BlackBerry Storm For Dummies E-Book

Robert Kao

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 380

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

Take your smartphone by storm and learn how to maximize its performance RIM's next generation release of the BlackBerry Storm features an updated touch screen keyboard and WiFi. It's also noticeably thinner, lighter, and faster! With this updated release comes new--and more complex--features. This easy-to-understand guide provides you with valuable information to unlock the full potential for this powerful handheld. Focused on the new and exciting features of the BlackBerry Storm, this book shows you how to use the touch screen, enter and maintain your contacts, manage your appointments and meetings, create and manage your To-Do lists, and much, much more. * Introduces the new WiFi capabilities of the BlackBerry Storm * Shows you how to get organized with your contacts, appointments, meetings, e-mail, and more * Demonstrates how to sync up with your desktop * Helps you find your way by using your BlackBerry Storm as a GPS device Provides instructions for taking great photos Learn to take full advantage of everything your new BlackBerry Storm has to offer!

Leseprobe

BlackBerry Storm®Storm™ For Dummies® 2nd Edition

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Who Are You?

What’s in This Book

Part I: Meet and Greet Your BlackBerry Storm

Part II: Getting Organized and Online with Your Storm

Part III: Going Multimedia with Your Storm

Part IV: Working with BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Part V: The Part of Tens

normals Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Meet and Greet Your BlackBerry Storm

Chapter 1: Your BlackBerry Is Not an Edible Fruit

How It All Works: The Schematic Approach

The role of the network service provider

Connecting to your computer

Oh, the Things You Can Do!

All-in-one multimedia center

Internet at your fingertips

Me and my great personal assistant

A touch-screen PC in the palm of your hand

Look, Dad, no hands!

Chew on a BlackBerry Storm

BlackBerry OS 5.0

Saving power

Putting a sentry on duty

Chapter 2: Navigating the BlackBerry Storm

Exploring Your BlackBerry’s Face

Using the SurePress Touch Screen

Tapping the Keyboards: QWERTY and SureType

Virtual QWERTY keyboard

Virtual SureType keyboard

Physical Keys and More

microSD slot

Switching applications

Chapter 3: Whipping Up a Storm of Your Own

Making Your BlackBerry Yours

Branding your BlackBerry

Choosing a language, any language

Typing with ease using AutoText

Inserting text shortcuts

Customizing your screen’s look and feel

Programming the left and right convenience keys

Choosing themes

Wallpapering

Ringing freedom

Keeping Your BlackBerry Safe

Part II: Getting Organized and Online with Your Storm

Chapter 4: Remembering and Locating Your Acquaintances

Accessing Contacts

Working with Contacts

Creating a contact

Adding contacts from other BlackBerry applications

Viewing a contact

Editing a contact

Deleting a contact

Copying Contacts from Desktop Applications

Looking for Someone?

Organizing Your Contacts

Creating a group

Using the Filter feature on your contacts

Setting preferences

Sharing a Contact

Sending a vCard

Receiving a vCard

Searching for Someone Outside Your Contacts

Synchronizing Facebook Contacts

Adding a Facebook friend info to Contacts

Automatic syncing between Facebook profiles and Contacts

Chapter 5: Keeping Your Appointments

Accessing BlackBerry Calendar

Choosing Your Calendar View

Switching Calendar views

Moving between time frames

Customizing Your Calendar

Managing Multiple Calendars

All Things Appointment: Adding, Opening, and Deleting

Creating an appointment

Understanding Appointments versus Meetings

Sending a meeting request

Responding to a meeting request

Setting your meeting dial-in number

Chapter 6: Setting Alarms and Keeping Your Passwords

Accessing Clock

Customizing Your Clock

Setting a Wake-Up Alarm

Setting and Exiting Bedside Mode

Using Stopwatch

Using Timer

Using Password Keeper

Setting a password for Password Keeper

Creating credentials

Generating passwords randomly

Using your password

Seeing Password Keeper options

Changing your password to Password Keeper

Chapter 7: You’ve Got (Lots of) E-Mail

Getting Up and Running with E-Mail

Using the BlackBerry Internet Service client

Combining your e-mail accounts into one

Adding an e-mail account

Using Desktop Redirector: How enterprising!

Configuring Your E-Mail Signature

Enabling Wireless Reconciliation

Enabling wireless e-mail synchronization

Permanently deleting e-mail from your BlackBerry

Automating Replies and Out-of-Office Messages

Working with E-Mail

Receiving e-mails

Sending e-mail

Spell-checking your outgoing messages

Adding a sender to your Contacts

Deleting e-mail

Filtering your e-mail

Searching Messages Like a Pro

Searching by sender or recipient

Searching by subject

Running a general search

Saving search results

Reusing saved searches

Long Live E-Mail

Chapter 8: Too Cool for E-Mail

Sending and Receiving PIN-to-PIN Messages

Getting a BlackBerry PIN

Assigning PINs to names

Sending a PIN-to-PIN message

Receiving a PIN-to-PIN message

Keeping in Touch the SMS/MMS Way

Using shorthand for speedy replies

AWHFY?

