the berry with her.  As the title says my life has forever changed. So for all of those addicts out there that has a spouse that is always asking you are always on your bb just do what i did get the one and hide there other phone.

- My Life Has Forever Changed

See Dear Berry's Response