My BlackBerry Curve

Craig James Johnston has been involved in designing and supporting large-scale enterprise networks with integrated email and directory services since 1989. Although he has owned many PDAs, Craig was drawn in by the BlackBerry in 2000 and started down the path of supporting it almost exclusively by 2005. He has held many different IT-related positions in his career, ranging from sales support engineer to mobile-engineering an infrastructure with 35,000 BlackBerrys at a large bank. In addition to designing and supporting mobile computing environments, Craig writes about these topics for Smartphone and PDA Essentials magazine and CrackBerry.com, a leading BlackBerry blog. He also cohosts the CrackBerry.com podcast and his own Mobile Computing Authority podcast. He also wrote the book Professional BlackBerry.

P Prologue: Getting to Know the BlackBerry Curve Models . . . 3

BlackBerry Curve 8300 Series . . . 3

BlackBerry Curve 8310 . . . 4

BlackBerry Curve 8320 . . . 5

BlackBerry Curve 8330 . . . 6

BlackBerry Curve 8350i . . . 6

BlackBerry Curve 8900 . . . 8

BlackBerry Curve 8520 . . . 9

The BlackBerry Curve’s External Features . . . 10

BlackBerry Curve 8300 Series (8300, 8310, 8320, 8330, 8350i) . . . 10

BlackBerry Curve 8900 . . . 13

BlackBerry Curve 8520 . . . 16

Navigation and Typing . . . 19

Navigating . . . 19

Typing . . . 22

Installing the BlackBerry Desktop Software on Your Computer . . . 24

Installing BlackBerry Desktop Manager on Microsoft Windows . . . 26

Installing PocketMac for BlackBerry and Missing Sync for BlackBerry on the Apple Macintosh OS X . . . 28