Showing some emotion

Sending a text message

Viewing a message you receive

Always Online Using Instant Messaging

Chatting using IM rules

Instant messaging on your BlackBerry

Taking control of your IM app

Chapter 9: Instant Messaging

Accessing BlackBerry Messenger

Using BlackBerry Messenger

Adding a Contact

Having Conversations

Starting a conversation

Starting a group conversation

Sending a file

Saving the conversation history

Broadcasting a Message

Chapter 10: Surfing the Internet Wave

Kicking Up Browser

Getting to Browser

Hitting the (air) waves

Navigating Web pages

Saving a Web page address

Sending an address by e-mail

Saving Web images

Bookmarking Your Favorite Sites

Adding and visiting a bookmark

Modifying a bookmark

Organizing your bookmarks

Exercising Options and Optimization Techniques

Configuring Browser

Setting general Browser properties

Specifying cache operations

Gears settings

Installing and Uninstalling Applications from the Web

Using Browser in Business

Using Browser on your company’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server server

Using your network provider’s browser

Setting the default browser

Part III: Going Multimedia with Your Storm

Chapter 11: Taking Great Pictures

Saying “Cheese”

Reading the screen indicators

Choosing the picture quality

Zooming and focusing

Setting the flash

Setting the white balance

Setting the picture size

Geotagging

Working with Your Pictures

Viewing pictures

Creating a slide show

Trashing pictures

Listing filenames versus thumbnails

Checking picture properties

Organizing your pictures

Sharing your pictures

Setting a picture as Caller ID

Setting a Home screen image

Chapter 12: Satisfying Your Senses with Media Player

Accessing Media

Let the Music Play

Creating a playlist

Playing from your playlist

Now Showing

Picture This

Viewing in Pictures

Zoom to see details

Lord of the Ring Tones

Recording Your Voice

Playing Your Voice Notes

Turning It Up (or Down)

Navigating the Menu

Navigating the menu in Pictures

Navigating the menu in Music, Videos, Ring Tones, and Voice Notes

Using Explore

Memory Use

Changing the Media Flavor

Customizing Media

Customizing Pictures

Working with Media Files

Using your Storm as a flash drive

Meet and greet Media Manager

Synchronizing with iTunes using BlackBerry Media Sync

Downloading sounds

Chapter 13: Getting Around with BlackBerry GPS

Putting Safety First

Getting What You Need

Choosing GPS Application Options

BlackBerry Maps

Google Maps

TeleNav GPS Navigator

Chapter 14: Calling Your Favorite Person

Using the BlackBerry Phone Application

Making a call

Getting a call

Muting your call

Turning down the volume

Customizing Your Phone

Setting up your voice mail number

Using call forwarding

Arranging Conference Calls

Talking privately to a conference participant

Alternating between phone conversations

Communicating Hands Free

Using the speaker phone

Pairing your BlackBerry with a Bluetooth headset

Using your voice to dial

Taking Notes While on the Phone

Accessing phone notes

Forwarding phone notes

Part IV: Working with BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Chapter 15: Syncing the Synchronize Way

Data Synchronization on a Windows PC

Launching BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Connecting BlackBerry Desktop Manager to your Storm

Running BlackBerry Desktop Manager for the first time

Setting Up Synchronize on a Windows PC

Configuring PIM synchronization

Mapping fields for synchronization

Confirming record changes

Resolving update conflicts

Ready, set, synchronize!

