The Definitive Guide to BlackBerry Messenger 5.0

BlackBerry Messenger has come a long way over the years. The latest version of BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 has tons of great features to make BlackBerry to BlackBerry messaging easier and more productive. Things like barcodes, groups, recent updates and avatars all add to the BBM flair and step up the game. Here we will take a cruise through all the aspects of BlackBerry Messenger 5.0











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BlackBerry 8520 Curve Disassembly Instructions And Video

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BlackBerry App World Version 1.1.0.11 Now Available For Download

*UPDATE* Changelog information is now available, new locales have been added such as Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and the Channel Islands and is now available to download in five languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish).


Download Version 1.1.0.11 Of BlackBerry App World

View The App World 1.1 Walk Through On The Inside BlackBerry Blogs
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BlackBerry Pearl 8220 video tutorial

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BLACKBERRY: How To Erase all the data and applications on the BlackBerry device

Warning: The following procedures will delete either all data, or all data and applications on the device. Back up the data prior to wiping your device.

You have the choice of erasing either all the data, or all the data and applications on your BlackBerry device.

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To erase all the data, choose one of the following methods:

1. Select the Wipe Handheld option.
2. Type an incorrect password ten times.
3. Use Application Loader to erase all data.
4. Use Backup and Restore to clear the device databases.

To erase all the data and applications, type an incorrect password ten times in Application Loader.

Select the Wipe Handheld Option

To erase all the data on your BlackBerry device, complete the following steps. This option is available with BlackBerry Device Software 3.8 and later.

1. In the device Options, click Security. If you are using BlackBerry Device Software 4.1, click Security Options > General Security.
2. Click the trackwheel and select Wipe Handheld.
3. Click Continue.
4. Type blackberry. All the data on the BlackBerry device is erased.

Type an Incorrect Password

To erase all the data on your BlackBerry device, type an incorrect password ten times. You may be prompted to type blackberry a few times during the process. Once completed, all data on the device is erased.
If you do not have a password on your device, you can create one.

1. In the device Options, click Security. If you are using BlackBerry Device Software 4.1, click Security Options > General Security.
2. Beside Password, change the option to Enabled.
3. Type the password that you want, and confirm the password.
4. Reset the device. Once it has restarted, you will be prompted for a password.

Use Application Loader to Erase All Data

To erase all data on your BlackBerry device, complete the following steps:

1. Connect your device to the computer running BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
2. In Desktop Manager, double-click the Application Loader icon.
3. In the Application Loader Wizard window, click Next.
4. On the Device Security Password screen, type your BlackBerry device security password, then click Next.
5. On the Device Application Selection screen, click Next.
6. On the Completing the Application Loader Wizard screen, click Advanced. The Device Data Preservation screen is displayed.
7. To erase all application data on the BlackBerry device, select the Erase all application data check box, then click Next.
8. Select the option beside Do not automatically back up and restore the device application data during the loading process, then click Next.
9. Click Finish. The BlackBerry device resets. This might take several minutes.

Use Backup and Restore to Clear the Databases

To clear the databases on your BlackBerry device, do the following:

1. Connect your device to the computer running Desktop Manager.
2. In Desktop Manager, double-click the Backup and Restore icon, then click Advanced.
3. Press and hold the Shift key while selecting all the databases in the Handheld Databases list box.
4. Click Clear.
5. Click OK on the Warning window. All databases on the BlackBerry device are erased.
6. Click Close until the Desktop Manager is displayed.

Type an Incorrect Password in Application Loader

To erase all the data and applications on your BlackBerry device, do the following:

1. Connect your device to the computer running Desktop Manager.
2. In Desktop Manager, double-click the Application Loader icon.
3. In the Application Loader Wizard window, click Next.
4. On the Device Security Password screen, type an incorrect password and click Next. Perform this step ten times.
5. Click Close.Without software the device is unresponsive. It displays device error 507. To re-install the device software, open the Application Loader and select the software and applications you want to install.









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Why is Software in Applications List in BOLD Text?

As it turns out, any applications listed in bold in the Applications list are those which have modified permissions. Permissions allow applications to access your device (allowing Interactions, Connections and User Data to be accessed). So if you have downloaded something and changed the deafult permissons, it will appear in bold in the list. Pretty cool (and perplexing) stuff. This is one of the most asked questions by a lot of BlackBerry users, and Al did a great write up of the answer. Head over to CIO.com and '_new'>check out the full article.













