Hot Tips For Navigating Your BlackBerry Calendar

I like to watch people fumble around with their BlackBerry calendar ... It's a hobby of mine. They often hit 5 or more keys or thumb through menus to get to their appointment information.

The problem is they have not been trained!

So here are some of the best kept BlackBerry Calendar secrets to streamline your experience.

The first thing you need to do is disable the "Quick Entry" feature. This will take away your ability in the day view to just start entering an appointment. The is an easy trade off as all you need to do is use the "C" Quick Key described below.

Step 1: Open you calendar, hit the BlackBerry logo button and roll down to "Options." Select "General Options," then roll to "Enable Quick Entry". Hit the Space bar to toggle selection to "No"

Step 2: Hit Escape twice to return to your default calendar view

Step 3: Here are you Quick Key short cuts...you are going to love it!

• D - Day View
• W - Week View
• M - Month View
• A - Agenda View
• S - Scrolls through the above views

With in any of the views, here are more Quick Keys:

• N - Next
• P - Previous
• G - Go to a specific date
• T - Go to Today
• C - Create New Appointment

Hitting the same key twice will toggle you between that view and the previous. When creating an appointment and you want to change the duration of the meeting.

• Hold Alt key and roll up or down.

Hope this helps!
-Steve Beauregard
www.REGARD.com
www.REGARD-Solutions.com
www.REGARDventures.com
www.BlackBerryTraining.net

Count to 10 slowly...call back...say "CELLHELL" and MOVE ON!

Today...I'm on a MISSION to save frustration and time...both of ours!

The Problem Statement:

In mid sentence, your cell call drops...you call back and get their voicemail...then they call you back while you're in their voicemail. You hang-up attempting to pick up the incoming call...and fail...you both hang up and try each other again! Repeat until...

When you FINALLY get reconnected, both parties discuss whose fault it was, whose coverage sucks more, which model of phone you have, and how the last model you had, while heavier and able to fry and egg in seconds, actually had fewer dropped calls. Invariably someone goes on a rant how the carrier claims "fewest dropped calls" and "can you hear me now?" Jokes...we have all heard them...get over it already!

Once you have established whose coverage sucks less at the moment, and who should try the other's phone model...you can now get back to the important question..."At what point in the conversation was the call dropped?"

With collectively four (4) fewer minutes available on your monthly calling plans before those nasty overage charges kick in....you are once again back on track!

The Solution (Soon to be posted on eHow.com):

Step #1 - The person that initiated the call...COUNT SLOWLY TO TEN (10)...this give the carrier network time to figure out that call is no longer connected!

Step #1a: The person that received the call...Press END and sit tight.

Step #2: When the 10 seconds are up, the person that initiated the call, places a new call (hopefully to you).

Step #2a: Person receiving the call answers and simply says "CELLHELL"

Step #3: Calling parting having heard "CELLHELL" repeats "CELLHELL" showing their mutual agreement that (i) your carrier coverage sucks ass, (ii) they should put a repeater in the tunnel you just drove through (iii) you lose your coverage at the same exact spot every day (iv) why won't they fix it, (v) your Smartphone model is inferior to the 80's briefcase cell that was more powerful than your microwave ... and, finally, (xxiv) you'd rather have a root canal than make small talk over such things.

Step #4: The person that WASN'T talking when the call dropped...tell the other party the last thing you heard.

Step #5: MOVE ON with your conversation people!

So next time you hear "CELLHELL", you'll know what to do...if you are on a three party call or bridge...you are on your own!

I hope this was helpful...your milage may vary!

REGARD Releases R-Vintage Lookup for BlackBerry in time for WES 2009

Realizing it is the wrong season for a new vintage release (at least in California,) REGARD today released R-Vintage Lookup for BlackBerry. (Click from BlackBerry Browser to download)

Wine lovers will be able to quickly access vintage ratings by country, region and varietal right from their Smartphone.

The FREE app will be available to BlackBerry 4.2 and above Smartphone users via the new BlackBerry App World.

A premium version will be released in coming weeks with additional features that wine enthusiasts will consume faster than a 1997 Napa Cab. The premium version will be priced well below what a wine lover would pay for a single glass at any major city nightclub.

Additional "R-App" utilities are in the works and will be released by REGARD in the coming months.

Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5

Yesterday, Research in Motion officially released Facebook for BlackBerry 1.5 as the upgrade to v1.2. This has been a long time coming as I was getting really tired of the year long "Smack-Talk" I have endured from my iPhone zealot friends.

There are two new features that alone make it worth the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5. First, the ability to comment on my status and the status of friends....FINALLY! I find the order in which the comments display to be slightly confusing, but it works and it gives me the immediacy of mobile functionality I have been renowned for since 1998 (When I first started using the BlackBerry.)