Data Synchronization on the Mac

Installing BlackBerry Desktop Manager

Opening BlackBerry Desktop Manager for the first time

Synchronizing, Mac Style

Setting synchronization options

Deleting all music files on your Storm

Doing a manual sync

Configuring an automatic sync

Chapter 16: Switching Devices

Switching to a New BlackBerry

Switching from a Non-BlackBerry Device

Palm device requirements

Windows Mobile device requirements

Run the wizard

Chapter 17: Protecting Your Information

Accessing Backup and Restore

Backing Up BlackBerry Style

Backing up your Storm manually

Setting up automatic backups

Restoring Your Data from Backup Information

Protecting Your Data Your Way

Backing up your way

Restoring your way

Clearing BlackBerry information your way

Backing Up and Restoring Wirelessly

Chapter 18: Installing and Managing Third-Party Applications

Using BlackBerry App World

Navigating App World

Installing an application using App World

Finding and Installing Applications from Other App Stores

Accessing Application Loader

Installing an Application

Installing, Windows Style

Installing, Mac Style

Uninstalling an Application

Uninstalling with Application Loader under Windows PC

Uninstalling with BlackBerry Desktop Manager on the Mac

Uninstalling with the Storm

Upgrading the BlackBerry Storm OS

Upgrading the Storm OS, Windows Style

Upgrading the Storm OS, Mac Style

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Great Storm Accessories

Unify AV Solution

microSD Card

Full Keyboards

Stereo Headsets

Case and Belt Clip

Screen Protector and Skins

Extra Battery, Charger, and Charging Pod

External Speaker

Bluetooth Music Gateway

Car Mount

Chapter 20: Ten Fun Games for Your Storm

Top-Rated Free Games

Nintaii

Bookworm

Crash Bandicoot Mutant Island

Air Traffic Control

World Poker Tour 2—Texas Hold ’Em

Bubble Army

Aces Mahjong

Next Dual Pack

Chuzzle

Chapter 21: Ten Important Types of Web Sites

Weather

News

Search Engines, Directories, and Portals

Business

Travel

Sports

Advice and Self-Help

Social and Virtual Networking

Shopping and Shipping Information

Other Browsing Categories

BlackBerry® Storm™ For Dummies®2nd Edition

by Robert Kao and Dante Sarigumba

BlackBerry® Storm™ For Dummies,® 2nd Edition

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River StreetHoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. BlackBerry and Storm are trademarks or registered trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009942322

ISBN: 978-0-470-56531-5

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Robert Kao is one well-rounded professional. His ability to translate his technical knowledge and communicate with users of all types led him to cowrite BlackBerry For Dummies and BlackBerry Pearl For Dummies. He started out as a BlackBerry developer for various financial firms in New York City, that truly global city. Kao is currently the founder of a mobile software start-up. A graduate of Columbia University, with a Computer Engineering degree, he currently lives in South Brunswick, New Jersey.

Dante Sarigumba is a long-time user of BlackBerry and a gizmo enthusiast. He is a cohost of the Mobile Computing Authority biweekly podcast. He works for a major investment bank in New York as a software developer and lives in South Brunswick, New Jersey, with his wife, Rosemarie, and two sons, Dean and Drew.

Dedication

I would like to thank my father (MHK), my mother (SYT), and the rest of the Kao family for everything they’ve done for me. I wouldn’t be here without their kindness and understanding. I would also like to thank my lovely wife, Marie-Claude, and little Jade for all their support. In addition, thanks to Manon Lalancette and the rest of Gamelin family for all your cheers!

—Robert Kao

To Yosma, Dean, and Drew: My greatest treasures. Thank you for your thoughts, understanding, and support.

—Dante Sarigumba

A few thank-yous are in order here. First, to Rob and Dante, for giving me the opportunity to work on this title with them. To Marcus, Diana, Dieter, Joel, Andrew, and the entire Smartphone Experts team, for being the absolute best at everything they do. Thanks also goes to Erika, for putting up with my obsessive CrackBerrying. Lastly, I need to give props to my mother, who at 60 years old recently got her first cell phone, a BlackBerry Bold, read BlackBerry Bold For Dummies, and now BBMs me on it daily.

—Kevin Michaluk

Authors’ Acknowledgments

Collectively, we’d like to thank the following people:

Tiffany Ma, for stepping in when Katie was on maternity leave.

Mary Bednarek, for making sure we were headed in the right direction while Katie was away.

Katie Mohr, welcome back just in time to help us put things together. Congratulation on the newborn!

Susan Pink, our editor, for making us look good.

Robert Hawley, our technical editor, for checking our work.

Robert Hawley, our editor, for making us look good.

Carol McClendon, our agent, for presenting our proposal to the right people.

Victoria Berry, PR of Research In Motion, for getting us access to the proper channels at the right time.

Steve and Sheila, thanks for everything.

In addition, we thank the rest of the Wiley staff. Without you all, this book would not have been possible.

—Rob and Dante

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions and Editorial

Project Editor: Susan Pink

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Mohr, Tiffany Ma

Copy Editor: Susan Pink

Technical Editor: Robert Hawley

Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Katherine Crocker

Layout and Graphics: Joyce Haughey, Ronald G. Terry, Timothy C. Detrick

Proofreaders: John Greenough, Kathy Simpson

Indexer: Ty Koontz

Special Help: Annie Sullivan

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Hi there, and welcome to BlackBerry Storm For Dummies, 2nd Edition. This book is intended to cover most of what you need to know about the BlackBerry Storm and the BlackBerry Storm2 smart phones. Throughout the book, we’re going to use the Storm to describe both smart phones but will point out differences along the way. If you already have a Storm, this is a great book to have around when you want to discover new features or need something to slap open and use as a quick reference. If you don’t have a Storm yet and have some basic questions (such as “What is a BlackBerry Storm?” or “How can a BlackBerry Storm help me be more productive?”), you can benefit by reading this book cover to cover. No matter what your current BlackBerry user status — BUS, for short — we’re here to help you get the most out of your BlackBerry Storm.