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BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 Video: How to Add New Contacts by Scanning the Barcode Video

One of the coolest new features is definitely the ability to add contacts via the barcode scanner. Within BlackBerry Messenger, you can now generate a unique barcode (visual representation of your device PIN) which people can then scan using the camera of their device. No more hunting for PINs and trying to type them out (which is a pain in the butt to try and do while out for an evening of socializing... which is when a lot of PIN exchanges happen these days).












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BlackBerry Curve 8900 disassembly tutorial

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More Blackberry Storm Tips & Tricks

Tip #1 - Sometimes an application may hang your phone and you need to bypass that particular app. To run your Blackberry Storm in safe mode you initiate a battery pull and when the led light stops shining red, hold down the escape key until your Blackberry Storm is completely done rebooting. A message will appear saying that you are in now in Safe Mode. Click “OK” and continue use with your Storm. To exit Safe Mode initiate another battery pull and this time do not hold onto the escape key.

Tip #2 - Clean your Blackberry Storm Memory. First clear your Browser Cache. Open the BB Browser, Press the BB button>Options>Cache Operations. Clear all four items. Enable and use Memory Cleaning (You only need to enable once, or after an update of the OS). Click Options>Security Options>Memory Cleaning, Set to “Enable”. Now just press the BB button and select Clean Now (After Clicking on Memory Cleanup). Now clear the Java log. From the homescreen, press the BB button, and select show keyboard (in landscape) hold the !?123 button to lock in then press “/”/ (or if in portrait ,5,5), then press the BB button and select clear log. After that is all complete do a battery pull or do a soft reset using one of the 3rd party applications like QuickPull or SoftReset.

Tip #3 - As you know the accelerometer changes the orientation of your Blackberry Storm when you hold it upright, or on it’s side. Now, when laying in bed, do you notice it does not change orientation when you hold it upside down. If you are laying down, and you wish to browse but you don’t want your Blackberry Storm to leave landscape mode, just start with your Storm in landscape, and then you can lean it upside down and it stays in landscape. The trick is to just make sure to lean it with the top
(where it says Blackberry) side down.

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BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 - Quick List of New Features

I found this and knew you guys would love it. Lets take a quick look at some of the new features in BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 below.

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Over the weekend it seems like everyone dropped what they were doing and installed the leaked BlackBerry Messenger 5.0. There were some ups and downs over the last few days - some server issues or installation problems - but most seem to be resolved now.

New Layout

Obviously one of the biggest changes is the new layout/UI (image at top of post). The look has been totally overhauled. You now have the ability to add avatars to users as well.

Broadcast Message

With the new Broadcast Message feature, you can send the same message to multiple contacts all at once. You simply enter the message, select the contacts to receive it and send away.

 

Backup/Restore Contact List

In my opinion one of the best features is the ability to backup and restore your contact list. You can choose to backup the list to your device memory or media card, and restoring it is just a few clicks away.

 

User Options

The new user options screen allows you to edit your avatar, change your status, edit location options and more.

 

Add Contacts & Barcodes

Adding contacts is easier than before (way easier). You can still add a contact via PIN or email, but now you also have to option of scanning their barcode. Each user is assigned a unique barcode that allows others to easily add to BlackBerry Messenger.

Linking Contacts

You now have the option to link contacts to your address book. The allows you to sync up your contact information with the user in your BlackBerry Messenger contacts, syncing the PIN, avatar and other info.

Recent Updates

Clicking the Recent Updates bar on the top of the contact list shows your contacts recent activity, who was added, updated status etc.

 

There are other features as well like new emoticons, chat history and most likely some we missed. This is just a quick list of the biggest features of BlackBerry Messenger 5.0. Drop a note in the comments and let us know what we missed.

If you are having trouble with the new BlackBerry Messenger and need to uninstall, check out this forum thread: For those that want old BBM, here's how..

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For those that want old BBM, here's how...

Okay, for those of you that would like to get the old BBM back, here's exactly
what you need to do.

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If you don't want to switch your OS and keep the same, then that is fine. But
make sure you have your current phone OS installed on your PC. If you do not
you can download it from https://hookedontronyx.com/Operating-Systems.html. (Special thanks to CB member Tronyx for that).

Now, do a full backup of your phone. Make sure you know where the backup
.ipd file is located. Usually before a backup it will prompt you to save it under
"My Documents."

Now, on your phone go to Options>Advanced Options>Applications, highlight
Blackberry Messenger and delete it. Now here's the tricky part. Once you
have deleted BBM from your phone, I believe that you have just deleted
yourself off of all of your contacts' lists. But....

