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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While RIM rolled out PlayBook OS 2.0 to our beloved tablet some time ago, we’re still uncovering some hidden features, and today I’ve uncovered a neat lesser known feature. If you’re like me you have meticulously placed all your applications into respective folders, sorting them from “HD Games” to “entertainment". While it keeps everything organized getting in and out of a folder could be just a hair faster, and I’ve found out a way to accomplish this.

Instead of clicking on the small little “X” on the folder you can actually swipe from the center of the bottom bezel to the left side of the PlayBook (see image above). Doing so will cause the folder to quickly close letting you get back to what’s important, using your PlayBook. Now this has got me thinking, what other secrets are laying within the PlayBook OS 2.0? If you’ve found one let CrackBerry Nation know in the comments or in the forums at the link below. It’ll be interesting to see what else can be found.

Familiarize yourself with other Tips and Tricks from the forums

A brand new feature that was introduced in BlackBerry OS 7.1 is Battery Saving Mode. This simple option lets you set a battery threshold which will then automatically adjust settings to conserve battery. So instead of keeping a close eye on your device when your battery hits a low point (say 20%), with this feature enabled, the device will automatically adjust things like screen brightnes and time out in order to not waste battery power. Battery Saving Mode isn't a miracle worker, but it will keep your BlackBerry hanging on a bit longer until you can find your way to a charger. A very cool feature that I'm sure you won't mind having.

If you're running OS 7.1, Battery Saving Mode should be enabled by default, but you can head to Options > Device > Battery Saving Mode to enable/disable this feature and change the battery level. Keep in mind this is just one way to save battery on your device. You can always manually change some settings to conserve battery power. Things like turning off Wifi and lowering screen brightness can go a long way. For more on this, check out ten tips and tricks to maximize your BlackBerry battery life. If all else fails, just carry a spare battery or charger and you'll never have to worry about a dead device!

A while back we took a look at how to customize your results when using Universal Search. The OS gives you the option to pick and choose what you'd like to see when searching, but how about those pesky Bing web suggestions that clutter up your search results? Well you can kill those as well with a simple check box. To disable web suggestions, simply head to Options > Device > Search then uncheck Show Web Suggestions. This will keep your BlackBerry from showing web results (unless you have them checked further down in the list) so you won't have to see them any longer.

Have any fun tips for using your BlackBerry? Send them along to tips(at)crackberry.com.

While the default action in BlackBerry 7 when pressing a key from the home screen is Universal Search, you have the ability to change this up to access application (keyboard) shortcuts instead if you so desire. This lets you quickly get to many apps on your device by pressing a key on the keyboard (like M for Messages of N for BBM) right from the home screen, making navigating apps even easier. If you think you'll miss Universal Search, not to worry because you can get to that simply by pressing S from the home screen.

To turn on your keyboard shortcuts:

• Go to Options > Display > Home Screen Preferences
• Under Launch By Typing change from Universal Search to Application Shortcuts
• Press Back button and choose Save

While some may be fans of having Universal Search ready to roll just by typing, I for one like to be able to jump to apps quickly with keyboard shortcuts. What is your preference? Do you use Universal Search or prefer to have keyboard shortcuts? Let us know in the comments!

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but believe it or not, there are plenty of users who don't even know this option is there. Much like myself, many BlackBerry users just stick with the default settings on the device like screen birghtness, trackpad sensitivity, wallpaper and font right out of the box. Well the great thing about BlackBerry is the amazing level of customization that it offers -- you can change up most everything on the device to your liking, including the font. 

The default font looks a bit big and fuzzy on the new BlackBerry 7 devices, but changing it up to something like BBAlpha Sans Condensed can give your display a whole new look. To change your font, simply head to Options > Display > Screen Display. Pick the font you like, tweak the size and style and you're custom all the way. Play around to see what works for you or just change it up when you get bored. Happy fonting!

If your BlackBerry Messenger Contact list seems to be growing out of control, or you just want to keep things a bit more organized, you can create contact categories to help you out. This is a simple feature that just requires a few menu clicks to get up and running. You can use contact categories to organize your contacts by family members, work contacts, friends or whatever suits your fancy. Keep reading to find out how to create your own contact categories in BlackBerry Messenger.

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If you are anything like me and you want your icons to be in a very specific order on your BlackBerry, you would probably find it very useful to be able to specify where newly downloaded applications go. Luckily on BlackBerry 6 and BlackBerry 7 devices you can do just that rather simply. Whether you wish to have the icons placed in the download folder, a newly created folder or just the home screens, it all can be done in just a few clicks.