Right off the bat, we can tell you that a BlackBerry Storm isn’t a fruit you find at the supermarket, nor is it related to nasty weather patterns. Rather, it’s an always-connected smart phone that has e-mail capabilities and a built-in Internet browser. With your BlackBerry Storm, you’re in the privileged position of always being able to receive e-mail, message your friends, and browse the Web.

On top of that, a BlackBerry Storm has all the features you expect from a personal organizer, including a calendar, to-do lists, and memos. Oh, and did we mention that a BlackBerry Storm has a built-in mobile phone? Talk about multitasking! Imagine you are stuck on a commuter train. With your BlackBerry Storm by your side, you can compose e-mail while conducting a conference call — all from the comfort of your seat.

That’s not all. BlackBerry Storm goes a step further to make it more fun for you to own this device. You can snap a picture with its camera, listen to your music collection, record a funny video, and enjoy watching that video on YouTube.

In this book, we show you all the basics and then go the extra mile by highlighting some of the lesser-known (but still handy) features of the BlackBerry Storm. Your Storm can work hard for you when you need it to and can play hard when you want it to.

And finally, you’ll be happy to know that we acquired the help of a well-known BlackBerry enthusiast and co-founder of CrackBerry.com, Kevin Michulak, to provide you with insights and helpful tips scattered throughout the book.

About This Book

BlackBerry Storm For Dummies is a comprehensive user guide as well as a quick user reference. This book is designed so that you can read it cover to cover if you want, but you don’t need to read one chapter after the other. Feel free to jump around in the book while you explore the different functionalities of your BlackBerry Storm.

We cover basic and advanced topics, but we stick to those that we consider the most practical and frequently used. If you use or want to use a certain function of your BlackBerry Storm, we likely cover it here.

Who Are You?

In this book, we tried to be considerate of your needs, but because we’ve never met you, our image of you is as follows. If you find that some of these images are true about you, this might just be the book for you:

You have a BlackBerry Storm and want to find out how to get the most from it.

You don’t have a BlackBerry Storm yet, and you’re wondering what one could do for you.

You’re looking for a book that doesn’t assume that you know all the jargon and tech terms used in the smart phone and PDA industry. (PDA stands for personal digital assistant, by the way. Take that, you jargon, you!)

You want a reference that shows you, step by step, how to do useful and cool things with a BlackBerry Storm without bogging you down with unnecessary background or theory.

You’re tired of hauling your ten-pound laptop with you on trips, and you’re wondering how to turn your BlackBerry Storm into a miniature traveling office.

You no longer want to be tied to your desktop system for the critical activities in your life, such as sending and receiving e-mail, checking your calendar for appointments, and surfing the Web.

You like to have some fun, play games, and be entertained from a device but don’t want to carry an extra game gadget.

What’s in This Book

BlackBerry Storm For Dummies consists of five parts, and each part consists of different chapters related to that part’s theme.

Part I: Meet and Greet Your BlackBerry Storm

Part I starts with the basics of your Storm. You know: what it is, what you can do with it, and what elements make it up with. We describe how you navigate using the innovative touch screen that behaves like multiple buttons and the difference between the QWERTY and SureType keyboard layouts. We also show you how to personalize and express yourself through your BlackBerry Storm. This part wraps up with must-knows about security.

Part II: Getting Organized and Online with Your Storm

Part II deals with the fact that your BlackBerry Storm is also a full-fledged PDA. We show you how to keep your contacts in Contacts as well as how to manage appointments and meetings in Calendar. You also find out how to use the Clock application to set an alarm, use as a timer, and set your device to Bedside mode. You explore the Password Keeper application to centralize your passwords. As you’ll see, most BlackBerry applications interconnect, working hard for you.

Part II also shows you what made BlackBerry what it is today: always-connected e-mail. We get into the other strengths of the BlackBerry — Web surfing functionality — but it doesn’t stop there. We point out how you can use other forms of messages such as text messaging, instant messaging, PIN-to-PIN messages, and BlackBerry Messenger.

Part III: Going Multimedia with Your Storm

You find the fun stuff in Part III. Rock your world and use your Storm to play music, watch videos, and take pictures. You also get the scoop on how to record videos and sample ring tones. Plus you get timesaving shortcuts on the Media applications. And rest assured that your BlackBerry will be a good companion when you’re traveling because we also show you how to use its GPS. Last, Part III describes the phone part of Storm and money-saving tips; it is a smart phone after all.