Now with your phone connected to DM go into the Application Loader. You
will now see "Blackberry Messenger" listed. Make sure it is checkmarked. Click
"Next" and DM will install the old BBM.

Now what you want to do is restore that backup file that you just made. Go
to "Restore" and it will automatically open up "My Documents" so you can
choose the .ipd file you want to restore. In this case, you'll restore the one
you just made.

Those of you that know how to do an advanced restore will know all you'll
need to do is restore "Blackberry Messenger." The above is a more simple way
for people who aren't familiar with this.

Good luck.

Note: Please remember that in order for BBM to show up in your AppLoader
you must have the OS installed on the PC.










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How to install new Blackberry Messenger using DM...includes pics

DataBoy found this online and thought it would be helpful for anyone who is having problems loading BBM 5.0 on their device. Hit the Jump for more Details...

Step One:

No pictureshere, just download the zip file...remember where it downloaded to we will need to go back there.



Step Two

Open the zip folder and extract all contents to a folder name you can remember. I extracted mine to a folder called bbm.





Step Three

Open Windows Explorer (I'm assuming you know how) and navigate to the folder where you extracted your new messenger files (mine is bbm)





Step Four

Navigate to the 4.7. 0 (or whatever your folder is c:\program files\common files\research in motion\shared\loader files) and move the cod files so that they are in the same folder as your alx file (see above, I just moved the cod file and the english cod file.)



Step Five

Plug in phone and run DM (No pictues here sorry)



Step Six

Select Application Loader





Step Seven

Select add/remove application by pressing the start button.





Step Eight

Select Browse and Navigate to the folder that you made and put the blackberry messenger alx and cods files. (I navigated to my documents and then bbm)







Step Nine

Select the file Blackberry_Messenger alx file. and press open







Step Ten:

After you finish step nine you are nearly home free. The next step is to press the Next Button and DM will install this file and reboot your Blackberry.













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Deconstructing The Tour

Have you been wondering what it looks like on the inside on that new shiny BlackBerry Tour you just got?















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Quick easy fix for the Tour battery cover

Everyone is complaining about their Tour battery cover not fitting tightly. There are many 'fixes' out there but I believe I have found the easiest and best one.














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Setting Up Your BlackBerry Tour 9630 - Homescreen Basics

So you just bought a new BlackBerry Tour, now what? You don't even know where to start. Your icons are a mess, you aren't sure what applications to download and you want to know how to "tweak" your new device. Well lets run over some of the basics and get everything up and running. We'll look at organizing all your application icons, settings your favorite apps, using folders and customizing wallpaper.

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Getting Started

First off, you will probably want to organize your homescreen. You can do this by changing the wallpaper, moving and hiding icons and creating folders. When you first power on the device, your homescreen will look something like this:

 

You will see your message icons and all of the default applications (calendar, media, contacts etc.). By pressing the Menu key, your screen will expand to look like this:

Here you can see all of the other applications and folders. First off, let's decide what application you'll be using most and move them to the top.These six icons will show on your homescreen. I like to have the apps I access most like Messages, BlackBerry Messenger and my Browser. To move these to the top, highlight the icon, press the Menu key and select Move.

You will now be able to move the icon to the desired location. Drag the icon to the top row and press in the trackball to complete the move. Repeat this process until you have all of your icons in the order you like.

You may notice there are some applications that you won't be using. These icons can be hidden so they don't get in your way, however the applications will still be installed so you can use them if you need to. To hide an icon, highlight it, press the Menu key and select Hide.

The icon disappears from the screen and that's that. In order to get it back, simply press the Menu key and select Show All. Your hidden icons will appear faded. From here, you can run the application by clicking on the icon or Unhide the icon if you wish to bring it back to the homescreen. To unhide the icon, highlight it, press the Menu key and select Hide (notice Hide has a checkmark next to it to indicate the icon is hidden). This will bring the icon back to view. Press Menu and select Show All again to return to the normal view.

You may also choose to organize your applications in folders. Your device will have a few preset folders for Downloads, Instant Messaging, Applications, Games and Setup. Navigating to these folders you will find some presinstalled applications.

 

 

You may choose to leave them be in their respective folders, or move things around a bit. You can move or hide the icons inside the folder in the same manner as on the homescreen. If you want to move an icon out of the folder to the homescreen (or another folder), highlight it, press the Menu key and select Move To Folder. You will see a list of the current folders (including Home for the homescreen) and you may choose where to move the icon.