Using This Book . . . 31

1 Making, Receiving, and Managing Calls . . . 35

Configuring Phone Settings . . . 35

Creating Your Own Ring Tones . . . 36

Creating Ring Tones with Mobicious . . . 36

Setting Phone Sounds . . . 38

Specifying a Ring Tone by Creating an Exception . . . 42

Specifying a Ring Tone Without Creating an Exception . . . 43

Setting Phone Sounds . . . 45

Making Calls . . . 54

Dialing with the Keypad . . . 54

Other Ways of Dialing with the Phone Application . . . 56

Managing In-Progress Calls . . . 60

Receiving Calls . . . 63

Answering Calls . . . 63

Answering Call Waiting Calls . . . 64

Managing Calls . . . 65

Working with Missed Calls . . . 65

Making Free Calls with Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 67

How UMA Works . . . 67

Benefits of UMA . . . 68

Which BlackBerry Curves Support UMA . . . 69

Setting Up UMA . . . 69

2 Managing Contacts . . . 73

Getting Contacts onto Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 73

Synchronizing with a Windows Computer . . . 74

Customizing How the Contacts Are Synchronized . . . 76

Synchronizing with an Apple Mac . . . 79

Creating Contacts on the Go . . . 84

Manually Entering Contact Information . . . 84

Adding a Contact from an Email . . . 86

Importing a vCard . . . 86

Working with Contacts . . . 87

Deleting a Contact . . . 88

Editing a Contact . . . 88

Adding a Picture for One of Your Contacts . . . 89

Adding a Custom Ring Tone for One of Your Contacts . . . 91

Configuring the Contacts Application . . . 92

Changing How the Contacts Application Works . . . 92

Synchronizing Contacts with Online Services . . . 94

Synchronizing with Google . . . 94

3 Listening to Audio and Watching Video. . . 99

Using Roxio Media Manager (Windows) . . . 99

Working with Roxio Media Manager . . . 100

Configuring Roxio Media Manager . . . 101

Using Roxio Media Manager . . . 107

Using BlackBerry Media Sync (Windows) . . . 110

Setting Up Media Sync . . . 110

Using PocketMac and Missing Sync for BlackBerry (Mac OS X) . . . 114

PocketMac for BlackBerry . . . 115

Missing Sync for BlackBerry . . . 117

Synchronizing Photos with Missing Sync . . . 118

Synchronizing Videos with Missing Sync . . . 121

Enjoying Multimedia on Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 122

The BlackBerry Curve Camera . . . 122

The BlackBerry Curve Media Player . . . 124

Working with Videos . . . 127

Working with Ring Tones . . . 128

Working with Pictures . . . 129

Working with Voice Notes . . . 132

Configuring the Media Player . . . 133

4 Connecting: Internet, Bluetooth, and VPNs . . . 137

Connecting to the Internet . . . 138

Connecting to the Internet Via Wi-Fi . . . 138

Connecting to an Invisible Wi-Fi Network . . . 141

Diagnosing Wi-Fi Network Issues . . . 143

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) . . . 146

Creating a VPN . . . 146

Connecting Via Bluetooth . . . 149

Pairing Your BlackBerry . . . 149

Bluetooth Options . . . 152

5 Email. . . 155

Configuring Email Accounts . . . 156

Setting Up Personal Email Accounts . . . 156

Setting Up a Corporate Email Account . . . 160

Working with Email . . . 162

Composing Email . . . 162

AutoText and Other Typing Tips . . . 167

Symbols and Accented Characters . . . 171

Copy and Paste . . . 172

Spell Checking Email . . . 174

Receiving and Reading Email . . . 174

Change the Type of Messages Listed . . . 176

Email Cleanup, Searching, and Management . . . 177

Message Options . . . 179

Corporate BlackBerry Email Settings . . . 183

Personal BlackBerry Email Settings . . . 184

Email Filters . . . 186

Email Reconciliation . . . 188

Spell Check . . . 190

Synchronizing BlackBerry Email Via a Mac . . . 191

PocketMac for BlackBerry Email Synchronization . . . 191

6 Surfing the Web. . . 195

The Different BlackBerry Browsers . . . 196

BlackBerry Browser . . .196

Internet Browser . . . 197

WAP Browser . . . 197

Hotspot Browser . . . 198

Configuring the Browser . . . 198

Browser General Properties . . . 202

Browser Cache Properties . . . 205

Using the Web Browser . . . 206

Browser Start Page . . . 206

Browsing the Web . . . 208

Bookmarking Websites . . . 213

Subscribe to RSS Feeds . . . 215

Searching Using the Web Browser . . . 217

Browsing with Only Wi-Fi Coverage . . . 218

7 Text Messaging,Multimedia Messaging, and BlackBerry PIN Messaging . . . 221

Configuring the New Text Message Sound . . . 222

Sending SMS Text Messages . . . 225

SMS Delivery Reports . . . 226

Receiving and Replying to SMS Text Messages . . . 227

Configuring the New Multimedia Message Sound . . . 228

Sending Multimedia Messages from the Messages Application . . . 230

Sending Multimedia Messages Directly . . . 233

Receiving and Replying to Multimedia Messages . . . 234

BlackBerry PIN Messages . . . 236

Sending a PIN Message . . . 237

8 Working with Date and Time and the Calendar . . . 241

Configuring Time,Date, and Calendar . . . 242

Configuring Time and Date . . . 242

Configuring the Calendar . . . 244

Conference Call Options . . . 247

Navigating the Calendar . . . 249

Changing Calendar Views . . . 250

Selecting the Calendar . . . 250

Using the Calendar . . . 251

Creating and Sending an Appointment . . . 251

Receiving and Responding to Appointments . . . 255

Configuring Alarms . . . 257

Synchronizing the Calendar with a PC and Mac . . . 258

Synchronize with Windows . . . 258

Synchronize with a Mac . . . 263

Missing Sync for BlackBerry . . . 266

The Clock Application . . . 267

Configuring the Clock Application . . . 268

Using the Clock . . . 272

9 Working with BlackBerry Applications . . . 277

BlackBerry App World . . . 278

Installing BlackBerry App World . . . 278

Creating a PayPal Account . . . 281

My World . . . 282

Categories . . . 283

Top Free and Top Paid . . . 286

Search . . . 287

BlackBerry Applications Not in BlackBerry App World . . . 288

Installing Applications Over the Air (OTA) . . . 288

Installing Applications Using a Computer . . . 289

Deleting BlackBerry Applications . . . 293

Deleting Applications on the Device . . . 293

Deleting Applications Using Your Desktop . . . 294

Deleting Applications Using PocketMac for BlackBerry . . . 296

Using BlackBerry Maps . . . 297

Loading BlackBerry Maps . . . 297

Find A Location . . . 299

Send Someone Your Location or Any Location . . . 300

Finding Places of Interest Around You . . . 301

10 Social Networking and Instant Messaging on Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 307

Instant Messaging . . . 308

IM Applications . . . 308

Using IM to Chat . . . 310

BlackBerry Messenger . . . 311

Social Networking . . . 315

Facebook . . . 315

Twitter . . . 322

QIK . . . 324

11 Customizing Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 327

BlackBerry Themes . . . 327

Changing Your Theme . . . 329

Changing Your Font . . . 330

Changing the Home Screen Image (Wallpaper) . . . 334

Rearranging Your Applications . . . 334

Securing Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 337

Setting Airplane Mode . . . 339

12 Maintaining Your BlackBerry Curve and Solving Problems . . . 341

Extending Battery Life . . . 341

Turn Your Radio Off in Low Signal Areas . . . 344

Turn Off Bluetooth . . . 344

Keeping Your BlackBerry Curve Clean and Safe . . . 345

Keeping Your BlackBerry Curve Up to Date . . . 346

Updating Over the Air (OTA) . . . 346

Updating with BlackBerry Desktop Manager . . . 347

Solving BlackBerry Curve Problems . . . 350

Soft-Reset Your BlackBerry . . . 350

Hard-Reset Your BlackBerry . . . 350

Cycle the Radios . . . 351

Wipe Your BlackBerry . . . 351

Performing a Wipe . . . 352

Don’t Run Out of Memory . . . 354

Getting Help with Your BlackBerry Curve . . . 355

Index . . . 356