Part IV: Working with BlackBerry Desktop Manager

In Part IV, we detail BlackBerry Desktop Manager and show you some of the hoops you can put it through with your BlackBerry Storm, including making backups and installing BlackBerry applications from your PC to your Storm. You also find out how to port data from your older devices — BlackBerry or not — to your new Storm. And we didn’t forget to cover important topics, such as data-syncing your appointments and contacts with desktop applications such as Outlook. And finally, you’ll find all the possible ways you can install third-party applications.

Part V: The Part of Tens

All For Dummies books include The Part of Tens, and this book is no different. In Part V, we show you where to get cool BlackBerry Storm accessories, find useful mobile Web sites, and get great applications and games to play on your BlackBerry Storm. In addition, we keep this list up-to-date on our Web site at www.blackberryfordummies.com.

normals Used in This Book

Scattered through the book are CrackBerry tips brought to you by Kevin Michaluk and the enthusiastic members of the CrackBerry.com member community. These tips represent millions of hours of combined BlackBerry use. Some are short and sweet; others are slightly more in depth. All will help you get the most out of your Storm. And if you ever run into a problem you can’t solve or a question you can’t find the answer to in this book, look no further than www.crackberry.com.

If a paragraph sports this normal, it means we’re talking about BlackBerry Storm smart phones that are provided by your employer.

This normal highlights an important point that you don’t want to forget because it just might come up again. We’d never be so cruel as to spring a pop quiz on you, but paying attention to this detail can definitely help you.

This book rarely delves into the geeky, technical details, but when it does, this normal warns you. Read on if you want to get under the hood a little, or just skip ahead if you aren’t interested in the gory details.

Here’s where you can find not-so-obvious tricks that can make you a BlackBerry Storm power user in no time. Pay special attention to the paragraphs with this normal to get the most out of your Storm.

Look out! This normal tells you how to avoid trouble before it starts.

Where to Go from Here

If you want to find out more about the book or have a question or comment for the authors, please visit us at any of the following:

www.blackberryfordummies.com

www.crackberry.com

Give Chapter 1 a quick look to get an idea of where this book takes you and then feel free to head straight to your chapter of choice.

Part I

Meet and Greet Your BlackBerry Storm

In this part . . .

The road to a happy and collaborative relationship with your BlackBerry Storm starts here. Chapter 1 covers all the nuts and bolts: how the Storm works, its look and feel, and connectivity. Chapter 2 describes how you navigate with the virtual keys. Chapter 3 discusses customizing your BlackBerry and also how to take care of your device.

Chapter 1

Your BlackBerry Is Not an Edible Fruit

In This Chapter

Checking out your BlackBerry behind the scenes

Seeing what your BlackBerry can do

Saving power and feeling secure

Because you’re reading this book, you probably have a BlackBerry Storm (and we’re pretty sure that you’re not eating it). We’re just curious, though — what convinced you to buy this particular smart phone? Was it the touch screen? Was it the always-connected e-mail? The multimedia player to replace your iPod or iPhone? Or was it the really good sales pitch? We know; the list could go on and on — and we might never hit on the exact reason you got yours. For whatever reason you got your BlackBerry, congratulations; you made an intelligent choice.

The same smarts that made you buy your BlackBerry Storm are clearly at it again. This time, your intelligence led you to pick up this book, perhaps because your intuition told you there’s more to your BlackBerry Storm than meets the eye.

Your hunch is right. Your Storm can help you do more than you supposed. For example, your BlackBerry is a whiz at making phone calls, but it’s also a computer that can check your e-mail and surf the Web. We’re talking World Wide Web here, so the sky’s the limit. Help is always at your fingertips rather than sitting on some desk at home or at the office:

Need to check out the reviews of that restaurant on the corner?

Need to know — right now — what’s showing in your local movie theaters, or what’s coming in the weather tonight, or what’s the best place to shop the sales?

Need to know your current location and get directions to that cozy bed-and-breakfast, or retrieve news headlines, or check stock quotes?

Want to do some online chatting or view some pictures online?

Hanker to network with your old classmates?

You can do all these things (and more) by using your BlackBerry Storm.

Storm is also a full-fledged personal digital assistant (PDA). Out of the box, it provides you with the organizational tools you need to set up to-do lists, manage your appointments, take care of your address books, and more.

Being armed with a device that’s a phone, an Internet connection, a PDA, and a full-on media player all built into one makes you a powerful person. With your Storm (along with this resourceful book), you really can increase your productivity and become better organized. Watch out, world! BlackBerry Storm–wielding powerhouse coming through!

If you stick with us, you will find out all you need to get the most out of your device or maybe even save a troubled relationship. (Well, the last one is a bit of an exaggeration, but we got your attention, right?)