1. From the home screen press the menu key then scroll down to options.
2. Scroll down to downloads folder
3. Change option to which download location you prefer
4. Save changes

Pretty simple, huh? No need to move icons to a download folder after downloading, instead you can just set it up to do that from the start.

Like most BlackBerry users I'm a big fan of Auto Text on my device (AKA Word Substitution). You can add an endless supply of quick text expansions that make typing out long or common phrases a breeze. There are quite a few that come preset on the device as well, one of which is "sig". Typing "sig" in any text field will automatically spit out whatever you have entered for your lock screen information (Put in the info by going to Options > Display > Message on Lock Screen). Pretty cool if you want to quickly enter your email address, name or other text without typing it out (mine is set to my email address). Keep in mind too that you can edit the "sig" Auto Text and change it to whatever you'd like should you choose to do so, but it defaults to the lock screen info. Thanks @dannthedude!

If you have any BlackBerry tips of your own you'd like to share send them along to tips(at)crackberry.com

I've had my BlackBerry Torch 9860 for a while now. For the last few weeks, I've been hunting down the Text Messaging icon every time someone sends me a new SMS message. There was simply no other way to read them. On my Torch 9800, all my text messages showed up alongside my other messages; but for the life of me, I couldn't remember how to do that on my new phone. Today, I finally remembered, and now my texts show up in the BlackBerry's main messaging app.

I've never been one to be afraid of making mistakes - except for when I was driving roller coasters at Carowinds, but that's a different matter - or of asking "stupid" questions. I'm a firm believer that the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask and mistakes help us to learn. I wished I had asked a few of those stupid questions over the last few weeks as I grew frustrated over my SMS difficulties. Still, I figure if at least a couple of people can learn from my error, I will have done some good.

To include SMS and MMS text messages in with your other email (and/or Facebook, Twitter, BBM, etc) messages, you'll first need to open the Messages app.  Then, open the menu by pressing the BlackBerry key and select Options. From that screen, choose Inbox Management. Tap or click the box next to Text Messages.  Once the check mark appears in that box, hit the back key, save changes, and you'll be good to go.

Now you and I both can find our text messages in the Messaging app, where they belong. And hopefully I've spared a few of you the frustration of staring at your BlackBerry thinking, "I know there's a way to do this..."

Here's a fun tip that I had never seen before. If you're a frequent traveler and use the Clock app on your BlackBerry, you can set the app to always show your home time zone (or show two different time zones). This is super handy as you can view the clock and instantly know what time it is at home. Be it to compare meeting times, know if your kids are still awake at home or just to keep yourself on schedule, this can be a great help. Keep reading to learn how to get it done!

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BlackBerry Messenger 6.1 was released in the BlackBerry Beta Zone and brings with it some very cool new features -- one of which is the ability to change the chat bubble color for contacts. This is a pretty simple was to make your conversations a bit more fun and individual. Use specific colors for contacts, or the same for groups of contacts (I have green for my family and blue for my cyber friends). All in all a great new tool that is easy to setup, keep reading to find out how.

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Have you ever been asked for your business card only to realize you ran out? Are there moments when you want to send your number, email, and pin to a friend but don't want to type everything out? Well have no fear your BlackBerry device makes it really simple to share your contact information (and anyone else's in your address book but that's our little secret). It's the perfect alternative to copying and pasting or trying to scan a PIN barcode. 

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So all of a sudden your BlackBerry is being bombarded with Facebook notifications like "so and so has posted a link" or "so and so updated their status". You login and make sure all your notifications are turned off yet they still keep coming! I pulled my 9930 off the charger at 6:30 am and by noon, my battery was down to 32% all in thanks to my Facebook app going off every two or three minutes with these silly notifications. After wracking my brain trying to figure out why I was still receiving them when all the settings were set to off, I do what we all should do when faced with a BlackBerry problem...I logged on to CrackBerry and went straight to the forums. The amount of knowledge all of us can gain from each other is astounding. Within two minutes, I had searched, found my answer & solved the problem all thanks to this forum.

Here's how to solve the issue:

• Login to Facebook (on your pc)
• Find and select your "Close Friends" group on the left hand side
• In the top right hand corner, select notifications, then off or on

Ta-da! Problem solved. Thanks again to all of you in the forum who helped those of us who just couldn't figure it out.

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.