The second key feature is my favorite! The integration of Facebook notices into the Message List. RIM has taken what had become an annoyance and made it an enhancement. Now from my regular Message List, I can click on a Facebook notice and it drops me right into the Facebook app for BlackBerry. I have noticed a little processing delay on my BOLD when first bringing up the message, it take a few seconds of processing time to figure itself out.

There have been some nice enhancement so the "Friends" interface allowing you to direct dial from facebook profile information or to connect and add Facebook contacts with you Address Book.

Some basic "look and feel" touches add sexiness such as the screen wipe and auto refresh, but those are just window dressing and don't really add much to the features. I would have preferred RIM spend that time on selecting Categories for new friend requests or adding comments to Notes which didn't make it in this release. Hey...but what do you want for free?

I was a little skeptical of a few of the other integration features between Facebook and my enterprise calendar and contacts. In fact the BlackBerry Contacts Application checkbox disclaimer reads "enabling this feature will periodically send copies of your BlackBerry device contacts (thus my Outlook contacts) to Facebook, Inc...." I'm actually OK with this so far, because I do this with Plaxo as well. BUT THEN ... it goes on to say "...and you acknowledge that access to this data will no longer be subject to your and your Facebook Friend's privacy settings once stored on your BlackBerry device"

HOLD THE PHONE (no pun intended)!!

The new Facebook app for BlackBerry is going to circumvent my privacy setting and those of my Facebook friends? This gave me pause...having worked with RIM as a partner of a dozen years and knowing their infamous legal department...how did THIS sneak through the cracks?

Upon further inspection, this is no different than any other Facebook app...RIM is just pointing out what millions of Facebook users have fully understand....Every time you allow a Facebook app to access your profile, your information and that of your network of friends is being downloaded into another company's database. Facebook ceases to have any control whatsoever over that data from that point forward. In the case of the BlackBerry app, the data is going into the persistent data store of MY BlackBerry and RIM is telling me that they and Facebook are no longer responsible for the security of that data. I am far more comfortable and have now rechecked the "BlackBerry Contacts application." I just hope it doesn't start sending out unbeknownst to me and making Facebook Friend requests!

The Enterprise is "All About BlackBerry" ... Still

The "BlackBerry Killers" still come and go. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry has been creeping into the hands of consumers at an eye-opening rate. As Tom Taulli points on in his latest Bloggingstocks article, RIM expect 15% to 20% increase in subscriber growth last quarter over earlier projections.

The increase demand seemed to be due, in large part, to unexpected demand during the Christmas shopping season. I think it is very safe to declare that BlackBerry is NOT just for the Enterprise any longer!

The Curve is the best Enterprise to Consumer crossover product on the market. As one of the first BlackBerry application development companies, REGARD is looking to develop broader consumer centric application to meet the growing demand.

REGARD Venture Solutions at VentureNet 2007

On Friday, October 5, 2007, REGARD Venture Solutions will introduce a software incubator division for "seed" stage entreprenuers with ground-breaking ideas, but limited budgets.

REGARD Venture Solutions infuses expert intellectual & technological capital to innovative entrepreneurs. We focus on emerging growth-stage technology companies that either need to transform ideas into a working proof of concept, or need to evolve a software product for investment consideration.

Incubated on a full or partial equity payment basis, our ideal candidates are focused on (i) software as a service, (ii) mobility & wireless solutions, or (iii) internet-based businesses. REGARD Corporation and Indian subsidiary REGARD Solutions, Pvt. Ltd employ their 14-years of expert software design, rapid application development, and commercial product launch experience to quickly build the entrepreneur’s vision.

REGARD will be exhibiting at VentureNet at The Westin South Coast Plaza in Orange County.

BlackBerry - Not Just for Business Anymore

We are quickly closing in on a decade that RIM's BlackBerry platform has owned the enterprise messaging space. Hands down it has dominated all would be "BlackBerry Killers" with ease. Some newcomers overheated, some overrated, some oversized, and ALL over-promised!

With that, RIM has been late to the game of consumer features such as integration of camera, removable memory, and most notably multi-media functionality. This is all predictable as these features were not in high demand especially among security conscience IT types.

In the September 2007 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine (page 38), I am quoted as saying “the BlackBerry isn’t just for business anymore.”

When REGARD released the RV-Pileup game for Sony Pictures Entertainment, my kids began fighting over who is going to play games on my BlackBerry. It got so bad, that I put together three older units from spare parts in the REGARD BlackBerry graveyard and loaded them with every game I could find.

Everyone was happy until I switched to the BlackBerry 8300…now the new fight is over who is going to use my BlackBerry to take pictures.

Our children are growing up in a vastly different high-tech world! Below is a picture my 4 year old took this morning in my office using the Curve…ironically of Robin Williams on the RV movie poster. Don't expect too much...she is after all just 4!