How It All Works: The Schematic Approach

For those who always ask, “How do they do that?” you don’t have to go far; this little section is just for you.

The role of the network service provider

Along with wondering how your BlackBerry Storm works, you might be wondering why you had to get your Storm through a network service provider such as Verizon or Telus rather than directly from RIM (Research In Motion). Why did you need to go through a middleman? After all, RIM makes BlackBerry Storm.

That’s an excellent question — and here’s the quick-and-dirty answer. RIM needs a delivery system — a communication medium, as it were — for its technology to work. Not in a position to come up with such a delivery system all by its lonesome, RIM partnered (and built alliances across the globe) with what developed into its network service providers — the usual suspects (meaning the big cellphone companies). These middlemen support the wireless network for your BlackBerry Storm so you can connect to the BlackBerry Internet service — and get all those wonderful e-mails (and spend so much valuable time surfing the Internet). See Figure 1-1 for an overview of this process.

Know your BlackBerry history

Your BlackBerry Storm is truly wondrous, boasting many features beyond your ordinary mobile phone. And its “sudden” popularity didn’t happen overnight. Like any other good product, BlackBerry Storm has come a long way from its (relatively humble) beginnings.

In the days when the Palm Pilot ruled the PDA world, Research In Motion (RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry) was busy in its lab, ignoring the then-popular graffiti input method and designing a device with a QWERTY keyboard — the kind of keyboard people were used to from working on their computers. RIM didn’t stop there, however. It added an always-connected e-mail capability, making this device a must-have among government officials as well as finance and health professionals.

To meet the needs of government officials and industry professionals, RIM made reliability, security, and durability the priorities when manufacturing its devices. Today, BlackBerry Storm comes from the same line of RIM family products, inheriting all the good genes while boosting usability and adding more functions to its core BlackBerry applications. As a result, BlackBerry is popular among not only prosumers (professional customers), but also consumers. Starting with BlackBerry Pearl, RIM has been targeting the mainstream consumer market. Clearly, with BlackBerry Storm, RIM is winning the hearts of consumers while maintaining its hold on the enterprise market.

Figure 1-1: Your e-mail travels to your BlackBerry through service providers.

Network service providers don’t build alliances for nothing, right? In return, RIM gave them the right to brand their names on the BlackBerry they offer for sale. For example, a Verizon BlackBerry Storm looks different from a similar model you get from TELUS Canada.

Do BlackBerry functionalities differ from phone model to phone model? Quick answer: With the core BlackBerry applications (such as Tasks and Contracts), you find no major differences. Other features, such as Instant Messaging, might or might not be supported by the network service provider.

Just to keep the scorecard straight, when we talk about features available from one network service provider that aren’t available from others, we point that out.

Connecting to your computer

Nowadays, a personal laptop or net book is a household necessity. People spend so much time on them, and so much information is stored in them. No surprise that BlackBerry works hand-in-hand with your PC. The USB cable that comes with your BlackBerry does more than just charge your device.

Part IV helps you use your PC connection with the help of BlackBerry Desktop Manager and all the utilities that come with it. In Chapter 15, you find how to sync your device with the Personal Information Manager data that you keep in your PC. You can also read Chapter 16 for directions for switching from another device (even a non-BlackBerry device) to a new BlackBerry. For example, you find out how to import your contacts list into your new BlackBerry. Chapter 17 tells you how to protect your data.

If you have a Mac instead of a PC, there is now BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac. Check out Chapter 15 for more.

Oh, the Things You Can Do!

In the BlackBerry world, it used to be that always-connected e-mail was the primary factor that made BlackBerry attractive and is likely first in the long list of reasons you got yours.

With Storm you get that, but the touch screen is the center of all attention these days. The touch screen on Storm is a work of art (and science) and a beautiful part of the device. Just hop off your flight, turn on your BlackBerry, and voila: You can receive and send e-mails whether you’re in Hong Kong, London, or Paris. Your significant other can get in touch with you wherever you are — just to say hi or to remind you that you promised Aunt Edna a case of Chanel No. 5.

Although e-mail is BlackBerry’s strength, it’s not the only major benefit of the device, as you find out in this section.

All-in-one multimedia center

Previously, many people hesitated to buy a BlackBerry due to the lack of multimedia functions. They wanted a camera and audio and full video playback. BlackBerry Storm has changed all that and has more features than you may expect. Not only does Storm have a high-resolution camera — 3.2 megapixels, to be exact — but it also has a memory slot for a microSD card (see Chapter 2). What does that mean? Well, it means your BlackBerry can function as the following:

A music and video player that support all the common file formats

A portable flash drive

Your personal photo collection

On top of all that, Storm offers a touch-screen virtual QWERTY keyboard.