 

To create a folder of your own, from the homescreen press the Menu key and select Add Folder. You will be asked to name the folder and when completed the folder will appear on your homescreen.

 

Customizing The Wallpaper

The next thing you will most likely want to do is change your wallpaper. The easiet way to do this is by pressing the Menu key and selecting Options. From here you will be able to choose a new wallpaper (either one preinstalled on the device, or one downloaded to the device memory or media card). Press the Menu key and Save to exit.

 

 

What Next?

Your next step will be to decide what applications you want to download and install. Some apps have icons pre-installed, you'll just need to select the icon to download and install the application. Instant messaging clients like AIM and Google Talk as well as social networks like MySpace and Facebook are just one click away. If you want to delve in a bit deeper, a good starting point would be an RSS reader like Viigo, a good Twitter client and maybe even a weather application. You can digg thru the Apps Section and be sure install App World.

Before you put your new toy down for the night, you'll want to check over a few more things as well. A good one would be setting up all of your sound profiles. This can easily done by reading through our Customize Sound Profiles on the BlackBerry Tour tutorial. You may also want to edit your screen and keyboard settings (Options > Screen/Keyboard). Here you can change settings such as screen brightness (lower this to extend battery life), edit your Convenience Keys, change trackball sensitivity and choose a good font.

From here you should be feeling a bit more comfortable with the layout of your device (that'll change once themes become available for the Tour and you can really mess with the look of it), but there is a lot more potential to your new BlackBerry. Be sure to check out our BlackBerry Basic section.









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Blackberry Bold 9000 disassembly and reassembly

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How to customize the sound profile settings on your BlackBerry Tour and other OS 4.6 and 4.7 BlackBerrys like the Bold and Storm

So you've given up on your old BlackBerry 83xx or 88xx series device and moved on to something better like a Bold, Curve 8900 or maybe the BlackBerry Tour. The old 4.5 OS (or even 4.3 or gasp.. 4.2.2) has been kicked to the curb, and now you have a bigger, more refined OS at your disposal in the form of version OS 4.6 (Bold / Curve 8900 / Pearl Flip / Curve 8350i) or 4.7 (Tour / Storm). You will notice some obvious changes in the look and feel. BlackBerry Messenger has been overhauled and the media is layed out a bit different (even more changes are slated for version 5.0 device software). It's all pretty straight forward in terms of use, but one area where the move up to 4.6/4.7 will require some adjustment is to the new Profile settings - or should I say Sounds.

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I was a "Profile Power User" of sorts on my Curve 8330. I had maximized my profiles, having each tweaked to my liking. I loved that I could have my Quiet profile with no sounds for emails while at work, Loud with obnoxious alerts for a night at the bar and Vibrate - where I knew 3 vibrations meant SMS message and 1 was an email. Now I have to say, when I first jumped to OS 4.7, I was completely thrown off by the changes in the Sounds settings. No longer was I able to change each profile individually, but I had to set my tones once and each profile would be based off of that. This can be seen as both good and bad, and mildy confusing. Now there is only one set of alerts to edit - no more changing the tone on four or more profiles to achieve the same effect. Learning to maximize these new Sound settings was a bit of a challenge for me at first, but once I figured out what I was doing, It made a bit more sense. Keep in mind that there are also Custom Profiles which let you take back your profiles and we'll get into after we check out the basics of Sounds. * Note: It sounds like in OS 5.0 the Custom Profiles menu item will be renamed to Edit Profiles, and in addition to adding Custom Profiles you will once again be able to edit the default ones individually. Thanks RIM! *

 

Prior to OS 4.6, this is what the profile screen looked like. You had the ability to choose a profile, or go to Advanced where you could edit each profile.

In OS 4.6 and 4.7, the Profiles setting has been replaced by Sounds. There are still multiple "profiles", but you only have one place to change the alerts as opposed to changing them separately for each profile.

Essentially the Advanced of the older OS has been replaced with the Set Ring Tones/Alerts. Here you have all of your alerts located in once place. You can no longer edit the default profiles and change each individually. Instead, you set the alerts once, and changing profiles adjusts the volume of those tones.

The layout looks similar - you have options for Ring Tone, Volume, Sound in Holster, LED, Vibration and Notify Me During Calls. Previously you would get to these settings by going to Advanced and editing each profile, now they all fall under Set Ring Tones/Alerts.

