newBBie.com

What do you need to know about using (or not) your BlackBerry on an airplane? The short answer is that you will be directed to turn off your cellular telephone shortly before take-off, and you will be allowed to turn it on shortly after landing. But…your BlackBerry is a smartphone, not just a cellular telephone! There are different rules for “portable electronic devices” (e.g., laptop computers, handheld games, MP3 players, video cameras, and PDAs). What if you want to use your phone like a portable electronic device to listen to music, watch a video, compose a message to send later, take pictures, play a game, run an application, etc.? This post digs a bit deeper into the issue than your airline crew or their in-flight information magazine will explain. Read more »

A media card is one of the most important accessories you need for your BlackBerry (BB). There is simply not enough memory in the phone alone to fully enjoy some of the coolest features that come with your BB: beautiful music playback, crystal-clear photos and videos, voice recording, etc. This article answers some basic but critical questions:

• Why exactly do I need a media card?
• Will a media card help with my low memory problems?
• Which card should I buy? Where? For how much?
• What can I store on the media card? What can I not store on it?
• How do I manage the media content on the card?
• Are there any “secret” tricks I should know?
• What are common problems and solutions with media cards?

Read more »

Ever tried to watch a video and your display kept going dark because of the backlight timeout? The maximum time you can set it for is 2 minutes but normally I have mine set to 30 seconds to save on battery charge. What about when you’re a passenger* in a car using Google Maps or BlackBerry Maps to help with directions–same problem? Have to keep clicking the trackball to get the display to come back on? Well, there is an old BlackBerry app from years ago that I dug up that surprisingly works for the new 8130: BBLight. This app gives you several ways to keep your display lit when you want but with enough safeguard to keep from draining your battery. Read more »

This is extremely cool: The Pearl 8130 can be programmed to turn its power on and off with separate ”on” and “off” times for weekdays and weekends.

Do: Options (main screen icon) > Auto On/Off. Read more »