Internet at your fingertips

Yup, with the new BlackBerry Web browser on Storm, you can surf the Net nearly as smoothly as you do on a desktop computer. Even better, you can continue chatting with your friends through Instant Messenger, just as though you never left your office. You’ll get an alert when your stock is tanking. True, that isn’t fun, but you want this information as fast as possible.

Intrigued? Read how Storm can take full advantage of the Web in Chapter 10.

Me and my great personal assistant

You might be saying, “But I’m really a busy person, and I don’t have time to browse the Web. What I do need is an assistant to help me better organize my day-to-day tasks.” If you can afford a personal assistant, by all means go ahead and hire one. The next best thing is a personal digital assistant (PDA). Just as people come in many flavors, so do many PDAs.

Whip out that BlackBerry of yours and take a closer look. That’s right, your BlackBerry is also a full-fledged PDA, helping you be more productive and much more:

Remember all your acquaintances (see Chapter 4)

Manage your appointments (Chapter 5)

Set alarms and keep your passwords (Chapter 6)

A touch-screen PC in the palm of your hand

Touch screen? Check.

Remarkable communication device? Check.

Full-fledged PDA? Check.

These capabilities are just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t underestimate the device because of its size: Your Storm is also a powerful computer.

Need convincing? Here goes. Out of the box, with no fiddling, it comes with a great set of organizational and productivity tools in the form of programs. Software developers outside RIM are taking advantage of this growing market — which means hundreds of applications are available. For example, you can download graphics-intensive games or a mortgage calculator.

Download? Absolutely! BlackBerry Storm comes with BlackBerry App World, which lets you download applications OTA, or over the air. See Chapter 18 for more

Look, Dad, no hands!

Your Storm is equipped with an earphone that doubles as a mic for hands-free talking. This accessory is your doctor’s prescription for preventing the stiff neck that comes from wedging your Storm between your ear and your shoulder. At the minimum, it helps free your hands so you can eat Chinese takeout. Some places require you by law to use an earphone while driving (but only when you’re talking on a cellphone, of course).

We don’t recommend using your cellphone while driving, hands-free or not.

But RIM didn’t stop with just your standard wired earphones. BlackBerry also supports cool wireless earphones based on Bluetooth technology. How could a bizarrely colored tooth help you here? Bluetooth is the name for a (very) short-distance wireless technology that connects devices. See Chapter 14 for how to connect your BlackBerry to a Bluetooth headset.

Chew on a BlackBerry Storm

Reliability and quality were probably your main concerns when you decided on BlackBerry Storm. Will the product last? Will it perform like the manufacturer says? Will I regret having bought this item six months down the road? This section looks at some of the hardware features that make buying the BlackBerry device a wise purchase.

BlackBerry OS 5.0

When the Storm rolled out, there was lots of talk about sluggishness with OS 4.7. With the new OS 5.0, which ships with Storm and Storm2, the user interface has improved greatly, with fast response time and an overall improvement over OS 4.7, true to the BlackBerry reputation.

Saving power

Anyone with BlackBerry experience knows that the BlackBerry is a highly efficient power consumer, but the addition of a colored, high-resolution touch screen has weakened the power efficiency. Power requirements have increased so much that you need to recharge roughly every two days.

We know frequent recharging is a bit of a hassle. but hey, now you have a sweet media player on deck!

Putting a sentry on duty

The virtual world isn’t exempt from general human nastiness; in fact, every day a battle is fought between those who are trying to attack a system and those who are trying to protect it. Fortunately, security is a BlackBerry strong point.

A computer connected to the Internet faces an extra risk of being cracked by a hacker or infected by a virus. Viruses try to replicate themselves and generally bug you. Viruses often come as e-mail attachments. However, BlackBerry supports few file types out of the box (mostly images and documents). You won’t face threats from e-mails with these attachments. And data that you send to or get from the PDA is encrypted (coded) to prevent snooping.

See Chapter 3 for information on setting up a password for your BlackBerry.

Chapter 2

Navigating the BlackBerry Storm

In This Chapter

Checking out the features of your BlackBerry Storm

Introducing the touch screen

Finding out how to type with your BlackBerry Storm’s virtual keyboards

You might have heard that the BlackBerry Storm is different from the other BlackBerry smart phones. From the outside, BlackBerry Storm has been completely revamped. Not only is it sleek and slim, but it also has a brighter, bigger, and higher-resolution screen than the older models. But what makes it fundamentally different? It has a touch screen.

What? No more trackball? No more QWERTY keyboard? How do you select and scroll with the touch screen? What can you do with it? We answer those questions in this chapter. Bear with us, and you will be master of your BlackBerry Storm in no time.

Exploring Your BlackBerry’s Face

In this section we show you all the keys and features on your BlackBerry Storm. You can see them in Figure 2-1.