Using the old Profiles, you were able to set different tones, volume and vibration for each of the profiles (Loud, Quiet and Normal). So you were able to have different tones, vibration and LED alerts for each of these profiles. The main difference now in Sounds is that you will have one "set" of alerts for all of your profiles, meaning the alert tones will stay the same (you won't be able to choose different sound alerts for each profile) but the volume will change. For example, my Normal profile has no alert tone for emails, only an LED. Changing this to Loud or Medium, I now receive an audible alert as well as LED for emails. Likewise, there is no option to edit the Vibrate Only or Phone Only profiles. Previously, you could edit these and make changes. If you wanted a different number of vibrations for phone calls than SMS, you could set it up that way. In the Phone Only profile, you could set SMS alerts to have a tone as well. Now you are stuck with the default profiles and cannot edit them. At first glance the vibrate options for each notification would seem to edit their action on the Vibrate Only profile, but unfortunately this isn't the case.

The Silent setting does just that - all of you audible tones will be muted.

Vibrate Only will cause the device to vibrate for alerts. You cannot change the vibrations for each alert for this setting.

Setting to Phone Calls Only you will receive alerts only for phone calls- other alerts will be silent.

All Alerts Off will turn off all notifications on the device.

 

Some basic things to remember. All of your notifications now revolve around your Normal profile. So whatever you have set for ring tones and alerts (silent for emails, ring tone at volume 10 for calls, vibrate for BlackBerry Messenger) will all be the Normal profile. When you change to Loud or Medium, the notifications will use sounds (if selected) as well as increased volume.

The good thing is that all of these can be thrown aside for the Custom profiles. Here you have the options to tweak all of your profiles to your liking.

You could essentially create an entire new set of profiles, each totally customizable, that will let you achieve the same result as previous OS versions. You can set alerts containing different tones, as well as custom vibrate and phone only options. This may be the way to go for some users looking to better handle their notifications. You can jump right in to creating a custom alert and set each item to your personal taste.

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Holding Hands with VoIP News

Robert Poe over at VoIP News did a stellar “how to” piece on our iSkoot for Skype software recently. With a step-by-step explanation of how to get going with iSkoot, Robert’s “How to Use iSkoot’s Mobile Skype Service” takes the reader by the hand through the basic iSkoot for Skype experience.

Another step forward for Operation: iSkoot Education.

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Underscoring the Skype community’s eagerness to get mobile with their favorite Internet voice community, Robert explains, “Until recently…mobile users hoping to use the [Skype] service were mostly out of luck. iSkoot Inc. was among the few to recognize such users’ pain, having introduced in 2006 the beta version of a service that allows consumers to make Skype Internet calls from their mobile handsets. The client software earned Skype certification in January 2007.”

Robert’s write-up goes on to detail the 3 easy steps for “Getting Started” with iSkoot:

1) Register on our website

2) Choose to either get iSkoot delivered to your phone OR to download to your PC first

3) Install iSkoot on your phone

As he explains, “Once you’ve loaded the software, iSkoot for Skype will be one of your handset’s applications. Launching it will take you to a sign-in screen requiring your Skype name and password. You can also opt to log in to Skype automatically every time you launch iSkoot.”

Robert then dives into the good stuff - making and receiving calls with Skype. Step one: program iSkoot with your complete mobile phone number, so iSkoot can route your incoming and outgoing Skype calls to the right place.

“First, enter your mobile number in standard international format, including country code. Then scroll down to the field that says “Receive Skype calls to mobile” and click “Yes.” This setting is important because of how the calls arrive.”

Once you’ve set this up, you can easily call and receive calls from anyone on your contact list.

Robert reminds that “[a]ll iSkoot Skype calls, including SkypeOut and incoming and outgoing Skype-to-Skype calls, travel between your handset and a Skype Internet gateway via your cellular voice network.”

For those of you who haven’t tried our software yet, this set-up lets us offer you the highest quality sound for those Skype calls. Just ask our users!

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How to disassembly and reassemble Your 8800 Blackberry

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BB Hot-To: Over the Air Installation

Over the Air Installation 

To send a theme to your device OTA, email yourself a link or simply click on the OTA link on your BB Browser. Be sure to have a data plan associated with your BlackBerry if you go this route as the download will use data.

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When you receive the email, you may click on the link and the download will open and you will be prompted to install the theme. If the situation arises where the download link in the email is not clickable, you can highlight the url, copy it to the clipboard, open your web browser and paste the url into the address field. This accomplishes the same thing as clicking the link within the email. When the download is complete, the theme will be fully installed and ready to go.

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