Cellular
Call Timer on BlackBerry Curve
Feb 1st
If your like me, you like to know how much time you spend on a call after you end it. This is particularly useful for business people who need to know how much time they spend on a support call, etc for time logging purposes. Up until now, on Blackberry Curves, you have to navigate your way through the menus, go to call history, find the call you were just on, go to the menu again and show details… All to just see how much time you spent on the last call.
There is a new software update for Blackberry Curves that now show an active call timer on the screen during and after the call.
To update your Blackberry, go to www.blackberry.com (http://www NULL.blackberry NULL.com) and download the "Blackberry Desktop Manager" tool. Once you download and install, connect your Blackberry to your PC via the USB cable provided with your phone. If you have password protection on your phone, you will be prompted when running the software.
Choose "Application Loader" from the main menu and choose "Update Software". Proceed through the wizard to update your phone’s software (this can typically take anywhere from 5-30 minutes depending on how old your software is).
You should update your phone’s software at least once a month to apply any updates/fixes to your Blackberry. This increases performance, reliability, and sometimes you’ll see new features here & there..
Enjoy…
Software: Loudtalks Push to talk (For pc’s and Windows Mobile)
Jan 24th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/loudtalk NULL.jpg) Loudtalks (LINK: http://loudtalks.com/products_loudtalks_lite/ (http://loudtalks NULL.com/products_loudtalks_lite/)) is a free push-to-talk for Windows Mobile. It utilizes Wi-Fi or your data connection and works between mobile operators and cross borders.
Unlike some of alternatives the communication is real-time and direct (peer-to-peer). Your messages are never stored to the server. There is a free Windows PC client software too so you can talk mobile to mobile, PC to mobile or PC to PC.
Features:
- Push-to-talk
- Contact list with online status
- Voice history
- Sound notifications
- Works over Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE or GPRS
- Compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 / 6.0 and on the PC side Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Linux using WINE
Palm: Backing up Contacts, Address Book, etc on a Treo using Palm OS
Nov 16th
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/palm NULL.jpg) Sometimes questions come in the most unexpected ways. This one just happens to be one of them. I was at a major electronics retailer here in So. Pennsylvania pricing out cameras ( A possible Christmas gift for someone), and next to me was another customer who was asking about mini SD cards for her phone (She has a Treo running Palm OS software) and was trying to figure out what she needed and how to use it. The store clerk was having difficulty answering her question, so I stepped in (The boy scout in me I guess). Found out that she has been having issues with her phone and that every time that it needs to be reloaded or replaced by Sprint (Her provider and for the record I as well use Sprint), that she ends up having to manually enter all her contact and other data back on her phone. She wanted to see if by getting the miniSD which her Treo has a slot for, if she could then back up or store her info on the miniSD so that she would not have to keep reloading (Sprint does not back up any data on Palm phones from previous experience).
SO I helped her (with the store clerk asking questions as well, isn’t it fun when the customer helps the staff) to get the miniSD which was not problem. Then (after she paid for it), I helped her get the card into her phone and made sure that the phone would recognize the card. However, with not having to support the Palm OS (This is not the PRE software but the older Palm OS software from a few years ago), I told her I would look up the details and post it on TGM. So for Andrea, and all those still using Treo phones, here is information on keeping a backup of your phone data.
1st option –
Of course, if you have your Treo set up to sync with your pc using the Hot Sync software then your contacts and address book, etc would sync with your pc. If you phone is reloaded or replaced, the data from your pc can be reloaded to your phone. However, sometimes people cant sync their phones with the computer on a regular basis.
2nd option –
Using the built in miniSD card to back up your data. With the cost of SD cards these days, that just seems like such a simple idea (During my trip to the store where I met Andrea, I purchased a 2 gig SD card from Kingston for $6.99), however, Palm in its older software did not have a built in feature to back up to SD. Which makes no sense since the phone has the card slot, but I guess they figured all backups would be with a pc. With that being said there is an option out there, so that you can backup to the miniSD (using a 3rd party application). There is a software option called “BackupMan v2.3” from a company called Bits ‘n Bolts Software (http://www NULL.bitsnbolts NULL.com/backupman NULL.php) that will add those features to the Palm OS
Screenshot from the Palm Gear store (http://www.palmgear.com/?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodID=46552 (http://www NULL.palmgear NULL.com/?fuseaction=software NULL.showsoftware&prodID=46552)) where you can purchase the BackupMan software.
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/backupman NULL.jpg)
Unfortunately there is NO Free option that TGM is aware of to backup to the miniSD (if anyone is aware of one, please let TGM know) but the BackupMan software give a 7 day trial so you can download and try the software for a week without having to pay for it, so that you can make sure it fill your needs.
Some of the features/benefits in the BackupMan software are
- Backups can be triggered after each HotSync operation to ensure your latest conduit-based data is always up to date.
- Daily backups can be scheduled to backup your handheld at a specific time of the day.
- Hourly backups can be enabled to ensure your backup is always current throughout your day.
- Scheduled backups can be enabled or disabled on specific days of the week or times during the day.
- You can create backups on a ridged schedule, or based on system events such as a HotSync operation, when you turn off your handheld, or even when you exit your important programs.
- Everything in BackupMan can be automated, even the restore! It’s just a single tap to get you back to work after a hard reset.
- Allows restore of complete device or just a few files, it’s your choice!
The software costs $14.95, but since you can try it before buying it, you can make sure it works for you.
Links
Palm Gear.com (http://www.palmgear.com/?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodID=46552 (http://www NULL.palmgear NULL.com/?fuseaction=software NULL.showsoftware&prodID=46552))
Bits ‘n Bolts.com (http://www.bitsnbolts.com/backupman.php (http://www NULL.bitsnbolts NULL.com/backupman NULL.php))
UPDATE: To What does it take to get to the center of a Blackberry or “Why did I just drop it!”
Apr 3rd
In a previous post, I talked about how a co-worker dropped his phone (Breaking the 2 rules of electronic devices). Well now I can say after taking all apart, and spending a couple of hours with a “Can O Air” to blow out the mud and whatever else that was coming out of the phone and letting the phone dry. He was able to put the phone back together (without any spare parts) and get the phone working again. So just remember the rules or this could happen to you….
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/image-4821 NULL.jpg) Before
After
More of “AND MORE”: What does it take to get to the center of a Blackberry or “Why did I just drop it!”
Apr 2nd
Rule#1 of all electronic devices is that they don’t work well after they have been under water. Rule#2 is if you don’t follow rule #1 then you should make sure you carry insurance on the device (NOTE – You may not want to tell anyone that your claiming insurance because your device was under water as that may void the insurance, just saying!). Well it seems a co-worker of mine, who shall remain name less broke both Rule#1 and Rule #2, and since we are all Geeks, figured that he could just take his Blackberry apart and dry it out. So here is what the Blackberry looks like…..
(http://www NULL.rj-diamond NULL.com/alex/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/image-482 NULL.jpg) Now the fun part is, lets see if he can get the phone put back together and not have any parts left over. Let me just point out that I in NO WAY recommend doing this to your phone.
(http://www