First, read about the major features:

SurePress touch screen: This screen is the graphical user interface (GUI) on your BlackBerry Storm. It lets you point to things using your finger instead of having to type.

VirtualQWERTY keyboard: This is available on the Storm while you’re typing when you tilt the screen on its side (horizontally). You see all the keys individually as you would on a QWERTY BlackBerry. The QWERTY keyboard can also be shown in portrait mode (when the screen is vertical) by changing the Options.

VirtualSureType keyboard: This keyboard layout appears while you’re typing with your Storm in portrait mode. Each virtual SureType key contains two letters. If you tweak the Screen/Keyboard Options, the SureType keyboard will not show up.

Escape key: This key cancels a selection or returns you to a previous page in an application. The escape key is the arrow key to the left of the end key.

Menu key (BlackBerry key): This key displays the full menu of the application you’re using. Also, if you press and hold the menu key, it shows you a list of applications currently running. It’s like pressing Alt+Tab on a PC. See the “Switching applications” section, at the end of the chapter, for more.

Convenience keys: Your BlackBerry Storm has two convenience keys that are, by default, preprogrammed to open an application. In Chapter 3, we show you how to reprogram the convenience keys to display the programs you use the most.

microSD slot: You can access the microSD slot by removing the back cover, but without removing the battery. The microSD slot is a crucial element of your BlackBerry media experience.

Send key: This key takes you straight to the Phone application, regardless of which application you’re currently using. If you’re already in the Phone application, the send key starts dialing the number you entered.

End/Power key: Use this key to end your call. If you’re not on a phone call, this key allows you to jump back to the Home screen from wherever you are. Press and hold this key to turn your BlackBerry on or off.

Most BlackBerry users exit an application to return to the Home screen by pressing the End key. However, this doesn’t actually close the application; instead, it leaves it the app running in the background. Yes, your Storm is a multitasking machine! (Holding down the menu key for an extra moment displays all open apps, allowing you to move between them quickly.) Although multitasking is a benefit, leaving an unused app running hogs your Storm’s precious memory resources, especially when that app is pulling data in regularly over your wireless connection. Make it a habit to close unused applications. You can do this by pressing the menu key in an open application and touch-pressing Close, which is typically the last choice on an app’s menu. You can also back your way out of most open apps by pressing the Escape/Back key repeatedly until you reach the Home screen. Closing unused apps helps keep your Storm running lightning fast.

Mute key: Use this key to mutes a call when you’re on a call.

Lock key: Press this key to quickly lock the BlackBerry screen. You’d use this when you want to put your BlackBerry in your pocket and prevent accidental typing, for instance.

Figure 2-1: The main BlackBerry Storm features are here, including a popular e-mail and SMS alert program called PeeKaWho.

With so many combinations of settings available in your Storm, Research In Motion ships the device with defaults that should be acceptable to most users, though they may not be ideal for you. One of the first option screens a new Storm owner should visit is Screen/Keyboard, under Options. At the bottom is Touchscreen settings. Many people find that setting Sensitivity to High and the Tap Interval and Hover Period to their lowest setting (100) yields the best performance, as does setting Key Rate, also found on this screen, to Fast. Do your own experimenting to see what feels best for you. You’ll be using your touch screen a lot, so you definitely want it dialed in just right.

Using the SurePress Touch Screen

When you first turn on your BlackBerry, the display screen displays the Home screen, which is your introduction to your BlackBerry Storm’s graphical user interface. The different normals represent the different applications in your BlackBerry.

If you tilt your BlackBerry sideways, the screen follows you.

We use these terms to show you how to interact with your BlackBerry Storm:

Tap by lightly touching. This action allows you to highlight a choice in a list or place the typing cursor in a particular place. Tapping does not, however, select or confirm a choice.

Touch-press by firmly touching and pressing on something to select it.

Finger-swipe by moving your finger from left to right or right to left across the screen. Usually, you use this action to go from one page to another page.

Finger-scroll by keeping your finger on the touch screen and moving up, down, left, or right on the screen. You scroll to different parts of the screen.

Applications have a row of normals on the bottom of the screen. You can access these shortcuts without using the menu key. If this is your first touch-screen device, play and have fun with it. Trust us; it won’t bite.

Tapping the Keyboards: QWERTY and SureType

Surprised by the heading of this section? Just when you thought the term QWERTY wasn’t going to be part of this book, it is. That’s right. In the following sections, we talk about the onscreen — or virtual — keyboards that you use to enter information.

Virtual QWERTY keyboard

You see the virtual QWERTY keyboard appear if you tilt your BlackBerry Storm sideways while entering text into a text field. See Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2: This BlackBerry Storm displays its virtual QWERTY keyboard.

You can hide the virtual keyboard by pressing the menu key and touch-pressing Hide Keyboard.